Moorlands Radio - Radio

Cheshire Robski · 31-10-2009, 20:48

Stumbled across Moorlands Radio from Leek in Staffs today, which appears now to be testing on 103.7 ready for a launch next Saturday.

Here in the middle of Cheshire, the previously strong reception of Tameside Radio 103.6 is now taking a beating from Moorlands leaving both stations a mushy-mess on the dial!

With the 'competition' in reception, I wonder if Moorlands will be as good as Tameside with regards to the professional sound of the station.

Multiplex · 31-10-2009, 21:01

Yeah I heard Moorlands Radio today around the Staffordshire/Cheshire borders and it is putting out a nice signal. The test TX's sound professional...with voiced announcement's and promo's from Steve England.

There are places around Congleton where Moorlands' reception gets hammered and in Macclesfield, there is only Tameside. On the southbound M6, Tameside is still strong until around Junction 17.

Audiowise...I think Moorlands sounds nice, although it is not loud.

I reckon this will be a very good station, if the previous RSL's are anything to go by.

belleville1 · 31-10-2009, 21:54

Have Tameside Radio upped their power at all, perhaps in response to the new station? I'm located in the South Cheshire area just a couple of miles from the Staffordshire border and on my stereo, Moorlands is being battered by a Tameside signal that's far stronger than the weak signal it had just a week or so ago - it even shows TAMESIDE on the display as soon as it's tuned in, with no delay, which on my clapped out stereo indicates a really strong signal. It's almost impossible to listen to Moorlands while driving.

Biddulph, the location of the Moorlands transmitter, is 4 miles away as the crow flies with no major hills in the way. Ashton-under-Lyne is 25 miles. I shouldn't be getting a community radio station from 25 miles away with full RDS at the expense of my closest. What is going on?

Great Pretender · 03-11-2009, 09:38

I've spoken to Tameside and they say that they havent touched the transmitter. They say that they have had problems with stonger community radio signals in their area switching car stereo's as the RDS code for community radio in Manchester was the same. They got permission from Ofcom to change their RDS code and their issues appear sorted. Perhaps its a problem at Moorlands rather than Tameside

belleville1 · 03-11-2009, 14:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Great Pretender

I've spoken to Tameside and they say that they havent touched the transmitter. They say that they have had problems with stonger community radio signals in their area switching car stereo's as the RDS code for community radio in Manchester was the same. They got permission from Ofcom to change their RDS code and their issues appear sorted. Perhaps its a problem at Moorlands rather than Tameside

Unless Tameside MBC have taken over vast swathes of Greater Manchester, Cheshire and the Potteries in some bizarre local council game of Risk, I don't think anyone should be able to drive around North Staffordshire listening to Tameside Today as I have just been. I'd hazard a guess that most people round here don't even know where Tameside is because it's so far away!

Radio signals get outside their patch - we all know that. And we know this is neither station's fault but a classic case of poor frequency planning by Ofcom, to whom the North is a large flat area on a map with a picture of a dragon on it. If the Moorlands signal was just dropping out a bit in places it wouldn't be much of a problem. But the god-awful headache inducing racket inflicted by Tameside's signal on Moorlands listeners who dare to travel north or west of Leek (including the station's town of licence, Biddulph) at present ought to be sorted between the stations.

Speaking as an independent observer, Tameside is far too strong for great distances outside its area and should perhaps be nulled to the south, Moorlands maybe ought to sort itself out to be a bit stronger within its patch.

Tony Mullins · 04-11-2009, 20:41

Thanks for the nice comments about our RSLs and sound - looking at our presenter lineup, it should sound pretty good, we have the majority of presenters returning from the RSLs and the likes of Sam Plank (Ex BBC Stoke and Signal 2) presenting daily mid mornings, Mervyn Gamage on brekky and Steve England in there too!

As far as the jingles and production goes, it will be "top notch" with a brand new jingle package and a new set of sweepers. We're doing some adjustments in the next few days to help the signal on the Biddulph side. Keep your radio tuned to 103.7fm and let me know where you're getting us!

Thanks,

Tony

Tony Mullins
Chairman - Moorlands Radio
Across the Staffordshire Moorlands on 103.7fm

max_db · 04-11-2009, 23:51

Yeah, I was going to say it's probably just currently running low power or testing.

howard h · 05-11-2009, 00:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony Mullins

jingles

I'm losing the will to live.

Can't a radio station, any radio station, just politely tell us (occasionally) who they are, instead of these *catchy* whatever-they're-called??

Anyway, good to hear that Tameside is reaching far and wide. Any chance of PureFM (Stockport) boosting their signal so it reaches Bolton nice and clearly??

belleville1 · 05-11-2009, 00:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by howard h

I'm losing the will to live.

Can't a radio station, any radio station, just politely tell us (occasionally) who they are, instead of these *catchy* whatever-they're-called??

It sounds like you're after Radio 3.

howard h · 05-11-2009, 00:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by belleville1

It sounds like you're after Radio 3.

Yes, but with trance involved in there somewhere!! Wonder how many radio stations put out podcasts of their shows/highlights and remove the "jingles"? Matt Darey produces podcasts of his shows but without the radio-station jingles (as his shows are broadcast on many different ones) and ads.

Super 8 and Tab come to BBC Radio 3

- and Armin Van Buuren reads out the shipping forecast on Radio 4

Alex M.O.R.P.H and Woody Van Eyden ft. Elsa Hill - Close Of Play Cricket Scores (Markus Schulz Vocal Mix Radio Edit).

Could be a winner.....

Panty Hamster · 05-11-2009, 10:45

I thought these stations were designed to cover just one place, such as Biddulph or Leak or Cheadle, rather than a 'district'. I remember when Cheshire FM started they got hassled by Ofcom to make a decision between Northwich or Winsford rather than the whole middle belt of Cheshire. Looking at the map of Moorlands area on the website it does look quite ambitious.

Dan Martin · 05-11-2009, 13:46

I think this is because Moorlands Radio's TSA is classed by Ofcom as a rural area, rather than a urban one which means Ofcom will allocate them more power plus let them cover a wider area.

This is a very grey area however and I have no idea how Ofcom make this decision.

belleville1 · 05-11-2009, 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by howard h

YSuper 8 and Tab come to BBC Radio 3

- and Armin Van Buuren reads out the shipping forecast on Radio 4

Alex M.O.R.P.H and Woody Van Eyden ft. Elsa Hill - Close Of Play Cricket Scores (Markus Schulz Vocal Mix Radio Edit).

Could be a winner.....

What are you twittering on about?

belleville1 · 05-11-2009, 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panty Hamster

I thought these stations were designed to cover just one place, such as Biddulph or Leak or Cheadle, rather than a 'district'. I remember when Cheshire FM started they got hassled by Ofcom to make a decision between Northwich or Winsford rather than the whole middle belt of Cheshire. Looking at the map of Moorlands area on the website it does look quite ambitious.

I think that map was put there long before the transmitter was actually turned on - I remember seeing it last year.

Like Dan Martin says above, I'm pretty sure Ofcom hand out power based on the type of area the station is planning to broadcast to - an inner-city Manchester station is going to need far less power to cover the same population as one covering some Scottish island or somewhere. The "official" line is that a station should cover a 5km radius of its transmitter, but in rural areas this is impractical (you'd be covering cows, sheep and a couple of farmers) so more power is awarded. A few stations even run two transmitters.

Good to hear from the horse's mouth that the Biddulph situation is set to be resolved at some point - the station is sounding good musically so far. If the playlist on the tests is representative of the actual station, I'll definitely tune in.

PS. I think you have to be unrealistically ambitious if you're launching a community station. If you thought about it all rationally, you'd never start!

Tony Mullins · 23-11-2009, 21:47

Well, 2 weeks in, and things are just settling down, our launch day on 7th was mad, such a busy and manic day (there were a few nerves too - mostly from me!!!)

The audience is building day by day, and the response has been brilliant from people locally. We're so pleased with the response - it has made the 3 RSLs worth it and all the hard work by the team here!

We're now going on to develop our team of weekday and weekend presenters including our fab volunteer team.

Tony
Moorlands Radio

tellyadict · 24-11-2009, 00:52

Not listerned to Tameside Radio for a but but it was waek on my car radio around Stretford and did not get strong till going along the A57 towards Hyde, not checked if its now much stonger. My car radio is not the best but I cannot see it having issues in Stretford if it can now be heard in South Cheshire.
I live in Hadfield where we also get High Peak Radio but that needs different frequencies to cover the whole High Peak Area.

31-10-2009, 20:48	#1
Cheshire Robski Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: 180 miles North West of London Services: Roof rotator FM3H, tuners with 300, 180 & 53kHz modified filters - DAB 8 mu Posts: 1,319	Moorlands Radio Stumbled across Moorlands Radio from Leek in Staffs today, which appears now to be testing on 103.7 ready for a launch next Saturday. Here in the middle of Cheshire, the previously strong reception of Tameside Radio 103.6 is now taking a beating from Moorlands leaving both stations a mushy-mess on the dial! With the 'competition' in reception, I wonder if Moorlands will be as good as Tameside with regards to the professional sound of the station.

04-11-2009, 20:41	#6
Tony Mullins Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6	Moorlands Radio 103.7 Thanks for the nice comments about our RSLs and sound - looking at our presenter lineup, it should sound pretty good, we have the majority of presenters returning from the RSLs and the likes of Sam Plank (Ex BBC Stoke and Signal 2) presenting daily mid mornings, Mervyn Gamage on brekky and Steve England in there too! As far as the jingles and production goes, it will be "top notch" with a brand new jingle package and a new set of sweepers. We're doing some adjustments in the next few days to help the signal on the Biddulph side. Keep your radio tuned to 103.7fm and let me know where you're getting us! Thanks, Tony Tony Mullins Chairman - Moorlands Radio Across the Staffordshire Moorlands on 103.7fm

23-11-2009, 21:47	#15
Tony Mullins Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 6	Moorlands Radio Well, 2 weeks in, and things are just settling down, our launch day on 7th was mad, such a busy and manic day (there were a few nerves too - mostly from me!!!) The audience is building day by day, and the response has been brilliant from people locally. We're so pleased with the response - it has made the 3 RSLs worth it and all the hard work by the team here! We're now going on to develop our team of weekday and weekend presenters including our fab volunteer team. Tony Moorlands Radio

31-10-2009, 21:01	#2
Multiplex Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Winter Hill, Lancashire Services: Granada, DTT, Powergen, Telewest Broadband Posts: 227	Yeah I heard Moorlands Radio today around the Staffordshire/Cheshire borders and it is putting out a nice signal. The test TX's sound professional...with voiced announcement's and promo's from Steve England. There are places around Congleton where Moorlands' reception gets hammered and in Macclesfield, there is only Tameside. On the southbound M6, Tameside is still strong until around Junction 17. Audiowise...I think Moorlands sounds nice, although it is not loud. I reckon this will be a very good station, if the previous RSL's are anything to go by.

31-10-2009, 21:54	#3
belleville1 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: North West Services: Vodafone, O2 LLU broadband, Freesat, Ubuntu Posts: 2,116	Have Tameside Radio upped their power at all, perhaps in response to the new station? I'm located in the South Cheshire area just a couple of miles from the Staffordshire border and on my stereo, Moorlands is being battered by a Tameside signal that's far stronger than the weak signal it had just a week or so ago - it even shows TAMESIDE on the display as soon as it's tuned in, with no delay, which on my clapped out stereo indicates a really strong signal. It's almost impossible to listen to Moorlands while driving. Biddulph, the location of the Moorlands transmitter, is 4 miles away as the crow flies with no major hills in the way. Ashton-under-Lyne is 25 miles. I shouldn't be getting a community radio station from 25 miles away with full RDS at the expense of my closest. What is going on?

03-11-2009, 09:38	#4
Great Pretender Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 37	I've spoken to Tameside and they say that they havent touched the transmitter. They say that they have had problems with stonger community radio signals in their area switching car stereo's as the RDS code for community radio in Manchester was the same. They got permission from Ofcom to change their RDS code and their issues appear sorted. Perhaps its a problem at Moorlands rather than Tameside

04-11-2009, 23:51	#7
max_db Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2,278	Yeah, I was going to say it's probably just currently running low power or testing.

05-11-2009, 10:45	#11
Panty Hamster Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Northwest Posts: 48	I thought these stations were designed to cover just one place, such as Biddulph or Leak or Cheadle, rather than a 'district'. I remember when Cheshire FM started they got hassled by Ofcom to make a decision between Northwich or Winsford rather than the whole middle belt of Cheshire. Looking at the map of Moorlands area on the website it does look quite ambitious.

05-11-2009, 13:46	#12
Dan Martin Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 170	I think this is because Moorlands Radio's TSA is classed by Ofcom as a rural area, rather than a urban one which means Ofcom will allocate them more power plus let them cover a wider area. This is a very grey area however and I have no idea how Ofcom make this decision.

24-11-2009, 00:52	#16
tellyadict Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Hadfield, Derbyshire Services: Sky Sports Wold, multiroom Sky HD, ESPN HD, 6MB Broadband,freeview Posts: 2,071	Not listerned to Tameside Radio for a but but it was waek on my car radio around Stretford and did not get strong till going along the A57 towards Hyde, not checked if its now much stonger. My car radio is not the best but I cannot see it having issues in Stretford if it can now be heard in South Cheshire. I live in Hadfield where we also get High Peak Radio but that needs different frequencies to cover the whole High Peak Area.