Thursday 1 April, 2010, 08:04 - Pirate/Clandestine
Posted by Administrator
There is endless speculation on the internet as to what became of the many pirate radio ships which sailed the seven seas (or the North Sea more specifically) in the bygone era. Wireless Waffle can exclusively reveal the final resting home of one of these infamous nafarious vessels, having been tipped off by a Government source who wishes to remain anonymous. 'Dave Herrish' for want of a better name (and a complete lack of imagination on our part) has informed us that the rigging that adorned the pirate ship 'The Ross Communidel Amigocado' was removed from the hull at a secret military shipyard somewhere on the southern northern Europe coast and transported, piece by piece, to the facilites of Radio Bulgaria where it was re-assembled and used as a mast for their short-wave monitoring station.Posted by Administrator
Situated between Varna and Dolni Chiflik the antennas are now used as a high gain array for the purposes of intercepting both civil and military radio traffic. But, twice a year, in what must be one of the most ironic celebrations in Europe, the station is opened to the public whereupon bunting and other maritime flags are fastened and festooned to the antennas and small children are allowed to climb up and pretend to be seafaring pirates.
Unbeknownst to many of these children, the Bulgarian phrase for 'I am a pirate', which is 'Лиц ентура дёка ролаян' transliterates as 'lits entura dyohka rolayan' (try saying it out loud), which is often heard being screeched loudly across the countryside accompanied by the ringing of ships bells. Ding dong!
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Friday 1 January, 2010, 00:14 - Pirate/Clandestine
Posted by Administrator
Regulars to the pages of Wireless Waffle will realise that we have an inate (or should that be 'inert') fascination with short wave radio. And nothing is more mysterious and intriguing on short wave than the many spy broadcasts which usually take the form of a string of numbers or letters read out in a mechanical fashion by a pre-recorded male or female voice. A bit like the speaking clock for spooks.Posted by Administrator
One of the most famous spy stations, the Lincolnshire Poacher (which was allegedly broadcast from Cyprus), ceased transmissions in 2008 and it rumour has it that its sister station, Cherry Ripe (latterly broadcast from Australia) also ceased transmissions towards the end of 2009. Which leaves fans of these funky but furtive broadcasts with a big hole in their social calendar (not that such fans had much of a social calendar to begin with).
But all is not lost. Thanks to the Conet project and web designer Kevan Davis fans can now enjoy:
* Number Station Bingo
This excellent game will keep you occupied (but not in the same way as the US forces in Iraq) for literally minutes. If you win, it is customary to shout 'Badabingo, green stick in the green hole' though for security reasons we obviously cannot explain why this is so.
Tuesday 20 October, 2009, 14:29 - Pirate/Clandestine
Posted by Administrator
A previous article on Wireless Waffle talked about the chances of a pirate radio station being caught focussing on VHF FM pirates. A later one focussed on short-wave pirates and discussed which frequencies to avoid in order to minimise getting the authorities' collective danders up.Posted by Administrator
Over the past 12 months, both Premier Radio (who used 6265 kHz) and Laser Hot Hits (who used 4025 kHz) have had their transmitter sites raided. Bringing together the ethos of the two previous articles, it would make sense that in order for a raid to be worthwhile, even at short-wave, there would have likely been a complaint raised against the station concerned.
So we might, therefore, ask, "Who raised these complaints?" It seems unlikely that major international broadcasters such as the BBC World Service or China Radio International would be at all threatened by pirate operators taking their audience away or causing interference, especially as the frequencies being used by the pirates are not ones being used by an international broadcaster at the time, so there must be another source of complaints.
Across Europe (and indeed the world) there are a series of short-wave (HF) monitoring stations operated by the various national regulatory administrations who produce quarterly reports on their monitoring activities. The purpose of the monitoring and the associated reports is, on the one hand, to check on legitimate users of the HF spectrum, and on the other to identify use which is in contravention to the ITU's rules on spectrum usage. Where an administration identifies contravening transmissions, it can flag these in the reports and, according to the ITU document describing the reports, these will then be forwarded to the administration which is the source of the transmission.
Looking through these reports for the past 12 months (eg from October 2008 to September 2009), there are a number which relate to various short wave pirates. Specifically:
Date | Time (UTC) | Freq (kHz) | Monitoring Station | Transmitter Location | Station* | Complaint |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
24 Oct 08 | 1700-2359 | 4024.57 | Rambouillet, France | UK | Laser Hot Hits | Illegal use of frequency |
25 Oct 08 | 0000-0600 | 4024.57 | Rambouillet, France | UK | Laser Hot Hits | Illegal use of frequency |
11 Nov 08 | 0000-0645 | 4024.58 | Berlin, Germany | UK | Laser Hot Hits | None |
5 Dec 08 | 0204-0400 | 4024.60 | Tarnok, Hungary | Not Identified | Laser Hot Hits | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
4 Apr 09 | 1715-2400 | 4025.00 | Berlin, Germany | UK | Laser Hot Hits | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
7 Nov 08 | 1837-2359 | 5800.00 | Rambouillet, France | 8E54 45N29 (Milan, Italy) | PLAYBACK INTL | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
12 Jul 09 | 0855-1000 | 5751.51 | Rambouillet, France | 1W31 51N15 (Andover, UK) | Best of British Radio | Illegal use of frequency |
8 Nov 08 | 0000-0200 | 5800.00 | Rambouillet, France | 8E49 45N23 (Milan, Italy) | PLAYBACK INTL | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
10 Nov 08 | 2020-2100 | 5800.00 | Tarnok, Hungary | Not Identified | Playback International | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
4 Jan 09 | 1249-1300 | 5801.00 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | MILANO (Playback International) | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
24 Oct 08 | 2215-0000 | 5803.00 | Baldock, UK | 8E7 45N56 (Milan, Italy) | Playback International | None |
12 Oct 08 | 0700-0830 | 5805.03 | Tarnok, Hungary | Not Identified | Orion Radio | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
2 Dec 08 | 1642 | 6210.00 | Baldock, UK | Belgium | RADIO BORDERHUNTER | SW Pirate |
12 Apr 09 | 1345 | 6202.00 | Baldock, UK | 8E48 50N15 (Frankfurt, Germany) | Crazy Wave Radio | Non-Conformity RR.5 |
15 Feb 09 | 0949-1120 | 6219.99 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | MYSTERY RADIO | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
15 Feb 09 | 1356-1429 | 6219.99 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | PLAYBACK | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
12 Apr 09 | 1815 | 6220.00 | Baldock, UK | 10E0 43N50 (Italy) | MYSTERY RADIO | Non-Conformity RR.5 |
9 May 09 | 1855-1921 | 6220.00 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | MYSTERY RADIO | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
11 Jul 09 | 1935-2300 | 6220.00 | El Casar, Egypt | 11E24 44N27 (Bologna, Italy) | Mystery Radio | None |
31 Jul 09 | 0000-0030 | 6220.00 | Klagenfurt, Austria | Pisa, Italy | Mystery Radio | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
6 Jan 09 | 0105 | 6240.00 | Baldock, UK | Netherlands | UNDERGROUND RADIO | Illicit |
17 Feb 09 | 1654 | 6240.00 | Baldock, UK | Netherlands | UNDERGROUND RADIO | Illicit |
5 Jun 09 | 2340 | 6420.25 | Baldock, UK | 4E46 51N38 (Breda, Netherlands) | Casanova or Dutchwing? | Pirate Station |
7 Feb 09 | 1657 | 6870.00 | Baldock, UK | 12E20 42N41 (Terni, Italy) | Playback International | Non-Conformity RR.5 |
30 Apr 09 | 1639 | 6870.00 | Baldock, UK | 12E20 42N41 (Terni, Italy) | Playback International | Non-Conformity RR.5 |
8 Feb 09 | 0857-0933 | 6870.00 | Vienna, Austria | 9E38 45N41 (Bergamo, Italy) | PLAYBACK | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
22 Mar 09 | 0956-1429 | 6870.00 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | PLAYBACK | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
3 May 09 | 0845-0940 | 6870.00 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | PLAYBACK | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
4 July 09 | 2001-2017 | 6870.00 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | PLAYBACK | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
12 Jul 09 | 0430-2200 | 6870.00 | Tarnok, Hungary | USA (!) | PLAYBACK INT. RADIO | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
14 Feb 09 | 1425-1443 | 6878.00 | Vienna, Austria | Italy | PLAYBACK | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
21 Feb 09 | 0700-2040 | 6880.00 | Rambouillet, France | 9E54 44N42 (Genova, Italy) | Playback International | Illegal use of frequency |
22 Feb 09 | 0630-0700 | 6880.00 | Rambouillet, France | 11E33 44N21 (Bologna, Italy) | Playback International | Illegal use of frequency |
4 Oct 08 | 2000-2100 | 6925.00 | Rambouillet, France | 20E32 39N4 (Greece) | Spider Radio | Illegal use of frequency |
26 Jul 09 | 0000-1700 | 7550.00 | Tarnok, Hungary | Italy | Radio Amica | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
29 Aug 09 | 0620-0700 | 7550.00 | El Casar, Egypt | Italy | Radio Amica | None |
29 Aug 09 | 0600-0630 | 7550.00 | Klagenfurt, Austria | Italy | Radio Amica | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
18 Feb 09 | 1218-1220 | 9385.00 | CRMO, South Korea | Ireland | LASER HOT HITS | Illegal use of frequency |
19 Feb 09 | 1606-1607 | 9385.00 | CRMO, South Korea | Not Identified | Laser Hot Hits | Illegal use of frequency |
28 Feb 09 | 1130-1300 | 9385.00 | Tarnok, Hungary | Not Identified | Laser Hot Hits | Broadcast in non broadcast band |
* Where the station was identified in the monitoring report, it is shown in CAPITALS.
Where no name was given, it has been identified and added in by searching through various on-line logs from the date concerned.
In addition to the above there are one or two other unidentified broadcasts on typical pirate frequencies (eg 6447 kHz on 21 August 2009) but there does not seem to be any indication of who they might be (nor do logs help with this).
Clearly there has been a lot of monitoring of Laser Hot Hits going on by various administrations (Laser may be impressed that they were heard in South Korea!) Similarly Mystery Radio and Playback International have also been heavily monitored though the grid references given for their locations seems to vary quite a lot. These stations operate over long periods, usually at weekends but outside these times too, so it is perhaps not surprising that they have been 'caught'. A more interesting question might be why other stations have been monitored. Was it a chance happening by the administration concerned, or are the frequencies they are using of particular interest to that country?
There are many more questions that these logs raise: How many 'complaints' are necessary before action is taken? Are the locations produced sufficiently accurate to find the transmitters or are other methods necessary? Do the various monitoring stations co-operate to improve the accuracy of locations? Is there a competition between stations and administrations to show how 'bad' their neighbours are being (eg UK complaining about France and France complaining about UK). And perhaps, most importantly, how come Mystery and Playback are still on air?!
Wednesday 21 January, 2009, 16:56 - Pirate/Clandestine
Posted by Administrator
Various forums and logging sites around the web have reported that short-wave pirate station Premier Radio International was recently raided. Their transmitters and studio equipment were apparently taken. Premier Radio operated on 6265 kHz on Sunday mornings from Ireland and according to the reports the Irish spectrum regulator, ComReg, received a complaint of interference from the UK spectrum regulator Ofcom which forced them into action.Posted by Administrator
Such a raid on pirate broadcasters is not unheard of, though a 'cease and desist' letter is often sent to the operator first to warn them that they are at risk of being 'boarded'. Short-wave stations, however, are raided much less frequently than their FM pirate counterparts who lose transmitters on a regular basis. One of the reasons for this is that it can be much more difficult to identify the location of a short-wave transmitter. The other is that interference tends to be caused outside the country in which the transmitter is located - hence the need for the collaboration between Ofcom and ComReg.
There are, however, many short-wave pirate stations that operate in and around 6200 to 6400 kHz on Sunday mornings, and many of them operate from Ireland. So the question is, what is it about the use of this frequency that Ofcom found so objectionable that they felt the need to get ComReg to take such drastic action.
The answer might lie in the particular use of frequency in that part of the radio spectrum. Frequencies from 6200 to 6525 kHz are allocated internationally to maritime mobile services. Within this range, certain spot frequencies have been set aside at an international level, through the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Radio Regulations for certain specific uses. These frequencies are:
* 6215 (actually 6215 to 6218) kHz - allocated for distress and safety communications (analogue)
* 6268 (actually 6267.75 to 6268.25) kHz - allocated for distress and safety communications (narrow band direct printing - NBDP)
* 6312 (actually 6311.75 to 6312.25) kHz - allocated for distress and safety communications (digital selective calling - DSC)
* 6314 (actually 6313.75 to 6314.25) kHz - allocated for maritime safety information (using NBDP)
Clearly, given the safety related nature of the use of these frequencies, it makes sense to avoid them as far as possible to avoid causing interference where it really is not welcome. However, avoiding them does not just mean not transmitting on those spot frequencies. Typical AM transmitters occupy 5 kHz either side of the centre frequency on which they are transmitting. Also the spot frequencies themselves refer to transmissions with typically a 2 or 3 kHz bandwidth. So, to avoid interfering with 6215 kHz which actually uses frequencies from 6215 to 6218 kHz for example, AM transmissions on a centre frequency ranging from 6210 to 6223 kHz should be avoided. This might immediately raise the question as to why Ofcom have not complained about Italy's Mystery Radio who have used 6220 kHz for a very long time or Radio Cairo which uses 6270 kHz between 16:00 and 18:00 GMT every day, but certainly gives credence to claims that Radio Caroline's use of 6215 kHz in the late 1980s could have caused interference to safety-of-life services. With this in mind, the diagram below illustrates which frequencies within the range 6200 to 6400 kHz can be 'safely' used (in blue) without causing interference to these safety related services.
Interfering with any legitimate radio user is not to be condoned, however safety services such as these are not the best of bedfellows. I am sure that many pirates listen to the frequency they intend to use before turning their transmitters on, assuming, that is, that they have sufficient flexibility in their choice of crystals to allow them to find something relatively free. Choosing a frequency that deliberately interferes is, though, clearly a bit mad. So Radio King on 6215 kHz, Radio Malaisy on 6310 kHz and Radio Altrex who use both 6265 and 6310 kHz - be warned - you might be next to be sunk.
Whilst we're on the subject of frequencies not to choose, much of the HF spectrum is littered with transmissions that sound like this. These are NATO transmissions using their HF radio protocol known as STANAG 4285 and are therefore most definitely military in nature. Avoiding any frequency on which these noises can be heard would also seem to make sense too... otherwise it might be torpedos away.