RTE Radio 1 to cease Long Wave service.

[linescan87]

More bad news for the vintage radio fraternity. RTE have announced that their long wave service will cease on the 14 of April.

They are citing climate change and the energy crisis as the main reasons. Unfortunately I don't see another reprieve coming..

[steve.seven]

A very sad loss, quality programmes with a unique style.
Entertaining, very interesting and always with a good sense of humour and warmth.

[kellymarie]

Thats very sad when they go there will only be Poland worth listening to on longwave they sometimes play some good rock and pop on there. For those who aren't sure they are on 225 kilocycles

[standing wave]

There will be a revival of the campaign by Irish living in the U.K over the loss of 252 but I don't think it will work this time. RTE will state cost rise from €250,000 to €400,000 per year and its poor energy efficiency. According to RTE there are no immediate plans to demolish the site.
Terry

[paulsherwin]

I wonder what will happen to the transmitter? It's quite modern - I hope it isn't just scrapped.

There have been proposals to carry RTÉ R1 on UK Freeview or DAB, but I understand there are regulatory difficulties as well as the cost aspect. There also seems to be some concern that R1 will become less distinctively Irish if it's made easily available across the UK.

[linescan87]

Unfortunately Paul I'd imagine it will be scrapped, and fairly soon too. They have a policy of scrapping things. The analog TV transmitters were scrapped shortly after switch over, some not that old at all.

[G6Tanuki]

How old is the TX? Didn't RTE acquire it from Atlantic-252 when they closed-down a couple of decades ago? And how old was it then, given that Atlantic-252 had been on-air since 1988? If it is the original transmitter then it's around 35 years old, so in infrastructure-terms it's a dinosaur!

Pragmatically, there's likely to be little commercial market for the TX given that LW is only an "ITU Region 1" thing and most countries in this region have already closed-down their LW broadcasting networks....

[paulsherwin]

They re-equipped long after the Atlantic 252 era. There was a new transmitter in 2007, and an antenna rebuild as recently as 2019. Sadly I do expect it to be mothballed though, or most probably scrapped.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarks...io_transmitter

[G6Tanuki]

Even so, a 2007 LW transmitter is not exactly going to attract high-bidders like wasps to a jam-scone, given the realities of broadcasting.

Mothball it? For what? Who'd want to pay the costs of this, and why? Pragmatically, I see the whole lot being forklifted into a smelter to recover the metal-value.

[simpsons]

Reading RTE News yesterday, which is an excellent source of European News, I read that RTÉ has announced that it is ceasing the long wave 252 service for Radio 1 from next month.

The move was originally announced in 2014 but was postponed because of protests from Irish organisations in Britain.

RTÉ said in a statement that the LW 252 is no longer sustainable as the transmitter in Summerhill, Co Meath uses up 2.5% of the organisation's energy use.

The current cost is €250,000 a year and this could rise to £400,000 next year, it says.

Chris

[SteveCG]

I too am saddened by this move. I've sent my thoughts to the RTE contact address given on RTE's website.

[murphyv310]

I too have sent a strong email to them.....for all the good it will do.

[paulsherwin]

You do have to bear in mind that RTÉ has no obligation to serve the UK, and indeed there's been some annoyance within Ireland that any money is being spent doing it. The justification has always been the need to serve Irish people living in Britain. The rest of us just get access as a side effect.

[Rich Woods]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

You do have to bear in mind that RTÉ has no obligation to serve the UK, and indeed there's been some annoyance within Ireland that any money is being spent doing it. The justification has always been the need to serve Irish people living in Britain. The rest of us just get access as a side effect.

Interesting perspective, perhaps it can be seen s a more moderate ambition providing RTE1 on LW for Irish folks in the UK, my good lady included, than the admittedly scaled back provision of BBC World Service in its various forms to the world.

[tritone]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

You do have to bear in mind that RTÉ has no obligation to serve the UK, and indeed there's been some annoyance within Ireland that any money is being spent doing it. The justification has always been the need to serve Irish people living in Britain. The rest of us just get access as a side effect.

Yea, like up here where I'm at, they broadcast horizontal where the rest is vertical.

Also; They (RTE) strictly enforce a charge of a license fee of a few hundred Euro's per year to watch their stuff, Plus, slam on advertisements every five minutes for you.

[stevehertz]

For me - and many others too I suspect - that will leave just R4 on LW. Sad days..

[Paul Stenning]

Politics are not welcome here. One post deleted.

[Pfraser]

Given the room now available on medium wave, it would be nice if it could be used to serve at least the major Irish communities in the UK. A sloping wire at Crystal Palace does quite well on 558kHz; something towards the LF end of the band then?

I realise that 'nice' often fails to address the financial realities of life.

[stevehertz]

... and the changing face of the world..

[steve.seven]

Originally Posted by steve.seven

A very sad loss, quality programmes with a unique style.
Entertaining, very interesting and always with a good sense of humour and warmth.

Quality broadcasting on a medium that is so easy to tune into, not everyone wants or understands how to use DAB or listen via the internet, especially people who do not have access to computer and prefer to use a more traditional way of listening via the longwave service.

RTE 252 is readily available for so many of us here in the U.K., it's very popular and simple to access, , we need and value this service.

For many Irish people of all ages living in this country it's such an important link to keep them intouch with thier homeland.