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Central Radio International
Jim
Brown R.I P.
Central Radio
founder Jim Brown
has died on 10 November 2017, aged 68, after a long battle with Cancer.
Jim (or Kev, as we all knew him) has been involved in free radio
since the late 1970s and started Central Radio in the erarly '80s on
the Mediumwave but the station later closed due to location problems. Central
re-appeared on FM in the 1990s and has broadcast mostly on Bank
Holidays until August 2017.
See more at Brian Grant's official
Central site:
www.centralradio.info
_________________________________
Phill
Davies R.I P.
PHILL DAVIES AT CENTRAL RADIO IN 1986
Former Central Radio DJ Phill
Davies has died on 28 January 2013, aged 65. Phill also had his
own weekend station Liverpool Pirate Radio as well as doing shows for
Merseywaves Radio Julie and other stations as well.
1987.
The Return
Central Radio
'International', as it was known, (It once recieved a reception
report from Albania) was originally on Mediumwave between
1984 and 1987. Due to problems with unreliable transmitters
in the early days, it was never on for more than six weeks
at a time. They were raided in 1984 and I joined Central
with Tom Webb September 1985. Other presenters were Jim
Brown, Phill Davies, Mark Evans, Geoff Thompson and John
Sanderson. The station got raided again in 1986
because it was decided to go on Fridays and Mondays, which has been the
downfall of many stations in the eighties. We all had a meeting and
decided to put money into getting another transmitter built by Joe
the engineer who decided to make it the best transmitter the station
ever had. It proved to be reliable and we had no further problems.
The twin turntable unit was built by me from 2 old BSR decks which
had been found in the tower block where we broadcast from. The
set-up was cheap and cheerful, like many set-ups at the time but it worked.
Problems
The station
was on for about 3 months and things got difficult. Phill Davies
appointed himself as station manager and brought others on to the
station. Things needed doing to the transmitter and turntables as
there had been no maintenance and we wanted to stay off for a few
weeks and got accused of trying to take over the station. As I had
spent 37 Pounds on components, including the crystal, I decided that
if Phill Davies and others wanted to tell me what to do, they should
pay me what was owed to me. There was a negative response to this
suggestion so the equipment was removed from the location until an
agreement was reached. The station then carried on as normal.
The End Of Central on Mediumwave
One Saturday
in 1987,
I was doing my show and there was a visit from Manweb. Apparently the
electricity to the flat was connected directly to the mains without a
main fuse or even a meter !
Nothing was said by the Manweb engineers,
but as there was the possibility of a raid by Manweb
(Merseyside and North Wales Electricity Board), Phill Davies
removed the transmitter to his home and used it to transmit his
station Liverpool Pirate Radio. His home was eventually raided and the
Central transmitter was apparently taken by the DTI in the raid.
The decline of
Mediumwave pirates is mainly due to lack of suitable locations,
wheras FM stations can broadcast from virtually anywhere. At first, I
enjoyed doing Central Radio, but it eventually became a duty rather than a pastime.
Pirate
operators may have to return to AM, as the FM is officially full in
the Merseyside area, but there are plans to discontinue the
big national FM transmitters, and sell licences to smaller,
local stations on FM, so there may well be more free
channels on FM in the future.
The BBC's policy is to avoid duplication of
output on FM and DAB, but commercial station owners
prefer FM and DAB.
Central
On
FM
Central returned. In 1999, it has been on FM on occasional weekends. At
Christmas 1999, they did a reunion broadcast with Jim Brown, Phill
Davies Mark Evans & Tom Webb. In the early 200's
Central made many appearances on FM, with original
presenters Jim Brown, Phill Davies, Mark Evans, Brian Grant
and Paul Hunt, plus Tom Webb, Jim Lowe and other DJ's
occasionally including Rick Dane DJ Alien, and Dr. TK. For updated information,
audio clips and more, go
to Central's official site: www.centralradio.info
Also
check out this Youtube
Video
Phill Davies
also did
Liverpool
Pirate Radio
on 1431 Khz. which was later on FM (105.00) on occasional weekends.
Central Radio audio clips can be found at Gary
Hogg's excellent site
The DX Archive
DISCLAIMER
THE CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE ARE ABOUT MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES ON CENTRAL RADIO AND MAY NOT REFLECT POPULAR
ACCOUNTS OR OPINIONS HELD BY OTHERS.
Pictures by
Jim Lowe © 1998. All indoor photo's were taken with a Chinon CA4
35mm SLR camera using an aperture of f8 at 1/60th shutter speed with
a Prinz fixed flash unit. 400ASA Kodak film used. |
