RFT Gale meets his Nemesis

Nemesis Revival 87.8 made its final broadcast (at least in 2009) today. Was announced that Nemesis intends to return in 2010.

Due to the shorter days, the broadcast hours were changed slightly; programmes started at 2:30 pm and finished at about 5:45 pm

Perhaps it's just as well the broadcasting hours were brought forward (not least for Mr Gale's underpants!). About 5 minutes after the broadcast ended, as Mr Gale was packing the equipment away, a car pulled up next to the transmitter location (shown by the green arrow on the map). An old man got out of the car and asked Mr Gale what he was doing there; since the broadcast had now ended, Mr Gale replied that he had been "conducting radio experiments".

The old man, preseumably working for the land owner (or maybe the landowner himself) then told Mr Gale that he shouldn't be there, as it was private land. Mr Gale apologised rather than having "Mr Twatt" (anyone who's seen "The Boat That Rocked" will know why I'm calling him that) end up calling the Police, but alo pointed out that there were no signs anywhere saying that this was private land. (It was also apparent that this land was less than well cared for, while at the same time hardly ideal for wildlife).

Having packed his gear away, Mr Gale returned home. 2009's last broadcast of Nemesis Revival had gone smoothly, all equipment remained intact ready for 2010, all Mr Gale needs to do now is find a new transmitter location. All in all, it could have been a googolplex times worse!

Even so, it seems kinda ironic that "Mr Twatt" has picked on a pirate radio station when the place had more important issues. Mainly the fire which is constantly burning there, and has been noted during every broadcast since July. What's more, by the looks of the cartons and packaging being burnt, the fire appears to have been of commercial waste.

Then again, I guess this is just a microcosm of the fact that the authorities continue to clamp down on pirate radio, while at the same time, you're likely to get threatened or even beaten up while going out to a local pub or nightclub. Small wonder, I guess, that Nemesis Revival also announced today that they had taken on board Radio Caroline's concept of Lovin' Awareness !

Au Revoir Nemesis Revival

Nemesis Revival 87.8, a pirate from somewhere in North Derbyshire, announced today it was closing down until the autumn.

From 3pm to just after 6pm, Nemesis Revival was on-air today and also on Sunday 2nd August.
Nemesis Revival was heavily based on the pirate Radio Nemesis, which used to broadcast to the North Derbyshire area back in 1987 - the DJ even called himself Richard 'Force Twelve' Gale (could it be the same one as operated the original Nemesis?), and the old Nemesis 'You will not ...' promo was aired.

Format was mostly dance music with minimal chat; although Radio Ability - aired from 4pm to 5pm - was 'across the board' music by recording artists with disabilities and disability info.

It was announced that Nemesis Revival hopes to return, possibly in October. In the meantime, plans are afoot to sort out web streaming, hopefully (it was announced) within the next fortnight. Watch this space ...

Amber Sound win full licence

Amber Sound, from the Amber Valley (around Ripley) in Derbyshire, now have a full licence to broadcast on 107.2 FM

Signal is obviously quite strong, audible in the valley below Bolsover (near Coalite). Also audible quite well in Bolsover itself. Not a brilliant frequency however; near Chesterfield there is bleedover from Peak FM on 107.4, and in Clowne the signal is virtually swamped by that of Trax FM Doncaster on 107.1

Amber Sound FM website

Carsington Water - Pirates ahoy!

Visited a RSPB/Springwatch event today at Carsington Water, near Alfreton.

Around 6pm, in the car park there, the following pirates were heard:

89.6 Deep FM, playing house oldies from the late 1980's
95.3 Kriss FM, playing dance/rave music
97.5 Vivid FM
107.8 Radio Azaad (?), Asian

All are believed to be from the West Midlands.

Signals were especially good from the south west and south east, legal stations heard include:

97.2 Beacon FM (Black country)
102.4 Touch Radio (Staffordshire)
104.3 BBC Radio Cymru
105.2 Kerrang (West Midlands)
107.6 Radio Dawn (Nottingham)

Kinda surprising, considering Carsington Water is in a valley and surrounded by hills !

Amber Sound 87.9

Amber Sound from the Amber Valley (near Ripley in Derbyshire) has started an RSL on 87.9.

RDS = AMBERSND

Audible weakly in Clowne, Chesterfield and even as far as Shirebrook (although in Shirebrook, it started competing with another station on the frequency - probably Boundary Sound of Newark). Stronger signal, strong enough to read the RDS, in higher areas such as Bolsover.

Amber Sound website

Quite enjoyable listening, in the early afternoon, when the DJ was playing old-school dance/soul music from the 1980s and 1970s.

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.

Amber Sound 87.9

Amber Sound FM from the Amber Valley heard tonight on 87.9

Signal audible weakly as far as Clowne, in high parts of Bolsover it becomes strong enough to receive the RDS.

RDS = AMBERSND

Amber Sound website

Notorious pirate on 87.7

Finally ID'd the pirate on 87.7 tonight.

On way back from Bolsover approx 19:20, I heard the station announce as Notorious FM.

At the time, they were playing rock music - officially "indie", some is popular among local skaters - with the DJ announcing as DJ Rizla. According to their website, however, dance and rap music is aired from 21:00 to 22:00 - which does tally with previous pre-closedown loggings.

A jingle samples the 1980s futurist song "Notorious" (can't remember who it was by) followed by a sample of "Pirates' Anthem".

Notorious FM Website

Again, heard with a just-about-listenable signal here in Clowne.

Unidentified pirate on 87.7

After listening to George Galloway's regular show on Talk Sport tonight, I flicked my radio to FM.

On 87.7, I heard the last few minutes of a station playing dance music. An announcement was made to the effect that the station was to close down, and would be on-air again the following Saturday.

Weak but listenable signal in Clowne. Location on the station - ??? totally unknown!

High Oredish, Matlock, log

Tonight I visited High Oredish - 3 miles east of Matlock in Derbyshire, on a high hill. Good view to the East, can see Bolsover Castle and beyond.

Radio reception is equally awesome - large list of stations audible, only significant ones listed here:

87.7 Rother FM is an RSL from Rotherham. Format and (especially) jingles package strongly suggest it is run by the Lincs FM group.

87.9 Vixen FM, an RSL from East Yorkshire. Interestingly, signal was much stronger than that of Rother FM. RDS was VIXEN_87

97.2 Beacon FM from Wolverhampton. Good catch considering the distance, and the hills to the west and south

107.9 Freeze FM, a "station of unconfirmed licence status", from Nottingham according to their website. I think I can safely say that Freeze FM, whether licenced or unlicenced, is a really good station which played good music and had clean audio. RDS was scrolling, as follows:
_FREEZE__
TXT_ONLY
07899
015 466

This was the contact mobile number, for text messages. Soon after I texted a reception report, the DJ kindly gave a "shout" to the "Matlock crew" and "Anthony P" - cheers!

The stations listed above are only the "tip of the iceberg", a full log (except the national networks) can be found here

The fun didn't end when I left Highoredish. Nearby, slightly lower down but on a side of the hill with better reception to the South and West, the following additional stations were heards:

• Fiza FM, the Leicester based Asian women's station, on 97.1. RDS = FIZA___
• Galaxy 102.2 from the West Midlands replaced Lincs FM on the frequency. Sister station to Galaxy 105 in Yorkshire, part of a large dance music network which is rapidly becoming INR4 ;-)
• Kerrang Radio, the heavy rock and metal station, on 105.2. Thought to be from the West Midlands. RDS = KERRANG_