1545 UTC: Cupid Radio did well this morning, with reports from Pennsylvania, California, Michigan, Rhode Island, Ukraine, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, and who knows where else.
1355 UTC: BTW, no carrier audible here from the 9300.8 station
1337 UTC: 9300.8 probably isn't high enough in frequency to make it to North America, but I'll give it a listen
1324 UTC: While I wait for Global HF broadcasts, I'm checking out some stations on the Twente webreceiver (see Twente logs below)
1245 UTC: Same bandscan as yesterday morning, except that I'm also hearing Radio France International on 21580 kHz.
Pirate Radio Logs
OTR unid: 6770, 11/6, 1342+ Back again with a drama. Signal much weaker than yesterday morning, but I don't have the local noise that I had then, so it evens out.
Cupid Radio: 15070, 11/6, 1545+ Left just before sign on and returned to the receiver as the signal was fading out. Signal seems to be right on 15070, unlike yesterday
Loggings via Twente Webreceiver
Radio AC/DC: 6240, 11/6, 1324+ Good signal with Bee Gees, Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer"
unid: 6230.66, 11/6, 1326+ Fair signal with what sounds like Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
Akenzo: 6267, 11/6, 1400+ Huge signal with schlager. Male DJ talking with mix of Dutch and English. Tough for me to understand, but ID per Iann's chat
Focus International: 6286.9, 11/6, 1332+ Excellent signal with rock music. Clear ID, e-mail address, into song by Wolfsbane
unid: 7700, 11/6, 1349+ post-new wavey dance music, "Let's Do the Timewarp Again" good signal. I think there was an ID a bit ago, but the signal took a quick fade & I missed it. Off mid-song at 1354
unid: 9300.8, 11/6, 1336+ Orange Juice "Rip It Up," excellent signal
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Global HF Logs: 11/5/16
2306 UTC: Just in from mortaring stone. That bag lasted forever. As of now, the only station that I have info on for tomorrow's broadcasts is the 11401-kHz station, but if today is any indication, more stations should show up.
1934 UTC: Just received some loggings from Zacharias Liangas in Thessolonika, Greece. He didn't have a lot of luck listening, but he did hear Cupid Radio with a good signal. He said "I think it could be better for the next time (or session) to ask all of these pirates to provide their listing in advance for at least 1-2 days so anyone can program his family schedule and get better isolated." I understand and it would be much easier this way. However, all I can do is let people know that I can publicize any stations that choose to broadcast during this time. Whether anyone decides to listen (or broadcast) is their decision.
1903 UTC: Be on the lookout for 11401 kHz. I received an e-mail that a station is on there now and also tomorrow morning.
1813 UTC: The weather's so nice outside that I've been trying to mortar stone on the foundation of the house. I'm about done with this bag & then I'll check through the bands again and post an update. I've hoped that some North American stations would be testing for long distances on the high frequencies today, but nothing so far.
1623 UTC: I tuned away from Cupid too quickly. Some really nice peaks here now. The op posted on HFU that he has a bad RFI coil in his antenna mast & he climbed the tower during the broadcast to check it. Now that's hobby radio :o)
1539 UTC: Awesome! I see that Daniel Wyllyans in Brazil heard Sluwe Vos Radio on 15890 kHz at 1528 UTC.
1533 UTC: Mike Radio is being logged by Joe Filipkowski, Flexoman, and Chris Smolinski (and by me, too, see log below) on 13895 kHz USB. That's four different states, not bad.
1525 UTC: A decent carrier (but no audio) cropped up on 21470 kHz. According to short-wave.info, this is BBC via Ascension Island, not a pirate. The signal quality here is very similar to that of a pirate, so be aware.
1520 UTC: I still have the carrier for Cupid, so keep checking 15070; it might fade into your area. I have a carrier on about 15049 kHz, but this might just be a utility
1515 UTC: Cupid Radio has completely faded out here, but I see that the station was reported by Hiroyuki Okamura in Japan on 21460 kHz earlier this morning. Congratulations to both!
1509 UTC: The signal from Cupid is getting worse, not better. Wonder if 13m will be better this afternoon?
1500 UTC: I had all of my times off by an hour. Would've been perfect if the time had changed last weekend. I fixed'em all now
1451 UTC: See Cupid Radio logging below
1442 UTC: I'm away from the receiver at the moment, but I see that Cupid Radio is being logged in New York and the Ukraine on 15070 kHz.
1420 UTC: I just received a message to check 15890 kHz for a European station. I have a carrier on the Twente receiver, but nothing on my own. Maybe someone can hear this in another part of the world?
1315 UTC: I'm not sure if it's our electric baseboard heat or what, but I'm getting S7 noise on 43m (!)
1300 UTC:
13m: On the Twente receiver, I'm hearing good signals from Saudi Arabia on 21505, WRMI on 21565, and Radio France International on 21690 kHz. As I'm typing this, someone just signed on 21650 kHz . . . I think it's the BBC in French. Otherwise, the lower 250 kHz of the 13m broadcast band are clear in Europe. On my own receiver, I have Saudi Arabia fair/fading on 21505, WHRI on 21610, and what I think is the BBC on 21650.
19m: Also on the Twente receiver, 15000 to 15100 kHz is wide open, aside from All India Radio on 15040 kHz. On my own receiver, I have WWV with a fair signal on 15000, a carrier from All India Radio on 15040 kHz.
1230 UTC: Still early in North America for any transatlantic logs.
Pirate Logs
OTR unid: 6770, 11/5, 1315+ Sounds like a detective show? The signal's pretty good, but it's tough to copy anything in this S7 noise! Just heard a CBS Radio ID and into an old ad. This is probably the best signal I've had from this station in about 6 months, so it's too bad about the noise
Cupid Radio: 15070.5, 11/5, 1451+ Very nice peaks here, so I hope the signal will keep improving. Pop music and shoutouts to ULX2 and others. Clear ID. Faded out by around 1520, but faded back & now it's about 1625 UTC and there are some really nice peaks, with pop music. Thanks for the show!
Mike Radio: 13895U, 11/5, 1532+ Weak signal, but I do have music peaking up. Haven't been able to ID any songs yet
Relay Station unid: 5150, 11/5, 1941+ Relaying a buy/sell amateur radio net! Would really surprise me if I heard this without knowing about the relay. One station is in Sacramento. Still on at 2300 UTC with an excellent signal. Charlie Feathers "Can't Hardly Stand It"
Pirate Logs via Twente web receiver
1626.2, 11/5, 1915+ Splatter from, I believe 1635.9. Folk music with accordian. Listeners on Iann's chat say this is either Greek or Serbian. Pretty awesome to finally hear one of these. Sounds like he must be running a lot of power to go that distance.
1630, 11/5, 1905+ Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" Sounded like op taking a phone call (both sides audible)
1635.9, 11/5, 1913+ Station with enormous and wide signal. Older Dutch folk music: schlager, yodeling, etc.
1934 UTC: Just received some loggings from Zacharias Liangas in Thessolonika, Greece. He didn't have a lot of luck listening, but he did hear Cupid Radio with a good signal. He said "I think it could be better for the next time (or session) to ask all of these pirates to provide their listing in advance for at least 1-2 days so anyone can program his family schedule and get better isolated." I understand and it would be much easier this way. However, all I can do is let people know that I can publicize any stations that choose to broadcast during this time. Whether anyone decides to listen (or broadcast) is their decision.
1903 UTC: Be on the lookout for 11401 kHz. I received an e-mail that a station is on there now and also tomorrow morning.
1813 UTC: The weather's so nice outside that I've been trying to mortar stone on the foundation of the house. I'm about done with this bag & then I'll check through the bands again and post an update. I've hoped that some North American stations would be testing for long distances on the high frequencies today, but nothing so far.
1623 UTC: I tuned away from Cupid too quickly. Some really nice peaks here now. The op posted on HFU that he has a bad RFI coil in his antenna mast & he climbed the tower during the broadcast to check it. Now that's hobby radio :o)
1539 UTC: Awesome! I see that Daniel Wyllyans in Brazil heard Sluwe Vos Radio on 15890 kHz at 1528 UTC.
1533 UTC: Mike Radio is being logged by Joe Filipkowski, Flexoman, and Chris Smolinski (and by me, too, see log below) on 13895 kHz USB. That's four different states, not bad.
1525 UTC: A decent carrier (but no audio) cropped up on 21470 kHz. According to short-wave.info, this is BBC via Ascension Island, not a pirate. The signal quality here is very similar to that of a pirate, so be aware.
1520 UTC: I still have the carrier for Cupid, so keep checking 15070; it might fade into your area. I have a carrier on about 15049 kHz, but this might just be a utility
1515 UTC: Cupid Radio has completely faded out here, but I see that the station was reported by Hiroyuki Okamura in Japan on 21460 kHz earlier this morning. Congratulations to both!
1509 UTC: The signal from Cupid is getting worse, not better. Wonder if 13m will be better this afternoon?
1500 UTC: I had all of my times off by an hour. Would've been perfect if the time had changed last weekend. I fixed'em all now
1451 UTC: See Cupid Radio logging below
1442 UTC: I'm away from the receiver at the moment, but I see that Cupid Radio is being logged in New York and the Ukraine on 15070 kHz.
1420 UTC: I just received a message to check 15890 kHz for a European station. I have a carrier on the Twente receiver, but nothing on my own. Maybe someone can hear this in another part of the world?
1315 UTC: I'm not sure if it's our electric baseboard heat or what, but I'm getting S7 noise on 43m (!)
1300 UTC:
13m: On the Twente receiver, I'm hearing good signals from Saudi Arabia on 21505, WRMI on 21565, and Radio France International on 21690 kHz. As I'm typing this, someone just signed on 21650 kHz . . . I think it's the BBC in French. Otherwise, the lower 250 kHz of the 13m broadcast band are clear in Europe. On my own receiver, I have Saudi Arabia fair/fading on 21505, WHRI on 21610, and what I think is the BBC on 21650.
19m: Also on the Twente receiver, 15000 to 15100 kHz is wide open, aside from All India Radio on 15040 kHz. On my own receiver, I have WWV with a fair signal on 15000, a carrier from All India Radio on 15040 kHz.
1230 UTC: Still early in North America for any transatlantic logs.
Pirate Logs
OTR unid: 6770, 11/5, 1315+ Sounds like a detective show? The signal's pretty good, but it's tough to copy anything in this S7 noise! Just heard a CBS Radio ID and into an old ad. This is probably the best signal I've had from this station in about 6 months, so it's too bad about the noise
Cupid Radio: 15070.5, 11/5, 1451+ Very nice peaks here, so I hope the signal will keep improving. Pop music and shoutouts to ULX2 and others. Clear ID. Faded out by around 1520, but faded back & now it's about 1625 UTC and there are some really nice peaks, with pop music. Thanks for the show!
Mike Radio: 13895U, 11/5, 1532+ Weak signal, but I do have music peaking up. Haven't been able to ID any songs yet
Relay Station unid: 5150, 11/5, 1941+ Relaying a buy/sell amateur radio net! Would really surprise me if I heard this without knowing about the relay. One station is in Sacramento. Still on at 2300 UTC with an excellent signal. Charlie Feathers "Can't Hardly Stand It"
Pirate Logs via Twente web receiver
1626.2, 11/5, 1915+ Splatter from, I believe 1635.9. Folk music with accordian. Listeners on Iann's chat say this is either Greek or Serbian. Pretty awesome to finally hear one of these. Sounds like he must be running a lot of power to go that distance.
1630, 11/5, 1905+ Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" Sounded like op taking a phone call (both sides audible)
1635.9, 11/5, 1913+ Station with enormous and wide signal. Older Dutch folk music: schlager, yodeling, etc.
Friday, November 4, 2016
Global HF Weekend Starting!
The Global HF Weekend is now starting up.
I just received a schedule for a station to listen for:
Any stations may send schedules to me for posting here . . . or, of course, stations might just show up on the bands. We'll see what happens. I sent personal e-mails to a number of hobbyists from around the world about a month ago and I plan to send follow-up messages to people.
I just received a schedule for a station to listen for:
21460 kHz, 0800+ UTC, 11/5
Any stations may send schedules to me for posting here . . . or, of course, stations might just show up on the bands. We'll see what happens. I sent personal e-mails to a number of hobbyists from around the world about a month ago and I plan to send follow-up messages to people.
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Global HF Weekend coming up in a few days!
Halloween evening was awesome! We had somewhat average activity here in North America over the weekend leading up to it, but the day of 10/31 through the night of 11/1 UTC was fantastic. A big thank you to all of the stations who made Halloween evening (and some of the other days) a blast by the receiver. And, as some people have mentioned, there isn't a lot on shortwave to get excited about these days, but on Monday night, 43 meters was a blast. BTW, Chris Smolinski summarized the weekend activities on his blog.
Halloween is over but the fun is not. This weekend coming up is the first revival of the Global HF Weekend. I wrote about it in the October issue of The Spectrum Monitor. If you aren't subscribed and are interested, check here.
Here's what I wrote about the Global HF Pirate Weekend:
Halloween is over but the fun is not. This weekend coming up is the first revival of the Global HF Weekend. I wrote about it in the October issue of The Spectrum Monitor. If you aren't subscribed and are interested, check here.
Here's what I wrote about the Global HF Pirate Weekend:
DXers love tuning in long-distance
stations. Pirates love to experiment and be heard across long
distances and in obscure places. Dating back to the late 1970s, some
stations, such as RX4M and Radio Confusion, announced tests on high
frequencies. The latter broadcasts were regularly publicized in FRENDX (now NASWA)
and some of the European radio newsletters, bringing in many reports
from two continents.
The problem with announcing tests in
advance is that it can make a pirate more susceptible to an
enforcement action, whether official or vigilante. Although most
stations that ran announced tests did so successfully, there are a
few examples of stations that ran into problems with enforcement.
On a worldwide scale, the first hugely
successful mass tests of pirates were the Global HF Pirate Weekends
organized by Finnish DXer Harri Kujala in the early 2010s. Kujala had
a fascination with logging stations of all sorts (licensed or not)
from foreign cultures. Within the pirate niche, this meant logging
hundreds of Dutch and Balkan MW pirates and Irish church services on
the CB band. In addition to hardcore DXing of these stations, Kujala
even took trips to the Netherlands and Serbia and visited a number of
the operators.
Kujala's pirate webpages and blogs
attracted radio fans from around the world to read of things like new
pirates from Russia and Hungary, and tests from new stations hoping
to be heard in distant locations. Finally, he organized what he
called the HF Global Pirate Weekend, when he published schedules of
different pirates testing on high frequencies. A number of pirates
participated and were very successful in reaching listeners in
different continents. In particular, Cupid Radio and Borderhunter
Radio received a number of reports from listeners in India, Japan,
New Zealand/Australia, and countries from the former Soviet Union.
Kujala hasn't updated the pirate
portions of his websites for several years and the intercontinental
tests have essentially disappeared over that time. But some of those
who tuned in or tested have not forgotten.
A few of the operators from those
years said “I'm always up for these special tests and experiments.
I can't believe the last Global Pirate Weekend was 4 years ago. Time
really flies.”
“I
always love to do this kind of broadcasts. I was thinking about this
two years ago, I got great memories on the weekend from 2012, youtube
is filled with clips from the pirates then.”
Such a day weekend has been scheduled
for this year and it's coming up soon, so mark your calendars.
Some of the European hobbyists have been busy contacting others who would be interested and I've e-mailed a lot of people about it as well. I've had listeners from South America, Asia, and Eastern Europe tell me that they were excited about the chance to hear North American stations. Likewise, I think a number of North American listeners would like the chance to hear stations from other continents with hopefully some good signals. Also, if conditions are good, it should enable North American stations from either coast to be well heard on the opposite coast.
That all said, I do plan to mention schedules on the blog if any operators want to let me know in advance. But I will not include the station names. It will be something like: "A station let me know that it will be on Saturday 11/5 from 1500-1600 on 15070 kHz" This system seemed to work when Harri organized the activities. This time, there is no organizer but I'm happy to report what I hear.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Halloween Logs 10/31-11/1/2016
I've had to work today, but I got home in time to hear someone throw a carrier on and off 6925 a couple of times. My guess is that it was Radio AV. Too bad I didn't make it just five minutes earlier because I haven't yet heard this station.
Tonight should be interesting because not all that many Halloween shows have aired so far. I expected much more Halloween-related activity in the days leading up to 10/31, but that doesn't seen to be the case. It's time to have multiple receivers running (although I don't; my backup longwire had to come down a few months ago).
Also, a couple of notes. One is that Chris Smolinski noted on the HFU that propagation went long early last night and he expects that to be the case again today. So, expect a lot of activity between 2000 and about 0000 UTC. After that time and after 43 meters empties out, it might be a good idea to also check some of the low frequencies, such as 3400-3500 kHz and even possibly 1710 or 1720 kHz.
In the past, we've never had much Halloween activity from Europe, but tonight is an exception. A press release states: "Marconi Radio International will once again be on air tomorrow, Monday, 31 October 2016, as follows: 17.00-22.00 UTC on 7700 kHz (USB Mode) with 100 watts." 100 watts and in sideband? We might have a chance to hear it between about 2130 and 2200 UTC.
Logs
Amphetamine Radio: 6923U, 10/31, 2127+ Alright! I came in from insulating the garage and here's some activity. Very strong signal with "One of These Nights." Male DJ with accurate timecheck, wished a Happy Halloween, etc. CW IDs, then into SSTV at 2141
I left Amphetamine Radio to take a shot at Marconi Radio Int'l before heading out to do some more insulating. I checked the Twente receiver and MRI is barely audible now, so I hope the signal will skip out a bit further in the next 15 minutes and maybe it'll make it here
Moonlight Radio: 6930U, 10/31, 2306+ Weak signal with splatter from 6935. Because of both, I decided to start recording 6935 instead. I need to have that other antenna right now!
Doctor Detroit: 6935, 10/31, 2306+ Excellent signal with Halloween-themed hard rock: AC/DC "Highway to Hell," Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper" Dr. Detroit ID'd & mentioned broadcasting from Wayne County over a James Brown song
unid: 6925U, 10/31, 2317+ Excellent signal with INXS "Devil Inside"
Who would schedule a basketball game on Halloween night? I'm sweaty, but back again and recording
Wolverine Radio: 6935U, 11/1, 0106+ Noted in passing with an excellent signal. Sorry, but I've never heard Radio Free Furry.
Radio Free Furry: 6945U, 11/1, 0111+ Excellent signal. Dire Straits "Walk of Life," Lipps Inc. "Funky Town," Van Halen "Jump," Kool & the Gang "Celebration," Starship "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us," Eddie Murphy "Party All the Time," Michael Jackson "Beat It," Chicago "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," U2 "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" Bowie "Let's Dance" ID per HFU. I haven't heard any IDs or other talk--Just non-stop music for 40+ minutes. Ah, talk at 0154. A skunk, a bear, and a ? doing the show. Said using a belt-driven turntable . . . & Moody Blues "Wildest Dreams" coming up, although he once heard it as "Wireless Dreams"
X-FM: 6960, 11/1, 0159-0352* Good signal with some co-channel QRM, I think from pescadors. I think I heard the phone number as 408-800-6925. Redhat taking listener requests. Nice long show tonight. Black Sabbath, Boz Skaggs, Pink Floyd, & a whole lot more. I also checked the Twente web receiver & had a carrier there
Undercover Radio: 6975U, 11/1, 0202+ 2005 special ending. Dr. Benway with ID & addresses, Edgar Winter "Frankenstein" fair signal, but getting better
Radio After Dark: 6950U, 11/1, 0209+ Pop music that I can't yet identify. Fair signal fading up & down. Talk at 0217 "Hope you're enjoying all of the Halloween shows out there" e-mail address, I think he said for requests. Getting splatter from either X-FM or Radio Free Furry.
WJD: 6930U, 11/1, 0222+ VG signal with rap. On HFU, posters are saying it's Russian or Ukranian. No idea.
Tonight should be interesting because not all that many Halloween shows have aired so far. I expected much more Halloween-related activity in the days leading up to 10/31, but that doesn't seen to be the case. It's time to have multiple receivers running (although I don't; my backup longwire had to come down a few months ago).
Also, a couple of notes. One is that Chris Smolinski noted on the HFU that propagation went long early last night and he expects that to be the case again today. So, expect a lot of activity between 2000 and about 0000 UTC. After that time and after 43 meters empties out, it might be a good idea to also check some of the low frequencies, such as 3400-3500 kHz and even possibly 1710 or 1720 kHz.
In the past, we've never had much Halloween activity from Europe, but tonight is an exception. A press release states: "Marconi Radio International will once again be on air tomorrow, Monday, 31 October 2016, as follows: 17.00-22.00 UTC on 7700 kHz (USB Mode) with 100 watts." 100 watts and in sideband? We might have a chance to hear it between about 2130 and 2200 UTC.
Logs
Amphetamine Radio: 6923U, 10/31, 2127+ Alright! I came in from insulating the garage and here's some activity. Very strong signal with "One of These Nights." Male DJ with accurate timecheck, wished a Happy Halloween, etc. CW IDs, then into SSTV at 2141
I left Amphetamine Radio to take a shot at Marconi Radio Int'l before heading out to do some more insulating. I checked the Twente receiver and MRI is barely audible now, so I hope the signal will skip out a bit further in the next 15 minutes and maybe it'll make it here
Moonlight Radio: 6930U, 10/31, 2306+ Weak signal with splatter from 6935. Because of both, I decided to start recording 6935 instead. I need to have that other antenna right now!
Doctor Detroit: 6935, 10/31, 2306+ Excellent signal with Halloween-themed hard rock: AC/DC "Highway to Hell," Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear the Reaper" Dr. Detroit ID'd & mentioned broadcasting from Wayne County over a James Brown song
unid: 6925U, 10/31, 2317+ Excellent signal with INXS "Devil Inside"
Who would schedule a basketball game on Halloween night? I'm sweaty, but back again and recording
Wolverine Radio: 6935U, 11/1, 0106+ Noted in passing with an excellent signal. Sorry, but I've never heard Radio Free Furry.
Radio Free Furry: 6945U, 11/1, 0111+ Excellent signal. Dire Straits "Walk of Life," Lipps Inc. "Funky Town," Van Halen "Jump," Kool & the Gang "Celebration," Starship "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us," Eddie Murphy "Party All the Time," Michael Jackson "Beat It," Chicago "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," U2 "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" Bowie "Let's Dance" ID per HFU. I haven't heard any IDs or other talk--Just non-stop music for 40+ minutes. Ah, talk at 0154. A skunk, a bear, and a ? doing the show. Said using a belt-driven turntable . . . & Moody Blues "Wildest Dreams" coming up, although he once heard it as "Wireless Dreams"
X-FM: 6960, 11/1, 0159-0352* Good signal with some co-channel QRM, I think from pescadors. I think I heard the phone number as 408-800-6925. Redhat taking listener requests. Nice long show tonight. Black Sabbath, Boz Skaggs, Pink Floyd, & a whole lot more. I also checked the Twente web receiver & had a carrier there
Undercover Radio: 6975U, 11/1, 0202+ 2005 special ending. Dr. Benway with ID & addresses, Edgar Winter "Frankenstein" fair signal, but getting better
Radio After Dark: 6950U, 11/1, 0209+ Pop music that I can't yet identify. Fair signal fading up & down. Talk at 0217 "Hope you're enjoying all of the Halloween shows out there" e-mail address, I think he said for requests. Getting splatter from either X-FM or Radio Free Furry.
WJD: 6930U, 11/1, 0222+ VG signal with rap. On HFU, posters are saying it's Russian or Ukranian. No idea.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
2016 Halloween Weekend Logs
Unid relay station: 5150, 10/30, 1920+ Excellent signal. Had this recording for a while. I haven't checked the recording, but according to HFU, it included a relay of Radio Merlin Int'l
Witch City Radio: 6925, 10/30, 2056+ Nice signal with Alice Cooper "Welcome to My Nightmare"
Captain Morgan SW: 6924, 10/30, 2229-2235* Strong signal, but distorted audio. Spooky story, then instrumental dance song with chainsaw sound effects. No IDs heard, but ID per HFU logs
OTR unid: 6770, 10/30, 2225+ Heard part of a comedy monologue with audience laughter from what was probably at the beginning of a variety show. Fair/weak signal. Nice to hear the OTR unid again
Rave On Radio: 6935U, 10/30, 2345+ Good signal (one of the best I've had from ROR) with "Return of the Living Dead" clips interspersed with Grateful Dead songs. Good idea for Halloween. Shoutouts to a bunch of listeners on HFU. At QRT, said was about to let the generator run out of gas, pull down the antennas, & get out of his studio in the woods.
non-pirate log
6968.5U, 10/30, 2255+ MARS net. 4LP, RD, KY, 4KJ etc. trying to do a net, but lots of utility QRM
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Weekend Loggings 10/1-10/3/2016
It's gotten cold and rainy, the days are suddenly short. Guess it's time to be at the radio.
Radio Azteca: 6925, 10/1, 2050+ Nice signal with an old program from Bram Stoker. Good stuff. I listened to this while trying to clean up the disaster that is my radio room. I wound up assessing some things that I need to do rather than making any real progress, but at least the Azteca show was fun.
Unid relay station: 5150, 10/1, 2050+ Relaying Radio Azteca in // with the 6925-kHz transmitter, then switched to music for a while. Later on, it seemed to be playing audio from the old horror movie The Manipulator, with Mickey Rooney as a crazed kidnapping director. Seemed to go off a little after 2300. But it's back with Radio Illuminati relay: Night Ranger "When You Close Your Eyes" and '70s pop music
Radio Azteca: 6925, 10/1, 2050+ Nice signal with an old program from Bram Stoker. Good stuff. I listened to this while trying to clean up the disaster that is my radio room. I wound up assessing some things that I need to do rather than making any real progress, but at least the Azteca show was fun.
Unid relay station: 5150, 10/1, 2050+ Relaying Radio Azteca in // with the 6925-kHz transmitter, then switched to music for a while. Later on, it seemed to be playing audio from the old horror movie The Manipulator, with Mickey Rooney as a crazed kidnapping director. Seemed to go off a little after 2300. But it's back with Radio Illuminati relay: Night Ranger "When You Close Your Eyes" and '70s pop music
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Global HF weekend: Nov. 4-5
I mentioned the Global HF Pirate weekend in my last post on here. I also wrote about the event in much greater detail in the October issue of The Spectrum Monitor. This event was run a few years ago, with the concept of friendship and cooperation among stations and listeners from around the world. Successful tests would give the stations new listeners in different parts of the world and listeners the chance to hear new stations.
November 5-6, 2016
General frequency ranges:
- 15010-15100 kHz
- 21455-21550 kHz
Basic schedule:
- European morning, 0800-1200 UTC from Europe to Asia/Japan/Oceania.
- European afternoon, 1200-1600 UTC from Europe to North American and vice versa.
- European night, 2200-2400 UTC from North America to Asia/Oceania.
Of course, these are general frequency ranges where pirates have broadcast during prior Global HF Pirate weekends. Some stations will surely operate on frequencies and times outside of these ranges. These will be updated on HF Underground and on the Hobby Broadcasting blog as it happens.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
European Pirates, PRA, and the Global HF Pirate Weekend
I've been working on station lists for the 2017 Pirate Radio Annual (which I hope I can finish in 2017 so that it doesn't become the 2017-18 PRA).
I just finished the stations that I have for Europe thus far, through the first eight months, but there's still more than four months left in the year. As you might know, I tally up the stations that are heard in North America and more than just along the East Coast. So, some of the serious pirate DXers might log stations in New Hampshire or Newfoundland, for example, but I don't include them in the book because listeners in the majority of the country can't hear the stations. But if a pirate is reported somewhere like Chicago, bingo, they're in the book. Also, I've had a few stations in the past who were reported with good signals in, like, 8-10 coastal states. I've been willing to add these because I assume that the signal would make it further inland to a place like Ohio, for example.
That said, here are the stations that I have for the 2017 PRA:
I just finished the stations that I have for Europe thus far, through the first eight months, but there's still more than four months left in the year. As you might know, I tally up the stations that are heard in North America and more than just along the East Coast. So, some of the serious pirate DXers might log stations in New Hampshire or Newfoundland, for example, but I don't include them in the book because listeners in the majority of the country can't hear the stations. But if a pirate is reported somewhere like Chicago, bingo, they're in the book. Also, I've had a few stations in the past who were reported with good signals in, like, 8-10 coastal states. I've been willing to add these because I assume that the signal would make it further inland to a place like Ohio, for example.
That said, here are the stations that I have for the 2017 PRA:
Radio Black Arrow
Blue Dragon AM
Borderhunter Radio
Coast FM/Energy FM
Cupid Radio
IBC Radio
Johnny Tobacco
Mike Radio
Mustang Radio
Sluwe Vos Radio
Technical Man
A few pirates from both sides of the Atlantic wrote to me about the possibility of another Global Pirate Weekend. I asked the organizer of the former weekends, Harri Kujala if he'd consider organizing more weekends so that I could pass along information to interested listeners. I didn't hear back from him (and I hope all is well), so interested stations moved ahead with plans.
I'll post more information on this blog later (maybe later this week), but for now, listeners might want to be by the receivers on November 5-6, 2016.
Sunday, July 24, 2016
International shipping costs for Pirate Radio Annual
Sorry, I've been slow with posting info about international shipping. I've been disappointed with the dramatic increase in costs.
My apologies for our postal system, but they keep jacking up our international rates. Now it's up to $15.50 to ship to Canada and $22.50 to send to Europe! I'm charging $14 to Canada & $21 to Europe to try to save everyone a little bit of money.
Also, it's the same price to send 2 copies, so if you have a friend, you could go together, buy a couple of copies and save $7 (in Canada) or $10.50 per copy (in Europe)
It's absurd that it costs more than 5X the price to send a copy to Canada than to Hawaii or Alaska.
So here are the prices:
One copy to Canada: $16 + 14 = $30
Two copies to Canada: $32 + 14 = $46
One copy to Europe: $16 + 21 = $37
Two copies to Europe: $32 + 21 = $53
You can either send the payment via check or MO to:
Cabinet Communications
POB 109
BRS, PA 17214
or make a PayPal payment to info /@/ hobbybroadcasting dot com (take out the spaces & slashes).
My apologies for our postal system, but they keep jacking up our international rates. Now it's up to $15.50 to ship to Canada and $22.50 to send to Europe! I'm charging $14 to Canada & $21 to Europe to try to save everyone a little bit of money.
Also, it's the same price to send 2 copies, so if you have a friend, you could go together, buy a couple of copies and save $7 (in Canada) or $10.50 per copy (in Europe)
It's absurd that it costs more than 5X the price to send a copy to Canada than to Hawaii or Alaska.
So here are the prices:
One copy to Canada: $16 + 14 = $30
Two copies to Canada: $32 + 14 = $46
One copy to Europe: $16 + 21 = $37
Two copies to Europe: $32 + 21 = $53
You can either send the payment via check or MO to:
Cabinet Communications
POB 109
BRS, PA 17214
or make a PayPal payment to info /@/ hobbybroadcasting dot com (take out the spaces & slashes).
Friday, July 1, 2016
Weekend Logs, 7/1/16-7/3/16
Hey, I finally heard something on my own receiver . . . but keeping in with the theme of the week it's via Europe.
Coast FM (relay): 6205, 7/2, 0217+ Just tuned across 48 meters and this signal is much better than Focus. Decent audio levels & enough carrier strength to flatten some of the many t-storm crashes. The signal isn't airchair level, but I should be able to get some details and I think it's actually more copyable than when I was listening to it on via Twente at 1845.
Focus International: 6285, 7/2, 0100+ I could clearly hear the announcer and piano music. Lots of t-storm crashes. I'm hoping to go over the recording later and hopefully get enough details out of it to send a reception report. Pretty cool to have listened to this off'n'on all day on the computer, then to have a chance to hear it directly.
Europe via Twente
Mike Radio: 5895, 7/1, 1938+ Said testing and talking about the mixer & other equipment. Talk in a mixture of Dutch and English. New microphones! A number of live IDs. Nena "99 Luftballoons" (German version), Men at Work "Land Down Under," Greetings to Artem in Moscow
Coast FM: 6205, 7/1, 1845+ Fair signal with pop dance music, but hammered by utility QRM. A few min. later, hit with too much splatter from 6210 to copy anything. ID per the UKDxer blog.
6210, 7/1, 1836+ Golden Earring "Twilight Zone" Started really strong, but soon had deep fades (carrier disappearing). Very wide signal with nice audio. Started coming back well around 1900. Can't remember a couple of the song titles, but I got Phil Collins "Sussudio," Joe Cocker "With a Little Help from My Friends"
6240, 7/1, 1911+ Dance music--older techno. Heard a few of such songs, then Manhattan Transfer "Boy from New York City," The American Breed "Bend Me Shape Me," Lynn Anderson "Rose Garden," The Association "Cherish," Mary Mopkin "Those Were the Days" starting at 2000. No talk heard
Hit Mix Radio: 6257, 7/1, 1932+ Elvis "Blue Suede Shoes" clear ID in Dutch, Beach Boys, "Shake, Rattle, & Roll," Bobby Darin "Queen of the Hop"
Focus International: 6285, 7/1, 1523+ Song, poss by REM, Jesus & the Mary Chain, Guess Who "American Woman" Sharon Tandy "Hold On," Danny & the Juniors "At the Hop," Kim Carnes "Betty Davis Eyes" Male DJ with UK accent announcing phone number & e-mail address, drinking & driving PSA, "Focus International on the 48 meter band," one promo said "DJ Richard Gray" ? Very professional sound, with a selection of oldies mostly not heard on U.S. licensed oldies stations, with most songs from about 1958 to 1970, but some occasional '80s or '90s songs.
6305, 7/1, 1523-1524* Strong carrier but weak modulation.
6320, 7/1, 1913+ By 1928, faded to the point that no audio was audible, but I could still see the carrier
Radio Python: 6375, 7/1, 2030+ Modern rock. Several IDs "and I'm about to sneeze" "6-3-7-5 kilohertz." Perfect signal, Judas Priest "Breakin' the Law," "Fly on the Wings Above"
Blue Panter: 6390, 7/1, 1930+ Carrier with bits of audio. ID per Iann's Chat.
Coast FM (relay): 6205, 7/2, 0217+ Just tuned across 48 meters and this signal is much better than Focus. Decent audio levels & enough carrier strength to flatten some of the many t-storm crashes. The signal isn't airchair level, but I should be able to get some details and I think it's actually more copyable than when I was listening to it on via Twente at 1845.
Focus International: 6285, 7/2, 0100+ I could clearly hear the announcer and piano music. Lots of t-storm crashes. I'm hoping to go over the recording later and hopefully get enough details out of it to send a reception report. Pretty cool to have listened to this off'n'on all day on the computer, then to have a chance to hear it directly.
Europe via Twente
Mike Radio: 5895, 7/1, 1938+ Said testing and talking about the mixer & other equipment. Talk in a mixture of Dutch and English. New microphones! A number of live IDs. Nena "99 Luftballoons" (German version), Men at Work "Land Down Under," Greetings to Artem in Moscow
Coast FM: 6205, 7/1, 1845+ Fair signal with pop dance music, but hammered by utility QRM. A few min. later, hit with too much splatter from 6210 to copy anything. ID per the UKDxer blog.
6210, 7/1, 1836+ Golden Earring "Twilight Zone" Started really strong, but soon had deep fades (carrier disappearing). Very wide signal with nice audio. Started coming back well around 1900. Can't remember a couple of the song titles, but I got Phil Collins "Sussudio," Joe Cocker "With a Little Help from My Friends"
6240, 7/1, 1911+ Dance music--older techno. Heard a few of such songs, then Manhattan Transfer "Boy from New York City," The American Breed "Bend Me Shape Me," Lynn Anderson "Rose Garden," The Association "Cherish," Mary Mopkin "Those Were the Days" starting at 2000. No talk heard
Hit Mix Radio: 6257, 7/1, 1932+ Elvis "Blue Suede Shoes" clear ID in Dutch, Beach Boys, "Shake, Rattle, & Roll," Bobby Darin "Queen of the Hop"
Focus International: 6285, 7/1, 1523+ Song, poss by REM, Jesus & the Mary Chain, Guess Who "American Woman" Sharon Tandy "Hold On," Danny & the Juniors "At the Hop," Kim Carnes "Betty Davis Eyes" Male DJ with UK accent announcing phone number & e-mail address, drinking & driving PSA, "Focus International on the 48 meter band," one promo said "DJ Richard Gray" ? Very professional sound, with a selection of oldies mostly not heard on U.S. licensed oldies stations, with most songs from about 1958 to 1970, but some occasional '80s or '90s songs.
6305, 7/1, 1523-1524* Strong carrier but weak modulation.
6320, 7/1, 1913+ By 1928, faded to the point that no audio was audible, but I could still see the carrier
Radio Python: 6375, 7/1, 2030+ Modern rock. Several IDs "and I'm about to sneeze" "6-3-7-5 kilohertz." Perfect signal, Judas Priest "Breakin' the Law," "Fly on the Wings Above"
Blue Panter: 6390, 7/1, 1930+ Carrier with bits of audio. ID per Iann's Chat.
Thursday, June 30, 2016
More European pirate loggings via Twente: 6/30/16
Another night & I didn't hear any pirates on the receiver, but I heard a few stations on the computer via Twente. One positive was fixing the antenna mast, which had broken in two places and was hanging at half mast (literally).
Oh, tomorrow is Canada Day. Some Canadian pirates in the past have made special broadcasts for the holiday, so maybe we'll have something to listen to.
1635, 6/30, 1800-1806* Dutch folk music. One song sung by woman about "Santo Domingo." Two announcements in Dutch by male announcer.
1640, 6/30, 1806+ Noticed this one after 1635 signed off. Male announcer into light music. Weak signal, much weaker than most MW stations on the Twente receiver.
A-ha, 1635 came back on after 1640 signed off, so these two are evidently in QSO. The QSO ended around 1825.
6255.5, 6/30, 1927+ Old pop & country music Don Williams "You're My Best Friend," Freddie Fender "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," Sam Sham "Wooly Bully," Barry Sadler "Ballad of the Green Berets" Came back to the computer & heard Sonny & Cher "Little Man" and The Drifters "Saturday Night at the Movies" Per UKDxer, this is Radio Free Victoria
6369, 6/30, 1845+ Sounds like Dutch folk music & polkas. Fair/good to start but really faded within a few min. "Beer Barrel Polka" song in Dutch at 1850. Barely audible by 1855.
Oh, tomorrow is Canada Day. Some Canadian pirates in the past have made special broadcasts for the holiday, so maybe we'll have something to listen to.
1635, 6/30, 1800-1806* Dutch folk music. One song sung by woman about "Santo Domingo." Two announcements in Dutch by male announcer.
1640, 6/30, 1806+ Noticed this one after 1635 signed off. Male announcer into light music. Weak signal, much weaker than most MW stations on the Twente receiver.
A-ha, 1635 came back on after 1640 signed off, so these two are evidently in QSO. The QSO ended around 1825.
6255.5, 6/30, 1927+ Old pop & country music Don Williams "You're My Best Friend," Freddie Fender "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," Sam Sham "Wooly Bully," Barry Sadler "Ballad of the Green Berets" Came back to the computer & heard Sonny & Cher "Little Man" and The Drifters "Saturday Night at the Movies" Per UKDxer, this is Radio Free Victoria
6369, 6/30, 1845+ Sounds like Dutch folk music & polkas. Fair/good to start but really faded within a few min. "Beer Barrel Polka" song in Dutch at 1850. Barely audible by 1855.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
European Pirate Logs via Twente: 6/29/16
Well, I had hoped to start logging North American pirates in the blog again, but I haven't heard any over the past few days. But at least I have a few more loggings from the Twente web receiver:
unid: 1640, 6/29, 1602-1604* Instrumental song & off with no talk.
Radio Merlin International: 6280, 6/29, 1833+ New wavish music. Started good, but fading out. ID per Iann's chat
Hit Mix Radio: 6285, 6/29, 1719+ Sounded like shoutouts in Dutch over an instrumental polka at 1722. Telephonic-sounding canned ID at 1730. At 1731, I think DJ said "Hit Mix Radio live 6-2-8-5!" Off by 1830 check
6320, 6/29, 1833 Lots of polkas
Marconi Radio International: 7700U, 6/29, 2001+ music, sign on announcement with IDs and talk in a few different languages. Star Wars theme. E-mail address as marconiradiointernational@gmail.com. DJ came on in English with talk about the upcoming show. I think he said the show was via IBC? Hi to a number of listeners including David Baroni & a few from Japan. Into a shortwave DX information program at 2006. MRI reminds me a lot of some of the smaller SWBC stations from a few decades ago that would combine news, DX, and something cultural almost seamlessly into a 30-min. program. Hope MRI shifts the times occasionally so that we can hear it in North America directly.
unid: 1640, 6/29, 1602-1604* Instrumental song & off with no talk.
Radio Merlin International: 6280, 6/29, 1833+ New wavish music. Started good, but fading out. ID per Iann's chat
Hit Mix Radio: 6285, 6/29, 1719+ Sounded like shoutouts in Dutch over an instrumental polka at 1722. Telephonic-sounding canned ID at 1730. At 1731, I think DJ said "Hit Mix Radio live 6-2-8-5!" Off by 1830 check
6320, 6/29, 1833 Lots of polkas
Marconi Radio International: 7700U, 6/29, 2001+ music, sign on announcement with IDs and talk in a few different languages. Star Wars theme. E-mail address as marconiradiointernational@gmail.com. DJ came on in English with talk about the upcoming show. I think he said the show was via IBC? Hi to a number of listeners including David Baroni & a few from Japan. Into a shortwave DX information program at 2006. MRI reminds me a lot of some of the smaller SWBC stations from a few decades ago that would combine news, DX, and something cultural almost seamlessly into a 30-min. program. Hope MRI shifts the times occasionally so that we can hear it in North America directly.
Monday, June 27, 2016
European Pirate Logs via Twente: 6/27/16
I listened just a bit this past weekend via my own receiver & managed to hear Girl Scout Radio & Pirate Radio Boston. Those logs were so spread out, though, that I just didn't put a weekend log post up. But I listened a bit on the web today . . . most of these stations were playing Dutch music and announcing in Dutch, so these are light on details:
1620, 6/27, 1423+ Dutch MW pirate with old instrumental accordion music (maybe from the 1940s?). A few min later, a song with vocals. Still sounds like it’s from the ‘30s or ‘40s. Gone when I tuned back through 30 min. later
1629, 6/27, 1931+ Woman singing disco Schlager, Good signal
1639.9, 6/27, 1931+ Schlager & polkas, VG signal
1645, 6/27, 1454-1455* Instrumental polka & gone
1650.5, 6/27, 1605+ Schlager, etc. Sounds like mostly from the ‘60s, possibly from the same album. From the web display, it looks like all of the modulation is on the lower sideband. Talk & ID by man with heavy echo at 1635. Still on at 1931
6260, 6/27, 1935+ Peter Frampton “Show Me the Way” Fair
Friday, June 24, 2016
European Logs via Twente Webreceiver
No European pirates audible early on the Twente receiver, so I was listening to BBC coverage of the UK opting out of the EU on 837 kHz. Interesting stuff.
1620, 6/24, 1640+ Nice signal with polkas, schlager, old country, and at least one '50s rock song. Male announcer with light echo said "testing" early on. All other talk in Dutch. Peggy March "Memories of Heidelberg" I looked up the song & see it hit #5 in Germany in 1967. Also thought it interested that Peggy March was from Lansdale, but had a lot of success in Germany, so started singing in German.
1646, 6/24, 1831-1839* A number of old, patriotic marches, brief in Dutch talk at 1839 by an enthusiastic-sounding man & off.
6265, 6/24, 1824-1830* Bryan Adams "Summer of '69," another rock song "Here's to You" & off with no talk or IDs.
SWBC via TwenteRadio Mi Amigo: 3985, 6/24, 1745+ Rolling Stones "It's Only Rock'n'Roll" Went into a German-language show & started to fade out
1620, 6/24, 1640+ Nice signal with polkas, schlager, old country, and at least one '50s rock song. Male announcer with light echo said "testing" early on. All other talk in Dutch. Peggy March "Memories of Heidelberg" I looked up the song & see it hit #5 in Germany in 1967. Also thought it interested that Peggy March was from Lansdale, but had a lot of success in Germany, so started singing in German.
1646, 6/24, 1831-1839* A number of old, patriotic marches, brief in Dutch talk at 1839 by an enthusiastic-sounding man & off.
6265, 6/24, 1824-1830* Bryan Adams "Summer of '69," another rock song "Here's to You" & off with no talk or IDs.
SWBC via TwenteRadio Mi Amigo: 3985, 6/24, 1745+ Rolling Stones "It's Only Rock'n'Roll" Went into a German-language show & started to fade out
Monday, June 20, 2016
Now Taking Orders for 2015-2016 Pirate Radio Annual
The 2015-16 Pirate Radio Annual is now nearly finished and I'm taking advance orders for copies of the book. I've had the CD ready for a while now (although I need to start burning copies). I started laying out the PRA about a month ago, then realized last week that my column margins were too narrow, so I re-set it. Just finished the cover tonight and the files are going to the printer tomorrow. From there, the finished books should be ready in 4-6 weeks.
In case you are wondering what the Pirate Radio Annual is, it's a paperback book with an 5.5" x 8.5" trim size. This is the 6th edition. Each are divided into two parts: the first is pirate radio "articles" and the second part of the book is a listing of entries on North American shortwave pirate stations that were reported in the past year (and also European pirates that were reported in a large portion of North America). The book contains images from dozens of stations + contact information, URLs of websites, etc. Because this year's edition is running long, I cut back on the "articles" in this year's edition . . . WGM: World's Greatest Mistake and the updates for next two Global HF Pirate weekends.
This year's edition is 230 pages (34 pages longer than the last edition) and contains an audio CD-R with sample tracks of audio from pirates from the past year. 92 different stations (up 20 from last year) are represented on the CD....although the recording is on a CD-R, it is an audio CD that can be played in standard CD players, computers, etc. BTW, after creating hundreds of these CDs, I heard from one reader that the CD wouldn't fit properly in his slot-loading Mac computer. If you want to use it in one of these computers or device with a narrow slot, let me know and I can send your CD without a label.
If you want an advance copy, the price until August 7 is $16 + $3 shipping ($19) to the United States. I'm not yet sure if the extra 34 pages will affect the shipping cost to the rest of the world. I should probably wait until the copies arrive so that I can check the shipping cost/weight to Europe/Australia/Canada/etc., rather than guessing and posting an amount that's totally inaccurate, so I appreciate your patience while I get it figured out.
Also, I found a less-expensive printer for this edition. When I was offering advance copies at the Winterfest, I thought it'd be more expensive than it wound up being. So, if you advance ordered at the Winterfest, I'll be returning $1 with your copy.
You can either send a check or money order in US funds to:
Cabinet Communications
PO Box 109
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214
or you can send the $ via PayPal to info /at/ hobbybroadcasting.com
This year's edition is 230 pages (34 pages longer than the last edition) and contains an audio CD-R with sample tracks of audio from pirates from the past year. 92 different stations (up 20 from last year) are represented on the CD....although the recording is on a CD-R, it is an audio CD that can be played in standard CD players, computers, etc. BTW, after creating hundreds of these CDs, I heard from one reader that the CD wouldn't fit properly in his slot-loading Mac computer. If you want to use it in one of these computers or device with a narrow slot, let me know and I can send your CD without a label.
If you want an advance copy, the price until August 7 is $16 + $3 shipping ($19) to the United States. I'm not yet sure if the extra 34 pages will affect the shipping cost to the rest of the world. I should probably wait until the copies arrive so that I can check the shipping cost/weight to Europe/Australia/Canada/etc., rather than guessing and posting an amount that's totally inaccurate, so I appreciate your patience while I get it figured out.
Also, I found a less-expensive printer for this edition. When I was offering advance copies at the Winterfest, I thought it'd be more expensive than it wound up being. So, if you advance ordered at the Winterfest, I'll be returning $1 with your copy.
You can either send a check or money order in US funds to:
Cabinet Communications
PO Box 109
Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214
or you can send the $ via PayPal to info /at/ hobbybroadcasting.com
Friday, April 8, 2016
Pirate Radio Annual Update
I've been working on the book a lot lately, finishing entries, editing audio files, fielding e-mails from stations, etc. In total, I wrote to 144 different stations & I think I've received responses from about half. I think I've written about 255 station entries & have I left to write: X-FM. I finished recording & adjusting levels on the audio files. I finished the tracklist last night & burned the 1st CD this morning. This CD will feature audio tracks from 90 different stations. I'm hoping to get the art sized this weekend and start the layout next week. Once I finish the files and get them to the printer, I'll start posting sales information. Thanks for your patience!
Monday, February 15, 2016
SWL Winterfest & some loggings: 2/15/16
Time flies when you're sitting around writing. I had planned to write about the Winter SWL Fest & maybe someone would read about it and "That's it; I've been thinking about going for years, but this post is the final tipping point. And time passed by. I thought "I'll write that post now because we're only about two weeks away." Ooops, no, it was a week closer. So, here it is Monday evening and the Winterfest starts on Friday. That's not much time, but maybe enough that someone who isn't too terribly far away will decide to drive over. It's not a bad trip for DXers in the Midatlantic.
Here's the basic information.
Here's the program lineup. A couple of these are connected to hobby broadcasting of various sorts: the Part 15 forum (Anthony Messina & Rob Femly), the Pirate Radio Review (George Zeller), and David Goren has the Shortwave Shindig, which will include audio from NYC FM pirates. A couple of receiver forums should be really interesting: 2016 Survey of SW Receivers (Thomas Witherspoon), Kit Receivers Old & New (Skip Arey), and Survey of the All-Time Best Receivers (Dan Robinson). I also want to hear Paul Ladd talk about why KNLS is still dedicated to SW broadcasting, I haven't had as much noise on MW over the past six months, so I'm interested in MW DXing (Brett Saylor), and loop antennas (Jef Eichner).
Logs
WEAK Radio: 6930U, 2/15, 0135+ WEAK singing ID, fake ad for McDonalds Big ********** sandwich, "Pushin' Too Hard" Great to hear the WEAK Bust Anniversary Show for 2016!
A couple of loggings from the Twente online receiver:
Here's the basic information.
Here's the program lineup. A couple of these are connected to hobby broadcasting of various sorts: the Part 15 forum (Anthony Messina & Rob Femly), the Pirate Radio Review (George Zeller), and David Goren has the Shortwave Shindig, which will include audio from NYC FM pirates. A couple of receiver forums should be really interesting: 2016 Survey of SW Receivers (Thomas Witherspoon), Kit Receivers Old & New (Skip Arey), and Survey of the All-Time Best Receivers (Dan Robinson). I also want to hear Paul Ladd talk about why KNLS is still dedicated to SW broadcasting, I haven't had as much noise on MW over the past six months, so I'm interested in MW DXing (Brett Saylor), and loop antennas (Jef Eichner).
Logs
WEAK Radio: 6930U, 2/15, 0135+ WEAK singing ID, fake ad for McDonalds Big ********** sandwich, "Pushin' Too Hard" Great to hear the WEAK Bust Anniversary Show for 2016!
A couple of loggings from the Twente online receiver:
Radio Skyline: 1611, 2/15, 1500-1505* ‘50s-sounding rock’n’roll song, then Dutch talk with clear Radio Skyline IDs
SRG (Skyline Radio Germany): 6325, 2/15, 1608+ AC/DC, Complex pro-sounding promo with many IDs, Herten address for hardcopy reports, DJ talk in German, what I think might’ve been an interview (two guys talking in German). Good at the start, but complete fadeouts after a few minutes.
6285, 2/15, 1608 Schlager. Got sidetracked & when I came back, it had signed off
Friday, February 12, 2016
Weekend Pirate Loggings: 2/13-2/15/2016
Just got back to the radio after a drive through the snow. The Italian Broadcasting Corporation is a pirate that stuck in my mind when I was a kid because their radio antenna QSL/logo was reprinted in The ACE a few times. I never heard them back then because I really didn't know much about DXing Europirates (either in terms of setting up decent antennas or knowing when/how to listen). Thirty years later, I see that they're testing to North America tonight. I tuned to 6970 kHz. Just some utility mess. Oh well, maybe I haven't advanced very far in the past 30 or so years, afterall.
But, I tuned through 48 meters & I found a station on 6325 kHz--and some audio's coming through! I pulled up a file on the recorder, started recording, and checked HF Underground to see if someone has it with a better signal. They do and it's:
Odynn Radio/Radio Veronica/Radio Twentana: 6325, 2/13, 0022+ Can hear some music & I thought I had an ID around 0027. I guess this is a joint broadcast. I'll have to listen to my recording on headphones & see if I can dig out some details. <later> I listened to my recording and not much is there.
Speaking of not much being there:
KROW: 6920U, 2/13, 0302 I saw that this was logged on the HFU and tuned in. I could hear a little bit of audio and then it faded away or disappeared. According to an HFU log, the station returned about 50 or so minutes later. I let the recorder run for an hour and I can hear someone tuning up around this timeframe, but that's all I've got.
Pee Wee: 6925U, 2/13, 1237+ Electric blues rock. Not sure if it was Hendrix, but that general style. Off and then "Pee Wee" in Morse code. Good signal
unid: 6925U, 2/13, ca1550 Good signal. I checked into the radio room to see if I could pull much out of the KROW & Odynn/Veronica/Twentana loggings (which I couldn't). I hoped that who ever was broadcasting here would still be on when I finished trying to dig out some IDs, but the station was gone.
I've noticed over the past few days the Old-Time Radio unidentified station on 6770 kHz is missing. I wonder if it's off for what seems to be a maintenance period, if it's moved frequencies again, or ?
6925, 2/13, 1727+ Fair signal with Boston "More Than a Feeling"
Radio Illuminati: 6150, 2/13, 2237+ Beatles "Lucy in the Sky" & possibly a Neil Young song. Good with fading & nice audio. Styx "Grand Illusion" Kansas "Carry on My Wayward Son" The Who "Pinball Wizard" The Who "Eminence Front" Hoping to catch some IDs on the recording, but no luck thus far.
Radio Monique International: 6299.9, 2/13, 2315+ Just a carrier in high noise levels
Radio Focus International: 6284.8, 2/13, 2327+ Much stronger carrier than Monique, so I have hope that audio will make it through. I'm not sure where these S6 noise levels that I'm getting tonight are coming from?
A question for anyone who might still be reading my loggings down this far. At 0010 UTC, on 6340 kHz, I'm hearing what sounds like an international shortwave broadcaster with operatic music. The way it sounds, it's gotta be either a spur or a receiver image. But I was also hearing a "choo-choo-choo-choo (etc.)" on the frequency that had been on for at least an hour, but stopped while I was typing this. Anyone know what these are? BTW, the station is now playing opera with bird-style whistling! The weird kind of stuff that got me interested in shortwave to begin with!
6955.2U, 2/14, 0035-0038* "Mexican Radio" Pretty good, thin signal. "I am Oz, the great and powerful" repeated at QRT.
6955.2U, 2/14, *0042- Either the same station or someone else following up on the frequency with bluegrass
Radio Azteca: 6950, 2/14, 1357+ Good signal for program #7, CHU news
Radio Illuminati: 6150, 2/14, *1551+ VG signal playing pop ballads for Valentine's Day, such as Phil Collins "One More Night" Heard an ID on here for the first time on a music break "I am your host, the Azimuth Coordinator" and announced "another 10 songs in a row"
unid: 6950, 2/14, 2027+ Good signal with Motley Crue "Looks That Kill" & Steve Miller Band "Fly Like an Eagle"
Radio Free Whatever: 6950U, 2/14, 2325+ Dick Weed with Death from Above & Bad Religion. Talk about all of the listeners who are e-mailing in and posting on HF Underground with some shoutouts. Also some talk about using "um" as a crutch word and listeners who send screenshots of the RFW's signal from their SDRs.
Solar Centric: 6949.5, 2/15, 0203+ I just saw Token's log of this on HFU. I've never heard Solar Centric and this is the closest I've come to hearing it. I've got a nice carrier and I'm getting fade-ups with some decent noise quieting, but just haven't gotten any audio yet. I've got it recording just in case I get a really good fade up . . .
But, I tuned through 48 meters & I found a station on 6325 kHz--and some audio's coming through! I pulled up a file on the recorder, started recording, and checked HF Underground to see if someone has it with a better signal. They do and it's:
Odynn Radio/Radio Veronica/Radio Twentana: 6325, 2/13, 0022+ Can hear some music & I thought I had an ID around 0027. I guess this is a joint broadcast. I'll have to listen to my recording on headphones & see if I can dig out some details. <later> I listened to my recording and not much is there.
Speaking of not much being there:
KROW: 6920U, 2/13, 0302 I saw that this was logged on the HFU and tuned in. I could hear a little bit of audio and then it faded away or disappeared. According to an HFU log, the station returned about 50 or so minutes later. I let the recorder run for an hour and I can hear someone tuning up around this timeframe, but that's all I've got.
Pee Wee: 6925U, 2/13, 1237+ Electric blues rock. Not sure if it was Hendrix, but that general style. Off and then "Pee Wee" in Morse code. Good signal
unid: 6925U, 2/13, ca1550 Good signal. I checked into the radio room to see if I could pull much out of the KROW & Odynn/Veronica/Twentana loggings (which I couldn't). I hoped that who ever was broadcasting here would still be on when I finished trying to dig out some IDs, but the station was gone.
I've noticed over the past few days the Old-Time Radio unidentified station on 6770 kHz is missing. I wonder if it's off for what seems to be a maintenance period, if it's moved frequencies again, or ?
6925, 2/13, 1727+ Fair signal with Boston "More Than a Feeling"
Radio Illuminati: 6150, 2/13, 2237+ Beatles "Lucy in the Sky" & possibly a Neil Young song. Good with fading & nice audio. Styx "Grand Illusion" Kansas "Carry on My Wayward Son" The Who "Pinball Wizard" The Who "Eminence Front" Hoping to catch some IDs on the recording, but no luck thus far.
Radio Monique International: 6299.9, 2/13, 2315+ Just a carrier in high noise levels
Radio Focus International: 6284.8, 2/13, 2327+ Much stronger carrier than Monique, so I have hope that audio will make it through. I'm not sure where these S6 noise levels that I'm getting tonight are coming from?
A question for anyone who might still be reading my loggings down this far. At 0010 UTC, on 6340 kHz, I'm hearing what sounds like an international shortwave broadcaster with operatic music. The way it sounds, it's gotta be either a spur or a receiver image. But I was also hearing a "choo-choo-choo-choo (etc.)" on the frequency that had been on for at least an hour, but stopped while I was typing this. Anyone know what these are? BTW, the station is now playing opera with bird-style whistling! The weird kind of stuff that got me interested in shortwave to begin with!
6955.2U, 2/14, 0035-0038* "Mexican Radio" Pretty good, thin signal. "I am Oz, the great and powerful" repeated at QRT.
6955.2U, 2/14, *0042- Either the same station or someone else following up on the frequency with bluegrass
Radio Azteca: 6950, 2/14, 1357+ Good signal for program #7, CHU news
Radio Illuminati: 6150, 2/14, *1551+ VG signal playing pop ballads for Valentine's Day, such as Phil Collins "One More Night" Heard an ID on here for the first time on a music break "I am your host, the Azimuth Coordinator" and announced "another 10 songs in a row"
unid: 6950, 2/14, 2027+ Good signal with Motley Crue "Looks That Kill" & Steve Miller Band "Fly Like an Eagle"
Radio Free Whatever: 6950U, 2/14, 2325+ Dick Weed with Death from Above & Bad Religion. Talk about all of the listeners who are e-mailing in and posting on HF Underground with some shoutouts. Also some talk about using "um" as a crutch word and listeners who send screenshots of the RFW's signal from their SDRs.
Solar Centric: 6949.5, 2/15, 0203+ I just saw Token's log of this on HFU. I've never heard Solar Centric and this is the closest I've come to hearing it. I've got a nice carrier and I'm getting fade-ups with some decent noise quieting, but just haven't gotten any audio yet. I've got it recording just in case I get a really good fade up . . .
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
More PRA Notes: 2/10/16
Oh well, I missed both Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic and X-1 tonight because I've been writing. One of these days, I'll finish this book!
While being distracted (I'm easily distracted), I counted the entries. I'm up to 196 entries done and 71 still to write. Does it really seem like 267 different stations have been on in the past two years? From a listening prospective, no. From a writing prospective, definitely.
I have to put out a great big thank you to everyone at Rave On Radio, who forwarded some recordings of the Don't Panic! (ebola) unidentified station from October 2014. Thanks to ROR, I'll be able to include an audio clip from this station on the PRA CD. Currently, I'm at clips from 19 different stations finished.
One thing that I noticed today while digging through loggings of Brockett 99 from August 4, 2015. Ulx2 from Kiev logged the station on 6932 kHz on a portable while walking in a park . . . with a very good signal! It's too bad that more people from around the world aren't tuning in to shortwave pirates from other continents. I think we'd have more surprising results like this.
This has been a bit of a distraction (although I'm still writing), but I really want to write the Captain Morgan entry tonight, so I'll stop this blog entry now.
While being distracted (I'm easily distracted), I counted the entries. I'm up to 196 entries done and 71 still to write. Does it really seem like 267 different stations have been on in the past two years? From a listening prospective, no. From a writing prospective, definitely.
I have to put out a great big thank you to everyone at Rave On Radio, who forwarded some recordings of the Don't Panic! (ebola) unidentified station from October 2014. Thanks to ROR, I'll be able to include an audio clip from this station on the PRA CD. Currently, I'm at clips from 19 different stations finished.
One thing that I noticed today while digging through loggings of Brockett 99 from August 4, 2015. Ulx2 from Kiev logged the station on 6932 kHz on a portable while walking in a park . . . with a very good signal! It's too bad that more people from around the world aren't tuning in to shortwave pirates from other continents. I think we'd have more surprising results like this.
This has been a bit of a distraction (although I'm still writing), but I really want to write the Captain Morgan entry tonight, so I'll stop this blog entry now.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Weekend Loggings: 2/6-2/8/16
Wonder if all the activity will be today and early tomorrow, considering that the Super Bowl is tomorrow night? I guess we'll find out.
unid: 6925, 2/6, 1545+ Have a decent carrier, but not much audio is making it here. Just bits & pieces . . . and it's buried. Seems to be getting a bit better at 1545. 1547: Sounds like a ham (or MARS?) net being relayed by someone in AM mode here. I guess it must be the unid station that's been on through the morning & afternoon lately relaying lots of stuff. Still on when I tuned in WEEK Radio a few hours later
WEEK Radio: 6950, 2/6, 1911+ Fairly weak signal, but improved. Beatles "8 Days a Week" echo ID @QRT
OTR unid: 6770, 2/6, 2218+ Big signal with Wild Bill Hickock. Kelloggs Sugar Pops ad with plastic gun offer. Digital audio player was been glitching for a bit & it sometimes sounded like an echo
6975, 2/6, 2220+ Some music is coming through, but the signal is weak enough that the sync detector on the R8 can't quite lock in
Radio Free Whatever: 6945U, 2/6, 2305+ Excellent signal. Dick Weed losing his cursor
Pee Wee Radio: 6955U, 2/7 Just caught about 2/3 of an SSTV and then Morse code
Wolverine Radio: 6950U, 2/7, "Time Has Come Today"
unid: 6925, 2/6, 1545+ Have a decent carrier, but not much audio is making it here. Just bits & pieces . . . and it's buried. Seems to be getting a bit better at 1545. 1547: Sounds like a ham (or MARS?) net being relayed by someone in AM mode here. I guess it must be the unid station that's been on through the morning & afternoon lately relaying lots of stuff. Still on when I tuned in WEEK Radio a few hours later
WEEK Radio: 6950, 2/6, 1911+ Fairly weak signal, but improved. Beatles "8 Days a Week" echo ID @QRT
OTR unid: 6770, 2/6, 2218+ Big signal with Wild Bill Hickock. Kelloggs Sugar Pops ad with plastic gun offer. Digital audio player was been glitching for a bit & it sometimes sounded like an echo
6975, 2/6, 2220+ Some music is coming through, but the signal is weak enough that the sync detector on the R8 can't quite lock in
Radio Free Whatever: 6945U, 2/6, 2305+ Excellent signal. Dick Weed losing his cursor
Pee Wee Radio: 6955U, 2/7 Just caught about 2/3 of an SSTV and then Morse code
Wolverine Radio: 6950U, 2/7, "Time Has Come Today"
Thursday, February 4, 2016
A few PRA notes
I've mostly been posting logs here and haven't mentioned the progress of the PRA. Because the last one got pushed back by almost a year, the new one is going to be a combined 2015-2016 edition that includes stations that were on in 2014 and 2015. I wrote the entries for 28 stations last week and have finished 11 more this week. That sounds like a lot, but, wow, it's just a drop in the bucket.
So far, I only have about 15 station recordings made for the CD. I record loads of broadcasts every year and cull from those for the CD (and also to send to stations with reports), but I often accumulate a bunch of recordings on the recording computer (an old computer that I essentially only use for recording shortwave broadcasts) before I save everything down. Right now, for example, I've got about 20 unnamed/unsaved files on the computer . . . but I have a page with the name of the unnamed file (e.g., "untitled17"), date, time the recording was started, frequency, and the station name. Then I go back and sift through the recordings, save most of them, and move on through until I'm done.
I was searching around for info on the "Don't Panic" unidentified from October 2014 to write an entry for it. There wasn't a lot written about it, so I thought I'd go back and pull up my recording so that I could get a fuller transcription. I couldn't find the file. Checked two computers. Not on either one. My recording computer died last summer, so I pulled the hard drive on it. Nothing. It stinks because that was an awesome broadcast and I had a really nice recording of it. At this point, I think I lost it in a computer crash. Really disappointing.
I think I still have about 20 or 30 more entries to write, but many of these are old stations that I need to dig up info on. If you run a station that was reported in 2014 or 2015, I'll probably be writing to you in the next couple of weeks, so please check your station e-mail. I'll be e-mailing do that you can doublecheck your entry.
Oh hey, why not. Here's a list of the station recordings for the CD so far. I've focused mostly on less-common stations:
So far, I only have about 15 station recordings made for the CD. I record loads of broadcasts every year and cull from those for the CD (and also to send to stations with reports), but I often accumulate a bunch of recordings on the recording computer (an old computer that I essentially only use for recording shortwave broadcasts) before I save everything down. Right now, for example, I've got about 20 unnamed/unsaved files on the computer . . . but I have a page with the name of the unnamed file (e.g., "untitled17"), date, time the recording was started, frequency, and the station name. Then I go back and sift through the recordings, save most of them, and move on through until I'm done.
I was searching around for info on the "Don't Panic" unidentified from October 2014 to write an entry for it. There wasn't a lot written about it, so I thought I'd go back and pull up my recording so that I could get a fuller transcription. I couldn't find the file. Checked two computers. Not on either one. My recording computer died last summer, so I pulled the hard drive on it. Nothing. It stinks because that was an awesome broadcast and I had a really nice recording of it. At this point, I think I lost it in a computer crash. Really disappointing.
I think I still have about 20 or 30 more entries to write, but many of these are old stations that I need to dig up info on. If you run a station that was reported in 2014 or 2015, I'll probably be writing to you in the next couple of weeks, so please check your station e-mail. I'll be e-mailing do that you can doublecheck your entry.
Oh hey, why not. Here's a list of the station recordings for the CD so far. I've focused mostly on less-common stations:
Bangalore Poacher, December 20, 2014,
on 6925 kHz at 2202 UTC
Big Dawg Radio, November 6, 2014, on
6925 kHz USB at 2222 UTC
BZN Radio, December 24, 2014, on 6952.5
kHz at 0149 UTC
Cupid Radio, November 8, 2014, on 21460
kHz at 1539 UTC
Drifty Crystal, February 1, 2014, on
6920 kHz LSB at 0304 UTC
Germany Calling, November 10, 2014, on
6940 kHz at 0114 UTC
Happy Hanukkah, December 23, 2014, on
6875.5 kHz at 2354 UTC
Horizon FM, March 14, 2014, on 6205 kHz
at 0435 UTC
PBS Underground, January 19, 2014, on
6925 kHz on 2105 UTC
Pumpkin Patch Radio, October 27, 2014,
on 6930 kHz USB at 0004 UTC
Radio Jingle Bells, December 21, 2014,
on 6400 kHz at 2159 UTC
Radio Marlene, March 10, 2014, on 6930
kHz at 0025 UTC
Sycko Radio, December 27, 2014, on
6925.2 kHz at 2331 UTC
WBOG, December 31, 2015, on 6950 kHz at
2208 UTC
Witch City Radio, October 27, 2014, on
6919.8 kHz at 0053 UTC
WMFQ, December 21, 2014, on 6885.6 kHz
at 0017 UTC
Friday, January 29, 2016
Weekend Loggings: 1/29-1/31/16
Last weekend was pretty awesome, but we did have a huge snowstorm. Wonder what this weekend will bring?
unid: 6935, 1/29, 2155 VG signal here with Cheap Trick "Dream Police," Slade "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," a bit of Eddie Murphy standup, Hawaii 5-0 theme, Michael Jackson "Beat It." Nice audio.
Radio Ga-Ga: 6930U, 1/30, 0015-0021* The Doors "The End." Good signal on fade-ups, but very deep fades (sometimes disappearing). At end, he broadcasting live from Zipper Lake
Liquid Radio: 6925.2, 1/30, 0023+ Ambient synthesized dance music, fair/weak signal but heavy pescador QRM ("hola, hola, hola, hoooooooola"). Heard an ID about 15 min ago, but the pescadors are messing the signal up a bit too much to really be able to enjoy it
Channel Z: 6925, 1/30, 1445+ SIO:555 Another excellent edition of Before They Were Famous (Part 6) with Andy Walker: The Sorcerers, ? (a band with Stevie Nix & Lindsey Buckingham), The 31st of February, Mott the Hoople. e-mail address, BRS address--only postal reports get hardcopy QSLs. Andy says that he might be seeing you at the 2016 SWL Winterfest.
unid: 6935, 1/30, 1445+ Noted in passing on my way to hear Channel Z, I'm guessing this is the same station that I've been hearing for hours on 6935 and 6945 kHz the past few days.Tuned back in later & signal is weak with rock music, but I haven't ID'd the songs/groups
unid: 6935, 1/29, 2155 VG signal here with Cheap Trick "Dream Police," Slade "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," a bit of Eddie Murphy standup, Hawaii 5-0 theme, Michael Jackson "Beat It." Nice audio.
Radio Ga-Ga: 6930U, 1/30, 0015-0021* The Doors "The End." Good signal on fade-ups, but very deep fades (sometimes disappearing). At end, he broadcasting live from Zipper Lake
Liquid Radio: 6925.2, 1/30, 0023+ Ambient synthesized dance music, fair/weak signal but heavy pescador QRM ("hola, hola, hola, hoooooooola"). Heard an ID about 15 min ago, but the pescadors are messing the signal up a bit too much to really be able to enjoy it
Channel Z: 6925, 1/30, 1445+ SIO:555 Another excellent edition of Before They Were Famous (Part 6) with Andy Walker: The Sorcerers, ? (a band with Stevie Nix & Lindsey Buckingham), The 31st of February, Mott the Hoople. e-mail address, BRS address--only postal reports get hardcopy QSLs. Andy says that he might be seeing you at the 2016 SWL Winterfest.
unid: 6935, 1/30, 1445+ Noted in passing on my way to hear Channel Z, I'm guessing this is the same station that I've been hearing for hours on 6935 and 6945 kHz the past few days.Tuned back in later & signal is weak with rock music, but I haven't ID'd the songs/groups
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Thursday Logs: 1/28/16
6945, 1/28, 1900+ Turned on the radio to hear me stammering through my talk at the last HOPE Conference. My public speaking is abysmal, but a lot of people seemed interested in hearing about shortwave and weird stuff on the band, so I guess it was a success in that respect. Not sure if that translates to radio rebroadcasting?
Via the Twente Webreceiver:
1645, 1/28, 1446-1447* Country music and Dutch male DJ. Off mid-song
6295, 1/28, 1430+ "Bye Bye Blondie" (I think it had a Dutch section in it, so I think it's a cover), excellent signal. Talk in Dutch with a shoutout to Radio Tina. My wi-fi's really glitchy today, so I'm missing a lot. Mostly faded out by about 1520
1620, 1/28, 1520-1524* Some Dutch music and talk. Nice signal, but quickly went QRT
1623, 1/28, *1525-1528* Good, someone else signed on. But I don't understand Dutch and the wi-fi's still glitchy, so I don't like my chances of copying an ID! Schlager with a male announcer.
1648.7, 1/28, 1530-1538* Looks like someone's playing with a transmitter here for about the past 15 min. or so. I see a carrier (but I haven't heard audio on it). But the carrier sometimes bounces around a few hundred Hz. I don't think the freq's intentionally being moved. Heard some weak voice audio, so I think the operator was trying to get his voice to register, before pulling the plug
1620, 1/28, 1540-1603* Lots of old schlager with female singers. Maybe playing an entire album by the same artist?
1625, 1/28, 1605+ Schlager. Male announcer. Sounded like he said "Radio Armadillo," but I think that's a UK SW station, so I dunno what I heard. I guess I should either learn Dutch or listen to some other frequencies for a while!
Via the Twente Webreceiver:
1645, 1/28, 1446-1447* Country music and Dutch male DJ. Off mid-song
6295, 1/28, 1430+ "Bye Bye Blondie" (I think it had a Dutch section in it, so I think it's a cover), excellent signal. Talk in Dutch with a shoutout to Radio Tina. My wi-fi's really glitchy today, so I'm missing a lot. Mostly faded out by about 1520
1620, 1/28, 1520-1524* Some Dutch music and talk. Nice signal, but quickly went QRT
1623, 1/28, *1525-1528* Good, someone else signed on. But I don't understand Dutch and the wi-fi's still glitchy, so I don't like my chances of copying an ID! Schlager with a male announcer.
1648.7, 1/28, 1530-1538* Looks like someone's playing with a transmitter here for about the past 15 min. or so. I see a carrier (but I haven't heard audio on it). But the carrier sometimes bounces around a few hundred Hz. I don't think the freq's intentionally being moved. Heard some weak voice audio, so I think the operator was trying to get his voice to register, before pulling the plug
1620, 1/28, 1540-1603* Lots of old schlager with female singers. Maybe playing an entire album by the same artist?
1625, 1/28, 1605+ Schlager. Male announcer. Sounded like he said "Radio Armadillo," but I think that's a UK SW station, so I dunno what I heard. I guess I should either learn Dutch or listen to some other frequencies for a while!
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Some more logs: 1/27/16
Pirate:
Liquid Radio: 6925.2, 1/27, 2329+ Elton John "Saturday Night." fair/good signal, but a lot of QRM from pescadors
Licensed AM:
WDIC: 1430, 1/28, 0420+ "WDIC, real country" song "Honky Tonk Blues" good signal for a few min., but then buried in the sludge of the AM band. 54 watts nighttime from the SW corner of Virginia.
1430, 1/28, 0430+ Cathloic programming & an ad for Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. I thought maybe this was from around South Bend, IN, but the only 1430 that I could find from IN is all sports. Maybe this is WNSW, a Catholic station from Newark, NJ?
Liquid Radio: 6925.2, 1/27, 2329+ Elton John "Saturday Night." fair/good signal, but a lot of QRM from pescadors
Licensed AM:
WDIC: 1430, 1/28, 0420+ "WDIC, real country" song "Honky Tonk Blues" good signal for a few min., but then buried in the sludge of the AM band. 54 watts nighttime from the SW corner of Virginia.
1430, 1/28, 0430+ Cathloic programming & an ad for Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. I thought maybe this was from around South Bend, IN, but the only 1430 that I could find from IN is all sports. Maybe this is WNSW, a Catholic station from Newark, NJ?
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Mid-week loggings:1/26/15
Just messing around a bit with the radio, checking noise levels on lower frequencies. There's a LOT of wide-open space on 120 meters for people to be broadcasting. Everything that I heard between 3200 and 3500 kHz is listed below (along with some other stuff)
LW
CLB: 216, 1/27, 0133+ Nondirectional aircraft beacon from Winnabow, NC, with a decent signal
SW
WWCR: 3215, 1/27, 0041+ Huge signal (of course), with male announcer reading from King James version of Old Testament. Announcer stumbling a lot
Radio Sonder Grense (tent.): 3320, 1/27, 0146+ Male and female announcers.
CHU: 3330, 1/27, 0147+ Big signal for the time station
New York Radio (VOLMET) 3485U, 1/27, 0149-0151* Aeronautic weather (temp, dew point, altimeter readings, windspeed, cloud height, etc.) for a bunch of places
Gander Radio (VOLMET) 3485U, 1/27, *0151+ Aeronautic weather (temp, dew point, altimeter readings windspeed, cloud height,, etc.) for a bunch of places
Radio Verdad (Guatemala): 4055, 1/27, 0139+ Noted in passing with presumed sermon or Bible lesson, into old-style organ music with lots of vibrato and woman with announcement. Good signal
LW
CLB: 216, 1/27, 0133+ Nondirectional aircraft beacon from Winnabow, NC, with a decent signal
SW
WWCR: 3215, 1/27, 0041+ Huge signal (of course), with male announcer reading from King James version of Old Testament. Announcer stumbling a lot
Radio Sonder Grense (tent.): 3320, 1/27, 0146+ Male and female announcers.
CHU: 3330, 1/27, 0147+ Big signal for the time station
New York Radio (VOLMET) 3485U, 1/27, 0149-0151* Aeronautic weather (temp, dew point, altimeter readings, windspeed, cloud height, etc.) for a bunch of places
Gander Radio (VOLMET) 3485U, 1/27, *0151+ Aeronautic weather (temp, dew point, altimeter readings windspeed, cloud height,, etc.) for a bunch of places
Radio Verdad (Guatemala): 4055, 1/27, 0139+ Noted in passing with presumed sermon or Bible lesson, into old-style organ music with lots of vibrato and woman with announcement. Good signal
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Jonas Weekend Pirate Logs: 1/23-1/25/16
"When the weather outside is frightful, to be on the air is delightful, oh yes it's pirate radio, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" as the old song on PRN from 25 years ago went.
Living in Pennsylvania, I've always loved pirates that broadcast during snowstorms. Some have been specific storm-themed stations, such as WUBR (Ultimate Blizzard Radio), the Frankenstorm SSTV station, and WONS. The NYC medium-wave stations also used to hit the air during snow storms and plenty others since have done their work in the snow because it's safe. If there's a snowstorm of the magnitude that's hitting the Midatlantic right now, the assumption is that no one is out doing enforcement right now (and I think that's a safe assumption).
The only fly in the ointment is if the FCC has already located a station, but hasn't issued a warning--if that station irritates the FCC during the snowstorm, whether with how long the station is on the air or with the programming content, it could result in an NUOU or an NAL. I've never heard of a case like that, but just saying that it could be a possibility.
Enough philosophy, I've got lots of pirate radio to listen to today.
WEEK Radio: 6950, 1/23, 1401+ Song about tomorrow. The music theme seems to be the days of the week. Easybeats "Friday on My Mind" WEEK ID "the station for every day of the week" using the same female computer voice that WEAK used in many of their IDs. So, it's an interesting concept for a station with a kind of in-joke embedded.
Radio Azteca: 6900, 1/23, 1950+ Dr. Radio segment. Signal weak. Bullwinkle interval signal, into another program. Starting with Mail Scrotum segment. Nice to have someone relaying some of these shows from about 25 years ago.
Channel Z (tentative): 6150.4, 1/23, 2225+ Weak music
WEAK Radio: 6955U, 1/24, 0040+ Excellent signal with rap, punk, & metal. Funny Visa ad, clear ID. SSTV image at end:
KCPR: 6950, 1/24, 0002-0009* Music. Weak. ID per HF Underground & Morse code ID at end like KCPR does
Pee Wee: 6956, 1/24, 0139+ Ozzy Osbourne "I Don't Know." Weak, but improving. Oops, no, I think it completely faded out now
I've been checking between 3400 & 3500 kHz, just in case someone wants to propagate to listeners who are a bit closer, but no luck so far.
Old-Time Radio unid: 6770, 1/24, 1526+ The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, NBC Radio ad for Duffy's Tavern
unid: 6925, 1/24, 1545-1547* Jimi Hendrix song . . . "Voodoo Child," I think. Quick, deep fades. Decent carrier, but audio level sounds low. Off with no IDs.
WAZU: 6950.5, 1/24, 1655+ Gerbil Rooter ad & message from station manager Buck McMoney. Pretty good signal
Radio Azteca: 6900, 1/24, 2118+ Sounds like a story from a morning show team, ID with echo. "Your station for the latest bodily function news and sports."
Liquid Radio: 6925, 1/24, 2249+ Long, deep fades & heavy pescador QRM. Think I heard Steppenwolf "Born to Be Wild" & The Police "Spirits in the Material World" but the sledding is tough right now on 6925. ID at 2301
Living in Pennsylvania, I've always loved pirates that broadcast during snowstorms. Some have been specific storm-themed stations, such as WUBR (Ultimate Blizzard Radio), the Frankenstorm SSTV station, and WONS. The NYC medium-wave stations also used to hit the air during snow storms and plenty others since have done their work in the snow because it's safe. If there's a snowstorm of the magnitude that's hitting the Midatlantic right now, the assumption is that no one is out doing enforcement right now (and I think that's a safe assumption).
The only fly in the ointment is if the FCC has already located a station, but hasn't issued a warning--if that station irritates the FCC during the snowstorm, whether with how long the station is on the air or with the programming content, it could result in an NUOU or an NAL. I've never heard of a case like that, but just saying that it could be a possibility.
Enough philosophy, I've got lots of pirate radio to listen to today.
WEEK Radio: 6950, 1/23, 1401+ Song about tomorrow. The music theme seems to be the days of the week. Easybeats "Friday on My Mind" WEEK ID "the station for every day of the week" using the same female computer voice that WEAK used in many of their IDs. So, it's an interesting concept for a station with a kind of in-joke embedded.
Radio Azteca: 6900, 1/23, 1950+ Dr. Radio segment. Signal weak. Bullwinkle interval signal, into another program. Starting with Mail Scrotum segment. Nice to have someone relaying some of these shows from about 25 years ago.
Channel Z (tentative): 6150.4, 1/23, 2225+ Weak music
WEAK Radio: 6955U, 1/24, 0040+ Excellent signal with rap, punk, & metal. Funny Visa ad, clear ID. SSTV image at end:
KCPR: 6950, 1/24, 0002-0009* Music. Weak. ID per HF Underground & Morse code ID at end like KCPR does
Pee Wee: 6956, 1/24, 0139+ Ozzy Osbourne "I Don't Know." Weak, but improving. Oops, no, I think it completely faded out now
I've been checking between 3400 & 3500 kHz, just in case someone wants to propagate to listeners who are a bit closer, but no luck so far.
Old-Time Radio unid: 6770, 1/24, 1526+ The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, NBC Radio ad for Duffy's Tavern
unid: 6925, 1/24, 1545-1547* Jimi Hendrix song . . . "Voodoo Child," I think. Quick, deep fades. Decent carrier, but audio level sounds low. Off with no IDs.
WAZU: 6950.5, 1/24, 1655+ Gerbil Rooter ad & message from station manager Buck McMoney. Pretty good signal
Radio Azteca: 6900, 1/24, 2118+ Sounds like a story from a morning show team, ID with echo. "Your station for the latest bodily function news and sports."
Liquid Radio: 6925, 1/24, 2249+ Long, deep fades & heavy pescador QRM. Think I heard Steppenwolf "Born to Be Wild" & The Police "Spirits in the Material World" but the sledding is tough right now on 6925. ID at 2301
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Weekend loggings: 1/15-1/17/16
I was planning to get some loggings up later on, but there's so much activity right now that I can't keep up with it all with just one receiver/recorder running. Yeah, I know, I need to get more decent antennas up so that I can record on a couple of different receivers at once.
KCPR: 6950U, 1/16, 0124
Pee Wee: 6925U, 1/16, 0117 Blues with Morse code IDs between songs
Amphetamine Radio: 6925U, 1/16, 1900 Old-time radio show with a very good signal
Radio Azteca: 6900, 1/16, 1930 Heard Bram Stoker talking. Pretty good signal, but I was heading up to start recording one of the next two. Off when I tuned back through after the 6967 unid signed off.
Unid: 6925.4, 1/16, 1930 Good signal with an old-time radio show. I'm thinking that maybe Amphetamine Radio changed modes, but I didn't hear any IDs, so that's just a guess. Off when I tuned back through after the 6967 unid signed off.
Unid: 6967, 1/16, 1929-1943* Excellent signal and audio with pop music, Talking Heads, etc. Brief dead air between songs, no IDs. Off with no IDs.
Old-Time Radio Unid: 6770, 1/16, 1947- Gunsmoke episode with Matt Dillon. Good signal. Post Toasties "The Heap Good Cornflake" ad. Some big band music, Have Gun, Will Travel
Cold Country Canada: 6969L, 1/16, 2120- Good signal. "Do the Hustle" into Led Zeppelin. Interesting combination. Not sure if this is being relayed just because someone felt like relaying it or if it's a new show on the air specifically for the anniversary of the date that WEAK was closed (2/15/11). Off or faded out after a WEAK repeating ID.
X-FM: 6875, 1/17, 0308+ Tuned in during IDs. Really nice signal
WEAK Radio: 6949.9U, 1/17, 0249-0305* WEAK singing ID, Minor Threat "Small Man, Big Mouth" Good signal that seems to be drifting down. Great to hear WEAK again!
Unid: 6925, 1/17, 1251+
Channel Z: 6925, 1/17, *1328+ Perfect signal with Moby Grape dedicated to John T. Arthur.
Radio Illuminati: 6150, 1/17, 2223+ A Duran Duran song in heavy fading. I need to go back over the recording. Nice levels and audio when the fades were up
Native Radio: 6950U, 1/18, 0106+ Good signal & clear ID. Heard the end of a guitar solo before the ID & I was thinking it was "Freebird," but I see that someone else logged it as "Highway Song" by Blackfoot. I guess it's been too long since I've heard that album (about 30 years)
Old-Time Radio unid: 6770, 1/18, 0320+ Excellent signal with the Fred Allen Show.
KCPR: 6950U, 1/16, 0124
Pee Wee: 6925U, 1/16, 0117 Blues with Morse code IDs between songs
Amphetamine Radio: 6925U, 1/16, 1900 Old-time radio show with a very good signal
Radio Azteca: 6900, 1/16, 1930 Heard Bram Stoker talking. Pretty good signal, but I was heading up to start recording one of the next two. Off when I tuned back through after the 6967 unid signed off.
Unid: 6925.4, 1/16, 1930 Good signal with an old-time radio show. I'm thinking that maybe Amphetamine Radio changed modes, but I didn't hear any IDs, so that's just a guess. Off when I tuned back through after the 6967 unid signed off.
Unid: 6967, 1/16, 1929-1943* Excellent signal and audio with pop music, Talking Heads, etc. Brief dead air between songs, no IDs. Off with no IDs.
Old-Time Radio Unid: 6770, 1/16, 1947- Gunsmoke episode with Matt Dillon. Good signal. Post Toasties "The Heap Good Cornflake" ad. Some big band music, Have Gun, Will Travel
Cold Country Canada: 6969L, 1/16, 2120- Good signal. "Do the Hustle" into Led Zeppelin. Interesting combination. Not sure if this is being relayed just because someone felt like relaying it or if it's a new show on the air specifically for the anniversary of the date that WEAK was closed (2/15/11). Off or faded out after a WEAK repeating ID.
X-FM: 6875, 1/17, 0308+ Tuned in during IDs. Really nice signal
WEAK Radio: 6949.9U, 1/17, 0249-0305* WEAK singing ID, Minor Threat "Small Man, Big Mouth" Good signal that seems to be drifting down. Great to hear WEAK again!
Unid: 6925, 1/17, 1251+
Channel Z: 6925, 1/17, *1328+ Perfect signal with Moby Grape dedicated to John T. Arthur.
Radio Illuminati: 6150, 1/17, 2223+ A Duran Duran song in heavy fading. I need to go back over the recording. Nice levels and audio when the fades were up
Native Radio: 6950U, 1/18, 0106+ Good signal & clear ID. Heard the end of a guitar solo before the ID & I was thinking it was "Freebird," but I see that someone else logged it as "Highway Song" by Blackfoot. I guess it's been too long since I've heard that album (about 30 years)
Old-Time Radio unid: 6770, 1/18, 0320+ Excellent signal with the Fred Allen Show.
Friday, January 1, 2016
Post-NY Weekend Logs 1/2/14-1/4/16
Nice to be hearing a little activity tonight, though I've mostly been away from the radio
X-FM: 6955, 1/2. 0221+ Much weaker than normal with fadeouts, the propagation just isn't cooperating. Some music & Rehat with shoutouts to Chris Lobdell, etc.
X-FM: 6955, 1/2. 0221+ Much weaker than normal with fadeouts, the propagation just isn't cooperating. Some music & Rehat with shoutouts to Chris Lobdell, etc.
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