I Hear You Knocking
Issue: 3 Updated: 9th May 2019
Second in the Relics Series this one marks the anniversary of start of Radio Essex transmissions with echoes from the Knock John Fort
Radio Essex Letter Head Top Left
Testing began on 27th October with a programme schedule introduced on 7th November 1965
Audio |
David
Sinclair on the BBMS Big Band Show Friday 21st October 1966 |
Home of Radio Essex/BBMs (1966)
'Britain's Better Music Station' was on the Knock John Naval Fort pictured above in 1966 with its partially collapsed war-time Dolphin, which was added as an after thought by designer Guy Maunsell to aid supply ships
Harry Putnam writes & later leaves his visiting card below
The last BBMS 813 transmitter output valve
Was discovered and retrieved from the Fort in 1967
Finally gaining an RCA ET4336 transmitter some reliability was achieved but power output & quality was variable largely due to the haphazard antenna system used on the fort
Here's our technical consults analogy ......
The Navy Forts weren't big enough to erect a decent sized antenna even for frequencies near the 1500 kc/s part of the band. So a compromise had to be made by using a smaller than technically-necessary antenna. On Knock John it never got any better than scaffold poles so 40% top efficiency. Even with an RCA ET4336 output in pairs of 813's, the homemade mods etc didn't help, so it's absolute max tx rf output 250W, those antenna deficiencies hammed it such that even with a good tx output the actual rf radiated could have been as low as 50W emrp as an example of this, Radio Essex / BBMS on 222m
N.B. EMRP = Effective Monopole Radiated Power, essentially compares an antenna with a reference antenna that radiates 300mV/m at 1km with 1000W power applied to it
One important point worth mentioning is that the offshore stations had a trump card in their favour, that was the efficiency of the earth system. There is no better conductor than salt water both for the actual rf installation & for the rf to flow over before it hits land. The absorption of the field over sea water is minimal compared to the best path over the earth. The BBC used this property to their advantage in the stations at Washford, Somerset, to cover South Wales. Start Point Devon, to cover the entire south coast eastwards & Burghead, Scotland
David Porter G4OYX, ex BBC Transmitter Engineer
Harry Putnam Radio Essex Business Visiting Card
Criticised for being "off beat" much Radio Essex music came courtesy of Harry Putnam's own collection that he'd brought over from the States which comprised R&B by the likes of John Lee Hooker, Black Artists, US Radio hits & LP's by artists unbroken in Britain
The stations format varied enormously originally 30'- 60' strip shows were demanded by Roy Bates but with a small crew this was untenable, so a loose MoR 3 hour strip daytime format adopted
More racyPop & R&B was designated to the Essex Beat Club, a kind of late night DX style programme
Gun operation plate from Knock John
Lost until rediscovered by chance in the Medway Towns a 3.7" AA Gun automatic loading system plate from Knock John fitted when the gun was commissioned, believed to be American supported by the spelling was removed before the Fort was used for broadcasting & held by Ian Scoones, the plate has subsequently been preserved together with a silicone mould & a fibre glass casting
The schedule did gain popularity mainly across South East Essex & parts of Kent but it wasn't to last, Roy Bates was summons on 28th September 1966 contravened Section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 for using a transmitter without a licence at Knock John Tower
Thinking big Bates changed the stations name from Radio Essex to Britain's Better Music Station, or BBMS as it was better known
On the 30th November 1966 Bates pleaded guilty of the charge & was fined £100
Who ever told him it would be 25KW!
Even though new datum lines of so called drying sandbanks had been drawn bringing Knock John a mile & a half within inshore waters, Bates stated that he believed the Fort was outside territorial limits
But with the anti-pirate law pending advertisers had deserted the station, with revenue below a sustainable level Radio Essex ran out of money & unceremoniously closed down for the final time at 4.30pm on Christmas Day 1966
One of the Knock Johns 3.7" guns (1979)
The equipment was dismantled, taken to Roughs Fort of Felixtowe, whilst there are rumors of Radio Essex being heard up to 3rd January 1967 these are unfounded
Knock John (July 1968)
Whitstable Fisherman reported seeing occupants aboard Knock John
Without a ship Radio Caroline were again 'considering' the Fort and had landed Adrew Dawson (Andy Archer) and AN Other aboard to look the feasibility of either transmitting from the Tower or using it as a supply store
Knock John (July 1968)
Radio Caroline had been interested in Sunk Head from 1965 and Roughs from 1966 with options for supply after the 1967 Marine Offences Act had become law
Knock John (July 1968)
The boarding sparked interest from the Press and a light aircraft was dispatched to take photographs that appeared in the Daily Mail in July 1968
The Knock John Fort looking South towards the Kent Coast & East towards Margate in (Summer 2003)
No visual sign of the flimsy war-time Dolphin but various odd bits of debris, detectable by echo-sounder litter the sea bed
Even when calm note the swirl of the ebbing tide (Summer 2003)
Radar top House & guns gone Knock John looks a sorry state
So famous in these parts they once named a Fish & Chip shop afterKnock John at Greenhill Herne Bay Kent, since re-named
Since publication these premises have ceased trading under the Knock John name
Three dimensional model images of the Knock John Naval Fort
Produced by Mark Wesley
These have been made for a film
To illustrate life on the Radio Essex/BBMS Radio Fort
Radio Essex Letter Head Top Right
Radio Essex article in DJ Dance DJ Magazine - Download large : jpg 1 : jpg 2 : jpg 3 ( 1980's)
Radio Essex & BBMS Facts & Figures
September 1965 - Roy Bates takes control of Knock John Fort from Radio City
27th/28th October 1965 - Test transmissions begin on 1351kHz/1353kHz announced as 2 double 2 metres using a converted USAF 1kW RCA Victor Beacon Transmitter fed into a tangle of wires held aloft on scaffold poles & other jurry rigged arrangements
Studio equipment is similar ex-military & domestic: A pair of Garrard 401's & Collaro turntable, a Reslo RBT vocalists microphone, A Vortexion 50 Watt valve amplifier, Vortexion open reel tape recorder, MoD headphones & a home made passive mixer
7th November 1965 - Regular programmes commenced, transmission hours varied from 07.00 - 19.00, 07.00 - 21.00 with a return to air at 23.00 - 02.00 for the Essex Beat Club
Radio Essex was to be different from the other stations, it had to be local, different musically operating 24 hours a day as soon as possible
January 1966 - 24 hour programmes began
Radio Essex Programmes Schedule
06.00 - 09.00 Get Up & Go Show
09.00 - 12.00 Good Morning Show
12.00 - 15.00 Mid-Day Spin
15.00 - 18.00 The Sound of Music
18.00 - 19.00 Essex Goes Pop
19.00 - 20.00 Instrumental Hour
20.00 - 23.00 R&B & All That Jazz
23.00 - 03.00 Essex Beat Club
03.00 - 06.00 Night Owl
Wednesday 28th September 1966 - Roy Bates is fined under the Wireless Telegraphy act of 1949
Monday 3rd October 1966 - Radio Essex changes its name to Britain's Better Music Station (BBMS)
BBMS Programme Schedule
06.00 - 09.00 Daybreak
09.00 - 12.00 Morning Melody
12.00 - 15.00 Musical Magazine
15.00 - 18.00 Music Till Six
18.00 - 19.00 Swing Session (Big Band Show)
19.00 - 21.00 Evening Inn
21.00 - 00 Formula 66/67 Part 1
00.00 - 03.00 Formula 66/67 Part 2
03.00 - 06.00 Formua 66/67 Part 3
30th November 1966 - Roy Bates pleads guilty of using an unlicensed transmitter & is fined £100.00 BBMS stays on the air pending appeal changing frequency to 1349kHz
Sunday 25th December 1966 - BBMS Closes for the final time at 16.30 the station is dismantled & taken to Roughs Tower
27th January 1967 - An appeal fails finding the Knock John 1.5 miles inside inland waters, no further appeals were made
A-Z of Radio Essex/BBMS Staff
Vince Allen - Programme Director/Senior DJ from September - November 1965
Vince collapsed in studio through exhaustion in the early days of the 1 hour shows
Joan Bates - Wife to Roy responsible for office/supplies from September 1965
Michael Bates - Son of Roy & Joan involved in transfer of station to Roughs from December 1966
Penny Bates - Daughter to Roy & Joan, no involvement
Roy Bates - Owner/Commercial Voice from September 1965
Mike Brerton - Radio Engineer from June 1966
Michael Cane - DJ/Cook from February to June 1966
Peter Clark - Radio Engineer built a 2kW wooden shellac cased transmitter in early 1966
Mike Curtis - DJ from October 1965 to May 1966
Dick Dixon - Radio Engineer/DJ from March 1966
Paul Freeman - DJ in test period September 1965
Guy Hamilton - DJ replaced Van Sterling from June - November 1966
Graham Johns - Breakfast DJ from November 1965 to June 1966
John Knight - DJ from November 1965
Tony Mandell - DJ from June 1966 to January 1967
Richard/Dick Palmer - Fort Captain (Station Manager)/Essex Beat Club DJ from September 1965 to January 1967 Dick lived in Petts Wood came up with the Radio Essex programmes schedule after the failure of the 1 hour programmes, he devised the Essex Beat Club based on London's Flamingo Club
Harry Putman - Sales Manager/Commercial Voice from November 1965 to June 1966
Brian Roberts - Radio Engineer from November 1965
Keith Robinson - Cheif Radio Engineer from November 1965 to June 1966
Roger Scott - DJ from November 1965 to November 1966
David Sinclair - DJ/big band specialist from January to November 1966
Living in Orpington David saw the article writen in Kentish Times by Sue Baker about Dick Palmer & Radio Essex, Sue went to the Evening News then TV's Top Gear, we believe her daughter Erin writes for The Telegraph
Van Sterling - DJ from January 1966
Chris Stewart - DJ later Programme Director served from September 1965 to June 1966
John Thompson - Radio Engineer produced a working transmitter from odd parts taken from the useless Peter Clark unit in early 1966
Ken Veal - Anorak supporter friend of Dick Plamer lives in Orpington, never visited Fort
Guy Vernon - DJ from November 1965 to June 1966
Mark West - DJ from September 1965 to January 1967
24/8/08 - Harry Putman is my sister's ex brother-in-law his daughter Michelle was a bridesmaid at my sister's wedding who lived in New Zeeland and is now in Austrailia - Penelope Jane Darby-Smith
Grateful thanks to David Porter, Jon Myer, Steve Norris, Chris Stewart, Mark Wesley & Terry Vacani for their help in producing this feature
For a brief history of all the Thames Estuary Forts see Fort Fax