Fire and Batavier

With some cracking weather in the UK last weekend we spent plenty of time outside. And on Saturday night, the bluetooth speaker was on the patio as we listened to Radio Batavier with a long programme on 1645. He had Wittereus in his studio and was on air for a good few hours playing music. We enjoyed a barbecue and then sat round the fire listening to a signal getting stronger and stronger as the sun went down . . .

Saturday night round the fire - with our
antenna mast in the background

A cracking sunset on Sunday

Batavier is back on air this evening, again around 1645 and with a good signal despite conditions before far from optimum and plenty of static on the band. Also active and audible here are Armada (1611 kHz), Bluebird (1638), Studio 69 (1655) and Soerabaya (1622).

Great Sunday

So today we were busy at a car boot sale, selling some old items we found in the loft and turning them into money. And of course, Lisa could not help having a little look around at some of the other cars. And you'll never guess what she found . . . 

The pirate scarf - this season's must-have accessory!

Perfect for our trip to the Netherlands next month!

It was barbecue time when we got home, and what better way to enjoy some time outdoors than with a soundtrack from Radio Barones. With a little help from the remote receiver at Enschede (too earlier for reception on my own radios) and a bluetooth speaker we were listening to the Baro on the patio in perfect quality on 1593 kHz.

As I write these words it's around 1830 UTC and while there are only faint traces of pirate activity at the top of MW, there are some good signals on SW, including Foxfire (6240), Joey (6290) and Pink Panther (6803). Hopefully the propagation will be with us later on MW.

Bring on the winter

Now I like a little bit of sunshine - it makes a nice change to the wind and the rain. But what I don't particularly like is summertime propagation conditions on AM. Reception is so unpredictable, and with the long hours of daylight, it means there is a much smaller window for receiving pirates on MW. When the days are at their shortest in the middle of winter, I can start hearing stations from around midday. Right now there is little point in checking the radio until around 2100. Of course, it means I have plenty of times for other enjoyable pastimes, but I do like to hear a few pirates every now and again!

As I write these words I'm listening to a qso between Vrolijke Mijnwerker, Jeneverstoker and Astronaut, but signals are down on what I would usually expect. Mijnwerker is one of the powerhouses at the top of the MW, but the sinpo from him this evening is around 44333, sometimes peaking a bit higher.

Those who regularly read the blog might have seen I mentioned a station called OSM on my last update. I posted a message on the AM Forum asking if anybody could help with some details about the station. And I got a couple of replies, including one from the O Superman himself. It turns out this is a station from many years ago who has returned to the air this year after a break of some years. Great to hear him back on air. 

Not many of them, but here are a few logs from this side.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

1630       2240       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 44333-45444 qsoing

1650       2246       Jeneverstoker 24332 qsoing

1638       2257       Bluebird 55544

1616       2308       Amigo 34333 asking for report

1625       2320       King 23222-34333 report for Amigo
1620       2325       Amigo 35333 qsoing

Monday, June 16, 2014

1655       2110       Witte Raaf 45444 music programme

1636       2110       Pandora 55444 music programme

1640       2130       Veronica 33443 music programme

Birthday celebrations

It's been a busy time over here for the last few days as I was preparing for my wife's 30th birthday. There was a marathon in the kitchen, cooking and preparing. And there was a lengthy wrapping session. And today were the celebrations. It's been a great day, and I'm ready for a good sleep, but just before I hit the sack, I've popped into the radio room to see what pirate activity I can detect.

There is a huge amount of static on the MW band, more than I've heard for a good while and, after some very warm weather today, it certainly sounds like a thunderstorm or two is on its way. However, there are some decent signals, with Barones on 1637, Witte Tornado on 1648, Tower on 1611 and Dinkelland, who has been on 1620 qsoing. However, best signal of all is from Odynn on 6288 kHz. It's been a good while since I heard him on MW, but I hear he could be back on there soon, and I look forward to it. Hopefully his signal will be as good as it is on SW right now.

Here's the lowdown on the latest logs from this side. Not too many on the MW as conditions have not been great. There is always a lull in reception for me at this time of the year. However, it's only a couple of weeks until the longest day of the year. Goodness, it will soon be Christmas!

Sunday, June 9, 2014

1611       2205       Tower 25222-35233 music programme

1637       2205       Barones 35232-45333 music programme

1647       2205       Witte Tornado 45333 music pogramme

1620       2214       Dinkelland 45344 qsoing

1655       2228       Test Piraat 35232 qsoing

1655       2246       Digitaal 45333-45344 qsoing

Saturday, June 8, 2014

1630       2230       Akai 35333

1648       2233       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

1646       2237       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45333-45344 qsoing

1648       2248       Jeneverstoker 33333 qsoing

Monday, June 2, 2014

1648       2252       Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

1640       2255       Professor Sickbok 45444 qsoing

Sunday, June 1, 2014

1620       2054       Sluwe Vos 34333-44444 music programme

1630       2054       Akai 43333 music programme

1636       2054       Barones 44433-55444 music programme

1640       2055       Professor Sickbok 54444 music programme

1512       2102       Tempico music programme

1625       2117       Monte Carlo 43443-44444 report for Akai

1648       2122       Uniek 24222-34333 music programme

Saturday, May 31, 2014

1655       2220       Zwarte Ridder (via Studio 69) 35333-45444 music programme

1648       2220       Moby Dick 45444 music programme

1620       2220       Ruisbreker 23322-44444 music programme 

1633       2239       Monte Carlo 55444-55555 testing

1635       2253       Zwarte Schaduw 25222-35333 report for Monte Carlo

1619       2334       813? weak signal

1637       2337       OSM 35333-45454 asking for a report

Observations

• Good to hear Dinkelland on air this evening. He's quite a rare catch these days. He sounded very good, flattening quite a lot of the static, with his quality modulation coming through loud and clear
• A couple of weeks back it was interesting to hear Ruisbreker on air just a week after the AT paid a visit and gave a warning for his activities on FM. His signal was peaking up quite nicely after some antenna modifications
• That same night, Monte Carlo was sounding superb, hitting the maximum 55555 sinpo during his qso with Zwarte Schaduw. And there were a couple of interesting catches at the end of the evening. I might be mistaken, but I thought I caught an ID of Radio 813 on 1619, a station I have not heard for many years. And then there was a station that seemed to be calling itself OSM announcing a location of Flevoland. A bit of a mystery, that one

Quiet bank holiday

Conditions have not been great recently for reception of the Dutch pirates here in England. As the days are getting longer and longer, signal do not arrive until later in the evening, and when propagation is down there is often not a great deal to hear.

Today was a bank holiday here in the UK and it was very nice indeed to hear the Xenon Transmitting Company (XTC) on 6308 kHz during the late afternoon. This station has been going for many years but is not regular these days - in fact, bank holidays seem to be the best time to catch broadcasts. Hearing XTC takes me back to the 1990s when the British free radio scene was thriving. Later in the evening, Bogusman appeared on 6305 kHz to do his bit. As usual his signal was very good here. There was no activity from the Netherlands to hear, though, and it has been quiet on MW too, with just a couple of stations heard.

Here's my recent log list . . . 

Monday, May 26, 2014

1640       2151       Professor Sickbok 45333 music programme

1640       2225       Monte Carlo 34333 qsoing

Friday, May 23, 2014

1611       2223       Barones 44333-55444 music programme

1623       2223       Monte Carlo 45343-45344 music programme

1648       2224       Uniek 35222-35333 music programme

1655       2224       Witte Raaf 45344 music programme

1695       2224       Korenklopper 45333-55334 music programme

1640       2225       Professor Sickbok 45334 qsoing

1638       2236       Blonde Zwerver 32222 qsoing

1670       2309       Batavier 44344 music programme

1641       2311       Jeneverstoker 35233 qsoing

Monday, May 19, 2014
1630       2011       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 45344-55444 music programme
1640       2011       Professor Sickbok 45344-55444 music programme
1625       2020       King 22322 music programme and testing limiter
1640       2139       Veronica 35232-45344 report for Sickbok
1650       2151       Monte Carlo 35233-45444 qsoing
1629       2207       Mustang 44344-55444
1622       2222       Soerabaya 34333 qsoing

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

1651       2053       Witte Raaf 44444 music programme

1631       2054       Mustang 55444-55555 music programme

1625       2058       Atletico 32422-34333 music programme

1630       2143       Soerabaya 24222 report for Mustang

1635       2143       Monte Carlo 33433 report for Mustang

1636       2148       Noordzee 43333 report for Mustang

1630       2149       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 43333 report for Mustang

Monday, May 12, 2014

1630       2025       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 55444-55555 music programme
1654       2028       Vliegende Schotel 44444 qsoing
1655       2035       Oldtimer 55444 qsoing
1611       2057       Batavia 24432 music programme
1646       2159       Noordzee 44444 music programme

Wednesday, May 7, 2014
1620       2210       Pelgrim 35333 music programme
1636       2212       Wadloper 35333 music programme

Monday, May 5, 2014
1620       0554       Amigo 24342 music programme
1618       0556       Zwarte Bouvier weak signal music programme
1638       2015       Bluebird 55555 music programme
1655       2015       Oldtimer 44444 music programme
1671       2016       Armada 45434 music programme
1611       2023       Batavia weak signal music programme
1611       2247       Calipso 55544 music programme

Saturday, May 3, 2014

1632       2334       Vrolijke Mijnwerker 54444 qsoing

1655       2334       Studio 69 33433-44444 music programme

1662       2334       Klaas Snoek 44444-55555 music programme

1633       2336       Barcelona 54544 qsoing

1636       2346       Professor Sickbok 54444 qsoing

1655       2350       Jeneverstoker 33433 qsoing

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

1625       2034       Napoleon 55444 music programme

1611       2324       Calipso 55555 music programme

Observations

• It was good to hear Korenklopper on Friday night. He's not often on air, but can usually be found above all the other pirates, and his choice of 1695 kHz was typical of where he usually broadcasts
• It's always nice when I hear a station for the first time and there have been three new names for me recently. Blonde Zwerver, Pelgrim and Zwarte Bouvier made it across the North Sea to my radio for the first time in the past few weeks. Judging from the signal strengths, I'm guessing all are low power which makes catching these stations even sweeter
• Talking of low power, Atletico was doing well on May 13. He was using only 30 watts of power, which sounded like more when the signal peaked. He sent me a picture of his antenna mast, which he has allowed me to share with you:
  
  
  

AT keeping busy

The authorities have been keeping busy in recent days. One of the stations hit was Ruisbreker, who broadcasts on MW from time to time, often getting a decent signal to England with his low-power transmitter. He was broadcasting on FM with his regular Saturday programme when the AT arrived at the transmission site and started to take photographs. A warning was then issued that the broadcast should stop within the hour. And so within the following minutes the plug was pulled and the station closed down. No equipment was seized.

As you can see from these photos, the antenna mast has been taken down . . .

And on Sunday, there was more action when the police noticed at unmanned pirate operating on FM from Barger-Compascuum. The transmitter was sighted inside a tree and the fire brigade was called to remove it . . . 

Defying the authorities

Late on Sunday evening the signal on 94.5 in the east of the Netherlands disappeared. After occupying the frequency illegally for around seven days the station SADO - Schijt Aan De Overheid was taken off the air. For our non-Dutch readers, look it up on an online translator!

SADO caused a great deal of interest, not least by their name! The transmitter power was around 3kw - no where near as much as some Dutch FM pirates run, with output up to 30kw for the bigger concerns. But this station, operating from the village of Balkbrug in Overijjsel, went one step further than other pirates, placing their stacked dipole antenna at the top of a 45 metre T-Mobile mast . . .

The position of the antenna and transmitter meant that, try as they might, the AT and police were unable to take the station off air immediately - doing so would have caused the T-Mobile mast to be disabled.  

As many FM pirates these days, the whole operation was unmanned and operated remotely. But as these pictures show, they certainly raised quite some interest in the local area . . . 

All that now remains is a mains cable and the antenna and some empty cabinets that housed the transmitter - everything else has been removed.