Thru some blogs, I heard
something interesting.
Well, the UK has many little
villages that don't get good
FM reception, don't get DAB
reception at all (The European kind of DAB),
don't have much
internet, and some that don't even have
cell service.
And there are elderly people in some of
these places that don't have anything except
their old AM radios. SO, a lot of these people
are just out of luck for radio service, because
so many AM transmitters in Europe
have been turned off.
(Side note: Here in Hartford, CT, I was
fortunate one evening to receive an
absolute "Bombing In: reception of the
BBC Radio 5 (?) on my ICF-2010 Sony receiver
in our backyard in the early evening local time. This
was on 693 kHz. More about that in the end
of this note.)
Anyhow, the blogs have said that there are
people in some of these villages that broadcast
with little radio stations (like ours) out of NECESSITY,
because the villagers don't know what's
going on. And because - THERE IS NO BROADCAST SERVICE in
theses places!
Is this really true?? I don't know. It is only hearsay,
I guess. I don't know of any actual examples. I also
don't expect to hear about any specific stations out there.
There is no Part 15 in the UK. Even 100 mW with a
3 meter antenna is illegal there - so nobody is going
to pop up on the internet and say, "Here I am!!," öbviously.
But it appears that there are some people who NEED and/or CONSTRUCT
these little stations, because it is the ONLY WAY, if you
know what I mean.
So are these little stations really there? Well, if you have
ever watched the "Doc Martin" TV show from the UK,
you might wonder.
"Doc Martin" is a charming show about a doctor in a
little fishing village. And, in one episode, a bunch of
people in the town made a radio station in somebody's
living room and went on the air!
(Note on Doc Martin: The Doc Martin character is an
obnoxious and extremely grouchy local MD with no social skills
whatsoever, but - with a heart of gold. He will do anything
for anybody at almost any time. He is also afraid of blood.
He will crawl through a river of mud in his business suit with
his doctor's bag to save a life of some poor soul. He will
perform surgery with kitchen utensils or car repair tools
and save the person's life. Then he will yell at that person
to go to bed and rest. Then he will crawl back through the
mud to his crowded little office in his business suit (dripping
in mud, now) and see the next patient. He is sort of an
"Ädrian Monk" kind of character. Absolutely clueless on how
to treat people, but saving lives all the time. And he is also sort
of funny looking.)
(Note on my BBC Radio 5 reception on 693 kHz here in Hartford.
There were (then) several 693 kHz transmitters all simulcasting
the same program in the UK at that time. This was a few years
ago. I have heard through the grapevine that most or all of these
transmitters have been shut off for good. Why??? Even more of a mystery
to me - why did the the 693 kHz DX come in with so much strength that ONE Night -
and then NOT AT ALL the next evening? MW propagation in still not
understood in many aspects.)
Well, that's it for now.
Bruce, Stiil in Hartford