cobalt pet shortwave / mediumwave weblog

15 September 2012

pirate qsl: radio true north

While on the #pirateradio irc channel last year, I learned that Radio True North was live on 6925 kHz. I tuned in with my Eton E5 and was able to just barely copy the signal.

The show was a hosted collection of pop and classic rock songs, several of which I knew and at least two I was able to identify with the Shazam app held up to my radio. Songs I heard and identified:

  • Janet Jackson - "Control" (recognized)
  • Rocky Burnette - "Tired of Toeing the Line" (shazam)
  • Foreigner - "Cold as Ice" (recognized)
  • Richard Marx - "Shoulda Known Better" (recognized)
  • male announcer: "…four one four UTC"
  • unrecognized female singers; someone on #pirateradio said "dixie bitches"
  • Credence Clearwater Revival, "Bad Moon Rising" (sounded familiar but used Google to search with the lyrics)
  • REM - "Losing My Religion" (recognized)
  • unknown synth rock (RTN_6925a said "Johan Timman - Journey Into Human Body")
  • echoey male voice: "...two five (perhaps the second half of "6925"?) - Radio True North!"
  • Dannii Minogue - "Put the Needle On It" (shazam)
  • AC/DC - "You Shook Me All Night Long" (recognized)
During the broadcast, I chatted with both the host and other listeners on irc. Hearing this broadcast was challenging. The noise level for reception within my apartment can be a problem, and the broadcast was very low power. But it was fun all around.

My emailed reception report was confirmed within about a half hour, and I received this electronic QSL about a month later:



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