Radio 270 Coverage
Listeners in the area within the BOLD contour
enjoyed a good signal during daylight hours.
After dark the signal extend to
at least the paler pecked line.
This information from the Radio 270 Rate Card, published 1 April 1966
In practice the station had listeners much further afield, certainly most of the UK, thanks to the clear frequency that the station had chosen, as well as in most of Scandinavia, the Benelux countries and Germany. The furthest the station was heard was in the USA; American radio stations use frequencies ending in zero, so Radio 270's transmissions on 1115 kHz were a popular target for DXers being midway between local stations.
Radio 270
Coverage
Listeners in the area within the BOLD contour enjoyed a good signal during daylight hours. After dark the signal extend to beyond paler pecked line projection, often FAR beyond!
This information from the Radio 270 Rate Card, published 1 April 1966 but prepared many weeks before launch, by Radio 270's Director of Engineering Peter Duncan.
The Radio 270 coverage map shown above was based on VERY conservative estimated and ignores the effect of the ship being sat out at sea, which gave the station much better launch of the signal into the ether as well as a 'shotgun effect' along the coast, enabling the signal to travel many miles in land. The predictions also seem to ignore the local topography (hills, etc) and the ground conductivity which allow the signal to travel along fertile valleys, and lowlands like the Fens area north of Cambridge.
In practice, Radio 270 had listeners much further afield, certainly most of the UK, thanks to the clear frequency that the station had chosen, as well as in most of Scandinavia, the Benelux countries and Germany. The furthest the station was heard was in the USA; American radio stations use frequencies ending in zero, so Radio 270's transmissions on 1115 kHz were a popular target for DXers being midway between two local stations.
Radio 270 also received many signal reports from listeners across Scandinavia where the signal was very strong - Svenn Martinssen in Stavanger, Norway, reported it as being the strongest of all the offshore stations on the Norwegian coast.
Radio 270 had many listeners in the Netherlands, especially the Friesland area (north of Amsterdam) where the station was stronger even than Radio Veronica, which was anchored off Scheveningen.
Transmission
Radio 270 ship, the MV Oceaan 7, anchored off Scarbororugh initially, then in Bridlington Bay The aerial mast was approx 160 feet high; it held up the aerial cable which hung just aft of the mast. The feeder was connected at the top of the mast, by a short horizontal boom. This boom was electrically bonded to the mast, which formed the return leg to the aerial down to ground, i.e. the deck. The base plate can be seen on the 'Memories' page. The aerial was effectively a folded unipole.
The station's single transmitter was an RCA B10J, which was run at 2.5 or 10 kilowatts output. All the station's programmes were produced and presented from a single studio alongside the transmitter, just for'ard of the bridge.
More technical details are available HERE on our Technical pages.
This information from the Radio 270 Rate Card, published 1 April 1966
In practice the station had listeners much further afield, certainly most of the UK, thanks to the clear frequency that the station had chosen, as well as in most of Scandinavia, the Benelux countries and Germany. The furthest the station was heard was in the USA; American radio stations use frequencies ending in zero, so Radio 270's transmissions on 1115 kHz were a popular target for DXers being midway between local stations.
Radio 270 Programmes.
The Radio 270 programmes were originally each to run for 15 minutes and with the idea that they would be sponsored by the advertisers, similar to the way Radio Luxembourg had been run previously. Using local businesses to sponsor these programmes, they were to be produced in the studios that Radio 270's Chief Engineer, Peter Duncan, had built in Newcastle.
The plan was for most of these to be programmes of the magazine type, with a variety of topics discussed between the records. There would be visits to local events and factories in the "Down Your Way" style and other visits of local interest to promote regional tourism etc.
A health advice programme was scheduled and a Radio Doctor was planned. In addition, a Radio Vicar had been appointed, Reverend Hedley Pickard from Hunmanby, just outside Filey.
Quite a number of programmes had already been produced as well as some pilots, but these wouldn't be suitable for the new Top 40 format. The new revised programme format would include more popular music and require a simpler method of delivery that could be easilly produced live on board the ship.
The new revised programme format would be more popular music based and require a much simpler programme type that could be made and presented live from on board the Oceaan 7.
RADIO 270
PROGRAMMES
Collated by Dennis Boreham
The 270 Show, |
270's Super Hit 40 Countdown |
Agent 270 |
Afternoon Show |
Back with the Beat |
Breakfast Show |
Cold Cream and Currlers Show |
Commuters Special |
Dennis the Menace Show |
Early Bird |
Early Morning Sleepwalkers Show |
Farewell Dance Party |
Hiya Pals it's Hal's Show |
In the Power House |
Ladies Morning Show |
Lunch Date |
Mikey Mo Breakfast Show |
M.H. Evening show |
Midnight Hour |
Midnight Up |
Munchtime at Lunchtime Show |
Musical Matinee |
Music for the Housewives |
Paul Burnett Twelve Hours Later |
Peter Phantoman |
Power House Party |
Radio 270 Fun 40 |
Rock and Roll Party |
Roger Scott Commuters Special |
Siesta |
Siesta Time |
Swap Shop |
Teenbeat 66 |
That Wise Guy again |
The 720 Show |
The Be-Oh De-Oh Do Show |
Wise Guys Lunchtime show |
The World Tomorrow (Garner Ted) |
The Sunday Times Hour of Jazz |
RADIO 270 DJs' THEME TUNES
Roger Gale A Walk in the Black Forest. Horst Jankowski
Pete Bowman 1. Bird Rocker by The Ventures,
2. These Boots are Made for Walking
Rusty Allen Deep in the Heart of Texas, DUANE EDDY
Brendan Power Rockin Goose DUANE EDDY
Ross Randell Skyliner MITCH MURRAY (and many others!)
Guy Tomorrows World & Iechyd-Da Alan Price Ser
Philip Hayton Countdown Dave Baby Cortez
Mikimo Rainbow Round My Shoulder, TED HEATH
Paul Burnett Peridot BOB MILLER
Hal Yorke Man of Mystery The Shadows.
Dennis Straney On the Street where you Live Dave Macey O'
Paul Kramer Kinda Kinky The Ray McVay Band
Alex Dee Along the Boulevard by Joe Loss Orchestra
Ed Moreno So Whats New Herb Alpert
Bob Snyder Quite A Beat by Sandy Nelson
Roger Keene In the Midnight Hour Little Mack & Boss Sounds
Mike Barron Climb The Apples BOB WALLIS
Neddy Noel Bye Bye Love, later an arrangement of his own
