About me

I've been listening to pirate radio stations since the spring of 1989. The first one I heard was Radio 48 on a Sunday morning - and I still have the qsl. Ever since that day I have been hooked on our tremendous hobby. I listen to SW most days, but MW captures my interest in a big way, especially the stations from the Netherlands.


It didn't take long before I took the hobby to another level, publishing my thoughts into Pirate Chat magazine, which I issued every month and later every two months. I was studying at the same time, but I kept the magazine going for some years and it was read right across the world. I had readers as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, South America, the USA and Canada. And many Dutch pirate operators subscribed, reading about all the stations I had heard, together with the latest news and features written by myself and pirates in the UK. This was before the time of email, so everything was typed by hand! The first edition was a little rough and ready, but I like to think it got better as time went by.

In 1994 I paid my first visit to the land of the pirates. I was 17 and travelled across the North Sea with my father and stayed in a little hotel in the west of the country. As many people might know, this area of the Netherlands is not famed for its high numbers of illicit broadcasters, so I travelled by train to the east and made my first pirate contact with Radio Delta.

During that first visit to the Netherlands I met various other pirates including Radio Utopia and Radio Barones and I am still good friends with them over 20 years later. For the following few years I returned to the country again and again, on my own and later with Bill Lewis from Live Wire Radio and with the Grolschman, who can still occasionally be heard on 48 metres.

Although I took some years away from the hobby at the start of the 2000s, while I was busy with studies, girlfriends and houses, I would sometimes have a quick check of the pirate bands with the old Racal receiver I had kept from one of my visits to the Netherlands. Even on a small piece of wire I could hear the odd station, and I would especially enjoy listening to Borderhunter and Barones. And it was on one of those occasions that I was having a rare tune around that my real passion for the pirates was reignited. 

The year was 2011 and I came across the Baro one evening. I called him to let him know I was tuned in, and I was again hooked on the hobby.


14 comments:


  1. Heelo Brit !

    How do receive Radio Seagull on 1602 ? That would be a nice standard of the conditions on MW. That soundcloud doesn't work. Why not use mijnbestand.nl like every decent dutchman ?
    And could you leave a normal email to contact you?
    Since pirats don't like to register, you understand? greetz.

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    1. Hi there. Many thanks for your comment. Radio Seagull is often quite strong here at night time, but 1602 is not a clear frequency and the signal often mixes with other stations, and many Dutch pirates are considerably stronger. You can contact me at mwpiratereview@gmail.com. I would be interested to know if other people have a problem listening to the recordings with the Mixcloud player. As far as I know, it is working fine for most people. Perhaps others can let me know. Thanks again, and I look forward to your email.

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  2. Do you know of any stations that might relay a music show from the USA?

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  3. Hi, will you do me a favour? I’m looking for help getting the word out about my QRP site.

    I’ve updated my website with the circuit diagram of my 8 watt QRP shortwave transmitter and inverted-v antenna.
    I'm sure it's of interest to fellow shortwave radio enthusiasts.

    I would very much appreciate any mention you can make, either on a blog or a permanent link about my QRP website.

    Here’s the link: www.stationqrp.com

    Thank you very much in advance!
    73's
    Jack

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  4. I remember that mag Dorman Road rings a bell ;)

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  5. Thank you verry much for recording boogschutter lives nearby zeartr bizon +- 6km away also low power 150 till 200 watt (^_-) till next time greetings johan

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  6. Ian Harling..G7HFS/PA3IKHSunday 7 May 2017 at 16:09:00 BST

    Test.

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  7. Great to hear the Nederlands stations coming in tonight. Some really great music coming in. Am on 1655, with a bit of deep fading, but that adds to it all! Good luck to all on MW... M0ZLI David in Bristol UK.

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  8. hey, would be great to see those Pirate Chat magazines scanned up as .pdfS WOULD MAKE FOR GREAT READING

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  9. Hi...Just stumbled across this interesting site on the Internet.I started in Pirate radio back in 1979 on 48 meters operating a station called Radio Cavendish on 6255Khz.I then went onto Medium wave and later onto FM from down here in Eastbourne.I have many happy memories of trips to The Netherlands and visiting many medium wave stations ie Radio Nolan and Houston radio etc.In 1990 I got my Ham radio licence and stopped my pirate radio transmissions.I still talk to many of my fellow radio hams who also started in Pirate radio.The only radio broadcasting I'm involved in these days is during the Eastbourne Airshow in August and we get a licence from Ofcom and the station is called Radio Airbourne.73..Ian.G7HFS/PA3IKH

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  10. Hello sir, nice to hear your listening to the pirate stations on the mediumwave.
    I always check your youtube channel.

    Greetings from The Netherlands,

    Pascal.

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  11. Anyone have an email address for Radio Interpol operating on 1611 on 16 July around 1900 UTC? Nice music and good IDs...

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  12. Thanks David for starting to update your blog again ! I have been missing your logs as I want to make sure what I have been receiving here at a distance of 1500 kilometers. My logs:https://www.betajbk.com/log/. 73 ! Jouni

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