FRS goes DX (progr)
Overview
If there’s one show we have to mention surviving all those 30 years, the answer is quite easy: ‘FRS Goes DX‘. The first edition went out as part of FRS-Holland’s debut broadcast on Sunday August 31st 1980. Ever since the programme has been part of FRS-Holland’s programming, looking at regular Sunday broadcasts. ‘FRS Goes DX’ started as a 30 minute show being a mix up of information & music. It would take just over 2 years before the programme was extended to 45 minutes. That was in November 1983. The programme then focused entirely on news and music wasn’t played anymore. In the late 1990s and 2000s a number of editions lasted 60 minutes although 45 minutes remained the common length. But: just before and after 2010 several editions were split into two separate 30 minute editions rather than a 60 minute one. All in all there are very few regular broadcasts without ‘FRS Goes DX’. One example is December 1993 when the programme was lacking… Certainly there will be a few more Sundays but you may take it for granted that far more than 200 editions of ‘FRS Goes DX’ have been aired.
Content
Unfortunately the Free Radio News share has dropped a bit over the years because of less activity. One example is that in the 80s the London Free Radio scene was part of ‘FRS Goes DX’. There were always enough interesting items regarding the many London AM & FM pirates like Radio Jackie, Radio Horizon, Thames Side Radio and Radio Invicta. Barry Stephens was our main London contributor. The current London scene isn’t as lively as it was and isn’t reported in ‘FRS Goes DX’ anymore. Another major explanation is of course the lack of Offshore Radio stations. ‘FRS Goes DX’ carried more than a handful of interesting reports covering historic moments in the history of Offshore Radio. To mention a few: the raid on Radio Paradise in the summer of 1981; the new start of Radio Caroline from the Ross Revenge August 1983; the tests and start of Laser 558 in 1984; Laser’s demise in November 1985; Laser Hot Hits’ start in November 1986 and of course the end of Radio Caroline’s broadcasts from the North Sea in 1991. No doubt the Free Radio items have been replaced by more so called ‘News from around the World’ items. Looking at the response from listeners, these items are much appreciated too! Apart from up-to-date items, ‘FRS Goes DX’ also produces special reports about interesting radio related topics. Just think of for instance internet radio, the future of SW radio or receiving equipment/ antennas. Items which were covered in the past years.
Preparations
In the early days the complete ‘FRS Goes DX’ script was completely handwritten, then replaced by using a typewriter and then by a computer. In the meantime the ‘FRS Goes DX’ archive contains over 2,000 pages of radio news. Preparations for a 45 min. edition can easily take up to some 15 hours… realize that every item is completely put on paper. Apart from the aforementioned correspondent Barry Stephens, we made use of US citizen Al Muick who used to cover Free Radio news from the States. Al had his very own regular section in 1981. Sadly he could not continue for private reasons. Without bragging it is obvious that ‘FRS Goes DX’ was and still is one of the very few serious DX Shows within the current shortwave scene. And that for already more than four decades!
