Exploring Pirate and Free Radio Broadcasts

Lately, I have taken interest in listening to Pirate Radio Stations. Unlike in the western hemisphere here in India, there isn't any notable pirate station to speak of. Sporadic broadcasts from makeshift/ mobile units can be heard in isolated parts of the country (which are illegal). In this connection I would like to recall my experience of logging and hearing pirate stations operating in the AM/ MW band during my recent trip to nearby sea beaches  - Mandarmani, Udaypur & Tajpur. You can listen to one of my recordings on SoundCloud

Pirate/ Free Radio is Hip & Happening in other parts of the world, especially, in Europe & the United States of America. There's a rich history of free radio broadcasts out there on the web for you to learn and explore. Here's a link for self education - Click HERE

Although, my journey with Pirates/ Free Radio broadcasts started a few years back when I religiously started listenig to Radio Atlantic 2000 International's weekend broadcasts online, but honestly speaking I didn't get the same pleasure of tuning a station, as with web streaming. Till today, I make it a point to listen to Atlantic 2000 Intl. program whenever they broadcasts through their website. Take a look at one of my earlier posts on Atlantic 2000 International To listen online, Click HERE

Only recently, I have started logging Pirate Stations from Europe using Global Tuners & WebSDR. Both are simple to operate yet amazingly accurate and effective for DXing. The sheer thrill of tuning a radio kept thousands of miles away from my QTH and logging the local AM/FM/Utility/Amateur broadcasts audible from the remote QTH, as well as scanning the SW bands to listen to /compare stations' signal propagation with that heard from my location, is sheer fantasy! I am loving it.

Here are my latest QSLs from Pirate/ Free Radio Stations broadcasting from Europe *logged via Global Tuners and WebSDR. Click on the radio station names below to view the QSLs and reception details - 

1. Quadzilla Radio

2. Radio Geronimo Shortwave

By the way, in the last two weekends I have logged and listened to a number of Pirates from Europe and only these two stations have responded to my report so far. I will update as soon as I have more good news to share.

73's