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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