Angel Radio coming in loud and clear at homes across the South following changes to Havant radio station transmission

Angel Radio can now also be heard on DAB digital radios right across Surrey and South London.

On September 30, the station moved its FM transmitter to the highest point on Portsdown Hill and changed the FM frequency to 98.6, which has enabled it to use a special type of broadcast antenna to get a stronger signal to local people in Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant.

Tony Smith, station manager, said: ‘The coverage of Surrey and South London came as a bit of a shock.

‘There was a spare channel, which we were offered. Quite expensive but our budget could just about stretch to it.

‘So we said, ‘okay let’s go for it’ and within a couple of weeks we were on-air.

‘The moving of our FM frequency wasn’t quite so easy.

‘The building which had housed our FM transmitter was being demolished and we were given very little time to find an alternative site.

‘Luckily our development manager knew of a tower used by a commercial radio station.

‘He contacted the owners of the tower, who have been incredibly helpful, and here we are on our new frequency of 98.6 FM.

‘At the moment we can’t operate our transmitter at full power due French radio authorities not yet providing full clearance of the frequency, but even on lower power the signal is much improved.

‘An Angel Radio listener in Chandlers Ford who used to get a scratchy signal on 89.3 says we are now loud and clear on 98.6.’

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The future looks rosy for Angel Radio as Tony plans to continue building on the recent expansions.

He added: ‘In 2003 Kevin Carey, one of the chairmen at Ofcom, said ‘Angel Radio is fabulously off-beat but it has the potential to be a national brand’.

‘My aim today is the same as it was then, to be a national brand available on radios all over the UK, everywhere there’s someone in need of a bit of rose-tinted nostalgia.’

Visit the website at angelradio.co.uk.

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