In what has been a busy day on the 48 metre band several UK-based stations - well if I may be so bold thanks to some inside knowledge and personal intuition to say that they all actually call England home - have hoisted the union flag high over what has increasingly become a band seen as the preserve of operators from the Netherlands, as well as those mysterious broadcasters who hail from where, who knows where.
As regular reader might know my bête noire is the playing of continuous music, accompanied by only canned announcements or often none at all. Growing up as a member of the British DX Club (BDXC) - other similar organisations may well be available - and indeed an at times prolific contributor to its Alternative Airwaves section devoted to free radio, the puzzling UNID loggings were always more interesting than perhaps they should have been. Today there are perhaps less stations in operation who are completely unidentifiable, but a lack of interaction from some operators who instead prefer to let automated announcements 'do the talking' detracts from the individuality of free radio, and the characters behind it.
I digress slightly but there is one Dutch-based station who frequents 3 and 6 MHz, and also at times the 41 metre band. The operator seems content to come on air announcing 'a test' and then vanish again after a few records, only to pop up on another channel and maybe several others during a given day, again with a few pieces of music and announcements of a test before once more vanishing. Yes, the station name is plainly announced but what is the point in such short broadcasts and interminable 'tests'? The operator obviously benefits from owning a VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator)-type transmitter instead of a more limited crystal-controlled rig, but seems content to restlessly journey up and down the bands yes with verbal identification and a limited amount of music, but by protesting about a lack of a human element to some free radio broadcasts it is clear that I should be careful what I wish for.
It does though sound counterintuitive of me to pass positive comment about a UK-based station I heard today that again occasionally punctuated its policy of continuous music with off-the-shelf announcements. I do though question my own standpoint when a station is playing almost uninterrupted tracks that actually appeal to my musical taste. Image Radio, on 6323 KHz was doing just that, with some interesting dance music including Philip George's Wish You Were Mine. Perhaps I can overlook a lack of a human touch to some broadcasts if the music hits the spot? This is entirely subjective, with us all having different tastes in what we prefer to listen to. As someone who likes anything from early 1990s Acid House to the angst-ridden refrains of Courtney Love, I am in all likelihood too difficult to please.
On what was a statistically pleasing day for UK-based operators Radio Jennifer, Radio Parade, and a new station to me but one with previous on the 48 metre band, Valley Wave Radio, suggested that rumours of the scene's demise have again been somewhat exaggerated. Radio Pamela, Pandora, Nova, Clash, and the Xenon Transmitting Company have also been heard in recent weeks.
It seems that Valley Wave Radio is the station responsible for broadcasting old call signs of for example Radio Prague from the era prior to the Iron Curtain's demise, and before Czechoslovakia peacefully split to become the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Today's broadcast seemed to carry an old episode of Radio Netherlands' Media Network show, hosted by the inimitable Jonathan Marks. Whilst this might sound like a strange way to pad outs one's broadcasts, anyone with an established interest in shortwave radio legal or otherwise will at one time or another have listened to Media Network, and perhaps been impressed with Marks' authoritative style and knowledge.
Valley Wave is a station I believe was first on shortwave around the early to mid years of the 'noughties' and one I missed out on receiving during a hiatus from listening to free radio that ran from around 2002 for approximately fifteen years. Whilst new entrants to UK-based free radio on shortwave are as welcome as they are now a rarity, it it nevertheless pleasing to know that some of those who have already been there and own the t-shirt are willing to return at a later date.
When the white smoke rises from the Vatican to in effect announce the appointment of a new Pope, the new incumbent is never a young man. It would also seem that free radio is not the preserve of a youthful generation, with many operators arriving later in life to broadcasting. There have been times when looking back at the comparatively stellar UK scene of the 1990s that I thought free radio had become an anachronism in our overtly digital and generic age, and that it would slowly fade away when stations of a certain vintage finally call it a day.
I now think there is still sufficient interest out there to keep hobby shortwave broadcasting on the air and whilst it might not always if barely ever be to my taste, it is unrealistic to expect free radio to stay trapped in a different era, even one that in many ways was preferable to today's.
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