London Calling.

[Andy Richards]

Conditions were poor again today,but not as bad as last week & thankfully not too much noise.
Not that many stations heard,but quality is better than quantity.And we had some quality today.
All stations were fading right in & out again though and all the stations logged faded right out at times,sometimes for 15 minutes or more.Having said that,most of the stations I logged were also at times much stronger than the reports I have given below.
I have to report a good trend too.In the last year or so,the quality of Pirate transmissions has improved.There was a time that you could tune into a station and by judging the signal strength,frequency used,sound of the mod & most importantly,the records played,you could tell who the station was before you heard his voice.That is not so true now.
I understand that,especially when you are doing a live transmission,it is easy to grab the same old favorite records and play them.And sometimes stations can still give themselves away by their choice of tunes.But it seems that operators are thinking more about what they are about to broadcast.Either before or during the transmission.
Also,the attention to jingles and trailers is obvious.There are some really good jingles and station ID's out there now.
All this is good news for us listeners as it makes it all more enjoyable.
Lets face it,we all love radio,but if that was it,we would just listen to the Amateur radio bands.
Pirate radio operators,unlike radio hams,have listeners to think about.
In the past,there were some operators who didn't seem to give their programmes too much attention,but this seems to have changed.
Don't get me wrong.There is nothing wrong with "Spontaneous live programmes"(Or even pre-recorded "Spontaneous live programmes",which my station used to do)It's just nice to hear that a little thought has gone into it first.
Makes for great radio!!
And we had some great radio today!Shame the fade outs meant I couldn't hear it all.
I always enjoy listening to Orion Radio,John is my breakfast dj on Sunday mornings!But because of the conditions I couldn't hear him today till 0940.
Radio Borderhunter is always entertaining(and it helps to have a huge signal and superb mod) but it was really nice to hear Dr.Tim with Frans this morning.Some nice old tunes too.
From my personal musical taste,I enjoyed the sounds that Radio Zodiac was playing,didn't know all the tunes,but enjoyed them anyway.Nice mod.
Radio Calypso seemed to be having a few problems this afternoon with lots of feedback and hum.But once he got it together he played a nice mix of Pirate tunes,Rock & Dutch music.
I only caught the last few minutes of Radio Altrex,he had been on since 0830 & I heard nothing till 1143,which was a shame.
Who was the station on 6305 playing Dutch music and a young child talking?


Saturday 15/03/08


6265Khz - 1017-1022 - UNID - 35433 - Dutch music("O Angela"?) - Deep fading.
6310Khz - 1258-1303 - UNID - 34333 - Dutch music.
6882Khz - 1510-1515 - PRI - 34433 - Old American radio play.
6882Khz - 1810-1815 - PRI - 44433 - Old American radio play - "Life of Riley".


Sunday 16/03/08


5815Khz - 0940-0945 - Orion Radio - 35444 - Dutch & German music.
6205Khz - 1034-1039 - Radio Borderhunter - 45544 - With guest Dr.Tim - Lots
of old 60's tunes.Good jingles & trailers.Later Rory Gallagher & ELO.
6220Khz - 0845-0850 - Mystery Radio - 33443 - Usual Disco/Dance mix.
6260Khz - 1101-1106 - Radio Zodiac - 35434 - B52's,lots of good Rock I didn't recognise,
The Hooters,Earth & fire,Good jingles.
6265Khz - 1318-1323 - Radio Calypso - 35434 - "We love the Pirate stations","Caroline",
Lots of old Pirate tunes then some nice Rock and some nice Dutch music.
6270Khz - 1143-1148 - Radio Altrex - 35333 - 60's French song("Je Fonce"?),on since
0830.
6305Khz - 1323-1328 - Radio Royal? - 33333 - Dutch music.Later young child talking.
Closedown at 1413.
6882Khz - 0900-0905 - PRI - 24433 - Old American radio play.


Andy Richards

andyrichardz@msn.com

[JoJo]

Hello Andy thanks for the log and nice comment for this weekend. As you enjoy the Pirate radio I enjoy reading your reception reports always nice. Keep up the good work.

Indeed you are right about taking the same old song with live radio. Talking about myself sometimes I need some more hands with live radio.
Sometimes i am to busy, writing email, sms and chatting so I forget to put new music in the player, than it is easy to push the emergency button. Maybe I need to put some new music unde this button. anyway thanks for your comment, cheers

[Altrex]

Hello Andy,

What a surprice you did copy Altrex the last minutes of the broadcast...
Playing nice music today, 70's and 80's but you mist it because the bad conditions this sunday... Thanks for your story about pirate stations, whe will work about it, just like Orion said, sometimes to busy with other things, like mails and listening to mysels on a webreiver,, to hear how the signal is comming over in some countries....
So thanks, waiting for better times,

73's Radio Altrex

[Borderhunter]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the log and comments.
Always intresting to read.

73
Frans.