Many thanks to SWLing Post reader Chris Smolinski who shares a link to this listing of “seasonal” shortwave pirates–pirates that are usually only heard one or two days out of the year: http://www.radiohobbyist.org/
I love logging seasonal pirates–at least, when I remember to tune in! For example, Radio Paisano [see QSL above] only airs around Columbus Day.
Many thanks to Chris Smolinski, from the HF Underground, who has crunched some numbers from North American pirate radio loggings on Halloween. The number of pirates (and his charts with times and frequencies) are most impressive and informative.
Chris posted the following on the HF Underground and has kindly allowed me to share them here as well. Chris notes:
Here are two charts showing who-was-on-when-and-where this Halloween.
The first one is for Friday night:
Click to enlarge.
And the second is Halloween (Saturday) night:
Click to enlarge
Halloween is typically the most active day of the year for shortwave pirates…so, here are three things you’ll want to do this Halloween:
Happy Halloween to all!
SWLing Post and SRAA contributor, Jim Clary (ND9M/VQ9JC), recorded the following final broadcast of Radio Spaceshuttle International while on board a US Navy ship off the coast of Rota, Spain. Jim notes:
I was packing up to leave my ship and return to the USA this week when the latest SWLing Post e-mail showed up with info about SSR’s final broadcast literally seven minutes before he was to come on the air. I’d already broken down the receiving gear, but it came back together in record time, and I was able to get the recorder going with a minute before the transmission started.
Click here to download Jim’s recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Note that Jim’s recording starts a few minutes before the broadcast begins:
Jim, thanks so much for putting all of your receiver and recording kit back together to make this recording!
Monday, September 7, is Labor Day throughout most of North America; shortwave pirates love to operate on long holiday weekends (though you can hear them most any weekend for that matter).
So, if you’ve never heard a live pirate station on shortwave radio, this is a great opportunity to catch your first pirate!
Don’t know how/where to hear shortwave pirates? Check out this primer!
Feel free to comment with any Labor Day weekend loggings!
I’m very pleased to have just received a QSL card for the Radio Casablanca broadcast I heard last week.
If you missed the show, click here to listen to my off air recording. This recording was also uploaded to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive; if you subscribe to the archive as a podcast, you can automatically download all of the archive recordings as they are published. The archive is also available via TuneIn radio.
Many thanks, Rick Blaine, for the excellent QSL card!
Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bill Patalon, who writes:
FCC’s LeBlanc wants to really crack down on Pirates …. And the “C” goes after the SW buccaneers as well as those on the commercial BCBs …
http://www.radioworld.com/article/leblanc%E2%80%99s-goal-is-no-pirates/275622%20
While the FCC is busy sabre-rattling, they should also think about ways to diversify the broadcast airwaves legally. There is a significant entry barrier for any would-be broadcaster on the FM and AM bands.
In fact, a quick glance at the procedures to apply for a new AM or FM station licence on the FCC website is discouraging: as of today, they are not accepting applications for new stations. And the FCC wonders why there are so many pirates?
Thanks again for the link, Bill.