RTE radio1 LW

07-04-2023 06:38PM

I used to pick up RTE Radio 1 on 729 kHz in Dordogne in the early 00s, on a very good quality old hi-fi separates unit though with an excellent antenna.

TAFKAlawhec · 07-04-2023 07:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120452334#Comment_120452334

That would have been from the Cork MW TX - the sea path would have definitely helped there.

07-04-2023 07:03PM

Possibly was .. just remember being able to pick it up quite clearly at night. It was definitely MW though, not LW. I clearly remember "Ondes Moyennes" on the dial!

BBC on 198 wasn't great though, so it must have been the sea path alright.

It was down the country / à la campagne in the days before broadband, so it was the only way of listening to international radio in that house anyway.

On a slightly tangental question:

I was clearing out my grandmothers house a good few years ago, and in the kitchen she had a big old valve radio made by "Pilot" It wasn't working but was still connected to a long run of what looked like just thin bell wire. It ran out though a hole in the wall in the kitchen, and the full length of the back garden in a loop, just loosely strung along a wooden fence behind the hedge. I'd say there was about 40 or 50 metres of a loop.

I assume that was for picking up SW?

elperello · 08-04-2023 10:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120451820#Comment_120451820

Just putting in a few words to explain the background of those old people.

Like I said some of them are not in a good place.

TheBMG · 08-04-2023 12:21PM

And the loss of 252 could

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120453918#Comment_120453918

And the loss of 252 could do them in completely? 😱

Antenna · 08-04-2023 12:29PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120449631#Comment_120449631

Old newspaper archives would probably show if the issue got much reported. It was transmitted from temporary site using powerstation chimneys beside the banks of the Thames before the proper site north of London got built (and moved to the other end of the MW band) : http://txfeatures.mb21.co.uk/lots_pirates/index.shtml

The old "transistor" radios people used with long ferrite rods with large nulls off the ends, could have nulled out the adjacent Capital depending where in London one was (hopefully an angle close to 90 degrees between the transmitters!), by careful positioning. As well as of course detuning a few kHz as well (depending on receiver selectivity) could be a big help.

Maybe the Cork MW transmitter, might have been an alternative at nighttime in London as well, by then relocated/upgraded (if its hadn't too much inteference) on I believe 1250kHz/240m then if the main Athlone transmitter was too badly affected by the adjacent station?

Its recalled that for a while in the 1980s RTE on 567 was sandwiched between BOTH offshore stations (one on 558 the other on 576 !) so detuning, or using a sophisticated receiver with independent sideband reception (USB/LSB) wasn't going to be much or any help!

When Spectrum 558 arrived, Digital tuning becoming common place in cars and if they could only tune in 9kHz steps on MW (no 1kHz steps available for fine tuning off to one side) was a further hindrance for reception, which might otherwise have been useable at night . People who lived there recall RTE 2fm on 612 was quite audible in London at night, so was another possible source of news bulletins from Ireland, though this deteriorated towards the end of its life.

Tork · 08-04-2023 12:33PM

I looked at that petition a few minutes ago and it's struggling to even reach 200 signatures. That in itself says a lot. We're now talking about a newer demographic of "the elderly" in the UK. While some might not be doing well for themselves now, I find it hard to believe that none of them has access to alternative means of hearing RTE. No matter how poor anybody ever is, they always seem to have a smartphone. They're not expensive to buy or run, especially in the UK. People are smelling the BS this time around because they've seen how their own older relatives have adapted to using smartphones. They know older people who tune into mass online, watch RTE news from abroad or use a radio app to listen to radio. Also, the number of people being affected by this is very small. Where are the tears for the people in North America or Australia?

elperello · 08-04-2023 01:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454153#Comment_120454153

No that wasn't what I meant.

08-04-2023 01:47PM

I think people are forgetting that "the elderly" are a lot more technically savvy than the elderly 20 years ago. There's a generational difference there and I think people gloss over that.

The 'Grandpa Simpson' stereotype doesn't really apply to present day 70+ year olds. You're really talking about people who would now be well over 90 who were from that techfree era. He's an octogenarian written in the 1990s, so is someone from the 1910s.

Most 70+ year olds I know are on social media. Have email addresses and smartphones and know how to use tech. I've a relative in her mid 80s who gets into flame wars on Twitter from time to time. For most of them using smart phone is not a challenge. A 75 year old now, was at the peak of their careers at the turn of the millennium when all this stuff was kicking off at a serious scale.

However, if you went back 20 years ago you're talking about people in their 80s who were born in the 1920s and possibly went through most of their careers barely having touched a computer or anything all that techie. That's just not the case with the vast majority of present generation of OAPs. I think sometimes we get a bit lost in the 1990s idea of what 'elderly' is like.

They might not be quite as tech savvy about TikTok as your average 20 year old, but there's little comparison between that generation and some of how we remember our own grandparents, if we're in our 30s and 40s a this stage.

I think it's probably a bit patronising and also quite out of touch with the current time frame to assume that they're all huddled around a valve radio reminiscing about the 1940s.

walterking · 08-04-2023 01:57PM

Does anyone know any person that actually listens on LW?

Truthfully.

08-04-2023 02:03PM

Well, considering this is a radio forum, it's not likely to be very representative of the average listener.

My own experience is not only that I don't listen to LW, but I actually increasingly don't listen to FM either. I'm finding myself very much drifted over to streaming services for music and non-linear podcasting for speech programming. I still listen to a lot of content from broadcasters like RTE and BBC, but I just don't listen to them over the air or in a linear format.

I might flip past FM channels in the car occasionally, but really that's about it. I rarely leave a radio on anymore.

Tork · 08-04-2023 02:16PM

People wear rose tinted glasses too. I've seen people claim that the sound quality on Atlantic 252 was great. It wasn't, it was ****. It was better than nothing in the days before music radio stations came along but that's all that can be said for it. Someone here has mentioned how much interference there is from other sources these days, and how RTE on 252 probably doesn't sound all those great now.

elperello · 08-04-2023 02:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454494#Comment_120454494

I listened to LW in the UK but switched to the internet.

I know one old lad in Manchester who still uses a battery radio in his allotment shed.

He likes to keep up with the news from Ireland.

He will miss LW but he will be ok as he can listen to RTE at home.

elperello · 08-04-2023 02:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454185#Comment_120454185

As I said a few posts back the decision won't be reversed 252 is going.

If indeed the numbers are small it should be possible to reach out to them to make sure they are all aware of their listening options.

It's really not a question of tears rather trying to see that people aren't left behind.

L1011 · 08-04-2023 02:39PM

If the 200 signatures represent even 20 people being left behind I'd be surprised. Lots of emotion and nostalgia from people in Ireland rather than realistic impacts on those abroad

dxhound2005 · 08-04-2023 02:52PM

If anyone hasn't got Long Wave, tune it on one of these beasts. They are actual radio receivers located all over the world, which internet users can tune remotely. Not the same as internet radio. Some of them are rubbish, it is all to do with the quality of the antenna.

North West 2 on Mayo Sligo border is superb. Tune to 252 and 198 AM, for decent sound quality. Press AM to make it AMN, and listen to Iceland on 189. On Medium Wave tune to 531 and listen to the Faroes station. Listen to our two pirate stations on 846 and 981. That is daytime reception, everything changes at night. Sometimes a receiver is unavailable due to too many users.

http://kiwisdr.com/public/

08-04-2023 02:54PM

I'd say the 198kHz BBC Radio 4 switch off will be more nostalgic. People like the crackly shipping forecast.

I wonder if putting a mono feed with some crackles online, replicating LW sound characteristics, drifting in and out a bit might keep some people happy?

I remember someone actually pointing out that Jazz was very popular in the pre FM days, which could well have been down to the fact that brass instrument sounds carry much better on FM and also on old records - they're relatively narrow band and sharp sounds. Same applies to the reasons for the very annunciated speech used on old time radio. You had to be ultra clear or you wouldn't necessarily be understood on a crackly distant signal.

It's a bit like the way modern music is sometimes produced with tiny mobile phone speakers in mind and it's actually influenced some of how certain pop tracks are arranged and processed.

I wonder in 50 years time will we have hobbyists restoring old Samsungs and playing Crazy Frog...

dxhound2005 · 08-04-2023 03:12PM

It doesn't have to be crackly, with that massive power on 198. The one that people get nostalgic about is at 00:48, probably not the one at 05:20, both around 10 minutes long. There is another one at noon for about 4 minutes, which is an opt out on LW only. The mystery would be why they do the other two on FM, if they are supposed to be directed at mariners.

LW on 198 also has opt outs weekdays for religious stuff at 09:45. And when Parliament is in session, half an hour for Yesterday in Parliament at 08:30. And of course Test Match Special. All of these also opt out on Radio 4 Medium Wave, e.g.720 kHz.

Tork · 08-04-2023 03:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454587#Comment_120454587

I'm sure someone at home or in his allotment can help him sort out an app. He'll move with the times if he wants RTE so badly. Or he can just retune his radio to a station in the country he has called home for decades

08-04-2023 04:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454749#Comment_120454749

I suppose just out of pure nostalgia ...

I can't really see modern mariners, who are usually kitted out with loads of technology, using something as clunky as BBC's LW Radio weather station information as anything remotely useful. If you consider the what's available online, even just the free stuff from the Met Office or Met Éireann is far more useful than "Dogger ... 1002... Rising slowly"

You'd wonder whether it was ever all that useful, given that there have been sophisticated forecasts on VHF marine radio for decades and with all the modern satellite comms etc it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I doubt even the most amateur of mariners rely on BBC's shipping forecast on LW.

I suspect it's mostly been a tradition on radio for dozing off, like counting sheep...

dxhound2005 · 08-04-2023 05:09PM

A radio system called Navtex, where they can print out the information from coastal stations. Operates all over the world, Valentia and Malin in Ireland. They are on a schedule, but you can usually decode one from somewhere at any time. On 518 and 490 kHz, and use the Extension drop down menu to select Navtex.

http://malinheadkiwi.hopto.org:8073/

L1011 · 08-04-2023 05:16PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120455148#Comment_120455148

If you are reliant on 198 for weather at sea, you are so deficient in modern kit that you probably won't be able to look for assistance in an emergency.

Antenna · 08-04-2023 05:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120455148#Comment_120455148

Though mariners would use LW/MW radio to keep up with the news etc (beyond usual FM range), with no access to live TV, they depend on radio for the news.,.

I was incidentally some days ago getting Spanish FM from approx 600 miles away on 106.6, not managing RDS decode but listenable on car radio a few miles in from the coast, but FM travelling that far across sea due to 'ducting' is only in rare conditions

08-04-2023 05:20PM

AFAIK the BBC have said that the shipping forcast will continue on R4 FM and DAB after the closure of 198 purely for tradition

L1011 · 08-04-2023 05:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120455242#Comment_120455242

Sat internet delivers info more often and more reliably than an AM radio did.

elperello · 08-04-2023 05:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454926#Comment_120454926

Like I said he's fine, very friendly and outgoing.

He will retire the old LW without a backward glance.

If you don't mind me saying your last sentence is slightly missing the point.

Many emigrants like him still after so many years away cherish the connection with home. Even after 50 odd years in Manchester if you ask them where they are from they will say Tipp, Leitrim or wherever.

They like to hear the Irish voice on the radio and the music too.

Even though their day to day is more like Coronation Street their heart is closer to The Riordan's 🙂

Antenna · 08-04-2023 05:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120455314#Comment_120455314

How does he listen to RTE at home (sat receiver or internet) ?

Whilst its a great source for news from Ireland,

That said, RTE R1 has moved away from catering, musically, for elderly people (home or abroad). There are comments about the 12-1 weekday music hour by people who don't consider themselves elderly yet, that the music is too modern now, and they preferred Ronan Collins.

1960s music seems to be now largely binned by RTE and other Irish radio, yet it is still to be heard on Gold etc in the UK

And gone are the days of the likes of Donncha Ó Dúlaing and others who appealed to the elderly listeners on RTE Radio 1 (and had particular appeal for the elderly Irish in the UK).

Its true that if he is into Irish traditional etc music, Irish country music etc some of the non-RTE Irish stations (local and community) online cater for that. I hear of people tuning into Midwest radio online who have no connection with Co. Mayo for example

08-04-2023 08:12PM

It looks like RTE radio 1 might be doing a special to mark the closure,, next Friday night a change to the regular schedule, a program called "Frequencies" at 10:30pm

elperello · 08-04-2023 09:13PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120455372#Comment_120455372

I don't know what his home set up is.

Actually I don't even know where his house is I just meet him when visiting one of the other allotment holders.

As for Louise Duffy she is getting pretty good reviews here on Boards but that may not be relevant.

Donncha is a long time gone now but he had a great way with him.

I must mention the local stations next time I meet him.

siezetheday · 08-04-2023 09:59PM

Just a crazy idea for the last days of 252 LW from Ireland. Would it be possible to give the TXs a last hurrah and drive them to full power? I'd like to hear the full power of all that transmission engineering and expense before it's all literally mothballed. Go out with a blast!!

RTE radio1 LW

Comments