--I still like shortwave radio--
Updated: Jan 19, 2026
Music | Dis/connection | Sound | Making
When I was younger, I was enamoured with radio as a broadcast medium - especially the shortwave. I would go out in my backyard at dusk and try and hear stations that seemed impossibly far away for radio, like Radio Havana. It worked, sometimes. Shortwave is a finicky thing, especially when you live in the middle of a city with interference all around. Another complicating factor is that the broadcast bands are dying out in the Americas - the CBC ceased broadcasting on the shortwave around a decade ago. The afformentioned Radio Havana's transmitter is on the outs (China used to pay to repair it in a fraternal display of socialist solidarity, but has reportedly stopped).
Still, the shortwave offers some really neat listening experiences like numbers stations, which are encrypted messages sent from intelligence agencies to their agents over the air - literally spy radio.
Broadcasting into the void
My favourite shortwave feature are the stations mostly found in the 43m band (6800-7000kHz) aka the HF pirates. There's something so awesome about shortwave pirate radio - clandestine media sans shareholders, likes, ads, or ratings. It's a handful of individuals broadcasting whatever they want into the ether, and while there's probably always some ego involved when sharing things with the world, I don't think shortwave pirating is necessarily a vanity project. Some stations put out massive signals that can reach a lot of people (relatively - we are talking about shortwave radio... pretty niche), while others are low power and happy to broadcast to just about no one.
I think websites like this achieve something similar: I don't put any power or effort into distributing the site, but maybe someone's out there listening/reading. Probably not, but it's still out there - a broadcast invitation to connect.
Sailing the HF seas
Listening to pirates is as easy as going onto KiwiSDR, clicking on a radio, and seeing what you can find. HF Underground is a good companion forum, as the regulars there post where pirate stations broadcasting in real time. Finding pirates on the dial is by far the most romantic option, but requires a shortwave receiver and a good antenna. Easiest to buy these things, but it can be fun to DIY some stuff
Often pirates are just bored and rogue HAMs (legal amateur radio operators) playing classic rock, but there are some weird, cool, and inventive pirate stations out there, too. Would be remiss not to mention Alan Maxwell's KIPM radio dramas as a legend in the space. According to the North American pirate radio hall of fame, he used to take an ATV up a mountain to camp and broadcast, keeping a look out for the FCC - super cool. Unfortunately, I haven't heard a KIPM broadcast or rebroadcast in a few years now.
I'll update this page with some of the interesting shortwave pirates that have recently been on air.
Contemporary pirates
Station |
About |
|---|---|
| Mix Radio International | My fav pirate - so flashy and bold. Huge signal, and pulls wicked stunts like these waterfall graphics (broadcasting pictures as sounds so that they show up as images in the radio display.)
|
| Elbows Up Radio | Canadian politics & music. Specifically talks about class politics and our strained relationship with the USA. O CANADA. |
