RTE Radio 1 on 252!

Mycroft H wrote: »

Long wave has a greater range.

It could be picked up in northern France at night. You'd lose medium wave on the ferry...

567 kHz covered all of Ireland and much of mainland GB as well.

I can't imagine there being too many listeners in Northern France.

Cork_chick_94 wrote: »

Why was Centery called an national station if it was only in 3 counties ?

Exactly.

At least when Radio Ireland launched it covered pretty much all of the country, which is why it succeeded (albeit as Today FM) and Century failed.

I remember being pleasantly surprised when 105.5 from Clermont Cairn was activated.

Cork_chick_94 wrote: »

It was very extravagant of RTE in the celtic tiger days when they were broadcasting R1 on FM, MW 567 and 729 in cork as well as 252lw.

I remember in those days in Cork City you had an opt out service between RTÉ Radio 1 and RTÉ Radio Cork (aka Cork 89FM) for many years for the RTÉ Cork Local Radio service. The best signal in Cork for RTÉ Radio 1 was the one when services split to RTÉ Cork Local Radio from around 11:00am-12:58 CorkAboutNoon (the programme used originally start around 12noon but the name stuck long afterwards) and from about 2:45-4:00 Afternoon Tea with Stevie B (Steve Bolger) 4:00-5:58pm Home-Spin with various presenters and there were RTÉ Cork Local Radio opt-outs from the main RTÉ Radio 1 FM across Sat/Sun as well.

You usually had to re-tune to 90mHz FM for Radio 1 from Dublin during the times Cork 89FM was on air and I think 567kHz MW was for Radio 1 while 729kHz was Cork Local Radio

In fact there were other national opt-outs from RTÉ Radio 1 FM such as the FM 3 Classical Music in the afternoons which was around in the days prior to RTÉ lyric fm. The arrival of Independent Radio Stations with longer full-time hours probably caused the rapid decline of this service and it was eventually axed in early 2000s despite local campaigns from the likes of Jimmy Crowley and other artists who were upset when it closed down. I reckon the RTÉ Radio 1 continuity announcers used have great fun during programme signposts trying to inform listeners about this service in Cork, FM3 on here, not to mention any other MW opt-outs for sports or whatever.

Century Radio was on FM if I recall in Dublin, Cork and Limerick areas only
RTÉ were the sub-contractor responsible for delivery of the Century Radio signal coverage at the time as far as I know
In fact the station could claim they were national as this was the licence they sought and operated from the then regulator for independent broadcasting in Ireland, the IRTC (Independent Radio and Television Commission)
Century was also broadcast on AM 1143kHz on Medium Wave nationwide which also meant they claim they were available as a national service as this was from September 1989 to November 1991 period long before Internet/Mobile signals were widespread.
Century were dogged with reception issues and even re-launched name to "Century 100" and this station was backed by concert promoter Oliver Barry, James Stafford and Chris DeBurgh.
It closed at very short notice one evening in November 1991

Fuzzy Clam wrote: »

1143 was not nationwide.

That's how Century Radio seemed to promoted the service at the time but nothing would surprise me as it was no secret that they were frustrated over technical/reception coverage issues in parts of Ireland and eventually they probably lost a lot of money in not reaching a sufficient audience which meant losses in advertising revenue. I often got the impression that they used be very unhappy with RTÉ over transmission issues.

I used really enjoy Century Radio as I was lucky enough to receive it clearly on FM in Cork City and i still remember the first programme when the then former FF Minister for Communications, Ray Burke TD performed the opening address and Marty Whelan's Breakfast Show was the first programme to air on the channel. He gave up a lot in terms of RTÉ TV & Radio committments at the time when he joined Century Radio.

Marty had "Late Night with Marty Whelan" 10-12midnight Mon-Fri on RTÉ Radio 2 FM
Marty had a weekly column in RTÉ Guide called "Marty's Sound & Vision"
Marty actually launched and hosted the TV Quiz "Where In The World" for about a year before Theresa Lowe took over the reigns.
Marty also had a very successful TV Show "Video File" whereby he used interview famous music artists at a time when MTV was only emerging in Europe.

When Century Radio closed suddenly way back in 1991 Marty was unemployed for quite a while and it took a long time of knocking on the door of RTÉ before he would get any new gigs and although he has done prime-time tv/radio he was definitely a bigger star up to 1989.

We used have fierce problems with all FM radio reception where I used work at a printing press plant in Cork City Centre in 1990/1991

A simple re-tune to AM usually solved problems with little or no interference.
Medium Wave on 1278kHz to hear pop/rock music tracks on RTÉ Radio 2FM
Medium Wave on 1143kHz to hear pop/rock music on Century Radio
Long Wave on 252kHz for pop/rock music on Atlantic 252

We definitely received Century Radio loud and clear on 1143AM in Cork City anyway

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

In fact there were other national opt-outs from RTÉ Radio 1 FM such as the FM 3 Classical Music in the afternoons which was around in the days prior to RTÉ lyric fm.

'FM3' was not an opt-out of RTE Radio 1's FM, 'FM3' timeshared the same transmission with RnaG.
RNaG up to some point used to close for a while in the afternoons meaning FM3 could be available then, as well as in the evenings.

Losty Dublin wrote: »

On the AM facility in Dublin, they used the old Sunshine transmitter which was still sited on the Sands Hotel in Portmarnock. Although weak it could get into odd places; I actually picked it up on London's M 25 in July 1991! I recall the hotel getting ads on the station; I often wondered if they were freebies in lieu. Eamon Cooke apparently took the rig about 20 years ago and ran it on full power from his house in Clondalkin. God knows what he done to it over time :pac:

Sunshine operated a few hundred watts on 531 AM, a few hundred watts on 1143 will not get as far,there is a significant fall off the higher the frequency.

Re RTE 252 - I am still waiting for the backlash against the decision, the effective lose of religious programmes on Sundays maybe the key.

Its only a year or so since Radio 1 extra left Sky - indicates a lack of an overall strategy imho.

Losty Dublin wrote: »

The studio AM TX was a wee bit more capable than a few hundred watts

AFAIK Sunshine originally had a 750watt marconi rig, a second marconi rig was acquired but never combined (to give 1.5kw).

After the raids a 1kw Gates rig was acquired but never ran above 800 watts.

Sunshine had 2 AMs on air from mid 86? - both from Portmarnock.

Antenna wrote: »

'FM3' was not an opt-out of RTE Radio 1's FM, 'FM3' timeshared the same transmission with RnaG.
RNaG up to some point used to close for a while in the afternoons meaning FM3 could be available then, as well as in the evenings.

My apologies for sharing incorrect details re: former FM3. I never recalled that it used the same wavelength on FM as RnaG when the Irish service would close at regular intervals in those earlier days. Interesting to hear this.

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Back in 1989 RTE were to provide the FM and UHF link network for Century but they disagreed on the rate; RTE wanted IR £614k while Century wanted to pay around £300k. The then Minister for Communications, Ray Burke, intervened in the dispute and decided that Century should pay just £100,000. Furthermore, in 1990 he announced a cap on income from advertisements on RTE radio and TV. RTE knew that the required network and back up facilities could not be supplied at this rate. In an act of corporate defiance, they simply dragged their heels in and didn't supply it to Century outside of the major urban areas; even then what was supplied was lower powered and modulated below the required levels. It was found out over time that Ray Burke had received illegal payments from the consortium behind Century; this explained their granting of the licence and some of his bizarre decisions in favour of the consortium during their short life.

Oh the former Minister for Communications, Ray Burke left a very negative legacy in what should have been a bright new start to the Independent Commercial Radio sector in this country and it was years before things were back on track. Ireland had no national independent commercial station to compete with RTÉ Radio after Century closed down in late 1991 until "Radio Ireland" launched around March 1997.

The same station re-invented itself after about 12 months and became TODAY FM and the start of the relaunch would have seen great celebrations with the signing of Ian Dempsey who departed the succeesful RTÉ Radio 2FM Breakfast Show for a new rival breakfast show which began on TODAY FM around September 1998.

2FM probably declined from then onwards although it still would have The Gerry Ryan Show until April 2010 but the rest of 2FM was clinging to Gerry as his show still had huge audience reach and advertising revenues which were probably slowly declining year by year even prior to his untimely death.

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

Actually i meant to say on previous post that Long Wave LW 252kHz was Atlantic 252 from about 1989 - 2001.

I don't recall RTÉ Radio 1 being officially on LW 252kHz and also on Medium Wave 567+729kHz at the same time unless perhaps it was during a short transitional period and for testing purposes.

i believe radio 1 was on 252 since the shut down of teamtalk in 2002? definitely been on there since 2004

I would not always find myself in agreement on issues with journalist John Waters however; I found he summed up the key concerns of many radio listeners from at home and abroad about the short notice closure of Long Wave LW 252kHz RTÉ Radio One opt-out from FM very well indeed. The Web URL link given below from this newspaper article is taken from the Irish Independent dated Wednesday 1st of October, 2014:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/rtes-all-too-blunt-message-for-the-irish-diaspora-to-hell-or-the-internet-30628452.html

Last night, I was listening to John Creedon on his RTÉ Radio One show and John read out various requests and dedications as he often does including one topical one from a listener in the UK who indicated that following the broadcast of last night's show he would no longer be in a position to tune-in following the forthcoming closure of LW 252kHz later this month. Perhaps the listener misunderstood when the service will finally shut down on Long Wave as it remains on LW 252kHz until Monday 27th of October but you certainly could hear the sadness in the message conveyed from a loyal listener upset at the service going from Long Wave altogether. I'm not sure what age bracket the listener was but apparently the listener in question had been tuning since he discovered it on Long Wave around 10 years ago or so and he claimed he had never missed a show in all of that time. What a shame if the said individual is not aware of the other methods or is internet-friendly like some of us now take for granted.

Senior Citizens used to receiving RTÉ Radio One via AM on radio set, those who have little or no FM reception, Drivers, Commuters in Ireland in addition to Irish expats in Northern Ireland/UK/Western Europe will all be negatively affected by this move.