I’ve started messing around with Navtex decoding again after giving up a couple of years ago. This time around I’m using YaND combined with the Perseus SDR and have been achieving nice results during overnight decoding sessions. Some of the more distant “regulars” are NMQ Cambria (California), NMC San Francisco (Point Reyes), NMW Astoria (Oregon), ZBM Bermuda & NMR San Juan. I received a DXer’s Christmas present on December 24th with the captures shown below of station NMO from Honolulu, HI. at a distance of 4,321 miles – a new distance record for me. Times shown below are UTC. 2012-12-24...
Many thanks to The Big Q for the kind shout-out and “audio QSL” during your broadcast last night on 1710 KHz. Happy Holidays 😀
After rambling on about 1710 in my last post, and complaining that I haven’t had a decent reception of “The Big Q” in a long time, the station made a strong showing early this morning fulfilling its usual early morning time slot. Captured on the overnight SDR recordings, here’s The Big Q on 1710 KHz at 0525 UTC., but only lasting about 5 minutes: Thanks to SDR recording technology, I captured this reception several hours later, but up on 1720 KHz. This is the first I’ve heard the station use 1720, free and clear of any interference from Radio Celestial...
As readers may already know, I tend to obsess a bit over hearing pirates on 1710 KHz. For me, it’s a nostalgic reminder of earlier days when pirates were occasionally heard just above the MW band before the X-Band existed. It’s been coined the phrase “pirate clear channel 1710” by another DXer. Indeed 1710 KHz was a fairly clear channel from my vantage point but 2012 has brought some new full-time residents to the channel, for better or worse, along with the absence of another. The Hudson County, New Jersey TIS station continues to be heard throughout the night in these parts while...
15 watts heard on 1710 Khz AM from Undercover Radio on Thanksgiving, 2011 earned this QSL from Doctor Benway. Thanks Doc!
An American classic, Radio Clandestine, recorded off my GE World Monitor (pictured) and random wire antenna, 7425 khz, September 5th, 1988 (video incorrectly labeled as August) I hope you enjoy this classic! [youtube=http://youtu.be/Lq4HWdccflI”>http://youtu.be/Lq4HWdccflI]
The activity level on 1710 from non-ethnic pirate radio stations seems to be gaining some momentum. Undercover Radio conducted several tests last November during Thanksgiving and into the beginning of 2012 focussing on 1710 and 1720 khz. According to Dr. Benway, these transmissions were a success based on the number of reports that came in. Monitoring of the various medium wave DX lists would seem to confirm this as well. One DXer heard Benway at a distance of 2,000 miles while using the 1720 khz frequency! During the months that Undercover Radio was utilizing the top of the MW band, an old standby...
More pirate history, preserved for future generations! Here goes: KBFA – 7415 Khz – March 10th, 1990 – 0002 UTC A rough reception, but also my last off-air recording of KBFA from 1990. Radio Free Willy – 7415 Khz – October 30th, 1988 – 0121 UTC 50 minutes of RFW with political humor and music with a nice signal. The Crooked Man – 7416 Khz – October 16th, 1988 – 1947 UTC Crazy rants by the Crooked Man himself in this clip with a good selection of music to balance the program out. The Voice of Free Long Island –...
A couple more additions to the 80s pirate archive have been added: Radio USA – 7475 Khz – October 30th, 1989 – 0003 UTC 12 minutes of classic Mr. Blue Sky punk music and skits in this off-air recording. The Voice of the Purple Pumpkin – 15038 Khz – October 29th, 1989 – 2143 UTC A familiar name in pirate radio history, the operator in this clip claims to be the original VOTPP during this special Halloween broadcast, about 17 minutes in length. Enjoy!
February 9th, 2011 saw nice conditions on the 49 & 41 meter shortwave broadcast bands, so I captured the moment. This recording covers 6000-7600 khz for a duration of about 5 minutes centered at 0300 TOH: Tromp_Michigan_0300_UTC_09FE11_41_Meter_SW_Band.rar
