Maldon District: Radio Caroline’s ‘Ross Revenge’ vintage studio to star in TV repair show episode tomorrow

By Ben Shahrabi 24th Jul 2023

Local News by Ben Shahrabi 24th Jul 2023

Radio Caroline's Ross Revenge ship will feature in an episode of a new TV show, set to air on the 'Yesterday' channel tomorrow (July 25) at 9pm.

Moored on the Blackwater Estuary, near Bradwell, the ship is maintained by local volunteers. It was first used to broacast pirate radio in 1983 and continues to broadcast Radio Caroline shows today.

The Ross Revenge will star in an episode of 'Retro Electro Workshop', a ten-part series about the dying art of repairing electronics. The show is fronted by 'super-fixer' Rob Howard, one of the UK's last remaining full-time repairers of retro-electronic products.

Rob and his team aim to find, fix, restore and revive "anything old with a plug on it".

The vintage studio on board Ross Revenge. (Credit: Radio Caroline)

In this episode, Rob goes to sea to restore the vintage broadcast studio on board Ross Revenge. The studio is equipped with a valve mixing desk, record decks and magnetic tape cart machines. The equipment was loaned to Working Title film company for the 2008 Richard Curtis film The Boat That Rocked, which pays homage to the 60s hey-day of Radio Caroline.

Radio Caroline has modern studios on board Ross Revenge and on land, but the vintage ship studio still gets used occasionally during monthly Radio Caroline North broadcasts.

"Presenters sometimes like to access the ship's well-stocked vinyl library, keeping alive another rare art of placing pick-up arms precisely on vinyl albums while playing jingles and promotions on hand-loaded, continuous reel tape machines," said station manager Peter Moore.

Rob Howard runs the Vintage TV and Wireless Company in Norwich. When money was tight in the 1980s, he learned his skill by scavenging and fixing discarded electronic gear he found in skips.