Local or Regional Stations Picked Up Outside their Licensed Area

Declan A Walsh

I remember seeing in another thread that Spin SW can be picked around north Co. Cork, e.g. Mallow. This is licensed for the south-west region.

There has to be loads of situations like this across the country.

Continuing with Cork, I would imagine that Spin SW can be picked up around at least some of west Cork, being close to Kerry. I know for a fact that Beat (the south-east youth station) can be received in Youghal, which is in east Cork.

Various stations from adjacent (or nearly adjacent) counties can be picked up in different parts of Dublin: Wicklow's East Coast, LMFM, Midland Radio and Kildare's KFM.

In some parts of Wicklow, you can get Wexford's South East Radio or KCLR (Kilkenny/Carlow).

In some of Meath and some of Louth, all the commercial Dublin stations can be picked up.

iRadio, which is the youth station covering the north-east.north-west, west and some midlands, can be picked up in parts of Meath and Dublin.

Any more examples, please?

The Parish Priest.

Mayos Midwest radio always had a very big fanbase in neighbouring counties thanks to it's almost wall to wall country and Irish format

radioguru02

The following non out of county stations can be heard in certain parts of Waterford:
KCLR almost all over the county with RDS
Southeast likewise
Tipp FM, Spin Sw, and even community station Tipp MWR, all in certain areas.
On the other hand, Cry104 in Youghal which is allegedly also supposed to cover West Waterford, only covers parts of that area.

radioguru02

I meant the following stations outside of Waterford that can be picked up in certain parts

marno21

Radio Kerry can be picked up widely across Munster due to having a 20kW (albeit directional) on top of Mullaghanish. The 97.6 transmitter on Knockanore can also be picked up along the coast as far as Galway, especially in west Clare.

C103, 96FM and RedFM can all be picked up across Co. Limerick and Limerick city due to the flatness of County Limerick and the proximity of the transmitters atop Mount Hillery and Corran Mtn. They can also be picked up into county Kerry and parts of Tralee and Killarney. West Waterford is less succeptable to reception due to the transmitter in Youghal being low power.

WLR FM and Beat on 95.1/102.2 can be picked up in elevated parts of Cork city and large swathes of county Cork due to high power and proximity to the border at Dungarvan.

Tipp FM 103.3 from Laghtseefin can be picked up well into Co. Cork and Limerick too. 103.9 from Devilsbit along with the Birdhill relay on 95.3 are clear as a bell in Limerick city too.

Clare FM's 96.4 gets well into Galway and Limerick due to high power from Maghera. 95.9 from Woodcock Hill and 96.6 from Killaloe both get into Limerick city well, and 95.5 from Kilrush covers the Shannon estuary in Co. Kerry.

Spin South West on 102.7 from Maghera covers Co. Galway well and well into Co. Mayo. 94.7 from Devilsbit covers the midlands and up the M7 corridor well

The increased amount of relays and the regional youth stations/4FM have reduced reception a lot. For example Shannonside 104.1 was widespread in Munster before 4FM 104.2 came on.

radioguru02

Red, 96 and C103 are actually pretty strong in most of west Waterford as well as parts of tipperary, Wlr gets well into kilkenny.

Euphoria Intensifies

My parents live in north Sligo and they can get both Mid West Radio and Highland Radio loud and clear.

You can also get the BBC stations on FM too, but obviously audio quality isn't great. It used to be pretty clear at least up to 2010 or so as I was a loyal BBC R1 listener as a teenager. Signal strength has weakened a lot since then.

marno21

pirateradiohed wrote: »

Red, 96 and C103 are actually pretty strong in most of west Waterford as well as parts of tipperary, Wlr gets well into kilkenny.

WLR's Carrickpherish transmitter on 97.5, 5kW, is only a few miles from the KK border so it would get into KK well.

About the Cork stations, they would be receivable along the border but Dungarvan etc would have poor reception. If they were strong in Dungarvan it would negate the need for the relays in Dungarvan.

PAKNET

Midlands 103 can be picked up quite clearly in Kildare along the road from Edenderry through Derrinturn, Allenwood, Prosperous and Clane and on into parts of Sallins.

Beat could be heard clearly on 102.0 along the same route only for Q102 on 102.2.

East Coast FM can be heard quite well throughout most of South Kildare on 99.9.

Radio Nova and 98FM are also reasonably clear as far out as Athlone on the M4/M6.

KReid

Almost every station is picked up outside its licensed area. If you try hard enough you can pick up English stations on the East Coast.

nice_guy80

you can get Nova in Longford

StaticNoise

Sometimes I still can get my hands on BBC Radio 1 in SW Dublin on 99.7fm, IIRC. It is always a joy when I can pick it up.

I couldn't be sure where it's beamed from.
Thank goodness for Astra, which means I can pick it up on the telly, crystal clear, if I choose. Other than the internet, obviously.

L1011

I frequently get Beat on 102.0 in North Kildare

yesnow

Midlands 103 (Tullamore I think) as far west as Mayo
Shannonside (Longford) the same
Ocean FM (Sligo) as south North Galway at least if not reaching the City
Midwest Radio (Ballyhaunis, Mayo) as far south as Ballyvaughan, Clare as far east as at least Athlone and as far north as Sligo maybe even south Donegal
Spin South West (Limerick) out north past Galway
Classic Hits (Various Cities) Galway transmittor meant to cover city area but somehow can be received in Roscommon

marno21

yesnow wrote: »

Midlands 103 (Tullamore I think) as far west as Mayo
Shannonside (Longford) the same
Ocean FM (Sligo) as south North Galway at least if not reaching the City
Midwest Radio (Ballyhaunis, Mayo) as far south as Ballyvaughan, Clare as far east as at least Athlone and as far north as Sligo maybe even south Donegal
Spin South West (Limerick) out north past Galway
Classic Hits (Various Cities) Galway transmittor meant to cover city area but somehow can be received in Roscommon

Shannonside was receivable down in Kerry on 104.1 until 4FM started on 104.2. It has excellent coverage given it's power.

Ocean FM is from Truskmore - given its height and 5kW ERP it would have good coverage alright

Midwest on 96.1 causes a nuisance to 96FM in parts of North Cork in the car. It's daft considering that the 96.1 site at Kiltimagh gives poor coverage in many parts of Mayo

Spin's transmitter (102.7) is at Maghera near Gort, I'd imagine it's directional but with that power and the fact that Maghera is the primary site for the west of Ireland it's little wonder it goes north, as far as parts of Sligo

Classic Hits transmitter (104.6) is also at Maghera, and is to cover Co. Galway, Co. Clare and parts of Co. Limerick so Roscommon will get covered also

its_steve116

Q Radio (Newry) can be picked up all the way as far south as Swords/Malahide. Skerries stretches out as far as Kilkeel so you can get a pretty good signal for it there. I know because I've tried it.

yesnow

marno21 wrote: »

Midwest on 96.1 causes a nuisance to 96FM in parts of North Cork in the car. It's daft considering that the 96.1 site at Kiltimagh gives poor coverage in many parts of Mayo

As far as I can tell Kiltimagh is meant to be a long range transmitter generally suited to the gently sloping Midwest area (Think east Mayo/ north Galway/ south Sligo/ Roscommon). The "mountain" in Kilti is only such by east Mayo standards if even, and would be considered low ground in other parts of the county such as in Westport/Ballina/Belmullet areas. So it would make sense that these areas wouldn't receive 96.1 with mountains blocking it out and have their own shorter range frequencies for the station.

radioguru02

For some reason Cork stations are easier receivable in rural East Waterford (Lemybrien/Killmackthomas area) than Dungarvan

marno21

pirateradiohed wrote: »

For some reason Cork stations are easier receivable in rural East Waterford (Lemybrien/Killmackthomas area) than Dungarvan

Dungarvan is at sea level; Lemybrien/Kilmacthomas are quite elevated.

Infoanon

its_steve116 wrote: »

Q Radio (Newry) can be picked up all the way as far south as Swords/Malahide. Skerries stretches out as far as Kilkeel so you can get a pretty good signal for it there. I know because I've tried it.

Listening to Q on 101.1 in Rathgar earlier today - DJ crashing the lyrics of the songs ....

GIMP

Picking up Beat Fm from Waterford in Navan on a regular basis.

medoc

It been a Midlands station, Radio 3 (Midlands 103) was picked up by me in Waterford city, county Cork, Mayo, Bundoran Donegal, Dublin City and county and even on the A1 near Belfast in the past. Not sure how far it gets today, I know once I hit the north M50 it’s swamped by a local Spin 1038 relay. They consequences of a more packed and efficient FM band.

Limerick_Dub

I can pick up Midlands 103 on 103.5 from Slieve Bloom (I think) in my car in Limerick City.

BBC Radio Wales I can pick up on 882 with a reasonable signal day or night. Radio Scotland on 810 is weak but just about listenable.

L1011

Remembered there that I once got Spin1038 quite clearly driving between Portrush and Portstewart. Forgot to check again to see if it just a freak incident the next times I've been up there.

Radio5

BBC Radio 3 loud and clear on the drive from Killarney to Cork this morning.

The_Wanderer

I can pick up Radio Kerry as far as Moneygall on the M7. Go over the hills (north of the Junction) and it switches to Kildare FM (KFM).

Antenna

I recall Connamara Community Radio (from Clifden area, Co. Galway) being receivable on 87.8 on the main road between Glenbeigh and Caherciveen in Co. Kerry when pulled in here (near a turnoff for a place called Kells):

https://www.google.ie/maps/@52.0290935,-10.0900861,3a,75y,344h,84.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8fsoZE-BWvWAcD1wBN1dog!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

In a straight line, its about 100 miles away, but no great surprise as its a favorable path. Also anything else on 87.8 such as Clermont Carn was not a hindrance there .
If you were to drive, its about 200 miles away! (though using the car ferry across the Shannon would shorten that a bit)

Surely every new and new-ish car now has internet access and Bluetooth, making the question of licencing and regional broadcasting totally redundant. I listen to LBC when I'm driving down the country

The sooner we scrap our current, increasingly-archaic licencing system, the better it will be for radio listeners. Any word on the current status of the proposed digital licence fee?

rogue-entity

Large chunks of the FM band are almost unused in the South East, so reception of out-of-county stations isn't a surprise.

Aside from KCLR (KK) and South East from the adjacent counties (though South East smashes into 96FM by the time you reach the Seanachai), I've regularly picked up C103, RedFM, SpinSW, Midlands 103.5, BBC R4 around the outer ring, or along the Williamstown road on average days. Occasionally iRadio and 4FM out near carrickpherrish/old kilmeaden road area.

On good days, I've gotten: the four BBC Radio 1, BBC R2, BBC R3, BBC R4, Classic FM, BBC Cymru, BBC Devon and others I can't recall right now. On one particularly fun day I had 'Six FM' before it became Q106.

The strangest day was picking up stations with the following RDS:
* RNE 5-LU
* RPA FM
* 40 ELDA
No idea where they hail from but this was while driving between Dungarvan and Lemybrien.

Infoanon

rogue-entity wrote: »

The strangest day was picking up stations with the following RDS:
* RNE 5-LU
* RPA FM
* 40 ELDA
No idea where they hail from but this was while driving between Dungarvan and Lemybrien.

Spain - there is a site overlooking Barcelona that in certain weather conditions blasts into the south East - used to play havoc with RTE TV reception

rabbidpeach

East Coast FM, despite having a target audience of Wicklow, do live up to their name. I have picked them up as far north as Dunleer on 96.2.

KFM can be picked up easily around Drogheda

Classic Hits can be found almost all the way down the M7 and parts of north Kerry too

I also picked up Galway Bay FM on the N69 not too long ago. I can't recall where exactly, but before Foynes.

I can pick up Classic Hits from Galway up as far as Knock on the Sligo road and then it disappears.

marno21

zorro2566 wrote: »

I can pick up Classic Hits from Galway up as far as Knock on the Sligo road and then it disappears.

The Maghera stations (including 104.6) do fare well until the drop in height at Knock Airport. Going down the hill towards Charlestown blocks the signal then after that. It does reappear closer to Sligo but not as strong.

Antenna

rabbidpeach wrote: »

Classic Hits can be found almost all the way down the M7 and parts of north Kerry too

Co. Clare is included in their franchise area, which of course is just across the Shannon Estuary from north Kerry, so the 104.6 will be bound to be heard there

rabbidpeach wrote: »

I also picked up Galway Bay FM on the N69 not too long ago. I can't recall where exactly, but before Foynes.

It became possible to hear Galway Bay FM in much of Co. Limerick again after East Limerick Community Radio (ELCR) went off / lost their licence (their main frequency also being 96.8). Before that the Limerick college station Wired FM was on 96.8 for a long time (nowadays all the nines, 99.9).

https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/home/325221/east-limerick-community-radios-contractterminated-by-broadcasting-authority.html

Infoanon wrote: »

Spain - there is a site overlooking Barcelona that in certain weather conditions blasts into the south East - used to play havoc with RTE TV reception

That was Maghera for the mid-west of the country. RTE 1 used to be on Band I from there which put a usable signal into areas with difficult terrain (before relays) but on the other hand Band 1 was prone to this Sporadic-E, interference mainly from Spain but other countries too. Phased out in the 1990s with RTE 1 joining RTE2 on Band III from there

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/102881148#Comment_102881148

97.5 used, several years ago be listenable on a car radio in Kilkenny city (45km away north-ish) , but at some point the coverage of it northwards-eastwards was reduced a lot and nowadays, parked in the same area of Kilkenny city it is too weak to listen to

notice the directional setup which wouldn't have been the case then:

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2594552,-7.1519781,3a,15y,317.59h,103.98t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJibUzvWoC7llCXuTYaeV0w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

lertsnim

I pick up Cork stations with varying success in Dungarvan. Red FM on 105.7 would be the strongest. Classic Hits on 97.4 or 94.8. Both fade out easily depending on where I am listening from. 96 FM on 96.4, C103 on 103.3 are very hit and miss.

If I go a few miles west past the Gaelteacht I can easily pick up all the Cork stations clearly with full RDS.

South East Radio on 95.6 from Wexford and KCLR on 96.0 from Kilkenny are both hit and miss.

Years ago Radio Kerry was receivable on 97.0 FM

Being at sea level and surrounded by hills doesn't help.

TheBMG

Don’t know if they’ve moved site or changed their TX system but KCLR on 96.9 can come into me (in Churchtown, Dublin 14) which surprises me because I’m presuming it has to battle it’s way up through the Wicklow mountains. It also gets hammered by 2FMs monster signal on 97.0 from Clermont Carn.

Not a local station but ..

Lyric FMs relatively low powered signal on 98.1 from Dungarvan can also be heard in some unusual spots and I’ve often heard it giving a bruising to Dublins 98FM around the midlands and up toward Cavan.

Back in the day, a few rural/local independents were lobbying the government to "do something" about FM104 & 98fm overspiling onto their turf

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123924#Comment_120123924

Lyric FM in Dungarvan was originally on 102.2 to prevent interference to 98FM. It moved to 98.1 in 2003 when Beat 102 103 launched.

96.9 isn’t the most surprising, it’s from Rossmore which is also the TX for KFM on 97.3. But at the same time you’d imagine it should be rather directional away from Dublin

BBC Radio 1-4,Downtown Radio and Q Radio 101.2,all from NI, clear on FM in Collooney Co. Sligo for years!

TheBMG

Q Radio on 101.1 audible around some parts of South Dublin too

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128479#Comment_120128479

That's from Kilkeel. In the good old days of over the air reception (or in Google Street View possibly) you'd see rakes of vertically polarised aerials pointing up the coast at Kilkeel. Despite being only 500W on UHF the clear sea path was a gift in places like Killiney for reception of the 4 NI channels.

its_steve116

I've gotten Near FM (NE Dublin) as far south as Bray.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120147969#Comment_120147969

Would’ve thought Killiney/Dalkey Hill would block it down South but obviously not!

TAFKAlawhec

If you go "off the beaten track" so to speak in some elevated places, you can often pick up some "local" stations well outside its intended service area especially at the powers a lot of Irish stations are given, as long as co-channel or adjacent channel (usually 0.1 MHz away) interference doesn't pose problems. In different parts of Tyrone over the years I've picked up...

* FM 104 (until iRadio NW launched), Nova 100 & Spin 1038 from Dublin (104.4, 100;3 & 103.8 respectively)

* Midlands 103 on 103.5

* Tipp FM on 103.9

* LMFM on 95.8 (sandwiched between BBC Radio 4 on 95.6 & 96.0 from Brougher Mtn & Divis, though in the west of the county this frequency is now used for Finn Valley Radio)

* Mid West on 96.1 (where BBC Radio 4 from Divis on 96.0 can be nulled out or shielded from)

* Galway Bay FM on 96.8 (fighting out between Q Radio Belfast on 96.7 & iRadio NW on 96.9)

* C103 on 103.7

Back in the late 90's & early 2000's Shannonside's 104.1 transmitter used to get in as far as Cookstown but at some point in the mid-00's they changed their aerial configuration and could no longer be heard here.

Also, despite it supposedly being low-powered whilst not being too far away, Spirit Radio's 87.7 TX for Letterkenny gets out a surprising distance, causing issues with receiving RTÉ Radio 1 on 87.8 in a few spots (though 87.8 is usually not the strongest Radio 1 signal in these areas).

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120124083#Comment_120124083

Do you have a link to this???

As past Dail/Seanad debates would be archived online

Would be interested to read what exactly was said and by who.

radiotrickster

I've gotten KFM in Dublin, not far out from the city centre.