Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

[Richard1978]

For years I wondered by my Dad's trusty Grundig Elite Boy had numbered diamond shaped stickers on the dial.

Eventually I found that when BBC radio swapped around all their AM frequencies in 1978 a lot of existing radios had the station names marked in the old places, so it help listeners a set of these stickers were available to mark the new frequencies.

Even before knowing this I used some spare stick on numbers from a blank tape to mark them on my radio.

[staffslad]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

I remember putting those little diamond-shaped stickers on my radio. I am not sure where we got them from; perhaps they were available from shops or sent to every home, I don't know.

[sixtyten]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Yes, I remember having to put them on my portable when Radio 1 moved frequency.
i could be wrong but did they come with the Radio Times perhaps?

[sixtyten]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

[DemonEyeX]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Wow, I was always slightly obsessed with those little stickers when I was young.
I haven't thought about those for years, i'm going to try & track some down.

[Richard1978]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

The sticker sets also came with a big sticker will all the frequencies on, I remember one of my friends had aa old stereo with one of them stuck onto it.

[Twocky61]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Even before knowing this I used some spare stick on numbers from a blank tape to mark them on my radio.

Good to hear I am not the only one

I never used the stick-on numbers that came with VHS tapes for their intended purpose, Like you Richard, I used them to identify radio stations; mainly Luxembourg & the pirates including Caroline & Veronica & later Atlantic 252 which was the only music station on Long Wave

[Richard1978]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Good to hear I am not the only one

I never used the stick-on numbers that came with VHS tapes for their intended purpose, Like you Richard, I used them to identify radio stations; mainly Luxembourg & the pirates including Caroline & Veronica & later Atlantic 252 which was the only music station on Long Wave

They were very useful to find some stations, Radio 1 in FM was a little weak were I lived so it took some fine tuning to get it clear in stereo.

[zabadak]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

I think they were posted to every household or am I crazy?

[Twocky61]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Talking of Radio who remembers the simul-casts where radio & television were run together, so you could watch & hear Top of the Pops simultaneously on a Saturday evening? (if IRC)

[Richard1978]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Talking of Radio who remembers the simul-casts where radio & television were run together, so you could watch & hear Top of the Pops simultaneously on a Saturday evening? (if IRC)

It would have been Thursdays. It was a tie-in with Radio 1 starting broadcasting in FM, & ran for a few years.

I remember me & my brother putting the stereo on & turning the TV's volume down when watching TOTP.

[Twocky61]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

It would have been Thursdays. It was a tie-in with Radio 1 starting broadcasting in FM, & ran for a few years.

I remember me & my brother putting the stereo on & turning the TV's volume down when watching TOTP.

The good old days pre NICAM stereo TV's

[Arran]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

The change in the frequencies for LW and MW radio stations was the result of the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 which was enacted on 23 November 1978.

The Geneva Frequency Plan was required in order to reduce mutual interference between different LW and MW radio stations which had resulted from an increase in the number of radio stations broadcasting across Europe after the Copenhagen Frequency Plan of 1948 was enacted in 1950. A secondary advantage of the Geneva Frequency Plan is that all LW and MW radio stations in Europe are broadcast on frequencies that are an exact multiple of 9 kHz which simplifies the design of 'digital' phase lock loop tuners.

If you encounter a radio with the names of the stations on the tuning dial that was manufactured between 1950 and 1978 then the frequencies of the stations will be those from the Copenhagen Frequency Plan. Radios manufactured before 1967 do not have Radio 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the tuning dial. Most Japanese radios just had the frequency on the tuning dial and not the names of any radio stations.

The Geneva Frequency Plan did not alter the frequencies of local BBC radio stations or apply to FM radio broadcasts at VHF.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Frequency_Plan_of_1975

[Richard1978]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Thanks for that, I remember one of my Aunts had a radio with some station names on the dial.

I'll have to see if my Dad still has his old radio around.

[Arran]

Re: Numbered Diamond Stickers On Radio

Something to take into account is that a much higher proportion of people listened to AM radio back in the 1970s than in more recent times and that radios with FM were semi-luxurious items. Most factory fitted car radios were AM only until the late 1980s.