CONCEPT RADIO NEWS and Free Radio Update . Local National and Regional Radio News from around the UK, The Pirate Files, Inside Free Radio,Stations of the Past,Transmitters Serving Merseyside, and The North West Of England on Medium Wave and FM. Includes Pictures and Real Audio Files

I spotted this in Wolfgang Bueschel's 'BCDX' bulletin which arrived today:
>
> "IRELAND It is said, that Atlantic 252 will cease bcing by the end of this year as the Irish govt didn't renew their licence. The LW tx will be used for RTE programming instead. (Extracted from the gossip by Michael Fuhr-D, Nov 2)"

That rumour has been going around for quite some time now, not sure as to its validity (though it might explain why CLT didn't sell it a while back when they sold 1035 kHz in London) ...

Dave Kenny BDXC-UK

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Pirate Sued for £50,000 Thursday (18 November 1999)

A former pirate radio operator is being sued by the Commercial Radio Companies Association for £50,000 for allegedly stealing listeners and advertisers from licensed commercial radio stations in the Nottinghamshire market.

The operator has already been in court and fined (£250) for unlicensed broadcasting

(http://www.theradiomagazine.co.uk/] via Ray Woodward BDXC-UK)

Permission is hereby granted to reproduce the above information, provided that
full credit is given to the original contributor AND to the British DX Club.

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Digital One, which launches on 15 November 1999 with a UK wide digital radio service, now have a coverage map on their web site at:- http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/listener/coverage.asp

The web site also has many other interesting details about all aspects of digital radio.

(James Muir BDXC-UK)

DX Information from the British DX Club. 23/10/98

From Ray Woodward

Calderdale Sound

I know this isn't the place to advertise jobs.... but;

"RSL on Lancashire/Yorkshire border on-air November 28th to December 20th 1998. Needs presenter for daytime gig either Drive or Afternoon Show. Anybody available/willing/good enough/mental enough to do it?

If so, email me privately: <rjmartin@btinternet.com> to find out more.

Even though this is an RSL, it is paid work.

Cheers

Rj "

rjmartin@btinternet.com

I assume this refers to the RSL 'Calderdale Sound' - presumably medium wave 1575 kHz.

(Ray Woodward British Dx Club)

Permission is hereby granted to reproduce the above information, provided that full credit is given to the original contributor AND to the British DX Club.

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Merlin Shortwave schedule announced

From Eric Wiltsher (NB these times are in BST - subtract one hour for UTC)

The schedule of SW transmissions for MNO for this week
(N.B. Schedule changes post 25 October - new schedule to follow soon)

                Frequencies for Europe
        Time            Time                    Frequency
       On              Off                     (kHz)

        4:00            5:00                    3955
        5:00            7:00                    6130
        7:00            16:00                   9915
        7:00             9:00                    6015
        9:00            12:00                  13670
        12:00           13:00                 13645
        13:00           15:00                 13645
        15:00           16:00                 13690
        16:00           18:00                   9855
        16:00           18:00                 13690
        17:00           20:00                   6015
        18:00           20:00                   9825
        18:00           20:00                 15200
        20:00           22:00                   9705
        20:00           22:00                 15565
        22:00           0:00                   11915
        22:00           2:00                     9645
        23:00           4:00                     3955

                To Scandinavia and Russia:-

        Time            Time                    Frequency
        On              Off                     (kHz)
        8:00            15:00                   17895
        23:00           1:00                    7170

                To America:-

        Time            Time                    Frequency
        On              Off                     (kHz)
        1:00            3:00                    9560
        3:00            4:00                    9770
        4:00            5:00                    9770
        5:00            7:00                    9870
        20:00           2:00                    13690
        22:00           2:00                    11985
        23:00           1:00                    9780

(Eric Willshire BDXC)

Merlin Network One Satellite Service

Apparently this service will finally launch full time on Thursday, test transmissions are reportedly underway via satellite :

Astra [19.2 degrees east - analogue]

Transponder 58 - 10.847 GHz Vertical 7.38/7.56 MHz subcarriers

You might remember those subcarriers from the days of the Radio Netherlands analogue service via Astra [19.2 east].

On listening here at 10:00 UTC all I hear are blank carriers.

Perhaps we'll find out the HF channels on Wednesday ..?

Permission is hereby granted to reproduce the above information, provided that full credit is given to the original contributor AND to the British DX Club.

(Ray Woodward British DX Club)

Radio Fax Update

On 19th September the European Commission Of Human Rights in Strasbourg examined the admissibility of Trevor Brooks appeal for a short wave broadcast licence. The commission determined that notice should be given to the government of the United Kingdom and their observations invited in regard to a possible violation of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Trevor Brooks asserts that by refusing to licence an independent short wave station, the UK government is unreasonably and persistently stifling media development to the detriment of the public in breach of article 10 of the European Convention Of Human Rights. He made his first written application for a licence for Radio Fax twelve years ago in August 1986 . (Trevor Brooks/Surrey Electronics Ltd.)
DX Information from the British DX Club. 09/10/98

Chrysalis Radio Wins North East Licence

Chrysalis Radio's Galaxy FM has won the Independent Local Radio Licence (ILR) for the North-East, beating off competition from Capital's Fun Radio and North East News Radio. The Radio Authority, which advertised the licence earlier this year, decided this afternoon to grant the licence to Galaxy.

Galaxy FM will is described as a fun, upbeat, lifestyle-led dance station, playing a mix of contemporary dance music. The award means that Chrysalis will now have four Galaxy branded stations across the country. Galaxy FM: 0117 901 0101

[http://www.mediatel.co.uk]

(Ray Woodward British DX Club)

Irish pirate radio engineer found dead

I was told that Frank McArthy who engineered a lot of the stations along the Irish border (including ZEE 103 and KITS FM) was found dead outside one of the station sites last week. Apparently he had a heart attack. Wonder who will maintain the stations now ?

(From Gary Hogg)

DX Information from the British DX Club. 100/98 12 October 1998

RADIO AUTHORITY AWARDS THE NATIONAL COMMERCIAL DIGITAL MULTIPLEX LICENCE TO DIGITAL ONE

Radio Authority Website: http://www.radioauthority.org.uk

The Radio Authority has decided that, after considering the proposals submitted by the sole applicant, it is offering the first and only national commercial digital multiplex licence to:

•DIGITAL ONE LTD. - GWR Group plc, Classic FM House, 7 Swallow Place, Oxford Circus, London W1R 7AA (contact: Quentin Howard, 0118 928 4316; or Simon Cooper, 0118 928 4325).

The ownership of the company is:

GWR Digital Radio Ltd57% of ordinary share capitalNTL Digital Radio Ltd33%Talk Radio UK Ltd10%

Commenting on the award of the national digital multiplex licence the Chairman of the Authority, Sir Peter Gibbings, said

"The award of this licence confirms the prospect of digital broadcasting for commercial radio. This is an exciting and challenging time for the industry. The Authority congratulates Digital One on becoming the first commercial radio company to be licensed to operate a technology which is
capable over time of transforming radio listening."

"We will now proceed with the advertisement of the local digital multiplex licences and we will be announcing the timetable in the very near future."

Digital One is proposing to broadcast a total of ten programme services, the broadcasting hours of which will initially be as follows:

For 24 hours per day Classic FM-classical music (simulcast INR1 service)Virgin Radio-
contemporary rock-oriented music (simulcast INR2 service)Talk Radio-listener-led debate, discussions and interviews (simulcast INR3 service) Classic Gold Rock-hits and most popular classic rock album tracks from 60s to today (to be provided by NTL Digital Radio)Soft AC-female-biased service playing a wide range of adult contemporary music (identity of programme provider to be decided)Teen & Chart Hits-mainstream chart hits of today and last few years

(to be provided by GWR)

19.00-06.00 Club Dance-genres of dance and classic dance music (programme provider to be decided)

06.00-19.00 Plays/Books/Comedy-serialisations, reviews, comedy and 'one-off' productions (programme provider to be decided)

06.00-00.00 Rolling News-world, national and regional news and information (to be provided by ITN)

19.00-00.00 weekdays, 12.00-19.00 weekends Sports Channel-sports commentary, comment and coverage (to be provided by Talk Radio)Digital One will commence as multiplex operator in October 1999. It has put forward a technical plan to achieve 69% population coverage at launch. The Authority will be publishing its appraisal of Digital One’s application shortly.ENDS

(Ray Woodward British DX Club Via Radio Authority)

Radio Authority Website: http://www.radioauthority.org.uk

Digital Shortwave Feature On Radio Netherlands

Radio Netherlands is to do a feature on digital shortwave in their Media Network programme next Thursday 8th October

Radio Netherlands Media Network can be heard via the following outlets:

Thursdays

1252 BST 6045 and 9860 Khz

2152 BST 1512 khz. from Belgium

Also available in Real Audio from the World Radio Network Sound Store

New Aircheck List on the Web

From Blain Thompson

I've just re-put my aircheck list on the web. It's in three different versions: .html, .doc (MS Word) and .wpd (WordPerfect).

http://www.indy.net/~phredd/aircheck.html
http://www.indy.net/~phredd/aircheck.wpd
http://www.indy.net/~phredd/aircheck.doc

(Blaine Thompson BDXC)

40 Years Of Offshore Broadcasting

A group describing itself as "an international group of friends of offshore radio" is planing a special broadcast later this month.

Newstide is not sure exactly who these people are, but we assume that their proposed transmission is legally authorised by a European country, probably on a special event basis.

We reproduce their statement below:

"During the summer of 1958, the first commercial radio station on board a ship started broadcasting off the European coasts: RADIO MERCUR.

This station reached ten thousands of listeners in Copenhagen and Malmö. By using the freedom of the international waters, the monopoly of the state operated broadcasters was shattered. Finally, RADIO MERCUR had to stop the operation. Sooner or later, the same happened with all the other watery wireless stations that followed the idea of operating from the high seas.

In the years to come, there were different reasons for their failure. But in some countries offshore radio led to changes in media politics: Commercial radio was introduced on shore. But strange things happened as these new local and nationwide stations did not want to share their audience with the offshore based competitors... An international group of friends of offshore radio will reminisce this important part of the European media history. There will be special non-commercial broadcasts from a ship in the North Sea.

OFFSHORE 98 is scheduled for October 17th and 18th.

Depending on conditions, this real offshore radio event will be audible on longwave 279 kHz
Mediumwave 1566 kHz

shortwave 6210 kHz"

http://www.newstide.com/radio/

Welcome to the Manchester Radio Stations update for October 1998.

New This Month

* Century 105 is now on Air broadcasting on 105.4 FM across the North West

* Wire FM is now on air on 107.2 broadcasting from Warrington.

* Oldham FM and Tower FM have been awarded the two new sallie licences for North / East Manchester.

* Piccadilly 1152 in Manchester and Red Rose 999 in Lancashire are to be rebranded as Magic 1152 and Magic 999 early next year to complete the EMAP AM Magic network.

* Some of the Real Audio Links on the site are not working at present (due to changes at the stations etc). Those working include Virgin, MFM, RTE....

Read more about these stories on the Manchester Radio Stations Site at http://www.nadin.co.uk/radio/

Please let me know what you think of the site, and remember ANY Comments / queries / info you can add to the list are always welcome.

Manchester Radio Stations Update List
Email : radio@nadin.co.uk
WWW : http://www.nadin.co.uk/radio/

BBC WS German Service Threatened By Cuts
The BBC World Service may be forced to close down the German language service in order to meet budgetary requirements imposed by the Government. The service has been operational for over sixty years, and has a weekly audience of 2,100,000. The closure would save £1,100,000 a year from the services budget.

It is understood that a total package of cuts, designed to save around £20 million, are to be imposed, which will also include the ending of broadcasts from London to Hungary, Nepal, Portuguese-Africa and Slovakia.

(Ray Woodward BDXC)

Offshore Station. An international group describing themselves as "friends of offshore radio" will reminisce the 40th anniversary of the first European offshore radio broadcasts by Radio Mercur off Denmark with a special non-commercial broadcast from a ship in the North Sea. "OFFSHORE 98" is scheduled for October 17th and 18th. Depending on conditions, the station will be audible on longwave 279 kHz, mediumwave 1566 kHz and shortwave 6210 kHz. (Ray Woodward BDXC)

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Also from the pages of Issue 338 of the Radio Magazine comes news that a 'MANSFIELD 103.2FM' is due to commence programming this autumn. Presumably this is the new name/ident. and frequency of Radio Mansfield in Nottinghamshire ..?

I guess they got the *old* Leicester Sound channel ...

(Ray Woodward BDXC)

DX Information from the British DX Club.

HF Interference threat from mains digital data transmissions

rom Ronald Easey BDXC

Hi All,

Did you see the small article in this months SW mag Decode section about plans to use the mains wiring system to transmit data. Apparantly a 1mHz data stream would be used on top of the mains signal. As Mike Richards pointed out this would cause harmonics over the HF spectrum and what about the signals being radiated from every vertical street light, a very worrying thought I'm sure you will agree. There seems to be lots of confusion amongst members of the public me included regarding digital broadcasts TV/Sat do to start this week. So can anyone help clear up a few points please?

Why if you decide to buy and subcribe to SKY's new system do you need to have it connected up to a phone line?

How long before ground based TV goes all digital and what equipment will be needed also who will be providing the service besides the BBC. I have heard that Satelite and Ground based systems will need a different decoder if this is true what will the cost be?
Any info you may have would be welcome as would any pointers as to where further info might be found ie web sites etc. (Ronald Easey BDXC)

Jam AM Hull. 1575 Khz.23/09/98

UK: Jam AM 1575 Hhz, Hull, was due to return to the air 23/9/98 for the start of new student term. (Student Union via John Williams)

Confirm that JAM 1575 is loud and clear across this area. Same playlist as in June, but I expect that will change in next few days as freshers come in and want to play at radio.

Paul Rusling E-mail: <Rusling@broadcast.net

Worldwide Broadcast Consultants, P O Box 12, WILLERBY, UK - HU10 7YT

Peak 107 FM. North Derbyshire 23/09/98

DX Information from the British DX Club.Subject: Re: Peak 107 Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 11:18:39 GMT

North Derbyshire's new ILR station, Peak 107, launches on Wednesday 7 October> at 0800. Frequency 107.4. Test transmissions start any day. Jingles from Jam. Studios at Sheep Bridge Industrial Estate in Chesterfield. Phone number 01246 269107. Test transmissions have started this morning, Tuesday 22/09/98. I've just been listening on my way to Bolsover where I have retuned the radio at work. It's good to hear the familiar voice of Dave Kilner who I listened to on Radio Hallam many years ago. Music heard so far from Simply Red, Madonna, Elton John, Roxette and the Spice Girls.The address is :- Peak 107FM, Radio House, Foxwood Road, CHESTERFIELD. S41 9RF

The above address is in an industrial estate to the north of Chesterfield next to the A61 Dronfield Bypass, the main Chesterfield to Sheffield road. The studios still seem to be under construction but aerials have now appeared on the roof pointing towards the transmission site above the village of Unstone. There appears to be a web site under development at http://www.peak107.co.uk Robert Collis, Chesterfield 123 Preservation Group, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

Email: chesterfield123@netscape.net

Web: http://www.dejanews.com/rg_mkgrp.xp

DX Information from the British DX Club.23/09/98

Oldham FM

UKRD group major shareholder in Greater Manchester winner - Oldham

For the third time this year UKRD Group Ltd, has been part of a consortium awarded another licence by the Radio Authority - this time for a radio station which will broadcast to over a quarter of a million adults in Oldham and the surrounding area north-east of Manchester.

The radio station will be jointly owned by UKRD Group and the Oldham Evening Chronicle which will each own 42.1% of the company. The Oldham Chamber of Commerce will own 15.8%. The application for the licence was masterminded by UKRD Group's radio consultancy arm, Infinity Radio Ltd - both companies are based at Dolphin House in North Street, Guildford.

The win in Oldham follows earlier radio licence wins this year in Gloucestershire and South East London. In November last year the group also won a licence to broadcast to East London - that radio station went on air in May. UKRD Group already owns three radio stations Surrey, two in Hampshire, one in the Westcountry, and one in Berkshire. It also has investments in other radio-related companies. Last year it sold minority interests in radio stations in Manchester and Yorkshire, netting £5.3 million which it promised it would be earmarking to invest in other radio licences.

Chief Executive of UKRD Group and the County Sound Radio Network, Mike Powell, said: 'This is yet more excellent news for our company and its talented team. We have built a terrific portfolio of radio stations over the last six years and we have many more projects in the pipeline.' ENDS

(Further information from Mike Powell on 01483 306156)

(It is understood that since the above was released, the Oldham Chamber of Trade ownership has been reduced to 5%) Judging from the above, we may well see more UKRD involvement in small-scale commercial licences soon ...

(Ray Woodward BDXC)

IOM Long Wave Licence 23/09/98

The Isle of Man government has finally advertised for applicants to run a 500Kw longwave radio station from the island.

Readers of Newstide and it's predecessors will know that this advertisment is the latest stage in a campaign to establish a new longwave station on the island - a campaign that has been running since 1993. The advertisment warns that applicants will be expected to go through the normal planning and enviromental impact assesment process with regards to the establishment of the considerably extensive transmission site and tower needed for the broadcasts, and notes that planning permission will not be automatically granted. A requirement to broadcast on reduced power at night is also noted.

The station will transmit on a frequency of 270Khz, and should be heard clearly over most of the UK. Bids are expected from The Isle of Man International Broadcasting Company, United Christian Broadcasters, and a "Radio Caroline" (but this is NOT the Peter Moore official Radio Caroline - but another group using the name!) http://www.newstide.com/radio/

(Renato Bruni Medium Wave Circle)

DX Information from the British DX Club.18/09/98

United Christian Broadcasters unofficial relays on 549/1593 Khz.

Currently (2220 UTC) hearing a weak relay of UCB on 1593 kHz with rather distorted audio - parallel much stronger Kaliningrad 1386 kHz. Presumably this is one of the so-called "Russian licensed frequencies" they are testing from their unlicensed transmitter installation somewhere in the Rep of Ireland...(Dave Kenny BDXC)

Finally heard UCB on 549 kHz this morning (for the first time - normally I have a German station on that channel even during daytime). I assume they must have either added another site or increased power, still hear the German quite plainly underneath it though.Nothing like I remember the likes of Sunshine or Nova in their heyday (Still at least it can be heard now in this part of the world (30 miles N. of Manchester) SIO 323 [AR 7030 150ft long wire]Heard 1593 last night at 20:00 UTC - fighting it out with the likes ofthe VOA. VOA having very much the better of things. Have to be honest, I can't really see either channel from unlicensed Irish based senders being adequate replacement for Kaliningrad 1386 ...(Ray Woodward BDXC)

Also Richard Wier from West Kirby,Wirral reports good reception of UCB on 549 via the R Netherlands answerline. (ed)

DX Information from the British DX Club. (18/09/98)

The Radio magazine reports an RSL will operate in the Hertford area nextmonth (as a trial service in preparation for the full time licence [due for advertisement in January].

Radio Hertford will operate on 107.1 MHz from a transmitter in "Bengeo" from October 10th to 25th.(Ray Woodward BDXC)

DX Information from the British DX Club.(18/09/98)

The local Meridian TV programme " A Walk Through History" this evening visited the Isle of Sheppey.Anoraks will be delighted to hear that the programme included a trip to the Caroline ship moored off Sheerness and included interviews with present day DJ's and a look round the ship. It must have been recorded relatively recently, since it included an ID for Merlin Network One
I managed to catch some of the programme on video, and might be prepared to lend this to anyone that is interested. Please e-mail me if you are.(Mark Hattam BDXC)

New Radio Australia Home Page(18/09/98)

Radio Australia since 13-Sep-98 has a new home page and it's a lot better than the old one. It can be found at:

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/rahome.htm

DX Information from the British DX Club. (18/09/98)

This weekend pirate station in London is now radiating RDS data on its 88.4 MHz transmitter:

PS_Name: _ICE_FM_

PI code: 1234

http://www.dxradio.demon.co.uk

(Mark Hattam BDXC)

DX Information from the British DX Club. (18/09/98)

An item on "Tomorrow's World" (17/9/98) reported that the British Antarctic Survey have discovered another phenomena which is most likely to be caused by so called "global warming". Apparently, the ionosphere, one of the lower layers of the earth's atmosphere and of course very significant in propogation terms, is falling. Studies show that it may have sung up to 8 Km in the past 30-odd years.

I am not an expert on this, but presumably, the lower the level of the ionosphere, the lower is going to be the angle of any signals reflected from it. This would surely mean that the effective distance travelled by signals going to be a bit lower?

Maybe it should encourage a few more of us not to get into our cars unnecessarily, if it leads to decreased propogation distances spoiling our hobby! I would be very interested if anyone has any other comments on this, or more scientific knowledge of it.

(Mark Savage BDXC)

Broadcast Magazine feature on pirate radio(18/09/98)

The 4th September edition of "Broadcast" is carrying a special feature on the resurgence of pirate radio. The back cover of the present edition shows a tantalising glimpse of a pirateophile website, but it wasn't possible to read the URL. Maybe the article will reveal more, although EMAP the publishers of "Broadcast" would be treading on dodgy ground I would have thought by publishing too much identifying info on present operators.

Anoraks unable to obtain a copy of the mag from the usual outlets, should be able to find a copy in most major libraries. (Mark Savage BDXC)

DX Information from the British DX Club (11/09)

RSL station 2BR. (Two Boroughs Radio.) 107.5

'2BR' has now commenced test transmissions of "library music" on 107.5 MHz MONO without RDS. First noted from switch on at 18:10 BST Friday Sept. 11th

(DX Information from Ray Woodward, British DX Club. 9 September 1998)

Radio Netherlands Long Wave Service

Plans for a high power long wave station covering the UK from Holland have taken a step nearer with the formal approval being given for a long wave station located off the Dutch coast The new proposal is fro two 1300 foot high masts to be built on a man made island about 15 miles off Walcheran, near the Belgian border. Transmissions of a new station Delta Radio on 171 Khz. longwave will use a two megawatt transmitter to be supplied by Thomcast of France.

The original plan, rejected by the local council, was to use four masts at a site a Koowijk near Appledorn in the east of Holland, which would have given an effective power of over 8 million watts but as the new site offshore will have only a short stretch of sea between it and the target market, London and South East England, less masts will be needed to achieve the strong signal coverage. The signal has to be directional to protect an existing user on the Baltic Coast, Bolshkova Kaliningrad, which means using at least two masts.

However, there are there are still several technical hurdles to be overcome, as the very strong signals could cause some problems to shipping in the busy Dover Straites.

( Paul Ruisling. Radio Magazine via BDXC-UK)

RADIO AUTHORITY FINES MEDWAY FM (4/9/98)

At their most recent meeting (3 September), Members of the Radio Authority decided to impose a fine of £5,000 on Medway FM, which broadcasts to the Medway Towns in Kent. Medway FM has been fined for intentionally adjusting the power of its transmitter, on two separate occasions, significantly above the level which is specified in its licence. Members also decided to require the licensee to pay the Authority’s costs of £60 which were incurred when it investigated the breaches.

Commenting on the fine, the Chairman of the Authority, Sir Peter Gibbings said, "Unauthorised power adjustments can have serious implications for other users of the spectrum. In this particular case, Medway FM’s frequency, 107.9 MHz, is directly adjacent to the aeronautical navigational frequencies, from 108 MHz upwards. These frequencies are used to guide aircraft towards their destination airfield.

The Authority will not tolerate licensees intentionally increasing their power levels above their licensed limits. We will not hesitate to take appropriate action when such breaches occur."

(Radio Authority via Ray Woodward British Dx Club)

DX Information from the British DX Club. 7/9/98

LOCAL RADIO LICENCE FOR COLERAINE TO BE ADVERTISED AFRESH

The Radio Authority announced today that, after considering the

proposals submitted by the two applicants, Catch FM (Mr. Trevor Smyth) and Causeway Coast Radio Ltd., it has decided not to offer the new Independent Local Radio licence on the FM (VHF) waveband for the Coleraine area to either applicant.

The Authority was unable to satisfy itself with regard to the requirements of section 105 of the Broadcasting Act 1990. In particular, the Members of the Authority were not able to make an assessment under subsections (b) and (c) of section 105 because the programming proposals submitted by both applicants lacked sufficient clarity, and would not have enabled a promise of performance to be drawn up, thereby securing the character of the service. In particular, the Authority considered the music proposals were unworkable, and plans for local news provision were vague.

The licence will be advertised afresh before the end of this year.

(Radio Authority via Ray Woodward British DX Club)

Wire FM 107.2. Warrington

Wire FM has now started regular transmissions on 107.2. Their official launch date was September 1st. 1998. Tel: 01925 445545

http://www.wire-fm.u-net.com

105.4 Century FM Begins Test Transmissions

The new north west regional station Century FM begun test transmissions on Tuesday 4th August (presumably from Winter Hill). The official starting date was September 8th and the line up includes the controversial late night phone- in man, Scottie McClue (2200-0100 weekdays) and also an afternoon phone in with Derek Hatton 1300-1400 weekdays).

Name change for Picadilly Gold. Manchester and also Red Rose Gold

Picadilly Gold is to change it's name to Magic 1152 and Red Rose Gold will become Magic 999 This is to bring it them line with the other EMAP owned 'Magic' stations.

(Alan Gale, British DX Club)

DAB Radios Launched

Five DAB radios will soon be available in the UK. However, initial units will cost a staggering 500 to 13-00 Pounds Sterling. and are so large and power hungry that they have to be fitted in the boot of a car. The DAB consortium claims better choice and better quality reception, but in reality, DAB is likely to offer far less stations than most of us can receive on a conventional AM and FM receiver and sound quality will, in the majority of listening situations, be no better than FM - in some respects it will be inferior.

Also, DAB transmitter coverage is likely to be limited to main population centres with many parts of the country unable to receive any DAB signals for many years. Should any of this tempt you, these are the receivers that have so far been announced.

BLAUPUNKT D-Fire 01 A boot mounted unit which connects to a Blaupnnkt Stockholm, RCM28,or Toronto RDM128, car radio, price 999-99 Pounds Sterling On sale early September.

CLARION DAB9475R A complete all in one DAB unit, price 999 Pounds Sterling, On sale from 1st August.

Grundig DCR 200 A boot mounted unit which connects to the Grundig SCD5690, SCD5390, 5600RDS, 5300 RDS car radios. Price 999-99 Pounds Sterling. On sale September.

Kenwood KTC-959DAB. A boot mounted unit which connects to the KRC-559R radio cassette .Price 1099 Pounds Sterling. (or 1299-00) with radio cassette. On sale after August.

PIONEER GEXP900DAB. A boot mounted unit which will connect to most recent pioneer radios. Price 499 Pounds Sterling. On sale early September

(Press reports via Mike Terry and Dave Kenny, British DX Club)

Commercial DAB Multiplex

There was only one application for the National Digital Multiplex advertised by the Radio Authority. The applicant, Digital One Ltd. a consortium of GWR, NTL, and Talk Radio UK, is planning to offer ten services.:

Classic FM- Simulcast of existing services

Talk Radio Simulcast of existing services

Virgin Radio Simulcast of existing services

Classic Gold Rock Hits an popular classic rock album tracks from the 60's to today.

Soft AC Female based service with adult contemporary music Teen and Chart Hits Mainstream chart hits

Club Dance (1900-1600) Genres of hits and dance music

Plays\Books\Comedy Serialisations, Reviews Etc.

Rolling News (1600-000) Provided by ITN

Sports Channel (1900-0000 weekdays 1200-1900) Sports News provided by Talk Radio.

Coverage is expected to achieve only 69% of the population of mainland Britain by the third year of operation. (Northern Ireland and vast areas of the mainland will not be covered at all).

(Communication, Journal of The British DX Club August 1998)

DAB cards for your PC

A more economical option would be an add-on PC card for DAB . Alan C. from CFM tells me there will eventually be a PC card on the market which will retail at around 100 Pounds Sterling.

I would assume that this card will utilise the existing digital to analog converters in your sound card, which would account for the low cost. However, the audio quality may be restricted by any limitations of your sound card.

(ed)

DX Information from the British DX Club

RTE masts breach radiation limits

Two AM transmission sites used by RTE have been found to be exceeding international guidelines in relation to emissions of non-ionising radiation by a Government regulator engaged in surveying all radio and telecommunications masts in the Republic of Ireland.

The world standard upper level for such emissions is 87 volts per metre.

The transmission complex at Athlone, site of RTE's earliest broadcasts in the 1930s, was measured at 120 volts per metre, while the Tullamore transmitter was more than 6 times over the limit, at 530 volts per metre.

RTE has taken action to prevent the public from straying into the high- radiation area, by means of new warning-signs and fencing. A spokesman said that the emissions would have "little effect on human health".

In the past Athlone always broadcast the 500Kw RTE Radio 1 signal on 567Khz, while Tullamore was the site of the 250Kw RTE 2FM signal on 612Khz. However, on a recent visit to the sites (in June 1998) Newstide noted that 612 was coming from Athlone, and 567 from Tullamore.

http://www.newstide.com/radio

(Ray Woodward, British DX Club)

DX Information from the British DX Club.

14/07/98

RA Announces More 'Transparent' Licence Awarding

The Radio Authority (RA) chief executive, Tony Stoller, has told the Birmingham Radio Festival how the Authority plans to make the award of radio licences a more open and transparent procedure.

Following criticisms from some figures in the industry, from the Autumn the RA will make public its reasons for the choice of successful applicants for independent local radio (ILR) licences. Currently the reasons for granting the award to one group over another are not announced.

However, Stoller has decided not to release details of why applicants were not successful as this could be potentially damaging to the groups involved.

As part of this move toward 'openness' the Authority will also release technical data relating to broadcasters' licences and applications. Both of these new procedures will be in play when the RA starts an eight year re-advertisement of all 223 commercial ILR licences in the country.

The promise of performance, which determines what format a station must take, is also to be reassessed by the RA in order to preserve the essential character of a station without becoming bogged down in details. A consultation on this change will begin in the Summer.

After a year long experiment, the RA will also begin to issue long-term, low powered AM licences to be used by student and hospital radio services, and other non-commercial organisations. Stoller said: "It is rare for a regulator to be in a position to announce five major initiatives at the same time, all of which go to the heart of the system. However, this is a measure of the determination of the Radio Authority to continue to facilitate the growth and health of independent radio on the widest front."

The RA has also launched its own website which can be accessed at http://www.radioauthority.org.uk/.

Radio Authority: 0171 405 7058

[http://www.mediatel.co.uk]

(Ray Woodward, British DX Club)

FUTURE PLANS FOR RADIO SPECTRUM RELEASED

The Radiocommunications Agency has released the 1998 Edition of the "Strategy Document for the future use of the Radio Spectrum in the UK".

This document provides updated thinking on how the radio spectrum, between 9 kHz and 105 GHz, will be managed into the 21st century and is designed as a living document. It takes account of several major developments; the passing of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998, the establishment of the UK Spectrum Strategy Committee, the 1997 World Radio Conference. The document also discusses the outcome from a programme of demand studies. Barbara Roche, Minister for Small Firms, Trade and Industry, says in the document Foreword:

"Radio contributes 1.8% of GDP and is creating 1000 new jobs a week, therefore a coherent and dynamic strategy towards managing the radio spectrum is virtually important. Our policies are intended to ensure that these figures can continue to grow in the future.

"This fourth edition of the strategy document follows on from recent important issues facing users such as the introduction of UMTS, digital broadcasting and spectrum pricing. The document continues the ongoing dialogue with users. I hope you will read it and wish to comment on it".

Notes for Editors

1. The Radiocommunications Agency, an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, manages most of the radio spectrum available for civilian purposes in the UK. Agency publications including the UK Spectrum Strategy are available from:-

The Information and Library Service Radiocommunications Agency New King's Beam House 22 Upper Ground London SE1 9SA

Fax: 0171 211 0507

Internet Site: www.open.gov.uk/radiocom

Most Agency publications, including the UK Spectrum Strategy, are available on a single copy basis free of charge. The 1998 Edition of the UK Spectrum Strategy has the full title "Strategy for the future use of the Radio Spectrum in the UK".

2. The UK Spectrum Strategy document contains almost two-hundred pages of detailed tables covering the whole spectrum from 9 kHz to 105 GHz by sector and by radio frequency. These set out issues and strategies relevant to particular frequency ranges and include Spectrum Management Objectives for each sector.

3. An increasing selection of publications are available on the Agency Internet Site. The 1998 Edition of the UK Spectrum Strategy is now available.

4. For further information about radio matters contact the Agency's Switchboard/Telephone Enquiry Point Service on 0171 211 0211. The Enquiry Point Service is available from 08.30 a.m. until 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) and there is also a 24 hour "tone pad" document retrieval service available on the same number, 0171 211 0211.

(Ray Woodward, British DX Club)

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Offshore history to go for scrap?

Reports from Holland (Hans Knot) indicate that the radioship Communicator is about to be sold for scrap. The ship is currently used as a transmission base by radio station QFM, who no longer need it. The owners visited the ship last week along with a number of other people to make arrangements for the transmitters, generators and other equipment to be stripped out and sold off. Once this is done it is believed that the ship will be sold to a scrap-broker in Haarlem, and broken up.

The MV Communicator is an important part of offshore and British radio history - it was from this ship that Laser 558 broadcast in 1984/5, quickly gaining an audience of millions, and causing great concern among ILR stations in the South East.

[http://www.newstide.com/radio]

New home for Liverpool's Radio City 96.7 and Magic 1548

Liverpool's ILR Stations, Radio City and Magic 1548 are to move from their existing studios in Stanley Street, to new studios at St Johns Beacon in Liverpool's city centre. This will make it the highest radio station in the UK.

(BBC Radio Merseyside News 2/07/98)

St. Johns Beacon, built in the late 60's was originally built as land mark and revolving restaurant, but the building has not been in regular use since the 1980's. It will also be a good location for their outside broadcast antennae.(Ed)

Pirate Radio Broadcaster Convicted

DTI Press Release - 25 June 1998

From Andy Barrett

Keithley Fitzroy Bryan, of Upton Road, Edmonton, London, has been convicted of operating an unauthorised broadcast radio station contrary to section 1(1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. The illegal 'Station FM' covered North East London.

He was sentenced by Wood Green Crown Court, on June 24, to 240 hours Community Service and was ordered to pay costs of £5000. His studio apparatus, which included tape decks, a CD player, audio mixer, records, cellular telephone, microphones, headphones, assorted cassettes, stereo amplifier plus transmitter modulator, was ordered forfeit by the Court.

Notes to Editors - Unlicensed Broadcasting

1.The Radiocommunications Agency, an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, is responsible for managing civil use of the radio spectrum.

2.Unlicensed broadcasters appropriate radio frequencies without regard for authorised users. Such unplanned use results in interference to the reception of authorised broadcasting stations. The poor technical quality of the equipment used by the unlicensed stations can also result in interference to other radio users, including that of the aeronautical and emergency services.

3.In 1997 the Agency successfully prosecuted 41 people arising from their involvement with unlicensed broadcasting stations. Average fines, where imposed, were £272 and average costs awarded to the Agency were f339. The courts can also order all equipment to be forfeited. The Agency also carried out 820 raids on 169 unlicensed broadcasting stations. 707 of the raids were on 109 stations in the London area.

4.There are over 200 licensed independent broadcasting stations in the United Kingdom. Broadcasting licenses are issued by the Radio Authority, Holbrooke House, 14 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B SDS.

Issued on behalf of The Radiocommunications Agency by COI (London and South East). Media Enquiries to: DTI Press Office: 0171 215 5961

(DTI Press Release courtesy of Andy Barrett)

Long Wave Radio Atlantic 252. But For How Much Longer ? / Talk Radio Latest

An Irish emigrants group is seeking to use the Republic's constitution to bring an end to the broadcasts of long-wave radio station Atlantic 252.

The group, representing emigrants in the UK, is lobbying the Irish Government in an effort to persuade state broadcaster RTE to buy the 80% of Atlantic 252 that is for sale, and use it to relay the programmes of RTE Radio 1 to the Irish in the UK. The emigrants claim that under the Irish constitution, Irish people living abroad are still considered part of the nation, and therefore RTE has a duty to provide programming that they can easily listen to.

Another cloud on the station's future is the fact that it's licence expires next year, and as yet there has been no public announcment of it's renewal. The IRTC, which regulates Irish commercial radio, is itself at the end of it's term, though it's not clear how much control they would have over the future of Atlantic in any case, as being part-owned by RTE, the long-wave station could be regulated directly by the government.

As a profit-making station, it is likely that the Irish will decide to renew the licence and would not seek to have it converted into an "RTE Overseas Service" which would have a much harder time raising advertising revenue. Meanwhile US groups JACOR and Disney have emerged as potential purchasers of the Atlantic 252.

Talk Radio UK

CLT have not yet given any indication of how they would like to dispose of their share - all attention is currently concentrated on the battle for Talk Radio, which is being bid for by Kelvin McKenzie/News International, and station managerment led by Paul Robinson. Prospects of a management buyout of Talk moved closer this week when it emerged that CLT has given Robinson extra time to prepare the bid. http://www.newstide.com/radio/

Silver FM 87.7

Silver FM have been airing test transmissions on 87.7 MHz. Heard last night (27/06)and throughout today.

website announced as http://www.silverfm.demon.co.uk

Bit of a battle here between SilverFM and R Wimbledon

(Mark Hattam/ British DX Club)

FM Licence for Doncaster advertised

The Radio Authority have advertised a new licence for Doncaster which is expected to cover between 175,000 and 225,000 adults aged 15+. The closing date for applications is Tuesday October 6th, and a non- refundable application fee of £750 is payable. At least four groups are known to be bidding for this licence, all of whom have run RSLs in the area in the last couple of years. Only One Applicant for National Digital Multiplex .

At yesterday's closing date (23/6) there was, as expected, only one applicant for the new DAB national digital multiplex. The applicant, Digital One Ltd, is a consortium of GWR Digital Radio Ltd (57%), NTL Digital Radio Ltd (33%), and Talk Radio UK Ltd(10%). The company is proposing to broadcast a total of ten programme services being:

•Classic FM - simulcast of existing service.

•Virgin Radio - simulcast of existing service.

•Talk Radio - simulcast of existing service.

•Classic Gold Rock - hits and most popular classic rock album tracks from 60s to today (to be provided by NTL Digital Radio Ltd.)

•Soft AC - female-biased service playing a wide range of adult contemporary music. (Provider to be decided)

•Teen & Chart Hits - mainstream chart hits of today and last few years.

(To be provided by GWR), The above are 24 hour services. In addition the following will be broadcast for part of the day:

•19:00 - 06:00 Club Dance - genres of dance and classic dance music. (Provider to be decided)

•06:00 - 19:00 Plays/Books/Comedy - serialisations, reviews, comedy and 'one off' productions (Provider to be decided).

•06:00 - 00:00 Rolling News - world, national and regional news and information (to be provided by ITN)

•19:00 - 00:00 weekdays 12:00 - 19:00 weekends Sports Channel - sports commentary, comment and coverage (to be provided by Talk Radio UK)

Digital One hopes to achieve 69% population coverage at launch and 85% coverage of the population of Great Britain by the end of the third year of operation. (N. Ireland is excluded from this multiplex.) The company aims to work with retailers and manufacturers to promote the acquisition of digital radio receivers and to achieve penetration of 40% of households by 2009.

[http://www.radiouk.co.uk/radmain.html]

(Ray Woodward British DX Club)

DX Information from the British

DX Club.

Radio London (The Big L)

TTS-Mediapro is pleased to relay this press release from EAP(East Anglia Productions) News Central: 18th June 1998

Radio London (Big L) will be broadcasting on the Merlin One network (shortwave on three wave bands) from August 1998 using BBC World Service frequincies.Shows will out between 6pm [1700 UT] and mid night [2300 UT] on Saturday nights only.Radio London will be broadcasting its usual 1960s programme format from the studios of EAP (East Anglian Productions) in Frinton-on Sea , Essex.

ALSO:The Radio London name and the Radio London jingles have been licenced to Harlow (Essex) businessman Nick Jeffery who has obtained an RSL licence from the Radio Authority and will be broadcasting from Harlow from 4th July to 31st July on 87.7 FM. Radio London merchandise will be avaliable from Nick's shop at 7, Corner House, Harlow, Essex..

If you require more information on this RSL broadcast please contact Nick on 01279 426000.TTS-Mediapro web site:www.mediapro.co.uk e-mail tts@mediapro.co.uk

(Dave Kenny British DX Club)

Caroline RSL on 1503 Khz.

Caroline has been logged on 1503 from 15th June. It is said to be coming from the Sheppey area of Kent. Their signal is said to be weaker than on previous RSL's. According to Dave Kenny of the British DX club, it is recievable in Caversham also.

It has also been logged by a Medium Wave Circle member in The Netherlands

A Dutch organisation has dropped plans to use the RADIO CAROLINE callsign for a new low-pwered station in Holland. The planned station has also delayed its start date.

(DX Information from the British DX Club/MediumWave Circle. )

Radio Cavell 1566 AM

You might be interested to know about a special 4 day RSL broadcast taking place on 1566 kHz AM during the first week of July.

RADIO CAVELL 1566AM will be on air for 24 hours a day from the Royal Oldham Hospital in Oldham, Lancashire from the 2nd to the 5th of July with a special broadcast to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the start of the UK's National Health Service.

Broadcasts will be from the same studios and transmitter site that were previously used for Radio Latics, The Voice of Oldham, Heartbeat Radio, VJ Day Radio etc. and radiated power will be approximately 1 watt erp. Hopefully, and unless Radio Eviva go and make a surprise return again, the frequency should provide very good reception for overseas dxers.

You can find out more information about this station (and some of our previous broadcasts!) at the following website:

http://www.poboxes.com/radio/cavell.html

DX Information from the British DX Club

Raceday Radio on 1602Khz from York racecourse is on air race for meetings.

CSR (Formerly Calderdale Sound) 1575 AM has been logged testing

For the benefit of our overseas members (and the 'German Firm' who will no doubt be interested) Calderdale Sound are located in the town of Todmorden in West Yorkshire, and this is approximately 22km west of where the Bradford RSL stations - Bantam, Touchdown, ALR etc. are located. I don't have an address for this station yet, but I'll listen out for one when they come on air.

Interesting that they should choose a MW broadcast after 6 successful FM broadcasts. Something I suspect may be connected with the possible 'sallie' licence to be offered to the Burnley area (not far from Calderdale, and the same group ran the previous RSLs there (2BR)!). A MW transmitter could easily cover this very hilly and fairly rural terrain covering both areas far easier than one (or several) FM transmitters. Maybe we'll see more RSL broadcasts on MW here, and perhaps one day a full time one.

CSR 1575 P.O. Box 1000 Todmorden Lancashire OL14 5BQ (England) Tel: 01706 813614

This looks like a 24 hour a day service, so I hope you all manage to catch this one, good hunting!

(Ray Woodward BDXC)

Finally,Does anyone remember the Medium Wave pirate station called 'Calderdale Sound' that used to broadcast on medium wave many years ago? Wonder if this group grew up out of that one?

DX Information from the British DX Club

North West London Local Licence

The Radio Authority has announced that the North/North West London local FM licence, originally due to be advertised this month, has been deferred until the autumn. At present they are "wholly confident of the availability of one FM frequency" but believe that they have "been able to identify a second frequency suitable for parts of North London, albeit on an interference-limited basis".

Asian Sound Radio

Another UK based ILR Asian language radio operator is set to join Sunrise Radio in covering Europe via Astra [19.2 deg. east] analogue satellite capacity.

Asian Sound Radio serving [allegedly] East Lancashire on 963 and 1377 KHz medium wave is to commence operation via Astra [19.2 deg. east] from early July.

Parameters :

Astra 1B Transponder 26 (Disney Channel) [11.597 GHz Vertical]

Asian Sound Radio - 7.38 MHz audio subcarrier

Indeed I have received unconfirmed reports that *some* sporadic tests have already been made.

(Ray Woodward British DX Club)

Ascot Raceday Radio 1602 AM

Ascot Race Day Radio is on 1602 kHz this week to cover the Royal Ascot meeting at Ascot Racecourse, Berks. Heard with test tape at 0845 prior to start of service 0930 Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th June, 1030-1830 Saturday 20th June. (times BST)

(Dave Kenny British DX Club)

RADIO CAROLINE

A Dutch organisation has dropped plans to use the RADIO CAROLINE callsign for a new low-pwered station in Holland. The planned station has also delayed its start date.

DX Information from the British DX Club

Solent

Fourteen applications have been received for the possible four new licences in the Solent area of Southern England.

They are:

Central Hampshire Radio Ltd. 01264 720275. 'A broadly popular service, intelligently presented, of tuneful music from the 60s to the present day, with news, information for Winchester, Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford..'

Harbour Radio Ltd. 01705 379481. 'A colourful and popular radio service featuring substantial amounts of news, information and feature material supported by familiar and high quality music with wide appeal but particualarly attractive to an audience aged 25-44 living in Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant.'

Hope FM 01202 780396. Part of the Bournemouth YMCA will provide an entertaining mix of news, information and popular speech of strong local relevance with a positive (Christian) message for Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and surrounding areas.

Max FM Ltd. 01703 222122. A full service radio station for Southampton. 'Greatest variety of hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s and today's best new music', combined with truly local news and information. The NRG (Bournemouth) Ltd. 01202 474222. 'Rythmic Contemporary hit radio with a high proportion of dance and soul music for Poole, Bournemouth and surrounding areas.

Poole FM (Purbeck Radio Ltd). 01929 422905. A predominately music based station playing the classic hits from the 60s to today, with a high level of local news and information to reflect the lifestyle of the residents of Poole. Southampton City Radio Ltd. 01703 233774. A proudly 'Southampton centered' service of local news, views, information and entertainment mixed with mainstream music.

The South's MIX FM (South Dorset Radio Ltd). 01202 777724. 'Young and vibrant music-led radio for Bournemouth and Poole, with a commitment to comprehensive news, information and interactive features.

Splash! FM (Radio Southampton Ltd). 01703 814928. A quality inforamtion station with great music for all the family, for Southampton, Eastleigh and the Waterside.

V107 (Vanguard Radio Ltd). 01703 631973. 'A local station playing familiar hits from the past 35 years and current chart songs of adult appeal, together with the local news and information which will make V107 an esential part of life in Havant.' Verwood Radio (Mr Stephen Saville). 01202 787740. 'A truly local station providing a sophisticated classic soft rock music format and substantial free airtime access to all areas of the local community of Verwood.

Victory FM Ltd. 01705 358853. A full service radio station for Greater Portsmouth. Broad mix of easy listening and popular music, with programmes catering for specialist music tastes. Voyager FM Ltd. 01489 570779. A lively, broad appeal service of popular music and speech with a wide range of community information by day and a music led youth service every evening for Southampton and Eastleigh.

WIN 107 FM (Winchester Independent Radio Ltd). 01962 626400. A strong mix of local news,information and popular music for Winchester and surrounding area. The Authority hopes to award the licences towards the end of the year. Public Interest Test For NE Manchester Licence

107.1 BFM Ltd who have applied for the N/E Manchester SALLIE licence currently being offered by the Authority are to be subject to a public interest test, due to BFM being owned by Independent Radio Group who also have two other FM stations in the vicinity. Under the provisions of the 1996 Broadcasting Act no company can own three overlapping services unless the proposed arrangement can be shown not to be acting against the public interest.

http://www.radiouk.co.uk/radmain.html

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Bolton/Bury Licence

According to this weeks Radio Magazine there were seven applications : 107.1 [BFM Ltd] - Bolton/Bury Knight FM [ETR Ltd] - Borough of Tameside and surroundings Oldham FM Ltd - Oldham Metropoliotan Borough and surroundings Pioneer FM [MRH Ltd] - Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood Tame 107 [Hits Radio Ltd] - Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, the town of Glossop and surrounding area Tower FM Ltd - Bolton/Bury Variety 107 FM Ltd - Bolton/Bury My sympathies to all at The Voice of Oldham, who failed to get their application in on time due to a major computer crash loosing large chunks of required data for the application

DX Information from the British DX Club

SR 1575 Khz

Well CSR1575 has now indeed started programming, not had a reply [as yet] to my e-mail though I did get an on-air name check in the opening hour :-) According to on-air announcements the switch to medium wave is to allow for a trial of an AM service prior to their application for a fulltime service to the area later in the year.

So it looks increasingly likely that the 'Burnley' ILR service (due to be advertised in December) will be a medium wave service ala Yorkshire Dales radio and Asian Sound Radio. In which case [presumeably] two MF channels will be used - a low frequency medium wave [main] service together with a second lower powered [supplimental] channel at the high frequency end of the band (possibly even 1575 KHz ?). I assume (subject to confirmation) that the forthcoming '2BR' RSL (last I heard slated to be from October 17th for 28days) will also use a medium wave channel. Maybe at the low frequency end of the band

170 Watt RSL !

The Radio Authority have banned for 1 year a Leeds based RSL group (RAMADHAM RADIO LEEDS) from holding RSL licences after they were found to be operating their last RSL with a TX power of 170watts [they were legally authorised for 10watts].

The ban expires on January 31st 1999 - exactly 1 year after the end of their last RSL service.

New Long Wave service for the Isle Of Man

279 Khz Long Wave has now been given clearance internationally by the UK on behalf of the Isle of Man. Clearance is for a maximum daytime transmitter power of 500 Kw., dropping to just 10Kw. at night . although the IOM Communications Commission is understood to be appealing against the night-time limit.

No licence has yet been advertised, although several groups have expressed an interest,including : Paul Ruisling's Isle Of Man Broadcasting Company, Radio Caroline, and United Christian Broadcasters. It seems likely that the franchise will be awarded to a service which benefits the island in some way. (Alan McKellar, David Duckworth, Ray Woodward, BDXC)

SOUTH MANCHESTER LICENCE

According to this weeks Radio Magazine there were seven applications :.

107.1 [BFM Ltd] - Bolton/Bury.

Knight FM [ETR Ltd] - Borough of Tameside and surroundings.

Oldham FM Ltd - Oldham Metropoliotan Borough and surroundings.

Pioneer FM [MRH Ltd] - Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood.

Tame 107 [Hits Radio Ltd] - Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, the town of Glossop and surrounding area.

Tower FM Ltd - Bolton/Bury.

Variety 107 FM Ltd - Bolton/Bury.

My sympathies to all at The Voice of Oldham, who failed to get their application in on time due to a major computer crash losing large chunks of required data for the application

(From Ray Woodward British DX Club)

RSL's in Hull

Possibly the worst ever radio station is currently broadcasting in Hull...and I mean it....the station is the University station "Siren FM"....not in parallel with Jam 999..Jam 999 is bad, but listenable....Siren is awful...why a university needs two stations anyway is confuzing...but Siren seems to be home for impressionists (bad ones at that) to present shows as "Celebreties" (It gets worse)...so we have breakfast with Smash and Nice......and the evening show is presented by the "Ab Fab crew".....All the Jingles.....the "Celebrety presenters" etc all say this is "Siren FM 87.7"....but curiously they are on 106.8......strange?????

don;t know when this came, or when it'll go but it is the biggest example of bad radio ever.....come back radio Cracker......

(Andy Donkin, British DX Club)

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Radio Authority Awards Small-Scale FM Licences

The Radio Authority has awarded a number small-scale FM local licences in the Gloucestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas. After considering four proposals for the Independent Local Radio (ILR) licence in Gloucestershire, the following two groups have been chosen:

Cheltenham Radio Ltd. (Graham Gilbert, 01242 699 555): local news, information and the best-selling songs, 24 hours a day, from the only radio station exclusively for North Gloucestershire, serving the boroughs of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.

Easy FM (5 Valleys Radio Ltd.) (Mike Ganley, 01453 759 576): to serve the Mid-Gloucestershire community - Stroud, Dursley and surrounding towns and villages - with a locally based and locally originated full service radio station.

The award of the FM licence to Cheltenham Radio is conditional upon the group surrendering its current AM licence in order that the station can be transferred to an FM licence and broadcast.

Nottinghamshire And Derbyshire

For the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire areas the Authority considered the proposals of eight applicants and has awarded the FM ILR licences to the following three groups:

Radio Mansfield (Alex McKie, 01623 646 666): a lively music-led station, with a highly-focused local news, current affairs and information service for the people of Mansfield, the Ashfields and neighbouring communities.

Peak 197 FM (Wayne Chadwick, 01433 631 352): a modern, vibrant, full service local radio station, providing 24-hour entertainment and information for the people of Chesterfield and district.

Trax FM Ltd. (Andrew Carter, 01909 500 611): news and information for Bassetlaw, with current hits and classic oldies.

All of the above licences will come into effect as soon as the applicants are ready to begin broadcasting.

(MediaTel 'NewsLine') : http://www.mediatel.co.uk/newsline

Bradford RSL Heard in Reading

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Bradford RSL station Adult Learners Radio currently booming in here in Reading (2130 UTC Friday 16/5) on 1566 kHz. Announcing as "ALR 1566 live from the BCB studios". Amazing signal for one watt approx 160 miles! BCB also operated the Bradford City FC station Bantams 1566 and may also carry programming for Bradford Rugby League Club during matches for the remainder of the season - 29 May, 12 and 18 July, 2 August - also on 1566 kHz. The address for reports is: BCB, 2 Forster Square, Bradford BD1 1DQ.

(Dave Kenny British DX Club)

BBC World Service in Cardiff on FM for EU Summit

Listeners in Cardiff and delegates attending the European Union Summit will be able to hear BBC World Service on FM 24 hours a day from June 10 to June 17 1998.

The special service on 103.9 FM will feature World Service English output including programmes from the EU Summit in Cardiff.

* The World Today - World Service's breakfast news programme - will be on air for an extra hour on June 15 and 16 (from 4.30am - 8.00am) to provide extended Summit coverage, as well as its regular mix of global and European news, features and interviews.

* In A Question of Europe, produced for World Service by BBC Wales, young people from around the world who are studying in Cardiff will put prominent European leaders on the spot in a debate chaired by Huw Edwards. The programme will be broadcast live on Sunday, June 14 at 6.00pm, repeated at midnight.

* The New Europe, broadcast daily (except Sunday) at 8.15am, focuses on some of the most important issues facing Europe over the coming years - such as the single currency and EU enlargement - and how they will affect Europeans everywhere. The programmes will be presented by journalists from the World Service's 13 European language services.

* Weekend, a European magazine programme co-produced by World Service, Radio France International, Radio Netherlands and Deutsche Welle, will consider the impact of the multi-media age on European business, entertainment and conferences. The programme is broadcast on Sunday, June 14 at 8.15am.

There is extensive coverage of European issues on the World Service website - www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/europe

Sam Younger, Managing Director, BBC World Service, said: "The EU Summit is one of the most important events in Britain this year and I am delighted that World Service will be broadcasting directly into Cardiff on a special frequency - 103.9FM. I hope that people living in the city will tune in to sample some of our programmes."

BBC World Service has a global audience of around 140 million and broadcasts in English and 43 other languages. Besides news, listeners in English can enjoy drama, music, a wide range of features, youth programmes and regular coverage of the arts, business and finance, development issues, religion, science and technology, and sport.

Listeners throughout Wales can hear BBC World Service programmes overnight on Radio Wales and Radio 4 and 24-hours a day on shortwave and via the Astra satellite. They are also available on Internet - www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice

World Radio and TV Handbook

By Andy Sennit

As many of you know, I resigned as editor of the World Radio TV Handbook at the end of last year. The new editor is David Bobbett, and the contact information is now as follows:

WRTHPO Box 7373, Milton Keynes, MK12 5ZL, United Kingdom

Fax: +44 1908 321030
E-mail: editor@wrth.demon.co.uk

Please feel free to publish and pass on this news to all interested parties. I trust you will all give David the same help and support you gave me over the years.Andy Sennitt

Via British DX Club

Crash FM. Now on 107.6 ... Managing Director Resigns.

Their transmitter went off on Sat 4th April at 2130-2313 No announcements heard.

Liverpool: Crash 107 FM is now on 107.6, NOT 107 as predicted. They launched as sceduled on Friday 27th March at 1:08 with Janice Long being the first voice heard. According to the Liverpool Daily Post on Sat 28th March, their Managing Director, Mike Gray has resigned and is being temporarily replaced by Richard Johnson.

Their DJ line up included a dance show with Boy George who now does club DJ 'ing. According to our sources, they are using Liverpool Anglican Cathedral as their main transmitter location. They have a sponsorship deal with Guinness. For further information, keep an eye on their website www.107crashfm.com (if they ever bother to update it, that is!) They have now changed all their web pages to just a moving logo. Maybe they're going to update it at last !

Or better still :Liverpool Daily Post Crash FM Feature We can do better !

Ray Woodward from the BDXC reports reception of Crash FM on 107.55, and that is with an RSL, (2BR) on 107.5 in Pendle. Reception of Crash should be ok with him when 2BR finishes on April 4th.

BDXC member Nigel Watkinson reports a 'strong but fluttery signal in Manchester from Crash.

DX Information from the British DX Club.

In rec.radio.shortwave, Kim Andrew Elliott

Voice Of America Announces 24-hour All-news Program

Washington, DC, April 28, 1998 -- The Voice of America has announced the formation of VOA News Now, a 24-hour, all-news, English language international radio broadcast. This will be the first change of format in two decades.

VOA News Now will be on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will feature world, regional, and U.S. news, along with features about sports, science, business, and entertainment. The new format will be fast-paced and have shorter news and feature segments. It will be tailored to provide news and information to each region of the world during its prime listening hours. The format is ideal for covering crises since programming can be interrupted at a moment's notice for live reports on breaking news.

"Times and technology are changing, and so must we," said Evelyn S. Lieberman, Director of the Voice of America. "Emerging technologies and the explosion of free media in many places around the world have forced us to rethink how we serve our audience and when."

"VOA News Now will follow the sun, so that everywhere in the world, listeners will have access to live radio news as day breaks in their region," said Lieberman.

The inauguration of VOA News Now will not mean elimination of some of VOA's most popular programs. To keep up with the demands of VOA listeners, transmissions of music will be broadcast solely via satellite in the future. VOA's popular Special English and English teaching programs will continue in long programming format.

The Voice of America broadcasts international, regional, and United States news in 52 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 83 million listeners.

Contact: Mary Ellen Glynn 1-202-619-3375

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Tube Radio 87.7

Tube Radio has begun broadcasting on 87.7 MHz. They had been on open carrier for the past two days, and launched into programmes today. They're on air for 4 weeks.

Address Tube Radio Thames Valley University St Mary's Road Ealing London W5 5RF

phone : 0181 758 8477 fax : 0181 758 8475,

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Susy Radio 107.1

Susy Radio are broadcasting once again in Redhill. This time on 107.1 MHz and they're on air for 4 weeks from May 2nd.

Heard Saturday while pirate Beat FM were briefly off-air. Reception currently impossible due to pirates on 106.9, 107.1 and 107.3

They have a web site http://www.susy.co.uk

(Mark Hattam. British Dx Club.)

Kestrel FM 107.6 Basingstoke DX Information from the British DX Club.

Kestrel FM, the new commercial local station for Basingstoke, was noted here in Tilehurst for the first time with test transmissions on 107.6 MHz FM stereo this evening (6 April), with..... birdsong! There was also a brief announcement with ID, advising the station will start regular programmes at 0600 (BST) on 18 May 1998.

RDS displays KESTREL_ (PI code: CO9C; no TP flag)

(Ian Kelly, British DX Club)

New regional licences for North Wales and NW England

Boss FM Becomes Century FM in the North West (due in September)

DX Information from the British DX Club.

A report in the Media section of tonight's Manchester Evening News (1st April) says that Century Radio, who recently won the fight for the new North West regional FM Licence, have chosen Salford Quays as the site for their new 2.5 million pound HQ and studio.The report said that the station will be located in Laser House on the Waterfront Quay, which will now be re-named Century House. Around 50 jobs are expected to be created by this move. In the same section media section it was also reported that Variety FM, the group that recently carried out a number of RSL broadcasts to the Bolton area last year under the name of Variety Gold FM, will bid for the small scale licence to cover the Bolton and Bury areas of Greater Manchester. The station which has backers which include the Manchester Evening News, Bolton Wanderers and Bury Football Clubs, are currently canvassing support for the bid from the town's residents and businesses.

(Alan Gale. British DX Club)

NEW ILR STATION FOR CAERNARFON

An ILR licence has also been awarded to Champion FM (Marcher Sound Ltd.)which will serve the town of Caernarfon and the surrounding area. This is one of the few remaining areas in the UK which does not currently receive any ILR service. Around 75,000 adults should be able to receive the new service which will offer a 'broad, bilingual format' of current and classic hits for 25-54 year olds, along with local news, sport and community information. Champion FM can be contacted at:

The Studios, Mold Road, Wrexham, LL11 4AF

(Ray Woodward, British DX Club)

Sunrise Radio on Short Wave

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Sunrise Radio have replaced the HF [5850 KHz] relay of their regular service with a tape loop asking for reports and promising a full service "soon".

Reports should be sent on : 0181 813 9800 [FAX] 0181 574 6666 [Voice]

The HF service will run from 06:00 - 20:00 UTC daily.

(Ray Woodward British Dx Club)

Nevis FM. Scotland

DX Information from the British DX Club.

Nevis FM now have web pages at the following location:-http://www.lochaber.com/nevisradio

(James Muir in Hamilton, Scotland, UK. British DX Radio Club)

Paul Gambaccini Joins BBC Radio 2

Former Radio 1 presenter Paul Gambaccini has joined BBC Radio 2 from April 18th. He will do the American Chart Show on Saturday Afternoons. Alan Freeman moves to 2:00, Johnny Walker moves to 3:30 and Paul Gambaccini moves to the 5:30 to 7:00 slot. Excellent !

Pride FM. Greater Manchester

RSL station Pride FM in Middleton, Greater Manchester is back on air again for a 28 day broadcast on 87.7 Mhz.

(Alan Gale, British DX Club)

Southall: 5840 Sunrise Radio has been logged here on Merseyside at 1900on 22/03 and 1930 on 23/03 with a steady signal, following reports from Dave Kenny and Ray Woodward from the British DX Club via Email:

Dave Kenny Reports: Sunrise Radio were testing via Deutsche Telekom (ie Juelich) on 5880 and 6190 for two days only - 17th and 18th March. The tests were supposed to be from 1500-2000, but appear to have been extended. No further tests planned at present. If anyone managed to catch the tests, I guess reception reports could be sent to the usual Sunrise Radio address: Sunrise House, Sunrise Road, Southall UB2 4AU, UK

(Dave Kenny, British Dx Club)

Ray Woodward reports: Sunrise Radio booming in right now on 5840 kHz (1525 UTC on Sunday). It is in parallel with mediumwave 1548 but with a satellite delay on the shortwave signal. The Germans are taking the Astra [analogue] feed of Sunrise - as used by \par RSL operators for an IRN feed (hence the 1 second audio break either side of IRN news).

(Ray Woodward, British DX Club)

BBC World Service Ditching Signature Tune

A short item from edition 310 of 'The Radio Magazine

'The Theme tune of BBC WORLD SERVICE, 'Lilliburlero', is to be dropped or updated because it is too 'jingoistic'.Head of News BOB ROBBINS, said: "We're going to make it more contemporary. It sounds too militaristic and brass bandy ..."

(Via Ray Woodward British Dx Club)

106 FM (Nottingham)To Be Rebranded Century 106 From Ray Woodward BDXC

From 17 April Nottingham-based radio station 106 FM will be rebranded by owners Border TV as Century 106. All Border Radio Holdings' regional stations are to come under the Century Radio brand. 106 FM: 0115 910 6100

MediaTel newsline http://www.mediatel.co.uk/newsline

Regional and RSL News Complete RSL Listings

WARRINGTON. now has a starting date. ist September 1998, on 107.2 FM. with a "HOT AC" format. They have a website: www.wire-fm.u-net.com/

Check out the transmitter details on the SBS website http://www.sbs.uk.com/

HUDDERSFIELD FM has started tests on 107.9 and has been logged from Friday 20th February, according to our sources (Originator: Ray Woodward, British DX Club)

(Radio Authority. (Originator: Ian Kelly British DX Club) Via our sources.)

HERE ARE A FEW RADIO PROGRAMMES WHICH SHOULD BE OF INTEREST

93.7 FM +National. Sundays@1740. BBC Radio 4 Feedback.

95.8 FM BBC Radio Merseyside Fridays @ 1150 BST Listeners letters read by station manager Mick Ord.

15685Khz Thurs. at 1330. WWCR Nashville. World Of Radio with Glen Houser.

Also available on WRN

6045/9860 Khz. Thursdays @ 1150 R. Netherlands Media Network

AMATEUR RADIO

There is a new UK amateur radio band on Long Wave. 135.7 to 137.8 Khz. Permitted modes are Morse, Telephony, RTTY,data, fax and slow scan TV. (RSGB News)

IRELAND

New weekly RTE relay of Worlds Apart program on foreign aid was fair Tue March 10 at 2305-2350 via Germany 260d on 9925, starting with report about Burundi, during one-hour transmission starting with English news and ending with Gaelic.(Glenn Hauser), Sites for repeats on Wednesday are:

1330 12015 152d from Irkutsk, Russia to SE Asia;

1500 15120 19d from Meyerton, South Africa, to EAf;

1600 11605 160d from Juelich to N/C/SAf;

1700 11605 200d from Juelich to WAf.

The series runs 13 weeks (Wesley Boyd, RTE via Finbarr O'Driscoll, RIB )

Glenn Houser WORLD OF RADIO Available in Real Audio on WRN

PUBLICATIONS

The Radio Authority has published a revised and updated version of it's1997 Pocket Book - a guide to commercial radio stations in the UK. It is available free of charge from : The Radio Authority Information Office, Holbrook House, Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DG.

Transmitter Documentation Project SW-98 by Ludo Maes has just been published for the fifth year. This publication lists short wave transmitters of international broadcasters, their manufacturer, location, geographical coordinates and installation dates. This is a very useful reference for the dedicated Short Wave Dxer. This fifth anniversary colour edition of TDP SW-98 is available from : TDP, c/o Ludu Maes, Po Box 1, B-2310, Rijkevorsel, Belgium. Prices 5 pounds sterling, US $10, DM15, or 10 IRC's. More information is available on the website: www.ping.be/tdp

RDS Codes in Europe has just been published by East And West Radio Club (EAWRC). This 160 page booklet lists all known RDS codes in Europe. along with PS, PI, TP/TA, EON, and PTY codes with explanations in English and German. Price DM19-80, from Peter Cruuse, EAWRC-Radaktion UKW/TV, C/o Postfach,18 01 23, D-53031 Bonn Germany. (No IRC's)

DIGITAL RADIO UPDATE

DAB Recievers Launched

NEWSTIDE EXCLUSIVE By Steve Conway

Thursday July 9th will see the consumer launch of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) receivers from Grundig, Kenwood, Pioneer, and Blaupunkt.

The four manufacturers have teamed up with BBC Digital Radio for a special launch event at Broadcasting House, where their products - and prices - will be unveiled.

The DAB receivers will be available in high street dealerships and other retail outlets a few weeks afterwards.

Although details of price are being kept tightly under wraps at the moment, it's understood that a basic DAB set will cost not too much more than an existing top-of-the-range RDS car radio.

The 9th of July will mark a real turning point for the UK radio industry - finally after years of testing digital technology will be made available to the general public, and once the prices are known it will be easier for people who are bidding to run digital multiplexes to estimate the level of consumer take-up of DAB.

For news and information on Digital Audio Broadcasting, see Newstide's DAB Directory site.

(Newstide Newsline http://www.newstide.com/radio)

(Ray Woodward BDXC

Transmitter Network

The BBC has now installed a total of 16 DAB transmitters, with five more due on the air by mid October '97. So far transmissions can be received in the Peterborough, London, Birmingham and Manchester areas and also along the motorways connecting these regions. They plan to have a total of 27 transmitters on by the spring, reaching 60% of the population. (BBC Press Release). Meanwhile, the Radio Authority has published the draft of proposed licences for local and national DAB services. The latest commercial DAB tests are taking place in Glasgow (1-14 Sept.) and Edinburgh (15 Sept-12 Oct). These trials by Scottish Radio Holdings will mainly consist of relays of Radios Clyde, Tay and Forth. (Radio Authority). Despite all the hype about digital broadcasting, the first DAB receivers aimed at the consumer market will not be on sale in the shops until early in 1998. (Radio Sweden Mediascan). The first Digital Audio receivers on general sale to the public were launched at the Funkausstellung in Berlin during December. They will cost around ú600, but with at least 10 companies manufacturing sets, the price is expected to fall to less than 100 pounds sterling by the year 2000.

Solent Licence

Fourteen applications have been received for the possible four new licences in the Solent area of Southern England.

They are:

The NRG (Bournemouth) Ltd. 01202 474222. 'Rythmic Contemporary hit radio with a high proportion of dance and soul music for Poole, Bournemouth and surrounding areas.'

Southampton City Radio Ltd. 01703 233774. A proudly 'Southampton centered' service of local news, views, information and entertainment mixed with mainstream music.

The South's MIX FM (South Dorset Radio Ltd). 01202 777724. 'Young and vibrant music-led radio for Bournemouth and Poole, with a commitment to comprehensive news, information and interactive features.

Splash! FM (Radio Southampton Ltd). 01703 814928. A quality inforamtion station with great music for all the family, for Southampton, Eastleigh and the Waterside.

Verwood Radio (Mr Stephen Saville). 01202 787740. 'A truly local station providing a sophisticated classic soft rock music format and substantial free airtime access to all areas of the local community of Verwood.

Victory FM Ltd. 01705 358853. A full service radio station for Greater Portsmouth. Broad mix of easy listening and popular music, with programmes catering for specialist music tastes.

Voyager FM Ltd. 01489 570779. A lively, broad appeal service of popular music and speech with a wide range of community information by day and a music led youth service every evening for Southampton and Eastleigh.

WIN 107 FM (Winchester Independent Radio Ltd). 01962 626400. A strong mix of local news,information and popular music for Winchester and surrounding area.

The Authority hopes to award the licences towards the end of the year.

Public Interest Test For NE Manchester Licence

107.1 BFM Ltd who have applied for the N/E Manchester SALLIE licnece currently being offered by the Authority are to be subject to a public interest test, due to BFM being owned by Independent Radio Group who also have two other FM stations in the vicinity.

Under the provisions of the 1996 Broadcasting Act no company can own three overlapping services unless the proposed arrangement can be shown not to be acting against the public interest.

[http://www.radiouk.co.uk/radmain.html]

USEFUL ADDRESSES:

Here are some addresses for clubs and newsletters etc

COMMUNICATION' BRITISH DX CLUB 26 BARGERY ROAD, CATFORD, LONDON, SE6 2LR

'THE NEW RADIO INDEPENDENT' ANORAK COMMS. PO BOX 158, CHESTERFIELD DERBYSHIRE S43 4YS.

'MEDIUM WAVE CIRCLE' 4 HANDLEY STREET, AYLSTONE, LEICESTER, LE2 8RA.

'CONTACT'- WORLD DX CLUB 17 MOTSPUR DRIVE, NORTHAMPTON, NN2 6LY.

'WIRELESS WAFFLE' (Keith Knight) 29 SUNNINGDALE AVE., EASTCOTE, RUISLIP, MIDDLESEX., HA4 9SS.

'SKYWAVES' (John Faulkner) 8 ELTON CLOSE, OAK TREE LANE, MANSFIELD, NOTTS. NG8 3QA.

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