I was cruising the MW band early this morning and came across something new and interesting on 1710. Instead of the usual Boston pirate, I was hearing a strong signal from a station playing oldies music – Beach Boys, The Temptations, The Big Bopper, etc. I listened for over an hour to this station and heard frequent announcements between songs. This station was calling itself “The Big Q” (or maybe Big Cube?) and had slick liners between songs – all very professional sounding. Was this a pirate broadcaster? The most unusual part of the broadcast were several slightly different ads for the classic General Electric Superradio. The announcer was encouraging listeners to go to eBay.com to search out & purchase a GE Superradio to benefit their listening hobby – “no expensive receivers or long wires needed – just get a Superradio! and get it on eBay!” Very bizarre! Below are selected clips that I cropped from the hour+ recording I made this morning. Please comment if you have heard this station before or know anything about it – I’m mystified! First heard this morning (Nov.6th, 2010) at 0940 UTC & off abruptly at 1116 UTC, solid signal throughout broadcast:
1710 UNID “You’re listening to the the midnight man on the Big Q” –
oldies stations here playing
1960s/1970s stuff with announcements between songs like “You’re
listening to the Big Q”. Very good signal right now at S7
way over Radio Soleil with slight warble to audio. Songs
heard include Beach Boys “Help me Rhonda”, Temptations “My
Girl” sung by gravely voiced guy, “Chantilly Lace”, etc.
Ad for “GE Super Radio on eBay” and other weirdness. The
announcer mentioned something about the movie “pirate radio”
and said it had nothing on his operation. Pirate? Part 15?
Don’t know!
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 1
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 2
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 3
1710 khz – The Big Q – Clip 4
January 14, 2012. Heard ‘The Big Q’ this morning (0830 UTC) @1710khz in Lapeer, MI while driving in my Mazda 3. The stock radio in this car is a very good dx machine. Playing oldies, signal was weak fading in and out. By the time I got home and cranked up the DX-R8, they were off-air.