Channel 292 on 6070 kHz: Germany's private shortwave station at Rohrbach

What you hear

6070 kHz is the main channel of Channel 292, and what is on it depends entirely on the hour. One slot is a programme of 1960s and 1970s pop with a presenter who clearly loved the offshore pirate era; the next is a DX magazine in German or English with news about shortwave and amateur radio; after that a Dutch music show, a programme of German oldies, an hour of jazz, a religious broadcast, or a test transmission from somebody trying shortwave for the first time. Programmes carry their own names and identify themselves; between them the transmitter identifies as Channel 292 and may play filler music. The schedule is published by the station at channel292.de, and it is worth a look before you listen, because the same hour on different days can be two different worlds.

The signal is modest but well made: 10 kW on a band where neighbours run 100 kW or more, so the audio is clean and the carrier steady, but the strength in Europe depends on the hour and the distance.

Who transmits and why

Channel 292 is a private, licensed shortwave station at Rohrbach near Ingolstadt in Bavaria, operating since the mid-2010s. Its business is airtime: hobby producers, music lovers, DX clubs and small religious broadcasters book hours at prices that a group of enthusiasts can afford, and the station transmits whatever they send. Three frequencies share the work: 6070 kHz in the 49 metre band as the all-day channel, 3955 kHz in the 75 metre band for evenings and nights, and 9670 kHz in the 31 metre band for daytime reach further afield. The station is one of the reasons European shortwave did not fall silent when the big state broadcasters left: it gave the hobby a transmitter of its own.

When and where to listen

On 6070 kHz the signal is best within Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the Benelux countries at any hour, and after dark it reaches the whole of Europe. By day the 49 metre band is a short-range band, so a receiver in Bavaria, Austria or southern Germany gives a strong signal while one in Scandinavia or Spain may hear little until evening. From dusk through the night the station is heard across Europe, in winter especially, with fading. 3955 kHz behaves like the 80 metre amateur band and is a night channel; 9670 kHz is the one to try from further away by day.

The catalogue mode is AM. Because the transmitter is low power, a strong neighbour can bury it; upper or lower sideband with a narrow filter, placed on the clean side of 6070 kHz, often rescues the programme.

In ShackDeck

The entry sits under Station catalogue → Shortwave broadcast → Channel 292 (6070). ShackDeck picks a public receiver whose range covers 6070 kHz, tunes it and sets AM from the catalogue, so you need no receiver, antenna or account of your own. A receiver in southern Germany or Austria shows the station at its best; if the program chose one far away by day, ask for the next.