Midweek update

Thanks for all your feedback to my recent posts on the blog. There were nearly 8,000 page views in the last month - that's over 250 a day - and, considering I hadn't posted anything for some time until I picked up the pace again on November 9, this is really encouraging.

Yesterday I was doing some research and compiling a list of the Dutch MW pirate stations I've heard during 2020 here in England. As you might expect, the number is very healthy with a vast amount activity having taken place. I publish such a list every year at the beginning of January, and it will be the same again next month. It is sure to make fascinating reading as I compare activity levels to previous years.

There have been some more stations to add to my list during the last couple of days, and this is what I've heard:

Freq Time Station name SINPO

Thursday, December 3, 2020

1638 1722 Casablanca (Twente) 25222 (m)

1640 1737 Dageraad 35333 (m)

1670 1749 Telefunken 25222 (m)

1621 1801 Quiksilver 25222 (q) 

1629 1822 Quintus 35333 (m)

1640 1851 Baanbreker 25222 (q)

1615 1858 Admiraal 35333 (m)

1620 1859 Skywire 24222 (m)

1610 1901 Pecon weak signal (q)

1611 1906 Admiraal 35333 (q)

1675 1932 Concorde very weak signal (q)

1667 1936 Vonkenboer weak signal (q)

1621 2046 Turftrekker 45444 (t)

1655 2110 Turfsteker 25222 (m)

1646 2113 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45434-55444 (m)

1625 2119 Bluebird 55444 (m)

1636 2124 Mi Amigo 45434 (t)

1645 2300 Vonkenber 25222 (q)

1640 2302 Casablanca 45434 (q)

1646 2305 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45434-55444 (q)

1648 2319 Pereboom 34333-44444 (m)

1642 2330 Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45434-55444 (q)

(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

• You can set your alarm clock by the transmissions of Radio Torpedojager from Twente on a Thursday morning. Check 1636 kHz and he will be there, playing records for other pirates and listeners in the area. And indeed he was on the channel today - a quick look at the SDR in Enschede showed his signal - but there was nothing to be heard over here, not even a carrier. Propagation conditions were once again not in my favour following such a promising start to the week.
• Just like yesterday, there were increased noise levels on the band as well, and by the time darkness arrived, signals were down. However, although there were lots of stations switching on and off their transmitters without any identification, there were some high points of the evening’s listening. 
• I don’t hear Quiksilver very often, so it was good to catch him, but perhaps the most interesting feature of the evening was a very, very weak signal from Concorde. Nothing amazing about that, you might think, but he was running only five watts of power and with conditions not very good, it was some achievement to get those few watts all the way across the Netherlands, across the sea and then into the centre of the UK. 
• It was not until later in the evening that signals began to reach the usual level, with a test transmission from Turftrekker blasting in on 1621 kHz and Vrolijke Mijnwerker sending the meter into overload with his broadcast on 1646 kHz and Bluebird then doing similar on his usual frequency of 1625 kHz. Mi Amigo has been very strong recently and was doing very well again tonight on 1636 kHz.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020
1636 1634 Torpedojager 35333 (t)
1641 1648 Dageraad 25442 (q)
1660 1706 Digitaal 35443-45444 (m)
1618 1729 Drukstroomjager 35333-45434 (m)
1629 1757 Spakenburg 25222-35333 (t)
1618 1811 Mosfet (Schaduwjager) 35443 (q)
1620 1824 Monza 35443 (q)
1618 1827 Uniek 25222 (q)
1618 1832 Akai 25332 (q)
1644 1843 Wegpiraat 35333 (q)
1670 1847 Zeewolf 25332 (q)
1640 1927 Boomerang 35443 (t)
1629 1939 Jack Sparrow 35443 (t)
1655 2101 Turfsteker 25222 (m)

Observations

• In total contrast to the previous day, conditions on the band today were far from optimal. The noise level was up, signals were significantly weaker than usual, and not even a carrier could be detected before the sun had gone down. And when it was dark outside, signals were still down. It is very rare when signals from stations like Drukstroomjager and Mosfet aren’t peaking somewhere near a sinpo of 55444, and Spakenburg was notably weaker than usual, although there were some decent peaks. 
• On the plus side, there was a super evening qso between a number of stations and it was good to hear my friend Zeewolf on air. He was kind enough to send me the qsl card above after I let him know how the signal was over here.
• It was good to hear Jack Sparrow on air for the first time in while as well. He was delivering a steady signal during his test transmission, and hopefully we’ll hear him on air a bit more often in the coming weeks. His late-night broadcasts on a Thursday evening after one or two drinks with other pirates like Mustang often make very entertaining listening!