From: radio@oceanfree.net Subject: Dublin Radio News Date: 1 Nov 1999 13:00:41 -0000 - From the Irish T.v. & Radio mailing list. The Irish Radio Website is at http://listen.to/pirateradio - NOVA Dance is back on the air with improved sound quality and a great signal over the south of Dublin. - Alternative Rock music is going out on 91.6 from Kiltipper Hill, RDS is being tested on the station - 105.2 is now home to a very strong Blank Carrier from 3 Rock mountain, presumed to be the 103.8 transmitter re - tuned? - Passion FM are being blocked on 105.2.... they are currently running on very low power on 105.2 from their low site in Bray and 87.5 is on higher ground and is at about 60w (lower power than 105.2) and is the only way to hear them now... They are awaiting new aerials from Veronica but they have been delayed alot. They should be up in power soon. - The licenses were awarded to Lite FM 102.2, Spin FM 103.8 and News Talk 106.0.. Hard luck to Phantom and Pulse for losing out!! - The new chat room has been started at http://listen.to/pirateradio ..... It's a good IRC room and you can chat at any time of day... Usually after 9PM is best. From: radio@oceanfree.net Subject: Save the Border Pirates Date: 9 Nov 1999 12:48:46 -0000 - From the Irish T.v. & Radio mailing list. The Irish Radio Website is at http://listen.to/pirateradio To send your emails of support for Magic, Kiss & Energy: Visit http://www.magic105.co.uk/ and http://www.iol.ie/~kissfm Taken from Magic 105's website: SAVE THE PIRATES Magic 105 has received information from the Department of Communication in Dublin that Magic 105, Energy 106 and Kiss 106 are to be raided before this Christmas as a special millennium present to the pirate radio community and their listeners not to mention the approx. 50 talented young people employed who will be joining the dole queue soon. It is understood that the destruction of these stations will happen on Wednesday 10th November. We fully expect the authorities to accuse us of causing interference to someone or other, as this is the usual flagship of convenience used, but let us make a pre-emptive strike - if we are causing interference then why not give us the details and let our engineers fix the problem without destroying peoples livelihoods and jobs? These usual allegations are complete fiction - our only crime is to operate without a licence - why? Because the authorities will not give us one. Instead they give licences to idiots like Heartbeat 1521 and Townland 828 who have both now gone bankrupt! These people get licences because they know the right people but unfortunately know nothing about radio - a bit of a problem if you run a radio station? If you listen to any of the stations listed above or have ever listened to any pirate station then you must act now! People power is our only line of defence against the Downtown Radio/Cool FM instigated close down campaign. These stations are not local stations, they are owned and operated by Scottish Radio Holdings who are famously terrified of any competition. Belfast based Citybeat are also rumoured to be involved. Protect your free speech and let the markets decide who should stay and who should go by e-mailing us with your support or by telephoning our studio complex on 01762 393310 NOW! Because, after all, if someone else was providing the music and service that the free stations provide - we would not be able to survive as we would have no listeners and therefore no adverts! In addition, we would also ask you to let your local MP know how you feel. So if you have ever enjoyed even one song on any of the pirate stations over the years, please phone or write to your local Member of Parliament - or if you don't like your local MP choose any or every MP - thanx! 'ere's a list... Antrim East - Roy Beggs (UUP) 01574 273258 Antrim North - Dr Ian Paisley (DUP) 01232 454255 Antrim South - Clifford Forsythe (UUP) 01849 460776 Belfast East - Peter Robinson (DUP) 01232 473111 Belfast North - Cecil Walker (UUP) 01232 755996 Belfast South - Rev W Martin Smyth (UUP) 01232 457009 Belfast West - Gerry Adams (SF) 01232 230261 Down North - Robert McCartney QC (UKU) 01247 272994 Down South - Eddie McGrady (SDLP) 01396 612882 Fermanagh and South Tyrone - Ken Maginnis (UUP) 01868 723265 Foyle - John Hume (SDLP) 01504 265340 Lagan Valley - Jeffrey Donaldson (UUP) 01846 668001 Londonderry East - William Ross (UUP) 015047 41428 Newry and Armagh - Seamus Mallon (SDLP) 01693 67933 Strangford - Rt Hon John D Taylor (UUP) 01247 814123 Tyrone West - William Thompson (UUP) 0171 219 3553 Ulster Mid - Martin McGuinness (SF) 01232 230261 Upper Bann - Rt. Hon David Trimble (UUP) 01762 328008 From: radio@oceanfree.net Subject: Radio News Date: 18 Dec 1999 00:13:39 -0000 Message is from Irish Radio Website Mailing list. The Irish Radio Website is at http://listen.to/pirateradio - Travel FM on at 106.8 at last. Travel FM are presumed to have been having link problems this week. - Flash 94.1 is being jammed on their link frequency on UHF. The jammer is said to be in the Old Bawn area in Tallaght. A tone is going out on 94.1 at 11.30pm Saturday 17th Dec. - Mix FM on 107.15 with very low power from Ballybrack with terrible sound quality " June 2000 Pete Reed's bit: Judgement in the high court due on Monday lunchtime on the Spin FM case....And the IRTC have published a list of 74FM and 19AM channels available around the country Passion FM will broadcast on 105.2 into Wicklow shortly with what should be a great signal going through massive beam aerials from there site on the south facing side of Bray Head. The signal power should be about 8kw beaming south! Related links: www.passionfm.net Lite FM has begun broadcasting on 102.2. The station was launched by Mary Harney Related link: www.litefm.ie ESG are now on 99.1 following much activity on this frequency after the TX was stolen from Kiltipper hill Related link: www.esgfm.com Site News New Wicklow bandscan at Countrywide section You can now visit this site through www.dublinradio.org Last Update 2nd June 2000 " ***** DREAM FM statement after closure: - May 21st On Friday May 19th, Dream FM was requested to cease transmissions on 96.4fm by the ODTR (the telecommunications regulators). The reason for this request being an issue whereby our transmissions were causing interference to the Cabelink (NTL) relay of BBC Radio 4 on their Dublin cable TV system. We have had to comply with this request. I know there is a huge demand for the kind of music that we played, and especially in the format that Dream FM delivered it. I'd just like to thank everybody who supported the station over our brief 2 and a half months on air, and it saddens me to have to close something down into which I put so much hard work. As always, the best of luck to you all. John Dempsey. PAST HISTORY OF DREAM FM DUBLIN: - May 9th The brand new Dream FM website is now online. Improved layout, new graphics and new features - we hope you all like it! - May 7th A whopping 7.5 hours of new mixes has been uploaded onto the station playlist this weekend. - April 29th The brand new Dream FM poster has gone into print (!) Check out the downloads page for an exclusive look, and please do let us know what you think of it... - April 27th New mixes on the Dream FM playlist include a brand new trance mix (sorry for the delay trance fans!) plus 2 brill guest mixes supplied by Alan Greene as well as two more classic hard house sets. Enjoy! - April 19th New mixes now on the playlist include all the latest records from Nukleuz (Fergie & BK, Disaranno V's DJ Ricky and Lisa Pin Up). Also, listen out for some extremely rare club classics including Drop Lib Project "Mind and Body", The Shaker "Just Lick It", DOP "Lion" and Viewfinder "I want you all night". - April 10th Dream FM comes in 3rd place in a radioanoraks.com online pole asking what is the best dance station in Dublin. Not bad for a small station on air just over 1 month! - April 2nd A new .mp3 mix has been uploaded to the web site (mix 71) featuring tracks by Anne Savage, Nick Sentience and Steve Thomas. Click here to go to download pages... All the latest playlists have now been uploaded to this site. How Dream FM works... (worked!) For those of you who want to know the technical details of how Dream FM works, here's all you need to know. 1. Do a 30 minute DJ mix: All the mixes on Dream FM are mixed from 12" vinyl or CD. The in-house mixes (i.e. not supplied by external DJ's) are mixed using the following setup... 2 x Gemini PT-2000 direct drive turntables (same standard, but better looking than Technics!) 2 x pitch controlled CD players Citronic CDM 10:4 DJ mixer Sony MDR V-700 DJ headphones 2. Record onto a PC: The mix is recorded onto a PC (a Dell Optiplex GX1 Pentium III) via the line in socket. The program that is used to record the music is called Cool Edit Pro and the audio is recorded at 44.1khz. When the mix is finished, this software is used to remove any dead air from the start or the end of the mixes. 3. Encode .mp3 file and .ots files: Once cleaned up, the mix is saved as an .mp3 audio file (320kbps, 44.1khz - very high quality!). Each 30 minute mix typically equates to a whopping 70mb .mp3 file. These .mp3 files then need to be converted into .ots files. These are used by the radio station software; it cannot play standard .mp3 files. 4. Transfer to on-air PC: Once a number of mixes have been done, they need to be transferred to the station PC (another Dell Optiplex GX1). This is done via the onboard 100mbit network cards across a cross over cable. It takes 1 minute to transfer each mix. 5. Schedule music using Otsjuke: This 2nd PC is used to play all the music heard on Dream FM. The software used to play the music is called Otsjuke. This is a very reliable piece of software with little system overheads. One of it's main advantages over other pieces of similar software is that it has the ability to compress and limit the audio levels, giving a professional sound to the station. It is also used to schedule the jingles, which can be heard between each 30 minute mix. 6. Audio passed through Stereo and RDS encoders: The line out on the station PC is connected directly to the stereo encoder (a professional linear model, manufactured by NRG Kitz). This gives the station the ability to transmit a quality stereo FM signal. Next, the stereo encoder is connected to the RDS unit (made by broadcast warehouse). This unit will encode the RDS data onto the transmitted signal (name "DREAM FM", type "Music / Other", PI code "1D96"). 7. FM Transmitter & Aerial: Next, the RDS encoder is connected into the FM transmitter (220 Watt power) which is in turn connected via low loss coaxial cable to the FM aerial. And that's just about it! If you require any further info, feel free to ask! ***** Posted by Sean Brady on July 4, 2000, 22:13:33 Breffni Radio broadcast from an old cottage which was located at Drumloman, Kilnaleck, which had been converted into a radio station. The building consisted of 1 main on-air studio, an extensive record library and a production studio. The technical gear was basic, but it served its purpose extremely well. Gerry O'Reilly did indeed look after the technical side of Breffni Radio and was the guy who initially set up the station. I joined the station in September 1985 and initially hosted programmes. But from June of the following year, I hosted less programmes and concentrated on running the advertising department. I voiced most of the commercials and made sure that each commercial went to air when it was supposed to. Advertisers could select which time-slots their respective commercials were to be broadcast in and I made sure that this happened. I must say that I enjoyed the time that Breffni Radio was on the air. I must admit that its programme policy of country music 24 hours a day isn't up everyone's street, as can be evidenced on this Discussion Board, but the station did prove that a market was there for that type of service, and for that reason alone, Breffni is to be applauded. I feel that there is a healthy marketplace for a quality radio station broadcasting continuous American Country Music in stereo on the FM dial and I personally look forward to the day when this hopefully happens. Best Wishes Sean Brady Posted by Tanya on July 4, 2000, 2:39:42 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" What was the song that Nova used for "Operation Novacare" You know the song...I wont let you down...wont let you down again".... they used this theme as back music for their charity work. If I am not mistaken they collected a lot of money ... Also remember the Great money give-away, when all the phone lines (P+T) went down in Dublin due to the high numbers of callers to the station. I think the number was 604043. Well take it from here!!!!!! --Previous Message-- : : Agreed...it's Nova's 19th birthday and the : memories are still fresh...the : jamming...the raid (playing "It's : Good to be the King" as the car-horns : blew around the city)...Bob & Declan : on the Breakfast show, Colm Hayes and the : Zoo Crew...the closedown in 86. Casey : Casem's American chart show! : I was lucky enough to hear Bob Gallico's : first news broadcast on a Sunday : afternoon. He struggled with every other : word and it was the most painful news : broadcast I've ever heard. That was the : good thing about the station. They : recognised talent and stuck with it. If it : was anywhere else the name Bob Gallico : might not be so familiar to us today and : many a laugh would not have seen the light : of day. : Radio Nova - the legend lives on and long may : it continue to do so! : : Posted by Simon Maher on July 4, 2000, 14:11:46 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" Recently, as John F will testify, we took an anorak trip up to Nova Park with some visiting anoraks. Basically the place is being used as a halting site at the moment while it awaits planning permission for a 20 bedroom hotel on the site. The new M50 motorway, also runs through it about half way along the lane. The base of the old free-standing tower is still there though, as is the brickwork of the old TTTR studio, which was to the side of the Greenacres building. Incidentally, the old 50kw is in a shed in Saggart, along with some other old nova goodies. Anyone with a truck and some spare cash please get in touch! Posted by Infoanon on July 4, 2000, 18:09:53 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" I thought the 50KW was sold off by the liquidators along with the reacquired Zoom 103 fm rig?? Simon do you know what other gear is in storage and who to contact? PS Is it true Nova's 738 was only operated at 35KW and never at 50KW Posted by John F on July 4, 2000, 15:03:14 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" As Simon says...another piece of Irish radio history bites the dust. I do believe it will retain the name Nova Park though which will keep the memory alive. The site - though dead now - seemed haunted by the spirits of those who entertained us from there in the past...or maybe that was the annoying little dog barking at our feet! (members of the travelling community had taken up residence and were disturbed by our presence! Somehow I don't think they were impressed with us photographing the empty spaces all around us.) Posted by SAD on July 4, 2000, 23:17:22 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" --Previous Message-- : Was the first £5000 giveaway not for the launch : of Kiss 102.7 ??? : :The first give-away was indeed on KISS but not, however, for their launch. The three songs: (1) The Commodores; Lady (2) Dan Fodelberg; Longer (3) Steve Miller Band; Abracadabra When you hear the last beat of the last record, phone DAD on 606666 and if your the 50th caller ,we'll give you £5000 in cash.(except DAD(dial a directory) pulled out at the last minute and the calls were taken in the office upstairs from KISS using an FM link). The first record after the three? Hall & Oates; You did it(in a minute) :T Posted by Anon on July 9, 2000, 15:54:09 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" --Previous Message-- : The KissFM giveaway was actually £6,000! I : remember being in town with my mother : shopping in Apollo 1 and the store manager : was trying to call in to win it. there : were people crowding around phone boxes : everywhere! : there was also another £5,000 giveaway on : Nova which had David Bowie's Let's Dance : as the first song and .....I'll let you : remember the others! And as Deccy Weccy : still says - what was the year? : That was the Summer when Nova came back after : being raided after four days and cleaned : up when it took Sunshine about 6 weeks to : limp back on!just to finish sunshine off : for that year, Hary decided to give away : the five grand on NOVA. : I actually think the Kiss giveaway was in '82 : (I could be wrong.) Remember that Kiss was : only on from summer '82 until the raids in : 'May '83 and then only returned in October : '83 to close down again in February '84 : when Nova had to flee Herbert St. an : account of being jammed by RTE. Kiss : never returned after that. : Very interesting to think that Kiss was so : big when it was on and Harry used to : deliberately give free advertising to : Sunshine clients just to annoy Robbie! : Anyone remember the Kiss FM phone number?? : Whose number was it a bit like?? : Also was DAD not one of Chris Cary's projects : during 1984? Tut,Tut. I went back to the old tape library and checked again and I can confirm that, Dripping Beaver,you are indeed 100%...........WRONG. KissFM..Home of the £5000 giveaway! Phone 604063 (NOVA 604043) there was also a number that was for SWIFT 606878. I don't think DAD was a Cary project and it was certainly earlier than 1984. : --Previous Message-- : : --Previous Message-- : Was the first £5000 giveaway not for the : launch : of Kiss 102.7 ??? : : :The first giveaway was indeed on KISS but : not,however,for their launch. : The three songs: (1) The Commadores; Lady : (2) Dan Fodelberg; Longer : (3) Steve Miller Band; Abracadabra : When you hear the last beat of the last : record,phone DAD on 606666 and if your the : 50th caller ,we'll give you £5000 in : cash.(except DAD(dial a directory) pulled : out at the last minute and the calls were : taken in the office upstairs from KISS : using an FM link). : The first record after the three? : Hall & Oates; You did it(in a minute) : :T : : : : Posted by John F on July 6, 2000, 19:54:10 , in reply to "Re: Let's start another NOVA thread?" Bob thought the song was dead and buried but was asked by the man who runs Talk To Me mobile phones to resurrect it for the ad campaign because he himself was a Nova listener way back then. Lets face it...he'd be mad to refuse the money. --Previous Message-- : If I hear that Bob Gallico guy singing that : "brrr brrr brrr busy line" I'll : implode! How much more mileage does he : think he can get out of it. He started it : in Nova 15 years ago and he's still at : it!! Will someone please tell him that he : should try another song and to get someone : with at least a half decent voice to sing : it! : Posted by Phil in Surrey on July 7, 2000, 18:44:01 , in reply to "Re: Novas 50KW" snip: PS Is it true Nova's 738 was only operated at : 35KW and never at 50KW, : ALSO CORRECT. Just had to check that out. Made a phone call to Peter (Chicago) Murtha and he said as far as he remembers Chris Carey did run the TX at full power. It was only when the TX was modified to operate on longwave that, due to an very inefficient antenna, that the transmitter could only be tuned up with a lower output. Don't take this as gospel. He said it was a long time ago. Regards Phil Posted by Sean Brady on July 3, 2000, 20:34:25 Cavan Community Radio (CCR) broadcast initially (circa 1983) on 747 kHz AM, until Radio Nova started using the adjacent channel of 738 kHz. When this occurred, CCR moved to the 819 kHz AM channel. This channel was excellent until Q102 started broadcasting on it. A case of Dublin 2, Cavan 0! Breffni Radio broadcast initially on 1170 kHz AM (circa 1984), but changed frequency in early 1988 to 657 kHz AM in order to get away from the horrendous interference caused by Radio Sweden on 1179 kHz AM. When this frequency change occurred, BLB in Bray were none too pleased, as their signal was now virtually inaudible in many parts of Dublin. Breffni's signal on 657 kHz AM was extremely strong and clear and 100% better than the former channel of 1170 kHz AM. I believe that BLB actually asked Breffni Radio to move frequency - they didn't! When Breffni Radio made a three-week return to the air in October 1989, they were again broadcasting on 657 kHz AM. The signal was excellent and was covering a wide area. It was reported heard in parts of northwest England, despite BBC Radio Wales on the channel. Best Wishes Sean Brady Posted by Sean Brady on July 1, 2000, 23:09:34 Is the north County Donegal-based radio station, Radio North, still on the air, and if so, is it still broadcasting on its original AM channel of 846 kHz AM? Best Wishes Sean Brady Posted by Rodney on July 2, 2000, 9:23:10 , in reply to "Radio North" Yes, it's still on the air on 103.9 and 104.4 FM. The 846 kHz frequency is used by Paul Bentley (joint owner of R. North) to relay religious programmes for profit! Posted by Rodney on July 2, 2000, 9:19:52 , in reply to "Alien Mountain" Sean, both Magic & Energy TX from Greagh in north Co. Monaghan - the so called "Alien Mountain" site. This hill was previously used by KISS FM 103.7 in 1988. Energy has around 500 kilowatts of power aimed at Belfast, although the radiation pattern of the aerials (supplied by the late Frank McCarthy) is such that Energy will lock on scan on Three Rock in Dublin and in the Isle of Man, Preston, and most of northeast England! Magic TX on 105.1 with 40 kilowatts erp into central Ulster and Belfast and on 105.8 with 1 kilowatt towards Omagh. Plans for a country station and a rock station from the site have been put on hold. KISS FM broadcast on 106.0 MHz from Edentubber in north County Louth (the old Boyneside north site from 1988) with 32 kilowatts aimed at central Ulster and Ballymena. They also have a new relay on 101.2 for Co. Louth/Leinster. --Previous Message-- : Is it true that there are 3 radio stations : broadcasting from this transmitter site in : north County Monaghan? I have heard : Energy on 106.6 MHz FM and Magic 105 on : 105.1 MHz FM, but I believe that the third : station is another Kiss FM. Is this true, : and if it is, what frequency does it : broadcast on? With regard to Magic 105, : their signal in my neck of the woods is : quite weak, so am I correct in assuming : that the signal on 105.1 MHz FM is : deliberately directed northwards towards : Belfast? : Best Wishes : Sean Brady : Posted by Agent Fox Mulder, FBI. on July 4, 2000, 10:31:14 , in reply to "Re: Alien Mountain" --Previous Message-- : Hi Sean, : Kiss FM broadcast on 2 frequencies...101.2mhz : to "Leinster" but you won't : really get it South of Balbriggan - not : quality anyway. They also broadcast to the : North of the country on 106.0mhz.>It cannot be heard in Belfast City Centre - ARE WE CLEAR? : Magic 105 and sister station Energy 106 are : aimed at a Northern Irish audience and all : three stations have websites fyi: : http://www.kiss106.com/ : http://www.magic105.co.uk/ : http://www.energy106.co.uk/ : --Previous Message-- : Is it true that there are 3 radio stations : broadcasting from this transmitter site in : north County Monaghan? I have heard : Energy on 106.6 MHz FM and Magic 105 on : 105.1 MHz FM, but I believe that the third : station is another Kiss FM. Is this true, : and if it is, what frequency does it : broadcast on? With regard to Magic 105, : their signal in my neck of the woods is : quite weak, so am I correct in assuming : that the signal on 105.1 MHz FM is : deliberately directed northwards towards : Belfast? : Best Wishes : Sean Brady : :Sean, I've seen the way these guys fantasise about signal strengths to you and it's something I know nothing about but know this: There's only one station doing "Damage" in Northern Irish pirate radio stakes-"BLACK HOLE ALERT...-ENERGEE ONE-OH-SIX" - Enough said. : Posted by Tanya on July 1, 2000, 0:33:10 , in reply to "New Radio Stations?" Just to inform you that "Galtee" radio is an extremely amateur radio station. I listened to it this afternoon and being honest it reminded me of one of the country pirates of the 80's. Lots of C+W music, which appeals to some, but the presentation is sadly unprofessional. Sorry I cannot elaborate on who owns or runs the station but I am sure someone out there will provide the correct info. --Previous Message-- : I have recently noted the following radio : stations with quite good signal strength : (in Oldcastle, County Meath): : Misty Mountain Radio on 107.1 MHz FM and X-FM : on 107.9 MHz FM. : Where are these individual radio stations : broadcasting from and have they been on : the air very long? : With regard to Galtee Radio in Limerick on : 102.4 MHz FM, is this radio station linked : in any way with a station of the same name : that used to broadcast in 1989? A Galtee : Radio at that time was a sister station of : the County Cavan pirate Breffni Radio and : used to broadcast on 792 kHz AM. : Best Wishes : Sean Brady : : : Posted by Simon Maher on July 1, 2000, 20:33:06 , in reply to "Re: New Radio Stations?" Hi Sean, X FM broadcast from Dublin (and have done so for about 7 years now - they were previously known as Alices Restaurant). Misty mountain is a new one to me...I don't think they are from this part of the world at all. Perhaps some connection to Hilltop which broadcast from Cavan recently? Galtee radio is related to the old Galtee, in that John Riordan is involved in this one too, and of course he was behind Breffni in the 80's and during their short lived return in 89, when they used to be audible in Dublin. Sean, did Breffni also own a station called Central Radio which I think was on 1035 or thereabouts, maybe in Longford. I'm sure I have a tape of it around here somewhere. Best wishes from one anorak to another! Simon --Previous Message-- Hello Simon I should remember Breffni Radio's short-lived return to the air on 657 KHz AM in the latter part of 1989, as I was there on the day it was forcibly closed down! Yes, there was a sister station in Longford town called Breffni Central Radio, which broadcast to the midlands and the west of Ireland on 1035 kHz AM. This station was as popular as its "big brother" in Kilnaleck, County Cavan, but it too was rather short-lived. Best Wishes Sean Brady Posted by North East Norbert on July 3, 2000, 7:20:24 , in reply to "Thanks Simon & Rodney!" Just a quick correction Simon, I think Cavan Community Radio was on 657 am as well as BLB. Certainly I had problems hearing BLB even in Dublin at times, as CCR used to blast them out of it. So, are you sure Breffni was also on the same channel? Also, I think the Breffni raid was in 1989, BLB having closed at the end of 1988 (don't tell me you forget 30th December 1988???!). Still, fascinating stuff. I recently got a book "100 years of the Meath Chronicle" (don't laugh - its interesting to read as a study into how society has changed). They gave some room to local radio in the area, mainly Carousel - complete with photos of 'Cuddly' Kieran Murray, but Boyneside, Breffni, Radio West, Nova, Sunshine and Caroline North all get a look in. Sean or Simon (or Rodney) may be able to answer this one; why did Carousel close down so suddenly during 1988? They didn't hang on till the bitter end, but rather closed up shop during the Summer. Was Hugh Hardy too busy with CLASS 98.5 in Dublin, or what? (I always preferred Boyneside when I was in that area, they were the lesser of two evils as far as I was concerned!). Posted by Sean Brady on June 27, 2000, 13:57:28 I worked for the following radio stations: Cavan Community Radio (CCR): December 1983 - August 1985 Breffni Radio: September 1985 - December 1988 Northern Sound: May 1990 - December 1991 Radio Star Country: January 1992 - March 1996 Midlands Radio 3: July 1997 - October 1997 I have been diagnosed as suffering from Multiple Sclerosis in recent years and have given up any on-air radio work. My love for, and interest in, radio in general remains as strong as ever. Best Wishes Sean Brady Posted by kinganorak on June 25, 2000, 17:03:08 Discovered this page with a few Irish bits including a cool Greg Gaughran Nova aircheck and some Sunshine pics. http://www.naffcaff.co.uk/anorak.html Found this one too. Funny to hear Paul Kavanagh's American accent mode in operation on the Atlantic 252 launch. http://www.beech-ra.demon.co.uk/radio/ireland.htm What ones have YOU found? Share them please Posted by ron on June 15, 2000, 12:07:21 Passion Fm are now audible in Wicklow Town - signal is alright but not great. I hear that Dave Sheen is erecting an 8,000 watt but isn't going to turn the full power on. What I want to know is where on earth did Dave get his hands on one of them??? Passion keep up the good work you're doin well *** AA For Kisslover (Castlebar) Message Body http://www.castlebar.ie/board/messages4june2000/10704.htm check out the URL above KISS Castlebar Message Body I just read it. I've got fond memories of Kiss in Castlebar. First time I ever heard them was courtesy of a tape from Simon Maher, and it was some of the most funny/frightening/bizzare radio I've EVER heard. I had the privilege of voicing some ads for them during their Christmas 1993 comeback (the comeback was dubbed "Lets put Techno through College", or "Techno-Aid" on account of the HUGE amount of ads he was pulling in). I also had the privilege of visiting the place a few times. Mr. Techno went off to live in the big city where he worked on Radio Dublin during its Joe Doyle ("Non Stop Lovesongs" reign. I think you may have been there too Mike! It was gas hearing the usual insipid shite lovesongs interspersed with "Suck My Kiss" from the Red Hot chilli Peppers, and Mr. Techno adding sound f/x in the background. Or was that Joe grinding his teeth in anger?? Thankfully, soon after, he got sense and went to Sunset FM, where his music and style was probably more appreciated, although his insistence on singing "I feel like Chicken tonight" non stop over the music during an ENTIRE drivetime show led to Gary Cruze complaining!! (Not that Techno had sang the song, but that he had missed the ads!!! Only kidding Gar). Techno is a funny FUNNY guy (in every meaning of the word), its a shame he's not ON AIR in radio these days. I still remember "Chris Benson - Sky News on Kiss FM" announcing the launch of the first ever Castlebar spaceship. Incredible radio! I'd love to hear some of it on the Anorak Hour (hint hint), so that lots of Dub radio heads can hear what they missed! For Further Reading Id rather be a pirate than a cowboy - Mike, July 4 at 12:00:29 Posted by Infoanon on July 7, 2000, 18:52:35 , in reply to "The SuperQ Gear!" Classic hits 98fm originally came from the old Q building 8 Upr. Mount St. so its quite possible that 98FM bought the studio gear. But who bought the TX's ? , E.Cooke claims to have one of the uhf uplinks. Also where's Sunshine's and other TXs nowadays? Posted by Infoanon on July 10, 2000, 19:14:00 This my recollection of the '94 raids: May 8th Kiss 103 - Seized 250w CTE,UHF receiver & Antenna cut so unusable. June 16th Attempted raid on Kiss FM's new mountain site. June 30th Sunset's Mountain site - seized a 250w rig, Sunset abandon new aerial mast under construction September Wk.1 Thursday : Kiss studio site raided - everything from TX,Mixer,Cart machines seized. September Wk.2 Thursday : Sunset studio raided - TX seized and warning re audio gear September Wk.3 Thursday :Strong rumour that Simon Maher's Coast 103 is to be raided, in fact Country music radio 95.5 is raided, TX and record collection etc seized. Allowing for incorrect dates is this what happened in '94 - advise. Posted by KHTR! on July 5, 2000, 6:03:43 I can't believe I forgot this one, but not only was July 3rd the night of the Pulse FM re-union, but it was also the birthday of another legendary dance station, Sunset FM, which came on air July 3rd 1991 at 6pm, broadcasting 25 watts of crystal clear mono. First jock on air ; Tom Phillips (aka Gary Cruze). First song ; "Just Like Starting Over" - John Lennon. A far cry from what it subsequently went on to be (Dublin's Daaaance factory). Sunset 107FM closed down in October 1994, following two raids, one on a TX site, and an aborted studio raid. **A question has arisen on the other board as to what happened at the second raid on Sunset. My recollection was that the mountain site was raided at the end of June '94, a 250w TX was removed and a warning was given re studios and the new (6 beam?) mast. In September the studios were raided, 1 week after the Kiss 103 raid and again a TX was seized. Is this correct ?, if not fill in the details, Cheers For Further Reading I could be totally wrong here but.. - anon, July 12 at 14:06:06 Kiss raided? Oh Yes - Infoanon, July 12 at 18:00:15 Kiss103/Sunset FM raids in 1994 - the full details - anorakman, July 12 at 20:03:22 What does the the powers to be do with all the GEAR? - DJ JOE BLOGGS, July 12 at 20:26:03 In theory - Mike, July 12 at 21:57:56 Kiss raided? Oh Yes Message Body First raid 7th May 1994:Mountain site, 250w TX, UHF receiver ,various connectors, cables,plugs and the 70ft mast was cut in a way that made it unuseable.Operation involved 15 Gardai! Second raid:June 17th(?) Kiss warned not to use a mountain site, kiss ignored the warning!, raiding party visited new site (power fm site if I am not mistaking) but the equipment had been removed.kiss were switching between 103.2 from the mountain site and from whitehall road. Third and final raid: September'94, Studio site raided- Everything from 250w TX,Processors,Desk,Cart machines etc seized Kiss 103's biggest problem was the studio site was a bad site to broadcast from - Southside 104.7,106,Zoom 103.7,Diamond 106 had all broadcast from close by sites and the coverage was very poor. What did the government do with all that seized equipment?? Message Body I always thought the first KISS TX site was quite good, but it did lack coverage around the lucrative South Country area (an area that Pulse were to later make their own). Had KISS not run their TX from their studio site, I doubt the studios would've been raided...the DOC at the time were more interested in an easy life, and that involved raiding remote mountain sites. The same goes for the second (aborted) Sunset raid. For the record; the first Sunset raid was on the TX site; ironically, Sunset had installed a fancy new tower and antenna system just HOURS beforehand. Gary would remember more, but I don't think they took the aerials, just rendered the site inoperable(!) and took away the 300watt TX. On the way down from the mountain they called into Gary and warned him that next time they'd raid his house. They also named other individuals (people whose addressed had been used on the air as mailing drops etc). Around the same time the DOC were busy writing letters to pirate advertisers, including the now defunct Griffiths shoes (at Griffiths Corner - beside the International Bar)! The second Sunset raid happened about a week after the studio raid on KISS 103. Andy Preston was the jock on the air at the time, when they came in. They were looking for Gary or a tenant of the house to serve a search warrant on. At the time Gary was in the house, but after pulling the audio cable out of the TX (this would make it difficult for the DOC to take the studio, as they would have to PROVE it had been plugged into the TX), he hid behind the sofa in his house so that the DOC wouldn't see or hear him, and he got busy on his mobile phone. A VERY well known Dublin anorak was dispatched up to the estate to ensure that Gary's mam didn't go to the house. Had she done that, they would've given her the warrant and raided. In the meantime the 106.8 FM stayed on with a blank carrier. Out on the street, the DOC people kept taking technical measurements, and they were also questioning Andy Preston in the studio. The guards were there in a very low key capacity, their presence there was simply to make sure there was no trouble. As for the rumours that persisted for years that the second Sunset raid was a drugs bust; sorry to ruin the myth, but here goes; There WERE questions asked about drugs, and the guards did remove studio carpeting to search the place, but had the raid been a drugs bust, you would've seen a far more aggressive police presence. They also wouldn't have been as polite!!! After a while the DOC wanted to search the house anyway, which legally they would be entitled to do, however the community garda for the area advised against it, pointing out that due to the popularity of the station, and the high proportion of teenage Sunset listeners in the immediate area, this could lead to a riot. Reluctantly the DOC agreed to sweat it out a while longer and wait for someone to turn up to serve the search warrant on. This dragged on for a couple of hours. It then transpired that the DOC guys hadn't been granted permission to work overtime, and they were damned if they were going to raid pirates in their spare time, so about tea time they finished up, issued dire warnings to Andy Preston and buggered off! Once they had gone, the studio gear was taken off the premises at once, and the 106.8 went off air. Later on that evening, a very low level signal came back on 106.8. This was a 10 watt transmitter from a car on Three Rock (yes - that's how they got the idea for the final broadcast about two weeks later), and was operated by some more VERY well known Dublin radio heads. For the next couple of weeks, various tones and tests were heard on 106.8, a number of them coming from the Drimnagh/Crumlin area on low power, purely to hold the channel. Finally, the decision was made not to return on the air full-time, but to have a 'proper' closedown, which took place on 3 rock mountain. Those details are elsewhere on the site. btw, my memory is not what it used to be, so Gary, if I got some of this wrong, I apologise... ** Irish radio Posted by sporty on July 19, 2000, 18:06:52 , in reply to "Re: RCR Royal County Radio - Drive her on!" operated from above cafe opposite owners pub Fitzsimons of MEP and FF fame. good quality FM link to AM TX ( an ET )at Dunshaughlin which gave very satisfactory coverage for 600watts or so. engineered by des olohan from kells who is related to john olohan aka alan hunter. al o'rourke, ollie? from oldcastle, don allen were some of the jocks. good station sounded well but fitzsimons grew tired of it and pulled plug. it was very difficult at that time to compete with Boyneside as regards adds. --Previous Message-- : The Well wisher writes: yes RCR was Don Allen's : station in Navan round about 83 or 84 and : I know not much about it after that except : it didn't stay on-air that long but that's : not to say it wasn't any good.I'd say : maybe Don shut her down cos it was a : laggard moneywise and NOT a cashcow like : the dosh loaded but in my opinion CRAP : LMFM. : --Previous Message-- : Does anyone remember Royal County Radio (RCR) : which broadcast from County Meath in the : early 1980s? I believe that they used to : broadcast from Navan. Did the service aim : specifically at the town or did the signal : reach further afield? Did RCR broadcast : on 846 kHz AM? : Any info anyone? : Best Wishes : Sean Brady : : : Posted by Tim Delaney on July 17, 2000, 1:53:56 , in reply to "County Cavan Pirate Radio Stations" The was a station is Bailieboro called Bailie Fm. Played C & W mostly. Had a rig on Loughanleigh hill. Before it was swiped. Did you ever hear it , Sean? --Previous Message-- : Apart from Cavan Community Radio (CCR), Breffni : Community/Regional Radio and Erneside : Community Radio, what other pirate radio : stations have broadcast from the county : prior to and after the appearance of the : aforementioned three? : Best Wishes : Sean Brady : Re: tcr fm, tyrone Posted by RA's Northern Correspondent on July 16, 2000, 17:32:33 , in reply to "tcr fm, Tyrone" --Previous Message-- : I need to make contact with TCR in Northern : Ireland. Can anyone post either an e-mail : address, website url, snail mail address : please? Also, any info on this station : posted here would be great. : Ta! I can't remember off the top of my head the number for TCR is. But when I get it I'll put it on the board. All I know is that it's an Eircell number. TCR, or Tyrone Community Radio has been running for a year now. It can be heard surprising well in many parts of the North West. It has 2 transmitters in Lifford, just two miles from Strabane on 105.2 and 106.8 and has a relay in North Donegal on 107.8 with can be heard on the North Coast. It mainly plays country music and has regular presenters on 24hrs a day. Their adverts are not the most professional in the world but they do get plenty of them. Their signal strength is quite good as they can be heard here in Fintona, County Tyrone some 30 miles from Strabane but Energy106 does make life difficult to hear it. I'm not sure if it had any relation to a now defunct station in those parts a while back called Strabane Independent Radio (SIR). However when TCR first launched it based its transmissions in Strabane and were quite strong, and could be heard up to 45/50 miles away. But ever since their move to Lifford they have appeared weaker. : K-light : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ** Phantom Anorak's Show Sunday 30 July 2000 with Ger Roe: Phone interview with David Baker (currently in England) who was involved with various Dublin stations as follows: Radio City (Capel St), Paul Cotter was engineer, Maurice Mahon also involved./ Southside Radio (from Hotel Victor) for 3 weeks/ Capital Radio (Bachelors Walk) above Don Moore's Tandy Radio Shack?) with Alan Russel and Chris Barry/ Radio Leinster '406 metres'/ Radio 257 from Portmarnock/ also was on RTE Radio 2 'New Voices' programme for 3 weeks)/ Kiss FM of Foley St. (was raided-due to interference!)/ KLAS/ Heartbeat (The late Maurice Nevin was very involved with heartbeat)/ OFFSHORE: Was also on Radio Caroline (on the 'Ross') for 3 weeks/ On ILR in England: 11 years on ILR Breeze, now bought by GWR/ Chelmer FM, still a stand alone local station / (Currently living near Southend-on-Sea) David Baker is now trying to organise a Radio reunion of 70s and 80s pirate stations in Dublin later in 2000. Other Anorak news: IRTC considering new licences for: Cashel, Northside Cork City, Knock, Cellbridge, Waterford I.T., DunLaoighre IRTC deferred plans for Dublin MW licence. Phantom had an OB from Whelans on previous Friday night 8/2000 Re: Nova TX question Tell a friend about this message! Posted by Simon Maher on August 13, 2000, 18:27:32 , in reply to "Re: Nova TX question" Hi Miles, Good to see you posting...informative as always! You mentioned in your post about the Irish Era Tapes. Is the full set available at present? Id love to get them for the collection. And, have you put in the 90's stuff? I remember you and Rodney coming to Coast here in 1993 or so and taping some stuff. Once again, good to see you online! Pete --Previous Message-- : Two CSI ex NOVA transmitters were bought from : the licquidators, outside Dublin, by Frank : McCarthy,(CASPTRONICs, Armagh) and : earmarked for Miles Johnston. (1996) The : High Tension supplies were virtually a : wreck, and were rebuilt by Frank, and then : myself. : The CSI 3KW FM is now IN SERVICE, at Energy : 106.6, and is doing 5.5KW typical. It : suffered serious failures, due to bad : transformer manufacture in Dublin. So the : unit has been virtually rebuilt by Miles. : There remains the 1KW AM CSI, which is : ready to go, except for a 3KV HT : transformer. This is in Armagh.(At Monica : McCarthy:- Frank was killed about 2 years : ago) : The 50KW was virtually completely destroyed : when I saw it, three of the cabinets were : sitting out in the rain. (5 years ago)All : the glass vacuum capacitors etc destroyed. : The original 846AM 10KW, went to radio West, : in the early days. It was replaced by the : 10KW CSi. The Radio west 10K was destroyed : by fire, a week or so before the big : close. It was surrounded in diesel oil, : and had no chance! : See the transmitters in action, including the : 50KW, in the Irish Era Of Pirate radio : Parts 2,5,and 6. : Hope this helps. / Miles : --Previous Message-- Posted by Spungles Maldoon on August 11, 2000, 22:44:58 , in reply to "Nova TX question" : I remember seeing a 1kw AM in BLB circa 83/84 : which I was informed had belonged to Nova. : --Previous Message-- Nova TX question Posted by Infoanon on August 11, 2000, 18:55:30 : Can anyone fill in the blanks ? : Nova's original 846Am was sold to Radio West : 756 (later 702), than there replacement : 819 was ?? ,the 50Kw was used on 729 than : on 738 and was sold off in the : liquidation.Magic 103's 1521 Am - 1Kw - : was ?? . : Energy 103 used a 10kw rig on 738am acquired : from ?? (was this the 819 rig? ). : Same question applies to the FM's if anyone : knows their history. : Final question, did the reported break-in and : vandalism of the 103.5 nova fm ever happen : ?, my memory was the 103.5 went off at 7pm : on a bright evening - not ideal timing for : a break-in and was the 103.5 not at the : nova park installation??? : : : : : -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted by megwatts on August 10, 2000, 22:42:34 , in reply to "Re: Bertie Ahearne involved with pirate radio.??" Yea:- But its me who will have to re-build the whole set up, and its a pain when you get things set up, just so that some misery guts takes all the toys away. In any case the CSI transmitter was raided once already.. in May 85, when they did NOVA. I have done a complete rebuild on it once... NOT again!! --Previous Message-- : Without having concrete proof of Bertie's : involvement it can be assumed that all the : big wigs in Fianna Fail were aware of : Election Radio operating. It was set up : for them by Radio Dublin and was run by FF : supporter Adrian St James urging people to : vote for you know who. : What is un-disputed fact however is the : Bertie was interviewed by Dave C on ARD in : the late 70's. He was just starting out on : his route to fame and fortune at the time : and got a right earfull for his slip up. : Sure what with Bertie on the radio and Mary : (Harney) on Pirate TV in 1981 (Channel D) : it seems that the present government is : well up on the pirate scene. Maybe they : are just jealous of LJ's signal ! I feel : another Tribunal coming on. : --Previous Message-- : Good question. : According to my records Bertie Aherne faces : prosecution under the wireless telegraphy : act (pre '88) for participation in an : illegal radio station in the mid 80s that : was illegally broadcasting pro fianna fail : messages. He may face a fine of up to £50 : under the law. : LJ are you worried over £50 wow wow ??? : --Previous Message-- : Was Bertie involved with the 1982 pirate : Fianna : Fail election radio????? : : : : Will the operators of Nova please note that the interference that their signal is causing has been brought to the attention of the regulatory body responsible for these matters and a warning to cease transmitting within the defined period is about to be issued. Failure to comply with the warning will lead to legal action being taken i.e. warrants being issued to search and seize any and all broadcast and transmission equipment at both your studio site in Wexford Street and your transmission site and charges brought against the operators of said equipment and the persons who's premises are being used for transmission of illegal broadcasts. This action will of course lead to the seizing of Phantoms equipment too. Ignore this at your peril! Nova Dance to Be warned by the ODTR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Message Body These arent alleged interference problems that the above poster is talking about. The problems relate to interference to Garda 2 way communications systems as was pointed out earlier in the week on this board. This is no mystery, and not someone "stirring shit" for Nova. The problem has just been made worse by Novas move to the city centre ("above the Spar"..yea right)and much closer to a certain big Garda centre! The 94.7 has been the subject of complaints from East Coast and NTL for months now, but the more immediate problem is with the link and this has lead to the ODTR deciding to act on both. Word on the street, (actually the Garda press office) is that a letter is being prepared (for a Mr Halpin apparently) requesting that broadcasts cease immediately or he (and a Mr Ke*ly at the mountain end) will be injuncted to do so. Thats the truth, time is ticking. ** In case any G men are having a read of this ESg are in Belvedear House just of Mountjoy Square where pulse used to be.just in case you dont have time to close them down dont worry were doing it anyway. HAHAHA *** The following equipment is for sale All equipment in immaculate condition and serviced C.T.E Link tx 840-880 (built in stereo encoder) C.T.E Link rx 840-880 Skateboard tx aerial 840-880 Link equipment serial numbers available on request Call for price Veronica 220Watt tx PLL call for price Call Rubert 0876630223, leave message and contact number. ***