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Old 10th Sep 2020, 5:27 pm   #21
AlanC
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Default Re: Radio Caroline improved reception

It's just audible in the noise here in south-west Sheffield on my Bush TR90C Mk1 - and I mean just - it's so weak that I could only identify it by comparison to the Twente WebSDR. I shall listen tonight to see what it's like when the band comes up.

As others have said it's great to have something 'proper' to listen to again on vintage radios- though I'm not sure it will be with the 'tranny' smuggled under the bedclothes like I used to do as a teenager!
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Old 10th Sep 2020, 11:44 pm   #22
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Default Re: Radio Caroline improved reception

Unfortunately no improvement, in fact I can't hear it at all. Just a slow beat with a Spanish station. :/
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 10:34 am   #23
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Default Re: Radio Caroline improved reception

Reception here after dark is poor and not usable but during the hours of daylight it is reasonable.

I notice that signal strength in daylight can vary from day to day but is usable most of the time.

I regularly listen to the 9am Top Fifteens as selected by listeners (I find these very interesting and enjoyable) and reception this morning has been very good.
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 12:28 pm   #24
Dave757
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Default Re: Radio Caroline improved reception

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlanC View Post
Unfortunately no improvement, in fact I can't hear it at all. Just a slow beat with a Spanish station. :/
Hi Alan,

I had a listen to it last night using a home made MF/LF loop that I use
for reception of non directional beacons. Both the Spanish station and
Caroline were around S9 with me in Norfolk, but luckily by turning the loop
through 90 degrees both were readable without interference from the other.

Kind regards
Dave
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Old 11th Sep 2020, 4:41 pm   #25
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Default Re: Radio Caroline improved reception

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Originally Posted by Junk Box Nick View Post
An application has been made to Ofcom for a power increase so there must be the funds to run it. I can't see there being great objection to this as AM is on the way out for commercial operators and the BBC are following suit where they are able.
Ofcom's primary purpose seems to be to raise money and who else can they flog a licence to for MW spectrum?

And if a high power licence there aren't many other users to have to coordinate frequency allocation with.

On the other hand the decreasing number of listeners to the band will reduce the interest shown by advertisers. and the general rise in the background noise from switch-mode gizmos reduces the area covered for the output power.

Ofcom will likely take anything they can get, in that band.


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Old 11th Sep 2020, 6:00 pm   #26
Junk Box Nick
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Default Re: Radio Caroline improved reception

I'm sure I'd read somewhere that Ofcom had stopped issuing licences for AM and once a licence was handed back the allocation was crossed off the books.

As the big groups swallow up the once local station transmitters they are getting rid of AM as fast as they can. There seems to be some motive/tactic for these groups keeping some AM transmitters on the air – something to do with rules of competition and coverage and local programming – rather than listeners who are probably few.

Our old Beacon Radio 303 transmitter finally shut down a few months ago – I lost track of the various Gold, Smooth, etc., stations that had been on there in the last several years. I think the old BRMB transmitter on 1152kHz which output the same stations in tandem is still operating.

The demise of AM is a shame. It could have been of use to community stations but the pollution is making it impractical. There is a curious little station Carrilon Wellbeing on 1476kHz from Coalville that I can hear over here. I use it to give the RA117 a run out - it has a nice selection of oldies and a Motown show.

To receive Caroline satisfactorily I have to know the 'quietest' place in the room to place the receiver and rotate it appropriately – only an enthusiast is going to bother with this rigmarole. Even then I sometimes get a burst of noise from somewhere that wipes out all but the big signals from Droitwich.

Caroline does seem to be a bit of a one-off. With its supporters it's a sort of radio equivalent of a steam railway. I guess if they asked for 50kW they'd get it, given that the frequency was once used by BBC World Service. Nice for the likes of us but completely impractical financially.
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