10 Years today since 'black Tuesday'

Infoanon

Tuesday 20th May 2003 is to many the day 'pirate' radio came to end in Dublin.

Like today it was cloudy and overcast when just after midday transmitters started disappearing from the air - power cuts was an initial thought - before it became apparent that comreg had 2 raiding parties seizing transmitters spotted across the Dublin mountains.

The pirates on air at that time did make it easy - stations where co-locating transmitters - one hut had 4 transmitters!

Freedom 92 / Hot / Kiss / Vibe / ICE where amongst the first to be taken off and by Tuesday evening only Jazz on 89.9,WLR on 92.4 and Nova 94.7 remained on air - by mid morning on the Wednesday the airwaves were empty.

As an aside 4 new Dublin stations were promised at the time - Phantom,Nova & 4FM have since commenced.

padd b1975

Was KIC FM still broadcasting then?

Used to love John Leonard and the gang, much better station than Sunshine IMHO.

Infoanon

padd b1975 wrote: »

Was KIC FM still broadcasting then?

Used to love John Leonard and the gang, much better station than Sunshine IMHO.

long gone - 1999 from memory - the same evening a 'pirate' station was raided on Fair City !

Declan A Walsh

Infoanon wrote: »

long gone - 1999 from memory - the same evening a 'pirate' station was raided on Fair City !

I'm pretty sure that Kic FM was around in 2000. It may even have made it to 2001, but I'm sure it had gone before 2003 alright.

tallaghtmick

Freedom 92 oooooh the nostalgia.

Infoanon

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I'm pretty sure that Kic FM was around in 2000. It may even have made it to 2001, but I'm sure it had gone before 2003 alright.

Yes that sounds more like it - started in '99 - had bought some of Pulses equipment - raided June '01 ? mountain site - then came back on and was raided at the studio site the following week (both Fridays ?)

padd b1975

Infoanon wrote: »

Yes that sounds more like it - started in '99 - had bought some of Pulses equipment - raided June '01 ? mountain site - then came back on and was raided at the studio site the following week (both Fridays ?)

Yeah, as far as I recall the gang broke away from Radio Dublin following the Eamon Cooke scandal, pretty sure this was in '99 or maybe late '98.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/dublin-dj-gets-ten-years-for-horrendous-sexual-assaults-304432.html

They were definitely still on the air in '01, because when every other station was covering 9/11, KIC FM were still churning out the hits:o

Declan A Walsh

padd b1975 wrote: »

Yeah, as far as I recall the gang broke away from Radio Dublin following the Eamon Cooke scandal, pretty sure this was in '99 or maybe late '98.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/dublin-dj-gets-ten-years-for-horrendous-sexual-assaults-304432.html

They were definitely still on the air in '01, because when every other station was covering 9/11, KIC FM were still churning out the hits:o

It's possible that the folks that made up Kic FM knew about him, but it took a few more years before the scandal went public and charges were preferred. Radio Dublin was still going after Kic FM. You had two stations on the go playing country and western music.... hardly churning out the hits!

Infoanon

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

It's possible that the folks that made up Kic FM knew about him, but it took a few more years before the scandal went public and charges were preferred. Radio Dublin was still going after Kic FM. You had two stations on the go playing country and western music.... hardly churning out the hits!

KIC FM was more 'hot' country and had beautiful processing - well financed operation - as for the scandal,in the book 'Radio,Radio' makes reference to allegations in the late '70s.

From memory the name 'Radio Dublin' had been dropped and the on air id was ICE FM with a 'classic hits' station testing on 100FM at the time of the raids.

Louise Jordan

tallaghtmick wrote: »

Freedom 92 oooooh the nostalgia.

weeps

SEPT 23 1989

How much do transmitters actually cost?

msg11

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

How much do transmitters actually cost?

Depends high end CTE stuff could put you back into the 10,000 Euros for about 5KW of output. FM104 and Spin 1038 would use this stuff. More money would be spent on processors such as the Orban Optimod .

But you could get a small transmitter for about 300/400 Euros about 50 Watts of power or build you own from a kit !

Infoanon

msg11 wrote: »

Depends high end CTE stuff could put you back into the 10,000 Euros for about 5KW of output. FM104 and Spin 1038 would use this stuff. More money would be spent on processors such as the Orban Optimod .

But you could get a small transmitter for about 300/400 Euros about 50 Watts of power or build you own from a kit !

250w CTE through 4 SDH-100s was the standard set up from memory.

Some stations eg Freedom had high end professional processors.

Websites eg TBS / BTS / Broadcast Warehouse will give you an idea of the costs of professional equipment

msg11

Infoanon wrote: »

250w CTE through 4 SDH-100s was the standard set up from memory.

Some stations eg Freedom had high end professional processors.

Websites eg TBS / BTS / Broadcast Warehouse will give you an idea of the costs of professional equipment

Think that Hot FM crowd had an Optimod from the Energy FM ashes. You can get very good standalone computer processors, Breakaway Broadcast is excellent. CTE stuff second hand would be cheap compared to brand new it's very high priced.

250w via 4 SDH aerials would be putting out some serious ERP. Long time since I done the maths on ERP power but you would be talking about 2.5KW ERP from a 250w input. SDH aerials are an excellent gain aerial.

Fuzzy Clam

msg11 wrote: »

Think that Hot FM crowd had an Optimod from the Energy FM ashes. You can get very good standalone computer processors, Breakaway Broadcast is excellent. CTE stuff second hand would be cheap compared to brand new it's very high priced.

250w via 4 SDH aerials would be putting out some serious ERP. Long time since I done the maths on ERP power but you would be talking about 2.5KW ERP from a 250w input. SDH aerials are an excellent gain aerial.

A little under 1KW ERP if using the standard folded dipole.

ofcork

All the pirates in cork are off the air since last week.

marno21

There was a station on 104.9 today (in Rathmore, Co. Kerry, all Cork City stations (94.8, 96.4, 102.6 and 106.1) are receivable with RDS/TP there), no RDS but I assume it was Kiss FM.

87.8 was noisy (not sure if there was a RadioNOW there cos there's usually an intermod of 92.2 and 90.0 there, it's about 11km to Mullaghanish there)

Didn't have time to check 88.7 (usually weak) or 106.4

ofcork

Yeah 104.9 was kiss they had been on 88.7,87.5 was radio now so i wonder will they come back again.

end of the road

from radio now's facebook
(quote)
Its time for Radio NOW to say goodbye to the airwaves of Cork.
It has been a fantastic 2 years on air!
We would like to take this opportunity to Thank all the listeners for tuning in during our time on air and anyone whom attended any of our gigs,
Also i would like to pay tribute to all the dedicated djs we have had on the station over the last two years there has been some great shows with some great music you wouldn't hear anywhere else.
They say all good things must come to an end and this is the end for Radio NOW so We hope you enjoyed the NON Stop HD&T Cork!
(/quote)

genuinely sorry to hear this

ofcork

Kiss is back on again on 104.9.

Infoanon

Receiving BBC Scotland on 94.3 and G.R.P. on 99.3 (Sounds Spanish) and a UNID on 99.6 in Spanish in South West Dublin today

marno21

Yep it's that time of the year again. BBCs from North Hessary Tor strong here (88.1-97.7)

msg11

Infoanon wrote: »

Receiving BBC Scotland on 94.3 and G.R.P. on 99.3 (Sounds Spanish) and a UNID on 99.6 in Spanish in South West Dublin today

Caught BBC Radio 1 on 98.3 around the Malahide area, quite clear. Any one know if it's an Irish based TX site or English based ?

EDIT; just looked at the BBC website, 98.3 is based in the UK from Wales, Blaenplwyf. MAX ERP from the site is 250kW.

Pretty sure thats the only bit of work Comreg have ever done.

end of the road

Deleted User wrote: »

Pretty sure thats the only bit of work Comreg have ever done.

actually they have been rather active over the years, all though they probably have less funding now hopefully

Infoanon

msg11 wrote: »

Caught BBC Radio 1 on 98.3 around the Malahide area, quite clear. Any one know if it's an Irish based TX site or English based ?

EDIT; just looked at the BBC website, 98.3 is based in the UK from Wales, Blaenplwyf. MAX ERP from the site is 250kW.

98.3 is receivable in Dublin most of the time but suffers interferance from 98.1 (98) FM.
98.3 is crystal clear along the North - East coast up to Santry.

marno21

That's from Camlough near Newry.

Today (E Skip)

87.6 - MEDI 1 - Settat/Regraga - 2138km
87.9 - SNRT-INT - Rabat - 20kW (2040km)
88.8 - RADIOLE - Arcos de la Frontera - 2kW - 1737km

There was more but I didn't have time to note all of them. Morning to early afternoon seems the best time

Infoanon

Infoanon wrote: »

Receiving BBC Scotland on 94.3 and G.R.P. on 99.3 (Sounds Spanish) and a UNID on 99.6 in Spanish in South West Dublin today

G.R.P. is Italian - 99.3 is based in Turin - Superga a hill to the east of Turin. Don't know the power.

Greyham

end of the road wrote: »

actually they have been rather active over the years, all though they probably have less funding now hopefully

what makes you say "hopefully" would you think think pirates add diversity?

end of the road

Greyham wrote: »

what makes you say "hopefully" would you think think pirates add diversity?

yes, being someone who likes dance music, having stations on the fm band that will cater to it all the time is something i'm happy about, pirate they may be but so be it, i get to listen to the music i like, and the rest who like pop music can listen to the number of licenced stations playing it, win win

SEPT 23 1989

What kind of penalties are there if you are caught broadcasting is it a fine or jail?

msg11

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

What kind of penalties are there if you are caught broadcasting is it a fine or jail?

Well firstly it's an offence under section 3 of the Broadcasting and Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1988.

3.—(1) A broadcast shall not be made from any premises or vehicle in the State unless it is made pursuant to and in accordance with a licence issued by the Minister.


(2) Where a broadcast is made in contravention of subsection (1) of this section, each of the following shall be guilty of an offence:


(a) any person who is the owner of, or is in control or is concerned in the management of, any premises or vehicle from which the broadcast is made and who knowingly permits or suffers the broadcast to take place, and


(b) any person who operates, or assists in the operation of, the apparatus for wireless telegraphy by means of which the broadcast is made.


(3) Where in proceedings for an offence under this section it is proved that a broadcast took place from a particular premises or vehicle and that the defendant was, at the time of the alleged offence, the owner of, or in control or concerned in the management of, the premises or vehicle, then, unless there is sufficient other evidence to raise an issue as to whether the defendant knowingly permitted or suffered the broadcast to be made, he shall be treated as having so permitted or suffered the broadcast to be made.


(4) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section are in addition to those of sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Act of 1968 and nothing in this section shall be construed as amending the said section 2 (1) or 3 (1).

As for the penalties ;

6.—(1) A person guilty of an offence under section 3 , 4 or 5 of this Act shall be liable—


(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to both such imprisonment and such fine, or


(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding £20,000 or to both such fine and such imprisonment.


(2) (a) On conviction on indictment of a person for an offence under section 3 or section 4 of this Act in relation to a vehicle the court may, at its discretion, in addition to any punishment to which that person may be liable under subsection (1) of this section, order the vehicle to be forfeited.


(b) Where a vehicle is forfeited under this subsection, the Minister may direct that it be sold or otherwise disposed of in such manner as he thinks fit.


(3) Where an offence under section 3 , 4 or 5 of this Act which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against accordingly.


(4) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under section 3 , 4 or 5 of this Act may be instituted at any time within two years from the time when the offence was committed.

It can get quite serious if you decide to contest it in court.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1988/en/act/pub/0019/