Tag: AM

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Today we feature another recording of Monaghan station Radio Star Country made on the western coast of Norway. It features continuous music at breakfast time, including a promo is heard for “your own 24-hour a day country music station from Monaghan to wherever you are” but with no commercial breaks. The fact that there was no live DJ in a peak listening slot underlines how Radio Star Country sometimes failed to provide a core schedule in the post-1989 period.

Audio quality is fair at the beginning but deep fading occurs after about 20 minutes. There is some wobble but it is not clear if this was on the station’s side or is due to the degradation of the tape over time. The receiver is retuned to an unidentified UK AM station at the very end. The recording was made in Solsvik, Norway from 981 kHz between 0755 and 0840 on 29^th October 1994. The receiver used was a Drake SPR-4 with a 200-metre antenna facing southwest. Thanks to Svenn Martinsen for the donation.

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In 1994, Radio Star Country marked six years on air, five of them since the strict new broadcasting regime that was supposed to silence the pirates came into effect. This recording from that year features continuous country music interspersed with station idents. One promo describes Radio Star Country as ‘Your own 24 hour a day country music station from Monaghan to wherever you are’ and indeed thanks to the properties of AM radio propagation, the signal at times travelled well beyond the core listening area along the border and Northern Ireland.

Our recording was made at an unknown time on 14^th February 1994 from 981 kHz in Solsvik on the coast of western Norway. The receiver was a Drake SPR-4 with a 200-metre antenna facing southwest. Audio quality is fair at first with fading and co-channel interference later. The recording is kindly donated by Svenn Martinsen.