Medium Wave Frequencies in Central Europe

KHz / Status / Country / Programme / Power kW (effective ERP) / next city near transmitter / audio bandwidth / Programme type and remarks 531 Alg Radio Algérie Int. 600 Ain El Beida, ne 5.3/9.3 NB yth, n 300 kW Rom Romania Actualitati 8 Petrosani, w NB &Far Kringvarp Foroeya 10 Akraberg 4.8 NB 540 Hng Kossuth Radio 2000 Solt, c 4.8 NB Spa Onda Cero Catalunia 50 Barcelona, ne Com Mrc Al Idaa Al-Watania 300 Sidi Bennour, c NB *Kwt Radio Kuwait 600 Kabd NB 549 Svn Radio Koper 15 Beli Kriz PB Alg Jil FM 300 Sidi Hamadouche, nw NB 558 Rom R.RomaniaActualitat 200 Targu Jiu, sw NB Svn Muravideki Magyar R. 10 Maribor, e 5.3 PB min Irn Radio Iran 4420 24 tx NB &Gbr Panjab Radio 3 London, se Com Asian 567 Rom Romania Aktualit. 50 Brasov 5.5 NB *Sau Quran Radio 200 Jeddah, nw NB 576 Bul Horizont 200 Vidin, nw NB, will cease soon 585 Tun R.Nationale Tunis. 200 Gafsa, w NB Irn Radio Fahran 600 Gheslag, n 13.0 NB 594*Sau SBA Nedaa Al-Islam 50 Makkah, w PB 595*Mrc Al Idaa Al-Watania 50 Oujda, e NB 603 Rom R.RomaniaActualitati 50 Oradea / Botosani 9.0 NB Oma R.Sultanate Oman 500 Bidiyah, e NB 612*Mrc SNRT Arabic 140 Meknes, c NB 621 Mda Voice of Russia 1000 Maiac FS 05-07 UTC *Irn IRIB R.Khavaran 200 Birjand, e PB, on 621.4 kHz 630 Tun RTT Arabic 300 Tunis, n 5.5 NB Rom R.Timisoara / mn 400 Timisoara, w 9.3 NB, also "Maghiar German" Hungarian and German 639*Oma R.Sultanate Oman 100 Mahda NB 648 Gbr Radio Caroline 16 Ipswich, eEng 7.0 Com Rock Svn Radio Murski Val 10 Murska Sobota 5.3 PB in Hungarian, also Slowenja 1 657 Irn Radio Gilan 100 Gilan, nw 4.5 PB 666 Ltu Radio Signal 25 Kaunas, c FS in Russian 18-24 UTC Spa SER 1 Barcelona, e Com Irn Radio Fars 400 Shiraz, sw NB 675*Qat Radio Qatar 600 Doha 4.5 NB Ned Radio Calypso 0.1 Emmen, ne 6.3 Com Polka 684 Tun R.Nationale Tunis. 50 Medenin, c NB 693 Gbr BBC 5 Live 291 11 tx 6.4 NB talk 702*Alg R.Coran/R.Laghouat 25 Laghouat, n NB, also Chaine1/R.Culture *Oma BBC WS 800 A'Seela FS arabic *Sau Radio Jeddah 100 Duba NB 711 Rum R.RomaniaActualitati 50 Sighet, ne 9.0 NB &Irn Radio Ahwaz 200 Ahwaz, sw PB 720 Rom R.Rom.Actualitati 35 3 tx NB mix, echoes 729 Grc ERA 1 10? Athens, c NB, probably reduced power 747*Irn Radio Iran 250 2 tx NB *Ned R.Emmeloord/Seagull 0.1 Emmeloord, n Com 756 Rom R.Rom.Actualitati 400 Sibiu, s 5.0 NB &Gbr BBC R.Cumbria 1 Carlisle, nwEng PB 765&Sau Al-Quran 20 Qurayyat, nw NB 774 Egy Al Sharq 500 Abis NB 783 Syr As-Suriyyah 1 600 Tartus, w 6.5 NB 1st arab, irregular Spa COPE 50 Barcelona, ne 7.0 Com 792 Spa SER 20 Sevilla, s Com info Cze Radio Dechovka 10 Hradec Kralove Com &Irn Radio Zanjan 50 Zanjan, nw PB, 791.9 KHz 801 Irn IRIB R.Khorasan 200 Mashad PB 810 Gbr BBC Radio Scotland 205 3 tx 6.5 PB mix Scotland Mac Radio Skopje 300 Skopje, c 6.5 NB, probably reduced power 819 Egy Al-Barna 1000 Alexandria, n 6.0 NB weak modulation Ned Low Power stations 0.1 828 Rus Radiogazeta Slovo 10 St.Petersburg, nw 10.0 Loc "patriotic" *Gbr BBC Asian Network 0.2 Wolverhampton, sEng PB &Ned Low Power stations 0.1 837 Spa COPE 57 Burgos / Sevilla + 2 tx Loc, echoes Gbr BBC Radio Cumbria 1 Barrow, nwEng Loc Gbr BBC Asian Network 0.7 Leicester, wEng PB min Ukr Persha Program UR1 130 Taraniv / Cherniv 9.0 NB, irregular Irn Radio Esfahan 400 Esfahan, c PB 846 Ned MCB Radio 0.1 Alphen, w Com Oldies 855 Rom R.RomaniaActualitati250 Bucarest 9.5 NB mix 864 Egy Al-Qaran 500 Santah, n 5.5 NB rel 873 Hng MR4 Nemzetisegi 40 Budapest,c / Pecs,s NB min Gbr BBC Radio Norfolk 0.2 West Lynn, eEng Loc Mda R.Moldova Actualid. 75 Chisinau, c NB Spa SER 25 Zaragoza, ne 5.5 Com info 882 Gbr BBC Radio Wales 12 Cardiff, sWal 6.5 PB mix for Wales Irn Radio Mahabad 60 Mahabad, w &Spa COM Radio 10 Barcelona, ne Com "Catalunya Ona Municipal" 891 Alg Chaine 1 100 Algiers, n NB Ned Low Power stations 0.1 900 Sau Radio Riyadh 1000 Qurayyat NB *Spa Radio Popular Herr. 1 Bilbao, n Com 909 Gbr BBC 5 Live 466 11 tx 5.0 NB talk Rom Radio Cluj 200 Cluj, ne 7.0/4.7 PB, lso R.Bukarest, SRR Kolozsvari Rom R.RomaniaActualitati 50 Timisoara, nw NB 918 Ned Low Power stations 0.1 927 Ita Power 927 1 Milano, n Com 936 Irn R.Chiches 300 Miandoab, nw 9.5 PB Gbr Dales Radio 0.15Hawes 6.3 Com 945 Rom R.Romania Actualidad 14 Miercuria Ciuc, c 5.5 NB Irn IRIB R.Kurdistan 100 Dehgola, nw PB 954 Cze Country Radio 5 Ceske Budejovice, sw 11.0 Com Spa Onda Cero 50 Madrid, c Com News Qua Qatar Al Doha 1500 Al Arish NB main progr. 963 Tun R.Tunis Int. 100 Jedeida, n 7.0 FS Gbr Sunrise Radio 1 East London Com Asian 972 Gbr Sunrise Radio 1 London 6.5 Com Asian &Irn Radio Ilam 100 Ilam, w PB 981 Cze Radio Cesky Impuls 1 Praha, c 5.2 Com Alg Chaine 2 Thakafiyah 100 Alger, c 4.8 NB in Berber, n: 300 kW Ita RAI R.Filo/Trieste 10 Trieste, n NB / Loc in Slowenian 990 Spa SER Radio Bilbao 15 Bilbao, n / Radio Cadiz,s Com info Gbr BBC Radio 5 live 1 Tywyn 6.3 NB talk 999 Mda Radio Rossii 300 Grigoriopol, e 5.2 NB in Russia, 19-01 UTC Ita RAI Radio 1 50 Torino, nw 9.0 NB Spa COPE Madrid 50 Madrid, c 9.0 Com info "Radio Popular de Madrid" &Gbr BBC Solent/5live/WS 1 Southampton, s Loc / NB 1008 Spa SER 20 Girona, Badajoz, Alicante Com info Ned Low Power stations 0.1 1026 Irn Radio Tabriz 200 Tabriz, nw PB Gbr BBC Radio Jersey 1 Jersey, s Loc / NB Spa SER 24 Reus + 5 tx 9.0 Com Loc 1035:Est Radio Eli 100 Tartu, c 5.0 Com Rel in Russian Gbr Lyca Gold 3 London 6.3 Com Asian 1044 Spa SER 35 San Sebastian,n / Valladol. 9.0 Com Loc 1053 Gbr Talk Sport 168 Birmingham, Norwich 5.5 Com talk, echoes Rom R.Iasi/Rom.Actual. 400 Iasi, ne 10.0 PB 1062 Irn Radio Kerman 50 Kerman, c 5.5 PB 1071 Gbr Talk Sport 1 Newcastle 5.5 Com talk, echoes 1080 Spa SER 20 5 tx 9.0 Loc: Granada, Palma, La Coruna, Huesca 1089 Gbr Talk Sport 455 7 tx 5.5 NB talk, echoes 1098 Sau Radio Jeddah 100 Dammam, nw NB 1107 Gbr Talk Sport 2.5 Boston/Fareham/Wallasey 6.3 Com talk 1116 Hng Danko Radio 20 Miskolc, ne / Mosonm.,nw 6.3 NB Spa SER 5 3 tx Com R.Albacete / R.Pontevedra / R.Tarrasa Gbr BBC R.Derby / 5live 1.2 Derby, w 6.3 Loc / NB Gbr BBC R.Guernsey 0.5 Guernsey Isl., s Loc 1134 Spa COPE 30 5 tx 10.0 Com news/loc, echoes Ned low power stations 0.1 Kwt Radio Kuwait 100 Kabd NB 1143*Spa COPE 10 Ourense, nw / Jaen, s Com info 1152 Rom R.Rom.Aktualitati 950 Cluj, w / Kupavna 9.3 NB, mix 1161 Irn IRIB World Service 300 Qasr, w FS arab 1620-2020, 0130-0420 UTC 1170 Cro Radio Capodistria 15 Rijeka, w 4.8 PB mix in Italian, also R.Slowenija 1179 Rom R.RomaniaActualitati207 Bacau, e / Vascau 5.0 NB mix Spa SER 5 Valencia, e 9.5 Com 1188:Hng MR 4 Nemzetiseg 400 Marcali/Szolnok 5.0 min, only daytime Irn Radio Payam 300 Teheran, n PB Ita Radio Studio X 5 Livorno, n Com 1197 Rom R.Cluj/R.Neumarkt 14 Brasov PB min (Radio Targu Mures) 1215 Spa COPE 20 Leon / Cordoba Com Ita Radio Z100 5 Milano area, n pirate? power estimated, 80s soul music 1224 Spa COPE 40 7 tx 15.0 Com/Loc &Ned low power stations 0.1 1242 Oma R.Sultanate of Oman 200 As Seeb NB 1251 Hng Danko Radio 25 Nyiregyhaza/Szombathely 5.0 NB, Loc "Nyiregihazi Regionalis Studio", mn "Nemzetisegi Adasok", echoes, 05-21 UTC *Irn Radio Iran 100 Kiashar, n NB &Ned low power stations 0.1 1260 Spa SER 10 Murcia / Algeciras, s 8.0 Com Gbr Sabras Radio 0.3 Leicester, nwEng Loc Com Asian Cze Radio Dechovka 10 Praha, c 5.5 Com Czech brass music 1269 Spa COPE 15 Zamora / Badajoz Com news 1278:Ukr Persha Program UR1 100 Petrivka, s 9.5 NB 18-21 Irn Radio Kermanshah 200 Karmanshah, w PB &Gbr Pulse 2 0.4 Bradford, cEng 6.5 Loc Com 1287 Spa SER 14 R.Lerida / R.Lugo /R.Burgos 7.0 Com news, long echo Ned Low Power stations 0.1 1296 Spa COPE Valencia 20 Valencia, e 8.0 Com &Gbr Radio XL 6 Birmingham, wEng 6.5 Loc Asian 1305 Gbr Premier Radio 1 London 6.5 Com relg 1314 Rom Antena Satelor 44 Timisoara,nw/Constanza,se 5.0 NB folklore Rom SRR Radio Oltenia 10 Craiova, s 4.8 PB, after 22UTC 1323 Rom R.Cluj/R.Neumarkt 7 Targu Mures 4.9 PB + German minority service Ita AM Italia / IRRS 5 Padua, ne Com English International Relay Service 1332 Rom R.RomaniaActualitati 50 Galati, e 5.0 NB Irn IRIB Radio Teheran 300 Teheran, n PB Ned Low Power stations 0.1 1341 Spa Onda Cero 15 Ciudad Real / Almeria Com News Egy Radio Quran 100 Cairo, n NB 1350 Hng MR4 Nemeszetegi 5 Györ, nw 5.0 NB min, 07-19 UTC :Arm Trans World Radio 1000 Gavar Rel 18-1915 UTC Trans World Radio in Kurd/Turk/Hebr/Rus 1368 Gbr Manx Radio 20 Isle of Man 7.8 PB sen, off at night 1377:Arm Trans World Radio 50 Gavar Rel in Farsi/Arab/Kurd 18-21 UTC Chn CNR 1 600 Xingyang, w 10.0 NB 1386:Ltu R.Baltic Waves Int. 75 Viesintos, ne 6.3 FS relays R.Poland, NHK Japan, RFE/R.Liberty 1395 Ned Radio Seabreeze 0.1 Grouw Com Oldies Ned Low Power stations 0.1 1404 Rom Radio Cluj 50 Sighet, n 5.0 PB loc & min Rom R.Romania Actualid. 7 Sibiu, c 9.7 NB Grc ERT Komotinis 50 Komotini, n 4.1 PB 1413 Mda Vesti FM 500 Grigoripol, e 5.5 FS Rus Oma BBC WS / Arabic 800 A'Seela, e FS Gbr Premier Radio 1 London (2 tx) 6.5 Com relg Gbr BBR R.5/Gloucetersh. 0.5 Berkeley, wEng 6.1 Loc 1422 Rom R.Romania Actualitati 7 Ramnicu Valcea, c 9.0 NB Alg Radio Coran/Culture 50 Algiers, n NB 1449 Gbr BBC Asian Network 0.15 Peterborough,eEng PB Sau Radio Riyadh 100 Jeddah, w PB 1458 Gbr Lyca Radio 50 London 7.0 Com Asian Gbr BBC Asian Network 5 Birmingham, wEng PB Rom R.RomaniaActualitati 50 Constanza, e NB 1467 Fra Trans World Radio 1000 Roumoules, se 5.2 Rel 20-23 UTC Ned Radio Paradijs 1 Utrecht, c 5.8 Loc relays Radio Veronica 192 *Irn Radio Qom 100 Qom, w NB, on 1467.3 *Sau Radio Riyadh 50 Riyadh, c PB 1476 Uae Radio Keralam 200 Rasal 5.1 Asian *Egy Al-Quran 20 Al-Minya,c / Sohag,c NB *Irn Radio Kordestan 20 Marivan, nw PB, on 1476.25 1485 Spa SER 26 4 tx 5.0 Com, Alcoy, Santander, Zamora, Melilla Ger Campusradio Erlangen 0.1 Erlangen, s College, transmitter project Joe / Funklust & low power stations all over Europe & NL 1494 Mda Radio Moldova Act 60 2 tx 9.0 NB, Moldova channel 2, one transmitter 70 Hz below Gbr Radio Blackbeard ? Pirate 1503 Ita Radio Metropolis 5 Trieste, ne Com Irn Radio Iran 200 Bushehr, sw NB arab 1512 Irn Radio Ardabil 50 Ardabil, nw PB 1521 Spa SER 2 Castellon Com info Chn China R.Int. 500 Xingjiang, w 10.0 FS in Russian 11-20 / 00-02 UTC Gbr Radio Panj 1 Coventry, cEng 5.0 Loc Rel 1530 Rom R.RomaniaActualitati 50 Nanauti, n 4.8 NB, power estimated, nominally 14 KW Gbr Pulse 2 0.7 Huddersfield, cEng Com Loc old 1539 Spa SER 11 Elche-Elx / Manresa Com info echoes Uae Pravasi Bharathi 200 Abu Dhabi Com *Irn Radio Golestan 50 Gorgan, n PB 1548:Mol VoRussia/China R.I. 500 Maiac, c 5.5 FS 1557 Ltu Radio Pravda 50 Kaunas FS in Russian 18-24 UTC 1566 Ned Vahon Hindustani 0.06Den Haag, w Ethnic Com Gbr Premier Christian R. 0.8 Guildford, se 6.0 Rel Gbr BBC R.Somerset/5live 1 Bristol area, sw 6.0 Loc / NB 1575 Gbr Radio Seerah 0.003 Leicester Rel Islam Ita Radio Centrale 1 Milano, n liecenced? 1584 Rom R.Vocea Spirantein 4 4tx Rel several low power stns all over EU 1593 Rom Radio Cluj 9 Sibiu, s + Oradea, nw 04-19 /Antena Siuliu (only Sibiu)/ min Rom R.Targu Mures/mn 14 Harghita, c 04-19 /mn "Neumarktner Rundfunk" in German Rom R.RomaniaActualitati 14 Calarasi, se weaker than Cluj/Targu Mures 1602 Spa SER / Loc 20 Linares/Segovia/Cartagena/Ontinyent Com Gbr Desi Radio 0.15London 5.5 Com Asian Ned Radio Flandria 0.1 Hemelum, ne 5.2 Loc several low power stns all over EU 1610 - 1700 pirate stations, mostly from the Netherlands (typical powers 0.01 - 2 kW) 1610 - 1800 pirate stations from Greece and the Balcan (some also operate in the regular MW range, powers up to 25 KW)

Long Wave Radio

153 Rou Antena Satelor/RA 200 Brasov, c NB folklore, 22-05 R.Romania Actualitati 171*Mrc Medi 1 2000 Nador, ne 9.0 Com 198 Gbr BBC Radio 4 (LW) 600 Birmingham, wEng + 2 tx Sco 4.7 NB aff 225 Pol Polskie Radio 1 600 Warszawa, e 6.3 NB mix 252 Alg RTA 1/3/4 1500 Alger, n 10.5 NB arab, Arabic, French and Int. Sces.

Introduction

Surf the Medium Wave ! You can travel the world in front of your speaker. This list originally was for people who want to start exploring the medium wave. When it was first pubshed on the internet in 1997, there was much more variety but also a lot of strong interference. More and more stations especially in Central Europe are now switching their transmitters off. Weaker stations from the UK and Spain, even from the Middle East and Iran suddenly appear if you have a good antenna. The list has become more and more comprehensive, also including these weaker stations. The strong ones you'll notice first are bold.

Receivers

Affordable portables for a start

The little Tecsun PL606 offers impressive quality and abilities for only 35 €. It contains a DSP chip that processes the signals like a little computer. FM and SW reception is decent, too. So you can even adjust the bandwidth- a feature usually limited to more expensive communication receivers.

I was also very satisfied with the Grundig Yacht Boy 400- the one with knobs sold in the late 1990s for an equivalent of 140 €. Used models are available on e-bay for about 35 € if you're lucky. Two bandwidths, also LW and even SSB mode (single side band reception for amateur radio and some utility reception). In my short test it beat the Sony ICF7600. The Grundig had better results on MW and a better sound quality.

The Sangean PR3L (€ 90 without shortwave) wasn't tested too bad too. In the USA the solid "GE Super Radio" seems to have a good reputation (about 40 $). You can be lucky with car radios, depending on the antenna and interference by the car's electronics, which is a real issue.

Modern hifi tuners usually dissapoint as far as AM is concerned. Walkmen are not bad. Some radios from the 70ies or older even ones with valves if they still work offer surprising qualities. Maybe your grandma has got one in the attic.

Communications receivers

...are the choice for a bit more dedicated approach to MW. Good receivers usually cost at least about 500 €. Overseas reception on MW will become only possible with the exprensive ones, in combination with an outdoor antenna in an environment free of electric noise.

Software Defined Receivers (SDR)

are even better. They work in combination with a PC or notebook and offer features serious MW listeres must have dreamt about in all these years. You can connect to other receivers around the world via the internet and tune the band there. There is almost no latency. It appears as if the remote antenna was connected to your own device.

The SDR hardware market is rapidly expanding. Look at the Wikipedia list of SDR receivers. You can combine most SDRs with a number of different software solutions. You can start remote listening with the free SDRSpace Console.

My choice is the Perseus receiver with superior audio. There is a trial version of its unique software without hardware: You can also connect to remote Perseus receivers using it. Adjust to any bandwidth and play with sidebands to optimize the results. No filter hardware can reach the capability and flexibility of digital signal processing. Sensitivity can be driven to extremes to detect the weakest carriers from the other side of the world. It is even possible to record the whole MW at once (creating a WAV file with 2 MHz bandwidth). Enthusiasts exchange their files via the internet. So you can get an impression what it is like to listen to MW in America or Australia.

Antennas

Walkmen and transistor radios often have built-in antannas. You can focus the reception directions by turning the whole receiver. If your receiver has an AM antenna plug, connect it with a wire (5 m is good, 100 m is better). If possible, lead that wire through a window to the outside. Sometimes radiators are amazingly good antennas. Put the receiver close to it or connect the wire with it.

If you want to go further I recommend magnetic loop antennas. They cope with noisy environments because they de-emphasize signals which are only a few metres away. And they do not require too much space. The Wellbrook ALA1530 is a loop with 1 m diametre. The results are excellent. Pricing is about 300 €. If the ALA1530 is too large for your indoor setup, AOR has a tinier magnetic loop out: the LA380. Haven't tested it yet. There are many alternatives.

Avoid electric interference

Switch off the PC (if your receiver is no SDR), the TV and the cell phone, and plug off external power supplies because they cause heavy interference. The sound quality on MW practically never reaches FM-sound (though some stations deliver adequate results with an extended bandwidth). When two or more AM-stations (standing for Amplitude Modulation) occupy the same channel, they will be heard simultanously. So listen for the background. This is one major difference to FM where only the superior signal will be heard. Many stations pause with their transmissions in the night. Listening to the clear frequencies can be really exciting then because weaker stations can get through suddenly.

Evening and Nighttime Reception

Darkness leads to strong signals up to 1500 km. So in the night all Europe can be heard. On some channels up to 4 stations appear all at once. Very interesting are the hours around sundown and sunrise.

Sunrise: stations from the west can be heard better.
Sunset: stations from the east can be heard better. sometimes it is amazing how strong stations from one direction suddenly are.
in the winter season it remains rather dark daytime reception improves because it remains rather dark all the time
about half of the stations listed here have a break of transmission in the night. Then, the weaker stations suddenly appear
with very good equipment distances of up to 10.000 km can be taken, but too often it is impossible because of interference.

The local stations in a destination up to 50 km remain the strongest ones anyway. Between 50 and 200 km there is a "skip zone" with weaker signals.

Daytime reception

In the daytime, only local reception is possible.

Transmitter coverage in accordance to power (kw) during light hours with an average receiver, built-in antenna or 1 m wire in the summer

  kW   Long Wave          700         1500  KHz    
--------------------------------------------------
   0.1        60           30           20      kilometres
   1         100           50           30  
  10         200          100           70 
 100         500          300          150  
1000        1000          500          300

Over the sea reception is much better.

Very interesting is also short wave. There you can hear all the continents of the world with their foreign services, most of them with English programmes for some hours of the day. On MW you get the national domesic services.

MEDIUMWAVE.DE

On this site:

Highly recommended link:

Medium Wave Survey for Central Europe

Long Wave Radio

Abbreviations and Explanations

Columns:

Types of broadcasters:

Formats:

Countries: