RTE radio1 LW

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120476172#Comment_120476172

She actually mentions the postponement in the article.

She is well aware of the alternatives but is merely trying to help elderly people who may need assistance to adopt to them.

There is nothing in the article that "trashes" the elderly Irish in the UK, quite the opposite.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120476941#Comment_120476941

It can't be denied that the save 252 campaign has portraied "elderly" expats in the UK as sick/lonely/poor/illiterate, one thing they always fail to highlight is that a significant amount of the people who participated in the survey 8 years ago actually owned a computer at the time.

RINO87

So is it still on, or.....??? Anyone hear the switch off?

SPDUB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120476989#Comment_120476989

Still on air , just switched back to generic shutting down today announcement

Ger Roe

Just checked now... 252 is still on, with Joe Biden coverage (relay of R1 News) - maybe they are leaving it on for anyone listening, until he leaves?. Not a good move if you are arguing that it is not listened to :)

If anyone here wants to phone and ask what time it's going to be turned off, this is the phone number of the transmitter site 0469557350, and yes there's people up there this afternoon

dxhound2005

They gave an answer to someone who emailed a few days ago. Obviously conflicts with the closedown announcement.

I was in contact with RTE about that and got this answer: “In relation to your query, the transmitter will be switched off at midnight Irish time on April 14.”

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120476207#Comment_120476207

Yes, there used to be an approx 2 seconds lag on LW compared to FM

All the FM transmitters, including 87.8, should normally be "in synch" audio timing wise as it can get extremely irritating for motorists otherwise, AF jumps to-and-fro between transmitters can happen a lot when driving in some some areas.

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120477052#Comment_120477052

Thanks, hilarious that they couldn't even get the timing right. Still, gives me time to dig out something capable of receiving it and can hopefully find a blank tape too!

siezetheday

Crazy how a national radio station where everything should be planned and scheduled to the second cannot even communicate the closedown of a monumental transmitter. Not mentioned once by anyone on-air today, not even Dobbo on the 1 o'clock news....

With all the high-priced 'talent' in RTE it doesn't seem like there will be any closedown celebration....

Tuned it in on a SDR http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ in Enschede in the Netherlands and it's still audible on 252kHz, albeit with a bit of a buzz.

Reduce the filter to about set to AM, adjust the filter to about 6.15kHz, and apply noise reduction and it's quite audible that far away.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120477933#Comment_120477933

The closure of the Eircom speaking clock service got more coverage on Radio 1 than the closure of their own LW service. AFAIK thought LW 252 hasn't really been mentioned on air for years except on Sunday mornings when FM/LW splits for Mass. It is rather shambolic that they put out a closing at 9am notice and it's still on a 5pm

Did someone lose the keys?

I'd have assumed they'd have maybe played out a package about the end of LW broadcasting and shut down.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120478003#Comment_120478003

I never heard about the Speaking Clock anywhere at the time. But no doubt Radio 1 did cover it. Just hit and miss, unless it was a big story like Biden in Ireland.

The speaking clock in Ireland was never quite as iconic or as much loved as its counterpart in the UK and a few other countries, possibly because it was launched later, but it never really occupied that national institution status that the British one does.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120478048#Comment_120478048

It was covered twice by the Ray D'arcy show. I don't think the speaking clock was ever much of a "thing" in Ireland compared to the UK https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/21407055/

siezetheday

Blows my mind that an organisation packed with content creators, producers, presenters, historians etc etc can't embrace the occasion, tell the history and capture it for posterity even on social media.

Piss poor in every way.

Interesting the number of listeners queueing to listen to 252 Long wave on the Irish SDRs all day from all over the globe.

dxhound2005

I copied this from 2001 in the Humour forum on Boards. There seems to be only one thread in 2018 marking the closure of the Speaking Clock, with just four posts. But searching Boards these days is a bit hit and miss.

Following a night out with a few friends, a man brought them back to Show off

his new flat. After the grand tour, the visitors where rather perplexed by the

large gong taking pride of place in the lounge. "What's that big brass gong

for?" one of the guests asked. "Why, that's the speaking clock" the man replied.

"How does it work?" "I'll show you", the man said, giving the gong an

ear-shattering blow with an unpadded hammer. Suddenly, a voice from the other

side of the wall screamed,

"For ****'s sake, you wan*er, it's twenty to two in the fuc*ing morning

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120478069#Comment_120478069

I can Kind of understand them wanting to keep a low profile now that the newspaper articles accusing them of "attacking the elderly" have returned

tinytobe

There is a brief announcement at the top of the hour on 252 that the service will end, and other sources to receive Radio 1 are mentioned.

Dan Jaman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120477933#Comment_120477933

That's because they give the name 'amateur' a new meaning.

ford fiesta

is it the newest transmitter on a green field site in Europe, at just 34 years old?

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120476961#Comment_120476961

It's quite normal to describe the problems that affect the people you are campaigning for.

That is not "trashing" the elderly Irish who may be affected by the closure.

I don't know how many survey participants owned a computer 8 years ago and I assume more of them would own one today.

RTE radio1 LW is now closed down and campaigners in the UK are trying to help vulnerable elderly Irish listeners to adapt.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120478069#Comment_120478069

Give it a bit of time. It can be done sometime later online. No point in doing something on Longwave just today. The SDR angle could be used as part of the future documentary. Along with the many recordings of the shutdown, which hobbyists will be making.

But shutting down LW and especially MW transmitters is so common now all round Europe, that it probably does not evoke much interest in this sort of documentary.

John Waters was an original save 252 supporter but I guess they wouldn't want him around now that he's moved to the "far right" https://m.independent.ie/opinion/comment/rtes-all-too-blunt-message-for-the-irish-diaspora-to-hell-or-the-internet-30628452.html

I have learned from research reading newspaper archives and old threads that RTE were very lukewarm about ever launching an new LW service post Teamtalk 252, the original plan was to come on air to coincide with the 2003 special Olympics but this was deferred until October 2003 then deferred again until January 2004 until finally launching on Patrick's Day 2004. It seems to me that RTE would have preferred to have rented it to another party but that they was heavily lobbying going on to serve the diaspora. Michael D Higgins first proposed in February 1995 that Atlantic 252 should be turned into a diaspora service. At that time Atlantic was bigger than Virgin radio and making money but D Higgins didn't like a Luxembourg mulit national getting rich of an Irish owned frequency.

Hotblack Desiato

Seems RTE just regard LW as an embarrassment and want it to slip away unnoticed. Yet they made a big fuss over having one of the last analogue TV switch-offs in Europe (and Miriam couldn't get the counting from 10 to zero thing right)

L1011

Watched that live in a hotel that hadn't got any Saorview kit in. No Irish stations when I got back from work that evening!

siezetheday

How is it possible nobody mentioned the Long Wave closure once on air today? Not even Dobbo or Creedon who would have a drop of Anorak in their blood? Was the subject banned officially?

Pelvis Parsley

I'm playing Creedo on it now.

I know why it's happening, but I feel a little sad.

It's a shame RTE couldn't mark it somehow-but sure they don't care.

Welsh Megaman

Anybody know what time it’s going off?

Still broadcasting, Creedo has just given way to some Leo chap chuntering on.

siezetheday

The yankee arse kissing is nearly finished, they'll just turn off when he (1) says something incredibly stupid or (2) kisses the last baby in Ireland or (3) Hunter Biden takes over the mic.

@siezetheday

@siezetheday on point number one, I find it hilarious that I couldn't remember the name of a band called The Coronas of all people. Also, who are The Imaginetics?

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120478824#Comment_120478824

It was mentioned close to the top of the hour on 252 that they would go off air and there was a brief information about the alternatives.

tinytobe

Even the SDR in Cork has the mix with Arabic music from 252 in Algeria. That's how weak the signal from Ireland is by now due to the power reductions of the transmitter.

RINO87

I've Algeria coming in here and I'm in the bloody midlands!!

SPDUB

No Algeria here in Dublin

Hotblack Desiato

Listening right now to T.Rex on LW. Seems appropriate...

dxhound2005

When I tried the Cork SDR at 10:40 it was poor. But better now at 11 oclock. He might have done some antenna switching. I think LW stands for Long Wire in his information.

I can make the Algeria signal equal to RTE in Dundalk, or I can peak RTE to completely overcome it with my Wellbrook loop. People need to use the directional quality of Long Wave signals to get the best out of them, even when there is only one station on a channel. The Cork receiver has no signal from Poland on 225. With a different antenna, he could get it like a local station.

KiwiSDR: Software-defined receiver. ON WELLBROOK LOW NOISE HOMEMADE COAX LOOP ANTENNA. DIAMETER 2M. RUNS 24/7/365. SYS EXPERIMENTAL. YOU ARE WELCOME & ENJOY.

EI7II, Co. Cork, Republic of Ireland | Grid IO51lt, ASL 157m, [map], SNR 27:24 dB Antenna: Hyendfed 8 Band LW and Wellbrook Loop home made

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120479303#Comment_120479303

In fairness it depends on where the nulls are pointed on your antenna (for 99.99% of people that means rotate your radio until you get the best signal)

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120479327#Comment_120479327

Doesn't surprise me.

Even at the SDR in Carlow I get Algeria in the background.

Hotblack Desiato

Still working...

Slightly off-topic here, but for the day that's in it - how many US presidents has the Clarkstown transmitter seen come and go through its various guises?

Bush Sr. was president when Atlantic 252 was officially launched. Then we had Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, Trump and now Biden. That makes six.

When did the test transmissions take place? Was Reagan still president at the time?

Hotblack Desiato

My kids don't get and will never experience the simple pleasure of an introduction to electronics by building their own AM radio out of half a dozen cheap components...

@Hotblack Desiato

@Hotblack Desiato there's still time to take them through it...

Hotblack Desiato

About 21 minutes now and neither of them is interested 🙁 there was an added thrill back in the day with pirates your mother wouldn't allow on the 'proper' radio

@Hotblack Desiato

@Hotblack Desiato well you've still got BBC R4, 5 Live, Talksport and Manx. Do they learn Spanish at school? The RNE stations will be around for a while yet I suspect...

Hotblack Desiato

Yeah but they can stream anything they want, the point was listening to things other people might not have wanted you to 😉 when all is permitted and nothing is forbidden, the thrill is gone baby, the thrill is gone 😁

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgXSomPE_FY

And I think few will get a thrill out of the shipping forecast, enthralling as it is...

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120479553#Comment_120479553

At risk of saying "it's all to easy for kids these days" I'm trying to get them into Raspberry Pi stuff. But that's at least two levels of abstraction above what I was doing when I was 13.

Uh-on,here come the pips - and no Gladys Knight - LW still alive but for how long...

Welsh Megaman

Tis gone midnight, and it’s still on!