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Comment by DoubleGlazing | Hacker News Reader

When I was a student, doing lots of late nights, the shipping forecast helped lull me off to sleep. It's rhythmic, without being too repetitive.

It's an aural duvet that makes you feel safe and conformable. Not just because of the way it sounds, but also the fact that you know there are lots of people doing all the work needed to bring us the forecast and help keep mariners safe.

Even though I now live in Ireland, I still tune in to BBC Radio 4 on long wave every now and again to hear it. It's a unique and wonderful thing which I fear won't be around in a decade or two.

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FYI, BBC Radio 4 is available on the BBC IPlayer Radio app. That might be more convenient than longwave.

The BBC doesn't geoblock its radio shows, unlike the TV programmes, which can only be viewed from a UK IP address.

There is something nice about listening to it over long wave though. The crackling and the fading adds a certain charm. I kind of want to enjoy while it lasts, the BBC has said that when the LW transmitter valves fail they won't be replaced signalling the end of Radio 4 long wave.

As for the iPlayer the BBC has started to mess around with geoblocks on radio shows. For example I can listen to the News Quiz and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, but Dead Ringers is geoblocked. Also, the shows I can listen to now contain adverts along with a voice at the start telling me that BBC radio shows and podcasts are ad-supported outside the UK. This mildly disappoints me.

> the BBC has said that when the LW transmitter valves fail they won't be replaced

They better tell the Royal Navy - the broadcast of the Today Show on Radio 4 LW is one of the tests submarine captains supposedly use to detect if the UK has been annihilated in a nuclear strike.

Lest anyone think this is a joke at least the BBC themselves think it's true:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/36824917/trident-what-...

They had a captain of a nuke sub on the Today programme once, and they asked him.

His answer was that there was a protocol of multiple checks, including Radio 4 LW. Not the only check, but definitely one of them.

I think the BBC would probably run cap in hand to the MOD to pay for a new transmitter in that case. The BBC transmitter is getting on for 70 years old, once it fails repairing it will require custom made equipment or complete replacement - both of which will be very expensive.

One other curious issue with radio 4 LW is that it carries a data sub-carrier for the National Radio Teleswitch. Basically the signal that controls the Economy 7 and Economy 10 heating systems. If Radio 4 LW goes off-air any renaming E7 and E10 systems will just stop working.

One crazy proposal that went nowhere was for the BBC to move Radio 4 LW to RTÉs Clrakstown transmitter in Ireland. That used to be the Atlantic 252 transmitter (remember them?) but has been carrying RTÉ Radio 1 since that venture failed and RTÉ really wants to shut it down. The transmitter at that site was built in 1998 which makes it a very young in radio transmitter terms.

Not the BBC any more. They were required to privatise tranmission in 97. Not sure who owns them now.

The Beeb still has a couple of world service transmitters I think, but the rest are gone.

Arqiva. Owned by an Australian investment bank. They also own the old IBA transmission network that broadcasts ITV/C4 and co-owns the Freeview service. I.E. They hold a monopoly on TV and radio transmission in the UK. Plus with the roll-out of 4/5G mobile all those hilltop sites are making them a fortune for providing microwave relay feeds for data services.

RTÉ still owns their network as 2rn Ltd (the callsign of Irelands first radio station - phonetically 'To Erin') and they are making decent money from providing the same mobile services. Making the BBC sell off their transmission network was shortsighted.

I'm a radio and love all this. The head engineer of 2rn is a member of my radio club - he really knows his stuff.

Of course, you can listen to the longwave transmission via the internet:

http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ (198kHz, AM)

"aural duvet" is a wonderful turn of phrase: just the sound of the words is soothing

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