MW Dutch top end of band and SW pirate listening thread...

[FMEnjoyer]

Will be doing some MW top end and 6200 listening this evening. Probably from about 6:30 inwards thereabouts. MW listening is about as popular as punching yourself in the face over and over it seems. I will keep the thread going a bit once I have something to log. Of note Radio Agustin was hitting in strong at 10PM last night on my hand held sony radio.. good conditions it seems hope they all are strong tonight.

[FMEnjoyer]

1622 S1 - 1637 S3 - 1611 S5 - that's it for now updates as they switch on and warm up their valves.

Very variable conditions up and down sometimes they really blast in. Hopefully someone will
give us some Europop or Techno if they ever look here.

[FMEnjoyer]

1637 might be 1635 it can be a bit tricky being sure some drift a little as well. I do not know much about MW propagation
obviously D layer needs to go but it is still up and down all the time mainly over these distance.

[FMEnjoyer]

I'll probably be done by 8pm uk time tonight so will report up till then, on the outdoor dipole this evening.

[FMEnjoyer]

I got a bit bored this evening so disconnected the antenna, I gave it a go at least.

[FMEnjoyer]

I like the Dutch oldies music the more i listen to it. its very jolly and puts you ina good mood 1630kH AM is happy music

[outis]

...

Invite in Dutch, Greek and Serbian, maybe they come to a chat here ?

MW and AM

Als er radiostations zijn die dit uit Nederland lezen, plaats dan een bericht op deze berichtenplaats. We zijn geïnteresseerd om van uw station te horen

Αν υπάρχουν ραδιοφωνικοί σταθμοί που το διαβάζουν από την Ελλάδα
κάντε μια ανάρτηση σε αυτό το μέρος μηνύματος που θα μας ενδιαφέρει να ακούσουμε από το σταθμό σας

Ако има радио станица које ово читају из Србије
молимо вас да поставите објаву на овом месту за поруке, бићемо заинтересовани да чујемо од ваше станице

If there are any medium wave radio stations who read this from Europe please make a post on this forum to hear from your station

I'm Greek, involved in experimental and unlicensed ("pirate") radio since 1979 in Greece.
I'm in the UK at the moment, so my knowledge of the scene is mostly historical.
There is unlicensed activity on MW in Greece at the moment. Very little on SW.
Some broadcast "AM Stereo" (C-Quam) -
There are different types of activity. Some αρε broadcasting music etc within the Broadcasting band (525-1620KHz) some go as high as 1710KHz for CQ and experiments. There aren't many listening on MW nowadays but stations that transmit with higher power (more than 100W) and for a long time have their dedicated audience.
The demographics of AM/MW in Greece vary according to region.

[freddie]

I wonder how much power the MW and 49m band pirates run to reach out to the UK. Most of them seem to be in the Netherlands.

[FMEnjoyer]

This guys blog

https://mwfreeradio.blogspot.com/

Suggests as little as 90 Watts with a low antenna. And some 900W

[FMEnjoyer]

...

Invite in Dutch, Greek and Serbian, maybe they come to a chat here ?

MW and AM

Als er radiostations zijn die dit uit Nederland lezen, plaats dan een bericht op deze berichtenplaats. We zijn geïnteresseerd om van uw station te horen

Αν υπάρχουν ραδιοφωνικοί σταθμοί που το διαβάζουν από την Ελλάδα
κάντε μια ανάρτηση σε αυτό το μέρος μηνύματος που θα μας ενδιαφέρει να ακούσουμε από το σταθμό σας

Ако има радио станица које ово читају из Србије
молимо вас да поставите објаву на овом месту за поруке, бићемо заинтересовани да чујемо од ваше станице

If there are any medium wave radio stations who read this from Europe please make a post on this forum to hear from your station

I'm Greek, involved in experimental and unlicensed ("pirate") radio since 1979 in Greece.
I'm in the UK at the moment, so my knowledge of the scene is mostly historical.
There is unlicensed activity on MW in Greece at the moment. Very little on SW.
Some broadcast "AM Stereo" (C-Quam) -
There are different types of activity. Some αρε broadcasting music etc within the Broadcasting band (525-1620KHz) some go as high as 1710KHz for CQ and experiments. There aren't many listening on MW nowadays but stations that transmit with higher power (more than 100W) and for a long time have their dedicated audience.
The demographics of AM/MW in Greece vary according to region.

Thanks for your reply.

[radionortheast]

they’ve problalby got metal mickey buried in the back garden to get out so far

[outis]

I went to Greece - north Greece - and scanned the MW.

In the area of Macedonia (Greece) here were unlicensed broadcasts from 1368 Khz to 1710. A couple of them may have been transmitting in AM Stereo.
Only a couple seemed to be broadcasting during daylight but as the sun was going our more than 10 appeared.
I was able to listen to "pirate" radio stations on 1368, 1404, 1431, 1557, 1566, 1602, 1611, 1620, 1629, and in the 1638-1710 Khz area.
- The only steadily broadcasting unlicensed radio station seemed to be a Radio XALASTRA on 1368 Khz playing a distinctly Greek type of music. "Heavy folk" it is called, very much associated with AM/MW Radio "pirates" and the music long-haul lorry drivers are supposed to listen to (according to stereotype) with no adverts and hardly any announcements. This station plays music non stop 24h a day. This type of music they broadcast is a kind of "signature" for Greek AM radio pirates: if you listen to such music on AM it can only be an unlicensed radio station as no state or commercial stations are likely to play it! The sound is very good (for AM standards) and although the signal was definitelly "mono" he may be using an AM Stereo exciter (my AM Stereo radio has no indicator light to help me confirm.)
Although it has no current web page I could find, I am able to listen to it from this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20180513195 ... aradio.gr/ - it can help the non-Greek listeners to understand the type of music these stations play!
- Then there was on 1431 Khz Radio EKFRASI. Every day, same music as above, from 6pm to 2am, but includes song requests, "dedications" of songs from one listener to the other, as well as CQs at some point of the programme: chatting on air with other AM pirates. The know each other by name and they are mainly exchanging listening reports and comments about each other's signal strength, modulation level, chatting on technical matters, antennas, groundings etc. Several other stations join the chat. Most of them transmit only for the chat's sake. some, like Radio Ekfrasi have a programme as well. The programme lasts until 2am.
Only thing, a pity he uses 1431. It used to be the frequency of a very "alternative" university "collective" community radio station
- 1431AM, https://www.1431am.org/ - I wasn't able to hear it on AM, apparently they are on air only on the internet.
- Beyond that there were 6-7 other stations broadcasting music or CQ - calling and discussing on air between stations:
The stations on 1557, 1566 (possibly AM Stereo,) 1602, 1611, 1620, 1629 were all playing the type of music I mentioned above. Other stations on practically every channel (above 1629 and up to 1710 Khz) pop up after 6-7 pm and stay on air until about 2am. Most transmit for themselves and the other "pirates" and a few may have some dedicated audience. On could monitor 1638, 1656, 1683, 1692, 1701, 1710 Khz to attempt reception in the UK. Sometimes there is only a CW or a tone for a while and then the music, or the CQ. Identification is difficult and in most cases uncertain as there are very few announcements.
The above is the picture in north Greece, in the south (Athens)
In Athens the scene is somewhat different. There are more unlicensed stations and they are all over the band (from at least 585 Khz) and the format is broader, international/English pop, rock as well as Greek music.
I used the following pocket radios for listening:
- SONY SRF-42 (C-QUAM/AMAX, AM Stereo) analogue - which can go up to 1710Khz and was the most sensitive of the three.
- SONY SRF-34L, less sensitive and covering 531-1602 Khz and
- Roberts Sports 988, the least sensitive of the three, covering from 522-1629 Khz.

[Persona Non Grata]

Suggests as little as 90 Watts with a low antenna. And some 900W

It's not unknown for these stations to run several kilowatts of power (or at least it wasnt back in the day). The authorities famously busted one operator not because of interference or complaints from licences stations but because the guys neighbours complained to the electricity company that their lights were dimming in time to the music.

Given the price of electricity nowadays I suspect the utility company might be more reluctant to act ?

[radionortheast]

I head something around 1656 over christmas, I don’t know the exact frequency, he was playing happy hardcore, with older music inbetween, it had very strong fades, reminded me alot of those stations you get in the past going throught different areas which would play gabba would be in mono would come up really clear, diffinately not heard anything as exciting since, never had anything one come up so strong.
Someone also mentioned in another thread that you do get stations below 1611khz, before christmas i’m pretty sure I heard one on 1512, another on 1602 which was interfering mixing with desi radio if it is still called that, I found abit funny the mixing of asian music with I think they call polka, so you get polka as low as 1512, I heard oldies been relayed afew nights go with decent fades. (wonder if anyone ever puts out the 1812 overture on that frequency

[87to108]

(wonder if anyone ever puts out the 1812 overture on that frequency

wouldn't be a good idea , 1812 being in the amateur 160 metre band (starts at 1800kHz) - that will attract negative attention faster than anything!

[radionortheast]

I was thinking more of 1512khz, I do like abit of classical on medium wave

[FMEnjoyer]

I can recall sat mornings with about 10-15m wire out the window thrown up a spruce tree in front garden with a weight on the end to get it up pulled in the SW 6200-6400khz stations well on a Sun morning. The Silver Sony ICF something did well. Cost me about £130.00 back then... good radio though on MW and SW, decent sound, heavily built.

[FMEnjoyer]

I will have a listen on 20m long dipole tonight see what can be heard at the top of MW. And maybe a little twirl through 6200-6400. Will start listening about 20:00 Dutch time 19:00 UK time. Will report on what I can hear on this thread later.

[FMEnjoyer]

Early doors with 1626 at S7 and also 1637/38 drifting and RX'd up to 1645khz S5/6 Dutch vocal presenter roughly at the moment.
Both playing Dutch oldies accordion stuff.

Heard something like Radio Sparka from 1645kHz, not sure if it was ID or mentioning another station.

Not a bad start

[FMEnjoyer]

Might be something on 1612kHz playing Elvis.