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Click photo
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Ross
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Caroline at the 02 Arena
Radio
Caroline has been part of the
British Music Experience at the 02 Arena
in Greenwich. The "Making Waves"
exhibition gives visitors the
opportunity to look back to Caroline's
beginning in 1964. Radio Caroline staff
constructed a replica of a studio and
mess room as would have been seen on the
early radio ships and alongside it is a
modern studio that has been used to
broadcast some programmes live from the
exhibition. The whole exhibition
continues and Radio Caroline have been
asked to extend their presence although
no further live broadcasts have been
planned after Dave Fosters programme on
Sunday 25th July. I met visitors from
around the world including Canada, USA,
Argentina and France and also a couple
of DJs from other radio stations, they
all seemed to enjoy their visit.
Radio Caroline's
exhibition at The British Music
Experience at the 02 Arena has been
extended to the 7th of August.
Ross
Revenge July restoration
 Latest
restoration video click
HERE
Latest
restoration photos click
HERE
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Steve Conway returns
Steve Conway re-joins Radio Caroline
on 12th July. He is to take over a two hour slot on
Monday afternoons from 2pm - 4pm. Steve Conway, an
Irish broadcaster and writer, started his radio
career on a small London rock-music pirate, South
East Sound in 1985, he then moved to Radio Caroline,
where he became head of news and programme
controller. Having survived the famous 1987
hurricane on the ship, he was one of the final crew
on board the Caroline ship Ross Revenge when it ran
aground on the Goodwin Sands and was rescued by an
RAF helicopter during a storm in 1991. In 1999, he
returned to help help relaunch Radio Caroline on
satellite before moving home to Dublin and taking up
a position on Phantom 105.2 the following year.
Steve Conway's book "Shiprocked"
-- life on the waves with Radio Caroline details his
involvement with Radio Caroline in its final
years at sea and briefly covers the relaunch of the
station on satellite in 1998/9 and is available in
the Radio Caroline
webshop
Roots Americana Show on Caroline
Broadcaster and author Derek Taylor
will be hosting a new show called "the Archive Roots
Americana Show" on Radio Caroline every Monday
afternoon from 4pm to 6pm following Steve Conway. He
has worked for the BBC World Service, BBC Radio
Suffolk and Thanet Radio. Americana or sometimes
known as "alternative country" is defined as is
"American roots music" based on the traditions of
country. Tune in to Radio Caroline on Monday
afternoon at 4pm to listen to the best of Americana
music.
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Brand new photos from the Ross
Revenge
Click Here
Many thanks to Fleur Nooteboom for
photos
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July, August "Horizon Magazine" on its way
The next issue No 132
of the long running Radio Caroline fans magazine
includes..
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The Ross Revenge at 50 and her eventful
past by
Mike Weston, author of Records at Sea
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The Ross at 50 by Caroline’s Manager Peter
Moore
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Reports & photos on The Bank Holiday broadcasts
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The Radio Caroline interview with Ted Elliott
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A Caroline photo flashback to 1987 at sea
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The Horizon pin board featuring readers
photos
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Music for Today’s Caroline with Alan Watts
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Remembering The Caroline Movements Pat Shea
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North and South Caroline Support Group News
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Every issue brings you news, memories and
great photos. If you have news, photos,
Memories or comments on Caroline or Free
Radio please do get in touch
contactbill@horizonmagazine.co.uk
Click
HERE for details
Download
Horizon Magazine Example (PDF)
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Caroline's
new presenter!
Another presenter John Cronnolley joins
Radio Caroline to take over the late Sunday evening
slot. John has been heard on Caroline on and off
during the special Ross Revenge broadcasts. John has
been a member of the Ross Revenge Restoration crew since
2005, helping to restore the ship back to its former
glory. He also did maintenance on the ship long
before that. He first broadcast from the Ross in July,
2008. John can be heard on Radio Caroline on Sunday
evenings into Monday mornings between 11pm and 1am.
We wish him well.
Southampton
Radio Caroline Supporters Group Meeting
The Radio Caroline Southampton Support
Group meeting took place on Wednesday 9th June
at the Netley Victoria Club, Netley Abbey near Southampton,
SO51 5DG starting at 7.30pm. Our special guest this
time was Dave Foster who started broadcasting
on Radio Caroline many years ago from the North Sea
and now presents a show every Sunday afternoon. Dave
was interviewed by Mandy Marton of Radio Seagull.
He was also bombarded with questions from Roland
Beaney and group members. Roland also read out a
tribute to the late great Pat Shea who we sadly
lost recently. A condolence card was signed by all members
to pass on to his family. Pat was a regular visitor
to our meetings and was the Caroline Movement’s “Communicator”
correspondent until the CM closed. We also met some
of the Radio Caroline broadcasting staff past and present
including Alan Watts and Steve Essex.
Roland Beaney was presented with a personalised
inscribed glass by Elaine Beeching for his excellent
services to the Caroline cause. On the glass was a beautiful
etching of the Mi-Amigo. Also many thanks must go to
Tony Chennery for the use of his audio equipment. See
photos
HERE The next meeting is provisionally booked for
September 29th.
Chris Levy report
Another
great weekend special
Another Bank
holiday broadcast from the Radio Caroline
ship the Ross Revenge at Tilbury Docks came
to an end at midnight on Bank holiday Monday
and a very good weekend it was. As has become
customary now, the normal programming was
suspended and a group of presenters remained
on board with some of the restoration crew
for most of the weekend and presented two
or three hour shows bringing a different
and nautical atmosphere to the programmes.
Its was good to hear some of the restoration
crew presenting programmes overnight and
an excellent job they made of it. There
are many listeners "down below" in Australia
and New Zealand now and I am sure they enjoy
listening to live programmes rather than
the automation. Well done to the guys that
gave up their sleep to keep us entertained.
The 531AM transmitter is used during these
broadcasts from the Ross Revenge and it
puts out a good signal across the Thames
into Gravesham. An interesting interview
with a team of Gravesham councillors was
broadcast at midday on Monday on 531AM only
and they discussed the possibilities of
Radio Caroline providing a service for the
Gravesham area with the ship moored on the
Thames riverfront at Gravesend.
Get well soon
John
Caroline
DJ John Patrick has not been well again, his
throat has been causing him problems and he
has not been able to do his show recently. He
had a series of operations on his throat last
year and it was hoped that this had cured the
problems but unfortunately the problem has come
back again. We would like to wish John a speedy
recovery and hope to hear him on the air again
soon.
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Passing
of Pat Shea
We are very sad to report
that Pat Shea of Southampton station
Playradio died very recently.
Presenter John Ellery played a Pat Shea
tribute at 11.45 including the Caroline
bell and Caroline by the Fortunes. Pat
was known as "Car park Pat" because
it was him that read out the traffic
reports.
Pat was the Caroline
Movement’s “Communicator” correspondent
until the CM closed.. Pat was also a
regular visitor to the Radio Caroline
Southampton Supporters Group meetings,
the last one being in December 2009
when Sylvan was there. I'm
sure you will all join us in sending
his family our condolences, he will
be sadly missed.
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Radio Caroline
in the Gravesend Reporter
Radio Caroline were broadcasting on 531 AM
from the Ross Revenge in Tilbury docks over
the Spring Bank Holiday weekend and the Gravesend
Reporter reported:-
Radio Caroline, the scourge of many a British
Broadcasting regulator, will be airing across
Gravesham this Bank Holiday as they look to
bring its ship Ross Revenge to the riverfront.
They also reported Peter Moore as saying, "We
want to move to Gravesend permanently to act
as a radio station and visitor attraction. The
borough council seem on board but we want to
broadcast this weekend to show them what we
can do off the Ross Revenge. Mr Moore added:
"We've still tried to keep to our roots of not
becoming like all the others out there. The
problem with us now is you can't tune in without
a television or computer. "This weekend we will
be turning on our old transmitters and coming
across in AM so anyone who wants to whether
they are out and about, or in the car, can hear
us." He hopes this will convince the council
they can be an asset to the area. "The AM transmitters
on our ship do not have to be used solely for
Radio Caroline, they could be energised for
any community group, having an ambition to broadcast
to blocks of Kent and Essex," he added. "The
show will begin tomorrow afternoon and continue
throughout the bank holiday until Monday night
on AM 531".
The Gravesend reporter also reports that
Council leader Mike Snelling confirmed Gravesham
was looking at the idea, but it was at an early
stage. He said: "There are issues such as where
it would be moored, cost and access. "In principal
we can see the attraction but we are asking
our officers to look at the nuts and bolts of
it".
The large area called Gravesham was adopted
in 1974 when Northfleet and Gravesend district
councils were combined. It is a large and developing
area alongside the Thames where a lot of the
sea front has been developed for housing and
leisure. This seems like a very attractive idea
and we look forward to seeing how this develops.
The full report can be found here-
http://www.gravesendreporter.co.uk
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Radio
Seagull all at sea!
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Radio
Seagull provides Dutch ethnic radio
programmes aimed at the Dutch community
based in London, as well as visitors
from the Netherlands. With it’s
great mix of music, news and information
in Dutch and English, Radio Seagull
is both an informative and entertaining
Dutch radio show that can be heard
broadcasting in London.
Broadcasting
from the Jenni Baynton ship, moored
at Harlingen docks in the Netherlands,
Radio Seagull can be heard in Holland
on 1602 KHz AM and on the internet
at
www.radioseagull.com . First
heard on the airwaves back in 1973,
Radio Seagull has gone through many
transformations yet remains one
of the few Radio Ships still broadcasting
today. You can also hear Radio Seagull
in England on 558 AM in London into
Kent & Essex via Spectrum Radio
at certain times.
As
the home of Progressive Rock and
Alternative Music, Radio Seagull
brings you the music you don't hear
on other radio stations defined
by our motto ‘There Is More to Music
than Hits Alone’, additionally we
feature Specialist Music programmes
that include Smooth Jazz, World
Music and Vintage Soul and is the
only ethnic radio from Holland with
a second home in London.
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Dave
Foster and Alan Beech have been
onboard the Jenni Baynton recently.
See photos
HERE Dave was at
the last Southampton Supporters
meeting on June 9th at Netley in
Southampton.
DETAILS
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Message from
Bill Barnes
The Radio Caroline web shop
has been updated for first of a series of Ross
at 50 souvenirs, all supplied on call off. I
am also in the process of upgrading the graphics
for the whole site so would appreciate it if
anyone spots any problems with viewing on their
particular computers. Any publicity will be
appreciated. Would everybody on Facebook
please plug it on there also. Here's the link
http://rcsocietysales.co.uk/
Many thanks, Bill
New Docklands
RSL Photos
Got yet more photos of the Ross Revenge you
might want to look at. These are some that
David Roberts took in 1995/6 of
RSL's in the Docklands and Chatham before the
big bang! David took these with a film camera
and has just scanned them into Jpegs for us
to enjoy. You will find a link to the photos
on the left named "Dockland RSL Photos"
New Roland
Beaney Interview with John Aston
There's a very interesting interview
with Radio Caroline veteran John Aston now on
Woodley Net, just click the Presenter Interviews
link on the left and enjoy!
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How to build
a AM Frame / Loop Aerial
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The picture shows a design for
an aerial that was very popular in Radio Caroline's
AM days when they were broadcasting from the North Sea
and it pulled in a good signal over a wide area.
How to build a Frame / Loop Aerial
This aerial replaces the long wire and is very compact
and and can conveniently sit next to the radio and as
long as the radio has its own built in ferrite rod aerial,
no connections to the set are needed. It is directional
and after tuning in the aerial, it can moved in different
directions to cancel out interference.
Materials needed
6 ft of 1 and a quarter inch timber 100 ft of single
plastic coated wire 1 x 400pf variable tuning capacitor
8 large rubber door stops screws, wire clips and solder
Assembly
Cut timber into two lengths of 25 inches and four lengths
of 5 inches and assemble the frame as per the drawing.
Where the wire goes round the corners cut 16 evenly
spaced grooves (17 on the corner where the wire starts
and finishes) the wire must start and finish on the
same corner.
Tack the start of the wire onto the frame and start
winding it on, keeping each turn nice and tight. When
you have 16 turns of wire on the frame bring the wire
back down the same leg you started on and make secure
with tacks.
Solder the two ends of wire onto the two terminals of
the tuning capacitor, it does not matter which one goes
where just as long as they are well soldered.
The capacitor should be fixed with araldite or similar
in the corner.
Fix the rubber feet as on the diagram.
The aerial is now ready for use. Try different positions
for the frame as all sets have their ferrite rods aerials
in different places.
Good luck with this, we would appreciate any comments
on the construction.
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Latest from the Ross
Revenge
People travel long distances to be part
of the restoration crew on board the Ross Revenge. Many
travel down from the North of England, Cumbria and even
from over the border in Scotland. On the weekend of
20th to 21st we were joined by two Dutch guys Fleur
Nooteboom and Richard Kuttschreutter who travelled over
on the Eurostar for a weekend of hard graft on their
favourite ship. Much of the day they spent up on top
of the funnel putting a top coat of paint on it. The
funnel now looks a lot better with a top coat of red
paint after being covered with primer for so long. Fleur
having won a bid for a piston out of a diesel engine
can be seen in the photo being presented with his prize
in the record library by Caroline presenter Cliff Osborne.
Lee Shuttlewood was painting the Dutch news room, Steve
Dack was making a new door and we also did some painting
right down in depths of the bows. Pictured is Jeremy
Chartham making adjustments to the aerial with some
of the crew on deck.
For photos please click
HERE
More Photos
from Fleur Nooteboom
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Dave
Foster's 50th Birthday Bash
Dave Foster has been a presenter with Radio
Caroline since the 1980's when he was on board the Ross
Revenge on the North sea. The station has become a big part
of his life so he invited his many Radio Caroline friends
to his 50th birthday party in Dartford on Saturday 6th March.
Many Caroline personalities from the present and past were
there including Steve Conway who was guest on Dave's regular
show on Radio Caroline on Sunday afternoon. Pictured is
Dave Foster with presenter Marc Griffiths and his partner
and the other picture shows Rocking John with a group of
Caroline staff. It is well known that Dave's favourite group
are the Beatles so it was to be expected that a Beatles
tribute band would be playing during the evening and a very
good job they made of the Beatles songs that they sang.
Photos please click
HERE
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