Studio Equipment
The station's studio equipment was fairly standard for the time, consisting of a pair of turntables, a microphone, tape decks and a mixer. A US navy transmitter type General Electric TCJ-7 (nicknamed "Big Bertha") replaced the old bomber transmitter, instead of the makeshift scaffolding pole antenna, a real antenna mast was used. Whereas most radio stations played jingles and commercials from cartridges, City used reel-to-reel. In addition to the usual music programming, subsidised by Dutch and American evangelical shows, City also had the only comedy show on pirate radio - The Auntie Mabel Hour, a recorded programme in which the DJs acted out comic sketches and sang parodies of contemporary songs. Some of the show's material seems to have been stolen from The Goon Show and Round the Horne. Another novelty programme was The Anti-City Show, which invited listeners to send letters and reel-to-reel tapes of complaint about the station. It soon became a forum for listeners' complaints about anything that annoyed them. Occasionally, the record "You've Got Your Troubles" by The Fortunes would be broadcast as a signal to land-based associates that a problem, such as a supply shortage, was arising on the fort.
The Port of London authority had placed wind and tide gauges on the isolated North tower, and often complained that Radio City's signal was interfering with the gauges' radio link to the mainland and potentially placing shipping at risk. Interference with official communications was a commonly-cited reason for the pirates to be banned, but Radio City was eventually to provide the Government with a much more compelling reason for their closure.
Read more about this topic: Radio City (pirate Radio Station)
Famous quotes containing the words studio and/or equipment:
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