London Calling.

[Andy Richards]

I'm going to start this post with some complaints.

The microphone is a superb piece of equipment.Why are so many stations too shy to use them more?
The number of stations playing non-stop music for ages before making an announcement seem to be increasing.
Why?
It is really boring for us listeners.If I want to listen to non-stop music I can listen to my own collection or use Spotify
or any one of many services on the internet.And the quality is better too.(Stereo and no fading or noise!).
I understand that when a station first comes on the air,when the broadcast is not announced in advance,you may
not have many listeners.So stations play a few tunes before making announcements.
I also understand that sometimes you need to play and adjust mod and sound levels and that non-stop music is
good to do this.
But even if you are testing or have just come on air,I see no reason for not just saying a few words.Or at least
playing an ID jingle.
Which leads me to another complaint.......ID Jingles.The whole point of these is to tell listeners who you are.
Too many stations make the jingles too clever and the result is we can't understand what is being said!
Simple,clear ID jingles are needed.
There are two reasons for these "Non-Stop music" stations.Either they are lazy or they think that they will hold the listener
because they want to ID the station.
If you are a lazy broadcaster that's too bad.But if you want to hold onto your listener then non-stop music is not the way
either.Play interesting music!Say something interesting!The "DX'er's" will continue to tune around to hear what else is on.
But if your programme is interesting,they will tune back to you.And you never know,if you are REALLY good,they may not
tune away at all!
My last complaint about "Lazy Pirates" is this.
Quite often,I can tell who a station is,even though after 30 minutes,no announcement or ID jingle has been played.
How?
Because most of the music played is the same as the last broadcast..........I'm sure I am not the only listener who can do this!
Too many stations warm the TX up and then think about what to do on the air.
What is wrong with thinking about what you are going to do to entertain the listener BEFORE you warm the rig up?
You don't have to work to a script or playlist (But that's fine too),just have an idea of what you are going to play or say
BEFORE you go on the air.Is that really too much to ask for?

I know this hobby of ours is mainly for fun.I don't want to make it all serious.It needs to stay fun.
But I think we can all make it better with very little effort.

New listeners could tune into a Pirate station and not even realise it's a Pirate if they are not making announcements!
Think about encouraging new listeners to get into our hobby..........make it interesting.......THINK about the programme.

End of rant!

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The above rant is because I love SW Pirate Radio.In fact I love all Pirate Radio.And I don't want it to go downhill.
The logs below show that I'm still listening and have faith in you guys out there doing a good job.

A second week that I have heard stations every day.Without any great effort.I have read the logs of other listeners
who have found more time and made a greater effort than me and they have heard many more stations than my
log below!



Monday 25/07/11

4015Khz - 2145-2150 - LHH - 44434 - Tina Turner - "What's Love got to do with it?".

Tuesday 26/07/11

4015Khz - 2042-2047 - LHH - 45434 - Techno/Dance Music.
6219Khz - 2037-2042 - Bluestar Radio - 45434 - Mixture of Dutch Music(Jazz,Pop & Traditional).Later Rock.
6305Khz - 2125-2130 - Radio Dr.Einstein - 34333 - Techno Music.
6940Khz - 2047-2053 - LHH - 25332 - Pop Music.

Wednesday 27/07/11

4015Khz - 2028-2033 - LHH - 45434 - Pop & Oldies."Black is Black".
5815Khz - 2040-2045 - Bluestar Radio - 45434 - As strong as 6219 but not as loud and as clear.
6219Khz - 2008-2013 - Bluestar Radio - 45434 - Queen - "Living on my Own".Peaking 55544.
6305Khz - 2003-2008 - Radio Dr.Einstein - 33333 - Blue Oyster Cult - "Don't fear the Reaper".Heavy interference at times.
6425Khz - 2013-2018 - Radio Black Bandit? - 55545 - Country/Blues Rock Music.
6940Khz - 2023-2028 - LHH - 24332 - Music.
6960Khz - 2018-2023 - Atlantic Radio - 34333 - Pop & Oldies.

Thursday 28/07/11

4015Khz - 2155-2200 - LHH - 44434 - "Last night a DJ saved my life".
6940Khz - 2205-2210 - LHH - 24432 - Pop Music.
6960Khz - 2200-2205 - Atlantic Radio - 24432 - Pop Music.

Friday 29/07/11

3905Khz - 2120-2125 - Skyline Int Radio - 45434 - Rock Music.
4015Khz - 2125-2130 - LHH - 45434 - The Corgis,Diana Ross & Marvyn Gaye.
6218Khz - 2200-2205 - Delta Radio - 34333 - Dance Music.
6240Khz - 2130-2135 - Radio Altrex - 33333 - German Rock.
6255Khz - 2135-2140 - Radio Polaris - 34433 - Instrumental,"No Milk Today".
6310Khz - 2140-2145 - Radio Marconi - 44434 - Gary Moore - "Still got the Blues".
6325Khz - 2048-2053 - Radio Black Power - 44434 - Fleetwood Mac - "Go your own Way",Bruce Springsteen -
"Born in the USA".
6325Khz - 2145-2150 - Radio Black Power - 54434 - Blondie - "Call Me",Aha - "The Sun always shines on TV".
6375Khz - 2055-2100 - Radio Dr.Einstein - 33333 - Iron Maiden - "Play with Magic",The Proclaimers - "I'm gonna be".
6485Khz - 2100-2105 - UNID - 23332 - "The Good,the Bad & the Ugly","Classical Gas".
6940Khz - 2105-2110 - LHH - 33333 - The Specials.
6960Khz - 2115-2120 - Atlantic Radio - 35433 - Pop Music.

Saturday 30/07/11

4015Khz - 2050-2055 - LHH - 44334 - The Stranglers - "No More Heroes",Celine Dion.
6220Khz - 2025-2030 - The Bogusman - 43333 - Indie Rock & Chat.
6255Khz - 2055-2100 - Radio Polaris - 44333 - Focus.Later Pearl Jam - "Black".
6305Khz - 2030-2035 - Radio FSM - 33333 - Rock Music.Later Dance/Techno Music.
6325Khz - 1614-1619 - Radio Marconi - 45333 - Pop Music.Just closing down.
6325Khz - 2105-2110 - Radio Marconi - 43333 - "Lido",Dance tune.
6375Khz - 2110-2115 - Radio Black Bandit - 55444 - "Happy Days".Very old songs.
6375Khz - 2134-2139 - UNID - 34333 - Instrumental.
6425Khz - 2035-2040 - Radio Dr.Einstein - 45334 - The B52's - "Love Shack",BTO - "You ain't seen nothing yet".
6930Khz - 2040-2045 - Irish Music Radio - 34333 - 80's Pop."Funky Town","Yessir,I can Boogie".
6940Khz - 2045-2050 - LHH - 35333 - Pop Music.

Sunday 31/07/11

4015Khz - 1025-1030 - LHH - 23432 - Pop Music.Het.
4015Khz - 1733-1738 - LHH - 43333 - Dance Music.Het.
5835Khz - 0817-0822 - Radio Thunderbird - 35433 - German.Hot Chocolate,Queen.
6200Khz - 0752-0757 - Radio Orang Utan - 24332 - Oldies.
6285Khz - 2008-2013 - Radio Alpenroos - 45444 - "The Locomotion",German Rock Song.Low mod at first.Improved later.
Strong signal & nice clear frequency.
6290Khz - 2205-2210 - Radio Caroline Int - 33333 - Nice mix of music and other stuff.More treble needed.Some utility interference.
6310Khz - 1719-1724 - UNID - 34333 - 10cc - "Rubber Bullets","Tainted Love"(Dance Remix),Abba.
6310Khz - 1813-1818 - UNID - 44434 - Queen - "We are the Champions",Starship - "We built this City".
6310Khz - 2224-2229 - UNID - 45434 - Rock Songs.
6375Khz - 0842-0847 - Radio Black Bandit - 44433 - "Lessons in Love",The Police - "Every breath you take".
6375Khz - 1808-1813 - Radio Relmus - 33332 - Pop Music.Bananarama.Heavy utility & other station interference.
6375Khz - 1940-1945 - Radio Relmus - 43333 - Country & Oldies.Utility interference.
6425Khz - 1728-1733 - Radio Lowland - 34333 - Unknown Soul Song(Earth,Wind & Fire?),German Pop Song.


Andy Richards.

[Toutatis]

Hello Andy,

I totally agree with your remarks about the lack of identification on some stations.
Very often, the only way to identify stations is Iann's chat.
But some listeners are not connected to the chat when they are listening to SW.
The chat is a very good thing, but is not obligatory !
I think music without comments and regular identifications is not a radio station.
It's just a computer connected to a transmitter.

Greetings.

Michel

[achim]

I agree Andy. We have many stations with good programmes. I listen to them though they IDed because of programme content and entertaining style. Most nonstop music stations are boring, yes it is a pirate but nonstop music I could better to listen to different ways at my computer.

Thanks to all OPs which try to make it different with entertaining programmes. Free Radio is still alive and kicking though it is somewhat different to the late 80th.

greetings achim

[newfoundland dxer]

they think that they will hold the listener because they want to ID the station.... The "DX'er's" will continue to tune around to hear what else is on. But if your programme is interesting,they will tune back to you.And you never know,if you are REALLY good,they may nottune away at all!

I agree Andy. I know some stations try to hold listeners by not giving an ID. This is not effective. As you say, the DXers "will continue to tune around".

Generally, when I turn on my radio, I spend 10-15 minutes listening to each station, then move to another. If they don't ID, they get logged as "UNID". When I have logged some details of each station, I will spend the rest of the night listening to the best signals/shows. And I also think the best shows are those where the ops have something interesting to say. I will even listen to music that i am not particularly fond of, if the talk between songs is good!

So, yes ... please use the mic!

Cheers, Terry

[Zeewolf]

Hmm.., Interesting to know,

Normally we (The pirate stations) don't talk to much because we think that we say the same things to much, like station ID and ask for reports.
I think that listeners are bored with that. On the other hand ... when I listen to short wave station; I want to know witch station is on the frequency as well.
I try to say more, give some information about the station, technical stuff and more.
Got the message.

Greetings,
Herman,
Zeewolf, now also on SW.