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General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: jordan on February 11, 2014, 1539 UTC

Title: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: jordan on February 11, 2014, 1539 UTC
When people broadcast with pirate radio stations, what kind of programming do they typically do?  For those who play music, do any of them ever choose to play bluegrass or Southern Gospel music?  If so, is that more typical of FM or SW pirates?
Title: Re: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: ChrisSmolinski on February 11, 2014, 1640 UTC
I think the only rule is that there is no rule.  There's a huge variety of music played by the various stations. The more esoteric, the better, IMHO.

Title: Re: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: BDM on February 11, 2014, 2047 UTC
Anything, political talk, you name it. I remember logging a station on SW in around 1997/98 (somewhere around 6900+ portion) that played about about 1/2 hour of Star Trek sound effects, that was it (could have been someone tuning the transmitter?). No ID no nothing (curious if anyone remembers that? as I seem to remember some folks logged it on the WEB). Then comes the questions, what constitutes a pirate station? Someone playing sound effects for an hour over SW doesn't really in my book. But that's just my book ;)
Title: Re: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: ChrisSmolinski on February 11, 2014, 2310 UTC
One nice thing about the overnight SDR recordings I run is all the little strange pirate transmissions that pop up. Random SSTV images, sound effects, or even just a single song (like last night).

6925 is like a box of chocolates....
Title: Re: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: jordan on February 12, 2014, 0045 UTC
6925 is like a box of chocolates....


Would 6930 be just as diverse as 6925?  And would a person broadcasting on 6930 have as much chance of being heard as if they used 6925?
Title: Re: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: Fansome on February 12, 2014, 0102 UTC
Two big issues affect the choice of frequency (propagation issues aside).

The first is whether you will be interfering with someone else's transmission. This includes military operations, utility stations, hams, and other (possibly) licensed entities. It could also mean other pirates; sometimes there are pileups on 6925, when no station can be heard easily. Interfering with a non-pirate station, particularly the military, is a very good way to get busted.

The other issue is whether anyone will be listening. This used to be a lot more important than it is now; it once was that picking a random frequency that was not widely used by pirates meant that you stood a good chance of not being heard. Nowadays, though, someone with an SDR will likely notice that you are on the air, and the news will be spread via web sites like HFU, as well as chat rooms such as the Starchat #pirateradio channel.

6930 is likely a good place to be heard, since a lot of people monitoring 6925 will scan through there if they are using a proper radio with knobs, or see it on their waterfall on their improper SDR. Just be sure to listen a bit to make sure you are not going to step on someone else.

6925 is like a box of chocolates....


Would 6930 be just as diverse as 6925?  And would a person broadcasting on 6930 have as much chance of being heard as if they used 6925?
Title: Re: Programming on pirate radio stations
Post by: CoolAM Radio on February 12, 2014, 0103 UTC
Depends...
Conditions/Output-Power/Antenne-system used...
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I myself (from the Netherlands) using LowPower (max. 25 watts SSB) with only a
mobile antenna - length = only 1 meter 34 cm!!!
I got suprising results!

Maybe you like to check   http://piratingwithcumbre.tk (http://piratingwithcumbre.tk)  sub-map  UTILS - PDF FILES & MORE

Goodluck!

André
CoolAM Radio - Shortwave 6735
http://www.coolam.nl
the Netherlands