Saturday, February 16, 2013

Non-stop action

Greetings from England where spring is in the air with higher temperatures than we have been used to recently - and where I have some time off work and have been busy listening to lots of MW pirate activity. Propagation conditions have been excellent, with signals arriving before 1600 UTC for the last few days and some very strong and stable reception, even from pirates using relatively low power. On Friday afternoon, for example, Sterrekijker was blasting in - he sounded like a local station. The signal dipped down at around 1700 but came right back up again later in the evening, hitting a sinpo of 55544.


As usual, the Lowe HF225 was doing much of the hard work, together with the outdoor loop and MW coil antennas. Here are the stations heard . . . 


Friday, February 15, 2012

1620       1558       Sterrekijker 45444 (55544 at 2108) music programme
1625       1602       Batavier 33433 music programme
1645       1602       Rocking Billy 44444 asking for report
1637       1607       Baanbreker 45444 report for Rocking Billy
1627       1651       Vuurvogel qsoing            
1650       1657       Digitaal 35443 (45444 at 1722)
1611       1706       Zwarte Non 33433-44444 music programme
1640       1715       Vuurvogel 25422-35433 qsoing
1660       1720       Veldwachter 35443 qsoing
1665       1724       Meteoor 35443 qsoing
1642       1724       Blauwe Boer 25322 qsoing
1647       1724       Armada 45444 qsoing
1615       1804       Zwarte Arabier 44444-54544 music programme
1660       1816       Nora 25322 qsoing
1638       1831       Calipso 55544 music programme
1646       2003       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55534-55555 music programme
1630       2017       Torpedojager 43544 qsoing
1632       2019       Carona 33543 qsoing
1629       2020       Quintus 44534-55544 music programme
1655       2100       Melkbus 23432-33533 music programme
1638       2105       Wadloper 44544 testing
1618       2112       Carolina very weak signal qsoing
1620       2135       Torpedojager 34433-44444 music programme
1665       2151       Polkaman 24332-35333 music programme
1630       0017       Electron 42543-54544 music programme
1653       0036       Jeneverstoker 33433 qsoing
1685       0106       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 54444 qsoing with Jaguar from Serbia



Thursday, February 14, 2013
1625       1648       Batavier 35553-45554 music programme
1611       1648       Zwarte Non 34433 music programme
1640       1650       Zwarte Boekanier 35433-45444 qsoing
1636       1659       Vriendschap 35333 qsoing
1620       1702       Weg Piraat 35433 asking for report
1648       1715       Luxemburg 34443 asking for report
1645       1718       Vriendschap 35333-45444 qsoing
1650       1731       Zwarte Boekanier 35433-45444 qsoing
1630       1733       Lancia 33343 qsoing
1615       1739       Johnny Camaro 23432 music programme
1630       1745       Zwarte Boekanier 34433 qsoing
1645       1824       Zwarte Boekanier 44444 qsoing
1640       1830       Pecon 45544 qsoing
1629       1835       DB 43433 qsoing
1637       1838       Baanbreker 33433 qsoing
1650       1914       Lotus 45434-55544 qsoing
1655       1914       Caldera 24322 qsoing
1654       1919       Monza 34433 qsoing
1655       2202       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55544 music programme
1638       2202       Calipso 55544 music programme
1620       2203       Meteoor 44544 qsoing
1648       2237       Moby Dick 43544-44544 testing
1653       2339       Jenverstoker 33433 report for Mijnwerker
1643       0004       Marskramer (Friesland) 34333-44444 qsoing
1636       0010       Pandora 55444 qsoing
1665       0015       Polkaman 24322 music programme
1643       2339       Jenverstoker 33433 qsoing
1640       0038       Jenverstoker 35433 qsoing

Wednesday, February 13, 2012
1700       2110       Korenklopper 45444 music programme
1645       2115       Wadloper 34533 music programme
1654       2117       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 qsoing
1655       2120       Caldera 24332 qsoing
1663       2123       Nachtzwerver 34443 qsoing
1657       2136       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 54444 qsoing
1676       2219       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 44544 qsoing
1633       2227       Barcelona 54444-55544 qsoing
1655       2233       Jeneverstoker 33433-35443 qsoing
1611       2233       Twentana 34433 music programme
1689       2234       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 54544 qsoing with Balkan stations
1655       2237       Electron 54444 qsoing
1647       2251       Monte Carlo 34433 qsoing
1655       2322       Bank Directeur (Black Bandit) 55444 qsoing
1670       2329       Korenklopper 55444 qsoing        
1643       2343       Monte Carlo 54444 qsoing


Observations

  • It has been great to hear so many stations over recent days. On Friday,  the action was non-stop with plenty of stations on air with music programmes and a selection of qsos. Sterrekijker was on air for some hours, as was Quintus, who was rocking 1629 and was heard right across Europe. He could hardly hide his delight as he received reception reports via the internet pirate chatroom and through his email. Great listening!
  • For me, one of the big attractions of listening to pirate stations is that you never know what is coming next, especially when it comes to Dutch pirates. As there are so many of these broadcasters in the Netherlands, the possibilities are endless and any one of them could appear on my radio at any time. For example, it had been a long time since I heard Veldwachter. In fact, if I look at my logs, it was November 29, 2011,  when his sinpo here in England was 24432. On Friday I heard him again, this time with a far stronger signal. He was qsoing with various stations, including Nora, who I was hearing for the first time. Blauwe Boer was also involved in the qso, together with Vuurvogel - another one who I heard for the first time. All of these stations were using 100 watts or less. While it's good fun to listen to the powerhouse stations in superb quality, I particularly enjoy rooting out the low-power operators. To hear them is often a challenge and it can make their day to realise that their signals are travelling across the North Sea
  • The Vrolijke Mijnwerker is known for his booming signal, and Friday was no exception. He was incredibly strong here in England and with particularly powerful modulation. And after he closed down from his long music programme he had a qso with Jaguar from Serbia. He was clearly very pleased that his signal was travelling so far and so well
  • On Thursday evening it was good to hear Johnny Camaro for the first time and to hear Weg Piraat with his best signal so far. Also on air was Caldera, a new addition to the band, who was heard for the first time on Wednesday. Using only around 40 watts, this was another low-power triumph

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