Removal of Tullamore MW mast.

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120905656#Comment_120905656

Is the tower that fell the one that transmitted FM104 for a long time in the past until it also moved to Rocksolid tower?

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120912697#Comment_120912697

yup.

zg3409

From USA

The AM radio bill would direct the Transportation Department to issue regulations mandating AM radio in new vehicles without additional charge. Senators said this year that at least seven automakers have removed AM broadcast radio from their electric vehicles

In USA AM is common outside cities and many areas have zero FM coverage. That said many modern cars in USA have pay satellite radio or streaming mobile phone type services.

Even if we kept MW or LW people need receivers they can use without retuning, and if cars dont have receivers most won't have access to it. That said FM and terrestrial and satellite TV is what ordinary people will have access to in a disaster if mobile phones and broadband goes down. No point have a long wave emergency back up if 99% of the population can't access it easily in an emergency. Many cars dropped LW long ago but many retain MW.

thejuggler

This article mentions an engineering team of 5 staff lead by Tom Hand in the Atlantic 252 days.

http://radiowaves.fm/ire/radiowavesnews/national-stations/atlantic-252-national-stations/

what became of these employees - did they return to RTE - seems like they worked directly for Atlantic 252 in the 90s?

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120907705#Comment_120907705

Wow!! although it says it was never broadcast, and it's all so bizarre.

Bunny Carr - yes I remember Quicksilver, 5p questions, Stop the Lights!

Set up Carr Communications, taught politicians to evade questions

There was a big "TV.2" logo, there was never any service called that or proposed to be called that.

He talks to old people like they are brainless, and tells them lies. Your "old Model T Ford" would still be legal to use, it wasn't zapped out of usage overnight like 405 TV.

The depiction of the 405 line TV picture is not realistic (no interlace, and many larger 405 sets by then had 'spot wobble' to fill in the remaining gaps.) The depiction of the 625 picture is a complete joke (even ignoring the shadow mask and consequent loss of resolution in colour sets) and does not in any way represent how an analogue TV picture is broadcast or received in line by line form.

Donegal is exempt. WHY????

Medium wave. WHY???? no relevance to TV.

Trying to explain polarization to people who barely know how to turn on a TV... christ.

Thanks for the link.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120910106#Comment_120910106

But DAB (shorter wavelength) needs more sites than FM, and the FM network is in place, a sunk cost. LW or MW can achieve national coverage from 1 or 2 sites yes, but needs a massive energy input.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120923423#Comment_120923423

They worked directly for A252.

Tom was still there during the brief Teamtalk 252 era and was there until RTE eventually took it over altogether. To the best of my knowledge he retired after that. Met him on a number of occasions (yes, I got the anorak tour, photos and all) and it was clear he took immense pride in his work and the facility.

squonk

It’s sad seeing those transmitters coming down. I remember occasionally tuning to R1 on 572 back in the 80s. That was when my general interest in radio cabs about as a young teenager exploring tge various bands, MW and LW.

Here earlier it was mentioned that 2FM was MW in rural Ireland fur tge first 10-15 years. I can’t speak fur everywhere but I had no issue receiving 2FM on FM in the rural Midwest in or around 1987 when I started listening.

Also I don’t think moving stations online is putting all our eggs in one basket. OK it is but even in a power cut most people now have phones available. I think the infrastructure is different but the net effect remains constant. I actually think streaming gives greater flexibility.

I love radio. It’s been great over tge years and still is but technology has moved on and radio transmission is keeping up. I’m nostalgic fir the old days of Atlantic 252 and it was a great station in its day but I wished it was on FM as a teenager. I work in the tech sector so have learned never to get too attached to any technology in that area as it’ll have a limited lifespan and the next new shiny thing is just around the corner. I don’t see the point in keeping masts there if they’ve outlived their practical usefulness.

marno21

Here earlier it was mentioned that 2FM was MW in rural Ireland fur tge first 10-15 years. I can’t speak fur everywhere but I had no issue receiving 2FM on FM in the rural Midwest in or around 1987 when I started listening.

In 1984, 2FM (Radio 2) was broadcast from Truskmore, Mullaghanish, Maghera (explains the mid west reception), Mt Leinster, Kippure with relays at Moville, Cahirciveen and Donnybrook. There's many large towns around the country that would have had fairly spotty reception then that are well served by relays now.

squonk

Sounds like I was lucky so sbd didn’t realise it.

Kevhog1988

Which ones would have been relaying 252 to the uk?. Used to love listening to it on my long spins when working over there during the recession. Things have improved since that with access to online apps. I listened to the Kildare county Final on KFM in times square when in New York a few years ago!.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120925027#Comment_120925027

The Summerhill mast that was demolished last Thursday was the only one that carried Atlantic 252 and RTE Radio 1 but it had a good reach, especially in the Atlantic days.

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120923848#Comment_120923848

Presumeably the name 'RTE2' had not yet been decided, and TV.2 being just a working name before it launched. The introduction of RTE2 directly associated with the removing of RTE 405-line transmission (in the areas it existed)

I read somewhere that the Truskmore TV transmitter flipped polarisation from V to H as part of the preparation to introduce RTE2 (with a transitionary period of transmitting in both H and V so every receive aerial could be changed!) Probably explains the polarisation explanation (a change which would apply to that area of the country in the north-west only).

Glaceon

Yep, I'd say TV.2 was just a working title for the programme. I asked RTE at the time if they had anything else in the archives but no, this was it.

RINO87

Loving the details and knowledge in this thread folks. Some real interesting stuff. Thanks

PukkaStukka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120905508#Comment_120905508

Pretty sure 2RN are using fibre now instead of microwave. If you look at the station mast in Montrose, the dishes thereon are gone. They previously had direct MW linksfrom there to Three Rock, Kippure, and another pointing north to Skreen.

TAFKAlawhec

IIRC, the reason for Truskmore switching VHF TV polarisation from vertical to horizontal was to allow the new RTÉ 2 channel to be slotted into VHF Band III, so that all current homes across Ireland with a VHF Band III aerial could (in theory) receive the new channel without much fuss or additional expense in the overall scheme of things. I think it went something like this...

• 1. Prior to RTÉ 2, RTÉ (1) TV was broadcast on 625 lines from Truskmore on Channel I (used to be called channel J prior to RTÉ2 being launched, but then became Channel I after this with Channel J being "moved" to the 222-230 MHz block), Mullaghanish on Channel D & Mt. Leinster on Channel F, all with vertical polarisation.
• 2. The plan to insert RTÉ 2 from these transmitters was for Channel G from both Truskmore & Mullaghanish, and Channel I from Mt. Leinster.
• 3. To reduce cases of Co-channel interference between two transmitters on the same channel allocation (G & I), frequency offsets were (to be) used, but there would be an obvious additional benefit if polarities were to be different as well. Since both frequencies in question were to be used from Truskmore, it makes engineering & cost sense to do so from this one single site.
• 4. The RTÉ 1 405 line service from Truskmore was on channel B11 which mostly overlapped with the Channel G used for RTÉ 2.

The overall alternative to this plan would have been to broadcast RTÉ 2 on UHF instead (largely/only) but once again this would have meant significant costs to RTÉ and viewers in needing new receive & transmitting aerials, as well as difference in coverage compared to RTÉ 1.

Of course, having RTÉ 2 being made available to viewers with VHF Band I aerials pointed to the Maghera TX was not possible/practical, so viewers there had to get a VHF Band III aerial installed for RTÉ 2, while the service wasn't initially launched from Kippure and wouldn't be until sometime in the mid-80's or so, first as a low-powered relay to serve parts or Wicklow, before becoming a full powered service equal to RTÉ 1 until DSO.

medoc

Video of the lads base jumping off the tower. Amazing but dangerous.

https://www.offalyexpress.ie/video/local-news/1265117/watch-incredible-footage-of-base-jump-from-rte-mast-in-offaly-days-before-it-was-demolished.html

Pelvis Parsley

It looked pristine :(

Mickey Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120944101#Comment_120944101

It sure did, I was there to take photos of it only a couple of months ago, the mast, the guy wires, the insulators and stays, all in perfect condition.

SPDUB

I wonder why after all the last few months of stories about RTE and the use of funds raised that the media haven't gone after RTE for

A pouring money into maintenance as recently as last year for a mast they knocked down this year

or

B the suspicion of various people that they weren't actually spending money but telling lies about doing maintenance to justify doing something RTE wanted .

In the current climate either seems a good attack vector but strangely nothing

thejuggler

Was the transmitter removed before they brought down the mast? Looks like it may have fallen on the building? There was a lot of metal buried underground too. Wonder will it be dug up and removed?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947269#Comment_120947269

The transmitter is inside the building. For AM, the mast is the aerial. There aren't other aerials required

There might have been other kit there, but it wasn't for the actual AM service.

Pelvis Parsley

There would be a LOT of copper under the ground.

Pelvis Parsley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947251#Comment_120947251

RTE doesn't do honesty-that's the worst thing and endemic to the organisation. They insisted they weren't taking Clarkstown down, yet knocked it anyway.

Whatever our views about the commercial decision(s), that's a total lack of transparency, coupled with wilful untruths.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947269#Comment_120947269

I've heard that the transmitting equipment was scrapped years ago.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947334#Comment_120947334

There is normally also a large number of ground plane radials buried from the base of the mast. They will be worth a good few bob at today's prices.

thejuggler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947470#Comment_120947470

They only switched off 252 two months ago

Mickey Mike

Just looking at the 252 mast falling, I don't think it fell on any building, it looked like it fell away in the other direction of the building, that's what I make of it, it seem to have landed flat on the ground.

567MW tower was massive and seems to have come down straight and not hit that building either, just a few blue containers along side with dust rising.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947580#Comment_120947580

Are we talking about Tullamore or Summerhill here?