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RTE radio1 LW

135678

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 618 ✭✭✭TAFKAlawhec


    I'm unaware of RTÉ having any formal "...obligation to broadcast particularly to the elderly Irish Community in the Britain..." other than to try and make an effort to reach the Irish diaspora worldwide, which they can say they satisfy though their radio stations being on the WWW. Coverage in Northern Ireland is a different geopolitical issue, but I suspect that like those in GB, those unable to access RTÉ Radio 1 on the FM band will have to find alternative means to listen once 252 closes. When the closure of 567 kHz was announced 15 years ago, there was some lively discussion in NI about coverage of the station especially in the likes of Belfast city centre where most listeners there were on MW (an eventual effort was made to change the frequency of Radio 1 at Clermont Carn to be changed from 95.2 to 87.8 to allow for better potential reception with less interference). Otherwise, there was a report in the Irish News a few days about the closure, but nothing much about any political "outrage" in NI that 252 is closing down - for now.

    I'm not 100% sure on this (and if I can be proven wrong, that's great) but my understanding of British radio & audio licencing law is that an English or predominantly English radio station whose production is based outside the UK cannot be licenced in the UK, and that this not only applies to LW, MW, SW, FM but also DAB and also DTT - hence why the Irish language Raidio na Gaeltachta can be carried on the RNI_1 DTT multpliex in NI, but RTÉ's English language stations cannot, and why there's been ongoing discussions to amending UK radio law to allow for the terrestrial broadcasting of overseas stations like RTÉ Radio 1.

    As it is, there is a free-to-air option in GB and a lot of Europe for that matter to listen to RTÉ Radio 1 - it's via satellite at 28 degrees east.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 618 ✭✭✭TAFKAlawhec


    Also worth noting that when Capital Radio launched in London in 1973, for around 18 months of so they broadcast on 557 kHz themselves (RTÉ Radio 1 being on 566 kHz at the time) which I'm sure didn't help RTÉ Radio reception matters then - the 558 kHz frequency was formally allocated to the UK for use in London in GE75 IIRC, so they clearly had ambitions to use it at a later time.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    I'd say that Radio Ulster on 1341 kHz was being received well in parts of GB. Just like we can get Radio Scotland and Radio Wales from GB transmitters. There could have been lots of Ulster people on the "mainland" who depended on it. But the BBC closed it down, and I never heard of any protests.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Radio Wales was my go-to station for quite a while, both at home and on the move, via 882 kHz on the medium wave. Now that's no longer receivable in my area via traditional means, so I listen on via my satellite TV box nowadays. Not exactly portable but does have crystal clear audio. Win some, lose some, as they say.

    I listened to Absolute on 1215 for a while before I grew tired of the constant adverts. Gone altogether now, sometimes I listen in via satellite, that is until the ads start to annoy me & change to something else.

    Manx Radio I still listen to quite a lot. If they ever decide to discontinue their medium wave service though I'll be stuck with listening online but c'est la vie I guess.

    Now, roll on the 14th when I can tune to Algeria 3 on 252 with no other stations in the background & get my groove on!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,244 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    The people who signed from the UK last time are probably most dead, bluntly. The people who this service was being justified for emigrated to work in the 40s and 50s and there are very, very few of those left.

    If they could actually be identified it would be cheaper to arrange Freesat installs for each of them personally at this stage.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    I agree most of the 40's and 50's emigrants are no longer with us but emigration was still a fact of life through the 60's and into the 70's in poorer areas.

    Then there was another wave during the recession of the 80's.

    Many of those who left were poorly educated and didn't do too well for themselves.

    They are often in bad enough accomodation and on low pensions now.

    We didn't do much for them when they were young and it would be nice to make some effort to keep them in touch now.



  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    There already is a non-internet alternative in the form of FreeSat. It works the other way around too - I use it myself for listening to UK radio that I can no longer get on MW/LW or wasn't on that platform in the first place.

    I wonder how many British ex-pats living in West Cork or the South of France will kick up a fuss when BBC R4 is no longer available on LW (probably not that far away)?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,244 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Most of those who emigrated in the 60s onwards are able to use a satellite or cable box, or a basic phone that can run apps.

    They probably don't know where to get a replacement LW radio, though.

    Keeping the LW service on air for the notional 70 year old who can work a LW radio - not the easiest of items - but cannot work any replacement option at all is not a worthwhile use of funds.

    And if you want people to feel bad about downtrodden emigrants, there's plenty of dirt poor Irish illegal immigrants in the US who are getting old now too - but we don't have SW transmissions to try and provide low fidelity radio services to them.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    I think the LW discussion is over, it's going and that's that.

    You are correct most of them either can figure out the alternatives or know someone who can help.

    It's those who can't that we might reach out to.

    I'm not trying to make people feel bad just adding some context to the discussion.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,479 ✭✭✭Tork


    I agree with the suggestion that listeners should be made aware that this shutdown is coming, and be informed of other ways to access RTE radio. But that's as far as it should go. It makes sense that the mast should be shut down now that there are so many alternatives. If we pandered to people who refuse to move with the times, we'd still have RTE TV broadcasting on analogue and 088 phones. I doubt there are many people in the UK who are so badly off they don't have a smartphone at this point. It's hard to exist without owning one how, and in recent years they've become the de-facto handset for people. They're cheap to run too.



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  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    The question is, how did what seems to be just a small loud fringe group manage to pull off cancelling the LW closure all those years ago? They are trying it again but it doesn't look like the press or Irish charities in Britain have given them any attention this time.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭Antenna



    Many would expect that there would be an "off-grid" (non-internet) availability of RTE Radio 1 in at least Northern Ireland (if not any parts of GB), and a sizeable area of NI cannot receive it on FM. A large percentage of radio listening is in cars, even in the case of retired people (DVB-S or DVB-T is no good in cars!). The Spirit Radio AM transmitter in Co. Monaghan on 549 has been off the air for about 6 months, if it is the case Spirit is gone for good from AM, perhaps, as a temporary measure with LW closure RTE could arrange with the owner of this transmitter to carry Radio 1 on 549kHz (or 567) as it will cover the areas of NI which cannot receive RTE R1 on FM. Maybe RTE R1 can become available later in the year on DAB in NI, or FM within NI (where unavailable now), and any temporary MW arrangement could then be switched off.

    Post edited by Antenna on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    When it was 567 there was overspill reception in parts of the UK. But still not good reception everywhere on the island of Ireland. 252 was set up originally with the intention to be a commercial service targeting parts of GB. Looking at a market in Manchester and Liverpool and the surrounds, but knowing that the big concentration of the population in the South East was out of reach in practical terms. So far no extra spending needed by RTE to cover anywhere outside of the Republic.

    When the 252 commercial venture failed and RTE went there instead of 567, the overspill probably was a bit stronger. But again no impact on TV Licence payers. To provide any service specifically to cover the North, or parts of Britain beyond what FM can do, will costs more money. And RTE must have already spent extra money on their online activities, which have the bonus of not just covering the Republic, but most of the outside world.

    If they are going back on MW, or going to have transmitters in NI or GB, it will cost money. Politics here mean that no government is likely to allow an increase in the Licence fee. So where would the money come from? All along it was politics which kept LW going, because RTE wanted to close it down for years. Many might expect there to be an off grid service to NI and GB, but they probably expect other people to pay for it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭Antenna


    But they are already paying for TV transmission within northern Ireland with the "mini-mux", providing RTE and TG4 (and as mentioned also carrying RnaG as the only Irish radio service).

    There is also the Saorsat service. How much is that costing RTE per year for it seems a tiny number of users?

    I have asked people in the TV trade do they know anyone using Saorsat, and the answer is no, RTE viewers in blackspots areas for Saorview have sky. Now maybe Saorsat does have users and who depend on it, but I have not heard of any. (The negatives of Saorsat are for another thread and have been discussed elsewhere in the past)

    back to NI, I even remember several years ago, RTE radio had for a time a freephone number for callers in northern Ireland to RTE Radio shows (Liveline etc) , yet callers in the republic had to pay!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    I think it was mentioned in this thread or another one that the UK politicians do not want foreign broadcasters in English language on their territory. The politics went as far as it could probably in getting what was inserted in the Good Friday agreement.

    "The Good Friday Agreement provided that the British Government would work with the relevant British and Irish broadcasting authorities to make TG4 more widely available in Northern Ireland. Following the switchover to digital television in 2012, TG4’s coverage has reached 94% in Northern Ireland. RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta is also being provided on the Northern Ireland Freeview DTT network"

    Plenty of overspill reception of TV and radio into the North, before digital and since. But even though analogue was never 100% coverage in the Republic, a decision was made to give better infill with Saorsat to the low signal terrestrial areas. Sky doesn't come for free. Still not able to do 100% of course. I wouldn't judge Saorsat on what some people said to you. None of the discussion addresses what should be done for the diaspora in America, or even in London.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,874 ✭✭✭CrabRevolution


    It's not really adding context though is it?. It's the same line we've heard over and over.

    Ever since the discussion on closing 252 began the only counterargument has been to service the emigrant who left Ireland but kept the country afloat through remittances, but who now lives destitute and alone in the UK, whose only possession is an LW radio, who is incapable of even the most basic use of any technology developed after 1990, and who has nobody in their lives who could possibly help them on this, and whose sole joy in life is to listen to a low quality broadcast of Radio 1 (assuming it hasn't been drowned out by Algeria).





  • I would suspect the real audience for LW Radio 1 is tiny. When you work it out on the overall cost of running the service, which has to be in the hundreds of thousands a year, it really stops adding up.

    If RTE Radio 1 on UK DAB becomes a more viable possibility it should be pursued though. It could also, like Channel 4 here, carry UK ad breaks or even regionalised ones if it were licensed in the UK. That would probably make it pay for itself. I don't think the audiences it would pick up would be all that tiny. A lot of it is very high quality radio that would have a fairly broad reach, not just a diaspora market.

    If it were done right, it really can't be that expensive to do. I think we've a tendency for this projects to grow legs, arms, feet, expensive shoes and end up being gold plated and costing an absolute fortune.

    The content is all there. It just needs to be put on a server and made complaint with Ofcom rules, which as far as I am aware as a little more conservative in some areas. You might have to time shift some of it to later in the day to comply with watersheds and watch out for strong language etc earlier in the day which might mean some of the Live Line content and documentaries maybe some drama etc might need to go on a bit later and you could find there are rights issues for certain sports coverage, but it shouldn't be a MASSIVE deal to do.

    You could easily include a few UK specific programmes - nothing particularly expensive, but you could imagine something aimed at the Irish Diaspora, maybe as an alternative to Live Line.

    If RTE Radio could do a UK channel that could wash its own face financially, it should be doing it.

    Stone Age LW transmissions aren't really much use to anyone in 2023 though.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    RTE radio share of the audience is always under 50% on the JNLR. Obviously that is still less for any individual RTE station. There was no alternative for the diaspora before, but now they can get local and other Irish stations by the new technologies. Just like at home, many of them could prefer to listen to a non RTE station. Concentrating on providing just one station in the new world of media, is ignoring the other choices that are there already.





  • It's a bit narrow though to just focus on the Irish diaspora alone. RTE Radio produces a ton of quality speech and music content. If you packaged it up for a UK audience, possibly throw in a bit of arts and culture content from Lyric FM, it might find itself an audience in the UK that was a bit broader than just the Irish community.

    There's no reason an Irish community couldn't be served by an interesting, intelligent speech / culture / current affairs / documentary focused station that was mostly automated.

    Also no reason RTE News couldn't do a few UK specific reads per day with a couple of packages from NI and British based correspondents for such a station.

    Just keep costs low, use a lot of automation and reuse existing content from RTE Radio 1 and Lyric etc.

    The other one that's never been explored is a partnership with BBC Radio Ulster to do joint UK wide service using their studios in Belfast as a licensing base... It would be quite symbolic as a GFA based project too.

    It could be like a much less expensive, radio equivalent of the French/German Arte tv station. Just give it a similarly neutral name and put in content from both broadcasters.

    I just think there's been a lack of imagination around some of this, and there are a lot of ways it could be achieved either commercially or as a purely public service broadcaster project.

    RTÉ is quasi commercial, so has plenty of experience of ad sales too, unlike BBC.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 618 ✭✭✭TAFKAlawhec


    Geographically, RTÉ FM Radio coverage in Northern Ireland is actually pretty extensive - however where the main gaps exist in poor or non-existent coverage are in quite populated areas like the Greater Belfast area (coverage is very variable), parts of East Down like Newcastle where the Mournes provide an effective shield, and much of the east and north Antrim coastlines.

    In terms of helping service most of those areas, with at least a fixed broadcast option other than satellite, putting RTÉ Radio 1 on the RNI_1 DTT multiplex would appear to be the easiest option though I think this isn't technically allowed under UK law at present (figures I've seen for the availability for either Saorview or RNI_1 DTT reception in NI put it at about 93% of Northern Irish homes, bigger than that whom are covered by the three commercial multiplexes (SDN, Arqiva A & Arqiva B) in NI). What's actually allowed aside, placing a radio stream on either the BBCA or BBCB DTT muxes could also be considered if maximum reach was desired.

    For DAB, the current NI DAB ensemble is already full for services even if AAC was an option. If UK radio broadcasting law was amended to allow the likes of RTÉ to broadcast Radio 1 terrestrially in the UK, then a place on the Belfast small-scale DAB multiplex (which has had a licence awarded and should be in service at some point in the future) would appear to be an obvious place to serve the city.

    I had thought about the 549 kHz transmitter at Carrickroe - since Spirit Radio is essentially licenced as a MW service with low-power FM "fillers", allowing Spirit to relinquish their MW transmitting obligations would be a minefield for the BAI, but where this allowed and gave RTÉ an opportunity to use the TX to serve NI audiences outside of FM coverage, I'd reckon an ERP of 5kW or even less could be of use as a "nightlight" service for a couple of years pending any potential terrestrial distribution within NI. At least a 5kW transmission (perhaps shut off between 0000-0600 as well) would be much less painful on the electric bill compared to the 150/60kW output at Clarkestown.

    But in saying all that, all the above are hypotheticals.

    From my memories of visiting England during the 00's, 1341 kHz was essentially impossible to hear during the daytime in London, just a carrier & faint signal at best. It was stronger in Liverpool, though not as strong as one might suspect - not to mention that also in some parts of the city the station was interfered with by a 1W student radio station on 1350 kHz run by Liverpool Hope University Student Union. RTÉ Radio 1 in Liverpool was easily stronger in comparison.

    When the closure of BBC Radio Ulster on MW was announced, there were a few patches in NI where listening to it on FM was impossible or close to it and MW was the only reliable terrestrial method, mostly at the Antrim Glens Coast around the villages of Cushendall & Waterfoot (where the best reception of BBC National FM services are from Scottish TXs), but the amount of the population unable to receive even a listenable FM or DAB signal in NI was thought to be (IIRC) less than 10,000 people, so there wasn't good justification to keep the 100kW monster at Lisnagarvey going for that potential amount of people - they could have reduced the power, but it would have essentially served the Glens coastline only to any real extent, other balckspot areas would have been able to be served by the 1kW 873 Enniskillen TX. That also doesn't take into account that BBC Radio Ulster was still doing split programming, mainly GAA coverage on the MW network (this was then transferred to being broadcast on BBC Radio Foyle on DAB & DTT). In the end it went off with a whimper.





  • I used to pick up RTE Radio 1 on 729 kHz in Dordogne in the early 00s, on a very good quality old hi-fi separates unit though with an excellent antenna.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 618 ✭✭✭TAFKAlawhec


    That would have been from the Cork MW TX - the sea path would have definitely helped there.

    Post edited by Boards.ie: Mike on




  • Possibly was .. just remember being able to pick it up quite clearly at night. It was definitely MW though, not LW. I clearly remember "Ondes Moyennes" on the dial!

    BBC on 198 wasn't great though, so it must have been the sea path alright.

    It was down the country / à la campagne in the days before broadband, so it was the only way of listening to international radio in that house anyway.

    On a slightly tangental question:

    I was clearing out my grandmothers house a good few years ago, and in the kitchen she had a big old valve radio made by "Pilot" It wasn't working but was still connected to a long run of what looked like just thin bell wire. It ran out though a hole in the wall in the kitchen, and the full length of the back garden in a loop, just loosely strung along a wooden fence behind the hedge. I'd say there was about 40 or 50 metres of a loop.

    I assume that was for picking up SW?

    Post edited by [Deleted User] on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Just putting in a few words to explain the background of those old people.

    Like I said some of them are not in a good place.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 718 ✭✭✭TheBMG


    And the loss of 252 could

    And the loss of 252 could do them in completely? 😱



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭Antenna


    Old newspaper archives would probably show if the issue got much reported. It was transmitted from temporary site using powerstation chimneys beside the banks of the Thames before the proper site north of London got built (and moved to the other end of the MW band) : http://txfeatures.mb21.co.uk/lots_pirates/index.shtml

    The old "transistor" radios people used with long ferrite rods with large nulls off the ends, could have nulled out the adjacent Capital depending where in London one was (hopefully an angle close to 90 degrees between the transmitters!), by careful positioning. As well as of course detuning a few kHz as well (depending on receiver selectivity) could be a big help.

    Maybe the Cork MW transmitter, might have been an alternative at nighttime in London as well, by then relocated/upgraded (if its hadn't too much inteference) on I believe 1250kHz/240m then if the main Athlone transmitter was too badly affected by the adjacent station?

    Its recalled that for a while in the 1980s RTE on 567 was sandwiched between BOTH offshore stations (one on 558 the other on 576 !) so detuning, or using a sophisticated receiver with independent sideband reception (USB/LSB) wasn't going to be much or any help!

    When Spectrum 558 arrived, Digital tuning becoming common place in cars and if they could only tune in 9kHz steps on MW (no 1kHz steps available for fine tuning off to one side) was a further hindrance for reception, which might otherwise have been useable at night . People who lived there recall RTE 2fm on 612 was quite audible in London at night, so was another possible source of news bulletins from Ireland, though this deteriorated towards the end of its life.

    Post edited by Antenna on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,479 ✭✭✭Tork


    I looked at that petition a few minutes ago and it's struggling to even reach 200 signatures. That in itself says a lot. We're now talking about a newer demographic of "the elderly" in the UK. While some might not be doing well for themselves now, I find it hard to believe that none of them has access to alternative means of hearing RTE. No matter how poor anybody ever is, they always seem to have a smartphone. They're not expensive to buy or run, especially in the UK. People are smelling the BS this time around because they've seen how their own older relatives have adapted to using smartphones. They know older people who tune into mass online, watch RTE news from abroad or use a radio app to listen to radio. Also, the number of people being affected by this is very small. Where are the tears for the people in North America or Australia?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello






  • I think people are forgetting that "the elderly" are a lot more technically savvy than the elderly 20 years ago. There's a generational difference there and I think people gloss over that.

    The 'Grandpa Simpson' stereotype doesn't really apply to present day 70+ year olds. You're really talking about people who would now be well over 90 who were from that techfree era. He's an octogenarian written in the 1990s, so is someone from the 1910s.

    Most 70+ year olds I know are on social media. Have email addresses and smartphones and know how to use tech. I've a relative in her mid 80s who gets into flame wars on Twitter from time to time. For most of them using smart phone is not a challenge. A 75 year old now, was at the peak of their careers at the turn of the millennium when all this stuff was kicking off at a serious scale.

    However, if you went back 20 years ago you're talking about people in their 80s who were born in the 1920s and possibly went through most of their careers barely having touched a computer or anything all that techie. That's just not the case with the vast majority of present generation of OAPs. I think sometimes we get a bit lost in the 1990s idea of what 'elderly' is like.

    They might not be quite as tech savvy about TikTok as your average 20 year old, but there's little comparison between that generation and some of how we remember our own grandparents, if we're in our 30s and 40s a this stage.

    I think it's probably a bit patronising and also quite out of touch with the current time frame to assume that they're all huddled around a valve radio reminiscing about the 1940s.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,297 ✭✭✭walterking


    Does anyone know any person that actually listens on LW?


    Truthfully.



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  • Well, considering this is a radio forum, it's not likely to be very representative of the average listener.

    My own experience is not only that I don't listen to LW, but I actually increasingly don't listen to FM either. I'm finding myself very much drifted over to streaming services for music and non-linear podcasting for speech programming. I still listen to a lot of content from broadcasters like RTE and BBC, but I just don't listen to them over the air or in a linear format.

    I might flip past FM channels in the car occasionally, but really that's about it. I rarely leave a radio on anymore.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,479 ✭✭✭Tork


    People wear rose tinted glasses too. I've seen people claim that the sound quality on Atlantic 252 was great. It wasn't, it was ****. It was better than nothing in the days before music radio stations came along but that's all that can be said for it. Someone here has mentioned how much interference there is from other sources these days, and how RTE on 252 probably doesn't sound all those great now.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    I listened to LW in the UK but switched to the internet.

    I know one old lad in Manchester who still uses a battery radio in his allotment shed.

    He likes to keep up with the news from Ireland.

    He will miss LW but he will be ok as he can listen to RTE at home.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    As I said a few posts back the decision won't be reversed 252 is going.

    If indeed the numbers are small it should be possible to reach out to them to make sure they are all aware of their listening options.

    It's really not a question of tears rather trying to see that people aren't left behind.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,244 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    If the 200 signatures represent even 20 people being left behind I'd be surprised. Lots of emotion and nostalgia from people in Ireland rather than realistic impacts on those abroad



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    If anyone hasn't got Long Wave, tune it on one of these beasts. They are actual radio receivers located all over the world, which internet users can tune remotely. Not the same as internet radio. Some of them are rubbish, it is all to do with the quality of the antenna.

    North West 2 on Mayo Sligo border is superb. Tune to 252 and 198 AM, for decent sound quality. Press AM to make it AMN, and listen to Iceland on 189. On Medium Wave tune to 531 and listen to the Faroes station. Listen to our two pirate stations on 846 and 981. That is daytime reception, everything changes at night. Sometimes a receiver is unavailable due to too many users.

    http://kiwisdr.com/public/





  • I'd say the 198kHz BBC Radio 4 switch off will be more nostalgic. People like the crackly shipping forecast.

    I wonder if putting a mono feed with some crackles online, replicating LW sound characteristics, drifting in and out a bit might keep some people happy?

    I remember someone actually pointing out that Jazz was very popular in the pre FM days, which could well have been down to the fact that brass instrument sounds carry much better on FM and also on old records - they're relatively narrow band and sharp sounds. Same applies to the reasons for the very annunciated speech used on old time radio. You had to be ultra clear or you wouldn't necessarily be understood on a crackly distant signal.

    It's a bit like the way modern music is sometimes produced with tiny mobile phone speakers in mind and it's actually influenced some of how certain pop tracks are arranged and processed.

    I wonder in 50 years time will we have hobbyists restoring old Samsungs and playing Crazy Frog...



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    It doesn't have to be crackly, with that massive power on 198. The one that people get nostalgic about is at 00:48, probably not the one at 05:20, both around 10 minutes long. There is another one at noon for about 4 minutes, which is an opt out on LW only. The mystery would be why they do the other two on FM, if they are supposed to be directed at mariners.

    LW on 198 also has opt outs weekdays for religious stuff at 09:45. And when Parliament is in session, half an hour for Yesterday in Parliament at 08:30. And of course Test Match Special. All of these also opt out on Radio 4 Medium Wave, e.g.720 kHz.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,479 ✭✭✭Tork


    I'm sure someone at home or in his allotment can help him sort out an app. He'll move with the times if he wants RTE so badly. Or he can just retune his radio to a station in the country he has called home for decades





  • I suppose just out of pure nostalgia ...

    I can't really see modern mariners, who are usually kitted out with loads of technology, using something as clunky as BBC's LW Radio weather station information as anything remotely useful. If you consider the what's available online, even just the free stuff from the Met Office or Met Éireann is far more useful than "Dogger ... 1002... Rising slowly"

    You'd wonder whether it was ever all that useful, given that there have been sophisticated forecasts on VHF marine radio for decades and with all the modern satellite comms etc it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

    I doubt even the most amateur of mariners rely on BBC's shipping forecast on LW.

    I suspect it's mostly been a tradition on radio for dozing off, like counting sheep...



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,633 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    A radio system called Navtex, where they can print out the information from coastal stations. Operates all over the world, Valentia and Malin in Ireland. They are on a schedule, but you can usually decode one from somewhere at any time. On 518 and 490 kHz, and use the Extension drop down menu to select Navtex.

    http://malinheadkiwi.hopto.org:8073/



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,244 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    If you are reliant on 198 for weather at sea, you are so deficient in modern kit that you probably won't be able to look for assistance in an emergency.

    Post edited by Boards.ie: Mike on


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭Antenna


    Though mariners would use LW/MW radio to keep up with the news etc (beyond usual FM range), with no access to live TV, they depend on radio for the news.,.

    I was incidentally some days ago getting Spanish FM from approx 600 miles away on 106.6, not managing RDS decode but listenable on car radio a few miles in from the coast, but FM travelling that far across sea due to 'ducting' is only in rare conditions

    Post edited by Boards.ie: Mike on


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    AFAIK the BBC have said that the shipping forcast will continue on R4 FM and DAB after the closure of 198 purely for tradition



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70,244 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Sat internet delivers info more often and more reliably than an AM radio did.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Like I said he's fine, very friendly and outgoing.

    He will retire the old LW without a backward glance.

    If you don't mind me saying your last sentence is slightly missing the point.

    Many emigrants like him still after so many years away cherish the connection with home. Even after 50 odd years in Manchester if you ask them where they are from they will say Tipp, Leitrim or wherever.

    They like to hear the Irish voice on the radio and the music too.

    Even though their day to day is more like Coronation Street their heart is closer to The Riordan's 🙂



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,341 ✭✭✭Antenna


    How does he listen to RTE at home (sat receiver or internet) ?

    Whilst its a great source for news from Ireland,

    That said, RTE R1 has moved away from catering, musically, for elderly people (home or abroad). There are comments about the 12-1 weekday music hour by people who don't consider themselves elderly yet, that the music is too modern now, and they preferred Ronan Collins.

    1960s music seems to be now largely binned by RTE and other Irish radio, yet it is still to be heard on Gold etc in the UK

    And gone are the days of the likes of Donncha Ó Dúlaing and others who appealed to the elderly listeners on RTE Radio 1 (and had particular appeal for the elderly Irish in the UK).

    Its true that if he is into Irish traditional etc music, Irish country music etc some of the non-RTE Irish stations (local and community) online cater for that. I hear of people tuning into Midwest radio online who have no connection with Co. Mayo for example

    Post edited by Antenna on


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    It looks like RTE radio 1 might be doing a special to mark the closure,, next Friday night a change to the regular schedule, a program called "Frequencies" at 10:30pm



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,803 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    I don't know what his home set up is.

    Actually I don't even know where his house is I just meet him when visiting one of the other allotment holders.

    As for Louise Duffy she is getting pretty good reviews here on Boards but that may not be relevant.

    Donncha is a long time gone now but he had a great way with him.

    I must mention the local stations next time I meet him.



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  • Registered Users Posts: 47 siezetheday


    Just a crazy idea for the last days of 252 LW from Ireland. Would it be possible to give the TXs a last hurrah and drive them to full power? I'd like to hear the full power of all that transmission engineering and expense before it's all literally mothballed. Go out with a blast!!



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