Early start, early finish

It's very quiet on MW on Wednesday evening as I write this - in fact, I can't find any pirate activity. So I'm listening to Radio Mi Amigo 259, run by a longtime British pirate who has broadcast offshore, on land, on FM, MW and SW and who can now be found on the internet every Wednesday and Sunday evenings.

This morning kicked off with a big signal from Zender Johan on 1620 kHz, but it was one for the early risers as he signed on at 0423 UTC, although that is a more civilised time of 0623 in the Netherlands.

There was a killer signal earlier this evening from Schaduwjager, and last night Bluebird was similarly strong. I've made some recordings in the last few days, which you can find below. It never ceases to amaze me just how well some of the Dutch pirates can be heard in England. Last night I listened to the last 30 minutes of the Bluebird broadcast on the tiny Tecsun radio with with only the in-built ferrite antenna. Sure, the signal was not as impressive as on other receivers connected to the outdoor loop antenna, but it was very listenable and had some great peaks.

The first station I heard on Tuesday was at 1645 UTC, a clear sign that autumn is on the way. The window for hearing Dutch pirates on MW here in England is becoming greater every day.

And some logs from this week:

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

1620          0423         Johan 55434 music programme

1630          1829         Oldtimer 35443 music programme

1611          1857         Poema 34333 testing

1620          1929         Schaduwjager 55544-55555 asking for report

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

1620          1645         Nova 4 25352 qsoing

1620          1647         Spanningzoeker 35343 qsoing

1636          1651         England 25342 qsoing

1632          1655         Oldtimer 25332 qsoing

1630          1708         Smokkelkapitein 25332 qsoing

1630          1845         Marianne 44444-55444 music programme

1660          1920         Blackbeard 24332-34333 testing

1624          1925         Melkbus 24322 music programme

1645          1927         Turfsteker 24222 music programme

1638          2032         Melkbus 24322 music programme

1638          2222         Snowman 24342-34443 music programme

1633          2235         Bluebird 55555 music programme

Monday, September 5, 2016

1640          1830         Veronica 35443 music programme

1650          1834         Vrijevogel 25232 music programme

1660          1839         Mike 35333 testing, later in USB (45444)

1635          2120         Bluebird 55444 music programme

Observations

• Not so long ago the majority of Dutch pirates were using top-loaded coil antennas which give out plenty of groundwave, perfect in a country the size of the Netherlands. However, the inverted L is now becoming increasingly popular, and two stations have been testing this design in the last few days. Poema was trying it out on Wednesday evening on 1611 kHz with good results, while on Monday, MW newcomer Mike Radio was giving it a go. He also did something you don't hear on MW very often, and tried out some USB broadcasting, and with great results, too. Check out the recording below and you'll see what I mean

• Blackbeard crept back up on to 1.6 MHz on Tuesday night, switching from 1494 to try 1660. Reception was substantially better on this clear channel and was very listenable at times. He too is using an inverted L antenna.
• Radio England is a new name but a MW regular. 1636 is his usual frequency of choice, and he's been playing plenty of Swinging Radio England jingles on recent broadcasts, although if you listen carefully he usually drops his regular station name into his talking at some point!

And on to some recordings made during the last few days: