The Italian MW Topic

[Brookman Spark]

Thank you Franco. There is a lot to keep up with there!

[Franco Martelli]

There is a lot to keep up with there!

Yes, it's so.

Despite the obsolescence of medium waves, here in Italy there is a strange effervescence in this band; I think it's because it's nearly impossible to open a new radio for broadcasting in FM Band 2 (the band is too busy everywhere, also for "pirate" broadcasting, and the cost for buying a frequency from another operator is too high for small companies), and turning on a medium wave transmitter is maybe the entry level for a small company who is trying to start a new "business".

This morning between 10.40 and 11.30 CET, when I was doing my commitments, I have connected to a remote SDR receiver located in Ticino (I don't know if is the same you sometimes listen to), and I have been able to listen to 6 different LPAMs.
Excepting Amica Radio and Free Radio AM, I've never listened to them from my QTH (I wonder if some of them broadcasts only on daytime):

1206 Amica Radio Veneta
1404 Radio 106
1512 Miniradio
1557 Milano_XR Radio
1566 Radio Kolbe
1584 Free Radio Am

Here in Tuscany you can hear on 1368 Radio Centro Web and Radio One (I suppose they share the same tx, located in a unknown site between Florence and Pistoia) and sometimes you can hear some unintelligible amateur broadcasting on 1359 Khz.

So, there is a lot to listen to, but I think that it's necessary for the Authority in charge to clarify the situation.

[Franco Martelli]

Two new LPAMs have started very lately their regular broadcasting on medium waves; both are on 1602 kHz and both claim to having an autorization from MISE (it really seems that the Ministry have the decided to avoid publishing the list of autorized radios).

RTV Radio Treviso broadcasts from the city of Treviso (north eastern Italy) with classical music, Catholic religious broadcasts, local news.
Their e mail address is rtv1602@libero.it .
In the Internet you can find another Radio Treviso broadcasting as a web radio but it seems that there's no relation between the two radios.

Radio 3 Network broadcasts from Poggibonsi (Central Tuscany, at not more than 25 Kms from my QTH).
Their MW broadcast are in // with Band 2 (they broadcast on 91.7 and has been sometimes listened through Es in Great Britain and Northern Europe).
I sent a mail to the station manager and he answered me that they are running on very low power while they are completing their antenna system.

[Franco Martelli]

Antonello Napolitano has recently published the updated list of LPAM stations operating now in Italy.
It matches with my monitoring of last months and it confirms my impression that there is no more stations operating in Southern Italy (incl. Sicily and Sardinia): the whole of 20 LPAM reported are operating from Northern Italy and Tuscany.

You can find the list here: http://www.dxfanzine.com/
Then click on DX Fanzine No. 54 – February 2018 and scroll the page.

[dxradiofan]

Is Radio Studio X on 1584 still off air ? It's a shame if so especially as it was in c quam am stereo or certainly was for many years

[Tim Bucknall]

I like what Italy and Holland are doing with medium wave.
The UK should do the same.

[John Faulkner, Skegness]

Perhaps we will be able to expand on the number of LPAMs we have. Only a small few seem to get out at night.

[Franco Martelli]

Is Radio Studio X on 1584 still off air ? It's a shame if so especially as it was in c quam am stereo or certainly was for many years

Yes, RSX is still off air on medium waves: it was still in C quam am stereo but I wonder how many listeners in her area are capable to listen to this mode.

[Franco Martelli]

I like what Italy and Holland are doing with medium wave.

Well: here, at this time, it's just a mess.
Isn't definitely clear how many of 20 active LPAMs has a real authorisation to broadcast.
And the most of radios broadcast with very irregular schedules and with (for the most of time) sh***y non-stop oldies; who really benefits from that?

As a Dxer I have fun with all of this ; but as a simple user of broadcasting all this stuff over here seems so useless.

[Franco Martelli]

Free Radio AM is – according to an announcement in their website – under attack.
After Radio Oberfranken and others, a new fake station, probably broadcasting from Italy, has been heard on 1584 kHz, this time identifying itself as Free Radio AM.
That is a sort of ”Black clandestine station” that claims to be Free Radio AM, the legal radio station with this name, which has a license and operates from Trieste on 1584 kHz
The true Free Radio AM can be identified by matching your audio on 1584 kHz with their stream which can be found at http://www.assamgroup.it/
This Internet site also includes an announcement in Italian saying that the station «is under attack by some illegal radio operators that, especially, in night hours, use to broadcast on 1584 kHz different kind of contents with the aim of deliberately causing interference to Free Radio AM.
A number of different station names have been used for such transmissions which are aired via transmitter with enough power.
The situation has now become serious like never before. In the last days, those illegal broadcasters have carried station announcements saying that you are tuned to Free Radio AM.
They record and falsify our jingles and voices, which are modified with the addition of insults and blasphemies. Those illegal broadcasters not only deliberately interfere to Free Radio AM but also other radio stations in Europe, whose operators can believe that the origin of such interferences is the true Free Radio AM.
It’s quite evident that a criminal act is underway with the aim of forcing our station to stop broadcasting. Of all those facts, the Italian authorities are well aware since January 2018 but until now no action has been apparently made.
We dissociate ourselves from any broadcast with offensive and blasphemous language and hope that authorities will solve this case as soon as possible. We invite our listeners to report to us any kind of taboo language which can be heard over that station claiming to be Free Radio AM!» (Antonello Napolitano, Taranto, ITALY).

Source: http://www.dxfanzine.com/ no. 57 (May, 2018)

[Franco Martelli]

Radio 3 Network broadcasts from Poggibonsi (Central Tuscany, at not more than 25 Kms from my QTH).
Their MW broadcast are in // with Band 2 (they broadcast on 91.7 and has been sometimes listened through Es in Great Britain and Northern Europe).
I sent a mail to the station manager and he answered me that they are running on very low power while they are completing their antenna system.

Radio 3 Network has slightly increased her power and can be heard more easily now, at least here around my QTH.
I think that could be a challenge for a dxer living in other European countries to receive it despite the usual mess on 1602 kHz.
On the other hand, the other italian LPAM authorised to broadcast on the same frequency (RTV Treviso) seems to be off air.

[Franco Martelli]

Another challenge for European dxers can be the reception of Radio Coltano Marconi.
They broadcast on 1305 kHz since the first days of September from Coltano (very close to Pisa, and very close to the Rai Radio1 tx broadcasting on 657).

The station claims to have a authorization to broadcast and is supposed to operate on 100 w.

In the daytime I can hear it at carrier level and at night the channel is occupied by RNE R5, so the best time to receive it here is in the late afternoon, just before the sunset.

[Franco Martelli]

In the last weeks, I've received several times Radio Kolbe on 1566 KHz with my car radio (I am at about 250 kms from their outlet).

I think that the reception could be possible also in other European areas despite the low power supposed to be used (200 w according to Mwlist) because I have received it until 18:15 UTC (before that reception, I was used to think that they broadcast in daytime only).

[PFM907]

1584 kHz --> Radio Studio X ??? still off ?!! never came back.
1350 kHz --> I Am Radio 1350 not heard for weeks now !?

1566 has the Paki/Hindi station from NL, Korea (South) plus one UK playing oldies

[Franco Martelli]

1584 kHz --> Radio Studio X ??? still off ?!! never came back.
1350 kHz --> I Am Radio 1350 not heard for weeks now !?

Radio Studio X is officially off air since they don't have received the licence to broadcast from the Ministry.
By now the only italian station you can hear on 1584 is Free Radio AM-RDE-Radio Diffusione Europea broadcasting from Trieste (and licensed).

Concerning I Am Radio, I remember having listen to it some weeks ago (I don't remember exactly when) but, in fact, it has been reported very rarely in the past months (and their Facebook page is fixed on September 12's post).
It can be off air or, maybe, on air very irregularly.

[AMDXHUN]

What is the licence method for AM in Italy?

[Franco Martelli]

What is the licence method for AM in Italy?

I've tried to explain it in a previous post: viewtopic.php?p=19070#p19070
Past experience in broadcasting and financial robustness were the main prerequisites. There was no requests about the format of broadcasting.

A few weeks after my post, the Ministry has published two different lists (both in the light blue "box" in the upper part of this page https://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/in ... -frequenze :
The list of assigned asyncronous frequencies https://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/im ... e-2018.pdf
And the list of syncronous ones https://www.sviluppoeconomico.gov.it/im ... e-2018.pdf

After more than a half year the issues of these lists, it seems that only a few of the asyncronous ones (and none of the syncronous) have really started broadcasting.
On the other hand you can't find in the list any mention of some of more active broadcasters in last years' MW band in Italy (such as Radio Studio X, IAM Radio, AMica Radio Veneta,...).

[PFM907]

what a shame. the reduction of airtime for I AM Radio as well as the prohibition of license to Studio X, are both a huge loss for music on mediumwave.

[PFM907]

three UNIDs were logged today.

1584 kHz with Snap - Rhythm is a dancer, presentation in Italian, news at 18.06
1602 kHz with non-stop disco hitmix, ID "Radio Merano" at 17.03 - nice musical selection, reminds me of I Am radio
1625 kHz with oldie-based AC (Phil Collins, Survivor, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Hornsby) -very good audio

none of them seems to fit along with the listings

[Franco Martelli]

1584 kHz with Snap - Rhythm is a dancer, presentation in Italian, news at 18.06

And it didn't match with Free Radio AM streaming?

1602 kHz with non-stop disco hitmix, ID "Radio Merano" at 17.03 - nice musical selection, reminds me of I Am radio

It's Radio Milano for sure: it has been reported several times in November and I listened to it maybe two weeks ago.
They started broadcasting right after the disappearence of I Am Radio and, me too, I think that the music they broadcast is similar to the one of I AM Radio. Who knows?

1625 kHz with oldie-based AC (Phil Collins, Survivor, Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Hornsby) -very good audio

Only music without talks? I don't think it comes from Italy.