RTÉ News report on Medium Wave closedown 24/03/08

[quizman1967]

I enjoyed listening to RTE on medium wave from Ulverston in Cumbria. This was a sad day. Couldn't pick up RTE on FM. Thank goodness for the internet.

[sinusgolf]

let the big radio's leave mw and sw so that pirate stations can take over.

[FelixTheHouseFreak]

Its a shame to see an era fade away. I hope AM doesnt go away anytime soon here in the US. I want to keep my old tube radios receiving AM signals without having to use my own transmitter for everything.

[bratina501]

@FelixTheHouseFreak I don't think it will anytime soon for a few reasons. One, the US is MUCH larger than Ireland so it makes sense for an AM station to remain on the air since it carries better than FM over a wider area. Two, the AM band is found in most receivers available for sale in the US so more people can listen. And three, many of these stations are very well established in the communities and areas they serve and their listeners would be upset if the stations went off the air.

[AnthonyUK]

RTE Radio 1 did some overnight DRM(digital radio mondiale) AM transmissions to UK and Western Europe using 252kHz LW at

120kW transmitting 3 RTE radio programmes on the same frequency, and nothing has come out of it. Digital Radio Mondiale is a viable digital replacement for analogue AM bands MW/LW/SW providing a noticeable improvement of audio quality and reception for listeners. But where are the sets? Roberts should have their MP40 DRM multiband capable portable on the market NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[irishanorak]

Yes I would agree very much. I purchased a DRM receiver for PC which uses USB and i was very impressed with results.

However you kind of feel 'alone' using this method of reception due to the fact that the DRM receivers are not standard.

It's a little like the old Betamax V's VHS video tape choice many years ago. VHS won that one and it was poorer quality!

[raymond52044]

This is sad. AM radio is still alive in the USA. I hope stations like WRC WBZ WBAL never die. It won't be too much longer and KDKA will have been on the air for 100 years.

[Cringle84]

well I guess Ireland is a small continent, so a Mediumwave may be a bit bulky in coverage, but mind you, how about replacing the huge transmitter with a smaller more efficient solid state one, here in Australia, we have commercial stations that transmit 5000 watts and they cover nearly thousand kilometres, thats like the power draw of two kettles, its not much! analog radio should still be kept alive, digital radio is flawed and FM stereo is old 50's technology... go 1980's AM Stereo technology!

[irishanorak]

Not too sure about that on all you points Cringle84!

Not much point in investing in technology which mainly no-longer used worldwide.

As for AM Stereo Technology - in your dreams!!!

[Cringle84]

the methods they use on encoding digital radio has extremely agressive compression algorithms, resulting in rather artificial sound quality. Mediumwave better potential in Australia because our towns are not so close together so AM stations can broadcast wider bandwith, which cant be done in ireland. Its a shame because AM stereo actually sounds really good, I actually have AM stereo tuners, and the sound quality is comparable to FM, better on my own LP transmitter due to less audio processing.

[tripledonkey]

I'm just glad we have analog radio at all still. I can forsee a day when it's all gone, and I will have to be using a mini transmitter to feed my analog radios from some horrid digital signal.... :(

[irishanorak]

Or you could just invest in a nice new clean clear Digital Receiver??

[pete9300]

that signal was stronger then my local station in manchester it was well strong on mw

[irishanorak]

Yes, AM radio is now a thing of the past here in Ireland. Can you imagine the amount of electricity needed to power a 50,000 Watt AM station? Now compare that to the power used for 3 FM sites that cover the same area? In this environmentally friendly age, it's a no-brainer!

[gmcjetpilot]

Those are great accents, its so Irish! Ha-ha. In America Medium Wave is just "AM Radio". AM in the USA is still popular for talk, news & sports. AM in the USA has really been helped by political talk radio the last 15 years. There are many 50,000 watt AM stations that can be heard 300-1000 miles away at night, but it's correct, internet streaming audio, podcast, satellite and FM is competition. In the USA, LF and shortwave is really only popular with radio hobbyist not the general public.

[gramach]

very good, nice bit of history

[LuthansaTerminal]

The reason no-one in Athlone has bought a MW radio for years is that they're all so close to the transmitter they can pick it up on their fillings!

[Live1052]

My god the size of that transmitter system!! Thats insane!