Border series: Sean Brady heard on Radio Star Country in Norway

Border series: Sean Brady heard on Radio Star Country in Norway
Sean Brady in the early 1990s on Radio Star Country (courtesy of Sean).

This DX-quality recording of Monaghan station Radio Star Country was made in western Norway in 1992. On air is Sean Brady with a drivetime mix of country music and requests, with adverts from Derry, Fermanagh Tyrone, Monaghan and Cavan, some of them read live by the DJ. There are promos for events in Northern towns Keady and Magherafelt but no news bulletin at the top of the hour. A Monaghan number is announced for requests.

As would be expected given the distance from the transmitter, audio quality is poor for the most part with fading later in the recording. It was made in Solsvik on the west coast of Norway from 1627-1705 from 981 kHz on 29th October 1992. The receiver used was a Drake SPR-4 with a 200-metre antenna facing southwest. Thanks to Svenn Martinsen for the donation.

Border series: Don Allen heard in Norway on Radio Star Country

Border series: Don Allen heard in Norway on Radio Star Country
Screenshot of Don from 1989 video about Radio Star Country by Miles Johnston (courtesy Rodney Neill).

Don Allen (RIP) was a familiar voice on the Irish pirate scene and did a stint at Monaghan station Radio Star Country in 1989 and the early 1990s. This recording of Radio Star Country features Don with his live afternoon American country music show, as received in Norway due to the magic of AM propagation. Don is also heard on promos and adverts, as is station founder and owner Gerry Byrne.

The recording was made from 1632-1645 on 17th January 1990 from 981 kHz in Solsvik on the western Norwegian coast using a Drake SPR-4 receiver with a 200-metre antenna facing the southwest and Ireland. Audio quality is poor with deep fading and the Algerian station also broadcasting on 981 kHz dominates for a time, all part of the fun of DXing. Thanks to Svenn Martinsen for the donation.

Border series: Radio Star Country heard near and far

Border series: Radio Star Country heard near and far
A 1980s view of Bud in Norway where Radio Star Country was received (courtesy Svenn Martinsen).

One of the joys of AM broadcasting is its propagation that allows radio waves to travel long distances beyond the core listening area during the hours of darkness. In our focus on border station Radio Star Country, today we begin a series of posts showing how the Irish pirate sounded on the west coast of Norway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Recorded over 1,200 km from the transmission site on the Monaghan/Tyrone border, these tapes capture the unique audio quality of skywave reception of distant radio signals at dawn and dusk between October and March.

Border series: Radio Star Country heard near and far
Radio Star Country sticker from 1988 with the 891 kHz frequency (courtesy Ian Biggar).

The first such recording begins before 0900 on 17th November 1988, a few months after Radio Star Country began broadcasting from the Swan Lake Hotel in Monaghan Town. On air is station founder and owner Gerry Byrne with a promo for the forthcoming Radio Star Country Music Awards in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. The recording was made in Bud, western Norway from 891 kHz on a Hammarlund SP-600 JX1 receiver with a 500-metre Beverage antenna aimed towards the southwest. The antenna ran behind the barn to the left of the large white house (the rectory) on the right in the photo and received stations from Ireland, the UK, southwest Europe, Brazil and Argentina.

We thank Svenn Martinsen for his donation of these unique recordings.

Border series: Mother’s Day requests on Radio Star Country

Border series: Mother's Day requests on Radio Star Country
Radio Star Country mast in August 2022 (from Facebook page).

This recording of Radio Star Country was made on Mother’s Day in 2021 and features one of the Monaghan station’s popular DJs, Country Girl Claire presenting her Sunday morning breakfast programme. The recording begins just after Showers of Blessings, one of the station’s many religious shows. Claire promises the best of country and Irish music, a gospel corner every hour and community notices. Reflecting the station’s cross-border existence, a phone number in Co. Monaghan is given out for requests, along with a UK mobile number for text messages. The postal address for letters is in Portadown, Co. Armagh. News on the hour is from Sky and Claire promotes another religious show, Let the Bible Speak, coming up later that afternoon. Although there are plenty of listeners’ requests, only a handful of adverts are heard, in stark contrast with earlier recordings in this series.

The recording was made from the station’s webstream on 14th March 2021. Part 1 above runs from 0940 and Part 2 below from 1040.

Part 2 from 1040-1200.

Radio Star Country broadcasts on 981 kHz AM and online.

Border series: Radio Star Country on Christmas Eve 2010

Border series: Radio Star Country on Christmas Eve 2010
Banner of Stevie King who returned to Radio Star Country in 2023 (from Facebook).

This recording of border station Radio Star Country was made on Christmas Eve 2010, during the coldest weather in decades. On air is Stevie King with copious requests from all over mid-Ulster and as far afield as Derry and Antrim. Adverts are heard for various country music stars and for businesses in Armagh, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. An advertising promo thanks advertisers and listeners for their support during the year. Reflecting the mixed political or religious allegiances along the border, Stevie announces events linked to both sides of the community including a céilí and a concert by the Royal British Legion.

Due to a technical issue, no news bulletin from Sky is aired for the first few hours and there are several periods of dead air, which Stevie attributes to the adverse weather. The drivetime show is to be presented by Rita but given the continuous music after 4pm, it seems she did not make it through the snow. Reception is fair to poor as the tape was recorded in Blackpool in England and co-channel interference and fading increase as darkness falls. The recording was made from 981 kHz from 1208-1630 on 24th December 2010 and is courtesy of DX Archive.