Radio Fax: Christopher seeks more information about “Britain’s Number Two Short Wave Station”

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Christopher Brennen, who writes:

I hope you’re keeping well. I stumbled across this site and thought you might be interested:

http://radiofax.org

I am a little too young to know anything about this; not only was I five / six when they first started but I also had no idea about shortwave radio at the time! 🙂

Do any of your readers know anything more about it (it is fairly detailed on this site, but perhaps someone reading was involved in some way?)

It seems to be a shortwave combination of the IBA Engineering Broadcasts for the trade that were shown on TV and something akin to the current InRadio (inrad.io).

Click here to view on YouTube.

Incidentally, the little IBA jingle at the start of that clip was also used – in a higher key – by Granada Television in the North West of England for some of their idents:

Click here to view on YouTube.

Granada was my ‘home’ ITV region so I’m very familiar with that jingle.

Thanks again for the SWLing Post!

Many thanks, Christopher!

I’m willing to bet SWLing Post readers can comment with more details about the Radio Fax service.

Spread the radio love

9 thoughts on “Radio Fax: Christopher seeks more information about “Britain’s Number Two Short Wave Station”

  1. Radio Addict

    A great station !

    The loop tape programing was simple but effective (well it’s not much different from the BBC WS 4 hour
    system).

    Programming was of a technical nature, pure radio and technology.

    There was a YL who also had a music programme too, and general music policy was quite interesting
    almost punky at times.

    I think it’s owner Trevor had a company called Surrey Electronics ?

    A badly missed station…

    And yes, I think it still uses it’s 6.195Mhz freq to broadcast Reflections Europe, which are are taped
    religious programs.

    Reply
  2. Frank

    I thought they were a pirate station form Ireland. I got a nice large brownish cardboard QSL from them in the early 1990ies and a nice letter and a photocopy of a drawing of their transmitter site 🙂
    6205, 12255 (and 3905?).
    Reflections Europe now can be found SUndays CET on 6295.

    Reply
    1. Another Andy

      Yes, the transmitters were in Ireland and the content from England, with Trevor Brook and Andy Burnham doing the “Sparks” programme on Monday/Tuesday at the start of each week, and various other programmes on other days. Sparks included readings from a wide range of industry and technical publications, along with listener letters, logs of other unlicensed stations around the UK and Ireland (mostly FM or SW), and the occasional interview or insert from a visit to a museum or similar.
      The website has an extensive audio archive of the Sparks programme from 1991/2, and from the earlier 1988 broadcasts, as well as a few of the other programmes broadcast on the station.
      The station broadcast a cassette tape loop on repeat, so there were usually 90 minutes of new material per day, occasionally 120.

      Reply
  3. Andy

    I listened whenever I could, and even made a small radio permanently tuned to 6205 KHz with an earpiece. Radio Fax was great for SWL’s and technology buffs, with readings from Wireless World and other technical and hobby magazines, plus tech news from around the world. A brilliant station.

    Reply
  4. Cap

    I remember Radio Fax well and used to tune in back in the day, mainly on the 6205kHz freq and was always a big signal as the skip path was optimal to my QTH. I think they used to have a programme called sparks? unless I am mixing it up with another station.

    Reply

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