Swapped for an FM rig I think.
Actually ignore my last comment. I may be wrong.
Officially it's a main site.....
If it helps identify the rig(s) used I had a very quick gander at the Anoraks UK reports from the era and they suggest Nova LW started with 6/7kw and managed to get up to 15kw.
They also reported the antenna system couldn’t take high power so they ran into issues.
OK. If you say so. My information I got from RTE (on paper) say otherwise.
as in Cooke moved it onto someone else in return for an FM rig? It’d be quite the anorak trophy to have the Big D 273 am rig these days!
I was told by someone who would know that 35kw was a goal , 15kw was achieved .
The aerial system issue was the height of a tower needed for that frequency to operate efficiently.
@Orban6
RTENL......
And it clearly has been updated recently as the new additions at Cairn Hill have been included in this revision
Three Rock is most definitely a main transmitter with its service area specifically for the Greater Dublin region. Kippure is also a main transmitter, but for eastern and mid-Leinster.
I have literature from RTE that lists the main sites as Maghera, Truskmore, Kippure, Mt Leinster and Mullaghanish. Dublin is listed as an "additional" transmitter, along with Donegal and Kerry. Admittedly, it's old info but I've no reason to believe that has changed.
No, Energy AM did not have the Century AM transmitters. They did have a 1 kW valve TX but it wasn't Centurys.
They were the original VHF TV sites from the early 60s. The Dublin transmitter was probably the old relay on the Donnybrook mast, that closed around the time Three Rock opened. The main sites nowadays should be Kippure, Truskmore, Maghera, Mullaghanish, Mount Leinster, Cairn Hill, Three Rock, Clermont Carn, Holywell Hill and Spur Hill.
I also have literature from RTE, which lists Three Rock as a main transmitter.
1980's lit. Probably out of date.
Kippure (RTE 1) is supposed to be 50kw, while the 3 Rock is 5kw. The 3 Rock mountain blocks Kippure from Dun Laoghaire-Leopardstown area extended area. The 3 Rock serves a lot of people so from that point of view is a main site.
My recollection of the R Dublin big rig, was that it had an engraved plate on it indicating that it was property of the Philadelphia Power Company. It looked impressive being the first tall cabinet rig that most of us had ever seen, but the audio quality was bad from the moment it was connected up in Dublin. Following some research, Cooke then found that it had been used by the power company as a repeater relay for network service vans in the field and so it was only set up for voice telephone quality commercial bandwidth of 300hz to 3.3Khz.
It was a long time ago, but I think the plate also said that it was rated for 10Kw max but may only have run once at that power. On the day it was let loose, the mast flash arced all over the place and the power output had to be reduced. If I remember correctly Cooke ended up in A&E for RF burns on one hand when one of the flashes got through a small hole in the rubber gloves he was wearing, fusing melted rubber into the wound.
There were attempts made to improve audio quality, but it never sounded great and Cooke always thought that output power was more important than audio quality, so rather than admit a failure, the rig was kept in service (may have been left at 5kw as mentioned). I remember seeing him mixing cement in the evening after the morning raid on Sunshine in 1983, so that the rig could be anchored to the ground in an attempt to prevent its removal. The transmitter 'room' (four walls, no floorboards and a hole in the ceiling and roof where the mast went through), was then sealed up by removing the room door and walling the door space up. Entry to the transmitter room was then only possible 'Narnia like' by crawling through a wardrobe placed against the wall in another room, where a false back panel could be removed to allow access.
It was all very crazy stuff.
That sounds about right Ger! It always had a strong carrier but never had decent audio - I seem to remember that the Department just removed the "guts" of the TX in the first raid in January 1989. What was striking was the immediate improvement in audio both with the 50w AM that replaced it and then the Big D/Capitol rig that followed. By mid 1989, Radio Dublin had their best period of decent audio on any waveband!
On the topic of the ex Sunshine/Century gear, I can vouch for it (whether it was the Sunshine or Century TX I don't know) being in Cookes back garden in the early 1990s when Radio Dublin was based there (so post Vincent Street). Definitely a commercial rig (or two!) - I was under the impression that it was the old 846 from markings on the cabinet but I'm old and forgetful so I'm open to correction.
Simon
Christmas FM finished for this year on FM at midnight (still available online) .
As with this time last year another temporary service - Classic Hits 80s - is back and now again available around 4 cities (reduced footprint to Xmas FM) on the usual frequencies . Classic Hits 80s with 1980s music format and I expect would be of interest to those who listened to the recently shutdown Dublin pirate 'Connect FM' which was on 107.1MHz
off topic but related - Century’s other 1143khz am transmitter in Cork remained at the Hollyhill transmitter site for a decade after it was switched off (co sited with the Cork’s 96FM 96.4 transmitter). I guess there was no demand for medium wave rigs in Cork back then. The engineer told me it was scrapped in the early 00s
re the Christmas fm - classic hits 80s changeover - How is the switchover completed? Are visits to each transmission site required or can the source be changed remotely?
The audio is fed to the sites via satellite. Just switch the source to the uplink and away you go!!
anyone still listen to Shortwave radio ? Scanning around this morning and there is still a few stations on the band to be heard in Ireland
I saw before on a interview with Freedom, the HD audio from their Ombia was fed over satellite to the sites, but I'm curious how the MPX, Stereo and RDS is generated then
If the processor is at the studio maybe the MPX is fed over Satellite using Omnia kit? Or maybe cloud based Omnia kit is at the site for this?
All temps must have to use this solution from BTS (mentioned on their FB page on one of the Freedom runs), perhaps no choice of processing then.
Radio New Zealand is coming in fairly well on 13755 kHz, on my small portable with just the telescopic antenna. Up to around noon.
Is RDS generated at source or is there an encoder at each site?
Not sure to be honest, in the case of Christmas FM, they use an Orban processor. Also, BTS are not involved in the transmission.
The Century Cork AM TX was the old ERI transmitter. ERI FM site is still in use to this day and iirc is still owned by the family.
Any pirate activity anywhere around Ireland today? It looks like all concerned on AM and FM have gone to ground in Dublin for the for-seeable future. What about pirates from Co. Meath, such as RetroNow? I am hazarding a guess that the two long-running AM pirates from north Donegal (Radio North) and Monaghan (Radio Star Country) are still on the go on the airwaves - am I correct? Any other AM and FM pirates around the country? What about short wave pirates, Dublin or elsewhere?
Radio Cuckoo was on SW this morning.
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