Pirate radio...

[Sandy G]

...Avast, me hearties ! Tonite's about the prime night for listening to a Pirate Radio Transmission. These are the guys who get on the air & start talking, w/o the encumberment of getting a license from the proper authorities. Signal quality generally ranges from the bad to abyssimal, as a lot of these dudes don't have much technical smarts. Some of the content is pretty good, some of it is wild-eyed right & left wingnuts, some of it is 10-yr-old boys foolin' w/dad's ham radio. You generally gotta have a shortwave set that has sideband capability on it, 6950-6955Kcs being good frequencies to target, along w/7415. Usually they don't stay on very long, for fear of being "triangulated" & subsequently busted by the FCC. But it IS fun picking one or more of these guys up...

[Fisherdude]

I'll be on!

[gearhead]

Do you ever record, in hopes of catching something good?

[Fisherdude]

Used to record using an old mono cassette deck years ago, but not recently.

[DENNYDOG]

How far do you think the transmissions go? I don't have a short wave but was just wondering.

[Sandy G]

Well, since they're SW & sideband, they go pretty far, especially for running "flea-power" like they do. You shouldn't have any trouble hearing them in Minnesota... Just for shits 'n' giggles, try right on either end of the AM band, too..They've even been known to get on the lower end of the FM band, in the 88-92 range, where the "educational" stations are. They typically try to stay away from ham or broadcast frequencies, hams hate 'em, as do the big broadcasters.

[sprman55]

Hello dont forget 6.925mhz 1 You find AM,SSBthere and check week days too after dark.Never know what you wil hear!Ihave been tuning the Pirates since the 1980s and have some nice QSLcards from them.Not got any since the 90s tho.Programing is just about anything..Frthest i got was 3 rivers canada while living in maryland...Afvel

[BajaGringo]

That takes me back to the day when Wolfman Jack was taken off the air and broadcast from Baja into California/Arizona.

[Cadillac Kid]

A few years ago I sent a reception report to a 7415 kHz Pirate's POB. A couple of weeks, later I received a cool, glossy QSL Card complete with a Bucanneer wearing headhones.

[wajobu]

These are indeed great frequencies for those cold, clear nights. Been a shortwave listener since my first AM crystal radio set starting picking up the Voice of America in the middle of the night with my copper wire antenna outside my bedroom window. It opened my eyes and ears up to the World.

[Fisherdude]

Originally Posted by wajobu

These are indeed great frequencies for those cold, clear nights. Been a shortwave listener since my first AM crystal radio set starting picking up the Voice of America in the middle of the night with my copper wire antenna outside my bedroom window. It opened my eyes and ears up to the World.

You continue to surprise me. I started in 1959, when I was 10. My uncle was a gunner on B-24's flying missions over Italy, and he had a BC-348 that had a power supply added, and he let me borrow it. Solid copper magnet wire strung around the ceiling in my bedroom, an old pair of headphones, and I've been hooked ever since. In addition to the R-390A, I also have my own BC-348, so it's like I've come full circle.

Here's a challenge...I'm WPE6GBF. Does that ring a bell?

[wajobu]

I'm a bit younger , so for me it started in the mid-1960s when I was 7 or 8 years old. Hmm...WPE6GBF isn't ringing a bell...where should I be listening?

I also listen to 3.885 MHz, the old Military Radio Net.

Then there's those late night drunken "keyers" who block other folks from talking, for sport.

[mhardy6647]

Mrs H is in New Mexico birding, it's January and I think I'm going to drag a communications receiver upstairs and fire it up before bedtime tonight for a little DXing.

[wajobu]

I'd love to have a big ol' boatanchor like yours there FD.

[Fisherdude]

That's my Popular Electronics Shortwave Monitor registration number. Interesting story behind it. The PE employee who ran the whole thing is named Hank Bennett. Still alive, has the database, won't share it with anybody.

After the BC-348, got a National NC-77X for Christmas, 1964. Still have it. My dad had a Kenwood R-300 and R-5000, have both of them.

Now it's...

Kenwood R-300, R-5000.
National NC-46, NC-77X, NC-105, NC-121, HRO-500.
Hallicrafters S-20R, SX-62A, SX-100, SX-110.
Hammarlund HQ-120X, HQ-145, HQ-145X, HQ-170, HQ-180, HQ-180A.
Military surplus BC-348, and, oh yeah, R-390A/URR.

Of course, I'm just a hacker compared to Sandy!!

I'd still love to have a Halli SX-28 and SX-42. I'm probably going to start getting rid of the less desirable ones first.