Radio Seagull on 1395

[BigJohn]

That's what we all ultimately want.

I suppose the Jenni could be serviced by tenders from the nearest port?

How stable a mooring though could present a difficulty?

What about storms out at sea? How stable is it? Would be at great risk of capsizing?

There would have to be a certain crew on board to maintain the equipment.Also it would have to be well clear of shipping lanes? Coastie could tell us more aout this aspect of things.

I suppose the ultimate would be Jenni at sea funded via hire of it's transmitter- maybe shared between a few broadcasters?

Caroline? big L? KBC? Seagull?

[Amara]

That's what we all ultimately want.

I suppose the Jenni could be serviced by tenders from the nearest port?

How stable a mooring though could present a difficulty?

What about storms out at sea? How stable is it? Would be at great risk of capsizing?

There would have to be a certain crew on board to maintain the equipment.Also it would have to be well clear of shipping lanes? Coastie could tell us more aout this aspect of things.

I suppose the ultimate would be Jenni at sea funded via hire of it's transmitter- maybe shared between a few broadcasters?

Caroline? big L? KBC? Seagull?

The JB is an ex-lightship. They are very stable in all sea conditions and if well anchored have little problems remaining at sea.

[Big Al]

Last day of test transmissions yesterday Sunday...signal very strong here in Beccles

[BigJohn]

Big Al- The signal in Nottingham yesterday at 2.40 was the best ever. It was brilliant - and much better reception than the old Trintelhaven transmitter into the UK Midlands.

[Big Al]

Big Al- The signal in Nottingham yesterday at 2.40 was the best ever. It was brilliant - and much better reception than the old Trintelhaven transmitter into the UK Midlands.

That is good news BigJohn...In my opinion,I am no techy,it was the best signal of all

[alec]

Big Al- The signal in Nottingham yesterday at 2.40 was the best ever. It was brilliant - and much better reception than the old Trintelhaven transmitter into the UK Midlands.

That is good news BigJohn...In my opinion,I am no techy,it was the best signal of all

With all the Euphoria we should consider that we have very special weather conditions over Central Europe at the moment....

- is it still on ? - or is the test period finished now ?

[Big Al]

It was not on today and they did announce on air yesterday that it was the end of the test transmissions...I wonder what will happen now,if Big L/KBC will be using 1395 or will Seagull continue using 1395 and what happens to 1602am.

[alec]

It was not on today and they did announce on air yesterday that it was the end of the test transmissions...I wonder what will happen now,if Big L/KBC will be using 1395 or will Seagull continue using 1395 and what happens to 1602am.

its only speculation of course but I think - if (!) - they will rent the tx to other stations (as they always said) to make some money to sustain ship and Seagull itself will stay on 1602 or maybe will share frequency with the renting station. But mind they achieved the best results from the Waddenzee and are not allowed to broadcast with more than 1 KW from the harbour. But what you save on diesel costs (needing less power than from Trintelhaven) you have to spend on costs to keep and refuel the ship on "high" seas.
It also depends on what the owner(s) is/are going to do with the 1395 license

[alec]

posted by Paul Stiles on Seagull's FB page

Radio Seagull on 1395 AM - silent (for now)

The six week test on 1395 has come to an end. From various locations, with a variety of antenna configurations and with output running from less than one to (slightly) over 5 kilowatt have provided us with an abundance of information. The test was a co-operation between the licensee, the Dutch Telecom Agency and Radio Seagull.

We want to thank everyone who sent in reports. Many of you sent in more than once, exactly like we asked. Martin Smith and Paul Stiles are making an inventory of the places where the reports come from and soon you can expect the award winning reporter who received the signal the furthest away, to be announced. We did get hundreds of reports.

Well done!

The future.
That is what many people have asked us about. Unfortunately we cannot tell you anything yet because we don't know ourselves. The outcome of the evaluation will be that the licensee, the Telecom Agency and Radio Seagull have a good impression of the potential. That impression will be the guide line for the future. Watch this space.

Thanks again!

Sietse Brouwer

ps - Radio Seagull does of course continue on 1602 AM and around the world online - click the "LISTEN Now" button on http://radioseagull.com/ homepage.

Ps.: looks like the 1395 license had gone back to the Dutch authorities ... (??)

[Alfie Noakes]

Ps.: looks like the 1395 license had gone back to the Dutch authorities ... (??)

Not so sure on that one Alec.

At 18.00 GMT last night the engineering crew on board the JB made the official closedown speech (1 hour prior to sign off ) and amongst others, gave thanks to "Messrs Big L" for their participation in the test transmission project. Presumably this refers to the Birmingham 2 who I believe still hold the licence.

Where this takes us next is anyone's guess .. but I've a feeling it may well include Radio Seagull and KBC.

Wonder who owns the 50KW sender that was used at Trintelhaven? .........................

[alec]

Ps.: looks like the 1395 license had gone back to the Dutch authorities ... (??)

Not so sure on that one Alec.

At 18.00 GMT last night the engineering crew on board the JB made the official closedown speech (1 hour prior to sign off ) and amongst others, gave thanks to "Messrs Big L" for their participation in the test transmission project. Presumably this refers to the Birmingham 2 who I believe still hold the licence.

Where this takes us next is anyone's guess .. but I've a feeling it may well include Radio Seagull and KBC.

Wonder who owns the 50KW sender that was used at Trintelhaven? .........................

Well this gives us a lot to speculate again ....
I think KBC's interests go more for long distance reception i.e. SW analogue and/or DRM.
and I also think that Sietse Brouwer who owns the ship should know whom he is dealing with - and he said "Dutch Telecom" .... (??) - confusing...

- I think the transmitter from Trintelhaven belongs to Dutch Broadcast Partners now

[BigJohn]

All I can add is that the signal here on Sunday afternoon was really good.


Although DRM signals can travel th distance- unless the technology is taken up big time I cannot see how it can become a commercial success.

I think we are at the crossroads now- and taking the wrong path at this point means that someone is going to lose a lot f money pursuing a fruitless exercise.

I just hope it's not Eric.

[paulvos]

Oh dear, now we have to do something we're not very good in and that's wait.

From the start it was clear to me that the Birmingham two gave their blessing. I have seen in writing on the Agentschap Telecom website that their license was extended.

So here's what could be the case:
The Birmingham two have complained about the circumstances at Trintelhaven. Let's be honest it was a very difficult situation there. Especially getting the audio across and security of the site. It's in the middle of nowhere, so problems like stealing the Optimod are hard to cope with. Also our UK listeners kept complaining about signal strength, which was correct of course, but we all kept forgetting the radiation diagram of that antenna has a dip towards the west, so the signal was shielded towards the UK. In other words, they didn't see how they could run BigL on AM that way.

Now, probably due to Eric, they get in touch with Sietse, who owns that wonderful light schip Jenni Baynton and who has decided to put a spare transmitter on board for rental. That could be an alternative for BigL. However the Birmingham two are fed up with hollow promises and they want proof first that their intended market can be reached properly. Sietse, and maybe the Birmingham two, request a license to test 1395 from Jenni and they get it too. Of course, as otherwise Agentschap Telecom could end up with a frequency that no one wants.

The last period of testing we could all experience what 5kW and the right antenna configuration can achieve. I for one was exited, especially with Tuesday's signal.

This setup on board the Jenni, together with the excellent programming nowadays from BigL, just might be commercially feasible. No high expense for broadcasters (they're volunteers), so the only extra cost to get back on AM is the cost of running the continental from Jenni. It would get a much better chance than the last episode from Trintelhaven with all those non-stop hours and daily reruns of the Reed and Hamilton shows.
Of course I have no idea how high the cost would be, so I can only speculate it is doable. I believe if they didn't already have the feeling it can be done, they would not have run the tests.

Well, this is my piece of guesswork. I stress the point I don't have any inside information, so I can't know for sure.

A final word on the test goes to Walter, the engineer who build the transmitter and has coordinated the tests. Us anoraks are always on about Peter Chicago and quite rightly so. He's a great transmitter engineer. However, I believe we now have a second magician in the world of off-shore: Walter. He gets my deep respect.

[alec]

The test was a co-operation between the licensee, the Dutch Telecom Agency and Radio Seagull.

ah - I see now - I read the sentence above as that the licensee was named being the Dutch Telecom Agency by setting the komma. But it should be read as that 3 parties were involved ..

what is a pitty is that obviously they tried the 5 KWs only from Harlingen harbour and not from 'high seas', closer to Den Helder i.e. closer to England to see the results.
I think the results would have been even better also for Central Europe as down here the 5 KW signal from Harlingen was as good as the 20 KWs from Trintelhaven were

[John Freeman]

Alec - the skywave results in North West England and Ireland using 5KW were very encouraging.
I did put up odds on GS forum just to provoke some debate
In the light of 1395.eu content and the Big L reference in the Seagull engineer's closing speech, I'm inclined to think that Big L really ought now to be considered odds-on to be heard from the JB on 1395 - in fact if the bookies were really pricing the market you could imagine they may even have stopped taking bets on it by now.