Bandscans Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

27th October 20234th January 2024

Death of Radio North operator, Paul Barnett

It is with great sadness that we learned today of the death of Paul Barnett, aka Paul Burbank or Paul Bentley following a battle with cancer. Paul was the operator of long-running AM pirate Radio North from Donegal and previously ran another station from that county, WABC. We thank Ian Biggar for writing this tribute for Pirate.ie.

I first got in contact with Paul in late 1987 when I heard his station, WABC on 107 FM back home in the west of Scotland. I received a friendly letter from Paul giving full details of his radio station that was broadcasting from north Donegal. Paul was from Mansfield in the English midlands and had moved with his Irish-born wife and family to set up a business in Coleraine. With Paul’s background in pirate radio it was a given that he would start a station and thus WABC was born, aiming its signal towards Coleraine and the Causeway coast.

WABC built up a strong audience over the next year, but like others had to close with the introduction of the broadcasting bill in Ireland on 31st December 1988. However, with the continuation of Radio North, Paul took the initiative and put WABC back on the air in mid June 1989. The station was now located in the family home in Greencastle.

We visited the station in May 1990 when Paul was running two formats, namely WABC Gold on 101.2 MHz and WABC Hot Hots on 101.5 MHz. It was always great to meet Paul as his enthusiam for radio was always infectious. I often was able to listen to both stations back at home on the west coast of Scotland.

In March 1991 I received a note from Paul saying that due to family commitments he and his family were returning to Mansfield. Paul then got involved with commercial radio with Gem AM in Nottingham and was a regular presenter. However, by the late 90s Paul was back in Donegal and running Radio North on 846 kHz and in time brought back WABC. However, his time was focused on Radio North which continues its format of country, oldies and religious programming on 846 kHz. Let’s hope Radio North can carry on and therefore continue Paul’s legacy.

RIP Paul and thank you for playing your significant part in the Irish era.

The recording is of the announcement by DJ Steven Lynch of Paul’s death on Radio North on Friday 27^th October 2023. It is courtesy of Neil Sweeney.

1st August 20219th March 2024

Dublin bandscan from 1981

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This is a bandscan of radio as heard on AM and FM in Dublin in August 1981 by Leon Tipler on one of his many visits in Dublin to document the local pirate scene. The scan gives a sense of the sheer volume of stations on AM and the less crowded FM band, where British stations could regularly be heard due to lack of congestion. We don’t have a precise date but part of the recording was made on a Sunday.

The bandscan begins on FM with Belfast station Downtown Radio’s closedown with a read- through of the next day’s schedule. This is followed by unidentified Irish and British stations on FM and céilí music on RTÉ Radio 1. Leon then switches to AM and tunes past foreign stations before settling on Radio City on 257 metres where Brian Harmon is signing off for the night. This is followed by classical music on what sounds like Radio 1 again. A live ad is read out by the DJ for the new Sunday Tribune newspaper on Sunshine Radio on AM and Leon then switches to Radio Nova on 88 FM. This is followed by exchanges from air traffic control, as was the norm on part of the FM band in those days.

The scan then returns to AM and Radio Leinster on 738 kHz (406 metres) where Anna Craig is signing off at the end of her Sunday morning show. She is followed by Fr. Michael Culloty with a religious programme. The bandscan ends with more AM stations include ARD and part of the Disco Format show on Sunshine.

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

12th May 202110th March 2024

Sunday morning bandscan from 1982

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This is a bandscan of Dublin radio by British radio enthusiast Leon Tipler during a visit to Dublin in 1982. It was made from about 0800-0930 on the morning of Sunday 12^th September 1982 and features both AM and FM stations. The bandscan begins with Bryan Dobson reading the news on Radio Nova and is followed by the start of that day’s broadcasting on the brand new Nova offshoot KISS FM. Some of Nova’s main service on 88 FM is also heard. There are snippets of Boyneside Radio, Radio City and Radio Dublin, including a promo for the Lebanon Requests Show presented by DJ Angie. There’s also a short extract of ‘RTÉ Radio 1 on VHF’ and BBC Radio Scotland on FM as well as an unidentified English station on AM.

The recording concludes with part of a Christian programme on Radio Nova called ‘Good News Tracks’, featuring religious music and reflections. Nova experimented with such specialist programmes in the early days, and Tipler’s documentary refers to another religious show on the station.

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

27th December 20206th August 2021

Final day of Centre Radio (Dublin), New Year’s Eve 1988

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Today we begin a series of recordings to mark the closedown of Centre Radio on 31^st December 1988. Centre was a youth radio station broadcasting from Baldoyle and Bayside in northeast Dublin during holidays from 19^th December 1986 and each day from February 1988 until closedown. Although not widely known outside its small transmission area, Centre is important to this archive because both of the people behind Pirate.ie were involved as teenagers, Brian Greene as one of the station’s founders and John Walsh as a broadcaster.

Over the coming days, we’ll bring you various recordings from the final day of Centre Radio, one of only a handful of pirates still broadcasting in Dublin. This first clip is of Brian Greene (Bobby Gibbson) in the final hours of his overnight programme between 0500 and 0700 on the 31^st. There’s a strong anorak feel as Brian talks about pirate history in Ireland, plays jingles from other stations and explains Centre’s plans for the rest of the day.

Listen here to Brian interview Radio Dublin on its last official day on air. Of course, Radio Dublin would defy the new legislation and continue after midnight on the 31^st. Listen here to a bandscan presented by Brian and Eamonn Roe (Dave Evans) of the stations still on air on New Year’s Eve in Dublin.

21st August 20206th August 2021

Bandscan: Irish radio as heard in Wales in 1983

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‘Hello Again’, Part 3 of Leon Tipler’s acclaimed documentary series The Irish Pirates was based on a return visit to Dublin in September 1983. The episode features an AM and FM bandscan from Aberystwyth on the west Wales coast, recorded by Tipler in August 1983. Having climbed Constitution Hill to the north of the town, Tipler gave himself the best chance of picking up radio signals from Ireland a mere 150km away.

This is the original, unedited bandscan as recorded by Tipler on both AM and FM from his perch overlooking the Irish Sea on a sunny Saturday afternoon, 13^th August 1983. The pirates heard include Arklow Community Radio, Kilkenny Community Radio, Sunshine Radio and Radio Dublin. RTÉ Radio 1, Radio 2 and Raidió na Gaeltachta are all received loud and clear on FM. There are snippets of unidentified UK stations as well as occasional breakthrough from police communication, possibly due to harmonics.

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