Outreach Gold gets ready to launch on Friday 6th March

The team at Outreach Radio are excitedly getting ready to officially launch a brand new classic hits radio service for Hampshire; Outreach Radio Gold.

Announced at the recent studio launch event at The Hilt in Chandler’s Ford on 17th February, Outreach Gold will be focussed predominantly on music from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s.

Featuring existing Outreach Radio presenters, the new service will also be home to new presenters joining the team from the former community radio service, Skyline Gold, which operated in the Hedge End area for nearly 20 years, but sadly closed down approximately 18 months ago. The new service intends to re-ignite the flame of classic/retro radio, with the slogan “Your Truly Local Classic Hits Station”.

Launching at 1pm on Friday 6th March, from Outreach Radio’s second new studio in West End, the service will be available across Hampshire on DAB+, online, on smart speakers, and also on 1557 kHz AM – the former Gold/Smooth AM frequency for the South Coast – ensuring heritage radio can be heard in it’s “original form”.

Whilst AM may no longer be considered a primary listening platform, the team at Outreach Radio together with a crack team of heritage radio supporters have worked through rain and shine, (mostly rain, given the time of year!), to bring the AM service on-air. It has been suggested that this AM service may be the last to launch in the UK, as Ofcom are currently reviewing these licences, but we hope this won’t be the case.

Reception of test transmissions on 1557 kHz (193 metres) over the last few weeks have been met with great enthusiasm from the amateur radio and vintage radio communities, including a number posts on forums and videos on YouTube sharing signal reports – the image on this post coming from one of those very reports. Outreach Radio has also received signal reports from listeners as far away as Belgium and the Channel Islands able to receive the AM signal late at night when atmospheric changes occur which cause AM signals to traverse longer distances.

Over the coming weeks, signal reports will be listed on the Outreach Gold website – outreachgold.co.uk. If you are able to receive the AM signal, we would love to hear from you by emailing info@outreachgold.co.uk.

Electronic QSL cards are being made to send to listeners contacting us with signal reports. QSL cards are postcards used by amateur radio operators to confirm two-way communication, serving as souvenirs for contacts, documentation for awards, or personal mementos.

Some forum members have understandably questioned Outreach Radio’s seemingly strange reason for bringing the AM service to air – for which there is an underpinning motive…

Outreach Radio also provides training to young people interested in broadcast and media. Will be soon inviting local schools and young people to attend heritage radio presentations, radio studio tours, and crystal radio kit-building sessions, (for which we are currently seeking a low-cost crystal radio kit), to help teach local young people about radio communications, and help to reinforce their need for STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics) subjects.

With the technological barrier to entry for young people now so high with mobile phones, etc, it is hoped that creating a simple radio receiver kit that operates without batteries which can receive the local AM signal, a spark may ignite in young people from which they discover an interest in the technological side of radio communications and broadcasting – and potentially join the local Amateur Radio club, who will be invited to join Outreach Radio for these Heritage sessions.

As much as the wonderful team of volunteers at Outreach Radio work hard to serve local people of all ages with great music, entertainment and information through our selection of radio services, there’s always new angles which we seek to explore that can bring benefit to others, in this case, young people who are developing and preparing for their future lives, and possible careers in media, broadcasting or engineering.

Please keep tuned to 1557 kHz over the coming days as we near the official service launch at lunchtime on Friday.