DX Radio LPAM - Low Power AM

LPAM (Low Power AM) stations have a special licence from Ofcom to allow them to broadcast to a very small area, such as a hospital, university or army barracks. They have a maximum power output of 1 Watt, which is very small compared to other radio stations on the medium wave band; most local stations have power of about 1-5 kW, and some national services are 500kW (500,000 Watts).

Despite this low power it is possible to receive these broadcasts over a wide area if you have a good receiver and antenna - stations can be heard over 100 km away during the daytime. During darkness hours the signals can be heard over many hundreds of km if conditions are good and the frequency used is not occupied by high power broadcasters.

However, many stations do not acknowledge distant reports, as their licence only covers the site they are broadcasting from, and the licence may be revoked if Ofcom considers they are aiming at a wider audience.

LPAMs started on an experimental basis in 1997 with two student and two hospital stations, and since early 1999 the Radio Authority has granted licences to many other institutions.

In addition to LPAMs, Ofcom also licences some LPFM stations, usually on 87.7 MHz, and also 28 day RSLs (Restricted Service Licence), in both the medium wave and FM bands. Some sporting RSLs are on all year round, but only on certain dates such as home football matches or horse/motor racing days.

For a list of current RSLs, check out my RSL page or the Ofcom website's RSL Pages

Please feel free to me if you have any more information about any of the stations included in these pages, or if there are any errors.

73s Mark

LPAM News

15 Feb 2008:SIN Radio currently broadcast only via Internet, so I've removed their 1431 listing.
31 May 2007:WCR switched off their MW 1350 kHz transmitter with many presenters transfering to the new Community Station "WCR FM" on 101.8 MHz.
30 Jun 2004:L&D Radio begins test transmissions on 1134 kHz covering Luton & Dunstable Hospital.
4 May 2004:Lyneham Radio is on the air covering the RAF Lyneham base in Wiltshire.
4 May 2004:D:ONE began broadcasting to Derby University on 1278 kHz.
1 May 2004:Apple AM began broadcasting on 1431 kHz to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.
5 Dec 2003:IC Radio plans to launch on 1134 kHz in early 2004 from the Imperial College Wye campus in Kent.
1 Dec 2003:KCC Live began broadcasting to Knowsley Community College, Liverpool.
24 Nov 2003:Radio Hope in Liverpool officially launched at 5pm.
14 Nov 2003:BFBS Gurkha Radio began broadcasting from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Berkshire on 1134 kHz.
13 Nov 2003:BFBS Gurkha Radio began broadcasting from Invicta Park Barracks, Maidstone, Kent on 1287 kHz.
4 Nov 2003:Radio Royal began broadcasting to Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary. Soft launch scheduled for Friday Nov 7th at 7pm with full official launch in 2004.
16 Sep 2003:BFBS Gurkha Radio began broadcasting from Nuneaton on 1134 kHz.
12 Sep 2003:Radio Hope test transmissions today on 1350 kHz. Expected to launch in a few weeks time.
9 Aug 2003:Carillon Radio launched their new service for Coalville Hospital on 1386 kHz.
3 Jun 2003:Anker Radio went on-air today on 1386 kHz. Their official launch happens on Friday 6 June 2003.
13 May 2003:Viva launched on 1386 kHz from Penketh High School in Warrington.
22 Oct 2002:Blast 1386 launch their new website http://www.blast1386.com (note that it requires Flash 6 player).
14 Oct 2002:St Albans Hospital Radio will launch on 1278 kHz on Nov 10. Tests to start on Nov 1. (Paul Andersson)
24 Sep 2002:University Radio Falmer in Brighton will launch on Sept 30 on 1431 kHz. (Tim Foulsham)
6 May 2002:BFBS Northern Ireland adds five more transmitters on 1287 kHz to take their total to nine. (Tim Foulsham)
29 Apr 2002:Blast 1386 begins regular service. (Chris McWhinnie)
28 Mar 2002:Blast 1386 has started irregular test transmissions on 1386 kHz from King's Road, Reading. The launch is expected at the start of the new term after Easter. The sustaining service is expected to be Worldspace Corporation's "Potion" R'n'B channel. (Chris McWhinnie)
15 Mar 2002:Garibaldi Radio is off-air until later in 2002 due to vandalism.
21 Jan 2002:Kool AM has started testing on 1134 from Burnt Mill Comprehensive School in Harlow
21 Jan 2002:Frequency 1350 is new name for Freak-1-c
15 Jan 2002:Victoria Radio Network has started testing on 1287
14 Jan 2002:The Source has started test transmissions on 1251
14 Jan 2002:Bassetlaw Hospital Radio changes name to Trust AM. A second transmitter is planned to cover Doncaster hospitals.
10 Jan 2002:Garrison Radio have added new outlets at Colchester (1350) and Aldershot (frequency unknown)
24 Dec 2001:Radica have recently completed the installation of transmitters at Cambridge University Radio and The Source. Both are expected to launch in the new year.
15 Nov 2001:The LPAM from Bullingdon Prison has launched on 1287. The name of the station is BCRL

 

Latest Website Updates

2006-01-10Updated webpage for Radio Gwendoline.
2006-03-21Updated webpage for Hemel Hospital Radio.
2005-05-04Updated webpage for Anker Radio.
2005-03-23Updated webpage for Stoke Mandeville HR.
2004-07-03Added webpage for L&D Radio, new station at Luton & Dunstable Hospital.
2004-07-03Updated webpage for Kingstown Radio.
2004-05-05Added webpage for Apple AM, new station at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.
2004-05-05Added webpage for Lyneham Radio, new station at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.
2004-05-05Added webpage for D:ONE, new station at Derby Univerity.
2003-12-11Added webpage for KCC Live, new station at Knowsley Community College, Liverpool.
2003-12-11Added webpage for IC Radio, new station planned at Imperial College's Wye Campus in Kent.
2003-12-11Updated webpage for Radio Hope, with their official launch date on Nov 24, 2003.
2003-11-05Added webpage for Radio Royal, new station for the Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary.
2003-09-24Added webpage for Penketh High School.
2003-09-24Added webpage for Radio Hope.
2003-08-27Added webpage for Carillon Radio, Coalville.
2003-08-27Updated address for Carillon Radio, Loughborough.
2003-06-03Added webpage for Anker Radio.
2003-04-03Updated webpage for Junction11 with new mailing address, phone numbers and email address
2003-03-10Updated webpage for Source 1251 with new website and email address
2003-01-16Updated webpage for R Nightingale with new website and email address
2002-10-22Updated webpage for Blast 1386 adding Fax number and new website
2002-10-14Updated webpage for St Albans Hospital Radio
2002-09-24Added page for Univeristy Radio Falmer
2002-08-10Updated webpage for Blast 1386
2002-08-09Added details for The Source
2002-08-09Updated webpage for Junction11
2002-08-09Updated webpage for Xtreme AM
2002-07-26Updated webpage for Radio West Suffolk
2002-06-04Updated fax number for Radio Cavell
2002-05-18Updated web and email details for Insanity Radio
2002-03-24Updated web and email details for Hemel Hospital Radio
2002-03-24New page for Kool AM
2002-03-24New page for St Alban's Hospital Radio, due on-air on September 2002
2002-03-24Change of name from Freak-1-c to Frequency 1350
2002-03-24Change of email and website for Jam AM
2002-03-24LPAM website moved to DXRADIO.co.uk, and optimised for speed.
2002-01-14Change of name from Bassetlaw Hospital Radio to Trust AM
2001-11-16Correction of station name for BCRL
2001-11-14New page for Harlow Hospital Radio
2001-11-07New page for The Source
2001-11-07New page for Victoria Radio Network
2001-11-07New page for Cambridge University Radio
2001-11-07New page for Bullhorn
2001-10-21New page for Radio Hotspot
2001-10-11Change of name from University Radio Essex to RED
2001-09-23New page for Freak-1-C
2001-08-24New page for Radio Gwendolen
2001-08-07Local programming times for BFBS Nepali Service
2001-07-09New page for Garrison Radio
2001-06-28New phone no and email address for Mid-Downs Radio
2001-06-27New web site for Livewire
2001-06-27Address added for Radio Glan Clwyd
2001-05-19Added pages for Radio Glan Clwyd and University Radio Nottingham
2001-04-10New email and web site addresses for Radio Redhill
2001-04-08Added Livewire page
2001-04-04New contact details and schedule for GU2
2001-03-31New email address for Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio
2001-03-31Junction11 starts testing
2001-03-06Web site and other information for Air3
2001-03-06Address and programme times for BFBS Bulford
2001-03-03New address and other details for WCR AM
2001-03-03Email and schedule for Sunshine 1350 AM
2001-03-02More information for Range Radio AM
2001-03-01Added web site for Radio West Suffolk
2001-02-28Launch information for Crush and Junction11
2001-02-16Radio West Suffolk uses BBC Radio 2 as a sustaining service
2001-02-04Some programming information for Newbold Radio
2001-02-04New stations added Crush and Junction11
2001-01-29Correction of station name for Dorton Radio
2001-01-28Launch date for University Radio Bath
2001-01-26Change of name for Radio Glen to Surge
2001-01-16Correction of station name and some new details for Hemel Hospital Radio
2001-01-09Added link frequencies for Carillon Radio and Hospital Radio Yare
2001-01-05Added Hemel Hempstead Hospital Radio page
2001-01-05Added programme times for Radio West Suffolk
2000-12-29Added local programme times to BFBS page
2000-12-24Start date of 4 Jan for Hospital Radio Pulse
2000-12-23Addition of broadcast times to Gara Sound page
2000-12-23Addition of Radio Kukri AM to the BFBS page
2000-12-19Corrected phone no and email address and added web site for Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio
2000-12-19Corrected web site and email addresses for Kingstown Radio
2000-12-17Web site created

 

Last update: Fri Feb 15, 2008   18:40 GMT

DX Latest | UK RDS Codes |  | RSLs | WDXC | Skywaves
Built With BBEditMade on MacValid XHTML 1.0!Valid CSS!