Pirate Radio In Waterford (and Tramore)

mike65

I was just doing some googling having read about Radio Caroliines one week return to mark the 40 anniversary of its 'offical' ending and started to look for stuff on the local pirate scene.

Something for us oldsters to get slightly nostagic about and some education for the kids!

ABC

WLR

Suirside

and one thats still going apparently http://listen.to/jrri/

Mike.

Sully

Very interesting. I see some of those names have gone onto local/national radio!

shockwave

Oh the memories, I remember abc radio as being a major part of my teen years.
It was a great station with great music,so much better than bland WLR.
I wonder how things would have turned out had they got the license instead of WLR. Billy MacCarthy, I dont think so!

mike65

I was an ABC-er too, proper pop station, not local radio for local people. Which is of course why WLR got the licence.

Mike.

Roen

I used to have an ABC T-shirt (the station, not the band). Wasn't today or yesterday though

darkmaster2

I have a few QSLs from JRRI from back around `91.

dlofnep

ABC power 104!!

I remember all too well and the battle they had trying to get their license. Beat is pretty much ABC with a facelift. Reaches out to the same crowd. Doesn't really seem that long ago it was gone? It was there when I worked in preachers.. Eek, that was nearly 8 years ago Time flies.

jmcc

mike65 wrote:

I was an ABC-er too, proper pop station, not local radio for local people. Which is of course why WLR got the licence.

They knew the system I think. ABC was a bit naive in thinking that it would have won the licence.

Regards...jmcc

Junior

My Uncle used to do a Country and Western show on WLR, still working in Radio in tyneside ..

AdMMM

I have many fond memories of ABC. I think they were one of the first stations in Ireland to offer streaming radio over the net?

mike65

Heh that must be ABC Power 104 not the old station.

Mike.

Sully

I think ABC and ABC Power 104 are different stations.

tonc76

ABC oh the memories

They were based in Arundel Square opposite the car park weren't they?

mike65

They were above Hers and Sirs then they switched to above Egans for more space, well I imagine they moved for space as they added proper news and storage facilities.

Mike.

tonc76

Makes sense the place in Arundel Sq looked tiny

I can still picture the ABC sticker on the window .... and the poor chap sitting in the box opposite collecting money for the car park:eek:

Sully

From my research, ABC turned into Beat 102-103 in the end?

ToxicPaddy

dlofnep wrote:

It was there when I worked in preachers.. Eek, that was nearly 8 years ago Time flies.

Ahh you're still a child.. I worked in Preachers in 93 - 95.. now thats a long time ago!!!!

Yeah I remember ABC.. ahh them were the days!!

Trick of the Tail

ABC started in Tramore in March '82, moved to Arundel Square in 85 and to Egans about 18 months later.

The studios above Egans were good - great to work in. If you look up at the top right window even now you can see part of the white desk that the news was compiled at. The main studio was the two windows to the left of that.

ABC was ahead of its time in many ways. First to use FM Stereo in the country, first to use CDs on air, actually tested AM Stereo, had satellite news feeds, NUJ journalist, first to use proper audio processing, and latterly had AM transmitters in Tramore and Wexford and a network of FM transmitters that covered most of counties Waterford and Wexford.

I have tapes of it, and I have to say it beats most of today's bland stations hands down.

I was there; Great days.

A.

mike65

Intrigue! Were you just a group.ie or one the crew?

Mike.

Trick of the Tail

mike65 wrote:

Intrigue! Were you just a group.ie or one the crew?

Mike.

Nope! I worked there 1983 to 1988!

A.

papa

http://archive.southwalesargus.co.uk/2005/12/20/79448.html

http://archive.southwalesargus.co.uk/2005/12/20/79448.html

mike65

Cool! A star in our midst! *Scratches brain to remember who was who*

papa I saw that story though not the local angle.

Mike.

Sully

Good to see a crew member posting. I called the number on the old ABC website, it rings only once and then blank! Where does it route to, does anyone know?

papa

mike65 wrote:

Cool! A star in our midst! *Scratches brain to remember who was who*

papa I saw that story though not the local angle.

Mike.

"Fossey then worked on a number of stations including Radios Orwell, Hallam, Hereward and Wiltshire, ABC Tramore in Ireland, Riviera Radio from Monte Carlo and the Voice of Peace, an offshore station which broadcast to Israel, where he was known as Rob Scott."

Trick of the Tail

Well the original number was 86571, then in Waterford there was a different number! Which I can't mremember!

But they were 5 digits then, remember that we now have six. I would assume that those numbers are just no longer in use.

A.

Hissing Sideban

wasn't it 75620 and 75687 for sales?

By the way, there is often confusion over the original ABC from 1982 to 1988 (the hot FM in latter days)and the subsequent 'ABC Power 104' which ran fom late 1985 to 2001.

There were a few staff connections, but they weren't really the same station.

I was involved with th efirst staion from day one, and the early days of the second incarnation (I climbed up th einside of the Jute factory chimney to put up the aerial in 1996!)

Trick of the Tail

mike65 wrote:

Cool! A star in our midst! *Scratches brain to remember who was who*

Mike.

Well I used to rejoice in the name of Dave Hunt. Presenter from 1982 to about 87 then news till the end, Dec 29, 1988.

Funny to think the original ABC has been gone now for nearly 19 years!

Andy.

mike65

Damn right, I still have the final 75 mins on tape.

THE HOT FM....................massive amounts of reverb and out.

Mike.

Trick of the Tail

That wasn't a bad set of jingles - do you remember that the news was BEFORE the top of the hour and ended with a 3-pip time signal?

We used to take great pride in timing that right! Many people reckoned we recorded the news to time it up, but no, it was all read live, up to the second!


No-one does that these days; probably couldn't.

By the way, our other main newsreader was Kerry Graye, now heard nationally on the networked INN news.


A.

Hissing Sideban

A lot of the studio structure above Egan's pub remained intact last time I checked about a year ago (I snuck up the stairs past the dentists.) There were still old news scripts in the news room, a few tapes in the production studio and some of the furniture and the big window between the record library and main studio! I think it's all locked up now though, since Penneys bought the building - although th eDentist is still operating - he has a right of way through the building!

mike65

alinton I thought the last era of ABC was just a bit too professional sounding.I know why of course but the idea of a 15 min news programme at 12.45 complete with the markets was just a bit too much for me and yes the pips were impressive cos I used to time it against the bbc (sad or what?) when they started.

I suspect my most abiding memory of ABC will always be the way Arundel became transmutated into Awondel

Mike.

Trick of the Tail

I don't really remember the long bulletin, I suspect we only did it for a short while.

It was probably difficult to do with our very limited resources then!

Top professional? Guess thats a compliment!

Cheers

A.

kensutz

What a twat, nice to see him banned.

mike65

Bump for the 20th anniversary. That and the fact those OP links are now dead

This a good site for ABC, net coverage of the others is non exisitent right now.

http://www.abcthehotfm.com/

jmcc

alinton wrote: »

ABC was ahead of its time in many ways. First to use FM Stereo in the country, first to use CDs on air, actually tested AM Stereo, had satellite news feeds, NUJ journalist, first to use proper audio processing, and latterly had AM transmitters in Tramore and Wexford and a network of FM transmitters that covered most of counties Waterford and Wexford.

I have tapes of it, and I have to say it beats most of today's bland stations hands down.

I was there; Great days.

It would have been interesting to see what ABC would have become had it won the licence. ABC always appeared to be a lot more innovative than other stations and there definitely was room for at least two or three radio stations in Waterford.

Regards...jmcc

Bards

Don't forget in the early 80's we also had Suirside radio and Crystal City Sounds

BIG-SLICK-POKER

Is this to do with Zenith Fm on the airwaves ?? Its new on my car stereo is it a pirate station ??

mike65

Tis Zenith turning back time (and collars)

Trick of the Tail

No, not a pirate, Zenith Classic Rock has a temporary licence and will be on air Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until Feb 22nd.

A.

waterford mma

abc power 104 and longwave radio atlantic 252 were the business

robtri

alinton wrote: »

No, not a pirate, Zenith Classic Rock has a temporary licence and will be on air Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until Feb 22nd.

A.

had a listen to it, Zenith, sorry to say it doesn't match the magic of the old days of pirates... it seemed very sedate and lacking of energy....

djsupreme

Haven't been too impressed with zenith, but then I don't think it's particularly targetted at me. The original audio on the ABC Hot FM website is pretty cool though. Love the 80s tunes and the local ads!

In reference to earlier points about ABC/ABC Power 104. There were a few of the lads from the original ABC involved in setting up Power 104, and giving guidance along the way. However, it was ten years on, and Power 104 was targetted at a younger audience than the original ABC.

Although many of the core values were the same from the original. Lots of young people in Waterford were given a bash at doing something they all loved. Some of them were pretty poor, others went on to careers on big stations like Beat. But anyone who came forward was given a shot at it. A lot of the original presenting style of the original ABC was also evident in terms of tight links, no dead air, etc.

Sad part is - legal radio (even with the salary) is never as enjoyable as the pirate days!

pp_me129

99.9 fm everyone :L

Mr Ed

Sully wrote: »

From my research, ABC turned into Beat 102-103 in the end?

I'm not sure if that's correct Sully as both Beat and ABC Power 104 went head to head for the licence in 2002/03.

Some people who may have been involved with the ABC Power 104 application did take up jobs with Beat but it didn't really turn into it

Freddie59

alinton wrote: »

No, not a pirate, Zenith Classic Rock has a temporary licence and will be on air Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until Feb 22nd.

A.

I hope it stays on air. Some great stuff there for a late-40s like me.:o:D

Reception's a bit patchy though. Anyone know where the transmitter is located?:)

Sully

Mr Ed wrote: »

I'm not sure if that's correct Sully as both Beat and ABC Power 104 went head to head for the licence in 2002/03.

Some people who may have been involved with the ABC Power 104 application did take up jobs with Beat but it didn't really turn into it

Ah okay. I wasn't really sure as I knew some of the lads working there worked with ABC Power so assumed it might have been the case.

The current station I have listened to a small bit but its not really my music taste. Had no reception problems tho Freddie? Listened to it from Tramore to Wexford then tuned out as I was going out of the coverage!

robtri

pp_me129 wrote: »

99.9 fm everyone :L

ahh the sweet smell of some hard rock and metal at the weekends... good choice...

Heathen

Freddie59 wrote: »

I hope it stays on air. Some great stuff there for a late-40s like me.:o:D

Reception's a bit patchy though. Anyone know where the transmitter is located?:)

103.8FM tx is located on white mountain in Wexford running 2KW

1584AM Stereo TX is located at the studio site on the way to mooncoin

and yes i did say AM Stereo :)

pp_me129 wrote: »

99.9 fm everyone :L

josh59

mike65 wrote: »

Bump for the 20th anniversary. That and the fact those OP links are now dead

This a good site for ABC, net coverage of the others is non exisitent right now.

http://www.abcthehotfm.com/

Great site !!! Worked on the Dunmore Road in Waterford from 1982 -1983 ABC was like a breath of fresh air. I remember buying the station t-shirt the day we headed off to the Lisdoon festival in 1983 - would it have been from Cantwells in John Street ?

mike65

Yep, Cantwells is now closed.