Long Wave Details

All stations apply long wave broadcasting if they are operating between 153 and 279 KiloHertz, i.e., wavelengths greater than 1,000 meters. These wavelengths travel long distances and usually use much higher power than radio waves, FM and DAB. Strong power levels are 500 kilowatts, even though some stations transmit up to 2 megawatts (two million watts).

Coverage 'per kilowatt' is far better on radio waves than an identically powered transmitter on the radio waveband; typically, it favors wide area coverage. The band is primarily utilized in Europe, the ITU's region 1, although not exclusively. A lot of Middle East and North African countries use the band or have unexploited allocations.

Examples of Long Wave

Let's use radio stations in Romania and Mongolia. XYZ radio station in Romania has a 153 frequency kHz and 200 power KW covering a median wavelength of 150 meters. However, the ABC radio station in Mongolia has 164 frequency kHz and 500 power KW broadcasts from 21:00 to 14:00 UTC. The wavelength goes an extended distance for Mongolia, with far better coverage than offered by Romania's radio station.

Significance of Long Wave

Long waves:

  1. Help in having a good transmission during broadcasting.
  2. Uses radio waves of 1 to 10km wavelength.
  3. Broadcasting retains listeners.
  4. The demand for spectrum has recently increased dramatically, driven by growing quantities of knowledge transmitted over the web and rapidly increasing numbers of wireless devices, including smartphones and tablets, Wi­Fi networks, and everyday objects connected to the web.

Medium Wave vs. Long Wave

Medium wave (MW) refers to a part of the MF radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The frequency provides about 120 channels with finite sound quality. During the daytime, they only receive local stations. Propagation within the night allows strong signals within a variety of about 2,000 km.

It will cause massive interference because, on most channels, about 20 to 50 transmitters operate simultaneously worldwide. However, long wave radios are more prevalent in maritime communication. Within the early day's long wave radio transmission were used since they had the power to send wave signals over a greater distance using less power. Long wave covers a large area by employing higher power than FM.

The normal power level may start from 500 KW and gradually ascend to 2 MW. It's more simple and suitable for wider coverage. That's because its broadcasting capability per kilowatt is quite an MW band powered by an identical transmitter.

History of Long Wave

The term is a historical one dating from the 20th century when experts considered the radio­frequency spectrum to contain long, medium, and short wavelengths. Swedish station SAQ, located at the Varberg station facility in Grimeton, is the last remaining operational Alexanderson alternator long­ wave transmitter. Although the station ended regular service in 1996, it's been maintained as a World Heritage Site and makes a minimum of two demonstration transmissions yearly, on 17.2 kHz.