Conclusions

When I started penning this blog four years ago, I did not really know what to expect. Primarily brought into being to document my experiences of listening to UK-based free radio stations on shortwave, my thoughts, memories, and research took me and I hope some others down memory lane.

I sought to frame culture relevance, and how radio, both free and conventional, has been shaped by societal and technological changes, and even questioned how morally appropriate it is to listen to and contact what are, after all, illegal broadcasters. 

Also, I queried as to whether free radio was actually 'all that' in the 1990s, having heard it through teenage ears that were less cynical, and more easily pleased. If I heard the same transmissions today, from my favoured few broadcasters, would I have derived as much enjoyment? 

A similar salient point questioned whether the use of Software Defined Receivers (SDRs) made listening too easy, in effect side-stepping the challenges and limitations caused by a poor listening station, and the vagaries of atmospheric conditions. There was certainly more of a sense of achievement and satisfaction attached to receiving any stations on shortwave and mediumwave using firstly a National Panasonic receiver (complete with tape deck), then a Venturer 2959 Soviet-made multiband radio, before finally 'going digital' with a Sangean ATS803A - all using the built-in telescopic antenna with some wire adhered to my curtain rail.

Breaking down the simplicity, and sometimes complexity of certain broadcasters was perhaps an exercise in overthinking. Free radio exists for many reasons - wishing to broadcast your own musical tastes, demonstrate technical mastery, to put two fingers up at the authorities and so on - but I very much doubt anyone went into it to make friends or even acquaintances with listeners. Your correspondent was probably a bit too nerdy for many of the stations who he wrote to, but sometimes those broadcasting were perhaps victims of their own success, insomuch that their engaging and charismatic programmes would prompt listener engagement, not to mention those slavishly wishing to add to their QSL collections.

Singling out certain broadcasters for their own blog post highlighted the 'same but different' image of free radio during an era that straddled a time between technological, cultural, and musical zeitgeists. There was a simplistic approach adopted by many / most, which is most certainly not a critical description, whilst others, in particular Mike Wilson / the Bogus Jobseeker / Bogusman had several, sometimes troubling layers to their broadcasting personae. There were certain examples where I would say that operators were the same on air as in real life, whilst others morphed into someone quite different behind the mic. Life would be boring if we were all the same, but as in any walk of life one gravitates more to certain broadcasting styles than others. It is all about personal choice.

I sought but failed to get to the heart of 1990s free radio, simply because I was a very different person then to who I am now, as one would expect considering the then teenager is now in his late 40s. The only way for me to measure if the 1990s scene had stood the test of time would be to hear it now exactly how it was then, notwithstanding that comparisons are rarely a good idea. This is of course impossible, and cannot even be mitigated by listening to the very few recordings that are 'out there' from 1990 to say 2002. Hopefully those sitting on their cassette archives will eventually feel emboldened to digitise and upload. 

From writing this blog, what conclusions have I reached? When I first thought of writing a dedicated blog, I really had no expectations as to where it would go. Therefore, it can be argued that I should have few complaints. Nevertheless, I have been extremely disappointed with the level of feedback received, and how reluctant those previously involved in free radio and to some extent those still active are to engage on the subject. I understand the omerta from a perspective of not wishing to give up too much information should that somehow alert the authorities, but despite being a friend of 1990s free radio, I suppose there must always remain a 'them and us' delineation between operators and even genuine, and genuinely interested listeners. A lack of visual cues - my QSL, sticker, and log book archive has long since been dispensed with - and a perhaps rambling, forensic style has not helped with gaining the attention of avid free radio adherents, and casual readers. Perhaps there are far fewer people than I imagined 'who were there' that are still actively interested?

I would though say that through giving attention to certain stations, familiar music including tracks synonymous with certain stations, addresses that cropped up time and again, preferred frequencies, then and now, changes of name, and those no longer with us, I have managed to prolong (some would say the agony) this blog and flesh out the subject to the point of becoming tenuous just to keep it going, especially amid a backdrop of little in the way of feedback, and the experiences of fellow listeners.

Will anyone author a blog dedicated to any of the decades since? I doubt it, but it would be good if more QSLs and especially recordings from the 1990s eventually made it into the public domain. This blog will also stay 'out there' until Google decides otherwise. In time, it may elicit more attention, and turn out to be something of a slow burner...

7th October 1990 - 3rd June 2025