Phantom FM begin test transmissions

BrianD

97.3 Phantom FM - Dublin's weekend Rock has begun testing on 97.3 mHz from Three Rock Mountain. No audio is currently being broadcast though a 2 minute loop tape will be added during the week

Our 97.3 Mhz transmitter is operating at an ERP of 500 Watts from an authorised site located at Sandyford, South County Dublin. The transmission facility is 240 meters above sea level with an antenna system comprising of two vertically polarised folded dipoles mounted at 30 meters above local ground level. Our studio is located in the south city area of Dublin 2 and it is linked to the VHF transmission site through a link signal operating at 1430.75 Mhz.

Programming will commence on Friday 17 October at midnight.

Reception reports welcome by SMS to (087) 619 5171 or by email to engineering@phantomfm.com

DMC

I'll be down in Kells, Co. Meath on Friday, Brian, and I'll text you then. Normally no problem getting low power transmissions from Dublin.

What is you expected coverage?

Isn't 97.3 used by CKR too?

Best of luck again!

BrianD

97.3 is used by CKR in the south of their franchise... they use 97.6 to cover the north of their area. 97.3 is now used in Dublin for all the temporary services.

watty

"Authorised" sounds good.

I'd guess Three Rock and all those other lumps behind S'ford will stop any westward signal though.

A 13 or 16 element yagi on a big pole in Cavan or Dundalk will pick up that power if your site is good.

Not many people have that amount of Aluminium on the roof! I have a ten element with rotator on 144MHz, but it is picking up something probabily on Band II as at certian headings I hear faint music. I will connect it to the ordinary FM radio and see what comes in.

A good site for coverage of most of Dublin City except the western bits out past RedCow. Be intersting to hear if you can be got in Clondalkin

DMC

Funnily enough, I went back home this evening, the blank carrier signal is coming though in North Co. Meath, albeit faintish while stationary, with a little interference in car while moving, from CKR on 97.3. No surprise to me that, I can get Beat from Waterford!

bkehoe

Beat is on Mt Leinster though. A friend got it no problem while in Ennis with normal car radio even!

Mossy Monk

any chance of Phantom hijacking one of the 3 frequencies i pick up RnaG on

92.9, 94.0 or 94.4

any of these will do for the Dungarvan area

BrianD

'Fraid not! However you can listen online at www.phantomfm.com in Dungarvan - or anywhere else in the world! In the past, we even had a micro pirate in Berkley, California relaying the station!

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by BrianD
'Fraid not! However you can listen online at www.phantomfm.com

i could but i connect at a measly 16kbps so that rules it out

Antenna

Am I correct in saying Phantom is the first post-1988 pirate radio station to have got any sort of licence from the IRTC/BCI?

BTW people, proper scientific notation please
its MHz , not mHz (m=milli, M = Mega) or Mhz

DMC

Further to my earlier reception report, the signal the whole way from Kells to Dublin, up the N3 is good/useable. Occasional flakes of CKR can interfere with the signal, i.e at the bottom of some hills, but on the whole, looks like a good robust signal for most of the North East!

Just so you have an idea, 98FM's most northern boundary would be around Lavey on the N3, about 10 miles south of Cavan town.