BANDSCAN THREAD

Why are RTE still transmitting their DAB tests from Donnybrook? Must be very annoying for those living or commuting through the area.

Modern cars will mix FM and DAB… and all these test stations are carrying blank audio.

Can they not find the off button? Morons.

After posting about the Dundalk pirate on 20 January, I did not hear it again. Until Bank Holiday Monday 06 February when I noted it on 1602 kHz at 1 pm and it is still on at 10.30 pm. S9 + 60 in Dundalk, but not being heard on any SDR. 1602 has some other broadcasters, and when the Dundalk station used it before, it was usually not during darkness. Non stop oldies, with no ID or speech of any kind that I heard.

I had waited from 08 January to post about it, to see whether it would hang around. It remains to be seen if it will continue this time.

ABC 80's Radio Memories this Sunday is " Exidy 738 May 23rd 1984 - This is a one-off experimental broadcast from the Radio Nova stable under the name Exidy 738. Tony Allan is the presenter from 10.28am.

On May 23rd 1984 Radio Nova split their medium wave frequencies, keeping Radio Nova on 819kHz. The 738kHz transmitter had been introduced a few weeks earlier because of an RTÉ jamming campaign against the station and on this particular morning, different music could be heard on the frequency. It eventually went live with Tony from just after 10am. " Enjoy Tune-in on 93.3 FM / liveradio.ie/Tune-in Radio/Alexa and https://kathy.torontocast.com:4365/stream With thanks to Radiowaves Ireland / Gary Hogg / DX Archive

The Dundalk station came back for a while on 1602 kHz playing music on Saturday 11 February. On Sunday 12th I tuned in around midday, and they are playing tapes of Radio Rainbow International, the Free Radio Show. Announcing their postal address as 151 Moneymore, Drogheda. At around 2.30 pm they said the programme would feature Radio Sovereign which used to operate in England. Radio Sovereign was the name the Dundalk station used in the past. The material is probably among the recordings on this website.

Not a peep to be heard on any SDR, but a massive signal in Dundalk.

ABC 80's Radio Memories this Sunday is "Kildare Community Radio August 15th 1981 -This is Kildare Community Radio, a Naas-based pirate station. Made on August 15th 1981, these recordings were made by the DX Archive team during a visit to the station. The photo of the studio was also taken at that time. " Enjoy Tune-in on 93.3 FM / liveradio.ie/Tune-in Radio/Alexa and https://kathy.torontocast.com:4365/stream With thanks to Radiowaves Ireland / DX Archive

I heard Paul Wilson on Retro FM on 92.0 this evening around south Dublin. He was enjoying himself cracking jokes!

Over the last two days, I have intermittently heard a station playing oldies (mainly if not all 1980s) on 105.2. Any ideas what that might be? Could it be Robot FM that had been on 107.1 until a few weeks ago? I noticed over the last couple of weekends that I have picking up dance station RetroNow slightly easier around south Dublin on that frequency (not to be confused with the aforementioned Retro FM which plays oldies!). Maybe Robot decided to move to avoid clashing.

ABC 80's Radio Memories this Sunday is "WKLR and Drivetime on Cork’s WKLR -WKLR (West Cork Local Radio) broadcast from the town of Bandon from January 1984 until the end of December 1988. Originally aiming primarily at west Cork, by the end of its run WKLR could be heard throughout the county. The station broadcast on 1503 kHz AM, announced as 200 metres, and on various FM frequencies including 100 MHz, abandoning the AM transmitter in its final year. " Enjoy Tune-in on 93.3 FM / liveradio.ie/Tune-in Radio/Alexa and https://kathy.torontocast.com:4365/stream With thanks to pirate.ie / DX Archive / https://www.facebook.com/pirate.ie

I picked that station up again last night, but the reception was pretty poor around Dundrum/Ballinteer area. Any idea where it would be stronger?

It does not seem to be the same as Gem Radio New Wave which is on the internet.

Thanks for sharing. Looks like the presenting team really enjoy it and they have a nice setup and support. Anyone who has had any involvement with dance radio stations will surely recognise one of the presenters - Keith Costello.

Both Radio North & Radio Star Country are still going strong on 846kHz & 981kHz respectively, though both stations seem largely automated these days.

Speaking of AM, does this newer car radio have AM ?

Another pirate, probably Dutch appeared on 1625, and the Dundalk station moved to 1629.

ABC 80's Radio Memories this Sunday is "Border Weekend Radio January 21st 1989 - Based at the border in Co Louth, Border Weekend Radio was born just a few weeks following the closedowns at the end of 1988. It was operated by presenters who had been involved with Rainbow Radio and broadcast at weekends.

This recording is from 6pm on January 21st 1989 and features Johnny Walker on air. " Enjoy Tune-in on 93.3 FM / liveradio.ie/Tune-in Radio/Alexa and https://kathy.torontocast.com:4365/stream With thanks to Radiowaves Ireland / Originally recorded by Rodney Neill

The Dundalk station which is sometimes on 1602 kHz at weekends, is on 1575 kHz Sunday 05 March.