Northeast series: Radio Carousel Navan as heard in Donegal

Northeast series: Radio Carousel Navan as heard in Donegal
Christine Reilly and Kieran Murray in the Radio Carousel Navan studio in 1982 (courtesy Kieran Murray).

Radio Carousel Navan was one of four stations in the Carousel network at its height in the early 1980s. The original Dundalk operation was set up by the late Hugh Hardy in 1978 and later expanded to satellite stations for Drogheda (Co. Louth), Navan (Co. Meath) and Newry (Co. Armagh and Co. Down), with a short-lived experiment in Castleblayney (Co. Monaghan). The Navan station had a high-profile location in the middle of the town’s shopping centre. Hugh Hardy began winding down the Carousel network from late 1987 and the Navan station was the last to close in June 1988.

This recording of Radio Carousel Navan was made by from 1386 kHz by station manager Kieran Murray while on holidays in Carrick, Co. Donegal, about 170km to the northwest. As expected, the signal is weak but is nonetheless an interesting example of daytime groundwave reception on a busy pirate frequency, shared with Kilkenny Community Radio and North Cork Community Radio. The Carousel AM transmiter was situated in the Navan shopping centre and ran about 400 watts. On air is Tina Anderson (Christine Reilly) with a requests programme and the voices of Kieran Murray and another DJ Mike Ahern (Richard McCullen) are heard on adverts.

The tape was made from about 1100 on 3rd July 1984 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Sunday night oldies on Waterford Local Radio

Sunday night oldies on Waterford Local Radio
Early WLR logo (courtesy Colin Kennedy).

This recording is of John O’Shea with a Sunday night oldies show on the popular southeast station Waterford Local Radio (WLR), which broadcast from 1978-1988. The programme includes requests from listeners, lost and found notices, a competition and a featured artist. Plenty of adverts are aired for businesses in Waterford and surrounding towns. Sound quality is generally good but there is some variation in audio levels, especially during commercial breaks. John O’Shea continues to broadcast on the licensed WLR FM today. In this recording, he is followed by Conor Halpin with the Guilty but Insane show.

Sunday night oldies on Waterford Local Radio
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

The tape was recorded from 99.9 FM between 2044 and 2216 on 8th August 1982. WLR also broadcast on 88.8 FM and 1197 kHz (252 metres). The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

CAU FM moves frequency

CAU FM moves frequency

CAU FM broadcast from the southside of Dublin for about 9 months between November 1987 and July 1988. Its origins were in a series of hobby stations in the Foxrock area set up by Locky Butler, which later became Phoenix FM. CAU was supposed to stand for ‘clutterfree and you’, reflecting the continuous music style pioneered by Radio Nova. Other Nova influences can be heard in this recording, including an echo on the DJ’s voice and a holiday giveaway virtually identical in style to a similar promotion used by Nova and KISS FM earlier in the decade. CAU had a professional signal across the city and used a slick jingle package. It was sold to the religious station Hope FM in the summer of 1988.

CAU FM moves frequency
Original cassette label from Anoraks Ireland Collection.

CAU began broadcasting on 103.5 FM but moved up to 104.2 during this recording. DJ Tom Browne announces the change, which is designed to improve the station’s signal. At about 15 minutes in, the transmitter leaves the air and another station, Liberty 104 is heard – it would take over the 103.5 FM slot. Competition for frequencies was fierce in the unregulated pirate scene of the 1980s and smaller stations often had to move position if bigger players claimed more advantageous slots on the dial.

The tape was made on 26th March 1988 from 1149-1326 and is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Northeast series: Friday night on Telstar Community Radio

Northeast series: Friday night on Telstar Community Radio
Telstar logo (courtesy Ian Biggar).

Telstar Community Radio broadcast from in and around the Dundalk area between 1980 and 1988. Despite stiff competition from bigger local stations Radio Carousel and Boyneside Radio, it built up and maintained its own audience. The station was first located in Dundalk, moving south to the village of Blackrock in 1982 before returning to Dundalk in 1986. The main frequencies used for most of its existence were 1197 kHz AM and 88.5 FM. Telstar closed down along with other pirates at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1988.

This recording is of part of Dave Ritchie’s Friday night show, including chart hits and some oldies, along with adverts for mostly Dundalk-based businesses. There are news headlines on the hour and some notices, including mention of a local gig by British pop star Howard Jones. The tape was recorded from 88.5 FM on 13th March 1987 from 1830-2006. Another station is heard briefly at about the half-way point, possibly an earlier recording on the same cassette.

The tape was made originally by John Gartlan and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.

Sunday sounds on Ranelagh Community Radio

Sunday sounds on Ranelagh Community Radio

Ranelagh Community Radio (RCR) was a low-powered part-time station broadcasting to suburban areas in the Dublin 6 and 6W postal districts between 1986 and 1988. It was a successor to Charisma FM, which operated sporadically from locations including Ranelagh in 1985 and 1986. RCR replaced Charisma in the autumn of 1986 and was noted on 98 FM in an October log by Anoraks UK. It claimed to cover the suburbs of Ranelagh, Rathmines, Rathgar and Terenure and broadcasting hours were noted as 1900-0000. RCR continued to appear in logs up to the summer of 1988 but closed at some stage between then and the end of the year. Both Charisma and RCR carried syndicated American religious programming at times and probably relied on such material for income.

This recording of RCR was made from 98 FM on Sunday 12th October 1986 between 1705-1835 and features mostly continuous music with short links and occasional jingles but no adverts. The DJ is Colin Russell but no phone number is announced for requests. The tape is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson.