A brilliant job Lewis. Thanks for putting in such an effort to get the best from the left-overs and sweepings-up I sent you! Bob was responsible for getting the jingles done via a Manchester-based company run by an ex Piccadilly Radio DJ who had better remain nameless. Bob also got his razor blade to work on some home-grown ones, usually made from his vast collection of old PAMS jingles. Bob now lives in Kent.
Hi Andy, I never thought the small town of Glossop had a station before High Peak Radio arrived. Have you got any info on it? I can ask family and friends if they remember it.
@@fitzyraz Hi Ryan. There's not much to tell beyond what's in the closing part of this video. Glossop was very badly served on FM radio due to the hills surrounding the area, so we thought it was a prime target for a community station. Sadly it never got much response and we closed it towards the end of 1984.
Nice one Lewis, an old friend of mine ran a pirate radio station in Liverpool called radio Jackie North this just reminded me of him. He started out in fields and ended up in high rise flats but unfortunately has since passed away RIP Rick Dane aka Eric Haydock. Cheers Dave.
When I was at school I had this pirate station that would broadcast at lunchtime on a timer. The teachers wanted to know why the kids brought in so many portable radios to listen out on the school field. They freaked when they found out.
@@rudolphguarnacci197 We actually had an English teacher who was to most of us kids a stern authoritarian Shakespeare loving gent, but too my surprise he was also a keen electronics and radio enthusiast himself as a hobby he had in his spare time. He'd never seen a kid from the school do this before and was a secret admirer of the talent involved.
Not related, but I've been interested in radio for a long time, but never really thought I'd be able to pass the foundation test. Well since watching your videos its sparked interest, and after going through an online course with essex ham, I took my test and passed with 23/26 Over the moon, thanks mate! M7DKM
A lot of work went in to running that pirate radio station. It was labor intensive. There was a pirate station in my local area in the early 80s. I never actually heard it but was told about it by the creators. They called themselves SR-71. They got shut down shortly after I became aware of them.
Great reporting Lewis of an alternative radio scene which was king in the late 70s and 80s in many parts of the uk ... and with original footage makes this story fantastic ...well done
Programming the content, recording the broadcasts, editing in the stingers and intros, climbing the hills, setting up the stations, and then babysitting them for most of the night. That's a lot of time and effort. How did these guys have time for their day jobs? Very interesting story though. Thanks Lewis!
Hi Dennis. It wasn't too bad, as we were on only one night per week. The programmes were done 'live' onto tape, so a 1-hour show took one hour to record, and I got into the habit of doing mine just before we set out for the hills. Actually, I used to stop occasionally during my recordings as I tended to get a bit flustered. I'd never make a proper DJ! Bob was much better and just sailed through his hour. There was no 'editing in' of the jingles, they were played into the recording as the show progressed, just like a live DJ would do. We usually went back for the gear at around six AM.
@@JETJOOBOY No need for lots of power. A single 12v 3Ah rechargeable gel-cell was more than enough. The transmitter drew only about 200mA and I'd guess the cassette player took about the same. There was one occasion when the auto-stop didn't work and the TX stayed on. It was still on when we picked up the gear at 6 AM! We did use a car battery once when we came back on the air for a one-off broadcast. The electronics was designed with an 'undervolt' cut off, so that the TX would shut down cleanly when the battery got down to 11 volts without the frequency drifting or other bad effects. We thought it would last overnight and well into the next day, but it ended up soldiering on for 3 days! The content was just an auto-reverse cassette player.
Seeing the stories of pirate radio on this channel makes me appreciate just how much the internet has made it easier to get your voice out there (Podcasts in particular remain a favourite of mine) while nonetheless being amazed at the effort these pirates made.
Great vibes Lewis. I have just built an FM transmitter. Dead Bug Style on a copper board. It's getting well out there on just 4mW. Wound some inductors for a filter and it looks like junk but just works so well hah ha. I have spare parts if anybody wants a kit! I would make a Vidjayo but guess that could get me in a bit of bother. Oh, PS F1/motorsport radio tech soon yea?
Awesome piece Mr! Really enjoyed that..I loved listening to medium wave pirates many years ago..dont hear that many these days..the less than brilliant production values made it more entertaining..great memories.
I've got a little snippit on one of my cassettes of A.I.R. I remember picking it up. Can't remember the year unless I check the tape. It was a pretty weak signal in Didsbury and I hadn't a clue where it was from. Mystery solved. Thanks
Enjoyed this video very much Lewis. We have a pirate to here now on FM that’s only gone on weekends so we assume he works through the week. Usually on Saturday night. So far no one can find him. Thank you sir for the great video always a pleasure viewing them here in the United States
@@RingwayManchester But I’ll try to catching this weekend he’s never gone through the week he’s only on on Saturdays and that’s random. Usually on holidays we might catch him. He has a very low signal so not much power. I’ll see what I can do for you
I have a friend in the US who loves UK rave music. When I did a radio show on a station here he'd carry the stream over onto his own little pirate station in the US. He had a little transmitter that would get across his town. He'd use a burner phone and people would text it for shouts, he'd relay them to me and I'd give these Americans shout outs over the mic. Amazing eh!
We did this back in the day started with a free running oscillator in the late 70's got a Leader LSG230 put some amplifiers on it (some 2 meter modified) ran on weekends when 90.5 WKHS was off the air fun times still have tapes need to upload them misspent youth hehe
At first I thought it was a repeater I found a repeater/relay hidden in trees, In Surrey they had powered it from a street lamp with over 100 meters of twin flex, I followed it under a cutting and wired into the lamp, it was still running for weeks, I suppose it was found. Because it was taken down.
Another great video mate.Thats exactly how we used to operate back in the early 80's in Eastbourne before we built link transmitters from the studio to the tx site and then broadcast live transmissions.Very happy days. 73.G7HFS/PA3IKH
Really enjoyed this one Lewis. I remember KFM when it was on the air, but unfortunately not Andromeda. It was possibly because they transmitted in short timeframes.
Similar enthusiasts broadcasted on 88 Mhz around Freiburg/ Breisgau in Germany. Involved two VW type "Bully" each providing 20W output. Actually they changed locations ( hidden inside wine growing yards, supported by the farmers in the framework of anti-nuclear power station protesters). The Telecom could not trace them as they switched between the two bully cars irregularily after some minutes ( coordinated by CB radio outside regular band). Strange, one guy was a sun of a high-ranked police officer and the other a son of the biggest radio repair shop at Freiburg. Afterwards, both studied HF-technology at the Telecom ( Deutsche Post).
1W y'say? Dublin y'say? I'm starting to realise that the 2W transmitter module I bought to broadcast UHF tv signals inside my house might be overkill a bit. XD Fabulous video. 👍👍
It was the height that did it, HD. One watt from a bedroom would be pretty poor, but from 1300 feet with a clear view across south Lancs and north Cheshire made all the difference. The reception in Dublin would have been by Tropo propagation, just a passing 'freak'.
Sorry if I've missed it, but have you done a video on the general background of pirate radio in the UK? What motivated them? How did people know when and on what frequency to listen? You mentioned that in this case the frequency was close to a BBC frequency, was this still ignored by the British government? Thanks for the video!
We used to have a local one around me that I used to listen to back in the 90's, I found it simply because my radio like most at the time lacked a digital tuner with stored pre-sets like you have now. You physically had to rotate a dial that mechanically moved a little indicator along a slider to indicate the frequency. Thus you would hear little snippets of any stations you passed on the way and I liked the sound of it so dialled it in to get a good reception and kept listening for a while. They were not shy about telling you their broadcast schedule and that is how I was able to follow them, I suspect this was the norm in those days and before as it was easy to stumble on content anywhere in the band with those older receivers.
Brilliant info I repair old radios and I love the pocket radio best I'm looking for parts to mend another ebay is good but ,I love pirate radio stations and used to listen to radio Caroline
I was also involved with pirate radio in the Wirral we used to have hiccups between 3 stations concept k d a and South Wirral radio my transmitter gave out 9 Watts I did get a bit of hassle from the DTI at the time was a lot of fun
I was in Glossop on Saturday, I went into a charity shop and stumbled across, what appeared to be late 80's two way radios and thought of your channel as I seen them, they may still be there if you want them.
Andromeda sent me some transmitter details and a cassette of their shows (which I still have) I also used to regularly write to Podney R Sixe. I wonder if he's still around? A friend of mine was in Manchester and discovered their mailing address was a bake shop. A very professional station though.
Blimey it's Mike Bishop if I'm not mistaken! Sorry it took me so long to recognise your proper name, I think my marbles are beginning to go... I think our paths crossed on another forum a few years ago, but the last time I heard from you was when you wrote into Andromeda in 1982. I've still got a couple of your letters here, which I might take to the newspapers unless I receive a vast sum of money from you in used notes. That's a joke BTW. hope you are keeping well =o)
Nice little video. Great audio effect, so TV robot voice used on the jingles. Keen have that stuff out in the open, even if there, Work well in the freezing cold and rain as they would walking to it,
In the Wirral area (also technically Cheshire), Radio Julie was the bomb, as I remember it, in the late 80s... I wonder if I have any cassette recordings of them to upload....
You really need to take some time out on a Sunday, and come and visit us at the shack on't hill, you know where I mean. One of us will come down in our 4X4's and get you up there!
Hi, Very interesting channel! Thanks you! Just one detail: The polarisation of the antenna is horizontal. Ok, they are on a hill, makes sense. But you don't waste a lot of gain when the receivers antennas are polarized vertically?
If only it was as clear cut as that. Up until 1981 (?) BBC transmissions on FM were horizontally polarised, so most people who had rooftop aerials had horizontal dipoles or beams. We used horizontal pol to fit in with this. Over the next few years, the transmitters went to circular or mixed pol which gave better reception for radios with vertical aerials.
A stile at the side of the farmers track, Public footpath, go to side of the gate, Walk- yes. Vehicle on there for the public, No. Looks fine to me. Public footpath, gate for land owner, Farmer I guess.
Fabulous, shame I missed it! What was the music at 5:51 onwards, it's fabulous, especially when the square wave synth sound hits at 6:04! Does anyone know what this music is? Perhaps they made it themselves as they crossfade to their ident. Either way it, it sounds fantastic!
Cool, cant wait to watch this, i used to run a Station from my house in northampton 107.7 SensationFm for roughly 5 years 24/7 every weekend and streamed most of it on the internet back in 1999 and onwards, never got caught. I was running only 40 watts into a di pole on my fascia and i could transmit all over town crystal clear in most places. I only stopped because i sold my house and moved in with my ex. God i miss them days.
I am currently doing the same in a small town 30k, BFL177 @ 150W;) Beautiful clear signal all over town, the stereo-tool does the job and the audio sounds amazing.
@@dktr2 Wow 150W that must of cost a bit i remember i paid mega bucks just for my 40 Watt digital readout ive still got a transmitter and its legal to use for anyone because its only got a 0.25W output, Remember though height = RF gain when it comes to your antenna but the main thing is make sure it clears the roof or most of your signal will only go in that direction. My station was quite big at the time lots of people would ring in live for shout outs tho we had a few pranks from sanjay requesting 50 cents in the club and a big shout out to sangita, could of been a real person i do not know lol. When i first started we pre recorded everything and used to transmit from my friends flat to another using direct microwave link because he didnt wanna get caught in the end i said look i will buy the TX off you and we do it from my house. DTI mainly only operate in london unless someone reports you for causing interference. I had CCTV all round my house being monitored evertime we was on air. Its also fun leaving a pre recorded set playing whilst you drive round town testing your range lol.
@@SteveBlakey I have a GP antenna very high, a clear stereo signal and rds are within 15km, the antenna cable is very important, I used 40m H155, it was warming up, only CNT400 did not introduce losses. I have my tef6686-xdr remote receiver on which I check live how the transmission is 5km away and my transmitter goes to -48dBm. PA on BLF177 costs about $ 100, I made the transmitter myself on the TSA5511. Here you can see what the signal from the transmitter v=zYvzwNEy_94 looks like
@@dktr2 Looks awesome mate, shame none of that kind of equipment and software was available back then, $100 or £100? i paid over £300 for mine in 1999 have you got a usb fm stick then? i didn't even know they existed now i have to get one, if you could let me know the best one to get and where from? If i remember i think i used 50 ohm coax with pl259 connections and my swr was 1.1 i had a zetagi swr meter, i also had a B300P and an old BREMI BRL200 plug in the wall shame they was only for the CB band tho.
@@SteveBlakey Now are beautiful times for pirates, nanovna, tinysa, websdr, cheap high power transistors, readily available high power power supplies, etc.
This is Ray,at KFUY(Part 15) Radio...Also on KFUY Global...... Months ago,someone called the FCC (When I was cranking out too much Wattage... The FED's showed and it was a real spectical .....I,immediately,called the FCC and admitted my wrong doings.... They paid me a few more visits and they are aware that I am,now, Transmitting at 1/tenth of a Watt(which is Legal)...I cover 2 miles on AM & FM..... The FCC letter stated what I could not do and what O "COULD" do.... When I made the call,the FCC,actually, gave me a small Grant(to pay for my Internet),because I provide a service to the Community ...
I wish there was a Pirate whom played Metal or punk or ambient electro stuff across SW Hampshire. It would be novel checking his signal around the area and I wouldn’t need to bother with Spotify. Have never heard one single pirate in Bournemouth/Poole in 45 years. It’s not as grim up north as you say 😁
It was you! You did it! just admit it. I'm taking this video as a long overdue admission of guilt! Who else would have such intimate knowledge of the history, equipment, schedules, etc. Nice one tho, you don't have me fooled, and don't give me that tired old excuse about how you weren't born yet.
Once in our local paper was a story headlined with; Broadcasts Get Radio Ham In Pickle, because he was illegally playing music. I took offense at this article and wrote to the letters page to point out he was not a radio ham but an illegal pirate radio station and amateurs had to take an exam and be licenced by the Home Office. I know newspapers like catchy headlines but I didn't want people thinking I'm doing something wrong. G4GHB
where they somehow related to Latvia? in the last shots I guess I see ring of Namejs on the finger of one of the dj's which is pretty much Latvian thing.
One of my friends at college in 1995 ran a pirate radio station, he had his transmitter somewhere up towards Hartshead Pike, so it was sort of the next hill along from where andromedia was, From memory he used to get his signal well out into cheshire from there.
I'm intrigued. Was that The Superstation? They uplinked their studio output (the studio was in Ashton) to the TX site on175 MHz. I nearly got lynched for hijacking the link once! If I remember correctly, their TX was on the same hill we had used but a bit lower down where they could get an electricity supply.
How would anyone find these pirate stations? I know a couple folks here in the states that have AM stations but always wondered where to look for FM stations
Just random tuning around was quite common back then. But also most pirates would drum up some press coverage. Local papers were always desperate for some content beyond prize-winning marrows and bragging councillors, so were quite happy to feature a couple of nerds holding radios.
I'm curious, how did the pirates keep a mailing address? It seems like that'd be begging for the authorities to just wait at the address for someone to show up.
In the Aquarius story about our previous efforts, I think I touch on this. We did in fact lose the address due to 'official action'. I think Lewis will be publishing it soon.
If I remember correctly... There was a station on in the very late 90s to early 2002 in Dudley who used an Indian takeaway as their postal address they just asked listeners to address it as Groove FM then the rest of the address was the takeaway. The takeaway let them transmit from the room above I since found out and the station did an advert for them in return. I wonder if any pirates did that sort of thing? Or paid for a P. O. BOX?
Back in the day, you had to have the knowledge and ability to build this stuff. Now it can all be bought online, no knowledge necessary above using the phone.
I listened once, not impressed. I know somebody who assisted in running this station, or Aquarius, or both. I'm not impressed with Tameside Radio either and never listen after listening a few times. Hobson moor is a great hill, I used to walk up quite regularly and over towards Greenfield then back, even in deep snow but not as far, when snow was deep up there in the late 1970's to 80's. Height does make a difference. I used a Pye Bantam on 4m, 70.26 MHz, 1/2 Watt output a.m. and a 3 element Yagi from another high spot up Monks Road known as the Budgie Perch by C.B.'ers.at 1200 feet. I contacted another amateur a.m. station in Scotland on another hill, about a distance of 200 miles. Perfect signals both ways. G4GHB
Mostly rock/progressive and a fair amount of recent chart stuff and our own favourites like the Doobies, Steely Dan, the Who and the dreaded Floyd. We also tried to get tapes from new bands in the area and unusual tracks from artistes like Karel Fialka and BB Gabor. There was also a 'Free Radio News' spot which covered other goings-on in the world of naughty radio. There were interviews with fringe-types and we once had the ex Piccadilly DJ James Stannage in to do a complete hour for us.
A brilliant job Lewis. Thanks for putting in such an effort to get the best from the left-overs and sweepings-up I sent you! Bob was responsible for getting the jingles done via a Manchester-based company run by an ex Piccadilly Radio DJ who had better remain nameless. Bob also got his razor blade to work on some home-grown ones, usually made from his vast collection of old PAMS jingles. Bob now lives in Kent.
Are you the same Andy Howlett with whom I've discussed antenna comparisons and measurements on SDRplay groups? If so, small world!
@@Mike-H_UK Probably! I occasionally turn up on the Facebook group just to check how many people still haven't read the manual.
Hi Andy, I never thought the small town of Glossop had a station before High Peak Radio arrived. Have you got any info on it? I can ask family and friends if they remember it.
@@fitzyraz Hi Ryan. There's not much to tell beyond what's in the closing part of this video. Glossop was very badly served on FM radio due to the hills surrounding the area, so we thought it was a prime target for a community station. Sadly it never got much response and we closed it towards the end of 1984.
Nice one Lewis, an old friend of mine ran a pirate radio station in Liverpool called radio Jackie North this just reminded me of him. He started out in fields and ended up in high rise flats but unfortunately has since passed away RIP Rick Dane aka Eric Haydock.
Cheers
Dave.
When I was at school I had this pirate station that would broadcast at lunchtime on a timer. The teachers wanted to know why the kids brought in so many portable radios to listen out on the school field. They freaked when they found out.
@@Andrew-rc3vh
You can't expect freaks to react any other way.
@@rudolphguarnacci197 We actually had an English teacher who was to most of us kids a stern authoritarian Shakespeare loving gent, but too my surprise he was also a keen electronics and radio enthusiast himself as a hobby he had in his spare time. He'd never seen a kid from the school do this before and was a secret admirer of the talent involved.
Not related, but I've been interested in radio for a long time, but never really thought I'd be able to pass the foundation test. Well since watching your videos its sparked interest, and after going through an online course with essex ham, I took my test and passed with 23/26
Over the moon, thanks mate!
M7DKM
Killer job Lewis , great story ! You must know a lot of "insiders" over there to get the stores . Thanks a lot from the USA .
A lot of work went in to running that pirate radio station. It was labor intensive.
There was a pirate station in my local area in the early 80s. I never actually heard it but was told about it by the creators. They called themselves SR-71. They got shut down shortly after I became aware of them.
Great reporting Lewis of an alternative radio scene which was king in the late 70s and 80s in many parts of the uk ... and with original footage makes this story fantastic ...well done
Programming the content, recording the broadcasts, editing in the stingers and intros, climbing the hills, setting up the stations, and then babysitting them for most of the night. That's a lot of time and effort. How did these guys have time for their day jobs? Very interesting story though. Thanks Lewis!
Hi Dennis. It wasn't too bad, as we were on only one night per week. The programmes were done 'live' onto tape, so a 1-hour show took one hour to record, and I got into the habit of doing mine just before we set out for the hills. Actually, I used to stop occasionally during my recordings as I tended to get a bit flustered. I'd never make a proper DJ! Bob was much better and just sailed through his hour. There was no 'editing in' of the jingles, they were played into the recording as the show progressed, just like a live DJ would do. We usually went back for the gear at around six AM.
Imagine the weight of the batteries?
Car Batteries I would guess?
@@JETJOOBOY No need for lots of power. A single 12v 3Ah rechargeable gel-cell was more than enough. The transmitter drew only about 200mA and I'd guess the cassette player took about the same. There was one occasion when the auto-stop didn't work and the TX stayed on. It was still on when we picked up the gear at 6 AM! We did use a car battery once when we came back on the air for a one-off broadcast. The electronics was designed with an 'undervolt' cut off, so that the TX would shut down cleanly when the battery got down to 11 volts without the frequency drifting or other bad effects. We thought it would last overnight and well into the next day, but it ended up soldiering on for 3 days! The content was just an auto-reverse cassette player.
Thanks for the reply, Andy. Still, you guys were obviously dedicated. Great story!
Great story as always, I wonder if they are still around?
They are, I spoke to Andy today
Seeing the stories of pirate radio on this channel makes me appreciate just how much the internet has made it easier to get your voice out there (Podcasts in particular remain a favourite of mine) while nonetheless being amazed at the effort these pirates made.
Great vibes Lewis. I have just built an FM transmitter. Dead Bug Style on a copper board. It's getting well out there on just 4mW. Wound some inductors for a filter and it looks like junk but just works so well hah ha. I have spare parts if anybody wants a kit! I would make a Vidjayo but guess that could get me in a bit of bother. Oh, PS F1/motorsport radio tech soon yea?
im interested, if you can make me one, id pay! (cumbria based)
Awesome piece Mr! Really enjoyed that..I loved listening to medium wave pirates many years ago..dont hear that many these days..the less than brilliant production values made it more entertaining..great memories.
I've got a little snippit on one of my cassettes of A.I.R. I remember picking it up. Can't remember the year unless I check the tape. It was a pretty weak signal in Didsbury and I hadn't a clue where it was from. Mystery solved. Thanks
Enjoyed this video very much Lewis. We have a pirate to here now on FM that’s only gone on weekends so we assume he works through the week. Usually on Saturday night. So far no one can find him.
Thank you sir for the great video always a pleasure viewing them here in the United States
I’d love to hear some audio? :)
@@RingwayManchester But I’ll try to catching this weekend he’s never gone through the week he’s only on on Saturdays and that’s random. Usually on holidays we might catch him. He has a very low signal so not much power. I’ll see what I can do for you
I have a friend in the US who loves UK rave music. When I did a radio show on a station here he'd carry the stream over onto his own little pirate station in the US. He had a little transmitter that would get across his town. He'd use a burner phone and people would text it for shouts, he'd relay them to me and I'd give these Americans shout outs over the mic. Amazing eh!
Great job Lewis. You know about so many pirates you'll soon be known as Blackbeard!!
Another great video Lewis. I met Charles Turner when he came down to a Radio Jackie broadcast in London, a station I was involved with from 1972!
This channel is amazing
Great story, thanks for sharing. 👍
We did this back in the day started with a free running oscillator in the late 70's got a Leader LSG230 put some amplifiers on it (some 2 meter modified) ran on weekends when 90.5 WKHS was off the air fun times still have tapes need to upload them misspent youth hehe
At first I thought it was a repeater
I found a repeater/relay hidden in trees, In Surrey they had powered it from a street lamp with over 100 meters of twin flex, I followed it under a cutting and wired into the lamp, it was still running for weeks, I suppose it was found. Because it was taken down.
Used to build the transmitters for a load of Manchester stations
Love the sound of them idents! Cool video Lewis 👍
Another great video mate.Thats exactly how we used to operate back in the early 80's in Eastbourne before we built link transmitters from the studio to the tx site and then broadcast live transmissions.Very happy days.
73.G7HFS/PA3IKH
Bloody pirate 😆
Nice story to share Lewis! Good job
Really enjoyed this one Lewis.
I remember KFM when it was on the air, but unfortunately not Andromeda. It was possibly because they transmitted in short timeframes.
Great documentary. I missed all this - I was a first year at UMIST in 1986. (Drinking beer at the radio club...)
Similar enthusiasts broadcasted on 88 Mhz around Freiburg/ Breisgau in Germany. Involved two VW type "Bully" each providing 20W output. Actually they changed locations ( hidden inside wine growing yards, supported by the farmers in the framework of anti-nuclear power station protesters). The Telecom could not trace them as they switched between the two bully cars irregularily after some minutes ( coordinated by CB radio outside regular band). Strange, one guy was a sun of a high-ranked police officer and the other a son of the biggest radio repair shop at Freiburg. Afterwards, both studied HF-technology at the Telecom ( Deutsche Post).
1W y'say? Dublin y'say? I'm starting to realise that the 2W transmitter module I bought to broadcast UHF tv signals inside my house might be overkill a bit. XD Fabulous video. 👍👍
It was the height that did it, HD. One watt from a bedroom would be pretty poor, but from 1300 feet with a clear view across south Lancs and north Cheshire made all the difference. The reception in Dublin would have been by Tropo propagation, just a passing 'freak'.
Sorry if I've missed it, but have you done a video on the general background of pirate radio in the UK? What motivated them? How did people know when and on what frequency to listen? You mentioned that in this case the frequency was close to a BBC frequency, was this still ignored by the British government? Thanks for the video!
We used to have a local one around me that I used to listen to back in the 90's, I found it simply because my radio like most at the time lacked a digital tuner with stored pre-sets like you have now. You physically had to rotate a dial that mechanically moved a little indicator along a slider to indicate the frequency. Thus you would hear little snippets of any stations you passed on the way and I liked the sound of it so dialled it in to get a good reception and kept listening for a while. They were not shy about telling you their broadcast schedule and that is how I was able to follow them, I suspect this was the norm in those days and before as it was easy to stumble on content anywhere in the band with those older receivers.
Lol, with that opening music........i thought i was listning to a mid 70s Dr Who episode!.
Brilliant info I repair old radios and I love the pocket radio best I'm looking for parts to mend another ebay is good but ,I love pirate radio stations and used to listen to radio Caroline
I was also involved with pirate radio in the Wirral we used to have hiccups between 3 stations concept k d a and South Wirral radio my transmitter gave out 9 Watts I did get a bit of hassle from the DTI at the time was a lot of fun
I love this stuff. Keep it coming.
Nice piece of nice radio history👍
I was in Glossop on Saturday, I went into a charity shop and stumbled across, what appeared to be late 80's two way radios and thought of your channel as I seen them, they may still be there if you want them.
What were they Adam?
Roger Coture sounds like a name from Toast of London. Heh heh.
Haha yeah!
Well done Lewis. That was a blast
Andromeda sent me some transmitter details and a cassette of their shows (which I still have) I also used to regularly write to Podney R Sixe. I wonder if he's still around? A friend of mine was in Manchester and discovered their mailing address was a bake shop.
A very professional station though.
Wow that’s awesome on Podney! I wonder if you still have his letters?
@@RingwayManchester sadly not :(
Blimey it's Mike Bishop if I'm not mistaken! Sorry it took me so long to recognise your proper name, I think my marbles are beginning to go... I think our paths crossed on another forum a few years ago, but the last time I heard from you was when you wrote into Andromeda in 1982. I've still got a couple of your letters here, which I might take to the newspapers unless I receive a vast sum of money from you in used notes. That's a joke BTW. hope you are keeping well =o)
Nice little video. Great audio effect, so TV robot voice used on the jingles. Keen have that stuff out in the open, even if there, Work well in the freezing cold and rain as they would walking to it,
You never mentioned Radio England North. Broadcast from Gee Cross in the late 1970s. Used to transport the equipment there for my brother in law
There’s plenty I didn’t mention but don’t worry Stephen, they’re all in the pipeline mate 😎👍🏻
Nice one jim lad.cassettes how times have changed 📡
Very good as always. Thank you...
Nice !!! Thanks for the video
Brilliant. Thank you
The last song you used on this video sounded like something from the apocalypse now movie
In the Wirral area (also technically Cheshire), Radio Julie was the bomb, as I remember it, in the late 80s...
I wonder if I have any cassette recordings of them to upload....
Great old stuff
You really need to take some time out on a Sunday, and come and visit us at the shack on't hill, you know where I mean. One of us will come down in our 4X4's and get you up there!
Thanks Lewis
Fascinating
Hi,
Very interesting channel! Thanks you!
Just one detail: The polarisation of the antenna is horizontal. Ok, they are on a hill, makes sense. But you don't waste a lot of gain when the receivers antennas are polarized vertically?
If only it was as clear cut as that. Up until 1981 (?) BBC transmissions on FM were horizontally polarised, so most people who had rooftop aerials had horizontal dipoles or beams. We used horizontal pol to fit in with this. Over the next few years, the transmitters went to circular or mixed pol which gave better reception for radios with vertical aerials.
@@andyhowlett2231 Thanks for the clarification!
About 1:05, real effective gate there. Just walk right around it!
😆
A stile at the side of the farmers track, Public footpath, go to side of the gate, Walk- yes. Vehicle on there for the public, No. Looks fine to me. Public footpath, gate for land owner, Farmer I guess.
It always looks funny, but these are a common sight in rural UK. They are to keep livestock in, not to keep people out
Very interesting
I used to make low powered AM transmitters for fun, and never really went further than that
WU, It works! I told you it would! RV
Great video as always
Fabulous, shame I missed it! What was the music at 5:51 onwards, it's fabulous, especially when the square wave synth sound hits at 6:04! Does anyone know what this music is? Perhaps they made it themselves as they crossfade to their ident. Either way it, it sounds fantastic!
It was home made :)
Up rise and down fall of pirate radio
For some reason I thought those were trees, not underbrush, and we just had a giant radio operator running about.
Now you’ve said it I can’t unsee it
Cool, cant wait to watch this, i used to run a Station from my house in northampton 107.7 SensationFm for roughly 5 years 24/7 every weekend and streamed most of it on the internet back in 1999 and onwards, never got caught. I was running only 40 watts into a di pole on my fascia and i could transmit all over town crystal clear in most places. I only stopped because i sold my house and moved in with my ex. God i miss them days.
I am currently doing the same in a small town 30k, BFL177 @ 150W;) Beautiful clear signal all over town, the stereo-tool does the job and the audio sounds amazing.
@@dktr2 Wow 150W that must of cost a bit i remember i paid mega bucks just for my 40 Watt digital readout ive still got a transmitter and its legal to use for anyone because its only got a 0.25W output, Remember though height = RF gain when it comes to your antenna but the main thing is make sure it clears the roof or most of your signal will only go in that direction. My station was quite big at the time lots of people would ring in live for shout outs tho we had a few pranks from sanjay requesting 50 cents in the club and a big shout out to sangita, could of been a real person i do not know lol. When i first started we pre recorded everything and used to transmit from my friends flat to another using direct microwave link because he didnt wanna get caught in the end i said look i will buy the TX off you and we do it from my house. DTI mainly only operate in london unless someone reports you for causing interference. I had CCTV all round my house being monitored evertime we was on air. Its also fun leaving a pre recorded set playing whilst you drive round town testing your range lol.
@@SteveBlakey I have a GP antenna very high, a clear stereo signal and rds are within 15km, the antenna cable is very important, I used 40m H155, it was warming up, only CNT400 did not introduce losses. I have my tef6686-xdr remote receiver on which I check live how the transmission is 5km away and my transmitter goes to -48dBm. PA on BLF177 costs about $ 100, I made the transmitter myself on the TSA5511. Here you can see what the signal from the transmitter v=zYvzwNEy_94 looks like
@@dktr2 Looks awesome mate, shame none of that kind of equipment and software was available back then, $100 or £100? i paid over £300 for mine in 1999 have you got a usb fm stick then? i didn't even know they existed now i have to get one, if you could let me know the best one to get and where from? If i remember i think i used 50 ohm coax with pl259 connections and my swr was 1.1 i had a zetagi swr meter, i also had a B300P and an old BREMI BRL200 plug in the wall shame they was only for the CB band tho.
@@SteveBlakey Now are beautiful times for pirates, nanovna, tinysa, websdr, cheap high power transistors, readily available high power power supplies, etc.
The intro for Andromeda sounds like a constipated robot…
brilliant
Another good one!
This is Ray,at KFUY(Part 15) Radio...Also on KFUY Global...... Months ago,someone called the FCC (When I was cranking out too much Wattage...
The FED's showed and it was a real spectical .....I,immediately,called the FCC and admitted my wrong doings.... They paid me a few more visits and they are aware that I am,now, Transmitting at 1/tenth of a Watt(which is Legal)...I cover 2 miles on AM & FM..... The FCC letter stated what I could not do and what O "COULD" do.... When I made the call,the FCC,actually, gave me a small Grant(to pay for my Internet),because I provide a service to the Community ...
I wish there was a Pirate whom played Metal or punk or ambient electro stuff across SW Hampshire. It would be novel checking his signal around the area and I wouldn’t need to bother with Spotify. Have never heard one single pirate in Bournemouth/Poole in 45 years. It’s not as grim up north as you say 😁
I find it interesting how much effort some of these stations put into marketing. Not exactly covert at times.
hey mate, loved the video just wondering what is the song used in the intro and the outro? cheers!
Krishnas kaliope :)
It was you! You did it! just admit it. I'm taking this video as a long overdue admission of guilt! Who else would have such intimate knowledge of the history, equipment, schedules, etc. Nice one tho, you don't have me fooled, and don't give me that tired old excuse about how you weren't born yet.
Love me some pirate stations!
Podney R. Sixe is an anagram of I Spy One DX-er
very cool
How's about a video on the Dutch MW pirates that can be found every night after dark from 1620 to 1700 Khz?
Once in our local paper was a story headlined with; Broadcasts Get Radio Ham In Pickle, because he was illegally playing music.
I took offense at this article and wrote to the letters page to point out he was not a radio ham but an illegal pirate radio station and amateurs had to take an exam and be licenced by the Home Office.
I know newspapers like catchy headlines but I didn't want people thinking I'm doing something wrong.
G4GHB
Nice
Would love to be able to get in the pirate game and how to build a transmitter
where they somehow related to Latvia? in the last shots I guess I see ring of Namejs on the finger of one of the dj's which is pretty much Latvian thing.
That was Bob's hand you saw. I don't know of any connection to Latvia, but he was one for unusual things.
The Chameleons ❤️
There Will always be pirate stations it will never end
These guys remind me of the aliens from UFO, but benign. I picture them in helmeted, red space suits doing there thing.
They should have got a ship and transmitted in international waters then there's nothing the government could have done!
One of my friends at college in 1995 ran a pirate radio station, he had his transmitter somewhere up towards Hartshead Pike, so it was sort of the next hill along from where andromedia was, From memory he used to get his signal well out into cheshire from there.
Would love to hear more drop us an email ringwaymanchester@mail.com
I'm intrigued. Was that The Superstation? They uplinked their studio output (the studio was in Ashton) to the TX site on175 MHz. I nearly got lynched for hijacking the link once! If I remember correctly, their TX was on the same hill we had used but a bit lower down where they could get an electricity supply.
Andy I’m gonna email you now
yihaa more pirate radio storys please
How would anyone find these pirate stations? I know a couple folks here in the states that have AM stations but always wondered where to look for FM stations
Just random tuning around was quite common back then. But also most pirates would drum up some press coverage. Local papers were always desperate for some content beyond prize-winning marrows and bragging councillors, so were quite happy to feature a couple of nerds holding radios.
any info on southside that was around about the same time
Working on this
I'm curious, how did the pirates keep a mailing address? It seems like that'd be begging for the authorities to just wait at the address for someone to show up.
In the Aquarius story about our previous efforts, I think I touch on this. We did in fact lose the address due to 'official action'. I think Lewis will be publishing it soon.
If I remember correctly... There was a station on in the very late 90s to early 2002 in Dudley who used an Indian takeaway as their postal address they just asked listeners to address it as Groove FM then the rest of the address was the takeaway. The takeaway let them transmit from the room above I since found out and the station did an advert for them in return.
I wonder if any pirates did that sort of thing? Or paid for a P. O. BOX?
Back in the day, you had to have the knowledge and ability to build this stuff. Now it can all be bought online, no knowledge necessary above using the phone.
Los Endos…
Bingo! We were both Genesis fans.
@@andyhowlett2231 Count me in!
Cool
a minor hobby project of the day..no biggie
I have some off air recordings of Amdromeda
Would love to hear them Nic!
Blimmin' 'eck it's Nick C****s! Phil Travis reporting....
@@andyhowlett2231 Lewis has my email address if you'd like to get in contact, be good to hear from you
I listened once, not impressed. I know somebody who assisted in running this station, or Aquarius, or both. I'm not impressed with Tameside Radio either and never listen after listening a few times.
Hobson moor is a great hill, I used to walk up quite regularly and over towards Greenfield then back, even in deep snow but not as far, when snow was deep up there in the late 1970's to 80's.
Height does make a difference. I used a Pye Bantam on 4m, 70.26 MHz, 1/2 Watt output a.m. and a 3 element Yagi from another high spot up Monks Road known as the Budgie Perch by C.B.'ers.at 1200 feet. I contacted another amateur a.m. station in Scotland on another hill, about a distance of 200 miles. Perfect signals both ways.
G4GHB
What kind of content did they have?
Mostly rock/progressive and a fair amount of recent chart stuff and our own favourites like the Doobies, Steely Dan, the Who and the dreaded Floyd. We also tried to get tapes from new bands in the area and unusual tracks from artistes like Karel Fialka and BB Gabor. There was also a 'Free Radio News' spot which covered other goings-on in the world of naughty radio. There were interviews with fringe-types and we once had the ex Piccadilly DJ James Stannage in to do a complete hour for us.
👍
Imagine wearing bell bottom and hike to the hill and do those radio deployment work
Those were straight-leg jeans, FE. AFAIK, no-one was still wearing flares in 1982.
First comment
cheers for that lad
👍
Something to be proud of
The forst thing that popped into my head as I watched this was Boards of Canada!