Chapter 2 - The Adventure Begins

The radio ship was lavishly equipped, both in the two spacious studios, and in the transmitter hall, which boasted AM, FM and Short-Wave transmitters. The initial test broadcasts were made on short-wave at 6.210mHz in the 49meter band, and on FM at 102mHz. Further test transmissions started on February 11th, 1970, on 1605kHz, 186meters medium-wave. After a week of non-stop music and pre-recorded announcements, "live" test transmissions started on the 18th February 1970, and finally the station began regular scheduled broadcasts at 6:00pm on February 28th. The djs included former Radio Caroline men Roger Day, Andy Archer, Carl Mitchell, and former Radio 270 man Alan West. Also to join the broadcasting crew were Ross Brown and Ed Moreno.

Roger "Twiggy" Day test tansmissions

Roger Day, ITN News At Ten

The arrival of the station attracted its' share of media attention, extensive reportage in most newspapers accross Europe, and a british news camera crew visited the Mebo. Here in the UK, viewers to the ITNs' flagship bulletin "News At Ten"saw views of the ship at anchor, Roger Day was seen in the studio, along with a peep inside the transmitter hall. Media interest reached fever pitch as delegations of journalists, photographers and camera crews were ferried out to be shown around the Mebo 2. Columnist David Hughes wrote enthusiastically about his trip in "Disc & Music Echo"dated 21st March 1970, saying: This is the finest radio ship that ever sailed. The publicity machine was working well. . .

During the first week of test broadcasts, it was decided to move the ship to a new achorage off the fashionable seaside resort of Scheveningen, where it was hoped a stronger FM signal would be heard in The Hague. Edwin Bollier had a permanent room at the Grand Hotel in Scheveningen, which had become the local home of RNI. The ship could be seen from Bolliers' hotel room window!

The "Official Opening" programme was a bi-lingual affair, with Roger Day in studio 1, broadcasting in English, and Horst Reiner next door in Studio 2 joining in with announcements in German. Although ambitious, in reality the broadcast was fraught with technical difficulties, and was peppered with audio feedback, as as Roger Day battled to balance levels on the mixer panel. The listeners didn't seem to mind however, the erratic audio levels of the two djs seemed to add to the atmosphere. Here was radio that was fresh and alive, and with an immediacy that had not been heard for a long time. Initially, programmes could be heard in German from 6:00am - 8:00am, in English from 8:00am - 6:00pm, in German from 6:00pm - 8:00pm, and again in English from 8:00pm until midnight. However, shortly afterwards, the evening German broadcasts ran untill 9:00pm, and the English service was extended untill 2:00am when the station closed down until 6:00am.

Horst Reiner, co-hosts the Opening Show

Ed Moreno on the air

The station was an instant hit with listeners all over Europe, with over 700 letters recieved from listeners in the first week of test transmissions. Parcels of records arrived from record companys in Britain every day, although few would admit to sending them. According to David Hughes, writing in an English music paper, only Apple Records actually owned up to supplying the station. Quoting Apple boss, Derek Taylor, who said: "Yes, of course we're supplying them - out in front. We're not sure of the stations' selling power, but why turn any good outlet down ?" UK spokesman for RNI said: "The Dutch overnment is in the process of trying to ban off-shore stations, namely Radio Veronica and ourselves, but the process is likely to take at least a year. When that happens, RNI will continue broadcasting, but will be serviced from Hamburg. We are already thinking in terms of a better wavelength, but no decision has yet been made".