Its all on, crank up the transmitters

If anybody hears any of the pirate radio stations we'd enjoy hearing a report on the programming being sent by them.

Of every pirate station I've heard about through Ragnar's "Pirate's Week" radio program, they tend to sound like high school beer parties with party music and profane screaming.

It seems odd never to hear about a pirate station operating in civil disobedience to bring essential world saving messages to mankind.

Mankind must be in better shape than I thought, or the would-be messengers do not think radio would be an effective tool.

I have heard a lot of pirate stations on

AM, FM, and shortwave in the last 40

years - but never anything in the 6925 kHz

range.  I have never listened there. 

I guess I'll check it out. 

I have heard stories.  Although some

pirate stations are said to have terrible

programming - I understand that some others

go to great lengths to sound "professional."

I guess a lot of them run SSB.  Actually,

there used to be a very good SWBC station

called "Radio For Peace International." This

was not a pirate, but some of it's programming

was heard via SSB.  Music sounded really funny

unless you tuned it in just right. 

I guess just about anybody can kludge a SSB ham

rig to transmit down there.  AM is another thing.

Anyone who is putting out a good AM signal - well -

that's more of a challenge. 

I think these guys around 6925 kHz and up would 

usually be taking a risk.  But I guess not with the

shutdown.  Well, I'll tune there and see what I 

hear.  

Bruce, DOGRADIO

Before pirate broadcasters rejoice too much at the FCC shutdown, it is worth remembering what may have happened to The Crow a few months back.

Although he was shut down by an FCC agent, it appears from online chatter on other websites that for a few months beforehand self-righteous bloggers were bragging about tracking an FM signal out of McKinney, Texas, and it is possibly they who alerted the FCC to follow up.

Some of those involved claimed to be amateur radio operators, but that doesn't overcome the recognized fact that self-righteous action is a disorder listed in the Psychological Association Handbook, producing such types as George Zimmerman, abortion doctor killers, and neighbors who phone authorities over petty suspicions.

For years I have been trying to interview a radio vigilante on my program, but they tend to be sneaks and operate behind the back. But the door remains open.

This would only work for a few

Part 15 stations, I was lucky -

it worked for me.  I just only told some

friends in town about my station.

(It was just an experiment anyway,

when it was running at it's best.)

So I had a a few listeners.    

There was a guy just a few hundred

feet away on my street who worked

for Clear Channel.  I told one of my

friends on the street to not tell this

guy about DOGRADIO.  (They were

next door neighbors.)  I was legal -

almost to a fault, but you never

know what a corporate dude might

do if he/she senses some competition.

(And our houses are all really close

together, so it was easy to have listeners.)

 Most Part 15ers would not

take this approach, in my case, I felt

it was a good idea.  

From the "whatever it's worth" department.

Bruce. DOGRADIO

Proceed with caution.  Pirates once again must hide in the shadows as the US Senate has agreed to a compromise allowing the Feds to open the doors for business.

The FCC website is back online so the wheels have started turning again.

Why not join the ranks of Legal, Low Power, License Free broadcasting or do they just like living on the edge.

Most shortwave pirates tend to operate at 6900Khz +- 50 Khz.  Some operate SSB (USB mostly), some operate AM. 

I don't equate these guys to pirates in the AM/FM bands.  They operate sporadically and don't tend to interfere with anything.  You can make an argument for the FCC and other regulatory bodies to control the airwaves for short range communication in their own backyards, but it's difficult (at least in my eyes) to make a compelling argument for the long distance shortwave bands - particularly when other countries may or may not follow the international rules.

Hi Artisan!  You seem like an "all around

radio dude."  I'm wondering if you have

ever heard any of these pirate signals

in the 6900 kHz range.  If so, I wonder

what you are using for receiving equipment.

I logged a few many years ago in the old

7425 kHz area.  I remember one on

exactly 7400 kHz that faded out as

the sun went down that evening.  (I guess

the propagation path changed.)  I also

remember a pirate called KQRP on 15.050 kHz,

that I heard one Saturday morning in the

1980s.  It was just below the huge BBC signal

that was on 15.070 back then.

Most of the pirates I heard were on 1610 and

1620 before the arrival of the "X band."

These mostly came from the Connecticut/New

Jersey/New York "tri-state" area.  

One pirate, "WJDI" (???) clained to be

running 10 kW on 1620.  I certainly had

no trouble hearing them.  Sometime later

I saw their QSL card in Popular Communications

(?) and a picture of their transmitter also.

(If I remember correctly.)  The transmitter was

huge.l  It really looked like it could do 10 kW!

Connecticut has always had pirates on FM,

but they are not interesting to me anymore

because they are probably just "plug and

play."  In 1974, for instance, an FM pirate

was a difficult technical undertaking, and

therefore was very interesting from that

point of view, if you happened to hear

anything through the grapevine.  (And

sometimes that did happen.)  We heard

about a guy that operated on FM in

the early 1970s.  His Id was always:

"WHVY, FM 90 on your FM dial."  That's

sort of like saying you work for the

"Department of reduntancy department."

(WHVY was for "Heavy... like... Heavy, man...)

Oddly enough, Springfield, MA, about 25 miles

away had a real station with that callsign -

although I think it was at a different time..

We saw a picture of the station and the

guy who ran it in the paper after he

was busted.  As the story went, he

started out a 10 watts abd just kept

adding RF amplifiers, I guess.  Seems

like he ended up with a 250 watt FM

transmitter in his bedroom.  The newspaper

picture showed a very sad looking guy sitting

on a neatly made bed next to a mike and

a beautiful Shure mixer. 

It was interesting from a technical point

of view. 

In the last few years, I have heard a

few pirates on 1710, weakly.  I think

one was in Boston, about 100 miles

from here.  There is also a 1700 around

this area somewhere.  The 1700 might be

Part 15, but they seem to cover too

much area for that.  They've been on

for a long time.  That's why - when

DOGRADIO was going - I went from

1700 down to 1690. 

In the 1980s, I had a friend who lived

in an apartment in some town somewhere.

The funny thing was that he slept at

night over a space where a pirate transmitter

was operating!!  I hink he was on the top

of a bunkbed and the pirate transmitter

was on the bottom.  It was something

like that.  He difinitely slept over a

pirate transmitter, I do know that much!

Back then, I had a ham callsign (still do)

a CB callsign (KBJK4953,) and a monitoring

callsign from one of the magazines.  (WPEiPOI,

Popular Electronics?)

Fun times. (Sorry for any

misprints - I have to go - no

time to fix 'em.)

Bruce, DOGRADIO

Since reading here that pirates happen in the 6900kHz region I have tuned the desk Sangeon there but never catch anything, with only an indoor antenna.

Same thing at 1710 kHz. Never hear anything but some fizzle.

Since hearing that 1640 kHz, Sussex, Wisconsin, has been off the air, (10kW day 1kW night) I just read at Radio Discussion's Wisconsin Forum that Disney Radio is selling WKSH, and that it is typical of them to turn off radio stations they intend selling, only turning them on for required test compliance.

Wonder if we should buy it by all pitching in our spare change.

It's the antenna that makes the receiver.  When I had my Comet 250 vertical up (a not so great transmitting antenna, great receiving), I heard many signals in the 6900Khz range.  Most operate at between 5-100 watts, so you're not going to hear them with a random wire thrown onto the ground.  Generally, I just used my amateur gear (that could receive outside the ham bands).  So, a Kenwood TS-50, or an ICOM 751, not terribly high end stuff, but certainly better than the average shortwave receiver.

There is a real need around here for outdoor antennas. But I don't want to put radios or transmitters outside, and to hook up an outdoor antenna to an inside device requires punching a hole in the wall, and I'm afraid.

But the time will have to come, because my 13.560mHz transmitter will be on an inside back wall feeding an outdoor end-fed antenna, so I need to take a punch.

Another punch will need to come from the basement to feed power and audio out to the radial-tower for the AMT5000, which will in-fact be an outdoor transmitter. Two punches.

The shortwave listening post at the desk needs a third punch for a clever outdoor antenna that can pick up from all directions.

Too bad an antenna can't be sent wirelessly through a wall and patched in without any punches.

US based pirate sw operators can still be heard as has been said in the area of 6925-6950 khz.  Following no set schedule, they often show up during the evening hours on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and sometimes holidays.  Broadcasts are usually usb, but am is sometimes used.  Some broadcasts are well done, others sound like the operator is drunk.  A lot of them seem to heard better in the northern part of the US, but not always.  Sometimes I'll catch one down here in the woods of NW Florida.  I listen on an Icom R-70 fed with an end fed 90 ft wire.

I also have an Icom R-70!  Almost 30 years

old.  Great radio!

Bruce, DOGRADIO