Nova TV or that other Dublin pirate channel-any screengrabs available?

rlogue

rlogue wrote:

No, that was Nova TV, which was on the air for four days and prompted the P&T to close Nova down for a week.

Channel D was a joint venture between Dr. Don of ARD and the Big D AM radio pirates. It stayed on the air for 6 weeks in the summer of 1981.

Anyway, you (Dee) should remember TV Caruosel, the TV version of Drogheda's Radio Carousel.

Also, this BB is moderated, so the following word S*** should appear as S***!

Don't swear now Kids!

Taken from DMC's sig and an aH thread from 1999

I'd like to read a brief history of these especially the one that actually ran for 6 weeks.

Ulsterman 1690

I understand there may be people out there with video tapes of some of the Nova tests (Not sure about Channel D. Videos were EXPENSIVE back then)

It would be nice to get whatever survives digitised and put on the interweb for posterity

BTW AFaIK there was never a TV Carousel. Think you may have been confusing it with Boynside TV. Boyneside (Radio) were based mainly in Drogheda with Carousel in Dundalk although both stations had localised opt-out relay thingys in various parts of Louth, and Meath

Ger Roe

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I have just seen it now.

There is some video footage of the 80's pirate TV station 'Channel D' (Dublin) available on youtube as part of 'The Irish Era' pirate radio documentary series.

See here at T 11.10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=330TjODjLLg

I remember tuning in at night when BBC2 TV (NI) closed on the cable system - The screen would jump as the TX at the State Cinema in Phibsboro was turned on and the Channel D video player would roll on air. They also made some brief daytime broadcasts, but since BBC2 TV was on air at the time, it severely restricted their options. They did advertise an aerial installation company on ARD radio, so that you could receive the station direct from air, but no one was ever going to go to any expense for a pirate service with very limited programming. Their big claim to fame was running an interview from a young Community Councillor called Mary Harney, expressing her support for 'local Television' - pity she didn't go on to be minister for Communications.

Other pirate TV broadcasts that I remember were the very short lived Nova tests (NTV on Channel 60), (Footage available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88pjPzLgvG8)

a test clock broadcast from Capital Radio in Milltown (before Nova, if I remember correctly) and local news TV broadcasts from Boyneside TV (video coverage of the radio news studio).

They were interesting times to be an anorak, with pirate radio and TV on the go.

Ger Roe.

I'm really intrigued by that Channel D footage. My first and only report of it was featured on Richard Logue's website.

Did they transmit on the cable network? Or did they just restrict their transmission hours as to avoid interfering with BBC 2 on cable? I also noticed the phone number for the advertising department in that video, t'was Phibsboro alright (30, now 830, is the Phibsboro exchange).

Ger Roe

No, they didn't transmit on cable as they 'shared' the cable freq for BBC2. That's why they only came on air late at night, when BBC2 closed.

At least in the beginning anyway - they did try a few mornings when publicity articles in various newspapers suggested they were planning to do breakfast TV. Even in Sandyford, where I was located, I could notice the BBC2 cable signal wobble a bit when they switched on during daytime and I could then plug in an external aerial to watch (the same repeated video progs - some films and some custom made local Dublin features)

I can only assume that the interference to BBC2 cable must have been more disruptive nearer to Phibsboro.

'Dr Don' Moore (best known for radio ARD) told me once he got word that the station was about to be raided one particular night so he sneaked up to a nearby corner and peaked down at the State Cinema (TV TX and video player location) to see some suspicious cars parked across the road waiting for him to go in and turn on. He decided not to bother and the station never broadcast again.

The State Cinema building was later used as a pirate MW TX site for Radio Annabel in the mid 80's and as a studio and TX location for the country music station KIC FM in 2000.

There is an 'In Dublin' magazine article from August '81 about Channel D located on the DX Archive website - (search for dxarchive channel D)