The wonderful world of listening to the radio

Category: United Kingdom (Page 3 of 3)

Gold 1548 kHz off air end-September

Other Gold mediumwave stations closed already in June this year. Gold 1548, servicing London from the Saffon Green transmitter, will follow end-September (source: Ydun’s Medium Wave Info).

Before the merger of many independent local radio stations in the United Kingdom this was the transmitter of Capital Radio. With 97.5 kW this station was significantly more powerful than other ILR stations and easy to receive here in The Netherlands. The higher power probably has to do with the size of the London area and the urban environment.

In the 1980s I had a lot of fun chasing the different ILR (and BBC) local radio stations. The stations all had their own local identity and studios and hadn’t merged into larger conglomerates yet. Below you can see the Capital QSL I received in 1980. Had it been a post stamp it would have been a collector’s item given the apparent misprint of the frequency. Truth be told, I regularly get confused with the 1458, 1485, 1548 and 1584 frequencies myself.

My QSL from Capital Radio 1548 in 1980

QSL Radio Seagull 1476 kHz

Radio Seagull can be heard on 747 kHz AM in the Netherlands. But in Woerden this frequency is dominated by nearby MCB Radio from Alphen aan de Rijn. A good alternative is to listen after 8 pm UK local time to the relay via Carillon Wellbeing Radio from Leicestershire on 1476. This is also a low power AM broadcaster, but despite their 250 Watts “only” this station is received very well here in Woerden.
I received a nice email as QSL Radio Seagull 1476 kHz via office@radioseagull.com

QSL Radio Seagull via CWR UK
QSL Radio Seagull via CWR 1476 kHz UK

QSL Smooth Radio 1359 kHz

I got a kind email reply from Kelsey at “Global” via Customer.Support@global.com confirming today’s reception of Smooth Radio 1359 kHz from Baker’s Wood, United Kingdom. I’m really grateful for the reply, many of todays modern network stations don’t seem to bother.
Older radio enthusiasts know that this station started back in 1981 as Essex Radio when Independent Local Radio was introduced. I have a 1983 QSL from them. In 1989 they were forced to split AM and FM operation and they continued as Breeze AM and Essex FM (later Heart). In 1996 I received the Breeze QSL.
Fast forward 30 years and now it is called “Smooth Radio” which is part of “Global”. “Global” is also operating iconic stations like Capital Radio and LBC…

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