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Old 11th Nov 2017, 11:02 pm   #121
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Good signal here without any fading, but I guess its not very far if its coming from that IP14 Postcode area.
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Old 11th Nov 2017, 11:17 pm   #122
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Just been trying again - this time with my Eddystone 840A. And success! heard them playing "Eight Miles High" by The Byrds jjust before 22:00z and now they're playing The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour.

They're fighting a fading-battle against a Spanish station, which I suspect is the 10Kw "Badajoz" output of 'RNE Radio Nacional' in Extremadura (Southwest Spain, on the border with Portugal).
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 12:19 am   #123
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

I was listening indoors in Eastbourne on a Panasonic RF1110 portable at around 4pm, a good clear signal with only a little fading. Was pleasantly surprised I could hear it.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 12:28 am   #124
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

I listened tonight from 22.30 on 648kHz, confirmed using a digital frequency counter and a signal generator, and heard back-to-back pop music including "Handbags and Gladrags" at 22.35, "House of the Rising Sun" at 22.43, "Barbara Ann" at 22.55 and "Flowers in the Rain" at 22.58. Reception was fairly steady, with some rapid fluttery fading together with slow fading over a 2-3 minute period. I guess a SINPO report would be 3-5-4-4-4. I tried several receivers, including my shack Trio 9R59DS, but my best reception was on a Grundig C6500 Automatic portable radio/cassette.

There was an announcement at 23.01 mentioning Radio Caroline and requesting listener reports to a PO Box in Essex. Unfortunately it faded down and I didn't catch the details. The time's now 23.10 and they're playing "Up Tight Outta Sight" and the receiver's S-meter is indicating a steady S3.

To be honest I'm not that keen on their choice of music!
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 12:53 am   #125
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Well there's a thing!! You would have thought that something as major as the start of test transmissions on MW would have been shouted from the rooftops on the station. I am a daily listener on the internet and have heard no mention of it. Just checked the website and again not a mention! Very strange.
I am not a 'radio' person and have not listened to broadcast radio for years so don't possess any working radios!! However, as this was a special event, I had to find something to try and receive it on especially being in North Essex where the signal should be reasonable.
So what to do?
After a bit of a think, I remembered an old car radio at the back of a cupboard and dug it out. I cobbled together a power supply for it (I've got nothing here at present) and found a scrap speaker with half it's cone missing.
Using a test meter lead as an aerial, low and behold, there was Caroline, albeit with another station on top of it!!
Certainly sounds just as bad as I remember Luxembourg sounded when I was a kid!!
All I can say is thank goodness for the internet: at least I get to hear all the MP3 artifacts
However, it might spur me on to fix the Marconi 557 radio that I accidentally acquired a few months ago
All the best,
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 1:13 am   #126
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
Yes I've got a VHF81 here [currently undergoing some serious rework] and when used alongside something like my Pye P75 the difference the extra RF-amp makes to MW/LW reception is really noticeable. I can hear stations at 'entertainment' quality on the VHF81...
I've just tried my own VHF81, and it's pulling Radio Caroline in at excellent entertainment strength. I hadn't realised how well these sets perform on MW.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 1:13 am   #127
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

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Originally Posted by Phil G4SPZ View Post

To be honest I'm not that keen on their choice of music!
Caroline offer two streams: the normal one is rock from the '70's to the present day, and the other is 'Flashback' which is more '60's based.
What I've heard in the last hour on MW is more similar to the 'flashback' stream which is not my cup of tea.
I have never understood (and still don't) what the station hope to achieve by being on MW- great for a bit of nostalgia but I'm sure the increased costs will be hard to bear.
My worry has always been that they will have to compromise their format to meet the new financial pressure and to comply with licence conditions.
It all works very nicely as it is on the internet- I don't want to see it turn into another 'classic gold' station!
Just my thoughts on the matter.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 1:25 am   #128
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Those of us old enough to remember Radio Caroline in its heyday (1964-1967, I was fourteen) can still recall the thrill of not only picking up these distant stations, but getting non-stop pop music all day long for free. I remember marvelling at the audio quality of records played on the Dansettes owned by friends whose parents indulged them in such things. I was only allowed to play with a 1940s Sobell radio, and consequently was more used to Medium Wave audio quality! Mind you, I did string up a pretty big aerial, and at one point I could spin the flywheel tuning up and down the Sobell's dial and hear nine or ten pirate stations during the daytime.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 7:29 am   #129
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

I’m not bothered about the music content, I can listen to whatever I want on Spotify and tx to my radio but this gets my interest in ‘repairing’ radios going again.

I didn’t listen to Caroline but my first memories of listening to pop on the radio would be outside with a Benkson stuck to my ear in the early 70’s (you can’t do that with internet radio, even if you had a mobile signal you’d use up all your data allowance) probably listening to radio 1 and I remember listening to Luxembourg under the covers!

I don’t know the reason why they are doing this now maybe trying to reach a bigger audience as I expect many will not use internet radio maybe targeting drivers too. Or are they doing it just for nostalgia. Whatever I hope it continues but just like it is so I can struggle to get a decent signal just like listening to Luxembourg

John
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 7:52 am   #130
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

A new MW AM station, good news, especially with the BBC closures due in the new year. Tried Caroline on a small portable at 6.30am. Heard the station but rather weak. I will try again when it is daylight on other radios and aerials.

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Old 12th Nov 2017, 10:40 am   #131
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Daytime conditions have pushed the signal down to 'just above noise' here in east Manchester. What's the official Caroline website to which we can send reception reports? I've found a number of Caroline sites, but they are well behind the times or don't mention reception reports. Thanks.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 11:14 am   #132
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

This is their official site with ability to 'listen live' if you want to. Not sure where you send reception reports. The email address on the site seems to be for the studio.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 11:22 am   #133
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Sony ICF7600D doing well on it here. Some slight fading.
The on the hour announcement includes the address for sending reports.
I didn't get it - sorry.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 12:02 pm   #134
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Just observed 2 min silence.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 12:37 pm   #135
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

I tried listening around 10pm last night, but all I could hear was a Spanish sports station with a bit of music playing in the background ("My Brother Jake" by Free) which I assumed was Radio Caroline. There was a constant flapping noise audible as the two stations interfered. Reception was too poor to be useful.

(Tested using a Sony ICF-SW7600G domestic portable receiver. Location: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire)

Around 9am this morning, a weak but stable signal, no interference from the Spanish station, but a fair amount of background noise ("static"). Definitely of entertainment value. I heard some fairly random choices of pop songs including "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis, and the announcement requesting reception reports to a P.O. Box in Maldon, Essex as well as online. The links are here:

Reception reports: http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#am_reception.html

About the AM test transmissions: http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

I expect these links will stop working once regular programmes start.

And yes, it went silent at 11am this morning (Remembrance Sunday)
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 1:17 pm   #136
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Hi,

Thanks to an engineering contact at Caroline I’ve contacted one of engineers involved in the work on the transmitter and he’s now aware of this thread and the Forum.

Regards the web page for reports, which is now in place, he said the it all happened rather quickly yesterday afternoon, so they didn't have the right people in the right places to co-ordinate it all… Personally, I feel the excitement of getting a AM transmitter on air on such an historic frequency would have been a lot more exciting than updating a web site

I’m able to receive it using my Radionic ‘Set 4’ superhet receiver, which brought back memories of listening to RNI in 1970 using the same superhet receiver, which I built as youngster back in 1970!

Regards
Terry
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 1:42 pm   #137
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hamid_1 View Post
About the AM test transmissions: http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html
I find it interesting that all the radios shown on a link from there are vintage sets.

http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#history_of_648.html
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 2:07 pm   #138
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Reception reports by post to:

PO Box 12524
Maldon
Essex
CM9 9EX
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 3:31 pm   #139
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Excellent results on the car radio...better than I thought since modern car radio's don't seem to work that well on AM. No interference, no fading...I may try it on the way to work tomorrow.
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Old 12th Nov 2017, 3:34 pm   #140
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Default Re: Radio Caroline to return on Medium Wave.

Quote:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hamid_1 View Post
About the AM test transmissions: http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html
I find it interesting that all the radios shown on a link from there are vintage sets.

http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#history_of_648.html
Yes I noticed that. Do you think it's because they associate MW with 'old fogies' who have old radios?
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