Medium Wave, September 2017

MANY say Medium Wave is becoming increasingly redundant, which may be true, as a number of broadcasters switch off their AM transmitters in favour of FM, DAB and online. For those that are remaining, however, reception conditions become favourable, as the number of co-channel broadcasts are reduced and broadcasts can cover greater distances, especially after dark.

I am pleased to bring you logs of an evening spent listening to the Medium Wave band in September. I spent the evening of Thursday 21 September listening to the Roberts R881 and here is what was heard [Housekeeping notes: Times in UTC (GMT), frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz), transmission powers in watts and kiloWatts (kW)].

• 21 September: 1826 UTC: 1260 kHz: Smooth Radio, UK. Strong to moderate reception. Either 1.6 kW via Mangotsfield for Bristol & Bath, or via Farndon for Wrexham and Deeside. Music: Four Tops 'I'll Be There', ad break: Co-op Food, patio doors, PPI 'The Claims Guys'. Music: Rod Stewart 'You're In My Heart', ID 'Smooth Century on Smooth Radio', music: 'You Might Need Somebody'; Bob Seger 'We've Got Tonight'. Chris Skinner is the host. Ad break: Crimestoppers, Local Heroes [British Gas], Thompson Cruises, Moody Blues / Justin Hayward on tour. Music: Daniel Bedingfield 'If You're Not The One'. To 1850 UTC.
• 21 September: 1857 UTC: 1269 kHz: COPE, Spain. Good to poor reception. Either 10 kW via Ciudad Real, or 5 kW via Badajoz / Zamora. Birdsong...? Speech, in the Spanish language. Predominantly male speech, with some female speech. To 1909 UTC.
• 21 September: 1918 UTC: 1278 kHz: Pulse 2, UK. Strong to moderate reception, 430 watts via Tyersal Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire. Music: Lionel Richie 'Three Times A Lady', Billy Joel 'Uptown Girl'. ID: 'Greatest Hits of all time...' Ad break: SCS sofa, £99 summer offer on Dacia Sandro at Bristol Street Motors, Bradford. ID: 'Pulse 2'. Music: Eric Carmen 'Hungry Eyes', ID 'Across West Yorkshire, this is Pulse 2'. Music: Johnny Nash 'I Can See Clearly Now', Adele 'Hello'. To 1931 UTC.

• 21 September: 1949 UTC: 1287 kHz: SER, Spain. Moderate reception, either 10 kW via Radio Lugo, 5 kW via Radio Lleida or 2 kW via Radio Castilla, Burgos, Ctra Madrid. Spanish speech, football commentary? Male speech, anchor in studio linking to reporters, music, male speech. Time pips at 20 UTC, male speech. To 2002 UTC.
• 21 September: 2005 UTC: 1296 kHz: Radio XL, UK. Strong to good reception, 10 kW via Langley Mill B, Birmingham. ID for Radio XL, ad for dealer of Mercedes-Benz spare parts, travel - Radio XL weather sponsored by Southall Travel. ID, music. ID: 'On 1296, this is Radio XL'. Ad: Southall Travel, Rainbow casino, programme trailers. Music. Male speech with contact telephone number: 0121 753 1296. ID: 'Birmingham's only 24 hour Asian station, this is Radio XL'. Ad break: Tile store. ID: 'Across the Midlands, this is Radio XL', music. To 2024 UTC.

The evening concluded by tuning to 1305 kHz, where a number of broadcasts were audible on the channel; Strongest seemed to be Smooth Radio and Premier Christian Radio. I felt I could not logically separate and log these broadcasts, but for the purpose of these footnotes, Smooth Radio on 1305 kHz serves South Wales (Christchurch, Newport, 200 watts); Premier Christian Radio serves South and North London, 500 watts.

I also tuned to 1314 kHz, where inaudible broadcasts were present... Better luck next time. I brought the evening to a close at 2050 UTC, on the frequency of 1314 kHz.

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