Friday, January 03, 2020

Welcome to a new decade

Hello there and welcome to 2020. I wish you the very best of health for the year ahead and lots of enjoyment with this wonderful radio hobby of ours, whether you are a listener and DXer or pirate radio station operator.

You can probably guess that one of my New Year resolutions is to try to update this blog more regularly than I have been doing, and I will certainly be trying to do just that. Although I didn't do a great job with regular updates during 2019, I was still listening to the pirate stations, but just not quite so much as previously. However, with long days and short nights, this is my favourite time for listening so I have plenty of reason to tune in as much as I can in the weeks and months ahead.

Something I like to do at the start of each year is to look back on the previous months and recall which Dutch MW pirate stations I have heard, and do some comparisons with previous years. 

During 2018 I heard 154 pirates from the Netherlands on MW, following on from 172 in 2017,  167 in 2016 and 185 in 2015. Adding up the figures for 2019 gives me a total of 129 stations. This is a fair way down on last year, and a significant drop from the figure in 2015. However, I wasn't listening to the band as much as in previous years and I wasn't keeping definitive notes. 

The antenna here is the Wellbrook ALA 1530LNP and the receivers are the Lowe HF-150, Lowe HF-225 and Kenwood R5000.



Dutch MW pirate radio stations heard in the UK during 2019

Admiraal
Akai
Alabama
Alaska
Alpenjager
Anton
Astronaut
Armada (regular frequency of 1647 kHz)
Barones
Batavia (1620 kHz)
Batavier
Belladonna
Billy De Bluffer
Blauwe Koe



Blauwe Panda
Bluebird (1638)
Boer Piet
Bootsman (1620 kHz)
Casablanca (Drenthe) (1640 kHz)
Casablanca (Twente)
Concorde


Dageraad
De Kat
De Klap
De Klok
Derde Man
Desperado
Digitaal
Dikke Berta



Dinkelland
Doktor Bloe
Dolfijn (1629 kHz)


Edelkampioen
Eldorado
Electron
Ether Snuiver (Black Bandit)
Gedrocht van Twente
Golfbreker
Havanna (1635 kHz)
Horizon
Interpol
Ijsvogel
Jan De Roos (Black Bandit)
Jan Tabak (Black Bandit)
Jeneverstoker
Josje Power
Kaaiman
Kachelboer
Keizer en Keizerin (1636 kHz)
Klaas Snoek (Black Bandit)
Kristal
Lokaal
Marianne (1617 kHz)
Marskramer
Matrix (1670 kHz)
Melkbus
Meteoor
Mike
Moby Dick (1652 kHz)
Mondeo
Moonbreaker
Monte Carlo
Morgenster (1638 kHz)
Musky
Mustang
Nachtzwerver
Napoleon
Noordster
Noordzee
Odynn
Oldtimer
Omega
OSM
Pandora (1635 kHz)
Pandora (Friesland)
Paradiso
Pecon
Pereboom
Pioneer
Polkaman
Polidor
Pontiac
Professor Sickbok (1640 kHz)
Rebel
Relmus
Rietvink
Romax (1636 kHz)
Ros Am
Ruimzicht
Sapporo



Scotland



Skywire
Sluwe Vos
Snowman
Soerabaya
Soto and Daniel
Spakenburg
Spanningzoeker
Speedygonzales
Station Twente Team
Sylvania
Technical Man
Telefunken
Tornado
Torpedojager (Twente) (1636 kHz)
Toulouse
Turfsteker
Turftrekker
Twentana


Uniek
Utopia
Veluwse Ster
Vonkenboer
Vonkentrekker
Vrijevogel
Vrolijke Mijnwerker
Wadloper
Weduwe (1620 kHz)
Wegpiraat
Wilskracht



Witte Raaf
Witte Tornado (1647 kHz)
Yogi Bear en Einstein
Zeehond
Zee Piraat
Zender Johan
Zwarte Boer


Zwarte Panter (East NL)
807


I am a member of many Dutch pirate WhatsApp groups which allows me access to lots of handy information and to see what other people have been hearing. So, what that helps me to do is see which broadcasts I've missed out on hearing - whether that be through not being at my receivers at the right time, or because some pirates broadcast only during daylight hours when propagation doesn't allow me to hear them as I am nowhere near a coastal location.

So, using information gleaned from those WhatsApp groups, here are some of the MW pirates from the Netherlands who were on air during 2019 but not heard by me in England:


Arizona
Arrianne
Atlantic (regular frequency of 1611 kHz)
Baanbreker
Baantje

Barcelona (1633 kHz)
Black Arrow
Blackstone



Blauwe Fazant
Blauwe Piraat
Blauwe Reiger
Boomerang
Bonte Specht
Brugwachter
Caballero (1636 kHz)
Centurion
Colombia
Cowboy Gerard
Derby (1620 kHz)
Driland
Eigen Risico
Enschede
Eskimo
Ethervogel
Flevojager
Friese Piraat
Hemmeling
Hennie Veldwijk (1645 kHz)
Jack Sparrow
JB
Johnny Depp
Johnny Camaro
Kameleon
Korenbloem
Klaverboer
Kleine Cowboy (1539 kHz)
Kleine Man
Klompenboer
Korak
Korenklopper




Kraanvogel
Kruik
Kwiksilver
Lotus
Luxemburg (263 kHz longwave)
Marconist
Mario
Mi Amigo
Moscou
Nachtrijder
Nimmerzorg
Oliebollenbakkers
Osaka
Poema
Polka Express
Python
Quintus
Rebecca (1629 kHz)
Rodester (1650 kHz)
Roderover
Santana
Schaduwjager
Sylvia
Sterrekijker (1332 kHz)
Texas (1611 kHz)
Twee Gebroeders
Uitzendkracht
Vendor
Verona
Viking
Vliegende Hollander
Vloedgolf (1611 kHz)



Vriendschap (1636 kHz)
Waterman
Zeelandia
Zwarte Arabier
Zwarte Bizon
Zwarte Bouvier (1620 kHz)
Zwarte Boekanier (1645 kHz)
Zwarte Panter (Friesland)
Zwarte Piraat

On this list are a further 80 Dutch MW pirates. Most of these I have heard in previous years, so if we add these to the stations I personally heard during 2019 we have a total of 209, which is above the highest figure of 185 I recorded in 2015. There are some pirates who use several names, so if you take this into consideration it seems fair to say the number of MW pirates currently operational is similar, if not greater, than the figure from around five years ago.


Some former pirates, including the likes of Calypso, 0511 and Flandria might no longer be active as we know them, but have gone down the legal route with low-power licences, adding to the number of familiar voices on the AM airwaves. Plenty of former pirates are also involved in these legal operations. You can see a full list of all those stations active in the main MW band here.

All this activity bodes very well for a good year of pirate activity in 2020, so let's look forward to a busy 12 months.

6 comments:

  1. Happy New Year. It is great to see you are still around and listening.

    I often refer to your 2018 list of stations when trying to ID the Dutch MW pirates.

    Certainly from my listening in recent months, the Dutch scene seems to be as active as ever with many stations competing for space at the top end of medium wave.

    I look forward to your updates during 2020.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Paul. Good to hear from you and very nice that you have found my updated blog! Perhaps you can give it a mention and let people know I've finally written something! Ive already heard 22 different stations in 2020 so we're off to a great start! All the best.

      Delete
  2. De Johnny depp mist
    En dr jack sparrow

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now added to the list of active stations but ones I didn't hear during 2019. If anybody has any more then please let me know. It would be good to get a comprehensive list of all MW pirates who were on air during 2019.

      Delete
  3. Hello David, Happy New Year and I hope you will enjoy MW pirate radio in 2020. Good to see that you made this nice list every year!

    Greets,
    Herman.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A Belated Happy New Year.

    Great to see you back !

    Good DX for 2020
    Cheers
    Dave

    ReplyDelete