Caroline is back

Re: Another quiz !

oldgit said:
As for the jamming of the pirate Radio London , at one point it came from the mast on Beacon Hill just above Upnor.
Just been to look at the location on Google Earth and for some strange reason they have Photoshopped out the name of the street sign.


http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=11351.0
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Radio London (1964-1967) was never jammed. The Upnor site was used to jam RNI in the early seventies. I remember, because I used to live next door!
 
Re: Another quiz !

pandroid said:
I'm pretty sure that Radio London (1964-1967) was never jammed. The Upnor site was used to jam RNI in the early seventies. I remember, because I used to live next door!
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May well be right.....however do remember joining a group of radio enthusiasts gathered outside the facility , some clutching rudimentary D/F kit, convinced was some years prior to this date.
 
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Re: Another quiz !

I certainly remember jamming being present although can't recall which period and therefore which stations were active at the time. Also I seem to remember that it was done 'quietly', maybe there wasn't any official publicity about it.
 
Re: Another quiz !

Still going on 648 with reasonable signal on North Kent coast.
Nice selection of album music and absolutely nothing featuring the dross likely to float to the surface on any moronic "TV Talent Show "

The internet feed from Holland appears to be different music ?
 
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Re: Another quiz !

oldgit said:
The internet feed from Holland appears to be different music ?
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It seems to adjust according to your service provider location.
When I go through my company network (USA) I listen to programs from 5 hrs ago but there is UK radio button to switch back
 
Re: Another quiz !

oldgit said:
...and do keep up, a few "Which Magazine" reviews will might help about the battery life of the latest DAB radios, latest chip set are far more battery friendly.
Click to expand...

I seen no evidence to suggest the battery life of any DAB radio is anything better than abysmal.

If you have, perhaps you'd care to share it?
 
Re: Another quiz !

We have two radios in the kitchen, a two year old Pure Dab radio & a 1971 Hacker Sovereign. The Dab one is used to listen to Bbc Essex & Radio 2 or Planet Rock. The Hacker is tuned to Caroline on 648MW. In high pressure weather conditions the Dab signal tends to break down & warble & squeak. Caroline on 648 is a cracking signal with excellent quality & tone.
I find it quite sad that the much vaunted Dab is no better quality to listen to & often actually worse!
 
Re: Another quiz !

elton said:
I seen no evidence to suggest the battery life of any DAB radio is anything better than abysmal.

If you have, perhaps you'd care to share it?
Click to expand...


"Which" magazine have compared and examined virtually all of the consumer electronics on the market today.
Using the extensive experience of experts and taking into account the views and comments of its subscribers it provides an reasonably accurate account of the items it has reviewed.
Would most certainly recommend taking out a subscription. :)
 
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Re: Another quiz !

oldgit said:
"Which" magazine have compared and examined virtually all of the consumer electronics on the market today.
Using the extensive experience of experts and taking into account the views and comments of its subscribers it provides an reasonably accurate account of the items it has reviewed.
Would most certainly recommend taking out a subscription. :)
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So you don't have any 'actual' evidence then? Does Which also explain why the sh*te UK DAB service is only mono??
 
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Re: Another quiz !

Trickyh said:
So you don't have any 'actual' evidence then? Does Which also explain why the sh*te UK DAB service is only mono??
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"Which" magazine mentions the improved battery life and would probably think most of their paying customers are more interested in quality of product and reliability, however regards stereo, a few minutes spent on the interweb will reveal that its all down to cost and bandwidth (look it up)... Simples Innnit :)
Do remember that one of the ships was going to attempt a stereo transmission back in the late 1960s involving a Tx on two seperate frequencies and the listener having two separate radios.

This magnificant beast gave you the full glory of AM.
Trouble was it ate batteries and sounded err......
 
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Re: Another quiz !

Yes, Which tells you spend oodles on the best NAD\Yamafooki tuner and all you get is a dodgy old mp2 stream in mono... Simples for simpletons. Lolz!
 
Re: Another quiz !

Trickyh said:
Yes, Which tells you spend oodles on the best NAD\Yamafooki tuner and all you get is a dodgy old mp2 stream in mono... Simples for simpletons. Lolz!
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Or you you could get a little bit more Hip Daddy O and get into FAB internet radio ?

As for oodles.. have you never heard of Naim ?, probably not enough knobs and chrome ? :)
 
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Re: Now you mention it

TwoHooter said:
"Keynsham, spelt K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M"
"Uniting Nations at the Speed of Light"

Won-der-ful Rad-io London!
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Somebody must have won something on that blokes iffy pools permutations ! surely ?
Seem to remember research that people who paid good money for them were no more likely to win than anybody else.
and we thought webscammers were new .
 
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Re: Now you mention it

Here's a bit more 'historical info' from the Radio Caroline owner:

"Some interesting memories but of course with the passage of time, some of the facts get hazy.

If you want to correct and flesh things out you might say :

That Radio London never was jammed by the UK. As an aside, their ship the ex US Navy minesweeper was renamed Galaxy by the time she got over here. Radio London was at the time the most popular pirate, being much slicker than Radio Caroline. But they shut down on Aug 14th 1967 as did all the other stations except for Caroline.

In 1970 another station Radio North Sea International arrived and got a very hostile reception from the press. It was sugested that the name of their ship Mebo 2 was made up from the initials of the UK Act they were defying i.e. The Marine Etc Broadcasting Offences Act. In fact the operation was owned by a Mr Meister and a Mr Bollier and the ship was named after them.

The signal from Radio North Sea was jammed but not very effectively at first and yes the transmitter doing the jamming by means of an intermittent tone was placed at a Naval radio station in Hoo, Kent.

But while Radio Caroline was not operating at the time, the name was extremely well known and Radio Caroline took over the Mebo 2 for a while and broadcst pro Conservative anti Goverment ( Labour ) propaganda. Harold Wilson freaked and had a massive national emergency transmitter brought to Canewdon in Essex and this swamped the signal from the ship, but maybe not in time.

One has to remember that this was the first time that 18 year olds could vote and Radio Caroline targeted all the marginals where a small swing could change the outcome. Labour lost. Radio Caroline reverted to being Radio North Sea and the jamming was scaled back, but did not stop until the ship moved to the Dutch coast."
 
Re: Now you mention it

rudolph_hart said:
The signal from Radio North Sea was jammed but not very effectively at first and yes the transmitter doing the jamming by means of an intermittent tone was placed at a Naval radio station in Hoo, Kent.
Click to expand...
Technically, it wasn't in Hoo, but Chattenden. Pirates can also be pedants.
The site is still there, but I don't know if the TX still are.
 
Re: Now you mention it

pandroid said:
Technically, it wasn't in Hoo, but Chattenden. Pirates can also be pedants.
The site is still there, but I don't know if the TX still are.
Click to expand...

The site and aerials is still there and presumably still able to be used at short notice.
The red navigation light on the mast is visible , simple to locate on GoogleEarth just west of Upnor.

Frequently listen and as an album only station is somewhat above the formulaic dross promoted by identikit clone local radio.
Some of the Caroline DJs playing some unusually interesting music you will never hear anywhere else.
A few years ago on a visit to Caroline when it was in Queenborough, was able to give to one of the team an original two page middle spread picture of the DJs coming ashore after one of the ships had been finally silenced.
Cannot remember the paper ,possibly the Daily Mirror, or the date.
John Peel was in the background
 
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