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Athlone
Calling
Those of
us old enough to remember when a radio was called a wireless may remember
the name Athlone on the radio dial together with places such as Stuttgart,
Munich, Paris and Rome. On New Years Day in 1926, the first national
radio station "Dublin 2RN" was opened with an address by
the President of Ireland, Dr Douglas Hyde.
In
December 1930, the government announced that Athlone had been
selected as the site for a high-powered transmission station
and efforts were made to secure a suitable site. By 1932, an
ideal site had been located on the Moydrum estate, formerly
the home of Lord Castlemaine, a few miles east of the town,
and work commenced there early that year.
A major engineering feat was the erection of the masts that
are over 320 feet tall. The aerial itself was slung between
two masts. These masts, illuminated for safety reasons, were
for many years the first landmarks for people approaching Athlone
from the east either by rail or road. |
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The
Transmitter
The Marconi Company was asked to supply a 60-kilowatt transmitter
that would have the capacity to be increased to 100-kilowatt output
if required. In the mid 1950s, a new transmitter was installed with
an output of 100,000 watts. When the signal arrived in Athlone from
the Dublin studio, it was very weak, perhaps as low as a thousandth
of a watt. The powerful transmitter had the capacity to magnify the
signal fifty million times before radiating it into space to be picked
up in all parts of the country and beyond.
The
first transmitter in Moydrum was brought into action in June
1932, six months before it was due to be ready, in order to
broadcast the Papal Mass from the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin'
s Phoenix Park. By coincidence, a favourite son of Athlone,
John Count McCormack, sang the "Panis Angelicus" at
the conclusion of the Papal Mass.
The official opening of the station took place in February 1933
when Eamon de Valera described the Moydrum transmitter as "A
new bridge of Athlone, a bridge linking the Irish in Ireland
with the Irish in America". Athlone 2RN originally broadcast
on 431 metres until January 1934 when it changed to 531 metres.
"Athlone", "2RN" and the call sign "Athlone
Calling" were all household names in the early days of
Irish radio and are still remembered by radio enthusiasts worldwide.
Pictured on right:
Work on the erection of one of the masts at Moydrum in 1932.
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