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!