Sad day. End of Gold Radio. - Page 3 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Tazman1966 · 25th Mar 2014, 12:16 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glowing Bits!

...Fear not Graham, I recorded the last half hour of Dean Martin's Request Show on the B side of a C90 just for the hell of it!...

I have the final two hours as MP3's if anyone wants them.

winston_1 · 25th Mar 2014, 1:09 am

A worthwhile replacement is 2CH Sydney. Have a listen online and maybe feed it to a micro transmitter on 1170 its frequency there.

'LIVEWIRE?' · 25th Mar 2014, 9:48 am

In an earler post 'Glowing Bits' mentioned R. Wales. There is a long-running show on there Sunday Mornings called 'A String of Pearls', which features music of the 30s & 40s. There's not much of that on the radio these days, either.

mark pirate · 25th Mar 2014, 9:57 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Station X

I'm not impressed with Smooth Radio and I can't receive Gold on any of the medium wave frequencies it's retained.

I agree, this is not a station I would listen to, but at least there is still a station there for testing radios on the bench!
At least we still have Absolute radio, again not always to my taste, but better than nothing.

Mark

Glowing Bits! · 25th Mar 2014, 3:38 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark pirate

I agree, this is not a station I would listen to, but at least there is still a station there for testing radios on the bench!

I'd second that, having this station on one end of the scale and Radio Wales at the other, it makes AF alignment easier than sig-gens.

25th Mar 2014, 4:52 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glowing Bits!

the future probably is low powered transmitters for in-house use, unfortunately

Indeed there is a dearth of listenable to MW radio stations, I can get 720kHz Radio 4 which is fine until dusk, as for the rest, nothing of note. For my 'local transmitter' I feed it with a car DAB adaptor, loads of good stations, it's not the same as tuning in a real one though but has the non brickwall filtering of modern stations, must sound like the old days.

crackle · 25th Mar 2014, 5:30 pm

It is a shame that Gold has gone in Essex, I can only just pick up London, DAB stops and starts, and MW is weak and noisy and not good at night. Smooth is mind numbingly dull, who wants to sleep all day. All the local stuff like traffic news is to do with the north circular.

This internet Radio Station is not too bad if you send it to your AM radios and dont mind NZ ads, it plays quite a lot of vintage pop.
http://www.thecoast.net.nz/player/international/

Mike

Alan Stepney · 25th Mar 2014, 6:28 pm

Today I found that I can recieve Gold from London.
The problem is that it is on an AR88 which is far from portable!

Listening to Medium wave, there still appears to be plenty of European stations there.

hannahs radios · 29th Mar 2014, 12:58 am

Hi guys.

Holly and I will try that Australian station see what its like. Thanks for the tip I've also played some of my old tapes through the sig gen and they sound superb, especially the old Radio One tapes when they had a superb level of compresion on their audio. Makes us feel all warm and fuzzy although Holly's to young to remember real radio.

Cheers guys, Hannah and Holly.

Keith_B · 10th Apr 2014, 5:16 pm

Gold also stopped in the Bristol area on AM & DAB. Replaced by Smooth Bristol. Only broadcast in a select few places. see here http://www.mygoldmusic.co.uk/Article.asp?id=486495
Shame as I enjoyed firing up my radios to listen.
Not a proper station now becoming internet only.

Keith

'LIVEWIRE?' · 10th Apr 2014, 7:08 pm

2CH in Sydney has a fifties hour on Tuesday eveningsat 10.00PM (Their Time). I've listened to it once. Nothing particularly rare or unusual in the programme, just a good selection of tunes from the 'Golden Decade' by the likes of Pat Boone, Nat 'King' Cole, etc. plus some Rock'n'Roll.

mark_in_manc · 10th Apr 2014, 10:02 pm

It's LW 252 kHz, not MW, so maybe a bit off-topic - but RTE radio 1 is excellent. - to my ears like good bits of BBC radio 2-5, mixed up.

Junk Box Nick · 10th Apr 2014, 10:41 pm

I listen occasionally to RTE 1. I got tired of the gold stations a while ago - the same records again and again - cheaper and cheaper production. I think the radio landscape is dreadful and getting worse. I sometimes wonder about the sets I have under restoration - there is now so little that is worth listening to. All these AM frequencies are going to rot. I long for intelligent radio instead of the banal that is so prevelant and will/would happily listen on AM if it was available there.

On the other hand AM is having a revival chez moi. My neighbour must have got rid of whatever has been radiating a square wave down the mains for the last couple of years as I can listen to weaker AM stations day and night once more.

cmjones01 · 12th Apr 2014, 9:27 am

Reading this thread, I got curious about what I could hear from here in Poland. I casually tuned around medium wave on the unreconstructed Bush TR130 (with its original AF117s!) that I often use to listen to the weak, but audible, signal from BBC Radio 4 Droitwich. At first I thought the wavechange switch was dirty, since I could only receive a few odd buzzes of interference and no actual stations. I made a mental note to clean it. But then I tried again at night and picked up all sorts of things, so the radio wasn't faulty.

Then I found this page:

http://www.mediumwave.de/

with a list of at least most of the MW stations in Europe, and discovered that there isn't a single medium wave broadcast in Poland! The only AM here is the first programme of Polish radio from Solec Kujawski on 225kHz.

So count yourselves lucky that there's anything at all to listen to!

Chris

music-centre · 14th Dec 2014, 9:40 pm

Hi,
I noticed on the Gold London 1548 Frequency today they are putting a message out that Gold would be on Digital TV Channel 923 from Monday, they mentioned that the Sky channel would be staying the same so does anybody know if this is going to be on Freeview? or is just a cable channel changing numbers? Would be quite good if it is to be on Freeview.
Regards,
Steve.

paulsherwin · 14th Dec 2014, 9:56 pm

923 isn't a valid Freeview channel number. The radio stations are all in the low 700s. They could appear on another number but I'm unaware of any plans to do so.

hamid_1 · 15th Dec 2014, 2:57 am

Since March 2014, most of the former Gold radio transmitters have been carrying Smooth Radio. Gold still broadcasts in London, Manchester and Nottingham on AM and DAB, and nationwide on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media digital TV. You can also listen online at http://www.mygoldmusic.co.uk

Most of Gold's programming is now automated, with no DJs anymore except on the morning breakfast show and a bit at weekends.

The latest announcement said:

The channel number for Gold Radio is changing for Virgin Media cable TV customers.
The channel numbers for Gold on Freesat and Sky remain the same.

Freeview does not carry Gold Radio. It never has done, and there are no plans for Gold to broadcast on Freeview as far as I know.

Freeview and Freesat are two separate systems, each with a different selection of channels. People often get the two mixed up, though.

WaveyDipole · 15th Dec 2014, 2:30 pm

cmjones01, I have always wondered whether there were any stations in Poland on LW, MW and SW but so far have been unable to pick anything up from here in the UK. Your post maybe explains why!

I do like listening to golden oldies and Gold is one the few stations I have listened to. I believe that I had picked it up on my Eddystone about a few weeks ago (not played with it for a while and can't remember the exact frequency but about the 900-1000khz mark). I did get quite a bit of noise and fadeout, but I see from their website that they are still broadcasting in the East Midlands so maybe that explains it.

PsychMan · 17th Dec 2014, 1:49 pm

I just about get a listenable Gold on 1548 in the car in Fleet, Hampshire. It does depend what area I'm in and it does range from listenable to atrocious though. This must be the edge of the London transmitter

BGmidsUK · 18th Dec 2014, 11:23 am

WaveyDipole, I find that the medium wave band is rather barren in Leicester and signals which would otherwise be audible are probably masked by noise from the numerous electronic devices in the vicinity. One of few disadvantages of living in the inner city I suppose.

I'm planning on installing a flat ceiling in the loft so I may experiment with wires in the ceiling void for long, medium and short wave, I miss being able to tune in to all the nearby regional stations (and those beamed from Europe!) when I was a youngster living high up on the outskirts.

Brian

25th Mar 2014, 1:09 am	#42
winston_1 Heptode Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: London, UK. Posts: 500	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. A worthwhile replacement is 2CH Sydney. Have a listen online and maybe feed it to a micro transmitter on 1170 its frequency there.

25th Mar 2014, 9:48 am	#43
'LIVEWIRE?' Rest in Peace Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: N.W. Oxfordshire(Chipping Norton) Posts: 7,306	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. In an earler post 'Glowing Bits' mentioned R. Wales. There is a long-running show on there Sunday Mornings called 'A String of Pearls', which features music of the 30s & 40s. There's not much of that on the radio these days, either.

25th Mar 2014, 5:30 pm	#47
crackle Rest in Peace Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Basildon, Essex, UK. Posts: 4,100	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. It is a shame that Gold has gone in Essex, I can only just pick up London, DAB stops and starts, and MW is weak and noisy and not good at night. Smooth is mind numbingly dull, who wants to sleep all day. All the local stuff like traffic news is to do with the north circular. This internet Radio Station is not too bad if you send it to your AM radios and dont mind NZ ads, it plays quite a lot of vintage pop. http://www.thecoast.net.nz/player/international/ Mike

25th Mar 2014, 6:28 pm	#48
Alan Stepney Rest in Peace Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Dorset, UK. Posts: 947	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. Today I found that I can recieve Gold from London. The problem is that it is on an AR88 which is far from portable! Listening to Medium wave, there still appears to be plenty of European stations there.

29th Mar 2014, 12:58 am	#49
hannahs radios Hexode Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Weymouth, Dorset, UK. Posts: 422	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. Hi guys. Holly and I will try that Australian station see what its like. Thanks for the tip I've also played some of my old tapes through the sig gen and they sound superb, especially the old Radio One tapes when they had a superb level of compresion on their audio. Makes us feel all warm and fuzzy although Holly's to young to remember real radio. Cheers guys, Hannah and Holly.

10th Apr 2014, 5:16 pm	#50
Keith_B Tetrode Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bristol, UK. Posts: 86	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. Gold also stopped in the Bristol area on AM & DAB. Replaced by Smooth Bristol. Only broadcast in a select few places. see here http://www.mygoldmusic.co.uk/Article.asp?id=486495 Shame as I enjoyed firing up my radios to listen. Not a proper station now becoming internet only. Keith __________________ BVWS Member

10th Apr 2014, 7:08 pm	#51
'LIVEWIRE?' Rest in Peace Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: N.W. Oxfordshire(Chipping Norton) Posts: 7,306	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. 2CH in Sydney has a fifties hour on Tuesday eveningsat 10.00PM (Their Time). I've listened to it once. Nothing particularly rare or unusual in the programme, just a good selection of tunes from the 'Golden Decade' by the likes of Pat Boone, Nat 'King' Cole, etc. plus some Rock'n'Roll.

10th Apr 2014, 10:02 pm	#52
mark_in_manc Octode Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Manchester, UK. Posts: 1,875	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. It's LW 252 kHz, not MW, so maybe a bit off-topic - but RTE radio 1 is excellent. - to my ears like good bits of BBC radio 2-5, mixed up.

10th Apr 2014, 10:41 pm	#53
Junk Box Nick Octode Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: West Midlands, UK. Posts: 1,571	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. I listen occasionally to RTE 1. I got tired of the gold stations a while ago - the same records again and again - cheaper and cheaper production. I think the radio landscape is dreadful and getting worse. I sometimes wonder about the sets I have under restoration - there is now so little that is worth listening to. All these AM frequencies are going to rot. I long for intelligent radio instead of the banal that is so prevelant and will/would happily listen on AM if it was available there. On the other hand AM is having a revival chez moi. My neighbour must have got rid of whatever has been radiating a square wave down the mains for the last couple of years as I can listen to weaker AM stations day and night once more.

12th Apr 2014, 9:27 am	#54
cmjones01 Nonode Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Warsaw, Poland and Cambridge, UK Posts: 2,681	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. Reading this thread, I got curious about what I could hear from here in Poland. I casually tuned around medium wave on the unreconstructed Bush TR130 (with its original AF117s!) that I often use to listen to the weak, but audible, signal from BBC Radio 4 Droitwich. At first I thought the wavechange switch was dirty, since I could only receive a few odd buzzes of interference and no actual stations. I made a mental note to clean it. But then I tried again at night and picked up all sorts of things, so the radio wasn't faulty. Then I found this page: http://www.mediumwave.de/ with a list of at least most of the MW stations in Europe, and discovered that there isn't a single medium wave broadcast in Poland! The only AM here is the first programme of Polish radio from Solec Kujawski on 225kHz. So count yourselves lucky that there's anything at all to listen to! Chris __________________ What's going on in the workshop? http://martin-jones.com/

14th Dec 2014, 9:40 pm	#55
music-centre Heptode Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK. Posts: 687	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. Hi, I noticed on the Gold London 1548 Frequency today they are putting a message out that Gold would be on Digital TV Channel 923 from Monday, they mentioned that the Sky channel would be staying the same so does anybody know if this is going to be on Freeview? or is just a cable channel changing numbers? Would be quite good if it is to be on Freeview. Regards, Steve.

14th Dec 2014, 9:56 pm	#56
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,970	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. 923 isn't a valid Freeview channel number. The radio stations are all in the low 700s. They could appear on another number but I'm unaware of any plans to do so.

15th Dec 2014, 2:57 am	#57
hamid_1 Heptode Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: High Wycombe, Bucks. UK. Posts: 811	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. Since March 2014, most of the former Gold radio transmitters have been carrying Smooth Radio. Gold still broadcasts in London, Manchester and Nottingham on AM and DAB, and nationwide on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media digital TV. You can also listen online at http://www.mygoldmusic.co.uk Most of Gold's programming is now automated, with no DJs anymore except on the morning breakfast show and a bit at weekends. The latest announcement said: The channel number for Gold Radio is changing for Virgin Media cable TV customers. The channel numbers for Gold on Freesat and Sky remain the same. Freeview does not carry Gold Radio. It never has done, and there are no plans for Gold to broadcast on Freeview as far as I know. Freeview and Freesat are two separate systems, each with a different selection of channels. People often get the two mixed up, though.

15th Dec 2014, 2:30 pm	#58
WaveyDipole Nonode Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Leicester, UK Posts: 2,535	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. cmjones01, I have always wondered whether there were any stations in Poland on LW, MW and SW but so far have been unable to pick anything up from here in the UK. Your post maybe explains why! I do like listening to golden oldies and Gold is one the few stations I have listened to. I believe that I had picked it up on my Eddystone about a few weeks ago (not played with it for a while and can't remember the exact frequency but about the 900-1000khz mark). I did get quite a bit of noise and fadeout, but I see from their website that they are still broadcasting in the East Midlands so maybe that explains it.

17th Dec 2014, 1:49 pm	#59
PsychMan Octode Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Fleet, Hampshire, UK Posts: 1,765	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. I just about get a listenable Gold on 1548 in the car in Fleet, Hampshire. It does depend what area I'm in and it does range from listenable to atrocious though. This must be the edge of the London transmitter

18th Dec 2014, 11:23 am	#60
BGmidsUK Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Leicester, UK. Posts: 809	Re: Sad day. End of Gold Radio. WaveyDipole, I find that the medium wave band is rather barren in Leicester and signals which would otherwise be audible are probably masked by noise from the numerous electronic devices in the vicinity. One of few disadvantages of living in the inner city I suppose. I'm planning on installing a flat ceiling in the loft so I may experiment with wires in the ceiling void for long, medium and short wave, I miss being able to tune in to all the nearby regional stations (and those beamed from Europe!) when I was a youngster living high up on the outskirts. Brian