It's been a long time since I can recall a Saturday quite like this. In fact, I don't think I've ever known one. I heard a couple of Dutch pirates first thing in the morning before the signals faded down as the sun came up. But at around 1300 local time the signals started arriving once again from across the North Sea - three and a half hours before sunset and a very rare occurrence.
Sure enough, those pirates heard during early afternoon were weak, but sometimes the signals came up and were perfectly listenable. And from around 1500 they became stronger and stronger, and there were more and more of them. In fact, take a look at the list and there is an incredible amount. A quick count up and I made it 37 pirates during just the one day - and there would have been others I didn't log.
Nice to catch some different names, too - a couple of new pirates, some I haven't caught before and some returning after a break. Here's the rather long list:
Saturday, January 28, 2017
1620 0600 Rode Rover 45434 music programme
1620 0704 Zwarte Bouvier 25222-35333 music programme
1610 1259 Drukstroomjager weak signal asking for report
1628 1310 Drukstroomjager weak signal qsoing
1620 1320 Moonbreaker weak signal qsoing
1635 1323 Golfbreker weak signal-25342
1620 1334 Omega weak signal-25342 testing
1611 1345 Nachtzwerver weak signal
1620 1409 Marskramer (Friesland) weak signal testing
1623 1411 Relmus 25342 testing
1611 1438 Mike 25342 testing
1620 1514 Columbia weak signal asking for report
1612 1528 Pontiac 35333 qsoing
1646 1534 Zwarte Bizon 25222 qsoing
1638 1558 Friese Piraat 25222 music programme
1610 1600 Anton 24322 qsoing
1620 1604 Moonbreaker 25332-35343 qsoing
1640 1605 Brugwachter 35443 report for Friese Piraat
1650 1605 Batavier 25332, 35443 at 1621 report for Friese Piraat
1645 1609 Kamelen Boer 25322 report for Friese Piraat
1620 1610 Omega 25332 qsoing
1620 1617 Digitaal 35333 qsoing
1632 1626 Alaska weak signal qsoing
1638 1633 Osaka 25222-35333 qsoing
1670 1648 Digitaal 45334-55444 music programme
1638 1656 Brugwachter 55444 qsoing
1634 1708 Keizer en Keizerin 34443, 45444 later music programme
1620 1708 Columbia 35343-45444 music programme
1645 1747 Casablanca (Twente) 35343 music programme
1614 1800 Waterman 24222 music programme
1656 1815 Nachtzwerver 24322-45444 music programme
1635 1831 Yogi Bear en Einstein 44444 testing. Switched to 1638
1625 1947 Barones 55444 music programme
1630 1948 Polidor 33433-44444 testing
1611 2258 Utopia 33433-44444 music programme
1650 2259 Lotus 55444 qsoing
1650 2309 Snowman 25222 music programme
1625 2309 Scotland 45434 qsoing
1655 2312 Batavier 45444
1629 2313 Monza 34433 qsoing
1647 2319 Nachtzwerver 34333 music programme
1625 2324 Napoleon 44444 music programme
1620 2326 Musky 33333 music programme
1629 2336 Blauwe Koe 34433 music programme
1643 2341 Adje 45444 music programme
1650 2350 Monte Carlo 34333 qsoing
1650 2353 Digitaal 44444-55444 qsoing
1632 0026 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 music programme
1632 0026 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444 music programme
Friday, January 27, 2017
1630 1533 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 35443-45444 short music programme
1634 1755 Golfbreker 25222-35333
1646 1759 Zwarte Bizon 34333 qsoing
1655 1801 Dikke Betta 55444 music programme
1645 1805 JB 45444 testing
1629 1814 Columbia 35333-45444 testing
1620 1821 Relmus 25222-45444 music programme
1494 1826 Coast FM 34333-55544
1638 1842 Casablanca (Twente) 25332 qsoing
1638 1917 Admiraal 34333
1611 1919 Utopia 24332, 44434 at 1935 report for Columbia
1630 1939 Moonbreaker report for DB
1615 1944 Mosterdboer 35333-45444 music programme
1629 1955 Malibu 25222-35333 music programme
1646 1958 Kristal 55444 music programme
1611 2215 Malibu 24222-34333 music programme
1660 2216 Twentana 25222-44444 music programme
1655 2217 Batavier 35333 music programme
1650 2223 Batavier 35333 music programme
Thursday, January 26, 2017
1629 1530 Rebecca weak signal
1634 1550 Bizon 25222 testing
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
1638 2350 Bluebird 44444-55444 music programme
1641 0012 Orion 35333 qsoing
1649 0016 Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing
1655 1644 Batavier 25222, 35333 at 1812 music
programme
1629 1652 Noordzee 25222-35333 music programme
1663 1714 Digitaal 25222-35333 qsoing
1660 1718
Noordzee 25222-35333 qsoing
1663 1744 Paradiso 25222 qsoing
1658 1748 Nachtzwerver weak signal qsoing
1634 1829 Blauwe Panda weak signal
1647 1831 Nachtzwerver weak signal-25222 music
programme
1638 1945 Casablanca (Twente) 35333 music programme
Observations
- There was a nice surprise on Wednesday evening when I heard Orion qsoing with Monte Carlo. 1641 kHz has long been his frequency, but he had been absent for some time. In fact, a look at the logs reveals I hadn't heard him since October 19, 2013. Welcome back!
- Great to catch Rebecca on Thursday afternoon. I was sitting in the living room watching TV and thought I'd have a quick check on the radio - and there he was coming through. The signal wasn't strong but it was over an hour before sunset.
- There were two new names on the band on Friday night. Golfbreker was the first. The operator of the station had previously been part of an FM team but has decided to try MW. He purchased a transmitter from another station in Friesland and, with a little help from Melkbus, has got everything working well. The power is 120 watts and the signal here was pretty good. Nice to have a new station on air.
- The other station on Friday evening that I hadn't heard before was Mosterdboer. I turned detective and recruited a few helpers to try to find out a little more information about this one and it seems this was actually an FM pirate being relayed on to MW, although I'm not sure by who. The signal here was very good.
- During Saturday's marathon listening session and some very favourable propagation conditions it was good to catch some pirates I hadn't heard in a good while - Roderover, Zwarte Bouvier, Drukstromjager/Pontiac, Alaska, Lotus and Scotland. And again there was a new addition to the airwaves. This time it was Omega, who was testing his antenna. I also heard Waterman for the first time. This is a famous name from the past, but a different station now. Also on Saturday, Kamelen Boer was a new name for me, although the station is a regular under a different name. Some oldtimers may well recognise his voice. Adje is a name that hasn't appeared in my logs either, although the operator has (Black Bandit, Johnny Tobacco anyone?)
Hi, I have been listening to a pirate on Saturday between 1900-2100 UTC on round about 1610-1620 kHz(my SONY ICF-7600DS tuned on 1611, fine tune full+) my cheap analog Soundmaster WE-20 tuned it better. I didn't understand the station name due to fade out. I would like to send an QSL. Do you have an idea which station it was? Maybe contact data?
ReplyDeleteThanx- Joe
Correction: send RR, get QSL :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Joe. Thanks for getting in touch. I reckon it might have been Waterman. Can you remember any of the music played? Waterman was playing mainly Dutch tunes with the odd English record.
ReplyDeleteHi, yes I have it on mp3....
ReplyDeleteAnd today on same frequency, many german tunes... but I dont know why- fading out due to station announcement. ..
but thank you. Do waterman have an email?
Sounds like Waterman to me. It was the first time Id heard that station myself and I dont know the address. If I find out, Ill let you know. Cheers
ReplyDeletethank you.
ReplyDeleteI would be glad. there is not much to find in the web. Its my first time contacting pirate stations...
Joe
Welcome to the hobby! There's not a great deal of information out there about the Dutch MW pirates, but www.am-forum.nl is a good place to look. And for the SW pirates, there are sites like terrysradioblog.blogspot.co.uk, irishpaulsradioblog.blogspot.co.uk and shortwavedx.blogspot.co.uk that can help you out quite a lot with logs, addresses, that sort of thing.
ReplyDelete