252khz Clarkstown

[CaptainKirk]

252khz RTE1 been off air for quite a few hours now does it do this regularly ? I know its going off air for ever next year.
good time to catch Algeria on the same freq at the moment.

[RogerD]

I thought Clarkson had found a new way to get on the air there, for a minute

[MrWeetabix]

BRING BACK LONGWAVE RADIO ATLANTIC 252!!!!

[CaptainKirk]

Yes listened to Atlantic 252 back in the day they have been gone 14yrs now!
As I type rte1 still off air 1455hrs

[MrWeetabix]

I'd say it's a fair bet they're ve gone.

Where do they TX from Kirk??

[George EI7KO]

That transmitter is ancient, it has been known to break down and it takes the technicians a couple of days to sort it out. Atlantic 252...God, theres a blast from the past....used to love it

From Wiki:

The Clarkstown radio transmitter is a longwave radio transmitter in County Meath, Ireland. It is located some 3.5 km east of the village of Summerhill, in a field south of the R156 regional road at Clarkstown.

Constructed in 1988 for the transmission of Atlantic 252 on 252 kHz, it uses one 248-metre-high guyed steel framework mast with triangular cross section, insulated against ground. The original transmitters were two 300 kilowatt Continental Solid State transmitters built by Varian Associates of Dallas. These were replaced in 2007 by a single 300 kilowatt Transradio TRAM 300L transmitter.[1] The ground around the mast and the entire transmission site bed are lined with copper for conductivity. The site has an ITU-cleared transmission power of 500 kW by day and 100 kW at night but is now only capable of operating at 300 kW by day.

Atlantic 252 ceased operations on 20 December 2001 and the transmitter was later taken over by RTÉ Network Limited (now 2RN). It is now used for the AM version of RTÉ Radio 1 on 252 kHz, and has been the sole source of RTÉ Radio 1 on AM since 24 March 2008, when the medium wave Tullamore transmitter on 567 kHz was taken off air.[2]

In 2007, the transmitter was carrying a Digital Radio Mondiale multiplex overnight, featuring Radio 1, RTÉ Digital Radio Sport, RTÉ Digital Radio News and the World Radio Network, before reverting to AM transmission for the daytime. DRM tests have since ceased, and AM transmissions now operate full-time once again.

On September 24th 2014, RTÉ announced that broadcasting of RTÉ Radio 1 on 252 kHz will cease on October 27th 2014. [3] (That date is has now been postponed until Jan 2015)

maybe its off the air altogether

[MrWeetabix]

There you go, Jan 2015. Offline now

Wonder if we could have a whip round and buy it for HF work?

[George EI7KO]

The tower was some sight. I used to be up that direction in a previous job a lot. I used to deliver to a Supermaket in Summerhill. I tried to get as close to the bottom of it as i could, but access is pretty restricted. Used to be a pretty big RTE radio tranmitter here where i live in the Midlands too. Its been there since 1932 when it was built. There used to be 2 320ft towers but they dropped one of them a few years back. The remaining one is now covered in digital comms equipment and cell phone gear. The transmitters are still there as far as i know. I knew an old guy, he'd be sk now that worked there. He used to tell us how'd they run around in there in the dark with fluorescent tubes in their hands, and due to the level of RF in the place they'd be lit up like light sabers

[thedeerhunter270]

I can hear it on the WebSDR.

[CaptainKirk]

RTE 1 back on air was off over 24hrs managed to pick up Algeria very clearly when it was down must have been no money in the meter lol!

[MrWeetabix]

Perhaps the hamster got off it's wheel to have a sleep and some nibbles? haha

So saying as this was meant to be suspended in January, anybody have any clues why it's still going?

[George EI7KO]

There's much controversy about it going off air by Irish ex pats living in the UK and Europe that listen to it for news from home. RTE seem pretty undecided about the whole deal. It does cost a lot of money to keep it running every year and the mast maintenance costs are astronomical. That's why they dropped the second tower here in Athlone, it was costing a fortune to have it inspected every year.

[CaptainKirk]

Yes it costs a lot of money to keep 252khz going maybe they could sell the transmitter to the BBC for the 198khz when the valves go pop!

[Road_Hog]

I nearly had a heart attack, reading the original post, only to find it is still there now. They can't move RTE or R4.

I still have matchbox radios that I built that cover LW,the car radio covers it as well.

Edit: Why's this in HF & Shortwave, last time I looked, LW wasn't either of them.

[MrWeetabix]

where else would you suggest it went?

Seems good enough to me......