Atlantic 252 over the pond
 

just passed 30w last night, tuned into Atlantic 252 for a bit of background noise only to find that they are now a 24hr sports radio channel (ie 24hrs of football, yawn yawn). Anybody got any alternative suggestions for something a bit more melodious for those "middle of nowhere" moments?

Yeah, a walkman, hehe.

Might like to try RTE Radio 1 on 567 Khz.

It`s a mixture of current affairs, chat shows and soft adult contemporary and oldies music.

Possibly not what you are looking for but better than the newly ruined Atlantic 252.

I've been trying to work out WTF has happened to 252. At first I thought I'd tuned into a revamped news bulletin & the music would continue afterwards.

Except there was no 'afterwards'.

The only LW/AM station in the whole of the UK to which I could remember the frequency and is receivable nearly everywhere, and it gets ruined by whatever $%%#$ing manager / demographic survey company just got a 'bright' idea.

Well, #$%^&* them. They just drove away a listener. <img src="mad.gif" border="0"> <img src="mad.gif" border="0">

My own favourite is TalkSport 1053/1089 AM in the evenings. During the day, as you may guess, it is predominantly sport orientated, but from 10 o'clock onwards it is more entertaining.

Presenters to listen out for are Tommy Boyd and Ian Collins.

As Pprune's only resident broadcaster and flier (I think) let me tell you that Atlantic 252 has ceased to broadcast and is to be re-launched as 'Teamtalk 252', a similar station to the UK's existing TalkSport.

Sadly Atlantic's audience has been on the slip for many years. It was the first original 'hits' station, broadcasting Top 40 tunes on a very tight rotation. The combination of a high power long wave signal across the UK and accesibilty in areas badly served by UK commercial radio made it an instant hit. The UK government initially frowned upon A252, and the governing Radio Authority regarded it as a 'Pirate'.

But, just like Radio Luxembourg many years earlier Atlantic 252 became the victim of its own success. Other UK radio stations had taken note of the fact that audiences liked A252's music policy and programming stance and began to follow suit.

As UK commercial stations began to sound more and more like A252, audiences for the latter began to erode. The station tried a succession of formats to stem the flow of departing listeners but with each change of direction the audience figures went from bad to worse.

Eventually the station was put up for sale and from an asking price of £10m plus, was sold for £2.5m.

RIP Atlantic 252....

There is a new Long Wave radio station planned to broadcast from the Isle of Man, but it's been a long time in the pipeline. It will apparently broadcast on 279 Long Wave and be known as Music Mann 279.

[ 12 January 2002: Message edited by: reverserunlocked ]</p>

Latest I`ve heard about Musicmann 279 is that it still plans to broadcast with 500 kW from the Isle of Man, but suffered a set-back early in 2001 when planning permission for an aerial on the island was rejected on the grounds of visual impact. <img src="mad.gif" border="0"> <img src="mad.gif" border="0">

The new plan is to transmit from a 500 kW facility on a platform in the sea about 5 miles north-east of Ramsey IoM. <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

After 6pm power will be reduced to 100 kW.
<img src="frown.gif" border="0"> <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

A Dutch station Delta 171 is planning to broadcast to the UK on 171 kHz Long Wave but is also beset by aerial planning problems. If all this can be sorted out then a partner in the project, UK company The Wireless Group may also broadcast their easy-listening digital station The Lounge over much of the UK on Long Wave.
:) :)

You could try Radio 10 on 675 Khz. Some oldies mixed with the newer stuff, mostly easy listening. Usually good reception. :) :) :)

Thanx guys

That was exactly what I was looking for. I am back across the pond next week and I shall see what I can find on the airwaves.

Cheers
<img src="wink.gif" border="0">

T'bug

Try this for more info re Manx long wave transmissions.

<a href="http://www.longwaveradio.com/introduction.html" target="_blank">http://www.longwaveradio.com/introduction.html</a>

They say that their proposed output will be "directed towards Europe," but then to someone in need of the music at 30W that will be just another challenge!

Thundering back across the Atlantic last night (as much thundering that you can do in a 767). I tried the alternative frequencies.

The good ones received clearly at 30W were 567 RTE Radio 1, 675 Radio 10, 1053 & 1089 Talksport. Radio 10 was the best with a good mix of 70s & 80s stuff.

The others were not up to much. Nothing heard on 171 or 279.

Cheers... <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

You're welcome ! :)

there's always BBC Radio 4 on 198 KHz or BBC world service on HF but can't remember the freq

[ 24 January 2002: Message edited by: kennedy ]</p>