Logging around the Xmas tree

Checking out my shortwave radio earlier this afternoon, a number of shortwave stations were heard.
Only 2 were identified, tho.

From 2:30 to about 2:45, on 6300, a Dutch sounding pirate called Radio Luxemburg was heard. Ironically, the jingle used was "Radio Luxembourg, Great Britain" lol

Then from 3:30 to after 4:00, Radio Mistletoe was heard on 6245 kHz. Mostly Xmas music, also a brief history of the Xmas tree.

Birmingham pirates and more

Visited Birmingham today, for the demo outside the Tory Party conference. While in Birmingham, the following were heard:

89.1 Big City Radio (community station), RDS = Big City, Big City Radio website
89.6 Deep FM (pirate). Mono, no RDS. Format house and rave music. Heard as far as Tamworth on the coach home.
91.3 Raaj FM from Sandwell. Raaj FM website
92.0 Hot FM (pirate). RDS = www.hot92.net , Hot 92 website
93.5 Unity FM (community radio). Unity FM website
94.2 Skyline Radio, Wolverhampton (pirate). RDS = SKYLINE
97.5 Stingdem.com (pirate). Mono, no RDS. Stingdem.com website
98.7 Newstyle FM (community). RDS = NEWSTYLE. Newstyle FM website
99.4 Irie FM (pirate). RDS = IRIE UK , adverts for Wolverhampton businesses
106.9 Unidentified station with Christian religious programmes. Mentioned West Bromwich

On the coach home, the journey went along Dudley Road - past where the old PCRL HQ used to be! Also went near Castle Vale - that area's certainly changed since the late 80's and early 90's, the days of Classic FM 94.2 etc!

London pirates

Just returned last night from Marxism 2008, the annual socialists' event in central London.

While there, I was staying on the 4th floor of student accommodation. Using my Roberts ecologic 1 radio, the following free radio stations were heard on the night of Friday 3rd July 2009:

87.5 Dockland FM (?) , no RDS
87.8 Shine FM, RDS = SHINE879
89.8 Station FM , no RDS
90.1 Point Blank, scrolling RDS = POINT
BLANK
90.6 Unknown FM, scrolling RDS = UNKNOWN
FM
91.8 Passion FM, RDS = PASSION
92.7 Freeze FM , scrolling RDS = Freeze
FM_92.7
93.8 Ragga FM , no RDS
94.0 Touch FM, RDS = TOUCH'94
94.6 Unidentified, string of repeating adverts, scrolling RDS advertised coming events
95.5 Upfront 955, no RDS
96.1 S-Dance, RDS = S-DANCE
102.8 ULR - Urban Love Radio , no RDS
105.6 Jiggy Radio , scrolling RDS = JIGGY
RADIO
108.0 Unknown FM, no RDS, announced as unknownfm.net

In addition there were more Unidentified stations on 88.2 (rave) , 88.6 (rave) , 89.35 (rave) , 90.8 (reggae) , 91.6 (rave) , 93.0 (reggae) , 95.1 (rave) , 97.5 (reggae) , 99.5 (reggae) , 99.8 (reggae) , 100.4 (dance) , 101.2 (R&B) , 102.5 (reggae / lovers rock) , 103.6 (Asian) , 103.8 (reggae) , 105.2 (dance / R&B) , 106.5 (rave) , 106.7 (rave)

And the ILRs heard included:
95.8 Capital FM , RDS = CAPITAL
96.9 Choice FM , no RDS
97.3 LBC , RDS = LBC_97.3
100.0 Kiss FM
101.4 On FM - website
102.2 Smooth Radio
104.9 XFM , RDS = X_F_M
105.4 Magic
105.8 Absolute Radio
106.2 Heart FM, RDS = HEART
107.1 Choice FM , no RDS
107.5 Time FM
107.8 Radio Jackie


The following morning, at 08:40 am, the following were also heard:

97.9 Passion FM , RDS = PASSION
99.1 Irie FM (?) , no RDS

And at 23:00, another was added:

87.8 Hightz Live , RDS = www.hightzlive.com

Gizza job

Just been on the Birmingham March for Jobs, called by the Unite union. I have a particular interest in this cause, as I will be laid off from my current job on 30th June :(

Of course, I took my Roberts EcoLogic 1 radio along with me, and logged a number of stations at Centenary Square:

87.7 South Birmingham Community Radio, RSL.
89.1 Aston FM, small community station. RDS = ASTON FM
91.3 Raaj FM, an Asian community radio station. RDS = RAAJ FM , info text was the phone number
92.0 Hot FM, pirate. RDS = www.hot92.net
94.2 Skyline Radio, pirate? Weak, no RDS. Is this the same Skyline Radio which used to broadcast from Wolverhampton in the early 1990's ?
95.1 Kris FM, pirate
98.7 New Style FM, local non-profit community station (similar to Sheffield Live). RDS = NEWSTYLE
101.5 Silk City FM, pirate, with scrolling RDS
107.5 Sting FM, pirate. Strong signal, mono, no RDS

Also of note: heard BBC Radio Stoke on 94.6

London log

Was in London today, for the big "Put People First" demo against job losses.

On the coach down, an unidentified pirate was heard some way north of London (approx junction 7 of the M1) playing a loop tape of an advert for an event in Reading. By junction 6, this had been replaced on the frequency by the London pirate Platinum FM.

After the march arrived in Hyde Park and before the speeches started, I put my new radio to good use. It's a Roberts ecologic 1 DAB/FM with RDS radio. The RDS is actually more versatile than that on a car radio; as well as the station name, you can also see the Programme Type (PTY) and scrolling programme info. Not that the Programme Type is of much use in practice - many of the pirates selected "Talk" or "News" for this flag!

Anyroad, here is the list. Mostly pirates (or presumed pirates), unless otherwise stated.

87.5 Platinum FM, no RDS
87.7 NME Radio (RSL), RDS = N_M_E
89.4 Unknown FM, RDS = UNKNOWN
90.6 Unknown FM, RDS = UNKNOWN
90.8 Lightning FM, RDS = LIGHTNIN
91.6 Genesis Radio, no RDS
91.9 Pulse FM, RDS = PULSE_FM
93.8 Vibes FM, RDS = Vibes FM (Do not adjust your screen - it seems it is possible to have small letters in a station's RDS name!). Scrolling info RDS = "Vibes 93.8 FM. The People's Choice."
94.0 Touch FM, RDS = TOUCH'94
95.5 On Top FM, RDS name was scrolling
96.0 RDS = S-DANCE
96.4 Hot 96, no RDS
97.9 Passion FM, RDS = PASSION
99.3 RDS = SELECT_UK
99.5 Radio Galaxy, RDS = galaxy
106.4 Village Radio, no RDS
108.0 Unknown FM, RDS = UNKNOWN, scrolling info RDS included studio text number

Unidentified stations thought to be pirates (all no RDS except 94.5) were heard on 88.6, 89.8 (Station FM?), 92.2, 92.3, 94.5 (RDS name scrolling with an ad for an event), 97.6, 98.2, 99.1, 99.7, 100.2, 100.4, 101.2, 101.7
(Believe it or not, this is probably not an exhaustive list!)

In addition, ILR's Radio Jackie 107.8 (the ex-pirate) and 96.5 The Eagle were also heard.

More London pirates

In addition to yesterday's log, the following pirates were heard tonight:

94.6 Kool FM
96.1 Supreme Dance
97.1 Energy FM


Off-topic, tonight at the Marxism event, there was a showing of the film I Cento Passi (which translates to English as The Hundred Steps). This Italian film is the story of a Sicilian trade unionist who stood up against the Sicilian Mafia, back in the 1970's. To spread his message, he started a small-scale radio station, Radio Aut.

London pirates log

Arrived in London this afternoon, for the SWP's Marxism 2008 festival. Staying in student flats near Euston railway station. In my flat on the 2nd floor, from 14:40 to approx 15:00, I can hear the following:

87.9 Shine FM
88.6 House FM
90.3 Point Blank FM
90.6 Unknown FM (?)
93.8 Vibes FM
99.2 Unknown FM
100.2 True FM - Dirty Outlaws mix programme at the time
101.3 Unique FM
107.9 Unknown FM

Unknown FM was on 3 different frequencies, namely 90.3, 99.2 and 107.9 - is this nearby micro-transmitter owned by someone listening to Unknown FM online, so close that it's 'sprogging all over the band'?

Later, at 23:15, I also heard:

94.4 Tempo FM (?) - reggae music format

Also at that time, Unknown FM had disappeared from 107.9, meaning the ex-pirate Radio Jackie 107.8 could be heard.

Carsington Water - Pirates ahoy!

Visited a RSPB/Springwatch event today at Carsington Water, near Alfreton.

Around 6pm, in the car park there, the following pirates were heard:

89.6 Deep FM, playing house oldies from the late 1980's
95.3 Kriss FM, playing dance/rave music
97.5 Vivid FM
107.8 Radio Azaad (?), Asian

All are believed to be from the West Midlands.

Signals were especially good from the south west and south east, legal stations heard include:

97.2 Beacon FM (Black country)
102.4 Touch Radio (Staffordshire)
104.3 BBC Radio Cymru
105.2 Kerrang (West Midlands)
107.6 Radio Dawn (Nottingham)

Kinda surprising, considering Carsington Water is in a valley and surrounded by hills !

Leeds pirates gone

Early this afternoon, Fresh FM were noted at the Cedar Court Hotel, near Wakefield (off junction 39 of the M1) - some way south of Leeds. Signal was strong enough for the RDS to be readable.

By 4pm this evening, however, no Leeds pirates were heard; Fresh FM and Peoples FM were gone.

Raided?

Leeds pirates return

Both Fresh FM 95.6 and Peoples FM 104.5 were back today.

Fresh FM 95.6 noted in the morning, just before 8am, playing reggae music. Scrolling RDS.

Just after 4pm, Peoples FM 104.5 had also returned. No RDS received.

Also this afternoon, Leeds 11 FM 87.9 had been joined by an as yet unidentified Asian station on 87.7 FM. Very weak signal in Garforth, still audible some way down the A1, implying the station is not from Leeds (Bradford maybe?)

Leeds pirates missing presumed raided

No Leeds pirates heard today, an unusual event.

Not only was Peoples FM 104.5 totally missing, so was Fresh FM 95.6 - there wasn't even the usual "hiss relay" normally heard on 95.6 when Fresh is off-air (presumably they switch off the link TX at the studio, but leave their main TX transmitting and relaying the hiss received by its link receiver).

Strongly suspect Ofcom have had a round of ether-ic cleansing in the Leeds area.

Farewell to London

Today's the last day of Marxism, and tonight I head home to Clowne.

So here is the final London Pirates log for the time being ...

Following stations were heard very early this morning, from 00:20 until about 02:00;

87.9 Shine FM - playing rave music at the time
89.4 Sweet 894
89.8 Station FM - reggae
92.4 Deja Vu - playing R&B
92.7 Freeze FM - rave music
92.9 Climax Radio - R&B and soul music
94.4 Flames FM - website www.flamesfm.com
94.6 (mono) Cool FM - rave music
96.6 Heat FM (?)
97.7 SLR
105.6 Jiggy Radio - reggae and soca music heard

London pirates and other observations

Only one more station ID'd today, namely:

96.6 mono Heat FM heard approx 1:20 am


Off topic, the Kurdish Community Centre where I'm staying is certainly well decorated with Kurdish insignia and pictures of Kurdish heroes (eg Ocolan, their representative who has yet to be recognised as such by the international Establishment). What's more, the centre even has its own kiosk-type shop for refreshments.

A communal TV there is tuned to Kurdsat (a satellite TV channel in Kurdish), and throughout the night Kurdish/Asian music videos are aired. Unusual but kinda interesting ...

More London pirates logs

From 23:50 yesterday into the early hours of this morning, the following were heard back at the Kurdish Community Centre:

101.7 Xtreme FM
103.6 Raw Flex 103.6
105.6 Jiggy Radio (?)

There was also an unidentified station on 102.6 playing happy hardcore - a "blast from the past" :-)

London pirates - afternoon

Marxism 2007 was held at the ULU building in central London (not far from Euston railway station).

Here, on the first floor (Gallery Bar outside gallery), the following pirates were heard in the afternoon from approx 16:20 to approx 17:15;

92.7 mono Freeze 92.7 FM
95.2 mono Origin FM
95.5 On Top FM , rave music
100.4 mono Rinse FM - announced broadcasting hours of 8 to 11 (presumably 8am to 11pm)
101.2 mono Xtreme FM (?) - announced website of xtremeformusic.com
102.0 mono Chillin' FM - weak signal
103.6 Flex 103.6

London pirates - early morning

A number of pirates in London still seem to broadcast 24 hours
The following (among others!) were heard between 07:45 and 08:15 this morning:

87.9 Shine 879 , format was house music
89.8 Station FM , playing gospel music at this time
92.4 Deja Vu , long string of adverts heard. Website = www.vulive.co.uk

London pirates

Arrived tonight in London for Marxism 2007 (the SWP's annual socialist event).

I'm sleeping overnight in the Kurdish Community Centre, near Finsbury Park.

Following pirates (not an exhaustive list!) have been noted on a small walkman-type radio:

89.8 stereo Station FM, a long-running community pirate.
Format was mostly reggae music. Are running an anti-gun & knife crime promo, in which Station FM presenters urge listeners to leave their guns and knives at home.

94.0 Touch FM format of R&B music, including "old skool" R&B from the 1990s.

105.6 Jiggy Radio (?)

More lists as I ID stations. After all, I am in London 'til Monday night :-)