Long Wave radio era set to end with switch-off

https://archive.ph/pNwm9

That's such a pity. Building a simple AM radio receiver was a simplest and coolest electronics project to do with kids.

You need two transistors, a ferrite coil and a small set of simpler elements. And it is so simple you can actually explain what every part of the circuit does.

And then the reward... Once built you could listen to BBC regardless of where you are in Europe. My kids just LOVED IT, no Netflix K-Drama replaces this experience. My daughter was listening to BBC on her radio every night going to sleep.

     Droitwich uses two metre-high ceramic and metal valves, 
     which are no longer made.

from: https://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio1/droitwich.htm

https://i0.wp.com/www.richardmudhar.com/blog/wp-content/uplo...

I'm very sad to see this go.

I was listening to DAB in the car, not so far from here last weekend, and it kept cutting out. Whereas you could get LW everywhere!

I developed a love of cricket on Test Match Special from a very young age. A tiny inexpensive radio could get it anywhere. I actually never minded the interruptions from the Shipping Forecast, the real reason they kept this service up for so long. I know there are many ways to get a forecast now, none of which is as reliable as radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 can be streamed here, including internationally: https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/live/bbc_radio_fourfm

Or

    mplayer 'https://a.files.bbci.co.uk/ms6/live/3441A116-B12E-4D2F-ACA8-C1984642FA4B/audio/simulcast/dash/nonuk/pc_hd_abr_v2/aks/bbc_radio_fourfm.mpd'

    vlc 'https://lsn.lv/bbcradio.m3u8?station=bbc_radio_fourfm%22&bitrate=320000%22'

IMO, when the last LW transmitter shuts down, the whole band needs to be reallocated to hams. Realistic small-ish antennas are shockingly doable with a capacitance hat, loading coil, and counterpoise.

That station is said to be one of the signals used by the UK’s nuclear subs to assess the state of the country in a war scenario.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_of_last_resort#:~:text...

That's the end of the world, then. The British nuclear deterrent will launch when Radio 4 on long wave stops.

https://www.forcesnews.com/services/navy/nuclear-promise-let...

> The process by which a Trident submarine commander would determine if the British government continues to function includes, among other checks, establishing whether BBC Radio 4 continues broadcasting [on long wave]

> Submarines on patrol were reported to have briefly gone on nuclear alert in 2004 when Radio 4 went off the air for 15 minutes due to a power cut.

List of longwave radio broadcasters - including those that have shut down. The shutdown list is much longer than those remaining (only 7 remaining).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longwave_radio_broadca...

Radio Society of Great Britain reaction: https://rsgb.org/main/radio-sport/rsgb-contest-club/bbc-long...

Rather defensive press release thing from the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/articles/2026/radio-4-broadc...

> Terrestrial television will surely follow

I hope not. I am saving $80 per month by recording over-the-air TV using Tivo. I only want the major networks, and recording them over the air is free. Tivo DVR is great for OTA and their service is still active but sadly they have stopped selling their DVR.

No more foxhole radios for the PoW https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhole_radio

It’s funny that at just the phrase ‘Long Wave’ my mind jumps back the “long wave radio Atlantic 252”.

I miss the days of jingles.

Seems like everyone's shutting down radio services. CHU and Weather radio in Canada too :(

There is precisely one thing that keeps 198LW online: economy seven.

I think the reason why its been left on so long is that it took so long to migrate to digital meters https://tradehelp.gdhv.co.uk/support/solutions/articles/7900...

I am also annoyed that I missed the last signal.

LW is still a fallback when internet and mobile go down simultaneously. Quietly important.

The Droitwich transmitter used to transmit on exactly 200 kHz which I always thought was very cool, but it moved to 198 kHz in 1988 to better harmonize with European stations.

The program was mostly the same as BBC Radio 4 but it used to diverge at certain times of day. I used to be woken up at 5am every day by my parents clock radio with the farming news which was very dull, but easy to sleep through.

They can pry long wave radio from my cold dead hands

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901

One can listen to the live closure broadcast via this WebSDR website, by tuning it to AM 198 kHz.

"You are listening to 198 kHz longwave. BBC Radio 4 is no longer available on this frequency. However, you can find Radio 4 many other ways. You can find BBC Radio 4 online, via BBC Sounds. Radio 4 is available on DAB digital radio and through your digital television, including freely. Radio 4 is also available via FM radio, on 92 to 95 MHz and 103 to 105 MHz. Plus, you can listen via your smart speaker: just say 'play Radio 4'. Information on how to listen can be found on the BBC website, at bbc.co.uk/reception."

Side Note - VLF ( Very Low Frequency ) signals (3-30 kHz) propagate via surface wave or skywave, offering stable communication for submarines through saltwater.

That's a real shame given the distance LW could travel: I wonder what they're going to use the frequency band for? I've tried using DAB on so many occasions and thrown it out in disgust.

> Given these factors, investing in upgrading the LW equipment is not considered a cost-effective solution for licence fee-funded services

And that's another problem - maybe the Government should step in and set up a proper Civil Defence-style warning/information system - we may well need it in a few years - it's a shame our official National Broadcaster can't fulfill the role.

Online stream for those without a LW AM receiver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ugd8G5w-Sfo

That is too bad, you would think these could be kept active for historical purposes. But seems these services are all being turned off even though I heard a few were very useful in this day and age.

Why would humans need to communicate on channels bots cannot control?

As long we still have DCF77…

Listened to this in Denmark in the car just yesterday. It usually sounded awful but was the only English language news source in the car, so I’m going to miss it. Since the BBC sold the transmitters and rented them back, let’s hope we don’t get US-style right wing talk radio as a replacement.

At the moment they are running a goodbye loop, so you can still hear something.

At least there’s Radio Caroline still on 648kHz AM, so there will be a British voice still on the air.

I wonder how many of the Van Allen radiation belts is held up by this