Shhh; it's oh so quiet...

Following on from my previous post which touched upon how in the 1990s certain frequencies would seemingly be avoided to in effect be reserved for regular users, it has since become clear that hitherto 'keeping the frequency clear' has evolved into something far less selfless. Instead of a tacit agreement to avoid particular channels used by the likes of Radio Orion, Ozone International, West and North Kent Radio inter alia, today the 48 metre band is fast becoming a monument to times past, with activity perhaps at its lowest in the last three decades.

Admittedly, I do not have the facts to back up that last statement but there is certainly credence to such an assertion. Whilst there are several possible reasons as to why 6.2 MHz to 6.325 MHz, what I call the classic 48 metre band, is falling silent there is not one definitive argument to be made that explains away its demise. Listening conditions have recently by all accounts been poor, or at least volatile, but that isn't a new phenomenon nor can it really be classed as one. The 49 metre band - 5.9-6.2 MHz - has become a lot more popular with hobby pirates, almost exclusively those from the Netherlands, and private but legal stations that relay those who think themselves to be pirate stations but from the purists vision of what a free radio station constitutes are some way wide of the mark. 

During the 1990s I do not recall ever hearing free radio stations in the 49 metre band, which whilst only being a short hop away from 48 metres was a very different proposition to where most of the pirate action took place. The frequencies that were used between 5.9-6.2 MHz were the preserve of legal, national broadcasters who were mainstays on the shortwave bands in general, which at the time formed an integral part of their overall offering. As these stations gradually removed the shortwave strand of their operations the 49 metre band has opened up, and subsequently some free radio and private(licensed) operators have moved on in. Is though that enough to explain why 48 metres is dwindling in popularity?

Bursts of utility interference, and heterodynes caused by stations not checking frequencies before coming on air are occupational hazards for free radio operators, who must take the rough with the smooth as electrical interference and selfishness also reach all time highs. Whilst it can be frustrating for an otherwise clear band to have two stations on virtually the same frequency, what is audible in the UK and for example the Netherlands can often be completely different. The anomalies of short and long skip can allow a UK-based station to be heard in the Republic of Ireland or continental Europe but not within its own shores. The marvels of modern technology does though allow anyone to check remote Software Defined Radios(SDRs) to judge what can be heard where and make informed choices as to which frequency to broadcast on, and where not. Ignorance can therefore be no defence. 

There are stations that can be heard on hinterland frequencies, for example 5.7-5.8 MHz, 6.88-6.95 MHz, and Radio Pamela on various 41 metre band channels but we are not talking a mass migration away from the 48 metre band. The best conclusion I can reach is that free radio, and by that I describe those stations who play music interspersed with meaningful dialogue (or vice versa) is inexorably fading away. So many loggings on HF Underground now amount to a plethora of UNIDs who play a few tracks, go silent, say 'testing, testing' usually in a Dutch accent before switching off. What is the point? Answers on the back of a hard copy QSL card, please. 

Cultural changes and those pertaining to how we consume media have inevitably led to a starkly different free radio scene to that of 20-30 years ago. Technology has changed so much that everything is instantly available to the radio listener and throughout all aspects of life in general, without any thought as to how it got to that point. Technical expertise is now in the hands of a very clever few, so much so that as technological advances are continually made the average Joe in the street for whom it is designed is becoming less mentally able as everything is done for them. Why ask Alexa to turn on your lights when it is just as easy to do it yourself? All this might sound rather tenuous when embedded within an argument hypothesising the demise of free radio, but a necessary if albeit modest element of technical expertise required to receive pirate stations and patience, another increasingly rare quality, have been sacrificed on the altar of immediate entertainment, through apps and yes, Software Defined Radios. In an age where everyone is encouraged to 'be who they are' we find ourselves in a counterintuitive dichotomy of genericism, where free thinking is defined as being fine as long as all parties agree. Is free radio therefore a branch of free thinking? Undoubtedly yes, but one that involves effort, time, some expense and personal sacrifice, and hopefully something unique and interesting to say. As a package it doesn't seem compatible with the instant demands of our modern age. If it still is free radio it isn't as we knew it, and sadly never will be again.

Perhaps an assumption of  an 'is, was, and forever will be' popularity of the 48 metre band should be regarded as specious, and probably erroneous. There could be a cyclical element to its fluctuating fortunes - I don't just mean sunspot cycles - but let's say for every five operators who leave the hobby only one or two (re)join, the decline would seem to be terminal. It is to the likes of Radio Clash and the Xenon Transmitting Company(XTC) on which this most archetypal free radio band depends, two stations that put in the technical and programming hard yards.

As ever, comments aren't anticipated but are nevertheless welcome. 

Keep this Frequency Clear...

It has already been established within this blog that many UK-based shortwave free radio stations from the 1990's had a certain synonymity about them, be that the personalities at the controls, music that identified who you were listening to before any utterances were made, signal strength and so on. What though of the frequencies on which they broadcasted? Could a dead carrier on a particular frequency really indicate who was to begin transmitting on it? Indeed it could.

In these days of a frequently empty 48 metre band it still seems that the occasional burst of activity is dogged by heterodynes, utility interference, occasional jamming, and stations from a certain nation who do not bother to check the band before firing up their rigs. Perhaps the 1990's was in general a more considerate era - compared to today that wouldn't be difficult - but whilst interference both accidental and deliberate did occur, certain frequencies were almost it seems reserved as part of a tacit gentleman's agreement that saw the likes of West and North Kent Radio, Radio Orion, Ozone Radio, Jolly Roger Radio and so on appear on the same channels on almost a weekly basis without hindrance. 

I am penning this blog post from memory and without online research that can be easily accessed so apologies (sorry, not sorry) for any errors, but these are the frequencies I connect with the following stations:

6280 KHz - Ozone International

6290 KHz - Radio Orion

6275 KHz - West and North Kent Radio

6308 KHz - Radio Confusion

6206 KHz - Radio Orangutan

6292 KHz - Radio Armadillo

6262 KHz - The Northern Ireland (Shortwave) Relay Service

3945 KHz - Live Wire Radio

6205 KHz - Radio Fax (along with 3910KHz and 12255 KHz)

6225/6235 KHz - Britain Radio International

6230 KHz - Jolly Roger Radio

6239/40 KHz - Radio Galaxy International/BIRS/Radio Merlin International

6400 KHz - Weekend Music Radio (at Christmas WMR would often run 3-4 different channels in parallel, anywhere from the 76 metre band to 15 MHz).

6296 KHz - Radio Stella International ( again, RSI would often broadcast simultaneously on 6, 7, 9, and 11 MHz)

6540 KHz - Station Sierra Sierra

There will no doubt be others who were recognisable by the channel on which they pitched up on, but for now at least these are the most memorable to me. I know that Terry Phillips' Radio Mi Amigo would on numerous occasions be heard on 7 MHz but the exact channel has for now escaped by recollection, and Radio Confusion including its successor Subterranean Sounds would often transmit on 3 and 7 MHz.

Although this post may seem rather tenuous there can be no equivocation that certain operators were known by the frequencies on which they transmitted just as much as their differing programming styles and signal strengths. It is perhaps ironic that in the modern era Valley Wave Radio has put down a metaphoric marker on 6266 KHz, a channel not often if ever patronised by other stations. Lo and behold, at least one other operator has since popped up on the frequency, and whilst the band is there for each and every pirate to use surely it should be recognised that not all stations have a wide range of crystals or a VFO rig at their disposal. 

It can be argued being known by a certain channel reflects an autistic, inflexible approach that is the antithesis of free radio's ideals. I cannot speak for individual operators or even the scene in general but it is without question that whilst the 1990's free radio scene is memorable for many things, stations causing interference to each other was not one of them. That isn't to say the way I describe the scene is how everyone will remember it, but nevertheless my recollections of events in this sense are extremely lucid. Perhaps someone reading this can tell me otherwise!