Date
1 - 6 of 6
France Inter on 162 kHz - carrier only?
|
Mark Roberts
I'm currently on vacation in France for the first time in four years and brought along my Sangean made Roberts 925 radio for longwave reception. In the past I've been able to get France Inter on 162 with no problem in France (and even as far as Leiden, NL). But now I just seem to get silent carrier. Anyone know if this is just being kept on the air for time signals? I've been mostly in the Massif Central this time..., Clermont-Ferrand, Millau, other places. The radio itself seems fine...picked up BBC Radio 4 on 198 in the southeast Netherlands with no problem at all. It also appears that the big France Info transmitter on 630 kHz from Lyon is gone. I'll be back in Lyon next week so will try to figure out more then. Thanks for any insight you can provide! |
|
|
|
Russ Edmunds
162 is now converted to a data signal - since you were there last. IIRC it was in 2019
Russ Edmunds WB2BJH Blue Bell, PA Grid FN20id From: main@UltralightDX.groups.io <main@UltralightDX.groups.io> on behalf of Mark Roberts via groups.io <markrobt@...>
Sent: Friday, September 16, 2022 12:08 PM To: main@ultralightdx.groups.io <main@ultralightdx.groups.io> Subject: [UltralightDX] France Inter on 162 kHz - carrier only? I'm currently on vacation in France for the first time in four years and brought along my Sangean made Roberts 925 radio for longwave reception. In the past I've been able to get France Inter on 162 with no problem in France (and even as far
as Leiden, NL). But now I just seem to get silent carrier. Anyone know if this is just being kept on the air for time signals? I've been mostly in the Massif Central this time..., Clermont-Ferrand, Millau, other places.
The radio itself seems fine...picked up BBC Radio 4 on 198 in the southeast Netherlands with no problem at all.
It also appears that the big France Info transmitter on 630 kHz from Lyon is gone. I'll be back in Lyon next week so will try to figure out more then.
Thanks for any insight you can provide!
|
|
|
|
FenDrifter
Hi Mark Drifter |
|
|
|
Mark Roberts
Thanks, all. @Drifter - your findings are consistent with what I was getting in the southeastern Netherlands near Eindhoven, though there was electrical interference giving me trouble for Radio Luxembourg. Radio 4 is at least a good replacement for the former World Service transmitter on 648 kHz MW. Just wanted some English-language radio while visiting the in-laws. The French FM networks are extensive plus there are more local signals now so it's not surprising they've given up on other analog modes. I should buy a DAB radio for the next time I'm here but I've found that I can order just about anything from Amazon France and it will get to my house in California in about a week. I may not bring the '925 along the next time I'm in Europe, I'm sorry to say. While its audio quality is good, its medium-wave tuning is difficult and FM performance is outstripped by the other radios I brought along - this time a Tecsun PL310ET and a Sangean DT-800 European version. On Fri, Sep 16, 2022 at 9:31 AM FenDrifter via groups.io <essexmarshman=icloud.com@groups.io> wrote:
|
|
|
|
FenDrifter
Hi Mark
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
On that particular day reception was remarkably good on longwave, with Radio Luxembourg coming in unusually well, although I have to confess to not listening to it much these days. I was interested to hear what you said about the French FM stations, I may have a saunter through that frequency soon. I can't as yet get excited about DAB but I'm aware of it's popularity. The Sangean DT-800 certainly takes my fancy, but it's high price makes me hesitate, is it's performance what it should be? Drifter on a sunny day in the winter of my discontent On 17 Sep 2022, at 18:10, Mark Roberts <markrobt@...> wrote:
|
|
|
|
Mark Roberts
@Drifter - I have both the North American version of the DT-800 and the European version. The European version doesn't have the North American weather band (162.40-55 MHz) and FM de-emphasis is set for 50 usec; the North American version has the weather band and 75 usec FM de-emphasis. Otherwise they are similar if not identical. FM performance is excellent, and RDS is included. AM medium-wave performance I would categorize as good but not exceptional. Two bandwidths, approximately 2.5 kHz and 4 kHz. Speaker audio has a dynamic bass boost available but it doesn't boost as much compared to other Sangean models. I am happy with these purchases but I don't rely upon them as my sole travel radio, e.g. the Tecsun PL310ET can be a true "clock radio" and the Sangean really doesn't do that; the Tecsun's FM performance is even better than the DT-800's; the Tecsun has "easy tuning mode" which is great for travel; and so on. On Sat, Sep 17, 2022 at 10:35 AM FenDrifter via groups.io <essexmarshman=icloud.com@groups.io> wrote:
|
|
|
