Pirates on medium wave - in disguise

Pirate radio in the park, in disguise. Catch us if you can... find us!

[@Univtubey]

Great story! It reminded me of a couple of young lads back in the early 60s who used to push a pram around loaded with portable 160m gear. They would get up close to one of the local HAMs qth to annoy him. Every time he listened for an answer to his CQ call they use to fire up the transmitter! Naughty boys! :)

[@g4nsj]

Hi Fred, it's nice to hear from you. Annoying local hams... perish the thought! Haha, happy days! Cheers and all the best, Ray.

[@evanstj5]

What an ace story. Well done! As it happens, quite by chance I'm watching on my laptop but with the sound routed through a micro transmitter, 2 foot wire aerial and picked up on medium wave 400 metres. This I picked up for about 14 quid on ebay. With extra length of wire it reaches the bedroom! And the set happens to be a DAC 90! Loud and clear!

[@g4nsj]

A DAC90A... Excellent! Glad you liked the video. Cheers, Ray.

[@philcrosby8931]

Great tales of derring do, Ray. Takes me right back to my Thames Radio days - each Sunday out in the Surrey countryside with the Tx, rotary generators, and bloody heavy ex-mil batteries. God, I must have been fit then! We usually got a great signal out from the North Downs - Banstead, Coulsdon, etc. Incidentally, we always used an earth.

[@g4nsj]

Hi Phil, I always used an earth. They were great days!

[@julianrobertson3303]

Excellent .

[@g4nsj]

Thanks!

[@andrewscott1253]

The two thumbs down on this video must be them two GPO blokes from the park.

[@g4nsj]

Haha, I think you're right! Cheers, Ray.

[@ddrhaha8129]

I'm in USA, Minnesota and we never thought of setting pirate radio until one day, in 1980's I get up one day, turn on am radio and I hear ACDC blasting on frequency I never heard before, it was my Ham friend down the street. He found a mode to transmit with his ICOM 7xx on am! And he had his Linear amp running 1000 watts to boot!😆😆

[@Frank55]

Great! I can listen to stories like this for hours!

[@g4nsj]

Frank55 excellent!

[@FuzzyTekShow]

Having watched one of your story telling videos just now for the first time, I just had to watch another one! Thoroughly enjoyed it, very funny stuff! I could sit and listen to these all day! Thank you for sharing! :)

[@g4nsj]

FuzzyTek thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

[@KYESTV]

Thanks for your story. My first FCC bust was too many years ago. I cannot remember it. But, I really fooled them. Next thing? I got a real broadcasting license. I no longer remember my first FCC inspection. Maybe if I try, it will come back to me.

[@g4nsj]

Happy days!

[@BoB4jjjjs]

I have listened to this one around 4 times now, if nothing else it is a good yarn and very funny. Good getting one up on the GPO lol It is a case of "Where is she now?"

[@g4nsj]

Where is she now, indeed?

[@RSPYT]

Dude you are bloody quality, well done man I looked on your website a few weeks ago looking for a Vintage Amp, and now I've found you on here haha. I've Subscribed!

[@g4nsj]

RustySkull Productions excellent!

[@m.9243]

What a great story Ray! ...and it brings back memories long forgotten. I am of the same age bracket as you so we lived parallel lives in a radio sense. I was in Athens Greece (where I was born and lived 'till my early 20's). The only legal broadcasting then was done by EIR ( the Greek equivalent of BBC) playing mostly Greek light music. Young people in Greece wanted to listen to the Beatles, the Stones, the Yardbirds and so on, however, the national broadcaster was not delivering!.. Studding electronics I thought I would put into practice my knowledge and thus, after experimenting for a while, the first serious medium wave AM transmitter came to be, using a hefty power supply with +600 v for the plates of the four 807's I was using as outputs, driven by a 6SN7 as an oscillator and an EL34 as a buffer. Aerial was erected between two tallish blocks of apartments, almost invisible from the street below (thin wire and great height), the actual transmitter being in my bedroom (come studio!!) in our apartment. Sources were a Philips tape reel to reel tape deck and a BSR t/table. The modulator was an Italian Geloso audio amplifier (mono) with two EL34s as output valves, some 35 watts of audio power. The broadcasting went on from 9 pm to midnight, every night and it covered the whole of Athens during the day (established on test transmissions) while, at night it could be heard in country towns anywhere from 30 to 200 km away! The authorities were at a loss as to where the transmitter was, as Athens is a jungle of apartments and it is very difficult indeed to establish where exactly the broadcast was coming from! The phone of a friend of mine was given for requests by the listeners. He then would call me on my home phone and pass on the requested music! (He was raided by the police a couple of times, searching the house for illegal equipment, in vain of course as, my home was nowhere near his). LOL! The end of this adventure came in 1967 when Greece had a military coup and the new authorities announced new strict rules about illegal broadcasting or ownership of transmitting equipment. Fearing the grave consequences ( of a dictatorship government), I packed up the equipment and using the 48 hour amnesty the authorities had given, I walked in the local police station and handed in my pride and joy! Sad moment.. I was given a receipt for the event and that was the end of a few years of fun in AM broadcasting. The 'bug' ( the radio bug that is..) never left me so, after coming to Australia I obtained my shortwave Amateur licence and, .... became, ahemm... LEGAL! Thanks for the memories 'young man', keep the videos coming! 73's de VK2xxx

[@g4nsj]

Hi Leporello, great story, thanks for sharing it! They were dangerous days, from what you've said. 807s were amazing valves, they still are. I'm tempted to fire up my old transmitter. Cheers, Ray.

[@1lapmagic]

What an absolute lad.

[@ecutechltd]

She's sitting in the park committing a criminal offence.........EXCELLENT, what could be better?? Haha! I love watching your videos!

[@g4nsj]

Thank, Chris. I'm pleased that you like the videos, there are more coming soon. She was innocent... Well, almost! Cheers, Ray.

[@ecutechltd]

Good! keep it up, as the actress said to the bishop! Do you know anything about RFI from fibre routers, more importantly how to cure it? No matter where I put the router in the house I get RFI across the whole of the hf spectrum, even with the phone line disconnected and wifi switched off. Its not the smps as ive swapped that over. I run a SDR radio over on websdr.org which concentrates on the 5 and 6 meg aero bands 79.69.3.9:8901 I'm at a total loss! I am being sent a new router this week but I fear the problem will still be the same. Talktalk's technical people are about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

[@g4nsj]

Hi Chris, I also have the same problem but, as yet, I've not found the answer. If I do discover anything, I'll let you know. Thanks for your kind comments, I'm glad you like the videos. Cheers, Ray.

[@ecutechltd]

Cheers Ray

[@ianmorton5943]

I love them stories wat a grate time you had 👍

[@g4nsj]

Thanks!

[@ponyboymidnight]

Absolutely brilliant! This sounds like something I would have done in my youth ('70s) Please give us more. Very entertaining!

[@g4nsj]

+Forceps More coming soon!

[@RadioHamGuy]

Another great one Ray! If you could dig up any old photos at all, that would be fun too. Will be waiting for the next clip, 73.

[@Alpha1545]

I just found your channel. When you say pirate's the word we use here in the states is"bootlegger". I guess it is just a minor thing but it still goes to show. We use to have bootlegger's show up on our repeater from time to time.

[@danielteegarden8982]

you painted a great picture, seams like i was there. thky dan t palm springs ca USA

[@RGC198]

Hi Ray, thanks for sharing another interesting video. The first pirate radio station that I ever heard was Radio Hauraki, while in Auckland New Zealand back in 1970. They actually received a full land licence later that year. Their original pirate transmitter was on the Tiri II (boat) in the Hauraki Gulf and our to sea enough to not be infringing on the licenced areas. Incidentally, years ago, using a modified car radio, I actually found a way of transmitting an unlicenced MW station completely legally. The reason for this was that the full coverage range of the transmitter was restricted to only 5 inches. The only van getting between my transmitter and radio would have been a Matchbox car. LOL. Anyway, all the best. Robert.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks for posting, Robert. 73 from the UK.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

Great story ray. I really enjoyed it. In my minds eye I was back with you 50 yrs a ago in a park with a pram transmitter LOL.

[@alancordwell9759]

Brilliant Ray! The only bit of illegal broadcasting I ever did wasn't anything like as grand as that, and was over so quickly I bet nobody heard it... I never managed to get a transmitter to radiate on medium wave, because at that time I just didn't know about loading aerials correctly. but VHF, that was a different matter. I'm talking about the early 70's when portable FM radios were reasonably common. I had this old band 3 TV converter, you will remember them- they had a power supply and a couple of valveholders and a few coil formers and other handy bits, on a little metal chassis and I stripped it all down and rebuilt it as a push-pull oscillator on the VHF broadcast band, using an ECC81 or whatever it was... anyway, it ran rather well- it would light a torch bulb with a single turn coupling loop held near the coil. I also discovered that a reverse biassed rectifier diode, working as a varactor, would modulate it very nicely. I was probably about 15 at the time, and my dad frequently warned me not to build any transmitters or I'd be in serious trouble with the GPO. But curiosity gets the better of you doesn't it, so I waited until I was alone in the house, and pinned a wire dipole up on the bedroom wall coupled by a bit of coax to this oscillator, set the tape recorder playing, and set off with the family Bush VTR103 to see how far the signal went- not expecting much after my failed medium experiments of course. Well, when I'd gone nearly two miles and the signal showed no signs of diminishing I switched the radio off, ran back home in a panic, tore the transmitter to bits and hid it and then lived in fear for two weeks expecting every knock on the door to be the GPO man!!!! Ah, those were the days.....

[@g4nsj]

+Alan Cordwell Hi Alan, this is excellent stuff, very interesting. Thanks for posting. All the best, Ray.

[@TRIPPLEJAY00]

Brilliant story.

[@OutdoorsOnTheAir]

You're a great story teller and this is a terrific tale. Thank you for sharing it!

[@g4nsj]

Glad you enjoyed it I'll be making more videos soon. Cheers, Ray.

[@rolandpeachie9807]

Well it's been awhile since you made this video, great story but I do have a question, did you repair that fantastic old Radio sitting on the bench, I've noticed more people are enjoying old tube radios more than the cold souless digital that are being sold these days, something beautiful about the war glow of a tube Radio

[@g4nsj]

Yes, I did repair it. I love the old gear! Cheers, Ray.

[@lawrencepardy2884]

Enjoyed your story! A blast from the past.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks Lawrence!

[@edwymer6928]

Great story Ray I really enjoyed it.

[@g4nsj]

Ed Wymer thanks.

[@christopherhulse8385]

MW pirating wouldn't even get noticed today! The MW band is clearing every year, so plenty of frequencies available for a bit of pirate radio!

[@g4nsj]

True!

[@hamradioman222]

Hey there REALLY loved your vids m8 More please I too love radio especially aerial building and testing !!

[@g4nsj]

+Gareth Jones Hi Gareth, glad you like the videos... more coming soon! Cheers, Ray.

[@darrelll1207]

Really enjoying your videos. Keep up the good work.

[@g4nsj]

+darrell l Thanks Darrell!

[@TheTimeSpiders]

You said "Trees ", Trees in the park... OH come on.You're just making it up as you go along :-P

[@g4nsj]

There were, and still are, huge oak trees in the park. 😃

[@HobkinBoi]

Maybe I'll look at building a valve transmitter. I've liked the looks of tube transmitters and such.

[@g4nsj]

Good idea!

[@dirtycaty]

superb, cant wait for the next episode :)

[@g4nsj]

+dirtycaty Coming soon!

[@hamrad88]

Glad you're back!

[@g4nsj]

Good to be back!

[@madrad999]

Thanks Ray, good stuff mate .Keep them coming.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks Rad!

[@SarahJane148]

Thanks for sharing Ray great story

[@g4nsj]

Thanks Mark

[@chilledoutpaul]

Hi Ray I love the stories also I have to find time to pop down to see you because i have got some transmitting bumph and stuff for you! Paul

[@g4nsj]

+Paul Brace Wow, thanks Paul!

[@cptrdbrd]

great story, loved every word. I think s video on the diy transmitters you built would be interesting.

[@g4nsj]

+cptrdbrd OK, I'll give that some thought. Might be interesting!

[@Mike-H_UK]

Hi Ray, so what was the exciting story that involved the pram afterwards?

[@g4nsj]

The girl ended up needing the pram... because she was pregnant!

[@danielteegarden8982]

p.sp. girl in the park.................lololool

[@Isszarya]

Great story James Bond would be proud

[@michaelaldred6529]

Good job the wheel did not come off the pram that would be a story in its self.

[@g4nsj]

Haha, indeed!

[@SpectreOZ]

Another great installment, thanks Ray :)

[@g4nsj]

Glad you liked it!

[@g4nsj]

Glad you liked it!

[@wadehicks9270]

Really like the story's great video.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks, Wade. More coming soon.

[@wisteela]

Superb story. Great stuff.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks Paul.

[@robertjohnson5126]

The Pram In The Park scam had gained quite a bit of currency by the early '70s - think even Radio Jackie tried it. Always found that for MF /A black ops, a 4' earth rod trumped any practical radials & were freely available in sports ground etc. Still use one today. Hey, I pay my rates. So that's where all the DAC90s go! Happy days indeed, Ray : )

[@g4nsj]

Hi Robert, nice to hear from you. I've just been told that the pram scam was used in the late 50s... Amazing! Cheers, Ray.

[@Alpha1545]

As I say to all my buddies. There is always a "DJ"

[@Richardproctor]

Wonderful video thank you

[@g4nsj]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. Cheers, Ray.

[@hakangustavsson3538]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@glenwoofit]

Great Story...

[@g4nsj]

Thanks!

[@ddrhaha8129]

Ha ha ha! Awesome!😆😆

[@mike97525]

thanks

[@ericharvie7322]

Happy days.

[@g4nsj]

Happy days indeed, Eric!

[@eziomonico7173]

From Italy in the 1970 and time reality for regolamentvMI S E for frequency,is only music. and 2 radio of Milan is 693 ed English edition at 9 2 7

[@g4nsj]

Thanks for the information.

[@davecartwright867]

is the earth still there?

[@g4nsj]

+Dave Cartwright The park has been landscaped so I doubt that it's still there.

[@Rcmodelgeeks]

Great stories Ray! Nice to see some more regular videos! Im sure some of your viewers may like Radio Gemini video from back in the 70's kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXLNg3Slr9Gaeqs

[@g4nsj]

+RC Model Geeks Just watched the video, great stuff, really loved it!

[@Rcmodelgeeks]

Thanks Ray. These guys later went on to run laser hot hits. which can still be heard on Shortwave.

[@g4nsj]

I do listen sometimes,excellent!