Tag Archives: Pirate Radio

Pirate Radio Recordings: Shrimp Boat Radio, WSBR (a.k.a. Freakin’ Awesome Radio, WFAR)

(Original source: Wikimedia Commons)

“No shrimp? No problem!” Pirates on board! (Original source: Wikimedia Commons)

“We’re shrimpin,’ but they’re not bitin’!”

Last night, a very unique pirate radio station emerged from the static on 6,925 kHz USB: Shrimp Boat Radio. It seems a shrimp boat radio pirate found himself bored on board, due to a lack of shrimp–but his boredom became our gain with an offer to talk shrimpin,’ fishin,’ or just take music requests…live.

This is the stuff great pirate radio is made of.  He started with a request for the Rolling Stones; next Black Cat Radio‘s Greaser Bob chimed in with a request for GNR.  And there began an evening of pirate radio with live on-air requests.

You can tell that this was a completely impromptu production–and it was all the better for it.  Not too long into the show, he took on the alternate name Freakin’ Awesome Radio (WFAR).

Hearing a live pirate radio request show was a first for me, and the sort of thing that gets this “content DXer” enthused. I’m glad I had the tape rolling!  I hope he reappears on the band in the future.

Note that I start the recording at the very first announcement from WSBR. If you want to skip to the first music request, fast-forward to about 11 minutes into the recording (you’ll miss some great banter, though). There are a few long breaks of static in the recording where this pirate scrambled to find and play music requests, but this just adds to the authenticity.

Click here to download the full recording of Shrimp Boat Radio, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Enjoy!

Pirate Radio Recordings: Hardtack Radio

This Hard Tack Radio SSTV image can be decoded at the end of the broadcast.

This Hardtack Radio SSTV image can be decoded at the end of the broadcast.

For your listening pleasure: a 24 minute recording of the pirate radio station, Hardtack Radio.

Hard Tack Radio plays US Civil War era songs “celebrating the Blue and the Gray.”

I caught Hardtack’s broadcast Friday night (April 12) around 23:10 UTC. Their upper side band signal was pretty strong and well above the active noise floor, though there was a heterodyne/data noise located right around 6926.8 kHz. You won’t hear this noise in the recording below, because I effectively used the WinRadio Excalibur’s notch filter to eliminate it. At the very end of the recording, I turn off the notch and you’ll hear the noise a few seconds before the broadcast ends.

Click here to download the full recording of Hardtack Radio, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

Pirate Radio Recordings: Radio Ronin Shortwave

Ronin's mix starts with the Sex Pistols (Photo: 45cat.com)|

Ronin’s mix starts with the Sex Pistols (Photo: 45cat.com)|

If you can’t tell from the number of recordings I posted today, last night was a busy night for pirate radio.

I heard no less than five pirates: AATW Radio, Red Mercury Labs Radio, Rave On Radio, Black Cat Radio and Radio Ronin Shortwave.

Though many had great signals, the strongest was Radio Ronin Shortwave on 6.925 MHz (AM). Ronin’s broadcast started around  22:15 UTC (March 22, 2013) and lasted for more than an hour. Near the end, you will hear some interference from maritime mobile stations in the upper side band of 6.925–that just ads character in my book.

Click here to download the full recording by clicking here, or simply listen via the embedded player 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…

Pirate Radio Recordings: All Along The Watchtower Radio

(Click to enlarge)

One short pirate broadcast I caught last night was All Along The Watchtower Radio.

AATW Radio’s USB signal on 6.955 MHz started around 00:24 UTC (23 March 2013).

The (robo voice) host, Alex Jobs, played a great mix of music starting with a version of Video Killed the Radio Star by The Presidents of the United States of America. It actually sounded pretty good in upper side band!

Hear for yourself! Click here to download the MP3 recording of the full broadcast, or simply listen via the embedded player below:

"Mom, could that be The Presidents of The United States of America? How patriotic!"

“Mom, could that be The Presidents of The United States of America? How patriotic!”

Pirate Radio Recordings: Black Cat Radio

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

Last night, I heard a new pirate on the air: Black Cat Radio.

Black Cat signed on 6,925 kHz USB around 23:45 UTC. After sending in a reception report, I received a reply with a cool eQSL card (see right) and learned that this was, in fact, show number one.

Here’s the show #1 play list, courtesy of Greaser Bob:

  • The Genders- Horatio
  • Blitz- 45 Revolutions
  • Queens of The Stone Age- Go With the Flow
  • Nirvana- Anueurysm
  • Black Flag- Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie
  • Betty Blowtorch- Strung Out
  • The Misfits- Angel F**k
  • Suicidal Tendencies- You Got I Want
  • MC5- Kick Out the Jams
  • Corrosion of Conformity- Who’s got the Fire
  • Phil X and the Drills- You’re not Happy till Im not Happy
  • The Vandals- Urban Struggle
  • The Bloodhound Gang- Pennsylvania
  • Betty Blowtorch- Rock and Roll 69

Click here to download the full recording of Black Cat Radio Show #1 as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player 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…

Check out Ragnar’s Pirates Week podcast

PiratesWeekIf you like pirate radio, you should subscribe to the Pirates Week podcast.

Pirates Week is hosted by Ragnar Daneskjold and is chock-full of pirate radio news, events and off-air recordings.

I subscribe to the podcast via iTunes by using the Pirates Week RSS feed url: http://piratesweek.info/feed

You can also listen to each episode and read show notes on the Pirates Week website.

Pirate Radio Recordings: The Crystal Ship

(Source: Sealord on the HF Underground)

(Source: Sealord on the HF Underground)

Looking through some of my archived recordings from the past month, I found this broadcast from The Crystal Ship, on the TCS Relay Network.

Conditions were a little tough at the time and you’ll hear some some SSB interference near the end, but the mix is worth it. I started this recording around 1:15 UTC on February 26th, 2013, on 6.9255 MHz, capturing the last third of the show (based on HF Underground logs).

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player 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…