Another Ask

This one is targeted mostly toward my European readers (however, read on).

I received the following email from Olkesandr in Ukraine, it seems the Russians stole his transmitter:

Hello!

My name is Oleksandr (last name redacted). I am chief editor of Ukrainian radio station CCR 648 AM. We are looking for an used am transmitter 25 or 50 kwt. Probably Your company has one for sale?

That is interesting. I asked for a few more details and received the following:

I am originally from Crimea. But in 2014 I had to leave my native town. I have been living in Kyiv since 2014. In 2017 our team of journalists launched informational broadcasting to the occupied Crimea from Chongar (it’s 1 km from Crimea in Kherson region). First we started broadcasting on 105.FM 5 kwt. But in 2018 our signal had been jammed by russians occupants. In 2019 we started broadcasting on 648 AM (10 kwt). In 2021 we increased the power to 25 kwt. But in February 2022 our transmitter was captured by russians. Now we are looking for an 25-50 kwt AM transmitter. We are going to install it in Kherson region (in controlled by Ukraine territory). I supposed we’ll be able to cover by our signal all Kherson region, Zaporizhzhya and Crimea.

Digging around, I found two news stories about it: Apparently, the Russians removed the Transmitter. By the way, Krym (pronounced cream) is Crimea in Ukrainian and Russian.

Missing Harris DX-50 transmitter, serial number MPS104705-00001

Missing Harris DX-50 transmitter

A little bit more digging around and I found some more pictures of the transmitter site: Radio Crimean Community transmitter site

Google Maps Link: Chongar

That is an interesting setup; the FM antenna is a stack of six, looks like 1/2 wave spaced six-element yagis, vertically polarised. The AM is a slant wire that goes almost to the top of the tower.

That area is still occupied by the Russians. As it is one of the two usable land transportation routes, it is likely that it will be unusable for some time after it is deoccupied.

So, here is the ask; I know that many Medium Wave transmitters have been turned off in Europe over the last several years. Is there any in that power range that is available to be moved to Ukraine? Preferably something that is still in good working order and on or close to 648 KHz. It is a long shot, but worth asking.

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8 thoughts on “Another Ask”

  1. When the invasion started, a Russian soldier texted his Mom and said “these people are rich.” At that time they were looting toilets and appliances, etc. So it doesn’t surprise me they are looting transmitters now.
    Lou KF4RCA

  2. The Russian Army is more of a rabble or an arm of the organized crime syndicate which is the current Russian government.

  3. You might get a TX donation offer if you approach some of the commercial or government networks. Here in the UK, the BBC has been shutting down AM band services in recent years and the process is set to continue. Commercial operator Absolute Radio ended its AM service in January.

    Germany has cleared off of AM; France has just one station left on the band. Try approaching government officials.

  4. Paul, if I knew the right people to ask, I would be asking. I will try to reach out to Absolute Radio, but my last emails were not answered.

  5. For advice on getting a response from Absolute Radio, you could try asking Adam Bowie, a former employee of theirs:
    https://www.adambowie.com/blog/elementor-8495/

    The Absolute Radio AM band transmitters were operated by Arquiva, who also provide services to the BBC.
    Arquiva general enquiries: enquiries@arqiva.com
    Arquiva sales enquiries: sales@arqiva.com

    If you want to try the UK government angle, I’d suggest our Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly:
    james.cleverly.mp@parliament.uk

  6. Paul,
    I will reach out to those sources and see what happens. Thank you for the input!

  7. Hi,
    the transmitter picture brought me attention to the Anatel inspection stamp, which is from the Brazilian regulatory agency. It’s possible that the Harris Transmitter operated in Brazil on 620kHz, possibly for Jovem Pan AM in São Paulo. However, this is just a speculation.

    Regards,

  8. That is interesting. That transmitter has some miles on it. I’ll have to follow up with my Ukrainian friends and see how they are doing.

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