Pirate Radio New Listener Guide and FAQ

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Version 0.001 - mostly a placeholder page for the moment
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=What Are Pirate Radio Stations?=
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List of [[Pirate radio stations]]
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==Why Listen to Pirate Radio Stations==
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One of the major complaints about modern corporate radio is that it is bland and boring. It seems as though half a dozen companies own all the stations, and every one sounds the same. How many Morning Zoo shows can you listen to, anyway?
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[[Pirate_QSL_Collection]]
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With pirate radio, you often never know what you're going to hear next. There's a huge variety of station formats.
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==QSL Cards==
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Some just play music, but often it is obscure or unique music. Rave on Radio is known for focusing on one artist. Wolverine Radio strings together a series of songs, all with a common theme. Radio Appalachia plays bluegrass music. And so on.
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===Tips for QSL'ing Pirates===
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Other stations are known for producing their own original creative programming. Such as KIPM, which featured science fiction radio drama. WHYP is a parody of a former genuine small town radio station with the same call letters, from back in the 1980s, infamous for their poor production standards.
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====Things to keep in mind====
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There have even been political stations, such as United Patriot Radio.
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-- QSL'ing preferences vary from op to op, and some ops QSL later rather than sooner (sometimes after many years...), as time, safety and costs allow.
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Finally, there are stations that are are essentially inside jokes in the pirate radio community. They splice together recordings of other stations and pirate listeners, create song parodies, and so on. You truly never know what you will hear next.
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-- Be patient and open-minded. Some OPs choose to remain a mystery or QSL within the broadcast via SSTV, digital mode that can be decoded by numourous free and low-cost applications:
 
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http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Operating_Modes/SSTV/
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==Topics and Articles==
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To access these articles simply click on the blue text
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====Snailmail QSL etiquette====
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* [[Where Can I Find Pirate Activity]]
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TBD
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** [[List of Pirate Radio Frequencies]]
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** [[Pirate radio stations]]
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* [https://www.hfunderground.com/propagation/ HF Underground Propagation page]
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* What Do I Need to Hear Pirates on SW?
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** [[A Brief Survey of HF Receiving Equipment]]
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** [[Some Basic HF Antennas]]
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** [https://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Improving_HF_Reception Improving HF Reception]  '''Note:''' offsite wiki
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* [[SSTV]] A mode used by pirates to send pictures on HF   
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* [[Can I Get a QSL from Pirates]]
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**[[Pirate radio station email addresses]]
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**[[Pirate QSL Collection]]
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* [[Where Can I Get Reports on Current Pirate Activity]]
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====Email or "eQSL" ettiquette====
 
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In your request, offer as much technical feedback as your experience allows, include where possible:
 
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-- What content you heard, music, dialogue, distinctive ID's or properties of the broadcast that will help the op know that you uniquely heard his broadcast, as many ops use same frequencies
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[[Category:Pirate radio]]
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--Signal Strength,  as best you can describe it. For new listeners and non-HAMs SINPO is explained here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SINPO
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Keep in mind that lots of atmospherics come into play when you're listening on HF bands, storms in between your location and the operators factor greatly.
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Also, for the non-technical listener - there is an atmospheric condition known as Gray Line Propagation: http://www.w8mrc.com/dx/propagation/ 
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which  is especially helpful in understanding as it relates to optimal reception of pirate radio broadcasts, especially due to the broadcast power constraints pirate ops must deal with. For listeners, understanding grayline propagation will help greatly in improving what you hear, even at great distances from the op's transmitting region.
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-- Congeniality: Live Radio is full of surprises, even for the operator, technical glitches 'happen' -- the QSL report you send should be respectful, and if any audio deficiencies are noted,  be gentle and descriptive i.e. "Slight audio drift and slight distortion noted at <insert time during broadcast>" , if known. If the op was making technical adjustments during the broadcast, mentioning what you heard may help them understand how their adjustments affected a broadcast.
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Remember, Pirate Ops do this for fun and challenge, at their own expense, for the entertainment of others, and face a number of risks to do so. Let them know that you enjoyed their broadcasts, for many ops, this is the sole payback they get for their efforts.
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====A few VITAL points====
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-- Try NOT to publicly speculate on the location of an operator, even if well-meaning or you suspect the operator is somewhere near your region. This has a chilling effect for operators, and past controversies, (available for reading on the HFU wiki) will dicourage ops from coming on the air for fear of FCC intimidation or 'outing'.
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-- Personal Privacy and Safety: As with all things on the internet, your privacy is important, consider using a non-personal webmail account for corresponding with HF Pirates, both for your safety and their anonymity.
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Webmail accounts vary: Gmail currently offers the best file storage capacity and doesn't  share your sending IP's in the headers, Hotmail and Yahoo do currently still appear to embed the sender's IP address, and might be considered accounts to be avoided. Your level of vigilance/paranoia may vary, but consider a mail account that discloses the least amount of personal information possible.
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Revision as of 00:46, 12 September 2020

What Are Pirate Radio Stations?

Why Listen to Pirate Radio Stations

One of the major complaints about modern corporate radio is that it is bland and boring. It seems as though half a dozen companies own all the stations, and every one sounds the same. How many Morning Zoo shows can you listen to, anyway?

With pirate radio, you often never know what you're going to hear next. There's a huge variety of station formats.

Some just play music, but often it is obscure or unique music. Rave on Radio is known for focusing on one artist. Wolverine Radio strings together a series of songs, all with a common theme. Radio Appalachia plays bluegrass music. And so on.

Other stations are known for producing their own original creative programming. Such as KIPM, which featured science fiction radio drama. WHYP is a parody of a former genuine small town radio station with the same call letters, from back in the 1980s, infamous for their poor production standards.

There have even been political stations, such as United Patriot Radio.

Finally, there are stations that are are essentially inside jokes in the pirate radio community. They splice together recordings of other stations and pirate listeners, create song parodies, and so on. You truly never know what you will hear next.


Topics and Articles

To access these articles simply click on the blue text

Retrieved from "https://hfunderground.com/wiki/index.php/Pirate_Radio_New_Listener_Guide_and_FAQ"



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