AM radio station list

The final 5 BBC local radio services on MW will close at the end of November

756kHz Cumbria
837kHz Cumbria
1116kHz Derby
1413kHz Gloucestershire
873kHz Norfolk
1566kHz Somerset


(Cumbria - 756 is used in the northern part of the area, 837 in the southern half. 837 was originally an opt out branded as Radio Furness)
 
MW in the USA allow you to pick up Mexico or Canada when you get tired of Yank stuff....or maybe Cuba?
I m sure Mexico & Canada have MW ,due to size of country+mountains...
 
I checked...yes plenty in Mexico and Cuba. Canada a few.Still,10 in Montréal only...

And the Caribbean. Night time radio propagation has been essential in the Caribbean music melting pot. Most places speak Spanish,plus English(jamaica) French (Martinique). If you only keep FM you lose that. Kingston would hear Cuba,Paramaribo and Fort de france... hence the mix!

And as a kid I enjoyed the same in Strasbourg (N-E France near Germany) . Got me English,Spanish ,Italian just using the dial.
Of course now we have Internet.... but it was different to pick up Belgrade or Spain at night when driving.... by chance.Rather Than taking care of googling Radio Malaga or Rabat...when driving at night. Sure very few people do it,although it s ....there!!

Here in south france Spain's MW have gone I feel stuck within France ..dab+ does not bring anything from beyond 50 kms...too bad.
 
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rodscha said:
Here in south france Spain's MW have gone I feel stuck within France ..dab+ does not bring anything from beyond 50 kms...too bad.
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There are moderate gain directional DAB antennas available for not much money at all.


But if you are really wanting long range reception then you can use one of the online calculators to build a multi element/yagi or log periodic antenna. From memory the rough length of the dipole is just under 13 inches (318mm)
 
That would be fun indeed. How far xcan I expect to be able to obtain a dab+ signal? Do I need "clear" view of transmitter? Big mountains are between me & Spain. Would a large Dab+ antenna receive behind-mountain signals?
 
Band III can be received over the horizon, but not by much. Perhaps up to 50% , on a very good day depending on the diffraction coefficient of the atmosphere and transmitter / receiver altitudes.
 
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Every high-gain VHF3-band TV-antenna can receive DAB-signals as well.
 
So, I could grab an old lengthy Yagi antenna and use it for dab+DX-ing?
 
@rodscha The Spanish DAB muxes from the Barcelona area might be difficult because of the Pyrenees in the way, but you may be in with a good chance of some Italian signals from Sardinia. I've heard reports from other radio enthusiasts that those signals do make it over to your part of France from time to time.
 
Adam792 said:
@rodscha The Spanish DAB muxes from the Barcelona area might be difficult because of the Pyrenees in the way, but you may be in with a good chance of some Italian signals from Sardinia. I've heard reports from other radio enthusiasts that those signals do make it over to your part of France from time to time.
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Adam792 said:
@rodscha The Spanish DAB muxes from the Barcelona area might be difficult because of the Pyrenees in the way, but you may be in with a good chance of some Italian signals from Sardinia. I've heard reports from other radio enthusiasts that those signals do make it over to your part of France from time to time.
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Thank you,I ll give it a try. Problem is,2 mountain ranges 1)the local montagne d alaric ,15ks away,800m high...2) Pyrenees ,le Canigou,100ks as the crow flies,25000ms... MW were kind enouth to bounce around... dab+ may be lazy at this.Maybe at night? or foggy days?
 
Another question: I ve heard the dab+ muxes all use the same wavelength... (I guess except on border areas) so ,if I get the strong,local signal,how could I get a farther,weaker one? Just wondering.
 
DAB uses different 1.536MHz blocks within VHF Band III, from around 174-240MHz - these are numbered from block 5A up to 13F. SFNs are used widely but the multiplex content has to be identical for that to work. Frequency reuse isn't too bad mainly, which along with tropospheric propagation at these frequencies means that long-distance "DX" catches are very achievable.

Here for example I've received a Danish mux on block 8B at a distance of over 800km during tropospheric ducting, and also muxes from northern France (around the Amiens area) and the Netherlands. This is despite there being higher ground around 1km to my south and east.
 
and how long do these propagation surges last?
 
rodscha said:
So, I could grab an old lengthy Yagi antenna and use it for dab+DX-ing?
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If you post detail of what you have, somebody should be able to confirm.

I would still look to construct something that is centred around the DAB frequency, both element length and front to back dimensions.

Or you could try doubling up with two dedicated DAB aerials (with an appropriate splitter and keeping a 1m minimum distance between the two yagis) .
 
Channel Hopper said:
If you post detail of what you have, somebody should be able to confirm.

I would still look to construct something that is centred around the DAB frequency, both element length and front to back dimensions.

Or you could try doubling up with two dedicated DAB aerials (with an appropriate splitter and keeping a 1m minimum distance between the two yagis) .
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Thank you for your suggestions...the rainy season will be perfect for building these new artefacts!!
 
rodscha said:
and how long do these propagation surges last?
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It can last several days in case of persistent high pressure, usually more common in the mornings and evenings though, the autumn seems to be the best season for it here in Europe.
 
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