Libya: Benghazi 677.5 kHz reactivated

The transmitter at Benghazi, Libya on 677,5 kHz has been reactivated. (Mauno Ritola in the WRTH Facebook group)

Chernivtsy, Ukraine 657 kHz reactivated

The transmitter in Chernivtsy on 657 kHz has been reactivated and broadcast program 1 in parallell to Mykolaiv 549 kHz and Kharkiv 837 kHz between 0300-2000 UTC (Jaroslav Derevyagin via Mauno Ritola ARC). All three stations are received very well in Växjö. Radio Ukraine International are broadcast on 1278 and 1431 kHz (Bengt Ericson ARC)

Portugal: RTP Antena 1 666 kHz reactivated

Good news from Portugal. RTP, the public broadcaster, has recently reactivated the transmitter for Antena 1 at Cristelo Covo (Valença) - 666 kHz 10 kW. This frequency, located in Northwest Portugal close to Spain, was closed down some years ago (in 2011) because the transmitter suffered a irretrievable breakdown. As a consequence of this problem, RTP has been postponing this matter.... until now. It appears (my speculation) that the technical dept. found one spare transmitter not regularly used but kept in good condition, which should now replace the old, broken equipment.

According to the user "P. Pinto" at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mundo_da_radio/conversations/topics/2739 , the modulation is somewhat weak; anyway, the transmitter puts good signal between Valença and Caminha; 666 kHz have fair reception within the city of Viana do Castelo.

This MW outlet is particularly useful in highly mountainous areas where the reception via VHF-FM has some gaps. Despite the fact that RTP has been installing new VHF-FM relays in the region, there are few areas (e.g. Vila Nova de Cerveira)  not well served by VHF-FM, so mediumwave should be an alternative to listen to the first channel of public radio.

Best regards, good DX & 73,

Luís Carvalho via Mauno Ritola via Bengt Ericson, ARC