This past weekend, Radio Ronin Shortwave broadcast a tribute to guitarist Alvin Lee, who passed away on March 6th.
As always, Ronin's AM signal came in loud and clear on 6.925 MHz, starting around 00:15 UTC (March 11th, 2013).
Listen for yourself by downloading the audio as an MP3, or simply listening via the embedded player below. Of course, I included Ronin's (most excellent) interval signal in this recording:
This morning, around 11:15 UTC, I caught a pirate that I had never heard on air before: Boombox Radio. Though rather weak, over the course of their 31 minute broadcast on 6,925 kHz AM, the signal did increase significantly (possibly as propagation improved).
I was very surprised to hear a North American pirate on at this time of the morning.
Click here to download the full recording, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Boombox, great to hear you on the air!
For your listening pleasure: three hours of the pirate radio station X-FM.
This broadcast was recorded this morning, starting around 2:00 UTC, on 6,950 kHz AM. X-FM can even be received in C-Quam stereo--something I have yet to try.
This is a 10 year anniversary broadcast of X-FM and has an excellent mix of music (everything from Indie rock to trance) and Redhat's live commentary. Superb signal strength, too.
You can download the recording of X-FM by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player below (note that I included X-FM's full seven minute interval signal/leader):
Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer:Though X-FM is quite a professional pirate (is there such a thing?), this is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include colorful language. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly…back… away…
For your listening pleasure: two recordings of the pirate radio station, Radio GaGa. Both of these broadcasts were recorded on 6.925 MHz in the upper side band on February 23rd, 2013; the first one at 12:40 UTC, the second one at 04:10 UTC.
Download the broadcasts from this page, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
For your listening pleasure: 2 hours and 46 minutes of pirate radio station, Wolverine Radio--recorded Sunday, February 17, 2013 around 2:40 UTC.
Wolverine was broadcasting on 6.925 MHz in the upper side band. Typical of Wolverine, lots of music variety which spans the decades, and no commentary other than station ID throughout.
I decoded two of the SSTV images Wolverine transmitted; the Canadian flag (see right) and this one. You can easily decode these live, or via the recording below. Per Ragnar's suggestion, I now use MMSTV to decode SSTV images.
Click here to download the full recording of Wolverine Radio, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
For your listening pleasure: 32 minutes of pirate radio station, WMPR.
I recorded this broadcast of WMPR on 6.925MHz AM on February 17th, 2013 at 10:00 UTC. You'll note that this recording sounds a little "brighter" than a typical shortwave radio recording. This is due to the fact that I widened the AM filter to match the bandwidth of WMPR's signal (about 17 kHz!).
Click here to download the MP3 of the recording of WMPR, or simply listen below:
Wolverine Radio was the strongest of the pirate radio stations I heard last night.
Wolverine was broadcasting on 6.935 MHz in the upper side band. Very good signal and excellent fidelity for SSB. Typical of Wolverine, lots of music variety and no commentary other than station ID throughout.
Wolverine Radio–at least each time I’ve heard them–sends an SSTV image at the end of the broadcast. Last night was no exception, though I had a difficult time decoding, and no time to tinker.
UPDATE: Thanks, Ragnar of Pirates Week, for both of the Wolverine images.
Ragnar decoded both SSTV graphics using using MMSTV in Scottie1 mode.
Click here to download an MP3 of Wolverine Radio's broadcast, or stream via the embedded player below:
For your listening pleasure: 28 minutes of pirate radio fun, courtesy of Radio GaGa.
Recorded on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013–starting around 00:10 UTC–on 6.925 MHz (USB).
Click here to download the MP3 of the recording, or simply listen below: Standard Pirate Radio Disclaimer:This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast, and as such, may include strong or colorful language or lyrics. In general, if you are easily offended by the words, ideas, music lyrics, or music herein, you should slowly...back... away...
While Rave On Radio's upper side band signal was fairly weak, at least in my part of the world, on Friday night, I managed to record it just the same. The broadcast started around 23:15 UTC (February 1st) on 6,925 kHz.
I believe I recorded the entire broadcast; if not, I at least captured the majority of it. This is not "armchair" copy, of course, but it doesn't take seasoned ears to hear the IDs and music through the static, either. (Indeed, I rather appreciate this skill-dependent aspect of the listening hobby).
Click here to download an MP3 of the entire show, or simply listen in the embedded Archive.org player below:
Note:This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast. Though I don't think this broadcast applies, if you are easily offended by strong lyrics and offensive music, you should slowly back away.
Bust A Nut Radio's AM signal came in fairly strong last night sometime around 5:45 UTC (February 2nd) on 6,940 kHz.
You'll hear a great variety of music--from classic rock to electronica--complete with originally produced ID's and bumpers in this pirate radio recording.
Click here to download an MP3 of the entire show, or simply listen in the embedded Archive.org player below:
Note:This is a recording of a real pirate radio broadcast. If you are easily offended by strong lyrics and offensive music, you should slowly back away.
Last Saturday night, I caught the shortwave radio pirate, Red Mercury Labs, on 6.9251 MHz in the upper side band. This broadcast, which started around 1:57 UTC, contains a great mix of rock music with some commentary throughout.
You can download the full recording as an MP3 file by clicking here, or listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy:
I was travelling Saturday night, but had the foresight to set my WinRadio Excalibur to record the pirate spectrum. There were few pirates on the band--less than I would have expected to hear on a holiday weekend in the US--and some of them were plagued by a local broadcaster whose spurious emissions wiped out the whole band at times.
I did catch a couple of interesting unidentified broadcasts, most likely transmitter tests as both were very short. The first broadcast came on around 3:10 UTC (Jan 20) and consisted of two songs, ending with the Tardis sound effect from Dr. Who. Click here to download the MP3 file, or listen in the player below:
The second broadcast came on just after 7:00 UTC and consisted of only one song--no IDs at all. I would suspect this was the same pirate; however, the first broadcast had a tinny sound that this broadcast lacked. Indeed, their USB signal was quite amazing (wish s/he would have broadcast a full show). Click here to download the recording, or listen via the player below:
Please comment if you think you can ID these broadcasts.
Friday night (late) I caught Renegade Radio on 6.93 MHz in the upper side band. Renegade's signal was consistently clear for unusually noisy conditions, though the station was occasionally plagued with transmitter problems. I did not edit these out in the recording because dead air never exceeded a few minutes. So, if you hear dead air, simply fast-foward a minute or two. Total broadcast exceeds one hour and, near the end, Renegade informs us that his transmitter was getting hot. I'll bet: I don't know Renegade's set-up, but many pirates use modified ham radio transceivers that were never intended for those 100% duty cycles, often at full power. Keeps a pirate warm on a winter night, though!
Feel free to listen to the recording of Renegade Radio in the embedded player below, or right click and save this link to download the MP3 directly:
Being a fan of Morse code (or CW), I have a special affinity for pirates that use "the sacred language" in their broadcasts.
Last night, around 00:30 UTC (only a few minutes after WKND began broadcasting) I heard Morse Code on 6.935 MHz USB.
If you, too, love Morse code, you'll love "Dit Dah Radio;" after their preamble in Morse code, they follow with The Capris' 1960's hit, Morse Code of Love.
You can download the full recording as an MP3 file by clicking here, or listen via the embedded player below:
The holidays are a great time to listen for pirates on the shortwave spectrum. Since many pirates are on holiday leave from their day jobs, they have a little more time to broadcast.
Last night, the first pirate I heard was WKND on 9,625 kHz AM.
His station was quite clear, but modulation, perhaps, a tad low. Other noises, including Spanish SSB, can be heard in the background.
Click here to download the full MP3 recording of WKND, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
Last weekend, I also managed to record the shortwave radio pirate known as Liquid Radio--perhaps best known for their activity on the FM spectrum and on the web. Liquid Radio's format couldn't be more different than our last pirate recording from Radio Casablanca; Liquid Radio plays a trance/techno/dance mix. Their last broadcast was nearly three hours long, and you'll hear how fickle the propagation was as the signal waxes and wanes. I started recording their AM signal on 6.94 MHz around 4:00 UTC on Dec 16th.
You can click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen in the embedded player below:
On Sunday, December 17th, around 22:00 UTC, I happened to pick up the last thirty minutes of Radio Casablanca; a pirate that plays a nostalgic mix of music from the 1930's and 1940's. They were broadcasting on 6939 kHz in AM. Close your eyes, and you can imagine what it must have sounded like back in the day Phyllis Jeanne Creore Westerman graced the shortwaves.
You'll hear me tweaking the receiver in the first three minutes while, in the background, I was entertaining my children. I though about cutting it out but, on second thought, simply uploaded it as-is. I switched from a very wide AM bandwidth to AM sync and then AM sync with only the lower sideband (to kill some noise in the upper side band) after adjusting the center slightly below 6940 kHz.
I love how the recording starts on a tone and then morphs into Close as Pages in a Book by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra.
You can download the MP3 by clicking here, or simply listen in the embedded player below:
Wolverine Radio's upper side band signal came in loud and clear last Sunday (December 9, 2012) sometime around 2:25 UTC on 6940 kHz. Another great mix of music, complete with their interval signal. It seems that their broadcast ended abruptly--no eQSL to decode at the end. Still, signal strength was quite good, as I've come to expect from this HF pirate.
Click here to download an MP3 of the entire show, or simply listen in the embedded Archive.org player below:
A few weeks ago, I found a pirate I had never heard before: Grizzly Bear Radio. They quickly nullified my claim that Radio Appalachia was the only pirate I knew of that broadcasts bluegrass music. According to Grizzly Bear, they transmit from the northwest US, so the fact that I hear them at all speaks of good propagation and Grizzly Bear's antennas. At any rate, I did manage to capture almost their entire broadcast--nearly 5 hours!--on October 6th. Unlike many of my recordings, this one is faint at times and you'll have to listen through the static. Still, this is what I enjoy about pirate radio, hearing some unique audio through the static. As grandpa used to say, this "builds listening skills."
You can download an mp3 of the full recording, or simply listen in the player embedded below. Enjoy:
Radio Ronin Shortwave's AM signal came in loud and clear again last Friday night on 6925 kHz. Another great set of music--all pirate radio themed. You'll even hear KYAR Pirate Radio from Pirates R Us.
This time, Ronin starts out with a Stones interval signal. You can download the MP3 or simply listen below:
Again, listener discretion is advised! This is pirate radio after all.
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