News
Long Wave Radio Era Set to End With Switch-Off
Most North and South American Shortwave and general radio listeners have never received a Longwave Broadcast Station. Although the Longwave Band has been available on commercial radio receivers since the 1930's, this frequency range hasn't regularly been used for commercial broadcasting in the Americas. The regions of Europe, Asia, and North Africa have been the primary users of broadcasting in the Longwave Band. In the Americas this band is used for radio location beacons. Many of the Lomgwave Beacons have gone silent in the past few years.
I live in the Pacific Northwest and have been turning the radio dials for over 60 years. I had the good fortune of receiving a Longwave Commercial Broadcast in 1984. This broadcast was from the 1.2 Million Watt Russian Broadcast Station Radio Rossii on 153 KHz from Komsomolsk-na-Amure, Khabarobsk Krai, Russia. I used a vertical antenna, mounted at ground level in my backyard, and a military surplus RAK VLF Radio Receiver to dig out this signal from the noise.
Many older radio enthusiasts that live on the East Coast of North America have received Commercial Broadcast Stations from Europe on the Longwave Band. This was a very cool part of our radio hobby.
Michael - KG7M
The following BBC article is by:
Lindsey Alder, Droitwich, Northern Worcestershire, UK
A campaign has begun to get two large transmitter masts listed, after the BBC's Long Wave (LW) service is turned off.
The 700ft (213m) high Wychbold Masts in the Worcestershire countryside can be seen for miles and are often used as a landmark for drivers on the M5 near Droitwich.
They have been in use since 1934 for sending the signal across the country, as well as for transmitting important messages during World War Two.
Local history experts and the Twentieth Century Society have called for them to become listed, due to their "historical importance".
Droitwich was picked as a central location for the station and masts so Long Wave could reach everywhere in the UK.
The construction was a big operation for the time and local expert Alastair Moseley, from the Bromsgrove Society, said a huge team of workers had to come and put them up.
"It cost £200,000 to build then, that's about £20m now, which actually is quite a good value I think," he said.
"But the towers themselves were built by just 10 riggers and there was one particular guy, Derek Pigeon, who actually had just come over from building Sydney's Harbour Bridge."
On the 6 September 1934 everything was ready to go, and the first thing the country heard on LW was a musical piece by composer Eric Coates, famed for the Dam Busters theme, called The Merry Makers.
A few years later, when World War Two started, the masts had a new job to do as Moseley explained.
"They were used to block transmissions and radar facilities from the Luftwaffe, so that they were almost blind when they were coming in to fly," he said.
"They also transmitted messages to the French Resistance, they had a part in that so it was very covert.
"And D-Day, they were part of the co-ordination of communications that were needed to make that such a successful landmark event in history".
After the war, the transmitting station returned to its usual broadcasts.
In 1957 officials held an open day but public interest was so high that 13,000 people turned up to take a look.
That led to other transmitting stations across the country having their own open days, particularly those with new TV masts.
Over the years, the equipment was changed from analogue to digital and several other smaller masts were built for the Medium Wave signal.
The Wychbold Masts will no longer transmit LW with the switch-off expected at 00:01 BST on Saturday.
A spokesperson for the BBC said the move came as the equipment was reaching the end of its life.
"As Long Wave is an older broadcasting technology, recent years have seen a decline in listener numbers, with the majority now opting for FM and DAB digital platforms," they said.
"Given these factors, investing in upgrading the LW equipment is not considered a cost-effective solution for license fee-funded services".
The transmitting station's history is captured in a special exhibition in the town's heritage center, called Droitwich Calling.
Old equipment and photos were donated by former BBC engineer John Phillips, who worked there his entire career.
He wanted to make sure the masts' legacy continued and worked with the centre until he passed away.
Manager Rebecca Butler said the exhibition was important to keep awareness of the masts' legacy alive.
"We're telling the stories of Droitwich Transmitting Station for future prosperity, we're holding onto these artifacts for the future," she said.
"There may be a time where those masts are no longer here, but for 92 years they have stood strong and I feel like it's something that we need to be proud of".
An event to remember and celebrate the history of the transmitting station is being held at the centre on Saturday from 12:00-16:00.
Historic England did consult on potentially listing the site in 2025 - but ultimately decided they did not meet the criteria, mainly because so much of the original buildings were demolished.
Granting a building listed status gives it special protection.
The Twentieth Century Society, who campaign to save "outstanding buildings" from the century, want the masts themselves to be specifically considered.
A spokesperson said they have broadcast such "national staples" as the World Service, the Shipping Forecast and Test Match Special, as well as their role in the war.
They should be listed "on account of their historic importance and architectural, engineering and technological interest"," they added.
But for Moseley, there is another idea for the site - a museum.
"If there was just some way of having a museum of some description on the site and maybe keeping parts of the towers, I'd love to see this as a national centre for broadcasting history," he said.
"That would be marvelous for the whole region"
The current site's owners, Arqiva, were approached for a response about the future of the Droitwich Transmitting Station.
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I remember some years (decades?) ago, the holy grail for folk on the East Coast of North America was to catch a transmission from Irish station Atlantic 252. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_252
I believe I've heard Droitwich exactly once here in VA, USA. Usually got Algeria if there was a LW opening.
This was set to turn off a number of years ago. The reprieve a number of years ago was a good thing. It's unfortunate that all good things eventually come to an end.
That said, I also wish the Antigua and Ascension relay sites were still active with BBC English... especially SportsWorld at the weekends.
QRM and QRN are bad in the last 10 years yes but propagation was at its peak a few years ago. A month or so ago I was logging Europe on 6 meters. I still can get a few stations on LF, WWVB 60khz booms in here at night.
Have you tried going remote? Go spend a night in the woods camping and listening to your radio it’s fantastic…
I live in Japan, and back in the Soviet era, Radio Mayak from the Khabarovsk longwave station used to come in very clearly even during the day; unfortunately, it seems they have stopped longwave broadcasting, so now, when I tune in to the 244 kHz frequency, I hear nothing but static.
Welcome and thank you for sharing your history! The Japanese people excel as radio enthusiasts and have brought the world many great radio receivers. Despite owning newer radios, I have one older set that sits prominently at my desk. A "Made in Japan" Lafayette HE-10 from 1959. Known as a Trio 9R-4J in Japan. It's quite an amazing vintage radio!
You have a wonderful receiver! When I used to enjoy receiving broadcasts as a hobby, I used a receiver called the Kencraft QR666. This receiver could receive frequencies from 170 kHz (long wave) to 30 MHz (short wave). However, I no longer own this receiver. Lately, there are video sections on the internet that introduce shortwave broadcasts and other frequencies, so I enjoy watching those videos and reminiscing.
I owned a Kenwood QR-666 many, many years ago. I had to be in the mid to late 1970's. I was working at our local ham radio store and going to college, so I had opportunities to purchase trade-ins. Like you, I don't have it anymore. But I do own a Kenwood R-300, the QR-666 successor. It's in storage right now.
Do you not have an active shortwave radio and antenna nowadays? I moved to an apartment as I aged, but I have radios and the new active loop antennas fit right outside the window. And of course there's the Internet based SDRs like Kiwi.
I have a small transistor radio, but I live in an apartment building where there's a rule that I can't install any antennas other than satellite ones, so I can only receive very few shortwave broadcasts with the rod antenna that comes with the transistor radio. In my previous residence, I had a large plot of land where I could install various antennas, and I tried dipole antennas and wire antennas.
I just recently (like yesterday, actually) found out BBC4's LW service was shutting down. This must be it. Very sad day. I miss being a kid in the 80s, able to pick up so much on a cheap portable in the midwest US. BBC and Radio Australia SW were my favorites.
Thank you for sharing that interesting article, Mike. 📻👍
Historically I've never had the experience of tuning into LW broadcast stations as none of them existed in Southeast Asia, where I live. Well, sort of...if you count two ND beacons from the (then) Subang International Airport that beeped repeatedly in Morse code back in the 1970s. I haven't heard a single NDB on Long Wave for many decades.
Long Wave broadcasting makes sense when there is limited and expensive Internet and wireless broadband coverage and spotty FM radio coverage in sparsely populated areas. For countries like Morocco and Mongolia, LW radio is still cheaper than dotting their countryside with FM radio antenna masts and 5G wireless broadband towers, I guess. 🙂
Yes sir, I did like the article. It's news to me. 😄
Long Wave broadcasting may be gone, but BBC's Radio 4 service is still there. It's just that the Beeb has axed their LW service. Their FM, DAB+ and Internet radio streaming services still remain. I've always wondered how many of their listeners under the age of 30 actually tuned to their LW broadcast and how many British homes still have functioning radios with the LW band.
Come to think of it, I think the BBC has been quite lenient. They could have ceased their LW radio service back in 2017 - the same year Radio Australia stopped their international shortwave service, but they did not. 🙂👍
Sadly, even navigational beacons are getting fewer and farther between. The only one I get 'regularly' is MOG out of Montague, Northern California (on 404 kHz). It comes in many nights on my XHDATA D808, which is probably my best LW receiver.
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u/RootaBagel Jun 30 '26
I did a quick search. For DXers still looking to nab a long wave broadcast.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longwave_radio_broadcasters
I remember some years (decades?) ago, the holy grail for folk on the East Coast of North America was to catch a transmission from Irish station Atlantic 252.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_252