Not Loggings But a Brief Look at Changes in Pirate Radio

Dave Valko · Post by **Dave Valko** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 00:01 am

Greetings from a very cold Pennsylvania!!!!!!

I used to be a member (and editor for a time) in the North American Shortwave Association and recently pulled out of the archive (boxes of old magazines and bulletins in the basement!!!) the February 1985 issue of the monthly club booklet called "Frendx" (its now called "The Journal"). In that issue was an interview with then well-known DXer and college professor John Campbell. I'm sure the older Pirate listeners and station operators will remember his name. He was an avid listener of Clandestine and Pirate stations. In the interview/article, John discusses briefly his observations of the European Pirates at that time. I found a couple of his comments rather interesting. At that time in 1985, there was apparently no stations operating from Scotland or Wales. However, he did say that "It's already possible to say that some special broacasts from Scotland and Wales for Winter 1985-86 are likely. Unfortunately there's nothing happening in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man now, but Northern Ireland (one station) is a possibility". Of course we all know that Weekend Music Radio did indeed come on the air from Scotland. And there was the hoax station (or did they actually get on the air??) The Voice of the Leek from Wales. And just as John predicted, Northern Ireland also came on the air with the North Ireland Relay Service some time later. The other thing that I found interesting was Johns description of European Pirates. He stated "There's a big mixture of backgrounds, and no one common denominator. Certainly there are people with convincing motives, especially given that most European official broadcasting is a national monopoly or run under much tighter state control than in the USA. To these people in Europe "free radio" or "community radio" means something positive, including high technical and programming standards. There are some very forgettable operations too, but these usually don't last long and don't make up more than 25-30% of the overall SW numbers". Looking back in hindsight, I think his description was with the UK Pirate in mind. Hence his mention of "community radio". There were much much more SW stations on the air in the UK back then, and they did try to be as professional as possible. Anyone who has been around for several decades can see an evolution in Pirate radio. One disappointing aspect of that evolution was the dwindling away of the UK SW stations. This was probably due to the Internet. But, on the other hand there's been an explosion of stations coming on the air in the Netherlands. Which brings me to another statement John made in his interview when asked about the activity (at that time) on the bands in Europe; "Quiet on some Sundays, maybe, but the stations are still out there somewhere. The all-time high of activity on any one Sunday that I can remember was actually quite recent, at the end of October 1984, when I heard 25 stations". Just a quick look at one of Dr. Tims recent Pirate News bulletins and I counted over 35 stations on the air on Sunday!! And I can recall hearing over 20 stations on the air myself here on the US east coast when we're not able to hear anything past 1100 UTC (in late December and early January) due to the usual morning fade out!! So, in summary, its been 24 years since that interview with John Campbell in Frendx. Has the Pirate scene in Europe changed?? Absolutely. Is it currently on the decline or dying?? Very doubtful I'm happy to say!!

I welcome any comments!!

{To you operators, thanks!!! Keep the hobby alive!!}

ukdxer · Post by **ukdxer** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:59 am

Hi Dave,

An interesting article looking at changes in SW pirate radio over the past 20 years or so.

I agree there has been a steady decline in SW pirates from the UK, so nowadays you can count on one hand the number of regular stations still taking to the air - Bogusman and Merlin are probably the most active. Even Laser seems to have abandoned SW for now preferring the internet, while Ireland lost its last regular SW free radio station with the raid on Premier Radio.

But the scene is not dying thanks to the enthusiastic Dutch free radio operators who continue to keep us entertained. Unlike in other countries there are still many people in the Netherlands getting themselves transmitters and setting up their own radio stations. It is no doubt helped that the enforcement does not appear as strict as in other countries, like Germany and the UK.

Without their presence on SW there would be very few stations on the air. If you went through Dr Tim's logs and crossed out all the Dutch stations, you would not be left with many!

One major change from the 1980s is the emergence of free radio stations from countries once behind the Iron Curtain. Now you can tune into SW pirates from Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and eastern Germany. There are also medium wave pirates reported from Serbia and Croatia.

There is also free radio activity in other countries like France, Italy, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Greece, but like the UK and Germany, it is only a handful of enthusiasts responsible for putting their country on the free radio map.

Finally, as far the UK is concerned, although SW and MW activity is low, there is still a very active FM pirate scene. But the FM scene is completely different, based in the major cities like London and targeting urban youth with hip hop, drum n bass, trance, r&b etc. There is more about this on a series of articles on the BBC website. I've posted links on my blog page.

Anyway, that's my take on the situation.

73s

Box73 · Post by **Box73** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 19:53 pm

Hello Dave, thanks a lot for your abstract about the US look towards the SW pirate/free-radio scene overhere in Europe during the eighties.
UKdxer, thanks also for you addition the the article.

For myself I find it most interesting to read about other peoples observations concerning the European free radio scene.
Both nowadays and in the past.

The only thing I can add for myself is the observation that most dutch SW stations dit not come onto SW from scatch, but did migrate from MW due to the heavy interference on this band caused by the local power-race of latest years.

73's

Jan II · Post by **Jan II** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 17:53 pm

Interesting this!

I took a look in my old list of where I have sent reception reports. These are all different shortwavestations, no station reported twice... The stations not reported, only heard, are not included here. Some statistics:

1979-1980 (My first DX-years with an old valve-radio from the 40's)
Finland 14 stations
Sweden 2 stations
Holland 2 stations
+ 35 dutch MW-stations

1984-1985 (studying in SW- Finland, Turku. Bad reception in the city.)
UK 8 stations
Holland 2 stations
Germany 2 stations
Ireland 1 station
+ 2 dutch MW-stations

1989-1990 (moving around, not listening much)
UK 3 stations
Holland 3 stations
Finland 2 stations

1994-1995 (back in Jakobstad)
Sweden 9 stations (some of these were relays, perhaps 4 stations)
Holland 2 stations
Germany 2 stations
UK 1 station
Switzerland 1 station
unknown 1 station
+ 39 dutch MW-stations

2007-2008
Holland 52 stations
Germany 8 stations (+4 "connected to Doctor")
UK 6 stations
Italy 3 stations
Finland 3 stations
Norway 2 stations
France 2 stations
Sweden 1 station
Ireland 1 station
Catalunya 1 station
Greece 1 station
Hungary 1 station
Belgium 1 station
Poland 1 station
Czech rep. 1 station
unknown 6 stations
+ 19 dutch MW-stations

The statistic curve is pointing up here in Finland. I have never heard this many stations before and new countries are entering the scene. The latest weekends Snowball from Russia, Active from Poland, the "Tropic-relayer" from Hungary... I think we will have a pirate-boom in Eastern Europe.

Now it is time for a Saku Tume -beer from Estonia,

Jan

Post by **Andy Richards** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 23:21 pm

Fascinating subject.Thanks for bringing it up Dave.

I have my own opinions,but before I post them maybe some of you older listeners or operators can help with the following;

I can extend Jan's logs back to 1973-1975;

Radio Gemini - Eng
Radio Pegasus - Eng
Swinging Radio England - Eng
Radio Free Atlantis - Eng
Radio London Int - Eng
North Surrey Radio - Eng
Skyport Radio - Eng
BBMS - Eng
ABC England - Eng
Radio Sovereign Int - Eng
Radio Zodiac Int - Eng

Radio Valerie - Irish
Radio Dublin - Irish
Radio Northside - Irish
Westside Radio - Irish

Radio Freedom Int - Scot
Radio Gloria Int - Scot
Radio Lothian - Scot

Time Radio - German
Radio Orion - German
King Radio - German

Radio Frei Nederland - Dutch

But are there any of you out there old enough to help with the
nationalities of these stations?;

World Music Radio
Radio Venus
Radio Hit Int
ABC Europe
Radio City
Radio Atlanta
Radio Omega
United Radio Europe
Radio 69 Int
Radio Valentine

If any of you can help ID the nationalities of any of the above stations we can paint a picture for 73 - 75.

Andy Richards.

achim · Post by **achim** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 21:52 pm

Hi,
nice obeservations. I started intensive pirate radio listening in 1988. Those were the days of UK-pirates like Atlanta, Atlantis SW Radio 48 who I remember well. Also many german stations active like Rainbow Galaxy Batida Starfleet PFBS and so on.
I see no decline of usage of pirate bands. Many dutch OPs and east european activitys fill the gap. It is still interesting to listen to the bands and thanks to the OPs for entertaining us.

73 achim

Post by **Andy Richards** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 17:48 pm

There has indeed been a huge decline in the numbers of SW Pirates from the UK and also a huge increase in the numbers from The Netherlands.

I can only comment on my own perceptions,listening to and being involved with Pirate radio since 1970 and living in London.Here is the way I see it from this side and I am sure we would all be interested in the views of others who read this website.

I apologise for drifting off the subject of SW a bit here,but as you will see I think it is important as you need to see the whole picture.

The first landbased Pirate in the UK was Radio Free London on MW in 1968.This station came on as a response to the MOA(The outlawing of the offshore Pirates).A few smaller stations started up in 1969(Including Radio Jackie).
Then RNI came on the air in 1970.I believe this was the catalyst that led to so many Pirate stations starting up in London and the SE of England.I also believe that RNI had a similar effect in The Netherlands.
By 1971 the MW band was full of "Back bedroom" Pirates all over London and I can remember hearing Dutch Pirates on MW back then too.At that time in the UK it was like in The Netherlands now,most
Pirates operated from their homes,did some music programmes and some QSOing too.At this time I had maybe 11 or 12 stations within 10km of my home and many more that I could hear that were a little further away.
The bigger music stations at the time like Radio Jackie,Radio Star and Radio Tracy ran from fields and woods,
because they were on the air for several hours at a time.Most Pirate activity was in the suburbs of London.
More open spaces for the "Mobile" operators and bigger gardens for the ones operating from home.
The reason I mention the above is to explain that although there were many English SW Pirates on the air at this time as a percentage of the total,it was not much at all.In other words,not that many English Pirates were interested in SW,they were all on MW.
Pirate opinion was divided at the time about how safe it was to broadcast from home.But in general it was thought to be fairly safe from home if you were only broadcasting for an hour or so,any more
and you needed to be in the fields or woods.This perception changed later.
I don't know how many of the English SW Pirates broadcast from home at this time but my guess is that most of them did,because they only made short broadcasts.Certainly the mighty Radio Gemini began by
broadcasting from home,even though they switched transmitters in mid broadcast between two different houses.
In 1973 the UK authorities had enough of the Pirates and started raiding stations much more regularly.By 1975 there were hardly any "Back bedroom" Pirates left and the only way left was to
broadcast from fields and woods.
At this time there was a huge decline in the numbers of all landbased Pirate activity and I think this especially effected the SW broadcasters.It was no longer possible for stations to continue broadcasting as one man operations.You now needed at the very least two people and and a lot more effort to continue broadcasting.
From 1975 till the early 1980's MW was the main band and most stations were well organised teams that operated "Mobile" operations.There were a few stations operating on SW and on the new FM too.
By about 1982 Pirate activity was shifting from MW to FM.
The quality was better,the gear was lighter,aerials easier to put up and you could get a bigger signal for the same power.In 1985 the last two MW Pirates in London were forced off the air and all the activity was now on FM.
At this point Pirate radio here began to change.The "Old style" Pirates began to disappear and the "New style" FM scene emerged.
It is this lack of "Old style" Pirates here that has led to the decline in SW activity.

Compare this with the Dutch scene.
The MW activity never died.The "Old style" Pirates never disappeared.The numbers increased so much that the MW band is too congested now and only the more powerful broadcasters can be heard.FM is dangerous
in The Netherlands so many Dutch Pirates have moved from FM and MW to SW.To our great delight!

In turn all this activity from The Netherlands seems to have inspired people from all over Europe to have a go too.

It remains to be seen if it has an effect on Pirate activity from England,at the moment the move seems to be away from SW.Radio Underground and WNKR seem to have moved back to MW for now,Radio Pandora has not returned,Radio Galaxy rarely broadcast now and Telstar South are only on the air occasionally.
As UK DXer said,we only really have The Bogusman and Radio Merlin on regularly now and nothing from Scotland or Ireland.I don't ever remember any Welsh stations.

For my part,I have little interest in the "New style" FM Pirates.The music they play is all R'n'B,Reggae,Drum'n'Bass,Garage etc.Dance music in other words.Music for a younger generation!
But I do wonder what the kids that don't like Dance music think.No Rock Pirates on FM.

In conclusion,I think we should be very grateful to the Dutch SW Pirates for keeping "Old style" Pirate radio alive and even inspiring Pirates from other countries.
Besides,for Pirate fans like me,what would we listen to?

It would be nice to read posts from others on this subject,especially from different countries.

Andy Richards.

Johnno · Post by **Johnno** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 18:18 pm

I think part of the reason that SW (and MW) activity has declined in Ireland is lack of engineers able to build the transmitters. Almost none of the current pirate "engineers", and I use the term loosely, know anything about AM. FM is plug 'n play and is a lot cheaper. It's also perceived that no-one listens to SW anymore so why bother. Back in the 1970's and 80's, there was a network of engineers that built most of the transmitters in use but these guys have either moved into legal radio or out of radio completely. Unlike Holland, equipment (like R&S) is very difficult to come by in Ireland.
I do know that of one old sw operater who expressed a desire recently to start operating again but I think he was unable to find anyone to build a tx.

Incidently, the first Irish pirate (if we exclude the Irish Rebels led by Ronan O'Rahilly's grandfather in 1916) was in 1944. The op, Tony Boylan remained in pirate radio up until the 1980's.

Dave Valko · Post by **Dave Valko** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 16:43 pm

I was really surprised at the response to my post. I never expected so many â€˜hitsâ€™!! I find it fascinating to read your replies. Everyone has their own unique viewpoint based on what theyâ€™ve experienced regardless of how long theyâ€™ve been in the hobby. Andy certainly has a great perspective having been in the hobby so long. And thanks Jan II for your summary of stations/countries youâ€™ve heard over the years. Anyone else care to make an addition??

Box73 · Post by **Box73** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 16:25 pm

Andy Richards wrote:By 1971 the MW band was full of "Back bedroom" Pirates all over London and I can remember hearing Dutch Pirates on MW back then too.At that time in the UK it was like in The Netherlands now,most Pirates operated from their homes,did some music programmes and some QSOing too

Hi Andy, thanks also for nice and comprehensive info.

I can remember having heard a number of MW based UK pirates in the past.
I even had QSO's with a few of them. The only QSO related name I now can remember is/was 'live-wire' radio.
It's too bad that (for as far as I am aware) UK and other none-Dutch QSO activities have decreased considerably and most activities nowadays are related to playing music. Sometimes even for hours and hours without mentioning any ID. On the other side there are also some stations who, to my great pleasure, discuss the free-radio related activities of the preceding period.

Free radio pirates on medium and short wave messageboard of alfa lima

Not Loggings But a Brief Look at Changes in Pirate Radio

Not Loggings But a Brief Look at Changes in Pirate Radio

Thanks!!