Airchecks Archives - Page 18 of 36 - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

19th July 202114th July 2021

DXers’ programme on Galway’s KFM

KFM flyer (courtesy of Ian Biggar).

Programmes for radio anoraks or DXers were a feature of some Irish pirates during their 1980s heyday. One such station was KFM, which broadcast from 1986-1988 from a village near Galway before moving into the city itself. In the last few months of its existence from October to December 1988, KFM broadcast a weekly programme for DXers with a focus on the shortwave band.

This is a selection of airchecked undated excerpts from the DXers’ programme from that period, presented by Shane Keating. The programme is aimed at listeners new to the band and there are explanations of shortwave propagation, QSL cards and SINPO codes. A regular contributor to the programme was John Breslin, who is heard describing his experience of shortwave DXing during a phone-in to the show. There is also a recording supplied by John of Radio Berlin International from East Germany.

We thank John for donating this recording, which he made in north Co. Clare from 95.99 FM. Reception is fair because of the distance from the transmitter.

2nd July 20211st July 2021

Keeping it local on Laois Community Radio

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Laois Community Radio (LCR) broadcast from early 1982 for six years from the town of Mountrath, closing down on New Year’s Eve 1988 along with most other pirates. This recording is from the early days of the station and gives a sense of a station putting down roots as a truly local operation. It’s Sunday 31^st October 1982 and the unidentified presenter plays easy listening music and reads out plenty of community notices, including one inviting local groups to use LCR to get their message across. The recording, made from 88.8 FM, starts at around 1130 but it seems some of the music has been airchecked. Audio quality is fair and there is some fading at times, possibly due to distance from the transmitter.

We thank Ian Biggar and DX Archive for this recording.

30th June 202130th June 2021

Radio Amore from Portlaoise

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Radio Amore was a shortlived station broadcasting from Portlaoise, Co. Laois in 1982 and 1983. It was logged by DX Archive on 1143 kHz (announcing 263 metres) in December 1982 but there is no mention of it in their April 1983 list. The arrival of Laois Community Radio in Mountrath around this time probably contributed to Radio Amore’s demise.

This recording is from 104.5 FM of Francis McNally at 9pm on Saturday 26^th of February 1983, so Radio Amore must have disappeared soon after that date. There are requests from Portlaoise itself and Ballybrophy over 30 km away. Audio quality is poor with variable levels and due to the bad condition of the cassette, it was necessary to aircheck the recording. The incorrect spelling “Radio A’Moore” is on the cassette label, but in fairness to whoever typed it, Radio Amore was a strange choice of name for a station broadcasting from Portlaoise.

This recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.

23rd June 202121st June 2021

Hospital requests on WLR

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This is an airchecked recording of the popular Sunday Hospital Requests show from 12 noon to 2pm on Waterford Local Radio (WLR), reflecting that station’s community focus in contrast with other more commercial rivals. Colin Kennedy is covering for Clodagh Walsh and everyone else seems to be standing in also – the previous show was presented by Michael Forrestal for Tony Weldon and at the last minute, Paul Power is replaced by Eoin Ronayne in the 2-5pm slot.

There are piles of requests for hospital patients and other listeners in Waterford and south Tipperary, reflecting the show’s strong local following. We don’t have an exact date but estimate this to be from February 1983. Sound quality is fair and there is some warble on the music reflecting the cassette’s age. Thanks to Colin Kennedy for donating this recording.

19th May 20218th May 2024

Radio Leinster closes down suddenly

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Radio Leinster closed unexpectedly just after 1pm on the 19th of May 1983, following the raid on Sunshine Radio that morning and on Radio Nova the previous day. Although almost all stations in Dublin switched off their transmitters on the 19th as fears about raids spread, most were back on air within days but Radio Leinster was never to return. Anna Craig (Chisnall) read the lunchtime news at 1pm and said there would be another bulletin at 3pm but within minutes the closure of the station was announced suddenly by managing director Justin James. The station closed with its signature tune, Seán Ó Riada’s ‘Mise Éire’.

Radio Leinster was an innovative and unique station which aimed at the RTÉ Radio 1 listenership with a mixture of musical styles, talk programmes and specialist shows. It broadcast on 738 kHz am (406 metres) and 93 FM, the signal benefiting considerably from a high site in Sandyford overlooking Dublin.

This recording is courtesy of one of the Radio Leinster presenters, Al Dunne who was on air for the closedown.