Radio Waves:Β Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio Welcome to theΒ SWLing Postβs Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio.Β Enjoy! Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Paul and Dennis Dura for the following tips: Switzerland to end 2024 with an analog FM broadcast-killing bang (The [β¦]
In a press release dated Thursday 27th June 2024, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) confirmed that it would switch off all of the FM transmitters at the end of the year.
In a statement, SBC said..."Those who listen to the radio now largely do so via digital audio broadcasting (DAB+) or the internet, the SBC said on Thursday. Fewer and fewer very high frequency (VHF-FM) receivers are still in use in Switzerland, it said. Remaining, pure FM usage is stagnating at less than 10%."
A previous survey in 2020 had put the number of people listening on FM at 13%.
SBC continues... "In addition, maintenance of FM transmitters and investment in their renewal is expensive and disproportionate, the SBC said. In light of the organisationβs tough financial situation due to declining advertising revenues and inflation, further investment in outdated broadcasting technology is no longer justifiable. DAB+ and the internet offer better quality and a larger programme selection, are more energy and cost efficient, and can provide additional information in text and images."
FM was originally expected to be switched off throughout Switzerland by the end of 2024. The government extended FM licences for the radio industry for the last time in October 2023 to the end of 2026, after which radio stations in Switzerland will no longer be able to broadcast via FM, only digitally. The Swiss regulator OFCOM announced at the time that the final extension would give the radio industry the flexibility to complete the transition process from analogue to digital radio.
Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who shares the following article from Radio World: A New FM Class βA10β for Radio? Commander to FCC: Make it so his story has been updated to reflect that the FCC is now seeking public comments on the proposal. A Mississippi broadcaster is asking the FCC to [β¦]
On the 19th of May 2024, FMDXer Paul Logan in the north-west of Ireland reported reception of a radio station in Greenland on 91.0 MHz.
Logbook 2024-05-19Β UTC QRG ITU Station, location Details Distance km kW ERPPol 2044 91.00 GRL Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa, Niaqernaartik/KTYC (Kap Tycho Brahe) 2095 0.1 v
The radio is located on the east coast of Greenland, has an effective radiated power of just 100-watts and runs vertical polarisation. Paul logged it at 20:44 UTC.
A 52-second audio file from the reception can be heard HERE
The distance to Paul's location in Lisnaskea, Co Fermanagh is 2095kms and the propagation mode was Sporadic-E (Sp-E). While the distance is well within the maximum for a single hop of Sporadic-E, it's always interesting when a FM station in Greenland is heard in Europe.
Greenland is technically part of North America and hints hopefully at maybe some very rare trans-Atlantic signals on the FM band in the weeks ahead.
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