Category Archives: Pirate Radio

Echo Charlie (EC) Pirate Radio

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, “The Captain,” who recently sent a message regarding “EC Pirates”–an aspect of the pirate radio/free-bander scene I’ve never covered here on the Post. I asked him to explain a bit more about EC Pirates:

“Echo Charlie [Pirates] are a bit like amateur radio operators in that they don’t play music, they talk all around the world mostly around the 45 metre band using the calling frequency 6,670 kHz, but they do have other band plans too, usually just under the amateur radio band plans. They are pirates as they are not licensed for those bands: freebanders if you like.

Here is the band plan they follow:

86/85m 3430-3500 kHz
calling 3470 LSB

45m 6530-6700 kHz
calling 6670 LSB

29m 10400 kHz USB

21m 13900-14000 kHz
calling 13970 USB

21m South America
Calling 13555 kHz USB

16m 18010-18050 kHz
calling 18030 USB

14m 20900-20980 kHz
calling 20930 USB

EC started many years ago after World War II [when surplus] military equipment was up for sale. Guys bought the units up and used them on AM mode but slowly switched over to SSB over time. No one is really sure why its called Echo Charlie but they think its because this old equipment had EC on the casing or something like that. I’m still reading up on the history of it all.”

“The Captain” has also created an online forum for EC Pirates and various radio topics. It requires (free) registration to post and read: http://ecpradioforum.forumotion.com/

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Halloween = Pirate Radio

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Halloween is typically the most active day of the year for shortwave pirates…so, here are two things you’ll want to do this Halloween (tonight):

1.

Check out Andrew Yoder’s pirate radio blog with its deceptively simple title, the Hobby Broadcasting blog.

Andrew is the author of the Pirate Radio Annual and a guru on shortwave pirate radio. His blog is still relatively new, but he has already posted several station loggings and QSLs. He’s even logged some Halloween stations, as Halloween began last night in Universal Time.

2.

Like Andrew, listen for pirate radio stations today and throughout the weekend! Turn on your radio anytime today, but especially around twilight and tune between 6,920 – 6,980 kHz. Pirates broadcast on both AM and SSB; you’re bound to hear a few. If you’re brand new to pirate radio listening, you might read my pirate radio primer by clicking here. I will be listening until late in the evening–of course, I’ll also be listening to the Global 24 sign on.

Happy Halloween to all!

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Brooklyn pirates “hijacking” the airwaves

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Thanks to many of you who sent me a link to this article in the New York Post. Here’s an excerpt:

Brooklyn radio fans are fighting a pirate invasion — demanding a crackdown on illicit Caribbean, Hebrew and shock-jock stations hijacking the airwaves.

Dozens of unlicensed shows operate in New York City on an average evening and the state is home to 25 percent of the nation’s pirate transmissions, according to the FCC.

But many radio amateurs aren’t forced to walk the plank. Instead, they find new hideaways for their equipment as FCC budget cuts decrease enforcement.

There were 46 FCC field actions in New York City in 2013, compared to just 20 through July 31 of this year, government data show.

Ike, a Sunset Park resident, launched Brooklyn Pirate Watch, a Twitter feed — @BkPirateWatch — to track rogue radio transmissions.

“I’m fascinated by the pirates,” he said. “Especially .?.?. their ability to get support from advertisers who .?.?. don’t care that they’re advertising on illegal stations.”

“Brooklyn Pirate Watch” has clocked one pirate at 94.3 FM, where a host shouted for female listeners to tune in while wearing lingerie. There’s also Radyo Independans, a

Haitian Creole station squatting on 90.9 FM, according to Jersey City indie station WFMU — which claims its legal broadcasts at 91.1 FM are often interrupted by its illicit rival.

[…] Pirates are going strong because the radio tools are cheap and their audiences are often “way less wired,” WFMU general manager Ken Freedman said.

Continue reading at the NY Post website…

I love that last quote by WFMU general manager, Ken Freedman. If listeners in Brooklyn, New York are “way less wired” imagine how shortwave listeners are in, say, South Sudan?

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BBC Radio 4 Extra: The First Pirate

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The First Pirate is the title of a Radio 4 Extra–an interview with Les Woodland who tells the story of Captain Plugge, founder of Radio Normandy, the first station to take on the BBC.

(Source: Southgate ARC)

Capt Leonard Plugge was the driving force behind Radio Normandy in the early 1930s. He created the International Broadcasting Company in 1931 as a commercial rival to the British Broadcasting Corporation by buying airtime from radio stations such as Normandy, Toulouse, Ljubljana, Juan les Pins, Paris, Poste Parisien, Athlone, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. IBC worked indirectly with Radio Luxembourg until 1936. World War II silenced most of Plugge’s stations between 1939 and 1945.

Click here to listen to The First Pirate which will be broadcast on Thursday, August 21st 2014 at 05:30, 12:30, and 19:30 UTC and Friday August 22 at 1:30 UTC.

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Pirate Radio Recordings: Generation Wild 100

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For your listening pleasure: one hour, eleven minutes of the pirate radio station, Generation Wild 100.

Generation Wild 100 started broadcasting around 2:00 UTC this morning on 6,925 kHz in the upper sideband. As you’ll hear in the recording, their signal here in eastern North America was very strong, even drowning out most of the ever-present summer static crashes.

I had never heard Generation Wild 100 before; this was a new pirate logging for me. After hearing their intro, I expected they’d play trance, techno, or punk rock…Not so. GW100 played a mix of, um, lounge music. I chuckled to hear their high-energy bumpers segue into smooth jazz.

Proves yet again that with pirates, you’ll never know what to expect. I love it!

Click here to download the full recording of Generation Wild 100, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

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Pirate Radio Recordings: The Crystal Ship

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For your listening pleasure: one hour, forty two minutes of the pirate radio station, The Crystal Ship.

Last night, TCS broadcast on 6,876 kHz (via the TCS Shortwave Relay Network) starting around 2:05 UTC on July 4th, 2014.

TCS played a wide variety of patriotic songs honoring Independence Day.

TCS’ AM signal was strong enough that it could still be easily heard over the higher-than-normal noise level. Hurricane Arthur–which was approaching the coasts of North and South Carolina at time of recording–generated static crashes and noise in excess of S4 on my receiver’s meter. Fortunately, the WinRadio Excalibur’s sync detector helped mitigate some of that noise.

Click here to download the full recording of The Crystal Ship, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

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Radio World: Dr. Benway’s Good Deed

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Many thanks to Ulis for sharing this article from Radio World about pirate radio broadcaster, Dr. Benway (of Undercover Radio), and his quest to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project Inc.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

“Recently Dr. Benway began offering T-shirts, featuring his station logo, for sale on the fundraising website booster.com. While the shirts promote the station, the proceeds, Benway says, will go to the Wounded Warrior Project to help veterans who have been injured in combat overseas.

This type of fundraising is unusual for a pirate radio operator, but there is nothing illegal about selling shirts and booster.com handles all the orders and shipping, making the entire process anonymous.

“I selected the Wounded Warrior Project Inc. because I have been involved in other efforts with them over the years,” he said. “It just seemed like a natural fit. Pirate operators fight for free speech, and our warriors fight for the freedom of our country.”

The Wounded Warrior Project serves warriors and their families through a holistic approach, nurturing the mind and body of injured soldiers. According to the WWP website, it hopes to “foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded service members in our nation’s history.”

Read the full interview on Radio World’s website…

Click here if you would like to buy an Undercover Radio t-shirt through Booster.com.

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