Memorial Weekend Logs 2014

Memorial Weekend Logs 2014

I've been behind with work and just starting to catch up, but I had a chance to check the radio (and will hopefully continue to do so throughout the weekend)

Old-Time Radio Unid: 6772, 5/24-25, 2310+ Fair signal with OTR shows. On HFU, Ed Insinger mentioned that he was hearing "Unshackled," but I evidently tuned in later because this show was comedy with a laugh track (or live audience laughter). At 0115, a comedy about a man trying to buy flowers, then an ad for a "stomach sweetener" and, I think, laxative. An orchestra playing "Accentuate the Positive." Sig up to S9+10, but noise is still pretty rough. Ah, heard the advertisers at the end of the show clearly: Sal Hepatica & Vitalis. Into new show with louder, clearer audio: Red Skelton. After the 6920 unid went off, I tuned back to 6772 and caught the end of what sounded like a WWII mystery with a professor. After a long pause, a number of big band songs (kinda EZL big band).

MAC: 6950, 5/24, 2311+ Excellent sig with Jimmy Stewart show & '40s music. Heard one of the singing M-A-C jingles

Unid: 6924.4, 5/25, 0014+ Just a carrier here. I'm assuming it's a pirate, but I don't know who

Renegade Radio: 6935U, 5/25, 0218+ A bit weaker than normal here and some Ute noise. Requesting reports & e-mails to add & HFU. Talking about listening to audio from the Winterfest & he plans to pull some of that up. Also, he hasn't heard back from WEAK Radio, so he said hi to him & said that he hopes he's OK

Unid: 6920U, 5/25, 0333-0343* Decided to check back on the radio & I found a big signal on 6920. The signal is strong and wide. I've opened it up to the 6-kHz bandwidth and it sounds great . . .so good that it reminds me of Wolverine's transmitter. Whatever station this is did a nice job buying, building, or modifying their transmitter. All instrumental ethereal music. Off at about 0343.

Pipeline Radio: 6925, 5/25-265, 2346+ Surfin' theme station. Lotsa Beach Boys & other surf music. Excellent S9+10 signal!

Old-Time Radio Unid: 6771.6, 5/25-26, 2345+ Went into the radio room and the R8 was still tuned to essentially the same frequency Big signal again, but noise is down a bit, making this much easier to listen to. EZL music here, just like last night after 0400. Still strong with EZL music, now light jazz and crooner music at 0142. Tuned back in at 0452 & this one is back to OTR. A dramatic presentation on this time

Voice of Honor: 6930U, 5/26, 0025+ Memorial Day theme station. Military music and IDs. Excellent signal with S9+20 peaks. Reports to voiceofhonor /at/ gmail dot com. "Don't Tread on Me" flag SSTV image at the end of the show

Voice of Honor

The Crystal Ship: 6876, 5/26, 0140+ Excellent S9+10 signal with '80s new wavish pop music

oops, forgot to mention this one on here. I've been hearing this since about 0000 or so:

Metro Radio International: 6974.2, 5/26, 0144+ carrier only, but op verified that it was him on HFU.

Wolverine Radio: 6950U, 5/26, 0145+ Huge signal peaking over S9+20 with The Shirelles "Mama Said"

Wolverine Radio

KCPR: 6925U, 5/26, 0424+ Very weak and tinny-sounding music on frequency. ID per logs from West Coast DXers on HFU. Adjusted the frequency a few Hz & it sounds a bit less tinny now. It still has a really far away sound. My 1st time to hear this one. Looking forward to hopefully logging one or more clear IDs. Heard presumably a CW ID for KCPR at 0433 . . . "presumably" because I don't copy code without a key in front of me (and even then, it's very slow). I think the music here is basically all country. Copied an SSTV image at the end of the show

KCPR

Old-Time Radio Unid: 6771.6, 5/26, 1230+ Checked this morning & back again at 1425 and the station is still on the air with older easy-listening music. Presumably, this has been on since yesterday around 2000 UTC (possibly earlier).

Pirate Radio Boston: 6924.6, 5/26, 1425-1439* ID per HFU. Just heard clear IDs + e-mail address and Belfast, NY maildrop. Signal is weak here, but still nice to hear Charlie again.

Halloween Logs, Part 2

Metro Radio International: 6950.2 kHz, 2204 UTC+ I got a heads up from DJ Formaldehyde that they are now on the air. Unfortunately for me, the signal is really weak at my location and I'm pretty much just getting the carrier (too weak for audio). Too bad; MRI is a fun station with an interesting selection of electronica, industrial, new wave, and punk music. Oh, and their QSLs (both eQSLs and hardcopies) are nice, too.

Satan Radio: 6925 kHz USB, 2217+ UTC Heavy metal music. I just tuned in & hit the recorder. (2220 UTC) Ugh, the operator decided to make it difficult and the entire first announcement is backwards. At least I'm recording it... (2223 UTC) Wonder if it's Satan Radio, which has been on the past few Halloweens? (2226 UTC) Very clear Satan Radio IDs. Nice to finally hear this one for the first time. Ouija board SSTV logo at sign off.

Pioneer Radio (Europe): 6747 kHz, 2240+ Carrier is present, but audio is too weak to make it here.

WAHR (Automated Halloween Radio): 6925 kHz USB, 2246 UTC+ In contrast to Satan Radio, WAHR appears on the same frequency a few minutes later with old novelty Halloween music. By old, I mean pre-rock'n'roll for at least the first couple of songs. Signal  is weak but clear here.

Unidentified: 6935 kHz USB, 2255+ Big signal with lots of spooky sounds, and ethereal and backwards music. I just checked the webreceiver in Bedford, UK, and it's audible there. So, any readers in the UK or Ireland should have a good chance of hearing this. Station is now transmitting data, but not SSTV. I'm sure someone out there will know how to decode it.

Witch City Radio: 6920 kHz, 2315+ Announcing witchcityradio /a/ gmail.com and also the Belfast, NY maildrop. Cackling witch sound effects, a Halloween story, Alice Cooper "Welcome to My Nightmare." Good signal, station goes back to the '90s.

Northwoods Radio: 6925 kHz USB, 2338+ Playing heavy metal "Victim of the Night" etc. Northwoods Radio sometimes operates in the morning hours with Native American music. This is a very different sound. Excellent signal here.

I left the radio for about a half an hour to eat supper and the recorder was still running. Evidently, Northwoods Radio signed off the air and now it's time for a log of:

Renegade Radio: 6925 kHz USB, 0018+ Early Black Sabbath into, into more heavy metal, including a few Iron Maiden songs ("Number of the Beast" etc.). Excellent signal & audio. Went through the long list of listeners on HFU with plenty of shoutouts to everyone, talk about the SWR of the antenna not being optimal, etc.

Wolverine Radio: 6945 kHz USB, 0106+ "Flesh and Blood" Really big signal here, I'm thinking it might be Wolverine Radio (0113 UTC) Yup, Wolverine ID and all Halloween music. Wolverine's signal is typically very strong and it is currently being heard in the Ukraine with a good signal. It's a great station for new pirate listeners to tune in. Two nice, clear SSTV images at the conclusion of the show.

OK, the dishwasher cycle seems to be over now & I'm on to more stations. Unfortunately, I've got more stations coming in than I can record, so a few of these are in passing for the time being, at least:

X-FM: 6870 kHz, 0220 UTC. Nice signal with requests Redhat playing requests from listeners. This is a great station for SDR listeners to tune in because X-FM is in C-Quam stereo, which can be decoded on some SDRs. Playing Halloween music, such as "Thriller"

Eccentric Shortwave: 6945 kHz USB, 0230 (approx.) Weak signal, ID per HF Underground. I recorded this & hope to pull some details out of the recording tomorrow. It's been about two years since I've heard Eccentric Shortwave, which often broadcasts very late at night, so it's nice to have heard him again.

Witch City Radio (tentative): 6920, 0243+ I think this is Witch City back again on the frequency, but I'm not sure. The signal is pretty weak. Ah, I think I'm hearing Alice Cooper "Welcome to My Nightmare," so it probably is them.

Liquid Radio (tentative): 6935 kHz, 0258+ This was tentatively logged on HF Underground as Liquid Radio and it does sound like them. House/dance music running for a long time and I haven't heard any IDs yet. The signal is starting to get stronger here...I've past it a few times on the dial so far this evening.

0315 UTC: It appears that the pirates-all-over-the-bands phenomenon has subsided and everyone has signed off for the time being, except for Liquid Radio, which is still churning away on 6935. They've moved away from their standard format momentarily to play Michael Jackson "Thriller." A few minutes ago, I also heard an SSTV signal on 6945 kHz, but it was too weak to copy. My big question of the night is whether the annual Yukon Jack Halloween show will appear on shortwave again this year.

Puzzle Radio (tentative): 6932CW, 0415 UTC. OK, this is my last log of the night, I believe. Puzzle Radio has been off and on here all night with IDs and Halloween words or phrases in Morse Code. Also, the transmitter is said to be drifty. My Morse Code decoding skills are negligible at best, but I'm hearing a drifty station in Morse Code right now on 6932 kHz (approx.). I can always try to decode some of this tomorrow, but I thought I'd give a heads up to anyone reading this tonight.

Finally, it's been a great Halloween evening of broadcasting and listening! Thanks to all of the stations that put programs on the air for the enjoyment of shortwave listeners. It was a lot of fun tonight!