I took a delve into obscurity at the weekend and started reading about
the history of the Third Programme (predecessor to Radio 3).
1. I see the Daventry transmitter, opened on 27 July 1925, was the
world's first long wave transmitting station (National Programme).
This was replaced on 7 October 1934 by a higher-powered one at
Droitwich. By contrast, when the Third Programme commenced in 1946 (on
464 m), it was broadcast from Droitwich and subsequently relocated to
Daventry in 1950.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx8wxnwn5ygo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daventry_transmitting_station
It seems odd that the National Programme started in Daventry then
moved to Droitwich to improve reception and the Third Programme
started in Droitwich and moved to Daventry, again to improve
reception, when both were designed with the same aim, being to provide
coverage to a large part of England. Is there a difference in ideal
topography for long and medium wave?
2. The Third Programme also had relay stations on 194 m. I see from
the Copenhagen plan that Westerglen and Burghead (in Scotland) were
allocated 194 metres yet the BBC used low powered city transmitters in
Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee. Why would they do this when
it meant Third Programme coverage was then very limited in Scotland?
https://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/the_copenhagen_frequency_plan_of_1948.html More generally, how good was the reception on 464 metres? I see that
it suffered less from interference from other stations that most other wavelengths, and I believe the permitted bandwidth was greater in the
past.
https://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/history_of_648.html#:~:text=World%20Service%20for%20Europe%20on,beam%20away%20from%20the%20UK
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