RADIO?? HUH??

hi. this page is super work in progress as i figure out what the hell i want to do with it exactly. the gist of it is that one of my big interests is radio stuff, just in a broad sort of way really, and i dont really have anyone to talk about it with afk so i thought itd be fun to have a little space for that on here.

ill probably write a better introduction to all of this at some point, but for now, here, ive compiled some sites ive found useful/interesting for anyone whod like to poke around a bit. just as a starting point i guess.

links

• university of twente's wide-band webSDR: absolute best place to start imo. listen to whats on the air right now in the netherlands, on pretty much any frequency you want
• Priyom: remember when i mentioned my numbers station obsession? this site is the main way i navigated that.
• the conet project: collection of a bunch of recordings of numbers stations, including a bunch of well known ones like the lincolnshire poacher and swedish rhapsody that dont tramsit anymore
• the buzzer livestream: listen to the infamous russian buzzer live (note: because of everything going on in ukraine this is/was a hot spot for pirate activity, and the actual buzzer isnt always up because of this)
• hfunderground: forum where people document what pirates are putting on the air, but you didnt hear it from me. have found some cool music through this
• radiojayallen: do not let the mid 2000s webs.com default layout fool you, this is a go-to source for reviews on physical radios. this guy has reviewed everything and hes damn thorough about it too
• radio locator: find am/fm stations that are active in your area!
• short-wave.info: see what stations are transmitting on shortwave all around the world
• solarham: honestly, i dont understand this website at all, i just think it looks crazy
• BPRSM a glimpse into the pirate radio scene in brooklyn
• ham radio textfiles:compilation of a bunch of entries on ham radio boards in the 80s. not sure how much of this holds up to current day but it can be interesting to browse through
• ham animals: this is just where i got my header image from. plenty more cats on radios there if you like it

my interest

so over the first wave of the 2020 covid-19 pandemic i got super into numbers stations. like, scary into them. this wasnt the first time id heard of them or anything (i definitely remember a few subpar art projects involving tracks from the conet project) but it was the first time i really latched on. there was something really fascinating to me about it, the way one of the most secure way to send out information involved sharing codes so publically, while exposing the location of the sender, no less. i dont know. just something you think about while trapped in a box for months.

this eventually branched out into an interest in pirate stations, then mindlessly listening to rtty, community station djs playing weird vinlys they found in their basement, bizarre religious broadcasts run by cults in remote areas that seem to take up so much of the damn airwaves these days, etc, etc.

honestly i have pretty mixed feelings about the whole thing. you cant throw a stone in any kind of radio space without hitting a gun toting prepper or right wing freak so ive mostly kept to myeslf in this interest. ive thought about getting a license but theres a few things im hesitant about. blame the fcc for that one. for now at least, its mostly lurking and websdr bullshit for me.

but one day, who knows, maybe we can give radio a better future. or just watch the hobby live out its death throes together.

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