Test Transmission Radio Marina 1485 khz.

[Coastie]

Energy 1395 coming in loud and clear this morning on the "Big Radio".

it has 0.4 KWs and is situated right opposite of Holyhead
http://www.fmscan.org/main.php?f=1395&a ... 1=on&net=1

The aerial to which the "Big Radio" is connected is even closer to the Energy TX than I am and can almost "see" the Energy TX.

[paulvos]

I received an email from Willem Rense Post of Radio Marina. He tells me they are using the new 15kW transmitter limited to 1kW output. They have been tweaking the TX all day and night yesterday and they are happy with the way the transmitter performs since this morning. He confirms more listeners (in the west) complain about a certain level of interfearance from BBC on 1485.

It might be worth checking again today on certain moments during the day. Apparently they really appreciate reception reports, as I got a kind an personal reply.

[alec]

Have you got any 1485 - reception in Eindhoven today ? - how is it in comparison with Seagul (broadcasting from land-based Tx I guess) , Paul ?
Any idea if Marina broadcasts out of the Haarlingen harbour or did JB ship move out into Waddenzee for these tests ?

[Les]

I cannot hear anything here from Marina on 1485, night time is heavy QRM and daytime is BBC Radio Humberside.
Can hear MAR today though on 1395, best signal strength for weeks and John Freeman on at the moment.
http://www.mar.me.uk/uk/page40/page41/p ... c4f-0.html

[paulvos]

Have you got any 1485 - reception in Eindhoven today ? - how is it in comparison with Seagul (broadcasting from land-based Tx I guess) , Paul ?
Any idea if Marina broadcasts out of the Haarlingen harbour or did JB ship move out into Waddenzee for these tests ?

Hi Alec, sorry I'm not in Eindhoven this weekend, but I'm staying in my Caravan in Beesd (south of Utrecht) The Jenni is in Harlingen harbour. Towards the end of tweaking the 1485, the signal became stronger than 1602, which must be the difference between a mast on land and on a ship in salt water. They use the "new" 15kW TX with reduced power. The audio is smashingly good.

If I am back in Eindhoven before transmission end, I will let you know the results, but I doubt if I get any signal there. Eindhoven is a difficult part of the Netherlands for radio. It's build on sand, while most of the Netherlands has wetter clay.

[alec]

Have you got any 1485 - reception in Eindhoven today ? - how is it in comparison with Seagul (broadcasting from land-based Tx I guess) , Paul ?
Any idea if Marina broadcasts out of the Haarlingen harbour or did JB ship move out into Waddenzee for these tests ?

Hi Alec, sorry I'm not in Eindhoven this weekend, but I'm staying in my Caravan in Beesd (south of Utrecht) The Jenni is in Harlingen harbour. Towards the end of tweaking the 1485, the signal became stronger than 1602, which must be the difference between a mast on land and on a ship in salt water. They use the "new" 15kW TX with reduced power. The audio is smashingly good.

If I am back in Eindhoven before transmission end, I will let you know the results, but I doubt if I get any signal there. Eindhoven is a difficult part of the Netherlands for radio. It's build on sand, while most of the Netherlands has wetter clay.

Beesd is incredible already - as on the plan of the AM-map they hardly should touch Enkhuizen or Lelystad - so I think signal might cross even the German border (for a good radio) and reception at the English coast should be possible with rather good signal (when nulling out BBC).
There you see again what a good antenna and good twisting can do - - was it Peter Chicago's masterpiece ?
So what happens next as these are only test-transmissions ? - will they stay in Haarlingen harbour (I am sure some Greens will bitterly moan...) or will they go out onto de Waddenzee ???
Will R.Waddenzee/Seagul join them on the Tx ? or will the JB become a Radio Marina ship now ??

... Eindhoven built on sand .... hmm,, that could explain the in general poor AM reception we have in Munich - as MUC is built completely on gravel and sand ....
Well , - at the moment I have extremely good FM reception of BigL enjoying SD's show after Paul J's great show

Ps.: Are you there Paul ? : Recreatiecentrum Betuwestrand ?

[paulvos]

Jep Alec, it is Betuwestrand. Just checked 1485 again at 16:21 (I needed to watch F1 first).

The signal is very strong now, no mush, good audio and stronger than 1602. Sadly though there's constant mutter from the BBC at a -15dB level. The presenter has a similar voice to Joost den Draaier. Music choice like Veronica at sea.

Please remember for now it's only a two day test. What happens next has not been published yet. With what I have heard the last two days, I think they deserve a permanent position on the AM dial. I think I red somewhere they own 1485, but have been struggling to get a license to erect a tower

[big T]

They want a place near to the town Urk.

[paulvos]

Well Theo,

Judging by what they achieve from Harlingen, they don't need the mast to be within the town limits. There's always people willing to complain about any RF level. Im sure they could stay on the Jenni and have a perfect signal in Urk

Let's see what happens. Our AT (Dutch Ofcom) has been instructed to be more customer friendly by politics recently, so maybe they can use that to their advantage. I'm also surprised they didn't consult Ruud Poeze yet. He knows how to handle these matters.

Anyhow, I wish them all succes in the world.

[alec]

Does that mean that you have permanent interference from the BBC listening to R. Marina at your holiday place or were you just speaking for the UK listeners.
Well lets hope that R.Marina will get all its acts together and that there will be soon a new 'off-shore' station in the radio world.
I assume they will stay on the JB - what sense else would all this antenna twisting on the ship be good for.. ?

Urk in het Ijsselmeer probably would offer the same transmitting conditions as Trintelhaven - not so good for long distance listeners (what probably is not their intentions...) - http://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/ni ... wsID=83113

Just imagine BigL with 20 KWs from the Jenni Baynton on 1395 - lets say from Den Helder or somewhere at the Afsluitdijk ........ - I think that would have been the solution

[paulvos]

Hi Alec,

Unfortunately I mean I also heard the interfearance from the BBC in Beesd. A humming rattle at a level of -15dB, especially in quiet parts of the music. At first I thought there was something wrong with their mixer.

The Jenni is a great place for a radio station, but please note, they will only go out to sea as a kind of tourist attraction. As Jenni has no engine she needs to be towed. That must be expensive and also dangerous during storms at sea.

All in all it was a fun weekend for an Anorak like me.

[John Freeman]

I cannot hear anything here from Marina on 1485, night time is heavy QRM and daytime is BBC Radio Humberside.
Can hear MAR today though on 1395, best signal strength for weeks and John Freeman on at the moment.
http://www.mar.me.uk/uk/page40/page41/p ... c4f-0.html

Thanks for the report Les - encouraging that the strength is up in your area.

[Big Al]

Was able to hear radio marina here on the east coast and the reception was much better on Sunday than Saturday. 1602am was not that good yesterday (sunday) but today monday coming in really strong

[paulvos]

To everybody who has listened to Radio Marina or tried and didn't hear anything:

I know Willem is interested at reception reports at info@radiomarina.nl

[alec]

Radio Marina test transmissions were a success...
http://nop-urk.flevopost.nl/?n_id=20525 ... um=twitter
http://mobile.twitter.com/Marina1485AM

What they don't say is if the planned transmissions will be from a landbased Tx or from the JB