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SHortwave pirate stations

The technical side of broadcasting. Think IBOC is a sham? Talk about it here! How about HDTV? Post DX reports here as well.
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SolarMax
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by SolarMax » Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:00 am

audiophile wrote:
Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:33 am
Too bad they didn't run left channel in LSB and right channel in USB.
IIRC I believe that scheme was tried out early on, decades ago, as a method for AM stereo. Fails miserably at first sign of selective fading and pretty much any MW and SW propagation effects.



CK-722
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by CK-722 » Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:32 am

All the AM Stereo Systems fail with skywaves at Night and groudwave adjacents in the Daytime. You can't put a receiver in wide mode with that happening. You pretty much needed 25 mV/m to make it work well.


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Wed Aug 07, 2019 3:46 pm

These stations operate mainly in 43 meters. 6500 to 7000 kHz. Main channel is 6925kHz, with secondary 6950. Ops use several frequencies in this band, and I've found pirates in practically every band up to 30 MHz. Extended AM band as well.


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Wed Aug 07, 2019 3:48 pm

There is one pirate who runs C-QuAM mode from time to time, one of the old pirate stations of the 80's, X-FM. I logged him in mono a few days back, and he was the best sounding thing on the dial. Very professional production and a great selection of lost songs.

Frankly, these pirates operate better than the majority of commercial radio stations.

I received my first Euro pirate QSL in 25 years last weekend!


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Mon Aug 12, 2019 10:53 am

Last night was incredible on 43 meter band. The entire weekend was, for that matter. I logged my first Euro pirate in years and there were a lot of stations on in general. Wolverine Radio was on with a full-scale signal on my DX400 sitting on the kitchen table while making dinner. I didn't even have to pull the whip all the way out.

Discovered a great deal of good music and got quite a few eQSL's already.

Always check out 43M (6850 -6999kHz) and 48 meters (6200kHz area) on weekends. Anywhere between 3 and 10 MHz is fair game, but 43 and 48 meters are where most activity is.

Wolverine Radio sends out a generic SSTV eQSL after their broadcast (as do most stations). They were playing all songs about cars and travel. This is the one they sent.

Image

I caught a couple more as well...


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Mon Aug 12, 2019 11:08 am

Here are a couple from last weekend I just received...

ION Radio -

Image

WREC Radio Free East Coast -

Image


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Turkeytop
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Turkeytop » Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:45 pm

Thanks for posting those. I'll have to try it some time soon. I always avoided pirates because they're illegal. But since they're providing a service that no one else wants to provide legally any more, I forget the ethics of it.


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Mon Aug 12, 2019 2:19 pm

Yeah, seriously. The majority of pirates in the US stay on the 43 and 48 Meter bands, and stay away from government and emergency frequencies. Most also are fairly clean in their operating and content. Some are rebels though and play unedited versions of songs... Euro pirates have a more wild streak it seems, and they operate anywhere there is an open freq. Some have actually gone legit, such as Radio Veronica. They took over an abandoned SW TX site and broadcast on MW. Laser Hot Hits and World Music Radio are a couple more who are legit now. I believe 99% of operators would go legit if there were an "Amateur Broadcasting service" in America. Some Euro countries now allow HF hobby broadcasting as well. They are great DX catches!

There are a few pirates who rebroadcast recordings of past pirates or relay other pirates, which are simply fascinating.

Frankly, the FCC is focused on shutting down FM band ops, they really don't seem to care about HF unless someone is really being stupid. Old Time Radio has been operating 24/7 on two SW freq literally for years, playing OTR programs. They have been heard all over the US and Europe at time. Winter propo is far better for lower HF though. Summer is better for freqs above 25 MHz.

I find a LOT more troubles on the bands from freebanding fishing boat captains and the aero bands on simplex between pilots! There are several marine and aero freqs around 43 meter band, and some have absolutely filthy mouths.

I cannot say I've been really impressed with some "legal" hams on HF. 14313 and the Patriot net on 80 meters in particular. They have pretty much erased any desire to get a ham ticket I had. I listened to the HF ham bands a lot when I was a kid, but there isn't much I care to hear there anymore. If I *did* ever get a ticket, I'd probably just go tech for VHF and 10 meters.

Other than the big power bunch on 11meters, most of what I've heard lately in there has actually been quite cordial compared to the old days.

Honestly, if I could afford the gear, I'd probably try my hand transmitting on HF, but we're struggling to just keep from starving nowdays. I've had offers to make programs or broadcast a stream though, which I just might do... That way I can get on the bands without having to invest in gear and antennas. It's certainly tempting...


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SolarMax
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by SolarMax » Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:38 pm

Ed Joseph wrote:
Mon Aug 12, 2019 2:19 pm
...Some have actually gone legit, such as Radio Veronica. They took over an abandoned SW TX site and broadcast on MW.
FYI - former WABX jock Dan Carlisle is now doing a weekly show on Veronica.
Last edited by SolarMax on Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.



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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Tue Aug 13, 2019 2:14 pm

Yes, Solarmax... There is an online radio right near their AM site which I'll listen to now and then, and I heard him on air a couple days. He sounds great and there is no mistaking his voice!


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Sat Aug 17, 2019 12:24 am

Here are a couple eQSL's I got from some recent testing broadcasts I picked up...
Radio Ga-Ga testing at 3 watts in AM with USB.... I picked it up from the midwest to near Flint, MI on a DX440 hooked to a 50' end-fed random wire.

Image

Ten watts thee day before in DSB/USB modes...

Image


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XMTRNUT
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by XMTRNUT » Wed Aug 21, 2019 4:30 pm

7.415 used to be one of my favorite pirate radio frequencies to DX years ago.



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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:34 pm

Oh, yes! 7415 was great in the 80's and 90's. Now, WBCQ is using it, thus most US stations run in the 43 or 48 meter bands now. This was in the old "Blue Ridge Summit" mail-drop days.


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Ed Joseph
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Re: SHortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:39 pm

The propagation is amazing tonight. Best I've seen in 25 years! 100 watt pirates coming in like locals on 6903USB and 6880USB.


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Ed Joseph
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Re: Shortwave pirate stations

Post by Ed Joseph » Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:24 pm

Of the many reception reports I've received from my show being broadcast via pirate shortwave, I recently received the very nice report below. THIS is how I have always done reports, I'm glad to see someone else still bothers to provide details like this, including an attached MP3 file recorded off the KiwiSDR they were listening to. I responded with a nice eQSL card.

I’m writing to let you know that I heard Radio Boogie International (via WREC?), 6925 kHz, at 1813 UTC on August 24, 2019.

I heard you on a KiwiSDR software-defined receiver, connected to a 670-foot Sky Loop Antenna, in Westminster, Maryland. I controlled the receiver from Austin, Texas using the Apple Safari browser on a 2018 Apple MacBook Air (13-inch Retina display, 1.6 GHz i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) over a 1 GB cable internet connection with an Askey 801.11ac wireless router.

At 1824 UTC, I rated your signal SINPO 45444 for the following reasons:
Signal Strength: The signal strength ranged from S5 to S7 on the SDR’s bar S-meter. I rated the signal very good = 4
Interference from other stations: There was no interference from other stations, so I rated the signal excellent = 5
Noise from the atmosphere and other sources: There was some atmospheric noise. I rated your signal very good = 4
Propagational effects of ionospheric fading and other issues. There was infrequent shallow fading; however it didn’t affect readability. I rated your signal very good = 4.
Overall quality of your signal: I rated the signal as very good = 4.

I’m attaching a short .mp3 audio file from about 1824 so you can hear your signal.

Here’s what I heard (times are approximate UTC because I timed them from an audio file; song titles were announced by DJ):
1813 – Tune in to “Just Between You and Me” by Lou Gramm
1814 – DJ with ID “I’m the Boogie Man. You’re listening to Radio Boogie International,” and into of next song
1815 – “No Such Thing” by John Mayer
----Away from computer----
1824 – Tune in to “Hypnotized” by Fleetwood Mac; DJ with ID “You’re listening to Radio Boogie International. I’m the Boogie Man”
1825 – “Flippin’ to the A Side” by Cats Can Fly
1828 – “She’s Kinda Hot” by 5 Seconds of Summer
1830 – Woman with Radio Boogie International ID and email address
1832 – Tune out

I’d especially enjoyed “She’s Kinda Hot.” One thing I noticed was the professional production value of your broadcast. It’s unusual to hear a free radio station that sounds like a commercial station. (I hope that’s the sound you were aiming for.). I really like the song intros since I’d heard none of them. Depending on signal strength, the reverb made the voice a bit difficult to understand. The weaker the signal, the harder the voice was to understand.
This was nice in that details about the broadcast, such as the reverb level, were included. It is one thing I was really critical of in the production. I will therefore bring the reverb level down in future broadcasts. It was very WABC-esque reverb level, but hotter in the "mid-field" aspect, which made it sound more "attached" to the voice rather than being under it.

I especially enjoyed producing the program, and as always, I hope to expose really good, obscure songs which you never heard on radio anymore, if ever. Listeners seem to have enjoyed it too.

This was another posting of my program from a couple days ago that was posted on Youtube... [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4rai2o ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]


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