Napoleon in the air

Thank you very much for your positive feedback recently regarding the blog. It's great to be back with regular updates and good to know you're enjoying them. Especially popular is the updated Dutch MW pirates: a history and how to hear them feature. Special thanks to our old friend Kai in Norway and for the information you sent across - very interesting.

Time now to bring the logbook up to date with the stations heard during the past couple of days. As ever, the Wellbrook ALA1530 LN is doing all the hard work while I sit back and listen to the Kenwood R-5000 receiver.

Freq Time Station name SINPO

Thursday, November 19, 2020

1638 1548 Bluebird 55444 (t)

1646 1552 Eigen Risico 25342 (q)

1647 1600 Professor Sickbok 35443 (q)

1633 1602 Nimmerzorg 25222-25342 (q)

1625 1606 Pandora 35333 (q)

1629 1708 Napoleon 45444-55444 (t)

1620 1725 Monza 45444 (q)

1647 1749 Nachtzwerver 25332-35333 (m)

1638 1807 Arizona weak signal-25332 (m)

1620 1814 Zwarte Boekanier 35443-45444 (m)

1633 1824 Baanbreker 35443 (q)

1632 1912 Columbia 45434 (m)

1655 1954 Belladonna 35443 (m)

1665 2254 Vrolijke Minwerker 55444 (t)

1638 2257 Bluebird 55444-55555 (m)

(q) = station was qsoing; (m) = station was broadcasting a music programme; (t) station was testing

Observations

• It’s interesting when you look back through old logs of stations and come across names that have disappeared from the band. So I was very happy today to hear ‘low power and low budget’ Napoleon on air for the first time in a good while and to see he is still very much a part of the current pirate scene. What’s more, the signal was superb here in the UK. I’m looking forward to hearing more from this great station during the rest of the year and into 2021.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

1636 1643 Torpedojager 35443-45444 (t)

1636 1720 Digitaal 35443 (q)

1655 1729 Professor Sickbok 45434 (m)

1640 1742 Wegpiraat 35443 (q)

1645 1745 Casablanca 25222-35333 (q)

1643 1749 Telefunken 35333 (q)

1664 1755 Concorde 25222 (t) 

1620 1802 Schaduwjager 55444-55555 (m)

1669 1813 Drukstroomjager 55444-55555 (q)

1640 1820 Casablanca 55444-55555 (q)

1665 1836 Concorde 35333 (q)

1615 1843 Zwarte Boekanier 35333 (q)

1655 1845 Oldtimer 35443-45444 (m)

1648 1851 Baanbreker 35333 (q)

1629 1907 Marskramer 35333-45444 (m)

1715 2010 Digitaal 55444 (m)

Observations

• Some lovely signals on the band tonight, with the standouts coming from Schaduwjager and Drukstroomjager, as is often the case. Fascinating to catch Concorde running just 45 watts before later increasing power to his usual 200 watts - he was still perfectly audible on the low power, showing just how effective his antenna is following a recent repair:

• You don’t hear many stations as high on the band as 1715 kHz. However, when you do, it’s usually Digitaal breaking new ground, and there he was tonight with his usual excellent signal.