Closedowns...

[Radio-X]

Just struck my curiosity recently...Of course, all the BBC FM's used to 'closedown' (sign off) at night around 1-2am and start up around 5-6am. Just have a couple of questions about this:

1) Did they actually close down for the night or did they do like Radio 4 does and simulcast the World Service?

2) How did they turn off and turn on their nation-wide network of transmitters? Did they have a 'dead air' switch that turned off the transmitter, or did they just leave a dead carrier on all night?

3) Any of the 'local' BBC services still closedown at night?

Thanks,

Radio-X<P ID="signature">______________
Formerly shocking, rocking, and angering the R-I community as radiodxrichmond!</P>

 

[mattii70]

> Just struck my curiosity recently...Of course, all the BBC
> FM's used to 'closedown' (sign off) at night around 1-2am
> and start up around 5-6am. Just have a couple of questions
> about this:
>
> 1) Did they actually close down for the night or did they do
> like Radio 4 does and simulcast the World Service?
>
> 2) How did they turn off and turn on their nation-wide
> network of transmitters? Did they have a 'dead air' switch
> that turned off the transmitter, or did they just leave a
> dead carrier on all night?
>
> 3) Any of the 'local' BBC services still closedown at night?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Radio-X

I'm not sure about in the past but most BBC Local stations still 'Closedown' and simulcast BBC World Serivce at night.<P ID="signature">______________
Searchable list of stations streaming from the USA
www.thestreamcenter.com</P>

 

[thedougpound]

> Maybe they had a Master Switch which cut RF to all transmitters...

 

[smorris]

> Just struck my curiosity recently...Of course, all the BBC
> FM's used to 'closedown' (sign off) at night around 1-2am
> and start up around 5-6am. Just have a couple of questions
> about this.
>
> 1) Did they actually close down for the night or did they do
> like Radio 4 does and simulcast the World Service?

They actually did close and switch off, at least initially.

Many of the commercial stations also switched off at night in the early days (1970s and early 1980s), and because of severe prohibitions on networking and automation, they must have gone to dead air or switched off completely.

But this is all a long time ago now - by the time I was listening to radio it was only the pirates that were really "part time" stations, at that time mostly operating weekends only.

> 2) How did they turn off and turn on their nation-wide
> network of transmitters? Did they have a 'dead air' switch
> that turned off the transmitter, or did they just leave a
> dead carrier on all night?

Originally they did actually close the whole thing down for the night, I believe, transmitter and all. The sites would originally have been manually turned off by staff at the site. I think it was only once the networks got complicated (many unmanned relays etc.) they started going to dead air or relays of other services at night, because otherwise the relay transmitters would have broadcast white noise.

> 3) Any of the 'local' BBC services still closedown at night?

Nearly all BBC Local Radio stations except London relayed Radio 5 Live (or sometimes other BBC services) overnight until only the last couple of years. Now regional overnight services have been set up in many areas, though the more rural stations may still switch to national services at night.

 

[markwooldridge]

> > Just struck my curiosity recently...Of course, all the BBC
>
> > FM's used to 'closedown' (sign off) at night around 1-2am
> > and start up around 5-6am. Just have a couple of questions
>
> > about this.
> >
> > 1) Did they actually close down for the night or did they
> do
> > like Radio 4 does and simulcast the World Service?

Radio shut down overnight more like thanks to needletime restrictions thanks to the Musicians Union, where only so much recorded music could be played. As these restrictions were lifted, more overnight services came into being. Initially my local commercial station shut down somewhen between 7 and 9pm.... yes, that early... then they went to 12 or 1am... and then 24/7 as automation became cheaper and more readily available. Other stations got their act together quickly by sharing a overnight network between the commercial stations.

Yes, transmitters were switched off overnight. Until Radio 3 FM and Radio 4 FM did their overnight services (Radio 3 with music, R4 going to WS overnight - they've had overnight WS on longwave for ages - easier to keep that thing going than to shut it down - since it was no solid state low power transmitter.... ) their FM services did go off-air totally. At least in my neck of the woods they did.


> > 2) How did they turn off and turn on their nation-wide
> > network of transmitters? Did they have a 'dead air' switch
>
> > that turned off the transmitter, or did they just leave a
> > dead carrier on all night?
>

I'm not sure when they closed down overnights. However, since I received the signal from many main and relay sites in my location it must have been automated since the FMs shut down very soon after the national anthem on Radio 4. However I was usually busy retuning to longwave at that time to catch the Wild Service. Radio 4 FM in its shutdown overnight days did not hang around. In any case there had to be some automation, because the FM stereo/mono indicator (at least last I was there it went on/off regularly) goes on and off network-wide.

> > 3) Any of the 'local' BBC services still closedown at
> night?
>
> Nearly all BBC Local Radio stations except London relayed
> Radio 5 Live (or sometimes other BBC services) overnight
> until only the last couple of years. Now regional overnight
> services have been set up in many areas, though the more
> rural stations may still switch to national services at
> night.
>

There are regional overnight services. However BBC Southern Counties still relays Five Live at the weekends.

Mark.