TWR Europe on 1467 kHz: evening programmes from Monte Carlo in many languages

What you hear

In the evening 1467 kHz turns into a tour of Europe's languages. Trans World Radio, a Christian broadcaster, fills the hours after sunset with short programmes of fifteen or thirty minutes each, one language after another: Polish, then perhaps Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Arabic, Farsi or one of the languages of the Balkans, each with its own presenters, music and identification. The content is Bible teaching, sermons, talks and songs, produced by TWR's partner studios in the countries concerned. Between programmes you hear the station's interval signal and an announcement of what comes next. By day the frequency is usually quiet from this transmitter.

Because the languages change on the half hour, the station is a good one for practising identification: catch the opening announcement and you know which service you have, and the time tells you which comes next. The exact sequence changes with the seasons, and the catalogue does not list it, so expect surprises.

Who transmits and why

The transmitter is at Roumoules, on the plateau of Valensole in Provence, in the south of France. It belongs to Monte Carlo Radiodiffusion, the transmission company of the Principality of Monaco, whose own territory is far too small for the antennas of a high-power station; this is why a Monaco station radiates from France and why the catalogue files it under Monaco. Roumoules has been one of the big hired transmitter sites of Europe for half a century, and TWR has been among its longest-standing customers, using it to reach eastern Europe and the Middle East with programmes that for a long time could not be made or aired there.

TWR is a missionary organisation funded by donations, with headquarters in the United States and a European office in Austria. It leases time on transmitters rather than owning them, which keeps its signals moving between sites and frequencies as contracts and budgets change; 1467 kHz from Roumoules has been one of its fixed points.

When and where to listen

The whole service is built around darkness, because medium wave carries far only after dark. The evening programmes begin around sunset in southern France and run for several hours; in winter that means from the late afternoon UTC, in summer not before about 19:00 UTC. Once the path is dark, the signal from Provence reaches Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Balkans and the Baltic states with the slow fading of a long sky-wave path, and on good winter nights the eastern languages are heard in the countries they are meant for.

Receivers in Italy, Switzerland, southern Germany and Austria hear Roumoules strongly; from northern Europe it is steady but weaker, and from Britain the signal is usable most nights. 1467 kHz has other users on the band, and from the far north or east you may hear a different station underneath. The program tunes AM; when a programme is in a language you do not know, a narrower filter helps you catch the identification at the top of the half hour.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Medium and long wave → TWR Europe (1467 kHz). ShackDeck finds a public receiver that hears 1467 kHz, tunes it and sets AM. No receiver, antenna or account of your own is needed; tune in after sunset in France, listen for the interval signal at the top of the hour, and let the languages change.