Tropo tonight

The weather forecast says that the warm and dry weather we are currently experiencing will soon give way to unsettled rain and windy weather. Ah well, what do I expect, this weekend is a bank holiday :-(

But it's an ill wind that blows no good. As the high pressure slowly moves away, tropospheric ducting has brought in foreign stations on the FM band. I only managed to ID one, though.

Radio Speranza 87.6 from Italy was heard around 19:40 tonight, with a clear enough signal for the RDS to be displayed. The RDS scrolled between "RADIO" and "SPERANZA".

I haven't found a website for Radio Speranza, but the Italian Pagine Radio station database listing for Radio Speranza implies they are linked to Radio inBlu

Disney station gets Capital punishment

Sad to hear DAB station Capital Disney will close in June (see here). Final day of live broadcasts will be Friday 1st June, broadcasts cease totally on Friday 29th June.

For all its faults, Capital Disney is possibly the only kids' radio station with near-national UK coverage. I understand the closedown is due to disagreements between the Capital Radio company and the Walt Disney company.

The article about the closedown seems to recommend that you visit the Capital Media PLC website to find an alternative station to listen to after the Capital Disney closedown. Ah well, the format of Capital Disney always did seem more Capital than Disney (although a few Disney related records not played much elsewhere, eg Hanna Montana "Best Of Both Worlds" did get played quite a bit).

If you're interested in listening to another station aimed at kids, however, the following broadcast online:

Fun Radio broadcasts on DAB in London and across the south (was heard in Bognor Regis in August).
Takeover Radio is, according to their website, run by kids for kids. Broadcasts on 103.2 FM in Leicester. (Sadly, you lose the live streaming if you navigate away from their homepage).
More children's and family stations available via Live365

Notorious after the May Day march

In Chesterfield, after the May Day march and speeches/music, Notorious FM 87.7 was heard. Signal was weak, dance music was being played at the time.

Was noted at 16:50, interestingly the signal had disappeared by 19:00 when I returned to my car (after visiting the May Day fun fair in Chesterfield).

Notorious FM has normally been heard on Saturday evenings, this is thought to have been a one-off Bank Holiday special broadcast.

The DJ mentioned that he would be on-air again on Saturday from 7pm.