Radio 1 Plyus on 621 kHz: the second programme of Transnistrian radio from Grigoriopol

What you hear

Radio 1 Plyus is the second programme of the state radio of Transnistria, the strip of Moldova east of the Dniester that has run itself since the early 1990s and is recognised by nobody. According to the catalogue it is on 621 kHz on weekdays from 12:00 to 15:18 UTC: Russian is the main language, with a block in Ukrainian at 12:30 UTC and one in Romanian, written in Cyrillic there and called Moldovan, at 13:30 UTC. The three languages are the official ones of the territory, and the afternoon schedule runs through them in turn. Expect local news from Tiraspol, music, announcements and the unhurried pace of a small regional station. The odd closing time, 15:18 UTC, is as listed; it may change, and on weekends the frequency is not scheduled.

Who transmits and why

The transmitter is at the Maiac centre near Grigoriopol, the Soviet-era site that also carries Radio Rossii on 999 kHz and Vesti FM on 1413 kHz, both with their own entries. The catalogue gives 150 kW for 621 kHz, modest for the site but a lot for a territory the size of a county. Why a local service uses it is simple: the centre is there, the power is there, and medium wave reaches every village and every old car radio between Tiraspol and Rybnitsa without needing anything new to be built. The result is that a place with a few hundred thousand inhabitants has one of the stronger regional signals in south-eastern Europe.

Little is published about the station itself beyond the schedule, and the catalogue does not claim more than it knows; the hours and language blocks are from listeners' observations.

When and where to listen

The schedule is a daytime one, and medium wave carries far only after dark, so for most of the year this is a regional signal. By day 150 kW on 621 kHz covers Transnistria, Moldova, the Odesa region and eastern Romania by ground wave, and receivers there hear it well. In winter the sun sets over the Dniester before 15:00 UTC, so the last part of the broadcast goes out at dusk and reaches Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and sometimes further; from December to February, listening just before 15:18 UTC from a receiver in central Europe is the best chance. In summer the whole broadcast is in daylight and little is heard beyond the Black Sea region.

621 kHz has other users in Europe, and from the west you are likely to hear one of them instead. The program tunes AM, which is fine for a strong regional signal; use a narrower filter at the fringe.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Medium and long wave → Radio 1 Plyus 621 kHz (Transnistria). ShackDeck finds a public receiver that hears 621 kHz, tunes it and sets AM. No receiver, antenna or account of your own is needed; a receiver in Moldova, Romania or Ukraine is the one to pick on a weekday afternoon.