The Rise of Offshore Broadcasting and Its Influence

In Europe, the radio output was dull until the offshore commercial stations started. However, the first ship-based station in Europe was American, the Voice of America on board MV Courier off Greece, later replaced by a land-based transmitting site. The commercial offshore stations brought music all day and hourly news updates. In many cases, it was the first chance for advertisers to try radio commercials. Commercial radio was a part of daily life in North America and Australia. Stations competed and broke many new artists, unlike today, when they only follow the charts. Radio was exciting in those days. Radio City is inspired by this rich source of great music from the past. The station is also inspired by the great cars of the past. Over the ears, cars and music have many common bonds.

The Pirate Years: From Shortwave to FM

Inspired by the offshore station, the operator has been involved in pirate shortwave, medium wave, and FM transmissions. Sometimes, I am alone as a partner, and sometimes, I run parallel projects. Sometimes, it is also parallel with licensed local operations. The skills have been honed broadcasting live without any safety net. The skills of editing jingles, selecting music, condensing presentations to avoid repetitive announcements and improving the flow have grown over the years.

Birth of a Brand: Radio City and Its Unique Identity

In 1991, the operator selected the name Radio City. To be distinct and avoid confusion with other stations with similar names, the slogan “The Station of the Cars” was adopted. Originally broadcasting from its own transmitting location until the transmitter broke down, it followed several years of renting time at other pirate stations in Europe, North America, Uruguay, and New Zealand. In those early years, car commercials and other commercials from offshore stations were transmitted. Also, car songs such as The Beach Boys’ “Fun Fun Fun” were favoured.

Expansion and Global Reach in the 21st Century

In the new century, the coverage grew as Radio City started hiring time on a 100 kw station in Latvia. Later, we also got free airtime on a co-owned MW station in that country. In 1996, Radio City moved to IRRS (the Italian Radio Relay Service, owned and operated by NEXUS-International Broadcasting Association), which was transmitted from Europe. Over the years, the 9510 kHz transmissions one Saturday morning each month (and sometimes an evening slot on 7290 kHz) proved to reach most of Europe, in periods also provided response from Eastern North America, Guatemala, Egypt and for many years reliable reception in New Zealand and Australia. The reception is probably still there, but fewer active listeners are now.

Adapting to Changing Radio Propagation Conditions

The last few years have been challenging as the sun is very active and propagation is unpredictable. The skip zone varies daily, and Northern Lights have been seen as far south as Austria. As a DX-er, the operator knows that these conditions favour reception from the south. It was decided to change the platform from IRRS on 9510 kHz during the morning into IRRS-MediumWave on 1323 kHz in the late evening, holding on to the third Saturday of the month. This frequency is clear during the late evening. With 10 kW, the signal covers most of Europe from Ukraine to the British Isles. Now, many listeners use computer-controlled SDR that are very frequency stable. Here, it is possible to optimise reception by choosing USB instead of AM to avoid splash from the next channel. It is possible to optimise the bandwidth to about 4 kHz. Using a USB, the listeners also eliminate the distortion caused by selective fading. For those still using a portable radio with a built-in ferrite rod antenna for MW, there is no need to extend any telescopic antenna or connect any external one. Just use the ferrite rod and rotate the radio for optimum reception quality.

Radio City Programming and Unique Listener Experience

There is a fixed structure of the Radio City programmes. It always starts with a featured act with three tracks played by the same group or singer. If available, songs in different languages. Radio City is, after all, an international music radio. The focus is on the 60s, but we play older and younger songs, too. Often, the expected major hits are not heard elsewhere. Then follows the “Dateline” feature. A selection of events during the specific month of the past years, followed by songs of the mentioned artists. One feature of this segment is a record from the offshore station Radio London (“Big L”) chart that week from 1965 to 1967. The rest of the programme includes a broad selection of music in several languages. This includes European and North American hits, Latin America, Asia, and sometimes African music. The latter case often includes Congolese rumba and other tropical music.

How to Engage with Radio City

To keep an exciting music mix, listeners cannot request songs. However, listeners are welcome to write to citymorecars “at” yahoo.ca. Each programme is followed up with a QSL letter, which extends the programme. Here, the station history is presented, the schedule is printed, and correct reception reports are verified. There is also a lot of information regarding the music and artists. And each month, a different vintage car is presented.

In many cases, the picture is taken by the operator at a vintage care meeting. For 11 years, he drove a 1966 Chrysler New Yorker imported from California. As he moved house, the Chrysler was sold and replaced by a 1973 MG Midget.

How to Submit a Verified Report for a QSL Letter

Those wanting a QSL letter must include at least three music details (song title, artist) and the time it appears, or an MP3 file with a segment with an announcement or a jingle with a bit of the music before and after. Reports from any Internet streaming (if available) will not be verified as they are not radio reception.