Station 807 - There's a New Kid in Town

It is a rare occurrence indeed to hear a new British-based free radio station on shortwave, but of course that wasn't always the case. Back in the 1990s, especially the early to mid part of the decade, there would be nothing unusual about a fresh name popping up on 48 metres, and that wasn't including the changes of moniker by the likes of Radio Mutiny (XTC), Total Control Radio (The Nitrozone), and Radio Confusion (Subterranean Sounds).

Fast forward thirty years, and new names are thin on the ground. Whilst a few have arrived (and vanished) over the last few years - Valley Wave Radio, Radio Nova, Radio Clash, Image Radio, Radio Jennifer, and the Soul of England - it should be remembered that at least fifty unique British-based stations were active at some point during the 1990s. Today, the stalwarts of Radio Pamela, Radio Pandora, and the aforementioned XTC remain, but this amounts to comparative and actual slim pickings. Weekend Music Radio has been broadcasting weekly for over a year, but is heard via Irish-based transmitters. 

To therefore, quite by chance, hear a new British station, Station 807, a couple of weekends ago was a pleasant surprise. Furthermore, an operator behind the microphone who actually attempts to interact with his audience, however few in number they be - for such a low-power operation(15 watts in this case) it is by no means certain that anyone will be listening, especially due to fluctuating listening conditions - is a refreshing change from the hackneyed and monotonous canned announcements, no announcements with continuous music, or simply the familiar refrain of "that was... the next record is..." which is often the calling card of those with nothing to say, or are content with achieving technical mastery of broadcasting using homebrew equipment without regaling listeners with any pearls of wisdom whatsoever. 

I can assure shortwave broadcasters that listeners want to hear old recordings, reminiscences, chat about the music they're playing, and that which they are not. The bar now is really low, but back in the day the likes of Bill Lewis, Steve Midnight, Jack Russel, Roger Davis, Andy Winter( plus other nom de plumes) and Paul Stuart, amongst others, were interesting to listen to. Or, was that just my young(er) ears being easier to please? It is also pleasing to receive stations with interesting names, such as the new kid on the block, Station 807.

The operator of Station 807 has a long and storied history in free radio of all stripes, including via Gary Stevens' BBMS (Britain's Better Music Station) that could be heard at the back end of the 1990s via the transmitters of Prince Terry's Ozone Radio International, or Radio Ozone as Stevens' used to unfortunately call it at times. 

With a planned broadcast for the August bank holiday, Station 807 is definitely one to listen out for on a 48 band which, Weekend Music Radio aside, can at times on a Sunday ante meridiem be dead. Far from enjoying the silence, it is sad to 'hear' a vacant band which used to brim with regular Sunday morning broadcasters such as Jolly Roger, the aforementioned Ozone, West and North Kent Radio, Radio Orion, and Britain Radio International. That was though a long time ago, and comparisons are odious, or so I'm told!

Station 807 can be contacted at: station807@proton.me

UK-based Shortwave Free Radio on YouTube

Throughout my time authoring this blog, I have been frustrated by the lack of online information regarding the 1990s UK shortwave free radio scene. Perhaps it is too soon after the event as it were, with the potential for individual archives to land on the 'net in the years and even decades to come. With such a wealth of online data for the offshore and land-based eras up until the end of the 1980s, these times were not of course within the connected age in which we now live, but even now there will I am sure be new caches of memories, photographs, QSL cards, and so on turning up online, whilst the 1990s remains a comparative desert. 

As you will see below, I have used YouTube to good effect, and whilst some of the following clips will have accompanied other blog posts I've written, there are several nuggets which I have unearthed these last few days. As an aside, should anyone reading this have anything of interest which is not as of yet in the public domain, I urge you where possible to digitise your archive, thus enabling the vibrant 1990s free radio scene to receive the full justice it deserves. 

Enjoy some nostalgia!

Radio East Coast Commercial:

Freesound Radio:

Centre Radio International (the world famous Paul Stuart of Station Sierra Sierra):

Galaxy International (Paul Stuart again, along with Mr. Blackbeard and friends):

Radio Titanic International (this clip is albeit from 1989):

Live Wire Radio:

Atlanta Radio (final broadcast):

Radio Mutiny International (forerunner to the Xenon Transmitting Company, with the inimitable Matt Roberts at the controls):

Radio 48:

Britain Radio International: (Whatever happened to Roger Davis?)

Radio Confusion: (Forerunner to Subterranean Sounds)

Radio Freedom International:

April Fools Day parody broadcast:

Radio Geronimo:

Rocket 48: (Despite stated as Radio 48)

Radio Gemini: 

Radio Orion:

West and North Kent Radio:

Wonderful Free Radio London:

Radio 49: (Steve Most of Radio Pamela)

The Bogusman: (albeit from the 21st century)

Radio Fax: 

Weekend Music Radio:

Radio Galaxy International: (Forerunner to Radio Merlin International)

Radio Merlin International:

A broader history of and some audio from UK Radio International: UK Radio – Wolverhampton – The Pirate Archive

I am still hopeful of sourcing audio clips of these notable absentees:

Subterranean Sounds

Radio Blackbeard - Yes, the station still operates on mediumwave, but I best remember it on shortwave circa 1994. 

The Bogus Jobseeker - post Radio Orion, but pre the Bogusman iteration.

Radio Mi Amigo International - the 90s station operated by Terry Phillips.

Radio Armadillo

Radio Pandora - As with Blackbeard, the station is still going strong. However, recordings from the 1990s are harder to come by to non-existent.

Radio Mirage International

Midlands Music Radio

Radio Gloria International - Scotland

Radio Atlantis - early to mid 1990s; West Midlands-based.

Total Control Radio, and its predecessor The Nitrozone.

SF03 - QSO station. Brian.

Voice of the Leek - Pirate Memories ... back to the 80s: Voice of the Leek - occasional broadcaster, parody station, and not necessarily Welsh...

Wizard's Magic Spell (WMS) and Radio London - Both stations operated during the 1990s by a very well-known to this day free radio doyen.

Station Sierra Sierra itself.

Any recordings from the above plus those I have missed would be very much appreciated.

Listening without Prejudice

Whilst this blog predominantly focuses on my memories of free radio from the 1990s, I would never have come to know of the existence of 'pirate' shortwave operators if it had not have been for first listening to 'legit' broadcasters from overseas. 

It would be around March 1989, as a 12-year old, when I started tuning around on a National Panasonic receiver brought back from the Middle East. The distant but accessible voices of, for example, HCJB Ecuador, Radio Australia, WCSN, Radio Pyongyang, BRT (Belgium) and many, many others soon became an essential part of my everyday, even at such a young age. Indeed, when I began writing to all of the above and countless others, I would rarely be disappointed with what would arrive in the mail, at a time when shortwave broadcasters used the medium as a way to publicise their respective countries, and to some extent promulgate differing political and religious ideologies. 

It was therefore only through my regular 'tuning around' that I chanced upon Radio 48, Ozone Radio International, and Live Wire Radio one Sunday morning in October 1990, something which ended up changing my listening habits for good. 

There was always something fascinating about hearing professional sounding radio that wasn't financially underpinned by a national government or religious denomination, where many kilowatts and broadcast towers were replaced by low power operations using rudimentary antennas, often from spare bedrooms or out in the field. This strand of shortwave listening firmly put the word 'hobby' and achieving technical mastery at the forefront of operators' minds, and was therefore very different to what I previously enjoyed from the likes of BRT's listener and DX programme, as well as Tom Meyer and Jonathan Marks on Radio Netherlands. Although it wasn't, all of a sudden conventional shortwave broadcasting seemed staid and rigid, compared to freestyling and unfettered pirate operators. 

Another pre-pirate favourite was Arnie Coro's DXers Unlimited programme on Radio Havana; I also bagged a QSL for Radio Berlin International's final broadcast prior to German reunification. This is an excellent, if somewhat bijou depository of International Radio Station Memories

So, I hear you ask, why was it not possible to enjoy both sides of the shortwave coin? There was nothing to say that I couldn't, but by this time as an impressionable youth barely into his teenage years, there was always going to be something more trendy and rebellious about hearing, and corresponding with, those technically breaking the law. As someone who is now in his late 40s, it is not easy to remember exactly why my attentions dramatically shifted, but free radio operators became to feel like familiar friends, to a point where their absence on the bands would be keenly felt. 

Nowadays, when it is pointed out to me that to stop listening to shortwave altogether is irrational, I would say that it very much depends on what floats your boat. As my passion for free radio died when life away from radio became more interesting, it also coincided with many of my favourite stations calling it a day. This blog has publicly stated that I have all but given up listening to a free radio scene which has inevitably become a shadow of its former self, although I will still tune in when I know that certain operators will be active, for example the Xenon Transmitting Company(XTC). This does not amount to throwing my toys out of the pram, but an acknowledgment of what previously 'did it for me' no longer existing. 

It was unfortunate that XTC was wiped out yesterday by a very powerful transmitter just 10 KHz away, despite the band being otherwise empty. Check before you switch on maybe, at least if you have any respect for others. That of course is by no means a given. It is with no little irony that as soon as XTC moved 5 KHz down the band, that the rogue operator switched off from the offending channel...

Those with long memories will have fond recollections of April Fools Days from times past on shortwave. Be it the Voice of the Leek, or merciless ribbing of fellow operators of the time, such vignettes of humour are fondly remembered. Nevertheless, here's one for wee guy Jack: