Northeast series: Boyneside Radio (1981)

Northeast series: Boyneside Radio (1981)
Boyneside’s faulty replacement AM transmitter in August 1981 following the split (courtesy Ian Biggar/DX Archive).

After the departure of key staff to set up Community Radio Drogheda in July 1981, Boyneside Radio continued to broadcast, although it faced a serious challenge with poor AM reception in Drogheda. The problem was a faulty replacement transmitter after the original was brought to CRD, meaning that Boyneside could hardly be heard in the town. A better transmitter was obtained in September 1981 and an agreement with CRD allowed Boyneside to use the superior frequency of 1323 kHz.

Northeast series: Boyneside Radio (1981)
Boyneside schedule following the split in 1981 (courtesy Ian Biggar/DX Archive).

This recording was made from 1347-1524 on 13th August 1981 and features Owen Barry (Larkin) on air, followed by Daire Nelson. Daire announces a prize aimed at encouraging people to listen on FM, no doubt due to the problems with the AM transmitter. RTÉ Radio 2 also ran competitions in its early days to attract listeners to FM but AM would retain its dominance for another while.