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Saffron Green (Greater London, England) analogue radio transmitter

sa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.665,-0.243 or 51°39'54"N 0°14'35"W


UK Free TV shows the coverage area for a radio transmitter as a coloured overlay (orange for FM, other colours for DAB) on the grey map. We have computed the coverage by combining the terrain with the official radiation pattern. A single click will select the transmitter to view the coverage for a single site, and a double click goes to a page showing full details. Click on the buttons in the right-hand corner of the map to choose from different frequencies (or multiplexes for DAB).

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Saffron Green (Greater London, England) transmitter.

 

Local transmitter maps

Saffron Green AM/FM

Comments
Friday, 16 September 2016
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:21 AM

Vlada Babuska:

You are very lucky to be able to receive a Medium Wave transmission from the London area all the way across the continent in Prague. Such transmissions are not intended to be reliably receivable that far away, so fading, etc is to be expected.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Saturday, 17 September 2016
M
Michael
4:57 PM

MikeP: I've picked LBC up in northern france clear during the day time there some hotspots'on the continent,however this transmitter is focused on london the signal takes a substantial drop to barely audible near Tring Herts to the north.

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Michael's 1 post GB flag
Sunday, 18 September 2016
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:42 AM

Michael:

None of that changes my answer. MW transmissions are not intended to be receivable outside of the service area. That they often can be is a matter of physics. Tropospheric ducting/temperature inversions often occur during high atmospheric pressure and hot weather, and are usually experienced with UHF signals - but they do affect lower frequency signals too. Radio Luxemberg was famous for fading in and out on their 208 metres transmissions - because of atmospheric effects.

Transmitter aerials are often designed to be directional so as to serve particular area(s) that would otherwise have little or no service.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Sunday, 22 July 2018
M
Mr Fox
9:55 AM

Both 1152kHz & 1548kHz have been off air since yesterday.

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Mr Fox's 2 posts US flag
M
Mr Fox
9:59 AM

Both LBC & Gold have been off air since yesterday.

link to this comment
Mr Fox's 2 posts US flag
Saturday, 4 April 2020
F
Faren
7:10 AM

Hello,

I receive the Radio Gold (1548 kHz) in Warsaw PL only at night, although often the program is disturbed by a signal from a transmitter from Grigoriopol from Transnistria, i.e. about 510 miles (820 km) as the crow flies.
Another station may be involved, but I can't identify it.
The AM SynchronousDetectionfunction greatly improves the reception.

If this station broadcasts in DAB+ only, the signal reception will be limited to 80 miles using a directional antenna. This is a big difference compared to the current coverage in half of Europe.

On the other hand, streaming is a completely different medium (this is not a radio!), so having to choose the lesserof two evils, the optimal solution for digital broadcasting is Digital Radio Mondial (DRM) with xHE-AAC codec.

DRM with xHE-AAC has stereo "mp4" reception signal quality in the whole AM band and the coverage the same as on Short Waves.
Yes, DRM is a bit more expensive than DAB+ , but it has incomparably greater coverage - global (!) - than that which can be provided by the DAB+ standard, i.e. local coverage.

So it's worth considering such an option otherwise the number of recipients will certainly be drastically reduced.

Thank you.

Faren

link to this comment
Faren's 2 posts PL flag
F
Faren
7:13 AM

Hello,

I receive the Radio Gold (1548 kHz) in Warsaw PL only at night, although often the program is disturbed by a signal from a transmitter from Grigoriopol from Transnistria, i.e. about 510 miles (820 km) as the crow flies.
Another station may be involved, but I can't identify it.
The AM SynchronousDetectionfunction greatly improves the reception.

If this station broadcasts in DAB + only, the signal reception will be limited to 80 miles using a directional antenna. This is a big difference compared to the current coverage in half of Europe.

On the other hand, streaming is a completely different medium (this is not a radio!), so having to choose the lesserof two evils, the optimal solution for digital broadcasting is Digital Radio Mondial (DRM) with xHE-AAC codec.

DRM with xHE-AAC has stereo "mp4" reception signal quality in the whole AM band and the coverage the same as on Short Waves.
Yes, DRM is a bit more expensive than DAB+ , but it has incomparably greater coverage - global (!) - than that which can be provided by the DAB+ standard, i.e. local coverage.

So it's worth considering such an option otherwise the number of recipients will certainly be drastically reduced.

Faren.

Thank you.

link to this comment
Faren's 2 posts PL flag
Saturday, 16 January 2021
G
Gtibb
11:18 PM

Following a lightning strike that damaged one of the four ATUs (antenna tuning units) on the Gold service (1548 KHz) in the summer of 2020, a reserve antenna is being utilised for this service. The result is that what is usually an end fire array that closely focuses on London, there is now a more Hypercardoid pattern in use creating a lot more signal to the north & west of London. Several attempts have been made to repair the damaged ATU without success. However, with the closest co-channel services on 1548 in Bristol & Liverpool now no longer in use it may be that this situation may become permanent.

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Gtibb's 20 posts GB flag
Sunday, 17 January 2021
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:42 AM

Gtibb:

Thanks for that interesting technical information. Shame we don't see more of that sort of thing around this site.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
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