An advert for Telstar Community Radio in Anoraks UK Weekly Report 1987
Telstar Community Radio (1980-1988) was a long-running pirate station based in and around Dundalk in Co. Louth. Despite stiff competition from Radio Carousel in the same town, Telstar built up and maintained its own listeners and advertisers throughout its time on air. This recording of Telstar was made in 1986, just after it had moved back into Dundalk from the village of Blackrock to the south, where it had spent the previous four years.
The recording begins with the breakfast show presented by Alex Evans, with news headlines on the half-hour and a mixture of chart, pop and easy-listening music. There are adverts for local businesses and branded station jingles. The second part of the tape begins with Alex handing over to Ray Stone for his mid-morning show until lunchtime. Ray promises an eclectic music mix including charts, ballads, céilí and rock and roll. He also shares community notices and trivia news items, apologising to listeners for the temporary absence of a phoneline following the move back into Dundalk.
The recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Collection and was made on Wednesday 30th April 1986 between 0652-0740 and 0956-1044 from 88.5 FM. Audible levels are variable and there is some distortion in places, due either to an on-air issue at the time or the cassette itself. Telstar also broadcast on 1197 kHz, announcing 250 metres.
This is another recording of Co. Louth station Telstar Community Radio from 1986. Broadcasting from the village of Blackrock south of Dundalk, Telstar was heard across the county and beyond and held its own for eight years despite stiff competition from other local pirates.
Handwritten cassette label from the Anoraks Ireland Collection
Part 1 of this recording above was made from 88.5 FM from 1222-1310 on 30th April 1986 and features the end of the show presented by station manager Ray Stone, who also reads the news. Ray is still broadcasting today on local licensed station LMFM. Part 2 below was made on the same date from 1310-1400 and features Dominic Keenan. Telstar also broadcast on 1197 kHz, announcing 250 metres.
Part 2 of the recording from 1310
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. More material from this collection can be heard on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.
Telstar flyer from the early days in 1981 (courtesy Ian Biggar).
This is a recording of Louth station Telstar Community Radio from 1986, featuring Ray Stone on air. Telstar broadcast from in and around Dundalk from 1980-1988 and built up its own listenership and advertising base, despite the stiff competition from big stations such as Radio Carousel in Dundalk and Boyneside Radio in Drogheda.
Handwritten label from the Anoraks Ireland collection
Ray Stone had originally been with Carousel but moved to Telstar and took on the manager role. He went on to local licensed station LMFM in 1989. In this recording from 88.5 FM on 30th April 1986, he multitasks as DJ and newsreader and is heard on many of the adverts. News bulletins contain references to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in the Soviet Union, which occurred a few days before. Part 1 above runs from 1046-1134 and part 2 below from 1134-1222.
Part 2 from 1134
This recording is from the Anoraks Ireland Tapes Collection, donated to us by Paul Davidson. More material from this collection can be heard on Radiowaves and the Irish Pirate Radio Archive.
Telstar Community Radio flyer from 1981 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Today we bring you the history of Telstar Community Radio from the Dundalk area. Thanks to Ian Biggar for the text, and to Eddie Caffrey and John Gartlan for additional information.
After the sudden closure of North East Radio (NER), it is not surprising that another radio station was being planned in Dundalk. The station was pretty much ready by mid-September 1980, although due to circumstances did not come on air until 1st November. Telstar Radio began daily transmissions announcing 250 metres, which was an actual frequency of 1197 kHz. Programmes were broadcast from 0700-0000 with several of the full-time staff of seven coming from NER. The station broadcast seven daily news bulletins, including a late round-up at 2330. The music featured was varied including pop with a fair smattering of country. There were specialist programmes in the evening covering genres like rock and traditional.
The station was located above The Wine Tavern on Park Street where two studios were located. The station’s first transmitter was a 500-watt unit built by Eddie Caffrey. This, along with a 100-foot tower, was located on the Blackrock Road. Coverage was stated as ranging from Drogheda to Newry, taking in towns such as Carrickmacross, Ardee and Armagh City although the range was compromised by the presence of BBC Radio 3 on 1197 kHz from Enniskillen. Later Telstar’s transmitter was replaced by a commercial Eddystone 1kW unit.
Telstar Community Radio rates card from 1986 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
Transmissions continued with a 50-watt FM transmitter added on 88.5 MHz and Telstar built a good following, even luring the well-known Ray Stone away from Radio Carousel. Ray went on to take up the position of station manager. However, Telstar Radio was delivered a blow just before Christmas 1981 when it was issued with an order to close by Dundalk Urban Council. The main problem was the lack of planning permission for the 100-foot mast on the Blackrock Road. The station had also moved its studios to this location earlier in the year. Ray Stone told a local newspaper that 19 full- and part-time staff would be out of work.
It may have seemed that the station was finished, but with sheer determination they returned to the air in February 1982, now with studios located above the Brake Pub in Blackrock near Dundalk. A new AM tower was erected on land on the Ardee Road between Dundalk and Knockbridge.
The Brake Pub in Blackrock, Co. Louth (photo by John Walsh).
The station was back to a regular service and regaining its listener base. However, in early 1986 it became known that Telstar was for sale. A buyer was found and by May 1st the sale was complete and the station moved back into Dundalk town to purpose-built studios on Earl Street. Staff like Ray Stone and Alec Fennell remained with the station. Around this time, Anoraks UK monitored the station for a day, but unfortunately described the programming as bland. In August 1987, Telstar appeared on a second medium wave frequency of 1170 kHz from a site in Castlebellingham. This was short-lived as the coverage was not great and by the end of September the transmitter had been switched off.
Leaflet about Telstar’s coverage in 1988 (courtesy of Ian Biggar).
In April 1987 a new FM frequency of 89.8 MHz was tried with a high-powered FM transmitter running 150 watts. However, interference was caused in the local area meaning the rig had to be switched off and did not return. The link transmitter to the AM site was moved from 88.5 to 88.3 as the former channel suffered interference from an RTE transmitter on Three Rock Mountain. Telstar continued broadcasting right through until an emotional closedown at 1pm on Saturday 31st December 1988.
Above you can hear the Telstar Alfasound jingles package from January 1987. We thank John Gartlan for sharing this. The two recordings below are from the early and final days of Telstar and are courtesy of Ian Biggar. The first is from 1350-1448 on 13th August 1981 and features Mark Sommers followed by Shane Mullen. The second is from 0915-1230 on 17th December 1988 and features Eamonn Duffy followed by the late Alec Evans (Fennell).
Telstar Community Radio audio from August 1981.Telstar Community Radio audio from December 1988.
