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Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 2:20 pm
by Herman_Belgium
Is the some one ho can tell me more about Radio Dublin one the oldest radio stations from Dublin way back in the 1970's and 1980's. I believe there where on 252 mtr - 1.187 khz ? ather Radio Caroline was off the air in 1980 when the MV Mi Amigo dud sunk.

And I dod remember them on 6.240 khz 260 also ? not sure first and later on 6.910 khz. I did listen way back in the early 1980's to that station here in East Flanders , Belgium. My location is 5 km or 3 miles North - West from the city Gent between (Antwerpen and Brugge) Antwerp and Brugges.

I did use a home made dipole for around 6,5 to 7 mhz on a Phillips Portable SW radio ho did do a great job and the signal was hard and loud very strong some QSB (fading) I still remember very well. There was a great opening than in the early 1980's on SW and its was not even a problem to make a QSO on 27 mhz with Ireland in SSB and some times even on AM at night with low power. Where is that time now that was very great and I would have very good memories even still to day.

So I would love and like to hear much more about Radio Dublin SW ? its a pitty that I never did make any long recordings maybe some people have them ?

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 3:32 pm
by dancemusicdj
I can't tell you anything about them on sw as (as far as i know) it went off sw when i was rather young. I remember them a bit on fm (100.0 i think) . It seased in 2003. There is stuff out there in relation to the station and it's history, google would really be your friend.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 9:02 pm
by tonytony

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:08 pm
by yellowbeard
While you are talking about Radio Dublin, turns out the bloke that was running it was a child molestor and may have offed one of them. I only ever met him once and he was a dirty old man, I mean he cleaned out under his fingernails with a fork then ate his dinner with it.

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http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0610/794730-philip-cairns-information/

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:25 pm
by dancemusicdj
yellowbeard wrote:While you are talking about Radio Dublin, turns out the bloke that was running it was a child molestor and may have offed one of them. I only ever met him once and he was a dirty old man, I mean he cleaned out under his fingernails with a fork then ate his dinner with it.

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http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0610/794730-philip-cairns-information/
Yup. A nasty individual by all accounts. He died recently as well.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:29 pm
by braveheart71
The short wave output on 6910khz was well received here in the Glasgow area of Scotland although it wasn't 24hr like the mw transmission on 1188khz. I remember the audio quality on the mw transmitter not being that great.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:25 pm
by TimB
6911 with the crunchy audio
happy memories from 91/92

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:50 am
by Albert H
As I remember, the 1188kHz was "limited" by driving the modulator into clipping! It always sounded pretty horrible.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:11 am
by TimB
i was just grateful that they were on 24/7 so i had something to listen to outside of sundays :D

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2023 11:36 pm
by Persona Non Grata
As I remember, the 1188kHz was "limited" by driving the modulator into clipping! It always sounded pretty horrible.
Seemingly the transmitter was a "professional" unit imported from the United States but the original owner was the Pennsylvania power company. The modulation transformer was not "broadcast quality" but designed for utility/communications.

After the Feb 1989 raids a replacement rig was sourced from LLCR (Pre 1988 station from the "Liberties" area of Dublin) Later they reportedly got hold of a transmitter formerly used by Sunshine/Century but never actually got to use it.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 12:09 am
by Albert H
Their second SW rig came from my old station. It was a horrible screen-grid modulated piece of junk that couldn't be fully modulated - built by "Brig" as an experiment (that failed!). An "engineer" in Dublin tried to modify it so that it could be anode-modulated, but only succeeded in making a lot of smoke (and not much modulation) when he burned up the under-rated modulation transformer he tried to use! The 4-400 valve used in the business end of the rig was capable of about 180 Watts carrier (as it was constructed) and the screen-grid modulation allowed it to peak at about 510 Watts - full modulation would have peaked at 720 Watts (or more with positive peaking trickery). Despite its limitations, that rig got out pretty well.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2024 1:49 pm
by Persona Non Grata
Is the some one ho can tell me more about Radio Dublin one the oldest radio stations from Dublin way back in the 1970's and 1980's
The station claimed lineage back to 1966 under various owners but the individual whom several previous posters have referred to only assumed ownership (in highly questionable circumstances -Like much else in the station's history) in the mid 1970's.

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:10 pm
by 87to108
A short lived station with a country music format in 2003, called ICE-FM 90.4 and claimed to be the return of R. Dublin under a new name, was the receiving end of some quite negative publicity in a tabloid Irish Sunday newspaper (see attached).
The author would have received help for the article from someone involved in radio , quite possibly an individual who at one time was in fact a DJ on R. Dublin. The operator of ICE FM took serious exception to the newspaper claims and had a long rant on air about it on Sunday afternoon, in his sort of 'station news'.
The negative publicity and its fall-out must have finished off I.C.E. as it disappeared shortly after?

Re: Radio Dublin MW and SW way back in the 1980'

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 4:50 pm
by Persona Non Grata
Splits with disgruntled former staff were a regular feature of Radio Dublin's history (and to put it mildly there were plenty of folk who had good cause to be disgruntled around that time) so I wouldn't surprised if journalists were being fed "inside information" from some source.

It was extremely unwise of ICE to claim any kind of continuity with Radio Dublin. In the aftermath of Cookes conviction it was a completely toxic brand which nobody in their right minds would want to be associated with. While there have been attempts to untangle some of the history of the station from the misdeeds of it's "owner" subsequently it wasn't happening in 2003.

ICE did obtain a temporary licence (may have been under a different name) a few years after so in a way Radio Dublin's long campaign for a broadcasting licence did (however briefly and eventually) did bear fruit......sort of ?