The future of RTE Radio 1 LW

Radio_Fan_67 · 19-12-2014 8:08pm

What are RTE on about when they say replacement of infrastructure would be required post 2017 to keep the service going ?

Mycroft H · 19-12-2014 9:50pm

Its a transistor set no? Nothing like BBC and the aging valves. Which I also expect is an excuse to shut it down some day.

Fuzzy Clam · 19-12-2014 10:57pm

Radio_Fan_67 wrote: »

What are RTE on about when they say replacement of infrastructure would be required post 2017 to keep the service going ?

Maybe mast maintainence. Replacement of insulators. Like what they had to do with Tullamore.

galtee boy · 19-12-2014 10:59pm

Antenna wrote: »

Is that comparison using the same car radio at both locations ?

No, I'm comparing it to my car radio here. For some reason, I seem to remember R4 LW being much better some years ago, but maybe I had a better LW radio in previous cars ! Also, I can remember when it was BBC Radio 2 that was on LW and they used to broadcast the football commentaries on it and reception of that seemed better also, maybe it's nostalgia !

DrPatrickBarry · 23-12-2014 12:57pm

Living in the UK getting International News from an Irish prospective is one of the reasons I love listening to the News and Current Affairs programmes.

Great news that it has got a repreive for a couple of years.

Antenna · 12-01-2015 10:09pm

Radio_Fan_67 wrote: »

What are RTE on about when they say replacement of infrastructure would be required post 2017 to keep the service going ?

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

Maybe mast maintainence. Replacement of insulators. Like what they had to do with Tullamore.

The question is then going to be asked, if/when 'Summerhill' mast becomes unusable (and has to be dismantled??) why not relocate the LW transmitter to (ex-567kHz) Tullamore and use that mast? It had its insulators replaced in 2004 and should be good for several years more ?

The 252kHz frequency is already internationally coordinated to use at Tullamore as well as the existing site.

LW from Tullamore would still fully cover areas of Northern Ireland with poor/no RTE radio 1 on FM, though there would be some reduction in good signal strength areas in Britain.

Before anyone mentions the difference in height of the masts (Tullamore being a bit taller than 1/4 wave at 252kHz) - ATU at the mast base takes care of that.

xMallx · 21-01-2015 3:27pm

The suggestion from RTE that the mast will soon be unusable is total rubbish, 2rn were only recently applying for
planning permission to paint the top of it.

MarkK · 29-01-2015 8:08pm

RTE1 is listed as part of the "Listen2Digital consortium" bid for a new national DAB mux in the UK

Press Release:
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/orionmedia/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Orion+Media+and+Babcock+International+team+up+for+DAB2+Bid_FINAL.pdf

http://media.info/radio/news/listen2digital-submit-application-for-second-national-digital-radio-multiplex
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jan/29/virgin-radio-could-return-to-airwaves-in-digital-reboot

watty · 29-01-2015 9:50pm

MarkK wrote: »

RTE1 is listed as part of the "Listen2Digital consortium" bid for a new national DAB mux in the UK

Morons.

A crap system that needs x6 as many masts as low power fill in to be reliable that only gadget fiends want.

UK people I know have reverted to FM only in Car due to drop outs, bubbling mud and deadly slow channel changes compared to instant with FM. Also RDS does all the text Radio needs as well as smart retuning (instantly).

xMallx · 30-01-2015 3:58pm

This is beyond belief , RTE said the reason for closing lw was to save 250k per year and now they want to pay triple that to broadcast on foreign transmitters that don't serve this island at all. Who do they think will listen to RTE Radio 1 on dab in the uk ? elderly irish don't have dab sets and the young irish use smartphones tablets etc.

formerly scottish paddy · 30-01-2015 5:33pm

xMallx wrote: »

and now they want to pay triple that

How much would they be paying? Can't see them forking out that all that much.

xMallx · 30-01-2015 5:38pm

formerly scottish paddy wrote: »

How much would they be paying? .

Rumour is GBP 500k

formerly scottish paddy · 30-01-2015 5:48pm

xMallx wrote: »

Rumour is GBP 500k

Can't see them paying that unless they are planning some advertising deal and "opt-out" ads for GB.

marclt · 04-02-2015 7:01pm

It would appear that from that proposal RTE Radio 1 will be available on DAB+, which isn't standard in the UK as yet. Although they are moving towards it.

RTE isn't listed as a station on the UTV/Bauer bid. But on that bid, they have allowed coverage plans to be made public. We're looking at an 85% coverage, which drops to half that in parts of the constituent nations such as Wales.

xMallx · 05-02-2015 5:27pm

RTE must be running Clarkstown at very low power, Algeria is as clear as a bell in the background across ireland now.

feez · 10-02-2015 2:02am

It seems to be down a few dB alright, never heard anything underneath it before

xMallx wrote: »

RTE must be running Clarkstown at very low power, Algeria is as clear as a bell in the background across ireland now.

petronius · 23-02-2015 2:44pm

Are RTE vandalising the Long Wave service by running it on reduced power...
This is disingenuous, and not in the spirit of serving the Diaspora in the UK, or the Belfast Agreement.

petronius · 23-02-2015 2:51pm

Radio_Fan_67 wrote: »

Hasn't the longwave 252 signal always been useless in London ? Some people go on about it as if it covers all of europe.

The LW signal is received in London, it could do with more power, Medium Wave was patchy at best in North London, and also in South Wales reception was lousy, where as LW is better. MW was excellent in the North of England according to relatives there and the rationale for LW was that it would give more coverage.

LW doest cover all of Europe, but i have received LW when in northern France and also once when in Belgium.

Mickey Mike · 08-03-2015 11:28pm

xMallx wrote: »

RTE must be running Clarkstown at very low power, Algeria is as clear as a bell in the background across ireland now.

Yes you're right, why for **** sake they did not move up to 270 khz where there's nothing there. But it doesn't matter now cause its ending in 2017. I don't know what the solution is, it will cost money whatever corner they turn.

winston_1 · 08-03-2015 11:50pm

Mickie Mike wrote: »

Yes you're right, why for **** sake they did not move up to 270 khz where there's nothing there.

Because their internationally agreed allocation is 252kHz. Broadcasters can't simply choose their own broadcast frequencies.

watty · 09-03-2015 7:38am

UK though has 279 KHz which they don't use.
198KHz is the Cricket Channel for over 6 hrs today. Fine if you like Cricket. An abuse if you don't. Why isn't it on Five Live (which can be picked up daytime out side UK).

Why did RTE go to 252 and close the MW in the first place? Irish LW is better in parts of UK during day, but Irish MW far better in UK at night.

Most of what Broadcasters doing since 1990s makes no sense.

Antenna · 09-03-2015 10:12am

Mickie Mike wrote: »

Yes you're right, why for **** sake they did not move up to 270 khz where there's nothing there. But it doesn't matter now cause its ending in 2017. I don't know what the solution is, it will cost money whatever corner they turn.

261 kHz would appear to be a better choice than 270. nothing at all on 261 across Europe, you will hear a very weak Czech station at night on 270. Also I have come across some dial-tuned radios with LW which don't tune up as far as 270 (or 279), but 261 would be fine.

winston_1 wrote: »

Because their internationally agreed allocation is 252kHz. Broadcasters can't simply choose their own broadcast frequencies.

Could there be temporary permission granted internationally to use say the clear 261kHz instead of 252 ? THis temporary permission could keep getting rolled over if no other country in Europe reactivates 261kHz ?

In the UK some years ago, after 1566kHz MW became very clear at night due to the closure of a high power transmitter in Switzerland, a BBC local station with MW and another broadcaster elsewhere took advantage of this and managed to move onto this now clearer frequency, despite 1566 never been allocated in the UK before?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2349767.stm

Dom Phil Cobe · 17-03-2015 9:02pm

watty wrote: »

Why did RTE go to 252 in the first place? I

Well i guess when teamtalk 252 closed in 2002 they didn't want to leave a pretty young 13 year old giant mast and transmitter lying dormant. The trouble of
building the thing would still have been fresh in everyone's mind at the time.

Mickey Mike · 17-03-2015 10:38pm

Ok let's go forward to 2 years (2017) will RTE definitely pull the plug on Long Wave? Will older people adapt to newer ways of receiving radio, they will of course, they have to and it's a good thing to have change. Everything changes even we do.
The trend is AM transmitters are closing down across Europe and that's one of the reasons apart from costs. There's better ways of receiving quality radio.
MW and LW used to sound far better years ago, now their power output is down to half in some places making it TRASH Radio.
The idea of going DAB in UK is fine but at what charge, that is a sticking point. People outside the Irish state may have to dip in their pockets a little if they want Irish radio.

Dom Phil Cobe · 17-03-2015 11:06pm

Mickie Mike wrote: »

Ok let's go forward to 2 years (2017) will RTE definitely pull the plug on Long Wave? Will older people adapt to newer ways of receiving radio, they will of course, they have to and it's a good thing to have change. Everything changes even we do.
The trend is AM transmitters are closing down across Europe and that's one of the reasons apart from costs. There's better ways of receiving quality radio.
MW and LW used to sound far better years ago, now their power output is down to half in some places making it TRASH Radio.
The idea of going DAB in UK is fine but at what charge, that is a sticking point. People outside the Irish state may have to dip in their pockets a little if they want Irish radio.

I find the idea of paying a six figure sum for dab carriage in the uk a shocking waste of tax payers money. The small amount of elderly irish uk based 252 listeners are very unlikely to bother listing via dab. why not have Terrestrial carriage of RTE Radio 1 in boston and australia too ?

formerly scottish paddy · 18-03-2015 11:31am

Dom Phil Cobe wrote: »

I find the idea of paying a six figure sum for dab carriage in the uk a shocking waste of tax payers money. The small amount of elderly irish uk based 252 listeners are very unlikely to bother listing via dab. why not have Terrestrial carriage of RTE Radio 1 in boston and australia too ?

Presumably if carried on DAB in the UK RTÉ could have substitute ads aimed at UK audience which would cover some of the cost.

dxhound2005 · 21-03-2015 10:10pm

Longwave 252 will be off the air from 9 am Monday next for three days. The announcement says it is for essential transmitter maintenance.

22-03-2015 10:53pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Longwave 252 will be off the air from 9 am Monday next for three days. The announcement says it is for essential transmitter maintenance.

Part of me suspects it's a test to see who complains! Or maybe it's something to do with why it has been on so low power lately? Who knows!

Mickey Mike · 23-03-2015 12:14am

Well it will give us a chance to hear Algerian radio for a couple of days. When RTE Long Wave returns on Wednesday evening after service we'll have top audio quality, just like in the old days.

dxhound2005 · 24-03-2015 7:50pm

Algeria is very strong. During the day S9 + 10dB on JRC NRD525 and Wellbrook loop located indoors temporarily. Same signal strength on Eton E1 outside away from the noise, just on the telescopic whip (the E1 has no internal ferrite antenna)

They must be using the full 1500 kW.

Mickey Mike · 24-03-2015 10:11pm

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Algeria is very strong. During the day S9 + 10dB on JRC NRD525 and Wellbrook loop located indoors temporarily. Same signal strength on Eton E1 outside away from the noise, just on the telescopic whip (the E1 has no internal ferrite antenna)

They must be using the full 1500 kW.

Yes Algerian radio is very strong 1500 kw by day and 750 kw by night. It makes our 300 kw day time and 100 night time a bit of a joke when it should be at least 500 kw by day.

The Cush · 27-03-2015 9:07am

MarkK wrote: »

RTE1 is listed as part of the "Listen2Digital consortium" bid for a new national DAB mux in the UK

The second UK national radio multiplex licence was awarded on 24 March to Sound Digital Limited - http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radio-broadcast-licensing/digital-radio/national-multiplex-award-mar15/

RTÉ Radio was part of the losing Listen2Digital licence bid.

Antenna · 27-03-2015 9:57pm

Mickie Mike wrote: »

MW and LW used to sound far better years ago,

This is mainly because older receivers allowed better quality audio from MW/LW. Manufacturers choosing cheaper and smaller size components was bad news for AM.

Older receivers had I.F. transformers (rather than the small Ceramic IF filters nowadays) which generally gave better AM quality audio, and this is just one aspect of older receivers being better for AM

Modern AM receivers worldwide usually have AM audio roll-off at around 2-3kHz (which is very irritating to the human ear) - even though UK AM stations may have 6kHz of audio, and American stations can have 10kHz of audio (provided they do not have IBOC - a digital signal surrounding the AM signal)

Mickey Mike · 05-04-2015 10:26pm

Does anyone know if the Tullamore MW transmitter is still standing or what are they going to do with it? I know Athlone MW has been dismantled. Will there be any use for 567 khz

06-04-2015 5:38pm

How is the power level on 252 since the restart? I'm in Dublin so never had any issues here, but how about further afield?

dxhound2005 · 14-07-2015 10:24pm

http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/irish-in-britain-consulted-on-shutdown-of-rte-service-1-6836058

Ireland’s Diaspora minister has urged emigrants in Britain to speak out about the planned shutdown of RTE’s longwave radio service.

Jimmy Deenihan said government-funded research into the use of the service, particularly by older Irish people in the UK, would help determine a decision on its future.

The Cush · 02-08-2015 1:22am

The Cush wrote: »

The second UK national radio multiplex licence was awarded on 24 March to Sound Digital Limited - http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radio-broadcast-licensing/digital-radio/national-multiplex-award-mar15/

RTÉ Radio was part of the losing Listen2Digital licence bid.

RTÉ Radio 1 is to be made available in the Manchester area on a 9 month trial Local DAB minimux operated by Niocast Digital and is due to begin broadcasting next month.

RTÉ weren't part of Niocast Digital's original trial application and were added recently. According to a516digital.com RTÉ's carriage on the Manchester DAB trial is subject to regulatory approval by Ofcom.

The licence was 1 of 10 trial licences awarded by Ofcom last June. At the end of the 9 month trials Ofcom will report to government in mid-2016 and make recommendations on a licensing framework.

Niocast Digital's trial application - http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/radio/digital/small-scale-trial-multiplex-licensing/Niocast_Digital_application_form_-_for_publication.pdf

The Cush · 03-09-2015 1:21am

The Manchester trial minimux has been up an running since the 20th of last month but RTÉ Radio1 hasn't appeared yet, possibly awaiting its Ofcom licence.

6 of the 9 services carried on the mux received their licences in August - http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radio-broadcast-licensing/monthly-updates/update0815

The mux operators, Niocast Digital, have a Coming Soon caption beside the RTÉ Radio1 logo on their website - http://www.niocast.com/

One of the current services on the mux is identified as Niocast DAB (C1D5 128 kbit/s Stereo No PTy), probably a placeholder for RTÉ R1 - http://www.wohnort.org/DAB/ukloc.html#Manchester Mini

dxhound2005 · 30-09-2015 12:11am

The research amongst the diaspora, and any other interested parties has started. LW is running an announcement asking listeners in GB to phone a number to express their interest in taking part. Announcement is just before midnight, and just before 8am, probably other times as well.

John Joe Jones · 04-10-2015 1:01pm

Does anyone here know for sure what KW has Clarkstown been running at the past year ? I know its a 300kw rig but I understand it hasn't been running at 300kw for some time.

Mickey Mike · 04-10-2015 1:41pm

John Joe Jones wrote: »

Does anyone here know for sure what KW has Clarkstown been running at the past year ? I know its a 300kw rig but I understand it hasn't been running at 300kw for some time.

This big beast should have been running at 500kw and not 300 or 200kw or whatever, Does it really matter now as of early 2016 it will be reducing in operation hours from 7am to 7pm and a full and permanent shutdown on 01/05/2017. The End of Long Wave.

John Joe Jones · 04-10-2015 1:53pm

Mickie Mike wrote: »

This big beast should have been running at 500kw and not 300 or 200kw or whatever, Does it really matter now as of early 2016 it will be reducing in operation hours from 7am to 7pm and a full and permanent shutdown on 01/05/2017. The End of Long Wave.

The old Atlantic 252 rigs got replaced around 2006/2007 so 300kw was the maximum power that could be used since then.

Mickey Mike · 14-06-2016 10:38pm

I now notice RTE Longwave 252 have been off air now and again, has it started its reduced hours leading up to its full shutdown next May? RTE Radio 1 extra should be put back on Satellite 28.2 to compensate for the loss of LW.

The Cush · 15-06-2016 12:06am

RTÉ Radio was part of the losing Listen2Digital licence bid and were then to appear in the Manchester area on a 9 month trial Local DAB minimux operated by Niocast Digital but all has gone quiet on this front possibly due to Ofcom licensing reasons.

Have they given up on broadcasting RTÉ Radio into GB?

StreetLight · 15-06-2016 7:28am

Mickie Mike wrote: »

I now notice RTE Longwave 252 have been off air now and again, has it started its reduced hours leading up to its full shutdown next May? RTE Radio 1 extra should be put back on Satellite 28.2 to compensate for the loss of LW.

The downtime was due to routine transmitter maintenance. I read about it earlier in the week on Aertel.

dxhound2005 · 15-06-2016 11:35pm

The results of the survey in Britain have now been published. The noises coming from the Ministers and from RTE in the DFA press release are fairly vague, but might suggest that consideration is being given to continuation of the service.

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2016/06/03/saving-rte-252-long-wave/

https://www.dfa.ie/news-and-media/press-releases/press-release-archive/2016/june/flanagan-mchugh-longwave-research/#

http://www.irishinbritain.org/cmsfiles/Images/RTE/FINAL-Exec-Summary-for-uploading-to-website.pdf

4 band radio · 16-06-2016 12:29am

Apparently some UK broadcasting act says that ofcom are not allowed give a radio licence to a publicly funded broadcaster and thats the simple reason way RTE on dab in manchester never happened.

Mickey Mike · 13-07-2016 5:05pm

Long Wave 252 has been off the air again for more maintenance, what's all the maintenance for? Are they still closing it down permanently next May 2017? What ever they are doing to it the sound quality is not good.

Fuzzy Clam · 13-07-2016 9:20pm

Mickie Mike wrote: »

Long Wave 252 has been off the air again for more maintenance, what's all the maintenance for? Are they still closing it down permanently next May 2017? What ever they are doing to it the sound quality is not good.

Sounds fine to me.

The Cush · 02-10-2016 8:01am

http://www.independent.ie/business/media/rte-ditches-plans-to-axe-longwave-252-radio-service-35096216.html

But the station has confirmed it is now carrying out a "review" of its previous announcement.

The future of RTE Radio 1 LW

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