The future of RTE Radio 1 LW

Dacia1300

Dacia1300 wrote: »

@Mad lad, those were the days...

Indeed they were !

Elmo

I have often thought that both Religious (particularly The Angelus) and Current Affairs output is a handy way for RTÉ to divert people from the actual problems that exist at RTÉ.

Re: Religion largely RTÉ on Sunday Morning divide between each of the Christian church services, while I think both Jewish and Muslims are catered for during their festivals (though I haven't seen that in a while).

Also RTÉ's use of Radio 1 Extra/LW is to put religious services on a separate channel.

kazoo106

I don't object to the Angelus at all, however, I have noted that it seems to be only transmitted once a week (Sundays) on Vatican Radio !

Mickey Mike

Back in the day we had R1 from Tullamore (567)
R2 from Athlone (612). I have always wondered could have RTE broadcast all radio channels from Tullamore? just like the FM channels using combiners, any one know!

dxhound2005

Back even further Radio Eireann was broadcast from Athlone. Tullamore came along in 1975.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~totalbroadcast/athlone2.html

Antenna

Mickey Mike wrote: »

Back in the day we had R1 from Tullamore (567)
R2 from Athlone (612). I have always wondered could have RTE broadcast all radio channels from Tullamore? just like the FM channels using combiners, any one know!

the frequencies 567 and 612 would be too close together to combine into the same aerial.

Also I'm told Athlone 612kHz switched to carrying RTE Radio 1 instead of 2 if Tullamore went off the air, ensuring availability of the main RTE station on MW all the time (albeit with reduced strength if from Athlone).
Athlone was kept as a standby site on the same frequency after Tullamore was introduced until Radio 2/2fm went on air (612)..

225LongWave

RTE have not provided OfCom with "Expression of Interest" for small-scale DAB
some London stations are moving to DAB+ to create capacity for community users
Yet JP Coakley refuses to provide updates under 'Freedom of Information' request!
RTE wasted €120,000+ on London "LIVE" Late Late Show in October, with hundreds
valid Ticket-holders turned away ! The ONE opportunity to make amends has passed
and you undoubtedly get a page or two in the Irish Post & Irish World claiming your
Digital radio fanfare ? But have absolutely no intention of following the correct route!

Mickey Mike

I feel, putting RTE Radio 1 on DAB+ in the UK is something RTE wants to avoid (if they can). This will be costing more money again, especially when the service is already available in other ways. So far its still a commitment to switch off LW252 with little fuss as possible.
On a separate note, I got my house connect to fiber broadband from eir, and its amazing.
Internet Radio I'm thinking is the way forward.

Mickey Mike

Mickey Mike wrote: »

Internet Radio I'm thinking is the way forward.

RTE Internet radio is only about 56 Kbps Mp3 a long way from BBC's 320 Kbps AAC.

Having said that it's adequate for speech for the likes of Joe Duffy, but for some reason I prefer a good Mono sound than the highly compressed ringing noise of highly compressed digital audio.

Worse again is RTE's DAB which is only about 56 Kbps "Mp2" lol.

Internet radio means people need internet subscription to listen to radio which is no longer listening to radio. Also internet reaches far less places than Lw/Mw or even FM.

Having so much dependency on the internet as we do I believe is a mistake, it's a huge vulnerability and there's no backup plan if it goes tits up.

A battery powered radio can last weeks or months and your mobile sure can't, you can take a decent battery powered radio anywhere and the battery will last several weeks to months of use.

If the internet is down ? if there is a power cut ? your radio is gone. Mobile phone networks can't work in and extended period of power loss and I and many other rely on mobile phone network internet + the wireless providers wouldn't last long on generator power either.

Dacia1300

Internet radio also is sod all use if you want to listen to live commentary, as it’s often geoblocked outside of the UK. No such issue when you’re listening to TalkSport or R5 Live on MW. Transmissions are coming from within the UK, nothing can realistically be done to stop the signals from over spilling. Apologies if I’ve already mentioned this

I don't know what the BBC were at blocking their highest bitrate internet streams outside the U.K , anyway all you got to do is use a VPN to unblock stuff but the good ones cost money.

I also learned when I got my Roberts 94i that they use a vtuner database that supports lower quality MP3 streams by default and you have to manually add the station if it has AAC or AAC+.

Most internet radios seemingly use this ancient database (Vtuner) which excluded the much higher quality AAC streams by default.

to say it's a real pain in the ass to manually add the AAC streams if they exist is an understatement !!!!!

Basically, internet radio's suck , or rather , internet radio sucks in general, the Roberts 94i is a great little radio if it only could pull the higher quality stream by default but it nor any internet radio can't.

Hotblack Desiato

Mickey Mike wrote: »

On a separate note, I got my house connect to fiber broadband from eir, and its amazing.
Internet Radio I'm thinking is the way forward.

that's great but it's feck all use to you when you're not at home, is it?

Jay Zee

6 months from Today RTE LW is due to cease

Mickey Mike

Jay Zee wrote: »

6 months from Today RTE LW is due to cease

I wonder will it, you never know it might run until 2030, by then a lot of the old crowd will be gone. I'll be next in the firing line.

It will go alright, remember Dee's digital first campaign ? LW 252 will be gone asap as She believes MW/LW has absolutely no place in the modern world lol

AwaitYourReply

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Back even further Radio Eireann was broadcast from Athlone. Tullamore came along in 1975.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~totalbroadcast/athlone2.html

I recall my relatives who had originally moved from Cork and eventually settled in Dublin used be able to pick up RTÉ Cork Local Radio whilst at home in north Dublin back around the 1970's/1980's although; for some reason they could only get reception on just Fridays for some reason. They enjoyed the ability of hearing live broadcasts about local news & events and all the gossip from Cork. Presenters at the time would have included Alf McCarthy & Donna O'Sullivan on "Cork About Noon" which was very popular in the days before independent commercial broadcasting was licensed.

In those days RTÉ Cork Local Radio which was re-branded Cork 89FM and finally RTÉ Radio Cork was a local opt-out service from RTÉ Radio 1 so; listeners in Cork could choose to break away from Radio 1 at certain times or; if they preferred to stick with Radio 1 they would have to re-tune as the dominant signal was RTÉ Cork Local Radio on both MW & FM. The service closed altogether around 2000 as it was unable to compete with the local independent radio stations (i.e.) Cork's 96FM and County Sound (later C103) which were broadcasting 24/7 unlike RTÉ Radio Cork which was severely restricted in the number of hours that it could broadcast per week. Meanwhile a brand new radio station Cork's RedFM launched in Cork in January 2002.

Interesting article on RTÉ's regional radio service based from Cork:
https://www.thecork.ie/2015/05/31/video-do-you-remember-rte-radio-cork/

Recording output from RTÉ Radio Cork here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=wbkhhlkTun8

dxhound2005

I used to be able to hear Cork on 729 kHz in Dundalk. It was a 10 Kilowatt (KW) transmitter. 2 FM (Radio 2) was also on a local transmitter in Cork on 1278 kHz, 5 KW. They were also in Dublin on 1278, 10 KW. The Sunday Times still shows 612 and 1278 as active frequencies for 2 FM in their radio listings. I emailed them about 10 years ago, but nothing happened.

RnaG used to be on medium for a while as well. Connemara 540 kHz, 2 KW. Corca Dhuibhne 828 kHz, 1 KW. Tir Chonail 963 kHz, 10 KW.

My source for this information, apart from my memory, is the World Radio TV Handbook 1985 edition. According to the listings Radio 1 was on air from 0630 to 0002. The Cork opt out was from 1207 to 1330 weekdays. 2 FM was on from 0630 to 0150. When Radio 1 went off air 2 FM took over 729 kHz in Cork after midnight.

I assume all these frequencies are still allocated to Ireland, so someone could apply to use them for a new service.

Dacia1300

Mickey Mike wrote: »

I wonder will it, you never know it might run until 2030, by then a lot of the old crowd will be gone. I'll be next in the firing line.

I doubt it very much as the “on 252 LW” section of the TOTH announcement has been edited out in recent weeks

Dacia1300

dxhound2005 wrote: »

I assume all these frequencies are still allocated to Ireland, so someone could apply to use them for a new service.

If RTE had any sense that is what should happen, IMO.

But look at this way - 567 Tullamore has been idle for the last 10 years. It seems to me that RTE/2RN would rather burn the transmitters than let someone else use them. What a waste

Mickey Mike

Dacia1300 wrote: »

I doubt it very much as the “on 252 LW” section of the TOTH announcement has been edited out in recent weeks

Please tell me what is "TOTH"?

Dacia1300

Mickey Mike wrote: »

Please tell me what is "TOTH"?

Top off the hour

Mickey Mike

Dacia1300 wrote: »

If RTE had any sense that is what should happen, IMO.

But look at this way - 567 Tullamore has been idle for the last 10 years. It seems to me that RTE/2RN would rather burn the transmitters than let someone else use them. What a waste

I for one would like to see the relaunch of RTE Radio1 567 MW (500kw) Surely to God they are high power solid state transmitters that are energy efficient (unlike the old bangers).

L1011

dxhound2005 wrote: »

I assume all these frequencies are still allocated to Ireland, so someone could apply to use them for a new service.

There are a substantial number of frequencies beyond those ex-RTE ones allocated also. BCI (or IRTC? Its a long time ago) even started issuing licences for commercial regionals - 1359 in Galway and 1386 in Limerick - that were never used.

If DRM had ever been more than a flop there were plenty of options available, including some 20khz allocations. But its dead.

DRM is far from dead , it's gaining traction in Asia and more and more transmissions in DRM + more radios hitting the market and any PC can decode the signal with a cheap SDR.

Even some U.S stations doing DRM trials. Unfortunately a lot of DRM transmissions are in poor quality low bitrate but this does not have to be the case, 16 Kbps is poor and sounds much worse than any decent AM station.

Radio Kuwait transmit in Stereo DRM and while it's not fantastic quality it's amazing to hear on Shortwave radio !

I don't know why many broadcasters still to this day think that low bitrate digital transmissions are acceptable today, gone are the days of 48 kbps analogue modems so there is no need for such horrid quality but I believe a lot of these broadcasters think that if it's digital at all then it must be good and it's really sad.

I believe DRM now can go up to 64 Kbps AAC+ which is acceptable.

LW 252 has DRM capability.

RTE would indeed see their transmitters burned than to allow anyone else to use them.

Does anyone know if these old frequencies are tied to RTE or can anyone use them once approved ? surely it's comreg that decide who use them ? is RTE deliberately trying to ensure 567 Khz stays dead as if they're doing their bit to rid the world of ancient technology ?

L1011

No, its dead. A few trials is all it has had for more than a decade. Idea was delivered dead. SDR decoding is hobbyist stuff of zero use for actual broadcasters - they do not care about it. There's been radios available for over a decade, nobody buys them.

Frequencies would be allocated by Comreg and the BAI; not RTE. But its irrelevant - DRM is dead and there will never be DRM stations in Ireland beyond possibly some more throw-money-in-the-fire trials.

We'll agree to disagree.

There's no real benefit to DRM really though , DRM needs a good stable signal and I prefer the analogue sound of Am to Digital.

Same as DAB v FM, there's no real benefit to digital radio as there is with TV.

Former Former

Dacia1300 wrote: »

It seems to me that RTE/2RN would rather burn the transmitters than let someone else use them. What a waste

Deleted User wrote: »

is RTE deliberately trying to ensure 567 Khz stays dead as if they're doing their bit to rid the world of ancient technology ?

Who would want to use them?? Like, the idea that MW might rise from its grave is great for an internet discussion forum but no-one is actually going to flush their own money down the jacks trying to revive it. We can blame RTE for a lot of things but people having no interest in hundred-year old technology is not one of them.

marno21

[Deleted User] wrote: »

DRM is far from dead , it's gaining traction in Asia and more and more transmissions in DRM + more radios hitting the market and any PC can decode the signal with a cheap SDR.

The key takeaway there is that any device capable of decoding DRM signals is also capable of listening to the same station online with less hassle, less required technical knowledge, less interference from electronics and atmospherics, no additional equipment requirements, 24 hour availability, better quality and the list goes on

DRM as L1011 said was dead on arrival. There are no additional benefits over SW which is barely used in most of the developed world and in developing countries, where AM is still used due to low costs, there is no incentive to upgrade to DRM

Oh I fully agree that Digital radio be it DAB or DRm is of not much benefit and usually needs a good signal to decode because with digital you get all or nothing where with MW,SW you can still hear ok when the signal is weak.

100 year old technology doesn't make it useless. I don't think people should be forced to listen to radio on the internet. MW can be used as backup and also where FM bands are crowded, long range with 1 transmitter.

In a world of the internet and streaming there is too much choice at least when there was 1 and 2 you just sat down and were content with whatever was on, today people seem to spend far more time flicking for stuff to watch and arguing over what to watch.

Yeah RTE have problems and unfortunately for them they don't realise that their greatest problem is the very technology they're seeking to embrace , i.e Digital, Internet and apps and while that's all well and good they don't have the content many of the youth desire or me included.