Radio Caroline North, set for May 9-10 broadcasts

Ross Revenge

 Radio Caroline North's next broadcast is between 9th and 10th of May, live from our radio ship Ross Revenge.

You'll hear some great music from the 60s to 90s – plus you could win a stunning music-themed wall clock in this month's competition draw.

Listen on 648 AM across England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and beyond, on 1368 AM in the North/North-West, courtesy of our friends at Manx Radio, worldwide online here via our Caroline North Player, on smart speakers and the Radio Caroline app.

We'd love to hear from you during the broadcast via north@radiocaroline.co.uk and remember, it's the only email address that gets you straight through to our 'North' broadcasters.

https://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

(Mike terry, UK/BDXC)

(photo/Wikipedia)

Radio Caroline slated for March 7-8 broadcast

 

Ross Revenge

Our next Radio Caroline North broadcast is between 7th – 8th March, live from our radio ship Ross Revenge.

You'll hear some great music from the 60s to 90s – plus you could win a superb KLIM retro boombox in this month's competition draw.

Listen on 648 AM across England, The Netherlands, Belgium and beyond, on

1368 AM in the North/North-West courtesy of our friends at Manx Radio, worldwide online here via our Caroline North Player, on smart speakers and the Radio Caroline app.

We'd love to hear from you during the broadcast via north@radiocaroline.co.uk, and remember, it's the only email address that gets you straight through to our 'North' broadcasters.

https://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

(Mike Terry, UK/BDXC)

Radio Caroline announces next broadcast

 

Our next Radio Caroline North broadcast is between 12th – 13th July, live from our radio ship Ross Revenge.

You'll hear some great music from the 60s to the 90s – plus this month's competition, where you could win a copy of Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time courtesy of Addo Addison from Royston, Herts 

Listen on 648 AM across England, The Netherlands, Belgium and beyond, on 1368 AM in the North/North-West courtesy of our friends at Manx Radio, worldwide online here via our Caroline North Player, on smart speakers, and the Radio Caroline app.

We'd love to hear from you during the broadcast via north@radiocaroline.co.uk and remember, it's the only email address that gets you straight through to our 'North' broadcasters.

https://radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html

(BDXC)

Radio Seagull Christmas special

Norman Barrington was a disc jockey on Radio Caroline, Radio Seagull, and Radio Mi Amigo in the 1970s.

He writes on the Facebook group "Radio Broadcasting - A History of The Airwaves":

The year 2024 has been a multi-anniversary. Its been 60 years since the start of British offshore radio, and 50 years since the loss of the Benelux offshore stations. 

It also happens to be 50 years since the Caroline Stonehenge festival, and the year I finally said farewell to the dear old Mi Amigo for the last time, after an eventful two years. Thus it is a significant anniversary for me too.

I am producing a special three-hour program to mark the occasion, and likely the last program I shall ever make. It traces the early years, the influence of American radio on European radio especially through the 'pirates', with a particular focus on 1964-1974, and of course my time which I know about the best.

I have called it Radio Radio - A Personal Retrospective and it features the sounds and music of a golden age. Including the voices of Tony Allen, Chris Cary, Andy Archer, Robin Adcroft, Mike Hagler and Brian Anderson. Jingles galore of course.

It will be broadcast by Radio Seagull on Boxing Day 26th December 0900-1200 repeated 2100-2400 GMT/UTC.

Midway through the show at 1030 UTC, I have a tough music challenge that will test your gray cells and musical knowledge. I shall provide the answers here, and on Seagull's website on December 31st.

Radio Seagull broadcasts online, with at https://radioseagull.com/

(BDXC/Mike Terry)

C.N.B.C. feature from Wavescan

Special thanks to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing today's Wavescan script

Jeff: Radio Caroline, which started test broadcasts from International Waters on

Good Friday in March 1964, is often credited with being the first British offshore

radio station. However, few people realize there was actually another English

language station in the North Sea several years before that, in the late 1960 and early

1961. Here’s Ray Robinson in Los Angeles with the story.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.

Following the success of Radio Mercur, broadcasting off the Danish coast since 1958,

Radio Veronica had been launched off the Dutch coast near The Hague in April 1960,

using a former German lightship called the Borkum Riff. The ship only had a 1 kW

transmitter, and they experimented with it on several frequencies just above the top

end of the medium wave band, before eventually settling on 1562 kHz, 192 meters.

They used a center-fed wire antenna strung between the fore and aft masts of the ship

Radio Veronica, courtesy of Wavescan

Although Veronica was quickly a hit with listeners in The Netherlands, it wasn an

immediate financial success. So, in an effort to attract a larger audience and more

advertising, they decided to start late night English language programs under the

name CNBC, which stood for the Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company. These

programs, which were targeting East and South East England, began on Wednesday,

November 23 rd , 1960. They were run by a Canadian DJ, Doug Stanley, who had

previously worked for the British Forces Network in Cologne, Germany. As with

Veronica’s Dutch service, all the programs were pre-recorded in a studio on land,

initially in The Hague, and later in Hilversum. They were then taken out to the ship

on tape. Here are a couple of clips from that very first test broadcast.

< Audio Clip - 1960 11 23 Wed - CNBC - Doug Stanley - first test >

Most of the music played in the early tests was swing, big band and jazz, but they did

eventually move to a middle-of-the-road format, with show tunes and other light

music, packaged in 15 or 30 minute program segments. Two strap lines were used:

? “The Radio Sound of Tomorrow Today” and

? “Your Friendly Host on the Dutch Coast”,

but the station never got as far as commissioning a jingle package to be produced.

CNBC’s offices were at Royalty House, Dean Street, London, and advertising sales

were handled by Ross Radio Productions Ltd., 23 Upper Wimpole Street, London

W1, which at the time also produced sponsored programming for Radio

Luxembourg.

Quite a lot of press publicity was given in England to the launch of the new station,

and questions were even asked in the House of Commons about CNBC’s broadcasts

directed at Britain. The Lord Privy Seal (and later, Prime Minister) Edward Heath,

was asked whether representations had been made to the Guatemalan Government

over the registration of the radio ship, Borkum Riff, in apparent contravention of the

1958 Convention of the High Seas. Mr. Heath said the Guatemalan Government had

assured British authorities that the vessel was not registered with them, and he

informed the House that it was not clear which was the country of registration of the

vessel.

The BBC, meanwhile, monitored the offshore station’s broadcasts and a spokesman

said: “We shall watch developments with interest and we shall certainly take action

if it interferes with BBC broadcasts.” The spokesman did not specify what action

would or could be taken, but the nearest frequency used by the BBC at that time was

for some low power transmitters on 1484 kHz, 202 metres, 9 channels away from

Veronica/CNBC, and no interference was ever observed or reported.

In 1960, Radio Veronica’s Dutch programming used to close down in the early

evenings, and the initial tests of CNBC programs were transmitted late at night, from

midnight to 3am. Unfortunately the coverage area achieved by these tests was not

what was hoped for, and during those hours, listenership was very small.

Transmissions couldn’t begin any earlier in the evenings, because of a 120,000 watt

transmitter in Switzerland that was also on 1562 kHz, the sky wave of which

blanketed the frequency across Europe after dark. So, CNBC had to wait for the

Swiss station to close down before they could begin broadcasting.

On 16 th February 1961, CNBC decided to try a different tack, and ran more tests for a

couple of hours from 5am, before Radio Veronica opened its programming for the

day. And then a few days later, CNBC English language programming began to be

heard from 8am-1pm daily. The presenters by that time included Doug Stanley,

fellow Canadian John Michael, Bob Fletcher and Paul Hollingdale, who like Doug had

previously been with the British Forces Network in Germany. These were

professional broadcasters who were able to give invaluable technical advice to

Veronica's Dutch staff. Sometimes Radio Veronica’s Dutch DJ’s would be pressed

into doing double duty on CNBC as well, such as you can hear in this clip of Tony Vos

in February 1961.

The regular program schedule became 6am-12 noon and 11pm-2am, with a two

hour later start in the mornings at weekends.

An attempt was made to buy a higher-power transmitter from Telefunken in

Germany, but the BBC, an important customer of Telefunken, applied pressure for

them not to make a sale to the Veronica organization. And although the station’s

owners, the Verwey brothers, had then assured Doug Stanley that a 5 kW

transmitter would be purchased from RCA in the United States, that didn’t happen

either as the station engineer absconded with the funds to buy it.

Because of Radio Veronica’s low power transmitter, reception of the CNBC signal in

England was weak, and was mainly confined to areas along the east and south east

coasts. The important commercial target area of London could not be reached.

Because of this and the steadily increasing popularity of Radio Veronica’s Dutch

language programs in The Netherlands, CNBC broadcasts were discontinued on

March 22 nd , 1961. The few hours a day allocated to the English language station

could then be more profitably filled by Radio Veronica’s Dutch programming and

advertising. Both Doug Stanley and Paul Hollingdale went on to work for Radio

Luxembourg together, after which Doug moved to Adelaide, Australia and Paul went

on to a long career in British broadcasting on various BBC and local radio stations.

The promised increase in output power for Veronica never did occur until August

1966 when the Borkum Riff was replaced by the MV Norderney, an ex-trawler, with

a new 10 kW transmitter. So, although CNBC was rather short-lived as a radio

station, it did have the distinction of being the first offshore radio station whose

programs were directed at a British audience. The low power of the transmitter on

the Borkum Riff and its distance from the English coast hampered CNBC’s chance of

success, but the potential of this English language offshore station had not gone

unnoticed. Before long, plans were being made by a number of British businessmen

to set up offshore stations with sufficient transmitter power and on structures, or

ships anchored, in positions which would ensure a strong signal did reach the

commercially important areas of London, south east England and the Midlands.

Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson/Wavescan)

Radio Caroline – Update

 

Special thanks to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for sharing this story from a recent episode of Wavescan

Jeff: Many people worldwide are familiar with the name ‘Radio Caroline’ – the offshore ship-based station which first broke the monopoly of BBC radio in the UK in the 1960’s.  They may be less familiar with the fact that the station has continued to operate down through the decades, and is not only still a presence on the airwaves in Great Britain to this day, but is actually thriving with now two full-time channels on a variety of platforms.  Ray Robinson in Los Angeles has been a presenter on one of those channels for over four years now, so here he is with an updated profile of the station.

Ray: Thanks, Jeff.  Yes, the potted history of Radio Caroline goes something like this.

The station was founded by an Irishman, Ronan O’Rahilly who, as a record promoter and pop group manager, had been frustrated that neither the BBC nor Radio Luxembourg would play his records.  His solution was to start his own station, and Radio Caroline first began test transmissions on Good Friday, March 27th, 1964.  Regular programming started the following day at 12 noon.

The station used as its broadcasting base a converted 763 ton Danish passenger ferry, the MV Fredericia, which the station renamed the M.V. Caroline.  Initially the ship was anchored in the North Sea about 5 miles off the coast of Felixstowe, Essex on the southeast coast of England.  She was well outside the then three mile territorial limit, so although the station was unlicensed, it wasn’t breaking any British laws, and quickly built a huge audience.

Some six weeks later in May 1964, Caroline was joined by a competitor station, Radio Atlanta, broadcasting from the MV Mi Amigo a few miles further down the coast.

The MV Caroline had two 10 kW transmitters putting out a combined power of 20 kW on 1520 kHz, while the MV Mi Amigo had a single 10 kW transmitter on 1495 kHz.  Both could comfortably reach the eastern side of London with their signals.  

But instead of duplicating each other’s footprint, the following month the two commercial stations decided to merge, and on 4th of July 1964, the original Caroline ship set off on a voyage around the south coast of England and then north through the Irish Sea to a new anchorage off Ramsay Bay in the Isle of Man, from where she broadcast as Radio Caroline North.  This gave the station coverage of north Wales, northwest England, southern Scotland, and large parts of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.  The Radio Atlanta ship stayed put, but changed her branding to Radio Caroline South, with coverage of large parts of East Anglia, London and the Home Counties.  The two stations remained on the same frequencies, although both now announced the rhyming ID as ‘Caroline on 199’ – even though in reality the north ship was on 197 meters and the south ship was on 201.

Both stations were managed out of the same office in London, and shared the same jingle package and had some pre-recorded programming in common.  Most programming though was presented live from the ships, and DJ’s did transfer from one ship to the other from time to time as needed.  In 1965, the stations adopted the American ‘Good Guys’ format, and they became very successful commercially.

In one hair raising incident, the south ship dragged her anchor during a storm in January 1966, and floundered on the beach at Frinton, Essex.  All the DJ’s and crew were safely rescued, but the ship had to be taken to Zaandam, the port of Amsterdam, for a refit, including the installation of an additional 50 kW transmitter, and an increase in height of the antenna mast.  When she returned to resume broadcasting a couple of months later, the frequency used was now 1187 kHz, 253 meters, which again was announced in rhyming style as ‘Caroline on 259’.

Over a dozen more stations were launched around the British coasts over the period from 1964-1967, until eventually the British government passed the Marine Offences (Broadcasting) Act, which made it illegal for British citizens or companies to advertise on offshore stations, or to support them in any way.  The act went into effect at midnight on August 14th 1967 for the UK, and on August 31st 1967 for the Isle of Man, which is not part of the United Kingdom.  All the other stations closed down on or before the act became law, but Ronan O’Rahilly decided that Radio Caroline would continue.

The station’s offices were moved to Amsterdam, and arrangements were made for the tendering of the south ship from The Netherlands, and of the north ship from Dundalk in the Republic of Ireland.

Most British DJ’s left the stations, but a few stayed along with one on the north ship who was a Canadian citizen.  New DJ’s who were prepared to flout the law were quickly recruited, however, and by the end of 1967, the south ship, now identifying as Radio Caroline International, had arguably one of the strongest DJ lineups of any of the offshore stations.  Advertising from international companies was difficult to come by, though, and most income was then derived from payments from record promoters for plugged records.  In March of the following year, 1968, the Wijsmuller tug company which had been providing tendering services to both vessels hijacked the two ships by cutting their anchor chains and towing them back to Amsterdam, as security for unpaid bills.

There the ships languished for four years until 1972, when they were put up for auction.  The north ship ended up being scrapped, but the south ship, the MV Mi Amigo, was bought by a supporter of the station, and after negotiations with Ronan O’Rahilly, it was taken back out to sea off the Dutch coast, and relaunched as Radio Caroline, initially with test transmissions from September 1972, and with regular programming back on the familiar wavelength of 259 meters from December 23rd.   Here’s DJ Crispian St. John on Christmas morning, 1972:

Various pop and rock programming styles were experimented with over the next couple of years, and the station finally changed from Top 40 to an album format, which it has largely stuck to right up to the present.  In August 1974, the Dutch government introduced its own Marine Offences Act, at which point the MV Mi Amigo was moved back across the North Sea to an anchorage 12 miles offshore in the Thames Estuary in a somewhat sheltered channel between two enormous sandbanks.  The base of operations was then officially moved to Spain, although in practice Ronan largely ran the station on a clandestine basis from offices he leased quietly in London.

Radio Caroline then continued to broadcast successfully throughout the 70’s, often using both the 50 kW and 10 kW transmitters on the Mi Amigo to carry different programming on separate frequencies.  Most of the funding for the station during this period came from a daytime Dutch language service which used a loophole in the Dutch anti-piracy laws by reading advertising placed in a print magazine.  Interference problems in 1977 forced another change of the main frequency, from 1187 first to 953 kHz, and then to 962 kHz, announced as 319 meters.

In March 1980, however, the elements finally achieved what two governments had been unable to, and put the station off the air once again.  The Mi Amigo lost her anchor in a storm, drifted onto one of the sandbanks, and sank in the Thames Estuary with her antenna mast proudly poking out of the sea, still pointing skyward.  Again, all the DJ’s and crew were safely rescued, this time taken off the ship during the storm by a lifeboat that had been standing by.  During 1981 and 1982, some short term illegal land-based transmissions were made by shortwave and medium wave, while options were evaluated for getting back on the air permanently.

Financial backing was eventually secured for the purchase and outfitting of a new ship, the former Icelandic trawler the MV Ross Revenge, and this was able to return Caroline to the air with a new 50 kW RCA transmitter in August 1983.  The Ross Revenge sported an amazing 300’ antenna mast – the tallest that was ever erected on any of the offshore stations.  The last voice heard from the Mi Amigo on the night it sank was that of DJ Tom Anderson.  So to demonstrate the continuity of the station here he is again, now with the relaunch at 12 noon on Saturday August 20th, 1983 from the Ross Revenge.

In October 1987, a rare hurricane hit the southeast of England putting many radio and TV stations off the air.  But amazingly, Radio Caroline was one of the few that was able to continue uninterrupted transmissions.

The hurricane had caused damage to the ship, even though it wasn’t realized at the time.  It had weakened the guy wiring system holding the antenna mast in place, and had caused some of the wires to become perilously slack.  The result was that in a relatively minor storm the following month, November 1987, the antenna mast came crashing down over the side of the ship.  Over the following months, a new antenna system was constructed at sea using shorter masts, and the station carried on.  Even a raid by the Dutch authorities in August 1989 when much of the studio and broadcast equipment on board was destroyed, only put the station off the air for a couple of months – Caroline was back by the October, albeit on low power.

By 1990, a dedicated team of DJ’s was still keeping the station running, and from a listener’s standpoint, there was little evidence that anything was seriously wrong.  However, supplies on board were running extremely low, of diesel fuel, food and water, and eventually the station had to close in the November of that year.  The MV Ross Revenge remained at sea with a caretaker crew for another year, until she lost her anchor in a storm and grounded on the Goodwin Sands in November 1991.  She became one of the very few ships to survive that experience, and was eventually salvaged and towed into Dover harbor.

Throughout the 1990’s, Radio Caroline ran a series of some 13 low power one-month special-event broadcasts, under what the British Office of Communications, or OFCOM, licensing authority calls Restricted Service Licenses.  All of these were broadcast from the studios onboard the ship, which was towed to various quayside locations around the Thames Estuary region.  Most were on FM, although a couple used AM, including the last in 2004.

In addition to this, the station leased time on several satellite services during the 90’s, and started its own satellite channel in 1998.  A full time Internet webstream was begun in June 2000, and the station hasn’t looked back since.  For some years it was carried on the WorldSpace satellite service, which gave it coverage of most of Europe, Africa and Asia.  But eventually, the satellite services were dropped, in favor of expanded use of DAB in the UK, and in 2016, a secondary channel was launched called Caroline Flashback, which has an oldies format with music from the late 50’s to the early 80’s.

In December 2017, the station was given the opportunity to use an antenna at the former BBC World Service facility at Orfordness on the Suffolk coast, but using their own transmitter on the former BBC frequency of 648 kHz.  This is licensed by OFCOM as a community station, but a power increase from 1 to 4 kW was subsequently approved, and the station is once again heard on AM on both sides of the North Sea.  In the early 2020’s, a solar panel array was installed, such that during the daytime, the transmitter is entirely solar powered, and excess power generated is sent into the grid.  Caroline is believed to be the only solar-powered AM radio station in the UK.  The major need now is for the MV Ross Revenge to be dry docked, so that a number of issues can be dealt with, and over $200,000 has so far been raised from supporters for that purpose.

Radio Caroline has a very dedicated listener base, with several regional support groups, one of which is being held in the Southampton area this coming Wednesday evening, September 11th.  I and a number of other Caroline presenters are planning to be there, and I’ll be running an offshore radio themed pub-style quiz.  If you’re in southern England, I’d love to see you there, and if you want more information please email me – at either wavescan@yahoo.com, or rayrobinson@carolineflashback.co.uk.  Back to you, Jeff.

(Ray Robinson/AWR Wavescan)

For videos on Radio Caroline, go to YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=radio+caroline

Radio Caroline to air 50th anniversary tribute to Dutch offshore stations

 

Radio Caroline is to broadcast two special shows this weekend as a tribute to the Dutch pirate stations, marking the 50th anniversary of their closure.

When the Marine Offences Act closed UK offshore pirates in August 1967, apart from Radio Caroline, some listeners turned to Dutch pirate station Radio Veronica, which wasn’t affected by the law.

Radio Veronica was a pioneer, broadcasting responsibly with modest power, and was tolerated by the Dutch authorities for many years. However, the early 1970s saw an influx of new stations, including Radio North Sea together with Radio Caroline, which joined Veronica in broadcasting with high power.

More stations began broadcasting off the Dutch coast causing intense competition and as tensions escalated, an incident occurred where an incendiary device set the RNI ship ablaze.

By 1974, the Dutch government took action and despite Veronica’s efforts to gain public support, they too, along with other stations such as Radio Del Mare and Atlantis were forced to cease operations on 31st August that year. Once again, Radio Caroline defied the odds and continued to broadcast.

To commemorate this moment in broadcasting history, this Saturday at 4pm on Radio Caroline’s album channel, Andre Van Os will be playing classic tracks from Dutch bands of the era, accompanied by original jingles, commercials, and airchecks from Radio Veronica, Atlantis and Radio North Sea.

The show will also feature the final moments of these stations, aired exactly 50 years to the day from when they fell silent.

Then, on Sunday 1st September on Caroline’s Flashback service at 10 am, Ray Clark will play a selection of relevant songs and read excerpts from listener emails, reflecting on the legacy of the Dutch offshore pirates.

(Radio Today)

Radio Caroline, Britain's pirate radio station broadcasting from sea, turns 60 years strong

 

"When you tell people it is factual, you say, no, that surely didn't happen.”

ByTom Rivers

May 18, 2024, 4:04 AM

LONDON -- As the old adage goes: “Always be yourself. Unless you can be a pirate. Then always be a pirate.”

That certainly applies to the small, but special circle of swashbuckling radio enthusiasts in the United Kingdom who have kept the rogue seaborne radio station, Radio Caroline, afloat now for the past 60 long years.

Over that time span, it’s been a fascinating tale of trials and tribulations just to keep the renegade broadcaster on the air and running for as long as it has.

The story begins in 1964, when a maverick Irish businessman by the name of Ronan O'Rahilly decided to break the BBC monopoly and set-up a station on a ship in international waters off the English coast.

Additional story from ABC News

https://abcnews.go.com/International/radio-caroline-britains-pirate-radio-station-broadcasting-sea/story?id=110204908

(Photo/Sydney Morning Herald)

Radio Caroline-Voice on the Air released

 

New Radio Caroline Book Documents Six Decades of DJs

It features roughly 600 voices that have been heard since the ship's oceanic inception in 1964

BY JAMES CARELESS

There have been many books about Radio Caroline, the ship-based “pirate” radio station that brought 1960s pop music to Britons at a time when they couldn’t hear it anywhere else. But the new book, “Radio Caroline: Voices on the Air” does something rather different from previous volumes: 

It documents the roughly 600 DJ voices that have been heard on Caroline since its oceanic inception in 1964, right up to now when it can be heard on DAB+ and AM in parts of the UK, online and via smart speakers and smartphone apps. For the record, there were five ships that played home to Radio Caroline’s studio, AM transmitter and mast over the years. The largest was the Ross Revenge.

Additional story at: 

Tiny URL : https://tinyurl.com/y7cmake4

Radio operators from Caroline's Mi Amigo era reunite

 

Presenters who played a key role in the survival of Radio Caroline in the 70s were reunited on board the ship for the first time in more than 40 years at the weekend.

Eleven of the DJs who kept Caroline on the air from the Mi Amigo during that period, enduring many deprivations and emergencies, reunited on board Caroline’s successorship, the 1,000-ton Icelandic fishing trawler ‘Ross Revenge’, now safely and legally moored on the River Blackwater in Essex.

For one last time, Tom Anderson, Mark Lawrence, James Ross, Roger Matthews, Martin Fisher, Stuart Russell, Brian Martin, Mike Stevens, Richard Thompson, Cliff Osbourne and Marc Jacobs broadcast offshore on Radio Caroline, reliving ‘The Spirit of the Seventies’.

Radio Caroline station manager Peter Moore said: “For many of our dedicated listeners, the period between 1976 and 1980 is the most cherished, and to have our team from that eventful era back together is very special indeed.”

Today Radio Caroline is on the air 24/7 across England and parts of Europe via its 648 AM frequency, along with the usual online places. One weekend each month DJs return to Ross Revenge for a live broadcast.

Battered by storms and besieged by government legislation, Radio Caroline had limped on into the 1970s, exiled in the North Sea on the Mi Amigo, a ship that was old, leaking and in desperate need of maintenance or replacement.

The Mi Amigo sank in March 1980 and those on board were rescued by the Sheerness Lifeboat, a perilous operation for which coxswain Charlie Bowry was awarded an RNLI silver medal.

(Radio World/11 July post)

(phot/Radio Carolina/wikipedia)

Radio Caroline increases coverage

 

By Lawrie Hallett 

NORWICH, England — Not for the first time, Radio Caroline is a station enjoying bucking the trend. While the rest of the radio industry is scaling down AM operations, or even ceasing them all together, the United Kingdom’s first offshore “pirate” radio station is investing in new facilities and increasing the output power of its 648 kHz AM broadcasts.

After more than 25 years of unlicensed broadcasting from the international waters of the North Sea between the British and Dutch coasts, starting Easter 1964, Radio Caroline finally stopped its offshore operations in November 1990.

Addition story at: https://www.redtech.pro/radio-caroline-increases-coverage/

Radio Caroline North set for July 18-19

From the Radio Caroline website:

At last we are back on board our radio-ship Ross Revenge for the first time since March for the next Radio Caroline North broadcast over the weekend 18th-19th July.

You'll hear all the best music from the 60's – early 90s throughout this two day broadcast. Our sponsor this time is Feature Story News, and you'll have the chance to win some Web Shop goodies, kindly sponsored by Grace Devine from Skerries, Co Dublin.

Listen in on 648 AM in the South and South-East, on 1368 AM in the North and North-West courtesy of our friends at Manx Radio and around the world online here, with the Radio Caroline app or on smart speakers.

We'd love to hear from during the broadcast via memories@radiocaroline.co.uk and remember, it's the only email address that gets you straight through to Ross Revenge directly.

http://radiocaroline.co.uk/home.html
(BDXC)

Radio Caroline set for December 14-15 broadcast

Join us on the River Blackwater for the final Radio Caroline North broadcast of 2019 over the weekend 14th - 15th December

This month's sponsor is Rush Jets and our on-air competition is sponsored by Rush Jets and sister company Inflight Goods, who are kindly providing three gents Rotary watches as prizes.

We're LIVE from our historic radio-ship Ross Revenge on the River Blackwater, Essex. Listen in on 648 AM in the South and South-East, on 1368 AM in the North and North-West courtesy of our friends at Manx Radio, around the world online here, on various apps and radio players, and on your smart speakers – "Hey Alexa (or Siri), play Radio Caroline!"

We would love to hear from you – send your emails direct to the Ross studios at memories@radiocaroline.co.uk during the broadcast.
http://radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html
(BDXC)

Off-shore programming slated for July 21-22

Ross Revenge

Radio Caroline, Ross Revenge Radio Ship and Radio Caroline North will be back on the air this weekend on 21 and 22 July. 

Broadcasting will be live from the Ross Revenge with a great line up of DJ's. Listen on 648 AM, online and on Manx Radio 1368 AM. Join us for more memories and prizes from our web shop.

Your emails are always welcome at memories@radiocaroline.co.uk - the only address that gets you straight through to the onboard studio.

 (BDXC)

Special Event Station GB5RC-Radio Caroline, scheduled for August 5-8

Over the weekend of 5-8 August 2016, amateur radio operators from the Martello Tower Group will be running GB5RC, a special event station to celebrate offshore station Radio Caroline. Now an online service, Radio Caroline started as an offshore "pirate" station over five decades ago. The Martello Group will be operating live from the MV Ross Revenge, using verticals for 40m, 20m (adjustable to 17m), 15m (adjustable for 12m) and 10m upon the stern of the ship.  

SWL reports are welcome. Special QSL cards will be available via G6NHU or GB5RC. Direct reports may be sent to:

 Keith Maton, 41 Bemerton Gardens, Kirby Cross, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex CO13 0LQ, UK.

Return postage must be enclosed - an SASE for UK reports.
From outside the UK please enclose a self-addressed envelope plus 2 US dollars. No IRCs.  
Martello Tower Group  www.martellotowergroup.com  (qrz.com via DJM, MET, AR) 
(BDXC/Aug 2016/Alternative Airwaves)

Pirate Radio Caroline drops anchor at the River Blackwater

Radio Caroline (modestoradiomuseum.org)

An iconic pirate pop radio ship has dropped anchor in the River Blackwater for the first time since the mid-1990s, with plans to take over the airwaves.

Radio Caroline, the world's most famous pirate radio station, which is housed on the ship MV  Ross Revenge, has docked just off the shore of Bradwell after leaving its home of 10 years in Tilbury docks last Thursday (July 31).

The station altered the face of pop music by challenging the established radio format in the 1960s, 70s and 80s by playing 24 hours of pop music a day, and tracks  that other radio stations wouldn't.

Now the team is back on the Blackwater for the first time since 1993, and plan to use a temporary 28-day radio licence to give Maldon and the Dengie a taste of the famous station whilst they apply for an AM licence to operate  permanently.

Manager of the Ross Revenge Peter Moore, 67, who lives in Maldon and who has been involved with  Radio Caroline since 1976, said: "It's nice to be back at Bradwell on the Essex coast again.

"We've had a lot of support from the local community and we hope to get more involved.

"It was a hard old slog to get the boat here and we're glad to be back – we've had a great reaction so far from the local community."

The radio station, currently based on its third ship, has a cult following throughout Europe, after a turbulent history of international police raids, fires, shipwrecks and financial ruin, all of  which inspired the movie "The Boat That Rocked" starring Bill Nighy and Phillip Seymour  Hoffman.

At the height of its power the station had up to 20 million listeners from the UK and Europe and changed the face of radio as we know it by challenging the BBC's monopoly over the airwaves.

Peter told the Chronicle: "It's a totally different time now to when Radio Caroline was over the airwaves and to think of the risks that you took even getting on the ship and playing music is hard to believe.

"Legally you could find yourself in prison for two years for just playing music and the boat was hardly sea worthy.

"But it was a fantastic time to be involved with music. Radio Caroline is like an addiction now we all work here as volunteers and love it."

Self-confessed Radio Caroline geek Ray Clark even wrote a book on the subject entitled 'Radio Caroline: The True Story of the Boat That Rocked' about the history of the ship.

He said: "I used to listen to Radio Caroline when I was nine years old and I just loved it. It excited me.

"Before Radio Caroline I had a number of jobs but after going on the Ross Revenge in 1987 finally radio stations wanted to listen to me, it was so hard to get on any stations back then."

In fact the first time Ray boarded the Ross Revenge –  in 1987 –  he was picked up by a trio named  Cosmic, Captain Keith and  DJ  Kevin Turner and   taken to the ship via a ferry to Zeebrugge and  on to Dunkirk, taking 48 hours, to avoid detection by police.

On arrival he spent eight weeks on the ship and first played under the pseudonym Mick Williams – a real-life friend from Witham.

"It was all very cloak and dagger back then – but I learned more about radio in those eight weeks on board than most do in a lifetime," he added.

"I suppose it's hard to imagine now, but pop music wasn't around like it was after Caroline. After that, radio bosses took note and new stations followed."
The station relies on donations, running  on a laid-back philosophy which welcomes contributions but doesn't push them.

In recent years it has enjoyed a revival with the rise of internet radio described by Peter as a "miracle".

He said: "It's a marvellous invention and we know anyone can listen from anywhere in the world, and indeed our DJ's can if they want to."

To tune into  Radio Caroline go to http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/

http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Pirate-station-Radio-Caroline-drops-anchor-River/story-22121919-detail/story.html

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(Curt Phillips W4CP/Larry Van Horn N5FPW
) 

Radio Caroline to replace masts of Ross Revenge

UK-based Radio Caroline says on its website about its radio ship Ross Revenge, which just completed a weekend of low power (licensed) transmissions on mediumwave 531 kHz on 31 August:

“As you may have heard the twin masts on board the ship need to be taken down and a new aerial system installed, likely to take the form of a new central mast. It’s a fairly lengthy and expensive procedure, but we do hope to have the work completed by Easter 2011.

“What of further broadcasts on 531? We had already planned for the New Year holiday 2010/11 to be included within the current set and we will make great efforts try and ensure this still goes ahead, regardless of whether the Ross still has its mast by then or not.”
(Source: Radio Caroline/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)

Radio Caroline part of London 60's Week

As part of London 60's Week, Radio Caroline will be based in the British Music Experience for a week, July 19 to 25, broadcasting daily from 11am to 7pm.

Playing all the Caroline Classics, the guys also be bringing their Making Waves Exhibition to the British Music Experience, celebrating the offshore revolutionaries and telling the story of the only offshore radio station still broadcasting today from a ship.

Event webpage:
http://www.britishmusicexperience.com/radio-caroline/
(Mike Barraclough, UK/worlddxclub)

Radio Caroline set for New Year's Eve broadcast

From the Radio Caroline website:

See in 2010 with Radio Caroline live from the radio ship Ross Revenge – and again we will be also be broadcasting on 531 kHz AM to South Essex and North Kent!

Our New Year's Eve party programme gets underway at 8pm with great music and tracks from the Caroline Presenter's favourite albums of 2009.

Ross Revenge will be taking centre stage in the coming year as she will be celebrating her 50th birthday. The New Year weekend will be the first of a number of live broadcasts for "Ross Fifty " – our year long celebration of the ship's birth.

Details of schedule at:
http://www.radiocaroline.co.ukv/
(Mike Barraclough, UK/worlddxclub)

Radio Carolina has changed satellite frequency

As of 28 October 2009, the satellite frequency of Radio Caroline has changed. This will only affect those who have manually tuned in on a non-Sky receiver, not Sky itself where the channel remains 0199.

These are the details:

Satellite: Eurobird 1 28.5 degrees East
Transponder Frequency: 11224 GHz
Polarisation: Vertical
Symbol Rate: 27.5

The station also announces that veteran presenter Johnny Lewis, who worked on Radio Caroline during its offshore years, is now back on the station at 1400-1700 UTC every Tuesday.
(Source: Radio Caroline website/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)