Passion shining through

Three days of listening to the radio with excellent propagation conditions across the weekend was great fun and, as you'll see from the logbook, it showed me in no uncertain times that the scene in the Netherlands is thriving. There is a great of mix of stations, some deep-rooted in the history of pirate radio with decades of activity in their back catalogue, but there are also newer stations. There are some very high-power transmitters to be heard, but also many with less than 100 watts. Young or old, high power or low power, all the people behind these pirate stations share one thing: passion for their hobby...

Freq Time Station name SINPO (type of broadcast)

Sunday, January 11, 2026

1611 0630 Noordster 44434 (m)

1629 0740 Knutselaar 25332 (m)

1620 0757 Uniek 25222 (m)

1611 0801 Waterman 25322 (q)

1640 0801 Musky 35333 (q)

1625 0806 Hemmeling 35333 (q)

1611 0807 Bizon 34333-44444 (q)

1611 0815 Eigen Risico 24222 (q)

1616 0816 Blonde Zeeman weak signal (m)

1656 0917 Digitaal 45444 (q)

1611 0930 Atlantic 35443 (m)

1611 1403 Luka 24322, 35443 (m)

1665 1414 Technical Man 45444 (t)

1665 1602 Contikenzo 25342, 45444 at 1804 (m)

1656 1605 Digitaal 35443, 55444 at 1701 (m)

1647 1652 Spencer weak signal (m)

1620 1720 Ros Am 45434 (m)

1629 1742 Mondeo 54444 (m)

1638 1752 Brugwachter 45434 (m)

1672 1752 Contikenzo 45444 (m)

1693 1808 Contikenzo 45444 (m)

1655 1903 Batavier 44444 (m)

1647 1914 Blonde Zwerver 35433 (m)

1620 1915 Helical 55444 (m)

1638 1933 Moonlight 35433 (m)

1673 1945 Technical Man 55444 (m)

1611 1958 Toulouse 45444 (t)

(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 turn on your radio before the sun comes up on a Sunday morning and hear Noordster spinning records while Europe wakes up. Then at 0900 Dutch time, as regular as clockwork, he switches off the transmitter and the fun begins as a spark fires through the AM pirate radio community in the Netherlands. Now it's qso time when stations take it in turn (usually) to give reception reports to each other. For listeners not familiar with this type of broadcasting, it can be fast and furious with one transmitter after the other taking a place on the band and voices coming out of the ether giving details of signal strength, modulation depth and all manner of other information. It’s been a while since I tuned in for this phenomenon, but I was in position nice and early today from about 0630 UTC, listening to Noordster with his usual strong signal before he gave the thumbs-up for the qso round to begin. 

• First came Musky on 1640 kHz and Waterman on 1611 kHz, then it was Hemmeling on 1625 kHz and Bizon on 1611 kHz. Eigen Risico then took a turn on 1611 while, just for good measure, Blonde Zeeman arrived on 1616 with a music programme to accompany Uniek on 1620 kHz and new Friesian station Knutselaar on 1629 kHz! 

• Once the reporting had died down, Eigen Risico played some music on 1611 kHz and Digitaal then gave a report on 1656 kHz. The time in the UK was now 0917 and I couldn’t believe how well Digitaal was coming through. For those who don’t know, my location is central UK, so not by the coast, and daytime reception of the Dutch pirates on 1.6 MHz is not something you get every day. Have a listen to the recording of Digitaal below:

• At 0935 there was a new arrival on 1611 kHz when Atlantic switched on his transmitter to play some records. Again, it was hard to believe how good the signal was when considering the sun had been up for more than 90 mins. Remarkably, at 1000 I could still hear Atlantic, Uniek and Digitaal!
  

• It was certainly nice and busy on the band, although I’ve heard much bigger qso rounds on a Sunday morning. It was great fun though, and I’m planning to get out of bed early next week to do it all again! You never quite know which stations are going to pop on the frequency, and that sense of mystery never fails to capture the imagination.

• The afternoon and evening were also blessed with very good propagation and some lovely signals at this side. Two of the lower-powered stations to stand out were Luka on 1611 kHz and Moonlight on 1638 kHz. You can listen to my reception here:
  

Saturday, January 10, 2026

1638 1414 Dikke Bertha weak signal (m)

1620 1421 Pontiac weak signal (m)

1647 1534 Rietvink 25332 (m)

1613 1550 Eigen Risico 25332-35333 (q)

1652 1551 Moby Dick weak signal, 33433 at 1815 (t)

1665 1552 Contikenzo 25332 (m)

1611 1554 Admiraal 35443 (q)

1673 1626 The Voice weak 25322 (m)

1620 1635 King Kong 44434, 55444 at 1803 (m)

1629 1658 Blauwe Fazant 25222, 35433 at 1818 (m)

1647 1802 Turftrekker 45434-55444 (q) 

1611 1807 Philadelphia 34433 (m)

1636 1815 Boogschutter 24322-34333 (m)

1656 2059 Tarzan 44433 (m)

1674 2104 Joris Driepinter 24322 (m)

1629 2133 Brugwachter 33433 (m)

1665 2204 Contikenzo 45444 (m)

1620 2304 Polkaman 35333 (m)

1647 2312 Baantje 35333 (q) report for Turftrekker

1647 2325 Blauwe Koe 45434 (q)

Observations

• I spent much of the afternoon and evening listening to signals from across the North Sea today and there was plenty of entertainment to be had as signals slowly improved from early afternoon.

• A decent catch before the sun went down was a test from Moby Dick, who was using just 30 watts of power. The signal was weak, but it picked up quite well a couple of hours later. Impressive for such low power. The reason the station was operating at reduced transmitter output was because the antenna was lower than usual and among trees, so it was thought best not to put too much power through it.

• Talking of low-power stations, Joris Driepinter was coming through on 1674 kHz with 50 watts and the antenna standing at only eight metres high. The station operator was kind enough to send over some photos for me to share with you:

At the heart of the action inside the studio during the broadcast

Helping to get the audio to you

The Joris Driepinter transmitter

A closer look at the transmitter

• One of the best signals of the day could be heard throughout the evening on 1620 kHz. The station responsible was King Kong. He always has a very big sound over here, and you can get a flavour of that from the recording below, including the station op's lovely singing!
  

• Also doing great work was Tarzan on 1656 kHz. He is one of the more international-orientated stations active from the Netherlands with announcements in English and a good selection of classic hits. He was coming in well, as you can hear:
  
  

Friday, January 9, 2026

1610 1438 Caballero 25332 (m)

1620 1517 Mosfet 35443 (q)

1653 1525 Blauwe Hond 25442 (m)

1620 1532 Scotland 25432 (q)

1620 1610 Gouden Sterre 45444 (q)

1620 1612 Admiraal 32442-34443 (q) o

1620 1614 Bizon 55444 (q) 

1647 1634 Romax 34443 (m)

1611 1639 Philadelphia 34433 (m)

1629 1647 Ros Am 45444 (m)

1656 1652 Digitaal 45444-55555 (m)

1638 1658 Stem van Twente 34443 (m)

1648 1708 Spencer 24332 (m)

1638 1723 Union 22432 (m)

1645 1810 Meteoor 35333-45444 (q) report for Spencer

1655 1816 Yogi 44444 (m)

1661 1822 Boomerang 54444 (m)

1647 1901 Brugwachter 34433 (m)

1660 1928 Studio 19 33433 (q)

1629 1930 Helical 45444-55555 (m)

1630 2155 Turftrekker 45444 (m)

1620 2313 Polkaman 34333 (m)

Observations

• It's been quite a while since I spent a good session with the radio on a Friday, so this was very enjoyable thanks to an impressive 22 different stations throughout the afternoon and evening. One of the most mind-boggling signals came from Boomerang on 1674 kHz - not only was he very strong (as he always is), but the audio and modulation was mightily impressive, too (again, as usual!). There is a recording below, along with one from Gouden Sterre, who was also blasting into this location at around dinnertime.
  
  
  

• One of the last stations standing tonight was Yogi, who signed on 1655 kHz at just after 6pm local time here in the UK. I made this little video just after midnight as I sat listening with the lights down before calling it a night: