“The Night Watchman” heard on 1710 khz this weekend

The activity level on 1710 from non-ethnic pirate radio stations seems to be gaining some momentum.  Undercover Radio conducted several tests last November during Thanksgiving and into the beginning of 2012 focussing on 1710 and 1720 khz.  According to Dr. Benway, these transmissions were a success based on the number of reports that came in.  Monitoring of the various medium wave DX lists would seem to confirm this as well.  One DXer heard Benway at a distance of 2,000 miles while using the 1720 khz frequency!

During the months that Undercover Radio was utilizing the top of the MW band, an old standby continued on, even causing a pile-up on 1710 at one point!  Yes, “The Big Q” continues to be heard well at this location, as recent as last night in fact, broadcasting oldies and nostalgia on 1710 during the early morning hours.  It’s hit and miss with this one, but look for them on weekends between 0700-1000 UTC.  More and more listeners are hearing “The Big Q” around the Midwestern US.  The production is top-notch and a pleasure to listen to.

Maybe a cousin to “The Big Q”, a new one was logged here early Saturday morning on 1710 going by the name of “The Midnight Watchman Radio Program”.  The station used an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice-over with slogans such as “Thank you for listening to the Night Watchman Radio Program.  We’re broadcasting from high atop the Constant Jammer Mountain Peak, with powers so big that you can see it from the orbiting space lab.”  A wide variety of music was played: Lady Gaga, Everclear, Nat King Cole, Katy Perry, and more.  Like “The Big Q”, “The Night Watchman” was equally entertaining and slickly produced.  Here’s an hour+ recording:

With the increased activity and more DXers paying attention to 1710 khz, how many other pirates will test the waters at the “tip-top of the dial”?

80s Pirate Radio: Part 6

More pirate history, preserved for future generations!  Here goes:

KBFA – 7415 Khz – March 10th, 1990 – 0002 UTC A rough reception, but also my last off-air recording of KBFA from 1990.

Radio Free Willy – 7415 Khz – October 30th, 1988 – 0121 UTC 50 minutes of RFW with political humor and music with a nice signal.

The Crooked Man – 7416 Khz – October 16th, 1988 – 1947 UTC Crazy rants by the Crooked Man himself in this clip with a good selection of music to balance the program out.

The Voice of Free Long Island – 7415 Khz – March 19th, 1988 – 0430 UTC VOFLI with a new feature called “DX Darren” with SWL and DX tips.  If you can imagine Cliff Clavin from Cheers reading DX tips, then you

WBLO – 7420 Khz – October 23, 1988 – 0134 UTC Another historical shortwave pirate, WBLO.  My orignal notes indicate this WBLO transmission was relayed by Radio Clandestine.  This clip is rather short as the rest is pretty unlistenable due to poor conditions.

WFIX – 7445 Khz – August 10th, 1988 – 2215 UTC “Fix It Radio” seemed mostly preoccupied with playing their interval signal, so much so that I had to crop about 10 minutes of it out.  Check out the cool spook signal that’s clearly heard when the op leaves the air!

World Mission Radio (WMR) via Radio Caroline – 6215 Khz – August 6th, 1988 – 0500 UTC Radio Caroline, aboard the MV Ross Revenge, relayed World Mission Radio (WMR) during the evening hours as heard in this clip from 1988.  Aside from some mild summer static, reception is pretty good.

WXOR – 7418 Khz – April 3rd, 1988 – 0152 UTC “Captain Bottle Cap” & “Pull Tab Hunter” playing Elton John and others while broadcasting in Satan sideband.

New Perseus SDR spectrum file uploaded

February 9th, 2011 saw nice conditions on the 49 & 41 meter shortwave broadcast bands, so I captured the moment. This recording covers 6000-7600 khz for a duration of about 5 minutes centered at 0300 TOH:

Tromp_Michigan_0300_UTC_09FE11_41_Meter_SW_Band.rar

The “Big Q” heard again on 1710 khz

0700 UTC January 2nd, 2010: The oldies pirate calling itself “The Big Q” made another appearance early this morning on 1710 khz.  The signal here suffered from some fading, but was generally strong and enjoyable to listen to.  A mixture of 60s & 70s music rounded out the playlist with the usual oddball GE Superadio Ebay ads, Dick Orkin’s Chickenman episodes, New Years wishes, vintage Coca-Cola ads, etc.  Another very polished show and a fun throwback to the classic days of AM radio.  Sign off was at 0901 UTC.  Selected audio clips recorded between 0700-0900 UTC:

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 01.mp3

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 02.mp3

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 03.mp3

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 04.mp3

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 05.mp3

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 06.mp3

1710 Khz Big Q 02JA11 0709 UTC Short Clip 07.mp3

Now, how about a Big QSL from the Big Q?  Hint Hint…

Odd dasher signal on 1640 khz

There’s an odd signal coming in here during the evenings audible on 1640 khz, a series of “dashes” at approximately 72 per second.  The signal is centered at 1639.7 khz and best heard on 1640 lower sideband when phasing out WKSH.  Since the signal fades in and out, I assume that it’s some distance away from me.  Here’s what it looks like on the waterfall display:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s an audio clip tuned to 1640 khz AM mode:

1640 Khz UNID Dasher 17DE10 0045 UTC.mp3

The “dasher” first came to my attention the other night while receiving an UNID TIS station on 1640 relaying NOAA weather, though I have no idea if the two signals are related, but I thought it was interesting.  I wonder if anyone else is hearing this and where this is originating from?

Pirates at the top of the dial

There’s been a buzz going around regarding the mystery oldies station on 1710 calling itself “The Big Q”.  See this post for more details.  More DXers are reporting reception and it was heard in Oregon as recently as last week on 1710 khz.  With all of this recent talk, it has reminded me of some old pirate stations that I remember hearing back in the 80s at the upper end of the dial.  I also remember that catching any pirate on medium wave was a big deal back then (to me anyway).  Snagging a pirate reception on shortwave was difficult enough back then, and hearing something on MW from the midwest was even tougher.  Today when I scan the band above 1700 khz, I routinely hear both Radio Soleil Int’l. & Radio Celestial from the east coast on 1710 – not exactly exciting pirate catches.  Before the expanded AM band came into place, I fondly remember hearing pirate station WJDI pumping out music on 1620 with a said power of 2.5 kw. The Radio Animal’s WKND was also heard at the top of the dial at least once here.  Digging way back in my pirate archive, I’ve pulled a few audio samples to bring back those warm fuzzies:

WJDI_1620_Khz_0500_UTC_11DE89_00.mp3
WJDI_1620_Khz_0500_UTC_11DE89_01.mp3
WJDI_1620_Khz_0500_UTC_11DE89_02.mp3
WJDI_1620_Khz_0500_UTC_11DE89_03.mp3

WKND_1620_Khz_0614_UTC_17DE89_01.mp3
WKND_1620_Khz_0614_UTC_17DE89_02.mp3

Sadly, I never got one of those spiffy WJDI tower QSLs

Long live the hobby pirates at the top of the dial!

Good longwave conditions

Either my antenna is doing a superb job of pulling in European longwave broadcasters, or conditions are real good right now below 530 khz, or maybe a little of both For the past few weeks, just about every night, clear reception can be had on most of the Euro channels beginning around 6pm EST or 2200 UTC. New logs this season include hearing Poland on 225 khz and Germany on 153 khz. 162 France, 171 Morocco, 183 Germany, 189 Iceland, 198 BBC, 234 Luxembourg, 252 Ireland & Algeria have been regulars. I still hold out hope for hearing Russia on one of these channels. I’ve captured many of these receptions on Youtube, have a look if interested:

Perseus WAV files for download

I’ve added a new page that makes available several Perseus SDR spectrum recordings from my West Michigan QTH.  I will upload more Perseus WAV files in the near future if there’s any interest.  In order to “play back” these recordings, you will need the Perseus SDR or equivalent program.  A free demonstration version of the Perseus software can be downloaded here (Perseus hardware not required) and this can be used to play back these recordings.  WAV files have been compressed using WinRAR to help speed up the downloads.

 

AM 1710 – “The Big Q” oldies heard well this morning

I was cruising the MW band early this morning and came across something new and interesting on 1710.  Instead of the usual Boston pirate, I was hearing a strong signal from a station playing oldies music – Beach Boys, The Temptations, The Big Bopper, etc.  I listened for over an hour to this station and heard frequent announcements between songs.  This station was calling itself “The Big Q” (or maybe Big Cube?) and had slick liners between songs – all very professional sounding.  Was this a pirate broadcaster?  The most unusual part of the broadcast were several slightly different ads for the classic General Electric Superradio.  The announcer was encouraging  listeners to go to eBay.com to search out & purchase a GE Superradio to benefit their listening hobby – “no expensive receivers or long wires needed – just get a Superradio! and get it on eBay!”  Very bizarre!  Below are selected clips that I cropped from the hour+ recording I made this morning.  Please comment if you have heard this station before or know anything about it – I’m mystified!  First heard this morning (Nov.6th, 2010) at 0940 UTC & off abruptly at 1116 UTC, solid signal throughout broadcast:

1710 UNID “You’re listening to the the midnight man on the Big Q” -
oldies stations here playing
1960s/1970s stuff with announcements between songs like “You’re
listening to the Big Q”.  Very good signal right now at S7
way over Radio Soleil with slight warble to audio.  Songs
heard include Beach Boys “Help me Rhonda”, Temptations “My
Girl” sung by gravely voiced guy, “Chantilly Lace”, etc.
Ad for “GE Super Radio on eBay” and other weirdness.  The
announcer mentioned something about the movie “pirate radio”
and said it had nothing on his operation.  Pirate? Part 15?
Don’t know!

1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 1
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 2
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 3
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 4

Shortwave beacon “BA” 6840.6 khz

It seems there is always interesting and mysterious stuff taking place in the range of frequencies from 6-7 mhz. Aside from the pirate broadcasts that took place this last weekend, I heard some other interesting things:

6953 khz USB – UTC 0200 – Conversation between two fisherman, both with heavy New England accents. The talk was about fishing, weather conditions, etc. Both were heard very well here. Very informal conversation with much colorful language, and of course no legal IDs!

6835 khz USB – UTC 0300 – Two shrimpers “Candyman” and “Bubba” conversing tonight, both strong signals with southern accents talking about shrimping, “ridin’ the tides”, etc. Signed off with Bubba telling Candyman “okay, 10-4″ and Candyman responds “Put it on 3-26 real quick – that’s a real pretty girl on there right now!”

6840.6 khz CW – UTC 0106 – Shortwave beacon “BA” has been putting a strong signal into Michigan during the past few nights. In the example shown in this clip from the past weekend, “BA” is throwing down on presumed numbers station E10:

UPDATE November 3rd, 2010:

A nice e-QSL was sent to me today for this reception – many thanks to BA Beacon Man!

Beacon BA QSL November 1st, 2010