RTÉ MW power

[rlogue]

I live in London and usually I get a weak, but usable signal from RTÉ Radio 1 on 567 kHz in the daytime and a better signal at night.

2FM was usually audible on 612 kHz after dark, but in recent months I cannot get any signal on 612 - although I can get some kind of signal on 1278 kHz!

And Radio 1 on 567 kHz is also pretty poor at night now as well.

I have tried phoning RTÉ in the past regarding this but I never seem to get to speak to someone who actually knows what they're talking about, and I very much get the impression that the people I do talk to think I'm mad!

I usually use the satellite at home but obviously that's no good to me in the car...

So, can anyone enlighten me?

[Mike]

Id imagine RTE are cutting back on maintenance (particularly on the 612) and trying to save electricity (and get more life from their output valves) by running transmitters on lower power given their cash-strapped situation.

Its not the first time that people in Britain have complained about RTE not being on full power.

612KHz in Belfast is pretty dire as well.

[scanman]

Try 1134kHz, the 2nd harmonic of 567kHz just below LBC 1152.
& if your car has PLL tuning at 1Khz steps, then 571 is stronger !
also try 1134 in your car.

[3cx1500A7]

567 & 612 have both been on half power(250Kw & 100Kw) since the late 70s or early 80s AFAIK.This was to reduce the strain on the national grid during a fuel shortage in the Country at the time.Thats what I was always told anyway!

[Mike]

100Kw is the full power on 612 KHz.

567KHz uses two 250Kw with the capability to be combined to run 500Kw. Normally it is supposed to run a full 500Kw but during maintenance or breakdowns one of the rigs is taken out of service while they work on it leaving the other putting out 250Kw. Sometimes during the morning/afternoon they used to announce they were pausing for a few seconds for technical adjustments. It was during this silence the switchover was made.

There was a problem a few years ago when it was discovered that the levels of non ionising radiation outside the perimiter of the Site was above the international saftey limit and the power was reduced while this was sorted out.

Between 1975 (when Tullamore opened) and 1979 (Radio 2 starting) Athlone used to be a standby for Tullamore. In the event of a complete breakdown on 567KHz. the 612KHz is supposed to revert to carrying Radio One

[Mike]

Even if RTE are radiating a second harmonic on 1134 (they shouldnt be but its not entirely inconceivable that they are) I doubt it would make it to London. Especially with a 600Kw station in the Balkans on 1134 as well

[Original Tyrone Gobshite!]

As I understand it RTE Radio 1 used to use Athlone for its TX base on 566KHz until it moved to Tullamore. Why could it not have stayed there and be co-located with RTE Radio 2 (now 2fm)?

[rlogue]

As it happens, I tried to tune into the Tullamore harmonic on 1134 kHz and got nothing at all! I contacted my brother in Kildare who couldn't hear anything either.

I would be amazed if anyone could get a harmonic off Tullamore in London - what kind of aerial and reciever would be needed?

:o

[Mike]

RE: co locating Ive no idea but Id imagine
1) Space problems at Athlone or
2) RTE wanted to get a better signal into Britain while still covering the whole of Ireland (Including NI). Tullamore was probably the best compromise

[021]

scanman is talking a load of rubbish about there being a second harmonic of 567 audible any distance from the transmitter

Mike
Another possible reason why 567 and 612 don't come from the same site is that filtering/suppressing intermodulation products would be fairly difficult due to the closeness of the frequencies.
It is possible for more than one AM station to be combined into one antenna, but this leads to compromises and audio (bandwidth) quality will suffer big time if the channels being combined are close.

similarly
A 50kW BBC Radio 5 transmitter on 909 and the main BBC Radio Wales AM TX on 882 have to come from sites a few miles apart due to the closeness of the channels

re. non-ionising radiation
BTW the radiation limits were only breached WITHIN the site by possible trespassers. However extra fencing was installed to prevent access to the area concerned

[Billy Dane]

Would RTE have been asked to lower their power with more and more legal stations filling up the bands across Britain?

[Painted Press]

Hardly. the 567 and 612 frequencies were allocated to Ireland. Allowances were made for this donkeys years ago.

What could cause more of a problem is if the same frequencies were allocated in another country (far away) by Geneva with the understanding the RTE would only push the current power (considering that they're not fully utilising their current allocation.

[Mike]

AFIK theres a station in Berlin on 567KHz (not that far away !)

[021]

I notice that 2FM on 612 seems to be lacking treble at the moment (compared to other AM stations including R1 on 567). Maybe its my imagination, but I think it was sounding better until fairly recently