1
Shortwave Pirate / Re: Relay Station 5150 AM 1731 UTC 24 Jan 2020
« on: January 24, 2020, 1958 UTC »
Easy 59 in the Boston burbs with "Walk This Way".
Shortwave Pirate Radio In North America And Around The World, And Other Things That Go Bump In The Night
We seek to understand and document all radio transmissions, legal and otherwise, as part of the radio listening hobby. We do not encourage any radio operations contrary to regulations.
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Florida has long been a hotbed of FM and AM pirate activity. Miami was/is right up there as the king of pirating along with NYC. Tampa had quite a bit of activity as well but you will find stuff all over Florida. Terry Krueger's site is a must-visit and would be a good starting point for you. He's been keeping this site up to date for many years and it is an impressive labor of love.
The URL is: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations
Yes - in fact Boston has had pirates as low as 87.7. If you are hearing anything on 87.9 you can pretty much guarantee it is something interesting, as Radio Locator only shows 2 small operations licensed in the whole country on 87.9 and they are far out west.
I agree - the Kenwoods are probably the best sounding unmodified transceivers for SSB pirating. The Flex radios sound really good too in SSB but I don't know how easily these go out of band. I wonder if any pirate has used one?
There are lots of resources on the web for setting up Kenwood rigs for good sounding SSB. One bonus with more recent radios (like the TS-590) is that you can feed the radio audio directly over USB from your computer, eliminating a lot of the hassles of trying to feed audio into a mic or aux jack and having to match levels, etc.
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2
General Radio Discussion / Re: Hinsdale Neighbors Fight Plans To Install 5G Cell Service, Citing Health Worries
« on: January 16, 2020, 1601 UTC »
These people are all over and like seeing their name in the paper. My kids attend preschool at a local community center. Think a YMCA type deal. This place is great, but is strapped for cash since their revenue largely comes from gym memberships. But other gyms are popping up everywhere and eating into their bottom line. They got very close to shutting down.
So a while back crews from Verizon showed up, and put a large cellular array on the roof, which they very quickly boxed in with discrete panels, so the whole thing resembles rooftop HVAC equipment, and not a cell site. The community center never informed the membership, which I think was wise, and they are surely adding to their much needed bottom line with the rent from this cell site.
One of my kids spent 5 years literally directly under this array, within 20-30 feet, and the other kid will be there for the next 3 years. Not a single kid or adult has gotten sick.
So a while back crews from Verizon showed up, and put a large cellular array on the roof, which they very quickly boxed in with discrete panels, so the whole thing resembles rooftop HVAC equipment, and not a cell site. The community center never informed the membership, which I think was wise, and they are surely adding to their much needed bottom line with the rent from this cell site.
One of my kids spent 5 years literally directly under this array, within 20-30 feet, and the other kid will be there for the next 3 years. Not a single kid or adult has gotten sick.
3
FM Free Radio / Re: FM pirates in the Boston area.
« on: January 14, 2020, 1348 UTC »Thats really cool. We had a Pirate station here where I live several years back. The first time I heard them I was scanning in the lower portion of Fm near our NPR station in my truck and noticed uncensored rap music. I should scan more often. I just never think of anyone doing it anymore.
Florida has long been a hotbed of FM and AM pirate activity. Miami was/is right up there as the king of pirating along with NYC. Tampa had quite a bit of activity as well but you will find stuff all over Florida. Terry Krueger's site is a must-visit and would be a good starting point for you. He's been keeping this site up to date for many years and it is an impressive labor of love.
The URL is: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations
4
FM Free Radio / Re: FM pirates in the Boston area.
« on: January 13, 2020, 1601 UTC »Some nice catches! I should figure out which FM channels here are at least marginally clear, and check them when out driving. Plus maybe check 87.9 ?
Yes - in fact Boston has had pirates as low as 87.7. If you are hearing anything on 87.9 you can pretty much guarantee it is something interesting, as Radio Locator only shows 2 small operations licensed in the whole country on 87.9 and they are far out west.
5
FM Free Radio / FM pirates in the Boston area.
« on: January 10, 2020, 1420 UTC »
Figured I'd start kind of a megathread for FM pirates in the Boston area. The Boston area could roughly be considered anywhere within 495 but we could consider some outlying areas as well. I have been regularly scanning the FM band with the factory radio in my truck and have found a few things so far. I'd like to keep one thread up to date. There was a good page with Boston area pirates at this link: http://www.bamlog.com/bostonlp.htm but it has not been updated in years.
Here's a few logs to start:
88.5 - Dancehall/rap/Caribbean type music with a live DJ, English and possibly Spanish talk between songs. Listened again this morning. This station fights with the Rockport MA legal Christian operation along the coast. As you go from western Lynn down 128 it occasionally becomes the dominant signal. Really not sure where this one is, possibly a lot closer to (or in) Boston. Last heard 1/13/2020 at 9:00 AM.
89.3 - Portuguese language folk music constantly, top of hour IDs, seems fully automated. Clearly audible at Route 3 and 62 in Bedford/Burlington, rumored to be a long running operation in Billerica. Last heard 1/13/2020 at 9:30 AM.
99.9 - [removed, not a pirate, construction permit translator for WJDA]
Other boards to check for pirate Boston pirate radio intel:
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forumdisplay.php?672-Boston (most active)
https://radioinsight.com/community/board/northeast/boston/ (not as active)
Here's a few logs to start:
88.5 - Dancehall/rap/Caribbean type music with a live DJ, English and possibly Spanish talk between songs. Listened again this morning. This station fights with the Rockport MA legal Christian operation along the coast. As you go from western Lynn down 128 it occasionally becomes the dominant signal. Really not sure where this one is, possibly a lot closer to (or in) Boston. Last heard 1/13/2020 at 9:00 AM.
89.3 - Portuguese language folk music constantly, top of hour IDs, seems fully automated. Clearly audible at Route 3 and 62 in Bedford/Burlington, rumored to be a long running operation in Billerica. Last heard 1/13/2020 at 9:30 AM.
99.9 - [removed, not a pirate, construction permit translator for WJDA]
Other boards to check for pirate Boston pirate radio intel:
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forumdisplay.php?672-Boston (most active)
https://radioinsight.com/community/board/northeast/boston/ (not as active)
6
Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Illuminati 5145 AM 1828 UTC 31 Dec 2019
« on: December 31, 2019, 1924 UTC »
Super S9+20 signal at peaks, moderate fading here in the Boston burbs. Nice audio too! "People of the Sticks" by The Besnard Lakes at 1926 UTC (a GREAT band that I haven't heard in a while!). ID by AC immediately after.
7
Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Illuminati Christmas Special 5145 am 1603 utc 25 Dec 2019 Broadcast
« on: December 25, 2019, 1607 UTC »
Good S6-S7 signal with fading at 1607 UTC. Playing AC/DC.
8
Shortwave Pirate / Re: Radio Free Whatever 4015 USB 0025z Dec 25, 2019
« on: December 25, 2019, 0031 UTC »
Also a big S9+ signal into the Boston burbs. Tame Impala and then RFW ID at 0026 UTC.
9
General Radio Discussion / Re: Weird interference on 31m
« on: December 23, 2019, 1706 UTC »
The #1 generator of wideband HF RFI that I have found around my house are "smart" 12v battery chargers/tenders. Specifically the NOCO Genius brand. I have a couple of these and they destroy HF with ridiculous RFI. Therefore I only use them occasionally to touch up a battery, I never leave them on a battery all of the time.
The 2nd worst generator of local RFI is undercabinet 12vdc LED strip lighting. The tiny switching power supplies they use are complete garbage.
The 2nd worst generator of local RFI is undercabinet 12vdc LED strip lighting. The tiny switching power supplies they use are complete garbage.
10
Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 4244 LSB 2338 UTC 13 Dec 2018
« on: December 13, 2019, 2342 UTC »
I also have this in the Boston burbs at 2341 UTC, very good S6-S7 signal. Kind of a country-folk song (Irish)?
Edit: peaking at S9! No preamp.
Edit: peaking at S9! No preamp.
11
Shortwave Pirate / Re: Captain Morgan Shortwave 6934.8 AM 2214 UTC 8 Dec 2019
« on: December 08, 2019, 2240 UTC »
Big S9+10 with moderate fading here in the Boston burbs with Lonnie the Cat "I'm Not Drunk I'm Just Drinking".
12
Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 5145 AM 2030 UTC 8 Dec 2019
« on: December 08, 2019, 2041 UTC »
I have this too, S9+10 in the Boston burbs. "Sunglasses at Night" by Corey Hart (lol) at 2040 UTC. I had no idea Corey Hart had a recording career. I probably did not know this for good reason. Radio Illuminati ID at 2047 UTC.
13
Peskies / Spanish 6810 USB
« on: October 19, 2019, 1210 UTC »
I have some Spanish conversation on 6810 USB at 1210 UTC 10/19/2019.
14
General Radio Discussion / Re: Finding the random fishermen...
« on: October 17, 2019, 1720 UTC »
When trying to identify a suspected "pesky" transmission there is a rule of thumb that if the language is non-rhotic English and there is a 5:1 word to f-bomb ratio, these individuals are usually in the northeast, generally around coastal New England. These are also known as "Angry Bastahds". It's not clear if they captain fishing boats, or recliners. Very often found in 6000-7000 KHz.
15
Equipment / Re: USB Pirate Station, audio bandwidth
« on: October 17, 2019, 1712 UTC »For straight, out of the box, it's hard to beat most Kenwood transceivers. There are even modifications to open many of those up to 5kHz TX bandwidth, or better. Not just the the high-end, but the low end bass as well.
I agree - the Kenwoods are probably the best sounding unmodified transceivers for SSB pirating. The Flex radios sound really good too in SSB but I don't know how easily these go out of band. I wonder if any pirate has used one?
There are lots of resources on the web for setting up Kenwood rigs for good sounding SSB. One bonus with more recent radios (like the TS-590) is that you can feed the radio audio directly over USB from your computer, eliminating a lot of the hassles of trying to feed audio into a mic or aux jack and having to match levels, etc.