April's AM Airtime

MONDAY 11th April was a day spent beside the Roberts R881, still going strong in its seventeenth year. I was tuned to the extended Medium Wave band (just making the point that, on that receiver, the Medium Wave band goes up to 1710 kHz, rather than 1602 kHz, as on most receivers) and here is a record of what I heard that day.

[Housekeeping: Times in UTC (GMT); Frequencies in kiloHertz (kHz); Transmission powers (where applied) are watts / kiloWatts (kW).]  *Please add one hour to the times for British Summer Time.*

1130 UTC: 936 kHz: Dales Radio. 150 watt transmission via Brunt Acres Road, Hawes, North Yorkshire. Strong reception. Lee Moulsdale. Comedy feature: 'The Bradshaws'. Music: Billy Joel 'Innocent Man'. IDs. Chaka Khan 'I'm Every Woman'. 'Dales Diary' events guide: 'Ride + Stride' walks with the Settle - Carlisle railway; Yorkshire Society survey. ID. Music: Divine Comedy 'National Express'. To 1145 UTC.

*Dales Radio website*

1222 UTC: 999 kHz: Rock FM [Presumed]. 800 watt transmission via Longton for Preston / Blackpool. Poor reception. Darren Proctor. Music: ABBA 'Voulez-Vous'. ID. Climie Fisher 'Love Changes Everything'. Speech, ad break. ID. Music: Jackie Wilson; ABC. To 1238 UTC.

*Rock FM on iTunes*

1308 UTC: 1053 kHz: talkSPORT. Up to 500 kW via Central England [Droitwich, Worcestershire] - Reception is awful! Hawksbee & Jacobs. Conversation regarding football management and their relationship with referees. Ad break. To 1315 UTC.

*Listen again to Hawksbee & Jacobs*

1324 UTC: 1071 kHz: talkSPORT. 1 kW transmission via Wrekenton, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Moderate to poor reception. Hawksbee & Jacobs. Speech regarding Manchester United. To 1332 UTC.

*talkSPORT Radio website*

1406 UTC: 1089 kHz: talkSPORT. Up to 400 kW via Moorside Edge, West Yorkshire. Moderate to poor reception. Hawksbee & Jacobs. Speech regarding European football; Diego Simeone; Gael Clichy of Arsenal Football Club; German football; David De Gea of Manchester United. To 1415 UTC.

*talkSPORT homepage*

1442 UTC: 1170 kHz: TFM 2. 320 watt transmission via Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside. Good reception. Paul Hayes. Music: Eurythmics 'There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)'. ID. Louis Armstrong 'What A Wonderful World'. Speech regarding the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge visiting India. Music: Andrew Gold 'Lonely Boy'; Toto 'Rosanna'. To 1457 UTC.

*TFM 2 website*

1513 UTC: 1215 kHz: Absolute Radio. Up to 200 kW via Moorside Edge, West Yorkshire. Good reception. Danielle Perry. Music: Fun. 'We Are Young'. Text: 81215. Ad break. Traffic & Travel with Melanie. Music: The Zutons 'Valerie'; Kate Bush 'Hounds of Love'. To 1527 UTC.

*Absolute Radio website*

1540 UTC: 1242 kHz: Absolute Radio. 1 kW transmission via Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside. Good reception. Danielle Perry. Ad break; Promo; Traffic & Travel with Melanie. Music: Derek & The Dominoes 'Layla' [FULL version]. ID. Muse 'Feeling Good'. To 1554 UTC.

*Absolute Radio YouTube channel*

1620 UTC: 1341 kHz: BBC Radio Ulster. A 100 kW transmission via Lisnagarvey, County Down, Northern Ireland. Moderate reception. Male and female presenting a sports update. To 1630 UTC.

*BBC Radio Ulster website*

1642 UTC: 1368 kHz: Manx Radio [Presumed]. 20 kW via Foxdale, Isle of Man. Moderate to poor reception. Male speaking at length; signal propagation prevents comfortable concentration on the subject of the speech. To 1656 UTC.

*Manx Radio website*

That concludes the list of broadcasts received Monday 11 April 2016. If you have any thoughts you wish to share, please comment below.

Kind regards, Martin.