Yes, I’m about 11 months late in getting this out… but better late than never! Your comments are certainly appreciated, as well as suggestions for additional data you’d like to see for 2014.
To gauge shortwave pirate radio activity in 2013, I analyzed the loggings to the HF Underground (http://www.hfunderground.com) message board. A computer script parsed the message thread titles, as well as the timestamps of the messages. This information was used to produce some statistics about the level of pirate radio activity. Of course, as Mark Twain has written: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Still, let’s see what we can learn.
There were 14,287 messages posted to 2,461 unique threads, that’s a 64% increase in the number of messages over 2012. Ideally, each thread represents an individual pirate station transmission. Also ideally, each message posted to a thread represents one logging. In reality, there is some error involved.
First, we can look at the transmission mode used:
AM 1077
USB 1091
LSB 26
CW 48
FM 18
SSTV 42
UNKNOWN 159
AM and USB are virtually tied, and if we assume (as likely) that the cases where no mode was reported are one of these, account for virtually all of the transmission.
SSTV was broken out just to show about how many SSTV transmissions there are, these of course are almost all transmitted in USB mode. Also, these are cases where SSTV is in the logging title, which means that the transmission was probably just SSTV, vs a station that also happened to transmit SSTV as part of the program.
Next, we can see how much activity there is for each day of the week:
Sunday 533 22%
Monday 226 9%
Tuesday 257 10%
Wednesday 228 9%
Thursday 269 11%
Friday 376 15%
Saturday 572 23%
As one might expect, Saturday and Sunday are the big winners, with Friday in third place. But don’t give up on weekday listening! 39% of transmissions are on a Monday through Thursday.
We can also look at the number of logging threads per month, to gauge activity:
Since the overall popularity of the HF Underground continues to grow, there is possibly some inflation in the number of threads as the year goes on.
Here’s a graph showing the number of broadcasts per day of the year that were logged:
We might be interested in knowing the best time of the day to try for a station. Here’s a plot of the start times of the logged broadcasts, binned
by UTC hour of the day:
As you might expect, evening Eastern Time is the best, roughly 2300-0300 UTC, with a broader peak of lower activity from roughly 2000-0500 UTC. There is some activity in the morning to afternoon time period, and very little during the wee hours.
The next question is where to tune. As one might expect, 6925 kHz was the clear winner:
6850 kHz: 14
6900 kHz: 7
6919 kHz: 6
6920 kHz: 41
6921 kHz: 17
6923 kHz: 5
6924 kHz: 116
6925 kHz: 1360
6926 kHz: 5
6929 kHz: 15
6930 kHz: 147
6931 kHz: 12
6933 kHz: 6
6935 kHz: 143
6936 kHz: 4
6937 kHz: 8
6938 kHz: 7
6940 kHz: 92
6945 kHz: 58
6949 kHz: 24
6950 kHz: 170
6951 kHz: 13
6955 kHz: 34
6960 kHz: 7
6965 kHz: 5
6966 kHz: 7
6970 kHz: 6
6974 kHz: 5
6975 kHz: 27
13875 kHz: 7
6925, along with 6924 and 6926 kHz, account for 60% of logged transmissions.
The most popular station logged is of course “UNID”, short for unidentified. In the world of shortwave pirate radio, there’s a number of transmissions where no ID is given. There’s also many cases where no ID could be heard, due to poor conditions. For 2013, there were 677 threads with 2,554 loggings where no station ID was given – that’s almost 28% of the threads.
Here’s the complete list of all stations with two or more logging threads:
UNID (677)
Red Mercury Labs (128)
Radio Free Whatever (98)
Blue Ocean Radio (87)
Radio Ga Ga (65)
Rave On Radio (63)
Boombox Radio (63)
PeePee Vagina (56)
Radio True North (52)
Wolverine Radio (43)
Pirate Radio Boston (43)
Radio TOTSE (39)
Radio Echo One (37)
Radio Ronin (33)
Captain Morgan (32)
Undercover Radio (31)
The Crystal Ship (30)
Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic (26)
XLR8 (25)
Twangy Radio (22)
Metro Radio International (20)
WGWR (20)
XFM (19)
Pseudo Radio (19)
Renegade Radio (18)
WBNY (17)
Liquid Radio (16)
Turtlehead Radio (15)
Mysterious Mystic Radio (15)
Channel Z (13)
Radio Jamba International (13)
MAC Shortwave (13)
Northwoods Radio (12)
Black Cat Radio (12)
Happy Hanukkah Radio (12)
Toynbee Radio (11)
Chamber Pot Radio (11)
Hit Parade Radio (11)
The Late Movie (11)
BOCHF (10)
WMPR (9)
WFMT (9)
Insane Radio (9)
Man Cave Radio (9)
Partial India Radio (9)
PBS Underground (9)
CYOT (8)
WPOD (8)
Radio Azteca (8)
All Aboard Radio (8)
My New Underpants (8)
The Big Q (8)
Cool AM (7)
WFUQ (7)
Rattlesnake Radio (7)
WJFK (7)
All Along The Watchtower Radio (6)
Appalachia Radio (6)
XEROX (6)
Hot Radio (6)
Rebel Radio (6)
Left Lane Radio (6)
Hard Tack Radio (5)
Grizzly Bear Radio (5)
Pirates Week Relay (5)
Vo Pancho Villa (5)
KAMP (5)
Voice of Bacon (5)
Tea Party Radio (5)
LTO Radio (5)
WAZU (4)
EAM Guy (4)
Radio Casablanca (4)
Radio Therapy (4)
SDF1 (4)
CHKN (4)
Sharon Radio (4)
Edmund Fitzgerald Radio (4)
Fruitcake Station (4)
Radio Dr Tim (4)
KAOS (3)
KIPM (3)
WPON (3)
Eccentric Shortwave (3)
Big Boobs Radio (3)
Hot Legs Radio (3)
Mushroom Radio (3)
XENU (3)
WUBR (3)
Radio Marlene (3)
Radio Paisano (3)
Voice of Honor (3)
NOEL (3)
WCS (3)
Radio Free Speech (3)
WAHR (3)
Witch City Radio (3)
The Edge (3)
KPZL (2)
Ann Hoffer Live (2)
Radio Strange Outpost 7 (2)
Radio Morania (2)
Radio First Termer (2)
Radio Whatever (2)
BZN (2)
Vo American Indian (2)
Hello Radio (2)
PPVR (2)
Radio Cinco De Mayo (2)
Radio Snausages (2)
Mouth of Mohammed (2)
WFUZ (2)
Kennedy Assassination News (2)
Voice of the Robots (2)
YHWH (2)
Turkey Breast Radio (2)
WSBR (2)
Radio Jihad (2)
Victory Radio (2)
Another thing we can look at are the number of posts in a logging thread for each station. Note that there is the likelihood of some duplicate posts by the same user for each thread, so these figures may be slightly inflated:
Red Mercury Labs (945)
Radio Free Whatever (740)
Wolverine Radio (559)
Blue Ocean Radio (427)
Rave On Radio (377)
Boombox Radio (335)
Radio Ga Ga (334)
Radio True North (318)
The Crystal Ship (308)
PeePee Vagina (268)
Radio Echo One (253)
Undercover Radio (237)
Radio TOTSE (234)
Radio Ronin (222)
Pirate Radio Boston (222)
Captain Morgan (213)
Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic (207)
Twangy Radio (206)
Renegade Radio (196)
XLR8 (188)
MAC Shortwave (150)
XFM (149)
Metro Radio International (142)
Black Cat Radio (129)
Radio Jamba International (115)
Liquid Radio (106)
Partial India Radio (103)
WGWR (99)
Northwoods Radio (91)
PBS Underground (90)
WBNY (89)
Channel Z (83)
The Late Movie (82)
Mysterious Mystic Radio (81)
Pseudo Radio (78)
Insane Radio (75)
WMPR (71)
BOCHF (71)
WFMT (59)
Turtlehead Radio (59)
WPOD (57)
Hit Parade Radio (57)
Appalachia Radio (56)
Toynbee Radio (55)
Radio Marlene (55)
Man Cave Radio (54)
Happy Hanukkah Radio (53)
CYOT (51)
Hard Tack Radio (51)
Cool AM (50)
WJFK (48)
LTO Radio (47)
Chamber Pot Radio (46)
Grizzly Bear Radio (43)
EAM Guy (40)
Edmund Fitzgerald Radio (36)
WFUQ (35)
Voice of Bacon (34)
All Aboard Radio (33)
My New Underpants (33)
Radio Azteca (32)
Left Lane Radio (32)
XEROX (31)
Mouth of Mohammed (31)
KIPM (30)
All Along The Watchtower Radio (30)
Radio Casablanca (29)
KAMP (29)
KAOS (27)
The Big Q (27)
Witch City Radio (27)
SDF1 (26)
Sharon Radio (26)
Rattlesnake Radio (25)
WPON (24)
Hot Legs Radio (24)
Radio Paisano (24)
WAZU (23)
Mushroom Radio (23)
CHKN (23)
Voice of Honor (23)
Big Boobs Radio (21)
Vo Pancho Villa (21)
Radio Cinco De Mayo (21)
Fruitcake Station (21)
Voice of the Robots (20)
Radio First Termer (19)
Hot Radio (19)
WSBR (19)
Eccentric Shortwave (17)
NOEL (17)
WAHR (17)
Radio Snausages (16)
Rebel Radio (15)
Tea Party Radio (15)
KPZL (14)
Radio Morania (14)
Pirates Week Relay (14)
XENU (13)
BZN (12)
YHWH (12)
Radio Dr Tim (11)
Radio Free Speech (11)
Ann Hoffer Live (10)
PPVR (10)
Kennedy Assassination News (10)
WCS (10)
Turkey Breast Radio (10)
Radio Jihad (10)
Victory Radio (10)
Radio Therapy (9)
WFUZ (9)
Radio Whatever (8)
WUBR (8)
Vo American Indian (7)
Hello Radio (6)
The Edge (6)
Radio Strange Outpost 7 (2)
Next we can calculate the ratio of logging messages per thread, to gauge, in general, how many people reported hearing each station:
Red Mercury Labs 945 128 7.38281
Radio Free Whatever 740 98 7.55102
Wolverine Radio 559 43 13
Blue Ocean Radio 427 87 4.90805
Rave On Radio 377 63 5.98413
Boombox Radio 335 63 5.31746
Radio Ga Ga 334 65 5.13846
Radio True North 318 52 6.11538
The Crystal Ship 308 30 10.2667
PeePee Vagina 268 56 4.78571
Radio Echo One 253 37 6.83784
Undercover Radio 237 31 7.64516
Radio TOTSE 234 39 6
Radio Ronin 222 33 6.72727
Pirate Radio Boston 222 43 5.16279
Captain Morgan 213 32 6.65625
Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic 207 26 7.96154
Twangy Radio 206 22 9.36364
Renegade Radio 196 18 10.8889
XLR8 188 25 7.52
MAC Shortwave 150 13 11.5385
XFM 149 19 7.84211
Metro Radio International 142 20 7.1
Black Cat Radio 129 12 10.75
Radio Jamba International 115 13 8.84615
Liquid Radio 106 16 6.625
WGWR 99 20 4.95
Northwoods Radio 91 12 7.58333
WBNY 89 17 5.23529
Channel Z 83 13 6.38462
The Late Movie 82 11 7.45455
Mysterious Mystic Radio 81 15 5.4
Pseudo Radio 78 19 4.10526
Turtlehead Radio 59 15 3.93333
Hit Parade Radio 57 11 5.18182
Toynbee Radio 55 11 5
Happy Hanukkah Radio 53 12 4.41667
Chamber Pot Radio 46 11 4.18182
One risk here is that the same transmission could be logged in two, or even more, threads, which would reduce this ratio,
We can then sort these by ratio:
13,Wolverine Radio
11.5385,MAC Shortwave
10.8889,Renegade Radio
10.75,Black Cat Radio
10.2667,The Crystal Ship
9.36364,Twangy Radio
8.84615,Radio Jamba International
7.96154,Radio Gallifrey Intergalactic
7.84211,XFM
7.64516,Undercover Radio
7.58333,Northwoods Radio
7.55102,Radio Free Whatever
7.52,XLR8
7.45455,The Late Movie
7.38281,Red Mercury Labs
7.1,Metro Radio International
6.83784,Radio Echo One
6.72727,Radio Ronin
6.65625,Captain Morgan
6.625,Liquid Radio
6.38462,Channel Z
6.11538,Radio True North
6,Radio TOTSE
5.98413,Rave On Radio
5.4,Mysterious Mystic Radio
5.31746,Boombox Radio
5.23529,WBNY
5.18182,Hit Parade Radio
5.16279,Pirate Radio Boston
5.13846,Radio Ga Ga
5,Toynbee Radio
4.95,WGWR
4.90805,Blue Ocean Radio
4.78571,PeePee Vagina
4.41667,Happy Hanukkah Radio
4.18182,Chamber Pot Radio
4.10526,Pseudo Radio
3.93333,Turtlehead Radio
Avg Ratio 6.88793