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There is another side to the HF broadcasting world - this side risks not only jail time, but also, in some parts of the world, torture and even death to get their message out. Welcome to the world of Pirates and Clandestine Radio.
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There is another side to the HF broadcasting world. There are folks that put up a station for the fun of hobby broadcasting, or on the other side of the spectrum, to get their point of view out, sometimes at great risk. Welcome to the world of pirates and clandestines.
==Where to Find Pirates== 
 
* Above the Medium Wave X Band above 1700 khz (should propagate well; underused but sometimes seen)
 
* 90 Meters - 3400-3500 khz (good propagation during the winter, but sparsely used). Euros 3800-4000 khz
 
* 49 Meters - 6220, 6240, 6219 and 6295 khz, plus or minus 40 khz (mostly Europirates)
 
* 43 Meters - 6925 khz plus or minus for QRM. Includes over 90% of recent broadcasts
 
* 41 Meters - 7375, 7465 and 7470 plus/minus 60 khz. Rarely used by pirates (beware WBCQ on 7490)
 
* 19 meters - 15050 khz, plus/minus 30 khz (mostly Europirates)
 
* Local FM - Worth an occasional scan at your location. Very active in some cities.
 
  
== When to Find Pirates==
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==Introductions (via DXing.com)==
* Weekends - Local Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays see the most activity (some weekdays lately)
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* [http://www.dxing.com/clandest.htm Introduction to Clandestine Radio]
* Holidays - Always see increased pirate activity
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* [http://www.dxing.com/pirate.htm Introduction to Pirate Radio]
* 41 Meters and Below - From local sunset to well after local sunrise, daytime too
 
  
==Recently Active Pirates==
 
* '''Note:''' Very incomplete list
 
* WBNY -Commander Bunny and the Rodent Revolution are quite active, despite his loss for Prez
 
* Kracker Radio - Kracker mixes rock with interviews and commentary, he lost to Joe Biden
 
* Captain Morgan - Rock Music mixed with audio from the Outer Limits TV show
 
* WBOG - This is the new shortwave version of Arnold Stang's 'Hour of Slack' (new voice of Bob)
 
* The Crystal Ship - Leftist politics and classic rock; John Poet uses odd frequencies like 5385 khz
 
* Wolverine Radio - Political comedy mixed with rock music; some comedy is in-studio
 
* WMPR - Their 'Dance Party' techno rock format is consistent but they don't correspond
 
* Radio Mushroom - They claim to be the only pirate radio station powered by nuclear energy
 
* Radio Free Speech - Bill O Rights with standup comics and promotion of individual freedom; a classic
 
* Radio Azteca - Bram Stoker's funny DX comedy station reminds us of the old days among pirates
 
* Undercover Radio - Dr. Benway plays rock and describes adventurys, sometimes mobile
 
* Voice of Next Thursday - The only radio station in the world that gives you next Thursday's news today
 
* WWV Parody - Their marketing slogan is 'all the time, all the time'
 
* WBCQ and Area 51 - This licensed station relays programming produced by pirates on 5110 khz
 
  
== Where to Write Them==
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==Where Can I Find Pirates?==
* P.O. Box 1 Belfast NY 14711
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The answer to this question shifts frequently, but these are good bets. Beware of legitimate broadcasters in some of these ranges. AM, USB and even some LSB is used, along with Slow Scan TV (SSTV). See the SSTV section of the [[HF Software Decoders]] article for applications that can copy this mode.
* P.O. Box 109 Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. 17214
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*4000-4200 khz
* P.O. Box 293, Merlin Ontario N0P 1W0
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*5100-5200 khz
* P.O. Box 605 Huntsville Al. 35804?
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*6200-6300 khz for many Europirates
; Closed sites
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*6700-7000 khz
* P.O, Box 69 Elkhorn NE 68022
 
* P.O. Box 28413 Providence RI 02908
 
* Several other maildrops are active; enclose 3 44 cent stamps to USA, USD2 to foreign addresses
 
  
==Links and Resources==
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; Clandestines
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== DX News and Information ==
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* [http://worldofradio.com/ World of Radio]
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** Here, Glenn Hauser discusses both DX and program information world wide. Both hobby pirates and clandestines are commonly mentioned
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** [https://groups.io/g/WOR World of Radio Reflector at groups.io]
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==Mailing lists and forums==
 
* [http://www.alfalima.net/ Alfa Lima]
 
* [http://www.alfalima.net/ Alfa Lima]
* [http://www.dxing.com/clandest.htm Introduction to Clandestine Radio]
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* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExtremeShortwaveListening/ Extreme SW Listening (Facebook)]
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* [http://www.frn.net/ Free Radio Network]
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* [https://www.hfunderground.com/board/ HF Underground Forums]
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* [https://www.facebook.com/groups/112273363488408/ HF Underground (Facebook)]
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==Pirates==
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* [http://freeradiocafe.com/ Free Radio Cafe]
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* [https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/Pirate_radio_stations HF Underground Pirate Radio Stations (wiki)]
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* [http://www.offshore-radio.de/ Offshore Radio Guide]
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* [https://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/Pirate_Radio_New_Listener_Guide_and_FAQ Pirate Radio New Listener Guide and FAQ]
  
; Numbers stations
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==Numbers stations==
* [http://home.luna.nl/~ary/ Numbers and Oddities]
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* [http://www.numbersoddities.nl Numbers and Oddities]
 
* [http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page30.html Shortwave Espionage]
 
* [http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page30.html Shortwave Espionage]
 
* [http://www.spynumbers.com/index.html SpyNumbers.com]
 
* [http://www.spynumbers.com/index.html SpyNumbers.com]
* [http://www.spynumbers.com/ Spy Numbers stations on Shortwave]
 
 
* [http://www.archive.org/details/ird059 The Conet Project]
 
* [http://www.archive.org/details/ird059 The Conet Project]
  
; Other Resources
 
* [http://www.diymedia.net/fccwatch/ead.htm FCC Enforcement Action database]
 
  
; Pirates
 
* [http://www.frn.net/ Free Radio Network]
 
* [http://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/Main_Page HF Underground (wiki)]
 
* [http://www.dxing.com/pirate.htm Introduction to Pirate Radio]
 
* [http://www.offshore-radio.de/ Offshore Radio Guide]
 
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWpirates/ SW Pirates (Yahoo group)]
 
* 'Free Radio Weekly' internet via freeradioweekly@gmail.com (free to contributors or USD5)
 
* [http://www.popular-communications.com Popular Communications]
 
* [http://www.naswa.net NASWA]
 
  
==Media Watch==
 
* [http://www.clandestineradio.com/ Clandestine Radio Watch]
 
** [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crwatch/ Clandestine Radio Watch Yahoo group]
 
* [http://cubapolidata.com/ CubaPolidata]
 
  
<small> Much of the above comes from a handout given at the 2011 Winterfest in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. March 4/5</small>
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[[Category:HF Topics]]
 
[[Category:HF Topics]]

Revision as of 20:21, 16 October 2020

There is another side to the HF broadcasting world. There are folks that put up a station for the fun of hobby broadcasting, or on the other side of the spectrum, to get their point of view out, sometimes at great risk. Welcome to the world of pirates and clandestines.

Introductions (via DXing.com)


Where Can I Find Pirates?

The answer to this question shifts frequently, but these are good bets. Beware of legitimate broadcasters in some of these ranges. AM, USB and even some LSB is used, along with Slow Scan TV (SSTV). See the SSTV section of the HF Software Decoders article for applications that can copy this mode.

  • 4000-4200 khz
  • 5100-5200 khz
  • 6200-6300 khz for many Europirates
  • 6700-7000 khz


DX News and Information

Mailing lists and forums

Pirates

Numbers stations