I live about 20 miles north of london and last year I put a 3 element fm antenna on my roof, aimed at london and oh boy, did the dial light up. I was surprised at how many were still using the band. As always, great videos.
Bang, lyrical blow to the jaw! There’s only one pirate station in London. I know that I’m old enough to know better but if i drive through London, I love tuning in to the pirates. They remind me of my yoof but at least these days i can also listen on the Internet too. Madness we couldn’t dream of back in the day.
Great show again playing catch up , but I had a pirate station in LUTON back in 2000 and it was called pressure FM and we were loving it with EXEDOS they were doing the raves, great days , DTI got us twice and so eventually it costs too much to keep buying stuff, but at least running for 2 years. Thanks for your shows , still playing with Cb ssb and love it too this day thanks again CT 48 70.
I'm surprised you've not had UA-cam copyright matches, unless the music they're playing is brand new? Another great video. If Manchester still had stations playing d&b, I'd be listening.
Awesome! I have many hours of recordings of DnB, reggae and other pirate stations from around 2000, 2001 including Rude FM, Kool FM, Vibes FM and many others. Some were very important for the local communities back then. If anyone wants links to download then please get in touch.
RUDE FM IS STILL ON ALL BE IT ONLY AT NIGHTS IT SEEMS I TUNES IT IN THIS WEEK ON 88.2FM VERY STRONG IN NORTH LONDON AND TOWARDS LONDON LIVERPOOL STREET STATION
We still have the Pirates here in the USA Lewis. Usually in a 6950 to 7 MHz. Mainly on national holidays like Halloween Christmas New Year’s etc. Good to hear pirate radio still alive in the UK
I missed the pirates when I moved away from London in the mid 90s & still do, remembering when the FM band was jam packed in the weekends. I have received a few here in the south coast but only during enhanced conditions. It seems the scene is still going despite audio streaming via smartphone & Wi-fi radio.
I think there brilliant and enthusiastic all these years ive been listening to radio i miss my tower block of 36 years location could hear some of the stations from miles away. If i did a pirate radio station i would be playing my 1950's and 1960's records over the air and probably call my station 'MEEK CITY' after the independent record producer Joe Meek(Telstar Fame) Marc In Bletchley G6XEG
Pirate radio was the backbone to the underground sound and instrumental in informing the listeners to the latest tracks. parties, illegal warehouse jams and raves back in 88'91'...I should know i was a pirate radio dj in 88' - 91 playing on Medina Fm and Centerforce Fm in 89' and then 2 years later on Pulse Fm 90'6 fm... Some close calls with the DTI chasing me with spliff in mouth and records under my arms, yeah they never caught me ha ha! Best days of my life...that was 35 years ago would you believe, now 58 and still got that urge to be naughty and do it all again lol...Good times 😁
I always love seeing that pirate radio is very much still alive and kicking, especially a place with such a great history regarding pirate radio. Well now I know that if I end up visiting the UK I should try and bring my SDR or just in some way or another, make sure to also explore the airwaves while I explore the city
This is really neat! I always kinda figured I was born too late to hear any true pirates nowadays, but I'm definitely gonna have to take a listen next time I'm in the city.
Interesting video, though I think the uploader might be working from an old listing, if indeed the recordings were made very recently. Some of those stations are now off FM as far as I know, and their "dials" have been replaced by other stations: 88.6 - identified as Back2Back, but I think this is Rude FM, which I heard during that mega short distance tropo a few days back, here in Reading. Rude play drum 'n' bass, as featured in the video, but Back2Back played predominantly soul. 95.1 - identified as Origin, but they went off air a year or two back, as they were applying for a community licence in partnership with another former pirate. I hear Divine here on 95.1. 105.1 - Unidentified. This is likely to be Infra Red, which I hear here and the music format matches.
What keeps FM alive is the large number of low-bitrate stations on DAB that make DAB unlistenable. When bandwidth is restricted least AM sounds mellow. FM sounds better than both.
DAB Radio sounds clinical and has bad reception issues and is not in in Stereo and broadcast up to 12khz Audio .FM is transmitted with 15khz Audio in Stereo far superior in quality and reception is more reliable. Long live FM
@@rosscammisola335 Depends on the bitrate and CODEC. The problem is, unless you are into the BBC big time (and I'm not), who lay out the red carpet of bitrate for Radio 3, the bitrate is usually rubbish.
Love pirate stations been listening to them since I was 15 built my own transmitter I love the way they use microwave links from the transmitter to the studio which is maybe a mile away 👌👌👌😎
My message disappeared London 31-5-2022 87.5 livefmuk , garage 88.2 Rude fm , drum and bass 88.4 Vision Fm , house garage and oldskool 88.6 Rude fm. Drum and bass 92.4 USD, house abs garage 95.1 divine radio, oldskool and drum and bass 96.1 Sdance, house and drum bass 97.1 LSR, soul 99.3 Digital, house 102.4 Wax, drum and bass 105.1 Infrared, drum and bass 105.6 Playback, garage All on in London right now 24/7 and all can be got on Radio Uk app around the world 👊👊
Come to USA loads of Pirates in major cities but no DAB here we use HD Radio but pirates use analog like many commercial stations as well also. FM is used most but some are on AM & Shortwave as well as it growing again.
Trivia: Radio Caroline is the longest running pirate station albeit it got a license around the late 2010s. To this day as of 2023, they are still playing rock music although with a mix of contemporary and classic rock, and they broadcast both on land and on the Ross revenge.
For anyone who remembers Thameside Radio from the 80s in London, there's a very good tribute website for it, including some original transmission tapes. I probably can't post URLs here, but do a search for "Thameside Radio Revisited".
I live 45 miles SW of London 480ft above sea level. With a big 5 element FM aerial I could pick up loads of stations from London. Don FM, Red Eye, Point Blank, Centreforce etc. Good times.
This is something that can exist in London, but sadly, not in Manchester. We have some community radio stations, like ALL FM, which I love. And I have enjoyed Point Blank FM for nearly 20 years, which started out pirate but is now even available on dab. I heard some good pirate stations in Birmingham at the end of the 90's. The phrase 'locked in' made me wonder if they were refering to prisoners!
I am suprised they can find room to fit in between all the commercial legal stations that must be crammed on there too. it's rammed enough here in the midlands.
That was great sound and so many stations too. What about other cities I live close to Leicester but don't have a portable FM receiver. It is making me think. Leicester would have the right demographics.
Some of these pirates are running commercial equipment similiar to BBC, Capital and ETC. I know one running Orban Optimod processing on air, Myriad automation and a complete digital studio with AES67.
You missed vision 88.4 & playback UK 105.6 there's also been livefmuk on 87.5 but that I to be a really weak FM signal only came in the north London area not central or west only seems to cover 10 to 12miles and Rude FM 88,2 is this broadcasting I tuned it in literally 24hrs ago.👍🏻🎶🎶💙 love it long live the FM
It’s so cool to hear I’d love to do it I’ve got all the equipment I just need The transmitter and I’m up quite high where I live but I think I’d get the license so I can transmit
As air communication is going digital and commercial and state radio is going DAB they should release part of the FM band free for pirates and local iniatives.
These pirate radio stations are filling an underserved segment of entertainment and music the broadcasters cant or will not serve. If no one was listening, they would not be on the air. It boils down to money. The corp entertainment groups want to push their new stuff because of the money, work, and sometimes social engineering efforts. Alternative formats are aways looked down upon by these types
is it just me as a 60plus?, but the DJ's/presenters seem to like the sound of their own voice just a little too much? In Norwich back in the early 90's we had Century, and Style (IIRC) and although the music was OK, the presentation of it was pants.... Ironically, the tower blocks round these which became pirate central, now have DAB outputs for Caroline and their Flashback channels.
I'm sure Lewis focused more on snippets featuring the DJs rather than music for the video because it's more interesting and informative. I'm sure if you listened to the stations you'll hear more music and less talking :)
This is such a quintessential "London thing". And it's awesome. I'd be all for OFCOM leaving these guys alone. Unlike those idiots who interfere with ATC and emergency services, this is not impinging on anything important, it's basically harmless and people really enjoy it. The only issue might be music copyright but if you're an up and coming artist...
Those pirates sound as fresh as they did back in the day 😎 the home of the true underground, love this one mate👍🏼
The sound of London 📻 Used to listen to them a lot in the mid nineties when I was working down there... usually stuck in traffic most of the day 😁
Why on earth did you do that? The music was horrendous
I live about 20 miles north of london and last year I put a 3 element fm antenna on my roof, aimed at london and oh boy, did the dial light up. I was surprised at how many were still using the band.
As always, great videos.
Wicked
Bang, lyrical blow to the jaw! There’s only one pirate station in London.
I know that I’m old enough to know better but if i drive through London, I love tuning in to the pirates. They remind me of my yoof but at least these days i can also listen on the Internet too. Madness we couldn’t dream of back in the day.
Kurupt!!
Fair play the coverage of your channel, ham, and also coverage is spot on. Well done on the hard work. 73. M7AHE
Great show again playing catch up , but I had a pirate station in LUTON back in 2000 and it was called pressure FM and we were loving it with EXEDOS they were doing the raves, great days , DTI got us twice and so eventually it costs too much to keep buying stuff, but at least running for 2 years. Thanks for your shows , still playing with Cb ssb and love it too this day thanks again CT 48 70.
I'm surprised you've not had UA-cam copyright matches, unless the music they're playing is brand new?
Another great video.
If Manchester still had stations playing d&b, I'd be listening.
That's exactly what I was thinking!
There’s no matches Carter and it’s monetised
Sounds of the underground mate. What is there to copyright if the algorithm doesn't recognize it. Haha, cheers mate
I remember being in Wembley around 10 years ago and a pirate station was cheekily using 97.3, totally wiping out LBC!
Legendary
Awesome! I have many hours of recordings of DnB, reggae and other pirate stations from around 2000, 2001 including Rude FM, Kool FM, Vibes FM and many others. Some were very important for the local communities back then. If anyone wants links to download then please get in touch.
I’d love a link! Ringwaymanchester@mail.com
Old Skool jungle back in the day 🙏🔈🔈✋😎🤚de M0BXU
@@RingwayManchester same
RUDE FM IS STILL ON ALL BE IT ONLY AT NIGHTS IT SEEMS I TUNES IT IN THIS WEEK ON 88.2FM VERY STRONG IN NORTH LONDON AND TOWARDS LONDON LIVERPOOL STREET STATION
We still have the Pirates here in the USA Lewis. Usually in a 6950 to 7 MHz. Mainly on national holidays like Halloween Christmas New Year’s etc.
Good to hear pirate radio still alive in the UK
I missed the pirates when I moved away from London in the mid 90s & still do, remembering when the FM band was jam packed in the weekends. I have received a few here in the south coast but only during enhanced conditions. It seems the scene is still going despite audio streaming via smartphone & Wi-fi radio.
I think there brilliant and enthusiastic all these years ive been listening to radio i miss my tower block of 36 years location could hear some of the stations from miles away.
If i did a pirate radio station i would be playing my 1950's and 1960's records over the air and probably call my station 'MEEK CITY' after the independent record producer Joe Meek(Telstar Fame)
Marc In Bletchley G6XEG
Love when you do these videos....takes me back (Nostalgia).
Personally I'm Reggae, House, Retro and obviously been from Bradford...Bassline ha...73
Can I ask what the “73” is in relation to, Bear?
@@Dangizzle ..73 is an amateur radio term for "Best wishes".
Pirate radio was the backbone to the underground sound and instrumental in informing the listeners to the latest tracks. parties, illegal warehouse jams and raves back in 88'91'...I should know i was a pirate radio dj in 88' - 91 playing on Medina Fm and Centerforce Fm in 89' and then 2 years later on Pulse Fm 90'6 fm... Some close calls with the DTI chasing me with spliff in mouth and records under my arms, yeah they never caught me ha ha! Best days of my life...that was 35 years ago would you believe, now 58 and still got that urge to be naughty and do it all again lol...Good times 😁
Long live pirate radio ❤
I always love seeing that pirate radio is very much still alive and kicking, especially a place with such a great history regarding pirate radio. Well now I know that if I end up visiting the UK I should try and bring my SDR or just in some way or another, make sure to also explore the airwaves while I explore the city
This is really neat! I always kinda figured I was born too late to hear any true pirates nowadays, but I'm definitely gonna have to take a listen next time I'm in the city.
Pick plenty up from London and Essex still , original pirate material 👌
Great channel Lewis 👏 👍 👌
nice work my friend, you need to do one about birmingham stations.. & the history of the biggest stations that was;
Fantastic stuff. It's great to know that this is still a thing.
Interesting video, though I think the uploader might be working from an old listing, if indeed the recordings were made very recently. Some of those stations are now off FM as far as I know, and their "dials" have been replaced by other stations:
88.6 - identified as Back2Back, but I think this is Rude FM, which I heard during that mega short distance tropo a few days back, here in Reading. Rude play drum 'n' bass, as featured in the video, but Back2Back played predominantly soul.
95.1 - identified as Origin, but they went off air a year or two back, as they were applying for a community licence in partnership with another former pirate. I hear Divine here on 95.1.
105.1 - Unidentified. This is likely to be Infra Red, which I hear here and the music format matches.
Thanks for the info
Awesome video, paying tribute to the rebels who make the world a better place at their own risk
first one = funk jazz house soul = biscuit crumbs in a tin. love it! 😂😃😉
Damn, pretty cool that these are still going!
Love a good pirate radio station,
Shout out to the old
DimentionFM telford shropshire,
What keeps FM alive is the large number of low-bitrate stations on DAB that make DAB unlistenable. When bandwidth is restricted least AM sounds mellow. FM sounds better than both.
In Ireland, they have pirates on DAB!
@@tgheretford Legends!
DAB Radio sounds clinical and has bad reception issues and is not in in Stereo and broadcast up to 12khz Audio .FM is transmitted with 15khz Audio in Stereo far superior in quality and reception is more reliable. Long live FM
@@rosscammisola335 Depends on the bitrate and CODEC. The problem is, unless you are into the BBC big time (and I'm not), who lay out the red carpet of bitrate for Radio 3, the bitrate is usually rubbish.
Love pirate stations been listening to them since I was 15 built my own transmitter I love the way they use microwave links from the transmitter to the studio which is maybe a mile away 👌👌👌😎
And is anyone got an idea on that tune 3 minutes in to the video👌👍
Thanks. I a a first wave Junglist and Garage MC. Pirates were a great social media back in the day.
My message disappeared
London 31-5-2022
87.5 livefmuk , garage
88.2 Rude fm , drum and bass
88.4 Vision Fm , house garage and oldskool
88.6 Rude fm. Drum and bass
92.4 USD, house abs garage
95.1 divine radio, oldskool and drum and bass
96.1 Sdance, house and drum bass
97.1 LSR, soul
99.3 Digital, house
102.4 Wax, drum and bass
105.1 Infrared, drum and bass
105.6 Playback, garage
All on in London right now 24/7 and all can be got on Radio Uk app around the world 👊👊
Come to USA loads of Pirates in major cities but no DAB here we use HD Radio but pirates use analog like many commercial stations as well also. FM is used most but some are on AM & Shortwave as well as it growing again.
The tower blocks give good rise of line of sight to the radio comms towers. They are mostly running out of residential blocks
I live just outside London in Crawley, at night I could pick up Flex FM 103.6 I would tune in and and not sleep. Real buzz for it.
Have you listened to 108.0?
Trivia:
Radio Caroline is the longest running pirate station albeit it got a license around the late 2010s.
To this day as of 2023, they are still playing rock music although with a mix of contemporary and classic rock, and they broadcast both on land and on the Ross revenge.
For anyone who remembers Thameside Radio from the 80s in London, there's a very good tribute website for it, including some original transmission tapes. I probably can't post URLs here, but do a search for "Thameside Radio Revisited".
These stations thrive because they know their audience, whereas the BBC and Independent Local Radio think they do, but do not.
in the 80's I was a pirate radio DJ - Big Apple FM and a couple of others in Acton and also one in Harlesden
I live 45 miles SW of London 480ft above sea level. With a big 5 element FM aerial I could pick up loads of stations from London. Don FM, Red Eye, Point Blank, Centreforce etc. Good times.
This is something that can exist in London, but sadly, not in Manchester. We have some community radio stations, like ALL FM, which I love. And I have enjoyed Point Blank FM for nearly 20 years, which started out pirate but is now even available on dab. I heard some good pirate stations in Birmingham at the end of the 90's. The phrase 'locked in' made me wonder if they were refering to prisoners!
Great footage with rude tunes from the metropolis....well done as always Lewis
God bless you man.
Amazing pirate radio Is strong in London area like the 1980's
I am suprised they can find room to fit in between all the commercial legal stations that must be crammed on there too. it's rammed enough here in the midlands.
Pirates also broadcast in Poland in Krakow. They broadcast the radio on 104.5 MHz
Good information sir
That was great sound and so many stations too. What about other cities I live close to Leicester but don't have a portable FM receiver. It is making me think. Leicester would have the right demographics.
Loved the video. I noticed you used pictures of Harlow which isn't in London but is nearby.
Yep. I have to make do with the stock footage I film myself. Fully aware it’s not London. Cheers
Some of these pirates are running commercial equipment similiar to BBC, Capital and ETC. I know one running Orban Optimod processing on air, Myriad automation and a complete digital studio with AES67.
this has inspired me to get another fm radio! I haven't had one since my hello kitty cd player when i was 13...no pirate signals in Crawley tho :/
You missed vision 88.4 & playback UK 105.6 there's also been livefmuk on 87.5 but that I to be a really weak FM signal only came in the north London area not central or west only seems to cover 10 to 12miles and Rude FM 88,2 is this broadcasting I tuned it in literally 24hrs ago.👍🏻🎶🎶💙 love it long live the FM
I didn’t miss anything lol I didn’t hear them
'Origin UK', gets my vote. Makes me want to put on a 'Crowded House' T-Shirt.........
Crowded house? Get a life… ya blonde b
Ringway Manchester I've emailed you over some potential pirate radio station audio videos from myself picked up on my walkie talkie two days ago
It’s so cool to hear I’d love to do it I’ve got all the equipment I just need The transmitter and I’m up quite high where I live but I think I’d get the license so I can transmit
Don't listen to commercial radio, only pirates, in my n40's and love it,
I always have a scan through if I'm on or within the M25.
As air communication is going digital and commercial and state radio is going DAB they should release part of the FM band free for pirates and local iniatives.
It’s not going digital?
ARRR!
I've read about them, I've never had a chance to listen.
you should go down south london and go looking for some antenas.
I've never actually heard a pirate station in the southeast USA. Maybe someday
3:45 London Weekend Television building , where GB3LW used to be 🚕 🚖
Can anyone ID the track from the unknown station?
Touchdown 94.1 FM and 105.8 Don FM, they were thr ones!
88.6 is rude fm not soul2soul and 95.1 is now divine radio.
I sort of want those stations in my area...
Still think the next time you come south to London you should hit me up bro!
Drop me an email mate, ringwaymanchester@mail.com
Did he say chicken back tuesday lol.
How I can find those radio stations
Suprised you didnt pickup Unique on 101.2
NO HOODS, NO HATS, NO ATTITUDE! LADYS GET IN FREE!
wait... DAB Pirate ? erhhh video lol
I'm all for creativity and expression, but only if there's no interference with the legitimate use of frequencies.
Anyone know the name of the tune starting at 2mins55?
These pirate radio stations are filling an underserved segment of entertainment and music the broadcasters cant or will not serve. If no one was listening, they would not be on the air. It boils down to money. The corp entertainment groups want to push their new stuff because of the money, work, and sometimes social engineering efforts. Alternative formats are aways looked down upon by these types
is it just me as a 60plus?, but the DJ's/presenters seem to like the sound of their own voice just a little too much? In Norwich back in the early 90's we had Century, and Style (IIRC) and although the music was OK, the presentation of it was pants....
Ironically, the tower blocks round these which became pirate central, now have DAB outputs for Caroline and their Flashback channels.
I'm sure Lewis focused more on snippets featuring the DJs rather than music for the video because it's more interesting and informative. I'm sure if you listened to the stations you'll hear more music and less talking :)
And besides, I like the sound of their voices too 😂
No Kool FM? Back in the day they were in London and Birmingham
We have a Hot 92 FM in Birmingham.
& sting fm 94.4
LOL WHOS ABOUT
how do you tell which are pirate and which aren't?
Just knowing the FM dial mate, you learn where everything is
anyone know the track at 2:51?
👍
Whats the song at 1:18
2:50 Anyone have a track ID for 105.1?
Do they pirate on DAB or did they go legal on DAB?
Legal on dab
@@RingwayManchester Thanks
@@RingwayManchester can you do a video on the Irish dab + pirates ?
2:52 song?
You can’t beat pirates
anyone got a track id for 1:16?
Silence Groove - Digits
@@LT_Foxfyre thank you thank you much love from austin texas
No problem, much love from Oxfordshire UK!
Weird to hear jungle music
fm 88.6 ukw
This is such a quintessential "London thing". And it's awesome.
I'd be all for OFCOM leaving these guys alone. Unlike those idiots who interfere with ATC and emergency services, this is not impinging on anything important, it's basically harmless and people really enjoy it.
The only issue might be music copyright but if you're an up and coming artist...
ukw 88.6
You need to check shortwave and the band above Medium Wave 1620-1700. Stacks of pirates there... and playing better music than these stations
How many watts do they put out
Most commonly 300w
25w 150w 500w plus stack dipoles
Don't you need to be off your face to enjoy drum and bass?