Antena Satelor on 153 kHz: Romania's rural radio on long wave from Bod

What you hear

Antena Satelor means the antenna of the villages, and the channel is exactly that: Romanian folk music of every region, programmes about farming, weather for the fields, markets and prices, religious programmes, news and the slow talk of a rural station. It is in Romanian throughout the day. One item stands out for listeners abroad: according to the catalogue, around 09:05 UTC the station reads a hydrological bulletin in French, Russian and Romanian. It is the water-level report for the Danube, read in the languages of the river's shipping, and it is a rare survival from the days when long wave carried such services as a matter of course. The transmitter is on from 02:55 to 19:00 UTC and silent at night.

Who transmits and why

The transmitter is at Bod, on the plain just north of Brașov in the middle of Romania, and the catalogue lists 200 kW. Long wave was chosen for this channel for the same reason it was chosen everywhere: one transmitter on 153 kHz covers the whole country, mountains included, with a ground wave that does not change between day and night, and the audience, people in villages with simple radios, is exactly the one that still uses the band. Romania is now one of the last countries in Europe with a long-wave broadcaster at all.

The hours and power are not what they were. The catalogue notes that since August 2025 all Romanian medium- and long-wave transmitters run only from 06:00 to 22:00 local time at half their earlier power, and the listed sign-on of 02:55 UTC corresponds to the early morning in Romania; expect the exact times to shift by an hour between summer and winter.

When and where to listen

On long wave the ground wave does most of the work, so the station is heard by day across Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine, and often further; 200 kW at 153 kHz reaches central Europe in daylight with a steady, slightly muffled sound. After dark a sky wave adds to it, and in winter evenings before the 19:00 UTC sign-off the signal is heard in Germany, Poland, Italy and sometimes Britain and Scandinavia. The night, when long wave carries furthest, is now outside the schedule, so the winter afternoon and evening are the hours to try from a distance.

153 kHz is shared with a very powerful Algerian transmitter at Kénadsa, which is the main obstacle from southern and western Europe; from the north and east Bod is usually the stronger one. Noise, not distance, is the other limit on long wave, so a receiver in the countryside hears it better than one in a city. Receivers in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria are the sure choice. The program tunes AM; a sideband mode with a narrow filter cuts the hiss when the signal is weak.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Medium and long wave → Antena Satelor 153 kHz (LW). ShackDeck looks for a public receiver whose range reaches long wave and that hears 153 kHz, tunes it and sets AM. Fewer public receivers cover this low, but no receiver, antenna or account of your own is needed. Try around 09:05 UTC for the Danube bulletin.