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General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: John Poet on December 02, 2011, 2105 UTC

Title: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: John Poet on December 02, 2011, 2105 UTC
Only counterfeit offers of peace by those who started the 'war' in the first place:

http://www.tcsshortwave.com/2011/12/commander-bunny-offers-peace-treaty-in.html

Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Alex_in_West_Virginia on December 02, 2011, 2146 UTC
D'ya notice how Jerry Michael/Pat/Beans/Mosby/Thumper et al ad nauseum wants "certain" people  ;) to not disclose identifying info about others, yet he mentions ad nauseum the full names/addresses of 2 of his "enemies," LMFAO???  :P 

Geez, talk about "do as I say and not as I do!"  ::)
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Jolly Roger on December 03, 2011, 0107 UTC
You know, one of the bizarre things (among MANY!) is that until this mess with the rodent started we didn't have to worry about identities. I mean lets face it, the only ones that CARED about identities were the furreh crowd so that they could intimidate and bother the rest of us.
When I used to be on the Furreh Radio Network site I was a victem of the sock puppets. They dangled my personal info over my head and would occasionally release little bits to the public in an attempt to intimidate me. Remember Arctic Arab Radio from last year? Yeah, that's them releasing my Ebay I.D. I'm wetting myself in fear. Maple Leaf Radio from last year? Yup, same thing. I'm all a fluster. They released that I used to play bass in high school. I'm hanging my head in shame. So I figured what the hell, I posted my full name, Ham call and address to take some wind out of their sails. They deleted it from the site. So here goes, ya floppy eared pathetic freak. I drive a Dodge truck. You could post a reception report of Dodge Truck Radio. THAT would really scare me. I live on Elm Crescent. Elm Crescent Radio? I'll mess my pants.
All this started because they ASSumed I was Northern Relay Service. I'm not. But why would it really matter if I was?
Every year Yoder publishes in his book that CB is such a great asset to Pirate Radio. I have to call Bullship on that one.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Newfoundland DXer on December 03, 2011, 0126 UTC
Every year Yoder publishes in his book that CB is such a great asset to Pirate Radio. I have to call Bullship on that one.

I bought one of those a couple years ago.  Although I did appreciate the wide coverage of stations, including some euros that I admire greatly, the listing of every bunny show as a separate station was completely unncessary padding, and devalued the worth of the book.  So I passed last year.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Jolly Roger on December 03, 2011, 0335 UTC
I'm not critical of the book otherwise, I love it, read it cover to cover several times, and rely on it to I.D. and contact stations. I've corresponded with Andrew personally and respect him tremendously. But this year he has GOT to edit the CB entry.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Alex_in_West_Virginia on December 03, 2011, 0349 UTC
I've corresponded with Andrew personally and respect him tremendously. But this year he has GOT to edit the CB entry.

Exactly as I feel!
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Pigmeat on December 03, 2011, 0451 UTC
Andy asked me for station info last spring for the book. His deadline was well before this all blew up.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Sealord on December 03, 2011, 1050 UTC
Andrew is a good guy and a positive asset to the hobby.  He's contributed some great publications on not only the pirate hobby, but antennas as well too.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Pigmeat on December 03, 2011, 1715 UTC
Andy is a great guy. There's no reason to drag him into this mess.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: John Poet on December 04, 2011, 0649 UTC
Agreed, Andy is a gentleman and the foremost scholar of North American pirate radio, and has created an invaluable 'archive' of station information with his annuals.

Regarding the multiple station listings-- most of these were regarded as separate "stations", and at least initially were not identified as WBNY products...

However, in reality, a good number of them consist of only one program, the identical program being broadcast repeatedly.  I suppose that does not justify a separate 'station listing' any longer, now that it is well-known fact what station is rebroadcasting them, and many of them were claimed as his programs on his own website (before he made it private)-- it might now be more appropriate to list them all under the WBNY entry.

But, that is just my opinion, and that of some of you others-- you know, the readers--- and not necessarily that of the guy who's actually doing all the work on these annuals--- which in all fairness, counts more (on that particular decision) than that of all the rest of us put together.

Andy has only tried to make as complete an accounting of the active pirate radio stations in a given year, as possible.  What we have here is a difference of opinion on what constitutes a 'station'.

Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: ChrisSmolinski on December 04, 2011, 1256 UTC
Many years ago, I made a comment on the FRN that many "different" stations were really run by the same operator, alter egos if you will. Pat went ballistic. I didn't quite understand at the time why, but of course now it makes complete sense. There's nothing wrong with an op running multiple stations - it means more for us to listen to. But, if that op uses the alter egos as sock puppets, that's another story.  My comment hit a little too close to home, I guess.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Alex_in_West_Virginia on December 04, 2011, 1612 UTC
Seems like it doesn't take much to make Jerry Michael/Pat et al go ballistic anymore!
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Pigmeat on December 04, 2011, 2031 UTC
When I was actively pirating I was normally running 3-4 "stations" at a time,not including relays. Plus,there were always one-off stations and seasonal ones. From talking to other ops that's a fairly normal pattern.

Bram Stoker once joked about "25 stations and 4 transmitters" regarding how the pirate scene actually worked. He's not far from the truth,IMO.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Newfoundland DXer on December 05, 2011, 0040 UTC
Andy is a great guy. There's no reason to drag him into this mess.

As an experienced author, I am quite sure Andrew can distinguish between a personal attack and a critique of one of his published works.



Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Jolly Roger on December 05, 2011, 0136 UTC
Thank you. I wasn't attempting to "start" anything with or about Andrew. If I could, I would retract the statement I made because this has already gotten bigger then I intended.  I stand by it, I just wish I had kept my thoughts to myself.
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Newfoundland DXer on December 05, 2011, 0230 UTC

Bram Stoker once joked about "25 stations and 4 transmitters" regarding how the pirate scene actually worked. He's not far from the truth,IMO.

I actually try to distinguish between actual stations and what I call "novelty stations" in my own personal log list.  

For Europe, it is easy.  Yes, there are novelty shows for certain holidays, but they are rare.  Also, some stations change names for "enforcement" reasons.  And some stations adopt different names for holidays (particularly Christmas).  Only two or three regularly use different names (one seems to have 3 names, one for each of his musical styles).  But, overall, it is a lot easier to keep track of than this side of the Atlantic.

Over here, it is a bit of a mess.  There are many "seasonal" shows that I know come from one guy, because I recognize his voice (and particularly his pirate "arrrr" ... he does it well ;)) whenever I hear it.  There were the multicolored Rhino shows that obviously were connected.  And the Blowing League occassionally try to make an impression with a bunch of new names.  But overall, who knows how many actual txs are on the air ???

But it is all fun ;D, unless, as Chris mentioned,, they use those identities for other purposes >:(

Cheers, Terry
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Pigmeat on December 05, 2011, 1725 UTC
LOL.

I use a Grenade transmitter. The thing with Grenade's is they all make a distinctive noise on air when you cut the power,and the sound made is individual to every Grenade. At one time I could tell if and who  was running the program by the sound their Grenade made at sign-off.

One of the odder era's of pirating I got involved in was just after 9/11. Except for me and another stateside pirate, hardly any one was running programming on regular basis? For 3-4 months,if either of us decided to pass on transmitting the same weekend,there would be nothing on. I was making up stations right and left to fill the void.

I think we both worked harder on putting out programming in those few months than either of us did at our regular jobs?
Title: Re: Gentlemen may cry 'Peace, peace!' but there IS no peace
Post by: Newfoundland DXer on December 09, 2011, 0217 UTC

I use a Grenade transmitter. The thing with Grenade's is they all make a distinctive noise on air when you cut the power,and the sound made is individual to every Grenade. At one time I could tell if and who  was running the program by the sound their Grenade made at sign-off.

Ususally a grenade signal comes in pretty weak up here, but that is a very useful tip.  I will try to listen for that.


One of the odder era's of pirating I got involved in was just after 9/11. Except for me and another stateside pirate, hardly any one was running programming on regular basis? For 3-4 months,if either of us decided to pass on transmitting the same weekend,there would be nothing on. I was making up stations right and left to fill the void.

I think we both worked harder on putting out programming in those few months than either of us did at our regular jobs?

I remember reading an old post on frn a few years ago, about a guy who had to tape the station name above the mic so he would remember who he was supposed to be that night.  Maybe it was you. ;-)

This post got me thinking about the differences between the 2 pirate communities. As a comparison between Europe and NA, here are my QSL totals.  The Europe number I am pretty sure of (might be off by a couple), but the NA number is somewhat a guess.  I suspect that I have grossly underestimated the number of relays in NA.

NA                     Actual stations:    24      Novelty shows/relays:  32
Europe   (sw)   Actual stations:  161       Novelty shows/relays:  10

The difference is interesting.

Cheers, Terry