Alvin Lee (19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
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!
“Turn up the radio Jim, I think I hear Stereophonics!”
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:
Wolverine Radio eQSL–one of two SSTV images decoded near the end of the broadcast
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:
“Mama, they’re playing your favorite dance music!”
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:
“It’s time for some Wolverine Radio!”
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: