Friday, Saturday and Sunday in pirate land

It's been a busy few days and as I update the blog I'm flicking between Radio Pandora on 1625 kHz and Technical Man on 1670. There's some fading and crackling tonight, but that's AM for you, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Let's have a run through the last few days and check out which stations have been on air. And if you take a listen to the recordings I made on Saturday night you'll get a good idea of just how well some of these stations from across the Netherlands can be heard here in England.

Freq Time Station name SINPO

Sunday, December 13, 2020

1644 0558 Telefunken 25322 (m)

1655 0559 Belladonna 35333 (m)

1635 0607 Electron 35333 (q)

1630 0622 Hemmeling 35433-45434 (q)

1620 0623 Jeneverstoker 24332 (q)

1620 0626 Kleine Jopie 24322 (q)

1645 0627 Avia 25332-35333 (m)

1620 0633 Noordster 45444 (q)

1629 0657 Dolfijn 45444 (m)

1620 0706 Hemmeling 35333 (q)

1620 0725 Alabama 45434 (q)

1620 0729 Blauwe Piraat 35322 (q)

1642 0738 Jeneverstoker 24222 (q)

1675 1900 Technical Man 35333-45444 (m) (later 1670)

1636 1914 Twee Gebroeders 25222-35333 (t)

1645 1914 Nachtzwerver 25222-35333 (r)

1646 1948 Mosfet 45434

1690 1949 Digitaal 45444 

1655 2204 Kristal 32322 (m)

1655 2205 Witte Raaf 32322 (m)

1625 2310 Pandora 45444 (m)

(m) = station was broadcasting a music programme
(q) = station was qsoing
(r) = station asking for a reception report from another station
(t) = station was testing

Observations

• I spent a couple of hours listening to the band this morning and was rewarded with plenty of activity. Telefunken, Belladonna, Avia and Dolfijn were busy with music programmes, while there was the regular Sunday morning qso featuring a whole host of stations. Among them was Hemmeling, who had some super peaks to his signal. And here's a look inside the studio where he was standing this morning:

• Conditions were long skip for most of the evening, which is not necessarily good news for me. However, there was interest on 1636 kHz with a test transmission from Twee Gebroeders. I suspect they were trying out a new transmitter or antenna as I can’t recall them having used this frequency before, and the signal was also stronger than previously. 

• There was an interesting effect on 1655 kHz when Witte Raaf from Friesland and Kristal from the east of the Netherlands were occupying that same frequency at the same time. For some of the time, there would be a mix of the two stations, then one would become stronger before fading down and allowing the other to peak. Listeners often wonder why two stations come to be on the channel at the same time - and propagation conditions are the reason, especially considering these two stations are a fair distance apart.

Saturday, December 12, 2020

1660 1542 Digitaal 45444 (m)

1674 1606 Arizona 25222 (m)

1636 1610 Dageraad 35443 (q)

1643 1613 Columbia 35443-45444 (q)

1643 1616 Nachtzwerver 25332-35443 (q) 

1625 1650 Meteoor 35443 (t)

1620 1700 Admiraal 35443 (q)

1638 1702 Bluebird 55444 (m)

1615 1707 Ruimzicht 35333 (q)

1652 1725 Mebo 2 25322 (q)

1649 1729 Admiraal 44444 (q)

1670 1737 Telefunken 25222-35333 (t)

1660 1751 Blackstone 25332-35333 (q)

1632 1806 Blauwe Karabijn 35443 (t)

1647 1807 Spakenburg 35333-45444 (t)

1615 1818 Zwarte Boekanier 35333-45444 (m)

1648 1843 Dageraad 35343 (q)

1695 1918 Lotus 45444

1629 1941 Turftrekker 35443-45444 (m)

1631 2212 Turftrekker 45444 (t)

1613 2235 Monte Carlo 35333-45444 (m)

1652 2215 Moby Dick 34443-45444 (m)

1657 2250 Jeneverstoker 24222 (m)

1645 2250 Nachtzwerver 35333-45444 (m)

1620 2255 Philadelphia 23322 (m)

1655 2327 Turfsteker 34333 (q)

MW Free Radio · Dutch pirates heard in England (December 12, 2020)

Friday, December 11, 2020

1615 1554 Admiraal 25332 (q)

1655 1602 Avia 25432 (t)

1660 1600 Blackstone 25332 (q)

1660 1604 Admiraal 25332 (q)

1646 1627 Karel Doorman 25232 (m)

1693 1632 Digitaal 45444 (m)

1636 1715 Alabama 55444-55555 (m)

1660 1716 Concorde 24332-35333 (m)

1645 1721 Casablanca (Twente) 35333 (m)

1627 1803 Napoleon 45444 (t)

1656 1805 Arizona weak signal-25222 (m)

1620 1805 Derde Man 25222-35333 (m)

1665 1828 Concorde 25332-35443 (m)

1607 1904 Batavier weak 24322 (m)

1636 1925 Columbia 35333-45444 (m)

Observations

• Lovely to hear Karel Doorman spinning a few records on 1646 kHz this afternoon, and giving me a mention as well following our story all about this legendary Dutch pirate.

• A little later I caught Arizona for the first time in a while - some feat considering his output power is just 60 watts. And about an hour later, there was music coming through on the rather unusual frequency of 1607 kHz. It was Batavier running just 50 watts of power and coming through quite well too.