NASWA Journal Columns · Pirate Radio Report, November 1996

Chris Lobdell • P.O. Box 146 • Stoneham, MA 02180-0146 clobdell◊comcast.net

Pirate Radio Report, November 1996

In this month’s PIRATE RADIO REPORT we have news about another popular pirate station that has shut down, an update on the Radioship Electra, and more news on the South American pirate RADIO PIRANA INTERNATIONAL.

Radioship Electra Project Update

Allan Weiner is in charge of outfitting the Radioship Electra for Scott Becker of Lightwave Mission Broadcasting. I recently talked to Allan on the phone and received an update on the project.

The ship, an ocean going tug, recently passed its sea trials with flying colors. The maximum speed of the Electra is 12 knots but its actual cruising speed is 7 knots which it can do with very little effort. Because the ship will be going to an ocean location (still secret) it was decided to dry dock the boat to repair some soft spots in the hull and to give her a paint job. This will cost about $25,000, according to Weiner.

The transmitters have not yet been installed on the ship, but should be ready in early December. Allan plans to run on shortwave only with two frequencies at once radiating a minimum power of 10 kw. No medium wave operation is planned. Weiner feels that the 10 kw rigs may equal the output of a 100 kw land based transmitter because the ocean will act as a giant reflector!

The current location of the ship and its final ocean destination are still being kept secret for security reasons. Allan predicts the launching of the ship will now occur in early January 1997 depending on weather conditions.

The PIRATE RADIO REPORT will check back with Allan in December to get another update on this interesting project.

N.A.P.R.S. Closes Down

The NORTH AMERICAN PIRATE RELAY SERVICE, one of the most active pirates over the past few years has decided to close down. Here is what we have learned from Dick Pistek.

“The NAPRS has decided to close down after 4 years of serving the pirate listening public throughout North America. Our last broadcast will be our Fourth Anniversary Farewell Broadcast to be aired a number of times during the last two weekends in October.

The reasons we have decided to close are many. Changing hobby interests, equipment that is getting to be unreliable and the overcrowding of the pirate frequencies by the likes of WARR and WPRS.

During the 4 years that we were on the air, we relayed more Europirates and any other North American station and most likely were the most active pirate in the history of North American shortwave piracy. All good things must come to an end and so we come to an end of our broadcasting career.

Those who sent in a reception report on our Fourth Anniversary Farewell Broadcast will receive a nice certificate sized QSL, suitable for framing. The good news for those who like to listen to Europirate Relays is that RADIO FREE SPEECH has volunteered to pick up the slack and relay Europirates here in North America”.

Thanks for the info Dick! I for one will miss those NAPRS relays. If you’d like to drop NAPRS a line, their address is: Box 1, Belfast, NY 14711 or via email: NAPRS@srs.pp.se.

Radio Pirana International Update

Last month we mentioned that Jorge Garcia’s pirate station had taken to the air in South America, using the 43 meter band frequency of 6925 kHz. Although there we no confirmed loggings here in North America, RPI was well heard throughout Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Jorge also received a reception report from South Africa. Gabriel Ivan Barrerra of Argentina heard RADIO PIRANA INTERNATIONAL with a test transmission on September 20th at 0154 UTC on 6925 kHz with station IDs in English and Spanish.

Updated information just received from the station says that they plan to use a new frequency of 11415 or 11420 kHz in addition to the 6925 frequency. I would suggest trying this new frequency as well during weekend evenings between 2200-0200 UTC.

RADIO PIRANA INTERNATIONAL can be reached at Box 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214, Box 220342, D-42373 Wuppertal, Germany or through email: pirana@srs.pp.se.

Radio Marabu’s November Schedule

Our schedule for November is as follows for our 24 hour overnight broadcasts:

The broadcasts start at 1800 UTC the first day and run until 1800 UTC the second day.

This month the programme will be a joint broadcast with the local German FM PIRATE CITY FM. This relay will be the first program of CITY FM on shortwave ever. The address for PIRATE CITY FM is Box 220342, D-42373 Wuppertal, Germany. You can write to RADIO MARABU though the same address or via email at: RadioMarabu@t-online.de

By the way, Radio Marabu’s October transmissions on October 12-13th were heard by a couple of people on the East Coast Of North America.

Radio Resistor’s Bulletin

The Radio Resistor’s Bulletin is now available from Michael Braunstein via email. For information, drop him a request at: mbrauns1@passage.net. The website URL is: www.rootsworld.com/rw/feature/rrb.html.

The publication is a compendium of articles and news dealing mostly with FM pirates and microcasting in North America. If this is your cup of tea, why not check it out?

November Conditions

With the shorter days and sharply falling MUFs, many stations have started operating during the daylight hours. For those in the Eastern USA the time period between 1400-2000 UTC on Satuday and especially Sunday will be quite active throughout the winter. Most nighttime pirate activity will be heard best between 2200-0200. After that, the band will most likely be dead, except for long distance reception and the occasional propagational “blip” which will open the band. The most active frequencies will be 6950, 6955 but I have it from a good source that the range of 6965-6990 kHz will see some activity this month as well!

Be sure to report all those logs heard over the Halloween holiday to us here! Remember, Fred Kohlbrenner will handle your pirate logs too! By the way, I’m all out of pirate station profiles, so if there are any pirate ops reading this, please send in a few paragraphs about your station.

Logs

UP YOUR RADIO SHORTWAVE likes to poke fun at our political system. They were noted here with a pre-election special at 1510 UTC on October 20th with sound bites from a Dole speech and playing a parody song “Beautiful Teamsters”. Good signals were noted on 6955 USB. Address: BRS.

VOICE OF BIZZARO WORLD does everything backwards. They sign on with a goodbye and end the show with a hello! Send them a QSL and they’ll send you a reception report! This bizare station was heard on October 11th at 0030 UTC on 6956.4 in the LSB mode. Address: unknown.

WAMP is a time signal pirate! Noted at 1500 with time pips borrowed from WWV, announcing time as “Co-ordinated Alan P. Masyga Time” on 6955 USB on October 6th. They gave Box 293, Merlin, Ontario NOP 1W0 as the address.

So, until next month, happy pirate hunting!

Read more Pirate Radio Report columns.

Comments are closed.

Quick Information

Solar Conditions

At 2023 Mar 14, 0300 UTC

  • Solar Flux: 143
  • A-index: 3
  • K-index: 3

Full Report from NOAA

Search