Last week, I listened to and recorded the pirate radio station, Radio Paisano. Three days ago, I received this message along with a QSL card:
Radio Paisano is a novelty shortwave pirate station that celebrates Columbus Day, and features the music of Lou Monte and the comedy of Pat Cooper. This was the eighth year that we were on the air.
Attached is your e-QSL.
Grazie,
Luigi
Many thanks for the note and QSL card, Luigi!
I look forward to catching Radio Paisano next year.
Sometimes, the Voice of Greece plays very little Greek music; October 10th was one of those occasions. Nonetheless, I recorded that evening’s broadcast.
Using AM sync for sideband noise
In the first hour of the 10/10 VOG broadcast, you’ll hear a pulsating noise from an unknown origin (possibly a jammer?). The noise was centered about 20 kHz above VOG.
Fortunately, most of the noise was in the upper side band of the VOG signal, so I was able to mitigate it by using an AM sync lock on the lower side band. Without AM sync, this VOG broadcast––and its music mix––was almost inaudible.
If you have a synchronous detector on your receiver and tune in a station with interference, always try turning on sync lock and locking it on either the upper or lower sideband. If most of the noise resides in one of the sidebands, the lock can help tremendously. I often use this method while listening to AM pirate radio stations in noisy conditions.
A confession…
I have no idea what she’s talking about–it could be something absolutely mundane–but I love this radio host’s voice as she speaks and Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb begins. (Start listening around 26:00)
Click here to download more than two hours of the Voice of Greece, recorded on October 10, 2013, starting around 03:15 UTC on 9,420 kHz, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Most of the noise disappears around 00:21:
SWLing Post reader, Chris Smolinski of the HF Underground, has shared data he has collected from listener-submitted pirate radio logs prior to and following the US government shutdown. The results are intriguing.
Chris writes:
“I have some concrete data for you here:
http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,13187.0.htmlAs you can see by the graph, activity is almost double.”
Many thanks for collecting, analyzing, and sharing this data, Chris!
Readers, if you’re into shortwave pirate radio, the HF Underground is my favorite place to view live pirate radio logs. Check them out! You can create an account to submit your own pirate logs.
As frustrated as many are over the US government shutdown, it nonetheless offers one unique benefit to the shortwave radio community, and to pirate radio in particular––no FCC enforcement.
As we mentioned earlier, the FCC’s enforcement arm was shut down along with all other FCC activities that weren’t directly connected with “the protection of life or property.”
The result? Pirates––lots of pirates––on the air! The Jolly Roger flaps in the breeze…
Pirate radio activity since the shutdown has truly been at a record high, with pirates taking to the airwaves throughout the week, and especially on the weekends.
Case in point: this past weekend, the North American “pirate radio grounds” of 6,920-6,970 kHz were packed with pirate radio stations. There were even crowded band conditions; at one point I tweeted that there were no less than three pirates broadcasting simultaneously in just a small chunk of bandwidth on AM. Indeed, there may even have been a fourth that I couldn’t quite detect…An unusual occurrence, to say the least. And with pirate radio’s favorite holiday, Halloween (think War of the Worlds), fast approaching, there’s likely to be more such unusual activity.
In the meantime, check out a few of our recent pirate radio recordings.
For your listening pleasure: fifty minutes of the pirate radio station, Radio Paisano.
I recorded this broadcast on Oct 11, 2013, starting around 23:30 UTC, on 6,925 kHz AM. This was the first time I had heard Radio Paisano on the air, though they do seem to broadcast around the same weekend every year.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below:
I decoded this Wolverine Radio SSTV QSL with the SSTV iOS App–you can also decode this eQSL at the end of the recording
For your listening pleasure: 1 hour and 44 minutes of pirate radio station, Wolverine Radio–recorded Saturday, October 12, 2013 starting around 1:15 UTC.
Wolverine was broadcasting on 6.945 MHz in the upper side band. Typical of Wolverine, lots of music variety which spans the decades–staring in the 30s and 40s, ending with present day tunes–and no commentary other than station ID throughout.
Wolverine Radio typically has a blowtorch signal which makes for great audio fidelity, especially for an upper side band broadcast. This broadcast was no exception.
Click here to download the recording as an MP3 or simply listen via the embedded player below:
While recording Radio Casablanca Thursday night, I was also fortunate to capture Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic.
Gallifrey started the broadcast with their customary audio sweeps and Dr. Who theme, then straight into the Beatles, “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Brilliant!
[I know my buddy, BJ, will enjoy this combo.]
Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic was on the air for almost 27 minutes with a mix including the Beatles, Bowie, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and more.
Click here to download an MP3 recording of the full show, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy: