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Aircheck: ‘Phantom’ disrupts Dublin pirates

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Aircheck: ‘Phantom’ disrupts Dublin pirates

Broadcasts of Dublin station Q102 were disrupted in July 1986 by a mysterious ‘phantom’ who managed to break into the VHF link to the AM transmitter and disrupt normal programming on 819 kHz. Anoraks UK reported receiving anonymous calls from Dublin to say that the ‘ghost’ of Radio Nova was to return and later that day, Radio Nova jingles were broadcast on Q102’s AM frequency (Radio Nova had closed in March 1986). A person on a bicycle with a rucksack and home-made dipole was spotted near Q’s transmitter site but escaped before engineers could catch up with him. The ‘Phantom’ also called Radio West’s Sunday Anoraks’ Hour to threaten further disruption. This mysterious recording includes references to that programme and also cheekily edits a Capitol Radio jingle, changing it from ‘Move over to Capitol’ to ‘Move over Capitol’. This was apparent hint that Capitol would be the next target!

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Interview: David Baker

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Interview: David Baker
David Baker on Radio Sandymount in 1984 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

David Baker was a well-known voice on Irish pirate radio in the 1980s and worked in or managed a large number of stations including ARD, Radio City, Radio Leinster, the Community Broadcasting Co-operative, KISS FM, Heartbeat and KLAS.

In this interview, John Walsh caught up with David Baker and talked about his pirate days, with a particular focus on the easy listening station KLAS. John worked with David in KLAS from 1986-1988.

Interview: David Baker
The garage at the back of 312 Sutton Park, Dublin 13, the location KLAS first broadcast from (photo John Walsh).

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Interview: Denis Murray (Big D/KISS FM (102.7)/Radio Nova/KISS FM Monaghan)

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Interview: Denis Murray (Big D/KISS FM (102.7)/Radio Nova/KISS FM Monaghan)
A sticker for the KISS FM on 102.7 set up by Chris Cary, where Dennis Murray worked from 1982-84. Courtesy DX Archive.

On October 20th 2018 over 100 radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era. 

John Walsh interviewed Denis Murray about his pirate radio past including the early days of Big D, Radio Nova, KISS FM (102.7) in Dublin and another KISS FM (103.7) in Monaghan.

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Interview: Tom Hardy (Radio Nova, KISS FM 102.7, KISS FM Monaghan)

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Interview: Tom Hardy (Radio Nova, KISS FM 102.7, KISS FM Monaghan)
Tom Hardy at Radio Nova on 19th May 1983, the day of the official closedown (courtesy Joe King).

In this interview the late Tom Hardy speaks to John Walsh about his memories of Radio Nova including the raid of 1983, Nova’s sister station KISS FM 102.7, KISS FM (Monaghan) and his views about the current state of radio.

The interview was conducted on October 20th 2018 when over one hundred radio anoraks gathered in the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. The purpose was to meet and record oral history of the pirate radio era.