Oh, phew, it's late but I want to write something now. The thoughs my be lost tomorrow. Taken away by sleep. Bear with me about typos, OK?
The Short answer is: there will always be Pirate Radio. In every imaginable way. SW/FM. Audio, Data, Beacons. Technology may change. Laws may changes. Humans passion hardly change.
Peope who share a certain mindset, interest and fascination will always do the stuff that triggers them. Sword are are out of date since... dunno how many hundread years. Still there are poeople who learn this beautiful art (well... let's see it as art, not a way to murder people).
There isn't much Pirate activity on the FM Bands over here in Germany. So I can't relate to that. AFAIK, the government plans to shut down any Analog Broadcasting until 2024. They did that already with Analog TV Broadcasting years ago. Still, I think there may be people who send out a signal, just to see whether there may be someone who hears it. Curiosity kills the cat... and drives our imagination.
SW is way more interesting and will hardly die. Low power transmissions can travel hundreads and thousand of miles. Hardly anyone monitors those bands and may kick your ass (except whenyou interfer with other stations, government used Bands or well... transmit with, like, 10kW... or play up-to-date chart hits nonstop). I there's a certain fascination to SW Broadcasting. A big point is the question "how far can I get?". I think that operating a stationon in the SW Band is like allowing our inner child to come out and play. When we were young we wrote '
messages in a bottle'. Now we manage to ship bottles through the air.
Of course there may be political message that go along with it. But let's be honest: that doesn't change anything. People who broadcast and listen to pirate stuff are very prone to already have a very healty mind that can't be fooled by the government. I think it's just the feeling of "
not feeling alone, sharing opinions and knowing that people understand them" is the key here.
(Side note: I think the government accepted piracy on a certain level and lets us play on our 6-7Mhz Band, knowing that we have a playground where we will stick to, causing no trouble and where we can be monitored.)
There may be many individual reason for someone to give in to this facinating - but illegal - hobby. Okay, listening can't be counted as illegal. But on thd large scale I think it boils down to having friends and sating the hunger for adventure and longing. Maybe also a bit of "
taming the Beast" (RF stuff is not easy to play with).
In my case: the word can turn as digital as it wants. I know there are folks out there who enjoy the old-school art of radio building and classy operation modes. And I know there are people who're looking for Pirate Ptations. Like they know that there are people who operate such stations. It's a way of comminication. Unidrectional and low level, but with a deep understanding of the longing behind.
okay, I'm not a Radio Station Operator. Several reasons. I may change that one day. Dunno. So, the question is "Why did I buidl '
common and Presious' and why do I work on my next Beacon project already?" Many reasons. Many are on the emotional side who can't be explained that easy and can likely only understood by a sould that feels the same way.
It's some way to break-free. Like urban exploring. Leaving the civilisation, the dayly "
be a good worker and live a by the law"-life. I don't hurt anyone. I rob no one, I don't steal (okay... I've to be honest with myself... a tiny bit of energy.). It's my personal aventure. I'm not a Princess in her tower but a Prince (just for the figure of speech, mind you ;p) who screams "
I'm here! Find me! Get me outa here!". For many many centuries, people explored other countries... etc. It's my modern way of exploring. Sending a signal (like a dove) and waiting for a message to return.
It's often that I sit on the window bord before I head to bed and look into the sky, full of stars and clouds. A soft, gentle feeling full of longing takes me over in those moments and I wonder where the signal may travel. I get the same sensation when standing (especially during night) next to a broadcast Antenna/Pole/Tower. It's hard to describe. Maybe you understand.
My Beacon is my personal "
Candle behind a Windows on the top of a huge tower". Something that can be seen from dozen and dozen of miles away... and you want to go there. You want to know what that light is. It's some dream I have every now and then. There's a huge plain with grass. As far as the eye can see. And far, far away there's a slim but tall black tower that rises into the sky (has anyone seen the movie "
The Place Promised In Our Early Days"?). There's a small light that can be seen in the night. It's a candle or something . At the top of the tower, behind a window. Why is it burning? Who lives there? I can't have a tower. But I can have a Beacon that says "
Start a journey. Find me. Know me".
And, yeah, I was one of those poor souls that were unfortunate enough to be given an old Tube Radio/Shortwave Receiver during childhood. "
Oh? There's MORE than we're-the-best-radio-station-ever-with-the-best-mix-but-we-play-the-same-f*ing-14-tracks-allday-long-like-all-other-stations-and-our-moderator-thinks-he's-funny-FM stations? I WANT MORE!!"
Right now I'm sitting in my hammock in the garden. It's past midnight and warm. The wind is whispering in the leaves and I know that my Beacon beeps it's way through the night. Bridging cities, countries, continets, languages, religions, political systems. There's nothing to it but a simple message "
I'm here. Common but precious. Like we all".
Kind regards,
~Zazzle
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