Tag Archives: MV Ross Revenge

This weekend: Radio Caroline North broadcast from the Ross Revenge

(Source: Southgate ARC via Eric McFadden)

Caroline North June

We are counting down the days to another fabulous Radio Caroline North broadcast – LIVE from our historic radio-ship  Ross Revenge this weekend.

Welcome back Chris Pearson after a two-year absence, now joining us as both a Caroline presenter and MD of Manx Radio!

Tune in on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June as our on-board presenters bring you some of the best music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Our sponsor for the June broadcast is Dave, Brian and Roger from Plastic Building Supplies Thetford – and you can win prizes in our web shop competition sponsored by Pete Gadd.

Listen in on 648 AM in the South and South-East, on 1368 AM via Manx Radio in the North and North-West, online here, on your mobile, on smart speakers … so many ways to listen!

We would love to hear from you – please send your emails direct to the  Ross studios at  [email protected] during the broadcast.

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Visit Radio Caroline’s MV Ross Revenge ship

(Source: Southgate ARC)

Radio Caroline Trip 2018

The Martello Tower group will once again be running a special event station GB5RC from the Radio Caroline ship the MV Ross Revenge over a long weekend 3rd to 5th August.

This weekend we have arranged 6 trips out to visit the ship for a tour of the ship including studios, transmitter room etc. There will be 3 trips on both the Saturday and same on the Sunday and each trip can carry up to 11 visitors.

Each trip is for the whole 11 people and cost is £275 so if you fill the boat it’s just £25 per person. Sailing times are 1.30pm 4pm and 6.30pm and each trip is around 2.5 hours round trip and will be from Mersey island in Essex.

Bookings will need to be paid in full. Please note we are not taking individual bookings for spaces on trips only bookings of £275 per trip. This is on a first come paid bookings only.

To book a trip call Paul G0HWC on 07810 607766

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Radio Caroline at 50 years

Radio Caroline circa 1960’s.

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, William Lee, who shares this item from ABC News:

Radio Caroline: Golden age of British pirate radio remembered, 50 years on

They were the pirates of the open seas — bringing rock and pop music to a new generation.

And the British government was furious.

Back in the 1960s, when pop and rock were taking over the music scene, British teenagers had to turn to pirate radio stations to hear bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Barred from broadcasting from land, stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London had taken to the water, using rusty old ships moored in international waters to broadcast to millions of eager listeners across the UK.

The government wasn’t happy and 50 years ago, on August 14 1967, the Marine Offences Act made it illegal to support the ships or broadcast from them.[…]

Continue reading…

William note that this story can be found on multiple news sources, but the ABC has more photos.

Other sources include:

Many thanks for the tips, William! Like many Post readers, I do love Radio Caroline!

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Radio Caroline Special Event, August 3 – 7, 2017

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Harald Kuhl, who shares the following:

(Sources: QRZ.com and http://www.martellotowergroup.com/gb5rc.html)

Celebrating five decades of offshore radio broadcasting GB5RC

For the full report of GB5RC in 2016, click here

Thursday 3rd – Monday 7th August 2017

Following our successful activation of MV Ross Revenge in August 2016 we are very excited to be able to run the special event station again in 2017. The Ross Revenge has been the home of the world famous Radio Caroline since 1983. To find out more about our 2016 activation, please click here.

Our plan is similar to last year, however we will be on the Ross a day early, heading out and setting up on Thursday 3rd August with plans to start operating either on the evening of the 3rd or the morning of Friday the 4th. We will operate two stations throughout the weekend, closing down in the early hours of Monday morning, grabbing a few hours sleep and then dismantling everything after a leisurely breakfast before leaving around lunchtime.

We will have two stations operating for as much as possible and this year we will be concentrating on 80m, 40m and 20m with the option to retune the 20m vertical for 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m if conditions are favourable. These bands weren’t very successful in 2016 so we’d rather stick where there’s the most activity. We will have dipoles for 80m and 40m and verticals for 40m and 20m. We may have something for VHF/UHF but we struggled on there last year due to interference from the solar panels whenever the sun shone!

For more details on GB5RC in 2017, please click here ((http://www.martellotowergroup.com/gb5rc.html))

QSL Policy

The QSL card for our 2017 special event station will be a different design to that used in 2016.
Please read this carefully. Failure to follow the procedure will mean your QSL card will either be delayed or you won’t receive it.

Please send cards either direct to G6NHU or via the Bureau addressed to GB5RC.
If sending direct from within the UK, please include an SASE.

From anywhere outside the UK, please include an SAE and $2.

Do not send stamps or any currency other than US$. Direct cards received without envelopes or the correct postage will be returned via the bureau. No exceptions.

If you’d like to add a few extra dollars to go towards supporting Radio Caroline, they will be gratefully received and passed on to the Support Group.

Remember – If you don’t manage to work us but would still like a QSL card, you can send an SWL report as detailed below. These are best sent direct and not via the bureau.

Please do NOT send IRCs.

Direct QSLs to Keith Maton, 41 Bemerton Gardens, Kirby Cross, Essex. CO13 0LQ, United Kingdom.

SWL reports

We appreciate this will be a busy station and due to the nature of the event, we encourage SWL reports. If you send an SWL report, please make sure you list the exact frequency we were working on, the time you heard us and list the callsigns of two stations or more that we were talking to. It would also be nice to know what radio and aerial you’re using.

For more information about Radio Caroline, including how to join the support group and help keep the station on the air and Ross Revenge afloat, please see the website. Radio Caroline’s main running costs are covered by Support Group subscriptions and donations.

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Caroline North on air this weekend

(Source: Mike Terry via Southgate ARC)

Caroline North is back this weekend

Caroline North is back this weekend live from the MV Ross Revenge on the River Blackwater Estuary near Bradwell, Essex.

Relayed on 1368 kHz with a transmitter power of 20kw from the Isle of Man.

According to Manx Radio’s website as well as being heard in the Isle of Man, the AM service is also audible in Southern Scotland, in the North West, in North Wales and in the West of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Also online worldwide.

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Radio Caroline: A video diary of the weekend aboard the MV Ross Revenge

Ross-Revenge-CarolineMany thanks to Mike Terry who shared the following note and video via Facebook:

The great old days when the signal was mellow and radio waves were not blocked by buildings and hills and propagated beyond the horizon especially at night, it all added to the excitement. We would never have heard many of the great records of the 60s and later without this station! So many international stars made their name on the offshore stations around our coast 50 years or so ago. UK radio was changed for ever.

[Note: This video may only be viewable via Facebook or the SWLing Post site.]

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