Skywave Collection Archives - Irish Pirate Radio Audio Archive

22nd September 202317th September 2023

Drivetime on Sunshine Radio

This recording of Sunshine Radio from the autumn of 1983 features the final part of the drivetime show Sunshine in the Afternoon with Paul Kavanagh. It begins with a music sweep followed by a super-set from the Hollies. Solar Energy with David Dennehy is to follow after the news at 8pm. Despite Sunshine’s commercial success, it is interesting to note that there is no commercial break in the half-hour recording.

The tape was made on 24^th August 1983 between 1917 and 1947 from either 100.5 or 101.5 FM (only the announced frequency of 101 FM is mentioned on the label). It is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

20th September 202317th September 2023

Radio Nova evening service ‘Super Nova’

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Not long after returning to the air following the raid of May 1983, Radio Nova began splitting its evening service between the main output on 828 kHz AM and specialist programmes on 88.2 FM, under the ‘Super Nova’ banner. The Nova offshoot station KISS FM was a casualty of the raid and didn’t return until later in the year but Super Nova helped absorb additional advertising over the summer and early autumn. This recording from that time begins with Colm Hayes winding up his drivetime show and telling listeners that the service will split after the 1900 news: current affairs show Dublin Today on AM and Denis Murray’s Rock Show on FM. News is read by Sybil Fennell and commercial breaks include the high-level agency adverts associated with Nova. There’s also mention of the station’s £6,000 giveaway that would be won at the end of August. The beginning of the Rock Show is heard after the news.

The recording was made on 24^th August 1983 between 1845 and 1915 from 88.2 FM. It is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

15th September 20239th September 2023

Gerard Roe on Radio Dublin Channel 2 (14 December 1983)

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The recording of Gerard Roe’s popular FRC programme on Radio Dublin Channel 2 was made at Christmas 1983, at the end of a dramatic year for Irish pirate radio due to a clampdown by the authorities. The programme includes a report about the recent raid on and closure of Community Radio 257 and the confiscation of equipment from Nova Television, Chris Cary’s shortlived experiment that rocked the media world. Ger says there was no need for Nova to enter the television market and reads a letter from Sunshine Radio boss Robbie Robinson who condemned the move as irresponsible. The show also contains archive recordings of Southside Radio from 1979 and KELO from 1981. There is an advert for Anoraks Ireland voiced by Kieran Murray.

The recording was made on 14^th December 1983 from 98.7 FM between 2003-2100 and contains some edits. Radio Dublin Channel 2 also broadcast on 1152 kHz AM, announcing 260 metres. The tape is from the Skywaves Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

11th September 20239th September 2023

Moonlight Radio on test transmission

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Moonlight Radio was a shortlived hobby station broadcasting on AM in 1983 from the Glasnevin area of north Dublin. According to former DJ Joe Doyle in an interview with Pirate.ie, Moonlight was set up by Damian McTiernan and used just 50 watts of power. The name was due to the fact that it only came on air at night.

This recording was made from 266 metres/1125 kHz and features Dominic Heary who gives out a phone number for requests and reception reports. Dominic says that the station is back for another test broadcast but is on reduced power and this is confirmed by night-time fading heard during the recording, which was made only about 10km away. The same frequency was used by Radio Carousel in Dundalk and the co-channel interference at times may be from the Louth station.

Unusually there are no times or date on the recording but we estimate it to be from December 1983. The tape is from the Skywaves Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.

8th September 20239th September 2023

Community Radio Avalon from south Dublin

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Community Radio Avalon was another short-lived station broadcasting from the southside of Dublin in the mid-1980s. It is not listed in DX Archive logs from 1985 but is thought to have begun broadcasting from the Dún Laoghaire area late that year. The Anoraks UK Weekly Report of 8^th December 1985 reported that a Radio Avalon had been heard on 98.5 and announcing various AM frequencies before eventually appearing on 1116 kHz. Competition for AM space was fierce in the unregulated world of Dublin pirate radio and the Weekly Report of January 5^th 1986 reported that both KISS FM and Radio Avalon were on the same AM frequency at different times and sometimes at the same time! There are references to Radio Avalon on FM only in early 1986 but on 23^rd March, Weekly Report said it had closed down.

In this recording there is only one link from DJ Robbie Keane and otherwise it consists of continuous music with generic station idents. The tape was made from 98.3 FM, announced as 98.5, from 1432-1520 on 2^nd December 1985 and is from the Skywave Tapes Collection. Radio Skywave International was a 1980s shortwave station broadcasting from Baldoyle in northeast Dublin.