Halloween 2022 Pirate Radio Recordings (Various): October 30, 2022

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Matt Todd, who shares the following pirate radio recordings and notes:

Audio recordings of numerous Shortwave Radio Pirates recorded around Halloween 2022. This is typically the most active time of the year for Shortwave Radio Pirates.

Location: Hugo, MN

Receiver and antenna: Sdr Play with a wire loop antenna around the perimeter of the attic

Mode: Single Sideband

Please note that pirate radio broadcasts often contain adult language.

Sir Winston Churchill (MIT Mid-Century Convocation-Part 2): March 31, 1949

CAMERA STUDY BY ARTHUR GRIFFIN, WINCHESTER, MASS.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE MIT MUSEUM.

Many thanks to SRAA contributor Bill Hemphill who submits the following unique recording of the MIT Mid-Century Convocation by Sir Winston Churchill.

Bill notes:

This was found on a paper back tape at a flea market. The description on the tape was that it was originally recorded on a wire recorder from a local radio broadcast and was transferred to the paper backed tape in 1951.

Click here for the full transcript of Churchill's speech on the MIT website.

Ecuadorian Music circa 1976-1978

Many thanks to SRAA contributor, Greg Shoom, for this recording of music from the late 1970s. Greg describes the recording:

"This is a compilation of Ecuadorian and perhaps other South American music recorded on shortwave in the late 1970s (1976-1978 time-frame I think). Mostly from HCJB in Quito, Ecuador. I listened regularly to their DX Partyline program back then, and they usually included one piece of Ecuadorian music on each episode. I think most of these songs come from there. Sorry that I don't have any record of station IDs, song titles, dates, times, or frequencies for this recording."

Click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below.  Please subscribe to our podcast to receive future recordings automatically.

UNID Shortwave Pirate: December 31, 2013

On New Year’s Eve (December 31, 2013), while band scanning, I tuned to 6,955 kHz around 22:15 UTC, and  heard a relatively strong pirate station.

For at least 51 minutes, this unidentified pirate played various percussion music, much of which sounded like recordings of live drum circles. I never heard an ID during the broadcast, nor did anyone on the HF Underground board.

Listen for yourself: click here to download the recording as an MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below.

Firedrake

I've noticed a broadcaster that routinely transmits weekends at 11:00 UTC on 6,970 kHz.  Some mornings, it's much stronger than others. Saturday morning, my time, I managed to record it in its typical format: music. Specifically, Chinese folk music, at least so it sounds to my untrained ear.

I searched through logs and in the WRTH, and I could find no mention of a broadcaster on 6970 kHz. It doesn't help that the 27 minute broadcast contained no audible IDs.

So, I've come to the conclusion that my initial hunch is correct--that this is the Chinese jamming service, Firedrake.  Using Firedrake, the Chinese government transmits music on top of broadcasts they wish to block. It's fairly effective (and annoying). While I've heard Firedrake a number of times over the bands, I can't say I've ever tried to listen to the one-hour production.

The following recording contains a 27 minute broadcast of what I believe may be Firedrake on 6,970 kHz, starting around 11:00 UTC, Saturday January 26, 2013. Click here to download the MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Note that the first two minutes have some digital noises (in the lower side band) that affected my receiver's AGC.

If you can confirm or correct my supposition, please comment!

Pirate Radio Recordings: Two short UNID broadcasts

I was travelling Saturday night, but had the foresight to set my WinRadio Excalibur to record the pirate spectrum. There were few pirates on the band--less than I would have expected to hear on a holiday weekend in the US--and some of them were plagued by a local broadcaster whose spurious emissions wiped out the whole band at times.

I did catch a couple of interesting unidentified broadcasts, most likely transmitter tests as both were very short.  The first broadcast came on around 3:10 UTC (Jan 20) and consisted of two songs, ending with the Tardis sound effect from Dr. Who. Click here to download the MP3 file, or listen in the player below:

The second broadcast came on just after 7:00 UTC and consisted of only one song--no IDs at all. I would suspect this was the same pirate; however, the first broadcast had a tinny sound that this broadcast lacked. Indeed, their USB signal was quite amazing (wish s/he would have broadcast a full show).  Click here to download the recording, or listen via the player below:

Please comment if you think you can ID these broadcasts.