Qsoing Baro style

Sunday night was interesting at the top of the MW band. Radio Barones was busy with a music programme on 1620 kHz and when Witte Tornado closed down from their weekly show on 1647, various stations came on to give them a report. 

While he was on air, Barones was listening to this qso on the Twente web receiver and started to join in, chatting to the stations in the round while also continuing with his music programme - a unique way to qso!

I made some recordings, and here you can listen to Zender Johan late on Sunday night during that qso, followed by Barones into the early hours of Monday morning - he eventually closed down just before 0330 local Dutch time after carrying out various modulation tests.

And here are my logs for the last few days:

Tuesday, August 9. 2016

1615          2124         Mustang 55444 testing

1625          2126         Yogi Bear en Einstein 35443 music programme

1629          2144         Jack Sparrow 45444 testing
1643          2237         Bluebird 55444 music programme

Monday, August 8, 2016

1640          2000         Veronica 35333 music programme

1620          2008         Nova 4 45434 qsoing

1634          2009         Blauwe Koe 35333 music programme

1650          2014         Vrijevogel 25222 music programme

Sunday, August 7, 2016

1620          0406         Zonnester 45333 music programme 

1620          2158         Barones 45433-55444 music programme

1638          2200         Bluebird 55444-55555 music programme

1611          2203         Zender Johan 54444 report for Witte Tornado

1610          2208         Monte Carlo 33433 qsoing

1647          2211         Witte Tornado 45333-45444 qsoing

1647          2252         Monte Carlo 34433 qsoing

1642          2326         Casablanca 42432

Observations

• The band has been pretty quiet over the last few days. Now is generally holiday time in the Netherlands, so many pirates are probably spending time with their families rather than switching on their transmitters
• Mustang and Jack Sparrow are good friends and were both testing on Tuesday night, although Jack was on air for only a few minutes. Both were very good here with Mustang packing his usual mighty punch
• I caught only the last few minutes of Yogi Bear and Einstein on Tuesday but the signal was very good over here. Einstein is the technical guy in his area who helps out behind the scenes with various stations... names like Relmus, Wadloper and Batavier all call on his services from time to time
• Monday night continues to be the regular slot for Veronica on 1640 kHz and his programme seems popular with the many Twente pirates who call in or message the studio
• Blauwe Koe was doing well on Monday evening. His signal was fading around but sometimes coming up very well indeed
• As you will see from the logs, Vrijevogel was also active on Monday. 1650 has been his regular frequency for a few months now, but this was the first time I've heard him on the channel. Conditions were a little strange... sometimes his signal was coming right up and was very listenable, but it would then dip right down into the noise. When autumn arrives propagation should stabalise
• Bluebird remains consistently one of the strongest Dutch pirates active on MW. His self-built equipment is certainly working very well and is regularly audible here in the UK on nothing but a portable radio with only the internal ferrite antenna. With a communications receiver and the outdoor loop, he regularly hits the magic sinpo of 55555

Sunday star shining bright

Early on a Sunday morning is often a good time to catch Dutch MW pirates, and one regular on the band is Radio Zonnester. He was in action this morning, signing on at 0406 UTC, just after 5am here in the UK and 6am in the Netherlands:



His programme is very popular with other pirates who tune in before switching on their transmitters and giving him a report when he comes to the end of his broadcast. This morning he closed down at 0610 UTC and was then swamped with reports from stations including Zwarte Panter, Quiksilver, Bonte Specht, Casablanca, Noordzee, Cuaraco, Alpenjager, Monaco and Zender Johan.

At my location it is rare to hear Dutch MW pirates during the hours of daylight, but Zonnester was still coming through at 0730 local time today, around two hours after sunrise. That's pretty good going and he was the only station I could hear at that time - the other pirates giving him reports were inaudible here.

So if you're near a radio early on a Sunday morning have a quick tune around. Not only is 1620 a popular frequency (sometimes you can hear the Bootsman at a similar time), 1611 often has some activity (today was Zwarte Panter), while 1539 is also popular with regular broadcasts from Kleine Cowboy and Zwarte Valk.

Al fresco pirate listening

It's been a long wait for the sort of weather that means we can spend an evening outdoors in the garden, but it came on Saturday night and we spent several hours with candles, fire, alcohol and some Dutch pirates on the radio.

Radio Barones on 1611 kHz was our station of choice for most of the evening, but I had a few turns of the dial at various intervals. Duranza is a name I've seen in chatrooms but have never heard myself, so it was good to catch this station tonight on 1620 kHz from the north of the Netherlands with a good signal. Moby Dick was busy with his weekly programme on 1648, while there were other stations dotted around, with Snowman doing well as usual with low power on 1667.

The SW antenna mast

The fire going strong out in the garden

The summer vibe - at last

The loop with some summer foliage!

Towards the end of the evening Dinkelland popped up on 1629, testing his equipment and having a qso with Spakenburg. I shot a little video of the reception of Dinkelland in the garden, which you can see here. The radio in use tonight was the Lowe HF225, connected to the loop antenna pictured above:

And here are tonight's logs along with some from earlier in the week:

Saturday, August 6, 2016

1611          2100         Barones 44444 music programme

1648          2100         Moby Dick 45444 music programme

1636          2130         Keizer en Keizerin 34333 music programme

1655          2143         Pioneer 45434

1667          2145         Snowman 25222-35333 music programme

1620          2145         Duranza 45434 music programme

1629          2216         Dinkelland 55434 asking for report

1629          2222         Spakenburg 44434 report for Dinkelland

1625          2230         Jeneverstoker 32432 reporting

1625          2323         Pandora 55444 qsoing

Friday, August 5, 2016

1615          2140         Uniek 35333 music programme

1631          2141         Turftrekker 44444 music programme

1638          2142         Bluebird 54444 music programme

1668          2145         Armada 45434 music programme

1633          2200         Barcelona 43443

1668          2200         Monte Carlo 55444 report for Armada

1620          2210         Monte Carlo 44444 report for Barcelona

Thursday, August 4, 2016
1640          2130         Veronica 35333 music programme
1640          2140         Monte Carlo 45434 report for Veronica
1655          2150         Wilskracht 35333 report for Veronica
1625          2211         Monte Carlo 45444 qsoing

Monday, August 1, 2016
1632          2330         Barones 54444 testing
1638          2330         Bluebird 54444 music programme

Summer fun

Last weekend I made what has become an almost annual trip across the North Sea to the Netherlands to take part in the Summer Meeting - where pirate operators and listeners get together to chat, eat and drink.

This year the event was organised by the Shortwave Combination Holland in the north-east of the Netherlands, a great location and run like clockwork by Jos of Radio Lowland and his team of helpers. There were many pirates enjoying the atmosphere, including a good number of MW operators like Radio Silvia, Jack Sparrow, Armada, Havanna, Calimero, Relmus, Casablanca, Wadloper, Batavier and more.

My visit to the Netherlands began on Friday July 22 when I flew over from England and spent the afternoon and evening with Radio Barones, who was in good spirits. His transmitter was not in A1 condition at the time so there was no transmitting like on so many previous occasions, but that was no problem. I've known the Baro for over 20 years , so it's always good to visit and find out what he's been up to.

On Saturday morning I took a slow drive to another good friend, to Radio Zeewolf and his family who welcomed me into their home. My bedroom for the next couple of days was in the studio, nestled among the many transmitters and pieces of radio equipment all set out in a stunning fashion. It really is a sight to behold!

On Saturday afternoon we headed to the Summer Meeting and spent a fine time in the company of many pirates whose names are know by radio listeners and DXers across Europe. Stations like Powerliner, Technical Man, Black Arrow, Python, Foxfire, Mustang, Tidalwave, Carrierwave, Pirana - they were all there. 

It was also a pleasure to meet Alf and Per from Sweden - great supporters of the pirate scene and big players in the Dx world in Scandinavia. We spent time chatting and drinking at the Summer Meeting before getting together again on Sunday with Radio Zeewolf and visiting a couple of pirates.

First stop was at Studio 52, where yours truly was a little quiet after far too much to drink at the Summer Meeting - I personally blame Mustang and Batavier. When you're in their company it is very difficult to drink slowly!

As ever, it was interesting to see where another shortwave pirate is housed and just what the set-up is. Many thanks for the coffee and cake, which helped wake me up a little!

The biggest surprise of the trip came on our next visit - to Radio Casablanca. Operator Hans has been transmitting for some 44 years and has seen it all during his time as a pirate. MW is his passion, and qsoing in particular. He took great delight in showing us his set-up and has kindly let me share these photos with you:

I think it's fair to say it's best to keep your hands in your pockets if you're going anywhere near the Casablanca transmitter! With wires everywhere it might not look the safest piece of kit, but it certainly packs a punch on the MW band with a great signal into the UK and Europe.

Like most pirate studios these days, there were plenty of computers on show. However, Casablanca has prefers to play his music from CD and has a fine collection.

After we had taken a good look at indoor side of Radio Casablanca, we went outside for a look at the antenna . . . and found something quite unexpected at the bottom of his antenna mast. For the use of friends and family, Hans has his own pub!

I had seen some Casablanca beermats previously, and now it all makes sense. With a full bar, pool table, fruit machine, music and even a transmitter, the pub has it all! Our Swedish friends could hardly believe their eyes!

Later than evening after a super Chinese meal in the Zeewolf garden it was great to hear Casablanca on air . . . just a few hours earlier we had been in his studio and drinking in his pub!

My trip this year was only a flying visit and I was back home on Monday evening, tired but with plenty of stories to tell.

I would like to say a very big thank-you to Barones and Zeewolf for kindly letting me stay with them, and also to Zeewolf's family for having this strange, sometimes messy, Englishman in their house for a couple of days. Also a big thumbs-up to Jos for all his time and effort to make the Summer Meeting the success it was. I can only imagine all the time and effort that went into making sure it ran so well. Many thanks.

It was great to be there and spend some time with you all.

The longest day

I haven't been listening to the pirates a great deal during the last few weeks, mainly because history tells me this isn't a good time of the year to tune in. The long hours of daylight and poor propagation conditions are never a good mix. However, with yesterday being the longest day of the year there is plenty to look forward to. Not that I'm wishing away the summer, but the days will gradually shorten, the hours of darkness will increase and the chances to listen to the Dutch MW pirates will become more plentiful.

When I turned the radio on this evening I thought conditions were even further down than I imagined. I could literally catch only the very odd weak signal. It took me a good ten minutes to realise I had disconnected the outdoor loop antenna during one of last week's storms!

It seems there is a deal of bad weather somewhere not too far from here again as the static tonight is as bad as I can recall in a good while. That is not stopping Radio Calimero from powering away on his usual frequency of 1638 kHz with another of his lengthy broadcasts, while on 1620 kHz is the tiny transmitter of Radio Snowman, whose signal from Friesland is pretty good.

Also on the air right now is Radio Turfsteker. He's on 1645 kHz and runs only around 50 watts. Again, the signal is pretty good all things considered. Now if only the static crashes would disappear, listening conditions would be great. 

Quality reception

There have been some very good propagation conditions on MW during the last couple of weeks which have made for some ideal opportunities to listen to the Dutch pirates in decent quality. 

Local interference in this area can be annoying at times, but I'm managing to just about null most of it out with some very fine movements of the loop antenna on the rotator and, when things get worse, by bringing the really handy noise canceller into operation. This is a great bit of kit which I cannot recommend highly enough.

I made these recordings on May 15 - you can hear Studio Friesland, running only low power, followed by Wipkikker, Barones, Twentana and Witte Tornado. The really surprising one in here is Twentana - his signal strength out of five is usually in the region of 2-3 here, but on this occasion it was hugely improved



A couple of months ago I mentioned I had added another radio to my collection - the Tecsun PL-380. I've heard good reports about these and it seems they weren't wrong. Here's a short video clip of Johnny Tobacco coming in loud and clear. Now I know this station is always strong throughout Europe, but all I was using to receive him was the telescopic antenna with the radio indoors. I've been mightily impressed by the sensitivity of this receiver - and all for about £30!



I haven't updated the logbook for a while here on the blog, mainly because I haven't been logging station quite as religiously as I do during the winter, but here's some of the stations I've heard in recent weeks:

Thursday, May 19, 2016

1671          2027         Armada 35333-45444 music programme

1647          2028         Digitaal 45444 music programme

1620          2041         Ruisbreker 24222-34333 music programme

1625          2041         Wilskracht 24222-34333 music programme

1630          2113         Studio Friesland 33333-34443

Sunday, May 15, 2016

1625          2005         Barones 55555 at 2124 music programme

1636          2010         Witte Tornado 34333-45444 music programme

1655          2045         Wilskracht 34333 music programme

1620          2052         Studio Friesland 34333 asking for report

1629          2056         Wipkikker 44444 report for Studio Friesland

1620          2104         Wipkikker 44444 report for Studio Friesland

1665          2135         Twentana 35333-45544 music programme

Thursday, May 12, 2016

1622          2135         Witte Raaf 45333 music programme

1494          2226         Batavia 33433 music programme

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

1638          1930         Calimero 35343 music programme

1640          1945         Moskou 33333

1620          2003         Mustang 45333-55444 music programme

1665          2011         Twentana 25222-35333 music programme

1620          2034         Spanningzoeker 55444 asking for report

Monday, May 9, 2016

1638          1945         Calimero 24322-34333 music programme

1640          1945         Veronica 24322-44444 music programme

1625          2013         Digitaal 45343 music programme

Sunday, May 8, 2016

1647          2147         Witte Tornado 45444-55555 music programme

Thursday, May 5, 2016

1611          2025         Schaduwjager 55444 music programme

1647          2026         Armada 45333-55444 music programme

1638          2026         Calimero 35333 music programme

1626          2026         Polydor 35333 music programme

1611          2057         Zeewolf 24222-34333 report for Schaduwjager

Monday, May 2, 2016

1645          2015         Twentana 35333 testing

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

1636          1912         Blauwe Koe 35232-45444 music programme

1630          1922         Marianne 34333-44444 music programme

1613          1925         Capri 55434 music progamme with monster mod

1652          1930         Digitaal 45444 music programme

1655          1930         Dikke Betta 44444

1669          1938         Zwarte Panter 24222-45444 music programme

1671          1952         Twentana 25222-35333

1640          1954         Batavier 23222

1622          2012         Twentana 25222-35333 music programme

Monday, April 25, 2016

1640          1907         Veronica 35343 music programme

1635          1938         Melkbus 25222-35333 testing

1611          2016         Zwarte Boer 32322 music programme

1647          2016         Armada 45434 testing

1630          2019         Melkbus 25222 testing

Saturday, April 23, 2016

1655          1832         Relmus 45444 music programme

1636          1832         Keizer en Keizerin 35343 music programme

1611          1840         Moonbreaker 25232-35333 music programme

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

1630          1928         Marianne music programme

Monday, April 18, 2016

1640          1928         Veronica 25222-35333 music programme        

1625          1956         Verona 25222-35333 music programme

Thursday, April 14, 2016

1611          1943         Zwarte Boer 25222 music programme

1620          1944         Marskramer 35333-45434

1632          1945         Boogschutter 25222 music programme

1647          1945         Armada 45434 music programme

Monday, April 11, 2016

1615          1750         Zwarte Boekanier 25232 music programme

1620          1751         Calipso 45454-55555 music programme

1636          1805         Bluawe Koe 35322-45454 music programme

1640          1810         Veronica 23432-3443 weekly music programme

1635          1855         Ruisbreker 22422 music programme

Sunday, April 10, 2016

1630          1942         Digitaal 45444 music programme

1638          1946         Calimero 35333 music programme

1647          1947         Witte Tornado 45444 music programme

1611          2204         Baantje 35222-35333 music programme

1646          2214         Barcelona 55444 report for Witte Tornado

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

1665          2128         Batavier 35333-45444 music programme

1638          2133         Calimero 45444 music programme

1611          2133         Noorderzon 24222 music programme

1632          2140         Ruimzicht 25342 qsoing   

1638          2149         Noordzee 42432 qsoing

1647          2152         Monte Carlo 35333 qsoing

Saturday, April 2, 2016

1636          2026         Keizer en Keizerin 44444 music programme

1652          2029         Moby Dick 44444-55444 music programme

1658          2030         Turfsteker 34333 music programme

1647          2045         Quintus 33333-44444 music programme

1617          2103         Uniek 44444 music programme

1494 kHz

Something interesting has just cropped up on 1494 kHz. It's Radio Batavia from the Netherlands. The station has been busy on shortwave recently, mainly using 5890 kHz, but they are back on MW right now and being heard on this unusual frequency for the first time. 

There is a fair bit of Dutch pirate activity in the main MW band, especially on a weekend, but most broadcasts are made during the daytime when reception is not possible at our location in the UK, so it makes a nice change to hear an in-band pirate.  The signal right now is fair with a little bit of interference and fading, but it's certainly listenable.

Batavia's most regular frequency on MW is 1620 kHz, but they are no stranger to trying something different. Ive heard them on 1539, 1593 and 1512 before now. The output power is usually in the region of 200 watts, I believe, and results are generally pretty good. Keep an ear out on 1494 - now they've tried it with success I'm sure they will be back on the frequency again.