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Atlantic 252
Atlantic 252 was an Irish longwave radio station broadcasting to Ireland and the United Kingdom on 252 kHz (1190 metres) from its 1988 purpose-built transmission site at Clarkstown radio transmitter, County Meath, which provided service to Atlantic 252 from 1989 until 2002. The station's studios were located 12 km (7 mi) away in Mornington House, Summerhill Road, Trim, County Meath. Atlantic 252 also had sales offices and studios at 74 Newman Street in London.
The concept of Atlantic 252 can be traced to as far back as August 1986, when Irish state broadcaster RTÉ announced it was to use its allocated longwave frequency for a new pop music station. Ireland (and RTE) had been allocated a long wave frequency in the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975. RTÉ teamed up with RTL Group / Radio Luxembourg to form Radio Tara – the trading name of Atlantic 252 – which, being on long wave, was able to provide reception across Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Irish Government allowed RTE to allocate the 252 licence to Radio Tara. The broadcaster Pat Kenny, who was a member of the RTE Board was Chairman of Radio Tara (Atlantic 252) between 1990 - 1992. This followed Chris Cary's pirate Radio XIDY test transmissions on 254 kHz longwave in the mid-1980s.
The Radio Tara company was officially registered in 1985, with trading names of Radio Tara, Atlantic 252 and Tara 254, it was dissolved in 2011.
In 1987, RTÉ commenced building a giant three-sided 248-metre broadcast mast in Clarkstown, County Meath, using a specially built pair of air- and water-cooled 300 kW solid-state transmitters (which could be combined to give double power) built by Varian Associates, Texas, despite protests from local residents. Studios were set up in Mornington House, in the nearby town of Trim. The station cost £6 million to set up. Just over 47 million people were in the station's broadcast area.
At 8.00 local time (7.00 GMT) on the morning of 1 September 1989 Gary King announced on Atlantic 252, "Mine is the first voice you will ever hear on Atlantic 252". This was followed by a specially produced pre-recorded introduction tape that introduced everybody employed by the radio station on its launch day, from engineers, administration, management like Travis Baxter and John Catlett, and the station's personality music presenter line-up, including ex-Laser 558 presenter Charlie Wolf, Henry Owens, Mary Ellen O'Brien, Dusty Rhodes, Al Dunne, Tony West, Jeff Graham and the station's newsreader Andrew Turner. An appearance was even made by Rosalyn Reilly, who was to remain the station's cleaning lady for its entire twelve-year history.
The station's official "first record ever played" – on the launch date of 1 September 1989 – was "Sowing the Seeds of Love" by Tears for Fears, followed by "Monkey" by George Michael. The first record played during the period of Atlantic 252's test transmissions had been "Ain't Nobody" by Rufus and Chaka Khan ('89 Remix).
Although the transmitter was in Ireland, the signal's reach meant that it was often looked upon as a "UK national station". Reception reports were received from such locations as Berlin, Finland, Ibiza and Moscow. The signal had even been received in Brazil at night-time. The Scottish musician Mylo has claimed that it was the only station with listenable reception on the Isle of Skye. At launch there were no UK-wide commercial stations (the first would be Classic FM in 1992), and the lack of a UK broadcast licence attracted the attention of the IBA. Although the transmitters were theoretically capable of being combined to operate at a radiated power of 600 kW, international agreements limited it to a daytime maximum 500 kW, and just 100 kW during the hours of darkness.
Initially, the station transmitted only from 6a.m. until 7p.m., outside of which listeners were invited to tune to Radio Luxembourg. In August 1990, the station extended its broadcasting hours to 2a.m. with post-midnight output being automated under the branding of The Big Mattress. In September 1991, Atlantic 252 began broadcasting a 24-hour service, although until the middle of the decade, overnight programming continued to be automated.
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Atlantic 252
Atlantic 252 was an Irish longwave radio station broadcasting to Ireland and the United Kingdom on 252 kHz (1190 metres) from its 1988 purpose-built transmission site at Clarkstown radio transmitter, County Meath, which provided service to Atlantic 252 from 1989 until 2002. The station's studios were located 12 km (7 mi) away in Mornington House, Summerhill Road, Trim, County Meath. Atlantic 252 also had sales offices and studios at 74 Newman Street in London.
The concept of Atlantic 252 can be traced to as far back as August 1986, when Irish state broadcaster RTÉ announced it was to use its allocated longwave frequency for a new pop music station. Ireland (and RTE) had been allocated a long wave frequency in the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975. RTÉ teamed up with RTL Group / Radio Luxembourg to form Radio Tara – the trading name of Atlantic 252 – which, being on long wave, was able to provide reception across Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Irish Government allowed RTE to allocate the 252 licence to Radio Tara. The broadcaster Pat Kenny, who was a member of the RTE Board was Chairman of Radio Tara (Atlantic 252) between 1990 - 1992. This followed Chris Cary's pirate Radio XIDY test transmissions on 254 kHz longwave in the mid-1980s.
The Radio Tara company was officially registered in 1985, with trading names of Radio Tara, Atlantic 252 and Tara 254, it was dissolved in 2011.
In 1987, RTÉ commenced building a giant three-sided 248-metre broadcast mast in Clarkstown, County Meath, using a specially built pair of air- and water-cooled 300 kW solid-state transmitters (which could be combined to give double power) built by Varian Associates, Texas, despite protests from local residents. Studios were set up in Mornington House, in the nearby town of Trim. The station cost £6 million to set up. Just over 47 million people were in the station's broadcast area.
At 8.00 local time (7.00 GMT) on the morning of 1 September 1989 Gary King announced on Atlantic 252, "Mine is the first voice you will ever hear on Atlantic 252". This was followed by a specially produced pre-recorded introduction tape that introduced everybody employed by the radio station on its launch day, from engineers, administration, management like Travis Baxter and John Catlett, and the station's personality music presenter line-up, including ex-Laser 558 presenter Charlie Wolf, Henry Owens, Mary Ellen O'Brien, Dusty Rhodes, Al Dunne, Tony West, Jeff Graham and the station's newsreader Andrew Turner. An appearance was even made by Rosalyn Reilly, who was to remain the station's cleaning lady for its entire twelve-year history.
The station's official "first record ever played" – on the launch date of 1 September 1989 – was "Sowing the Seeds of Love" by Tears for Fears, followed by "Monkey" by George Michael. The first record played during the period of Atlantic 252's test transmissions had been "Ain't Nobody" by Rufus and Chaka Khan ('89 Remix).
Although the transmitter was in Ireland, the signal's reach meant that it was often looked upon as a "UK national station". Reception reports were received from such locations as Berlin, Finland, Ibiza and Moscow. The signal had even been received in Brazil at night-time. The Scottish musician Mylo has claimed that it was the only station with listenable reception on the Isle of Skye. At launch there were no UK-wide commercial stations (the first would be Classic FM in 1992), and the lack of a UK broadcast licence attracted the attention of the IBA. Although the transmitters were theoretically capable of being combined to operate at a radiated power of 600 kW, international agreements limited it to a daytime maximum 500 kW, and just 100 kW during the hours of darkness.
Initially, the station transmitted only from 6a.m. until 7p.m., outside of which listeners were invited to tune to Radio Luxembourg. In August 1990, the station extended its broadcasting hours to 2a.m. with post-midnight output being automated under the branding of The Big Mattress. In September 1991, Atlantic 252 began broadcasting a 24-hour service, although until the middle of the decade, overnight programming continued to be automated.