Landbased pirate radio 1968-82

I came across this website after Mike Barraclough posted a link on Facebook and it might interest anyone who listened to the pirates on medium wave and shortwave in the 1970s.

It has been put together by the former operator of Skyport Radio and particularly focuses on stations which operated in the London area during that time.

Among stations featured are Radio Jackie, Radio Concord, Skyport Radio and Swinging Radio England (1974-77), but many more are mentioned.

In additions there's photos, stickers and posters, plus copies of articles from Time Out, Free Radio Magazine and Free Radio Focus from that time.

If you're interested in free radio from that period then it is certainly worth checking out this website at https://sites.google.com/view/gunfleet/home (UPDATE 6/11/20 see comments .... new site address https://skyportradio.com

On the subject of radio nostalgia, I'll mention my other blog, Pirate Memories, which has many audio clips from shortwave, medium wave and FM stations from the 1980s, plus QSLs.

Its address is https://piratememories.blogspot.co.uk

Tues Oct 24

6205 1625 Laser Hot Hits. Martin Scott show. Rick Astley "Never Gonna Give You Up," SINPO 44433.
6232 1633 Radio Dr Tim. Tribute programme to Jack of Radio Morning Star, who died last week, with clips of his programmes. SINPO 23332.
6240 1645 Radio Casanova. Status Quo Pictures of Matchstick Men," SINPO 55444.
6319 1603 Radio Goofy. European music, ID jingles. SINPO 34333.

(via Barney's web SDR) 

Mon Oct 23

6205 1600 Laser Hot Hits. Paloma Faith "Cry Baby," talking about stations on 48m, Real McCoy "Runaway," some SSB QRM. SINPO 43443.
6235 1645 Unid. Instrumental music, fadey signal. SINPO 34333.
6265 1615 Radio Black Bandit (tent). Rod Stewart "Hot Legs," ZZ Top "Give Me All Your Loving," no ID heard. SINPO 55544.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Jack of Radio Morning Star dies at 71

I have just come back from a few days away to read of the sad news of the death of Jack Donio, the operator of Radio Morning Star. He was an enthusiastic radio operator, who transmitted low power broadcasts on shortwave and medium wave. His first transmission was way back in 1958! He also broadcast his programmes online.

May you rest in peace, Jack.

Wed Oct 18

6205 1636 Laser Hot Hits. Cars "Drive," then Supertramp "Goodbye Stranger" and "It's Raining Again." SINPO 55444.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Tues Oct 17

6205 1612 Laser Hot Hits. Move from 6220.  De La Soul track, off mid-song. Back on few minutes later. SINPO 55544.
6220 1605 Laser Hot Hits. "King of Wishful Thinking," co-channel utility. SINPO 43433.
6295U 1555 Radio Panda. The Cure "A Forest," Styx "Babe," using 5W max. SINPO 24432.
6307 1545 Radio Goofy. European r&b, "coming from the heart of Europe" announcement. SINPO 34333.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Next Global HF Pirate Weekend: November 3-5

Andrew Yoder writes:

"It's still a couple weeks away, so be sure to mark the next Global HF Pirate Weekend on your calendar.

The idea behind the Global HF Weekends are to promote friendship through radio around the world. The hope is that listeners will be able to hear different stations and for broadcasters to reach distant locations. Anyone may participate. I've already heard from a few stations who plan to broadcast and I've been in contact with a number of listeners.

The last one, which occurred during the first weekend of April, resulted in some success with intercontinental broadcasting.

Four North American pirates all operated around 0600 UTC between 6920 and 6950 kHz and were heard in New Zealand.
A South American station ran 24/7 tests on 6930 kHz across Global HF Weekend and was reported in Germany, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and South America with only 10 watts.
One Dutch station was logged in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Maryland, and Virginia.
Other stations were active specifically for the weekend, but just for a local or regional audience.

We'll see how many stations show up during the next weekend. It seems unlikely that stations will be using 13 meters this time and much more likely that stations will be trying the 6900-kHz range and possibly 31 and 25 meters.

November 3-5, 2017
Maybe 15010-15090 kHz, probably 6200-6400 kHz and 6800-6990 kHz

Of course, these were general frequency ranges used by pirates during prior Global HF Pirate weekends. Some stations will surely operate on frequencies and times outside of these ranges. In fact, the way conditions have been lately, frequencies at or below 15 MHz seem like they will be more effective for intercontinental broadcasting.

These will be updated on the Hobby Broadcasting (http://hobbybroadcasting.blogspot.com) blog as it happens and also check the loggings on HF Underground (https://www.hfunderground.com)."

Mon Oct 16

6300 1710 Radio Black Bandit (pres). BZN, German music, country music, strong signal, no ID but typical of BB's playlist. SINPO 55444.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Sun Oct 15

1636 1654 Mike Radio. Motors "Airport," ID. SINPO 35443.
5820 0910 Radio Saturnus. Iggy Pop "Lust for Life," SINPO 34333.
6205 0855 Laser Hot Hits. Oldies, signal poor at moment. SINPO 23332. Update: by 1415 signal recovered, with T Rex "Telegram Sam." SINPO 44433.
6255 0830 Radio Casanova. Oldies, jingles, greetings. SINPO 34333.
6280.5 0923 Radio Lesbos. Greek music. SINPO 33333.
6289 0847 Unid. Dutch song then "Da Doo Ron Ron." SINPO 24332.
6325 1625 Radio 102. "Abracadabra," "Money Money Money," SINPO 24332.
6920 0837 Key Channel Radio. World music. SINPO 24332.
7300 0823 Radio Arcadia. Greetings, easy listening mx. SINPO 35333.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Shortwave free radio recordings

Radio Universe 
 
Radio Quadzilla

FRS Holland

Radio Oscar Zulu

EDXC Radio

Fri Oct 13

6205 1626 Laser Hot Hits. Odyssey "Going Back to My Roots," Instant Funk "I've Got My Mind Made Up," strong signal but within 15 minutes disappeared! SINPO 54444.

(via Barney's web SDR, England)

Key Channel Radio this weekend

Dear friends,
KCR will be on air from Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th October with beautiful music from all over the world and a special collaboration with Artem's World Music from Russia with a beautiful programme in Spanish on Cuba's music and an overview of the radios that you can hear on the island.

We look forward to numerous with your email reports and more.

Happy listening!
KCR

Thurs Oct 12

6235 1643 Radio Casanova. Jingles, "Country Roads," SINPO 33333.
6240 1659 Radio Goofy. European music, jingles, off 1701. SINPO 33333.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Wed Oct 11

5820 1623 Radio 319 (pres). Rebroadcast of Radio Caroline, splash from 5810. SINPO 33333.
6205 1605 Laser Hot Hits. Pet Shop Boys "How Can I Be Taken Seriously," SINPO 54444.
6240 1643 Radio Casanova. Rock music. SINPO 54444.
6289 1600 Unid. A mix of Dutch music and oldies, no IDs heard. SINPO 24332.
6300 1611 Radio Merlin Int. Bonnie Tyler "Holding Out for a Hero," utilty QRM. SINPO 33333. By 1621 signal had improved and utility gone. SINPO 44433.
6300 1923 Zender Vrije Nederland (tent). "Then He Kissed Me," "Hello Mary Lou," quick ID and off. SINPO 34333.
6307 1555 Radio Goofy. Pop music, jingle IDs. SINPO 44433.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Enterprise Radio eQSL

Great eQSL from Enterprise Radio, celebrating their third birthday! Who will get QSL nos 1000?

Sun Oct 8

5820 0933 Radio 319. Stranglers "No More Heroes," SINPO 34333.
5890 1359 Radio Batavia. Europe "Final Countdown," ID, chat. SINPO 35333.
6205 1007 Laser Hot Hits. Mike Andrews show. Max Headroom tune, then David Essex "I'm Going to Make You a Star." SINPO 44444.
6232 1740 Radio Dr Tim. Operatic music. SINPO 34333.
6235 0948 Radio Waves Int. ID, country music, SSB QRM. SINPO 33333.
6240 1800 Delta Radio. Heart "Barracuda," ID jingles. SINPO 54444.
6255 1412 Radio Panda. Instrumental music, closing down. SINPO 34333.
6265 0941 Unid. "House of the Rising Sun," "Vienna." no ID. SINPO 55544.
6265 1746 Bogusman. Talking to Tony Stevens, "Don't Trust the Stars," also mention Mr Armadillo, Eric Clapton "Forever Man," occasional utility bursts. SINPO 54444.
6285 0925 Radio Python. Alternative music. SINPO 55544.
6285 1354 Radio Witte Reus. Queen "Those Were the Days," SINPO 34333.
6285 1717 Radio Underground. Bad Manners "Can Can," then Kraftwerk, ID. SINPO 54444.
6307 1734 Radio Goofy. Music and jingles. SINPO 24332.
6320 1731 Radio Joey (tent). Dance music, splash from station on 6324. SINPO 43433.
6375 1726 Radio Merlin Int. Greetings, "Things Can Only Get Better," utility QRM. SINPO 43433.
6985 1812 QBC (pres). Oldies, occasional CW QRM. SINPO 23332.
7336 0954 Radio Mistero Ghost Planet. ID, "Horse With No Name," SINPO 24332.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Sat Oct 7

6205 1453 Laser Hot Hits. Ian Lawrence talking about moving, dance music. SINPO 44433.
6235 1508 Radio Waves Int. ID, country music. SINPO 33333.
6240 1513 Ronnie AM. Midnight Oil "Beds are Burning," SINPO 33333.
6260 1805 Delta Radio. "Keep on Rocking in the Free World," SINPO 44433.
6265 1544 Radio Mexico (tent). Dutch music. SINPO 44433, but with carrier on 6267 - SINPO 42432.
6285 1756 Triple L Radio (Black Bandit). "Venus," "I Feel Love." SINPO 55544.
6295 1605 Radio 102. David Bowie "Fashion," SINPO 24332.
6307 1555 Radio Goofy. European music, IDs. SINPO 34333.
6313U 1613 Baltic Sea Radio. ID, Finnish music. SINPO 34433.
6950 1519 Enterprise Radio. Celebrating third birthday. "Big in Japan," "Fade to Grey," greetings. SINPO 34333.
6985 1655 QBC (tent). Sounds like relay/rebroadcast of a London FM pirate, CW QRM. SINPO 23332.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Thurs Oct 5

6205 1926 Laser Hot Hits. Madonna "Bedtime Story," playing old clips of BBC Radio 1, signal beginning to fade. SINPO 34333.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Tues Oct 3

3905 1935 Radio Alice. Country rock. SINPO 44433.
6205 1925 Laser Hot Hits. Martin Scott show. Blow Monkeys "Doesn't Have to be Like This," SINPO 54444.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England)

Sun Oct 1

6205 1000 Laser Hot Hits. INXS "Never Tear Us Apart," Sade "Smooth Operator," SINPO 44444.
6230 0930 Radio Casanova. Stan Ridgway "Camouflage," SINPO 34333.
*6280 1547 Radio Merlin Int. Tremeloes "Silence is Golden," greetings. SINPO 34333.
6289 0952 Unid. Dutch & country music, couldn't catch ID. SINPO 24332.
*6292 1533 Radio Pioneer. U2 "Streets Have No Name," too close to Reflections Europe on 6295. SINPO 42432.
*6305 1602 Radio Merlin Int. Move from 6280. Moody Blues. SINPO 34333.
6401 0942 Radio Nova (tent). "I Need Somebody," "Ventura Highway," QRM from 6400 and utility on 6398. SINPO 32432.

(via Kiwi SDR, SW England/ *via Barneys web SDR)