Telstar Community Radio letterhead from 1981 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
Telstar Community Radio (1980-1988) was a long-running pirate station broadcasting from in and around Dundalk in Co. Louth. Despite stiff competition from other stations in the small county, especially Radio Carousel, it held its own and carved out a niche in the local market.
This short recording of Telstar gives a flavour of afternoon programming in 1982. Dave Ritchie reads out plenty of requests from listeners, there is an oldies spot and sports results are promised. The station also offers a chance to win tickets to a concert by Irish traditional band Clannad, who were making waves at the time. One of the most familiar voices on Telstar, Ray Stone, is heard on many of the adverts for businesses in and around Dundalk.
This airchecked recording was made by Kieran Murray from around 1400 on 13th May 1982 from 1197 kHz (announcing 250 metres) and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Audio is of DX quality as the recording was made outside the core listening area in north Louth.
An early Radio West flyer giving the 290m wavelength (courtesy DX Archive).
Mullingar-based pirate Radio West grew from humble origins in early 1982 into a large regional station by 1987, even rebranding itself as West National Radio 3 and claiming coverage of 22 of the 26 counties. Our short recording was made not long after its launch and features snippets of afternoon programmes. First up is John Flood (if we heard the name correctly), who is followed by Mike Young with the Solid Gold show. News is read by Orla Francis. The strapline of ‘the mighty 290’ is used but Radio West in fact broadcast on 1071 kHz at the time, which was closer to 280 metres. Such flexibility in announced frequencies was common in the days before digital displays on radios. The recording is of note because it shows how Radio West developed from a relatively amateur local service into a much larger regional operation during its 6 years on air. Its footprint was transformed after it acquired a 10 kW transmitter that gave it widespread coverage, leading it to claim national coverage.
This airchecked recording of Radio West was made from shortly before 1500 on 12th April 1982 from 1071 kHz AM. The tape was recorded by Kieran Murray and is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection. Audio is of DX quality as Radio West was on low power at the time and the tape was made outside the core listening area in Westmeath.
WABC sticker from the late 1980s (courtesy DX Archive)
Today we begin a new series of the history of the Donegal pirate station WABC with the assistance of our friend and long-time watcher of the Irish radio scene, Ian Biggar. WABC was a successful station that was on air over three separate periods before and after the introduction of legislation that aimed to silence pirate radio in the Republic of Ireland. WABC first broadcast from September 1987 until the end of December 1988, closing down along with the vast majority of other stations. It returned to the airwaves in June 1989 and continued until April 1991. A final spell of broadcasting occurred for a few months in 2001. The station operator was Paul Barnett (RIP), known on air as Paul Burbank or Paul Bentley, who had a background in land-based pirates in the UK. Paul moved with his Irish-born wife Krissi to Coleraine and set up WABC and both were heard regularly on the station. Following the demise of WABC, Paul took over the ownership of another long-running Donegal pirate, Radio North, which continues to broadcast to this day.
WABC founder Paul Barnett pictured in 1990 (courtesy Ian Biggar)
The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 6th September 1987 reported that WABC had been heard testing on 106 FM and that AM was due to follow. The station was based at Inishowen Head and was beaming its signal into Northern Ireland. WABC began regular broadcasts on 16th September on 106 FM only. The Weekly Report of 1st November referred to ‘WABC – the Hot 107’ following a frequency change and noted that the station was being received well in Blackpool despite the distance, due to a high location for the transmitter. A PO box in Coleraine in Co. Derry was given as the contact address.
The Weekly Report of 8th November again noted WABC and commented that they ‘must certainly have appealed to young people with their fast disco/Top 40 format and dozens of jingles (all old favourites chopped up, but nice, nevertheless, to hear again). Advertisers were urged to contact the station without delay, and we feel sure that they will be doing just this. It would be interesting to know how far the station is penetrating into Ireland, with a listenable (marketable) signal’. On 6th December, Anoraks UK noted that WABC was also audible in Blackpool on 1242 kHz once Radio Merseywaves was off the air. The 20th December 1987 edition of Weekly Report noted that the AM transmitter had an output of 500w but that the aerial was inefficient, while the 107 FM transmitter was running about 350w from a site 4 miles east of Moville. It also noted a new channel of 98 FM in use with just 50w but plans to increase the signal to 1kW. Paul Barnett was quoted as saying that selling ads was not easy due to fierce competition but that a sizeable audience had been built up after just a few months on air. At this time, WABC was operating from 0700-0100 every day with an ‘all hits – no country’ policy aimed at the 15-35 age group.
Our first recording of WABC was made on high ground in East Ayrshire in Scotland and due to the distance from the TX site, includes some fading. The station had recently come on air and was broadcasting from a mobile home near Malin Head. Some adverts are heard for businesses in Derry and Antrim and DJ Dougie Dee plays a hangman competition on air with plenty of phone entries. The tape was made from 1852-1940 from 107 FM on 29th October 1987 and is courtesy of DX Archive.
Bob Nailor in the Sonic Independent Radio studio in 1981 (courtesy DX Archive).
Sonic Independent Radio was one of many short-lived south Dublin stations during the early 1980s. Based in Shankill on the southside, it was first logged in the winter of 1980/1981 on 1314 kHz (announcing 228 metres) and was noted on that frequency several times during 1981. Sonic was run by Joe Jackson, who provided many AM transmitters for pirate radio around that time. According to an entry on DX Archive, the same transmitter was used for later short-term stations such as East Coast Radio, ABC (Dún Laoghaire) and South City Radio. Sonic features in a log of stations received in Lancashire in summer 1981 and was said to have a very good signal at the time. However reception of the station outside Ireland was soon to be hampered by the expansion of Norwegian station NRK of its broadcasts on 1314 kHz.
This recording of Sonic Independent Radio is of the weekly FRC (Free Radio Campaign) Ireland show, presented by Rick Davenport and Steve Johnston. The FRC show covers radio news, both licensed and pirate, and includes listeners’ letters and reception reports. The presenters announce that Sonic is to be relaunched the following day, with a new format and name. This edition of the FRC Ireland show was a relay by Capital Radio International on 6268 kHz. It was made on 8th November 1981 from 1200-1245 and begins with the voice of Capital Radio operator, Aidan Hughes. Capital Radio began broadcasting in 1981 and continued as a regular Sunday morning shortwave pirate throughout the 1980s. It returned in the early 1990s but ceased to broadcast after Aidan Hughes died prematurely.
Audio quality on this recording ranges from fair to poor, reflecting the fact that it is of a shortwave relay of an original medium wave broadcast. There is also some wobble due to degradation of the cassette, which is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection.
The massive AM aerial at the Nova Park site in 1983 (courtesy DX Archive).
The boss of Dublin super-pirate Radio Nova, Chris Cary, made various attempts to reach the west coast of Britain through the use of high-powered AM transmitters. At various times in the station’s existence, weather reports referred to northwest England, southern Scotland and the Isle of Man and Nova opened an advertising office in Liverpool in 1984. Expansion plans were dealt a severe blow in May 1983 when the authorities raided Nova and when the station returned to full-time broadcasting a days weeks later, power was reduced significantly.
Nova newsreader Ken Hammond (courtesy Noel Hiney).
This recording was made from Nova’s AM frequency about a month before the raids and gives a flavour of how the station sounded in the English midlands outside the intended listening area on the west coast. It begins with Denis Murray finishing his Saturday night show and the extended midnight news read by Ken Hammond, who would go on to become an RTÉ journalist. The overnight DJ is the late Roland Burke. The recording continues with a Sunday morning show presented by Mike Moran and news read by Bryan Dobson, who also went on to a career with RTÉ News.
The night-time recording contains lots of fading consistent with AM propagation in the hours of darkness and the daytime section is typical of groundwave reception. Made from 819 kHz, it begins at 2350 on Saturday 9th and continues from 0937 on Sunday 10th April 1983. The recording is from the Leon Tipler Tapes Collection, donated to us by Steve England.
