Editorial

New contributors, new radio, new format

Welcome to another edition of TX, the unlicensed radio listings magazine. It's also a welcome to Brian Marshall, who has joined the TX team now that Alice's Restaurant is saying its last farewell. In this issue he's taken over from Chris England at Pirate Eye, while Chris has been left in control at Talkback. However, you'll find them elsewhere in TX from next time.

As well as these changes, we've had a slight reshuffle of some of the other features in response to your comments after the last issue. There are more improvements in the pipeline, including the introduction of a new pull-out guide with 'at-a-glance' information for you to keep by your radio.

Thanks to those people who contacted us in response to our appeal for another contributor to join the TX team — unfortunately we weren't able to acknowledge all enquiries. We've now found someone who will be joining us in the next issue. However, we're always interested in one-off articles about radio — get in touch for details.

One of the biggest news stories of this issue has to be the Government's Green Paper on the future of radio. On page 6 you'll find this fully explained, along with details of what it means in more practical terms. On page 7 we tell you how you can let the Government know what you want to hear on your radio via TX. This is going to be an ongoing campaign by the magazine, and we'll be letting you know in each issue how we're getting on.

Last issue's move to our new A4 size brought a tremendous response from everyone and we completely sold out of copies, despite doubling our print run. I you don't want to miss a copy it's vital that you subscribe — the order form is on page 27. For the many new readers, we've introduced an introduction to TX and the world o pirate radio, which you'll find below.

Happy reading,

Steve Hamley

A Quick Introduction To Pirate Radio

WHAT IS RADIO TODAY? Radio Today is a radio listings magazine covering unlicensed radio, offshore radio, community radio and soon BBC, Independent and overseas radio as well.

WHAT'S IN RADIO TODAY? In each issue you'll find full details of what's going on at the moment, along with background articles looking at radio in general and alternative radio in particular.

WHAT ABOUT THE LAW? Broadcasting without a license is illegal and at present there aren't any licenses to be handed out. To try and stop illegal broadcasters, the Government has its own 'Airwave Police'. They work by tracing stations, confiscating the equipment being used and trying to prosecute the people involved.

WHO DOES THIS? This work is carried out by tracking squads from the Radio Investigation Service, otherwise known as the RIS. This is a part or the Radio Communications Division of the Department or Trade and Industry — whose initials DTI you'll find liberally sprinkled in the pages of Radio Today as a general description for the people try and stop the pirates.

HOW DO THEY WORK? The DTI traces stations on the air using triangulation methods and then raid them. Most stations use remote transmitters at unmanned sites {either rented premises or on top of council tower blocks) with a complex series of hidden links to a secret studio. This means that usually just the main transmitter will be taken. Raids do occur at studios too, but it takes much longer to find them so raids are less frequent.

HOW EASY IS IT TO TUNE IN? First, a warning. Listening to an unlicensed station is against the law, although that doesn't stop several million people doing so every week. The offshore stations that operate on the medium wave (MW/AM) can be received on most medium wave radios. Most land-based pirates broadcast on VHF/FM with varying power levels. The major stations, like LWR and TKO, are on the air 24 hours a day and can be picked up on any normal radio throughout London. There is a wide range of smaller stations, sometimes on the air for just a few hours a week to a specific part of London. You'll find all the details in AM/FM along with a whole lot more.