Radio De Vliegende Hollander (“The Flying Dutchman”) from Meppel, The Netherlands, can be heard quite well here in Coevorden on 1467 kHz. No surprise as the distance is only 37 kilometers. This LPAM station is broadcasting with 50 Watts, slightly lower than most Dutch LPAMs. At my previous QTH in Woerden I was never able to receive this station, as Radio Paradijs from nearby Utrecht was dominant. The first time I heard this station was on a clip my friend Arild Skalmeraas sent me to help with the station identification. Which means that Radio Vliegende Hollander already made it to Norway!
In the audioclip below you can hear the Radio Paradijs ID at 14 seconds, and much louder, the Radio De Vliegende Hollander ID at 22 seconds: “Dit is Radio de Vliegende Hollander, AM 1467 kHz, vanuit Nederland. Wil je meer informatie over ons, surf dan naar www.radiodevliegendehollander.nl . Radio de Vliegende Hollander te horen op AM, 1467 kHz, vanuit Meppel brengen we je het laatste nieuws”
Radio De Vliegende Hollander ID
My reception report sent to 1467am(at)radiodevliegendehollander.nl was answered by Koert who is the station owner. Koert happens to be a member of the VERON as well as the Benelux DX Club, just as I am. And therefore maybe no surprise that reception reports are awarded with a beautiful old school QSL card. Big thanks to Koert!
Old school QSL card from Radio De Vliegende Hollander (which is Dutch for Flying Dutchman)
Fully detailed QSL card for Radio De Vliegende Hollander
I tried this one two years ago earlier, but without success. But maybe Radio North has a new QSL manager in Chrissy, who was so kind to confirm my report via radionorth846mwads(at)gmail.com with a very nice fully detailed eQSL.
Radio North is broadcasting from Redcastle, Ireland with 3 kW. The station is unlicensed. And I know this led to annoyance with Dutch LPAM stations as they have to pay quite a hefty fee for their license allowing them to broadcast with 100 W max, only to find that a relatively high powered unlicensed station is causing interference on a frequency allocated to the Netherlands. It was one of the reasons why Album AM went off the air. MCB from Alphen aan de Rijn has taken over operations on 846 AM since.
I listened to oldies, but at 0300 h UTC they brought a Gospel broadcast from father John Morrison. These are heard quite often on Radio North. Chrissy had to print my email for him, as father John is old school and doesn’t have email. Below a brief clip of my reception:
A month ago I already thought I’d received Energy AM on 1440 kHz, but it turned out to be Radio Argus. But this time I received them in reasonable quality with a full ID. Energy AM is an unlicensed station from the Dublin area in Ireland, active on weekends. They used to operate on 1395 kHz (as you can still see in their logo), but since late last year they switched to 1440 kHz.
Energy AM confirmed my report via Facebook Messenger and provided some details:
Peter,
It was indeed Energy AM you heard last night on 1440 khz .
We were running 425 watts into our T antenna 20 metres vertical and 33 metres of horizontal.Slight loading at top of vertcal 7 turns.Transmitter isa Hercules 1 kilowatt but not running more than 500 watts as any more power cause local breakthrough interference on a smoke alarm.
We also use a D&R mixing desk, Rode mic, technics sl 1200 turntable ,Tascam cd 401 mk2 cd player ,and a dell PC with playout one radio program. audio is processed with orban digital am optimod. If you require any further information i would be happy to forward it to you.
Thanks for your reception report from all at Energy Am.
Below you can hear the jingle with the “Energy” identification:
UPDATE: as I noticed they still had their old frequency in the logo I made a new one. And got a nice “Thank You” in reply:
DX-ing mediumwave pirates is nice because sometimes you have email correspondence with fellow radio enthusiasts. I received Radio Turftrekker on 1638 kHz. Operator Jeroen wrote that he was ‘spoon-fed’ with mediumwave pirate radio as his father is also a mediumwave pirate. As a small child, he was listened in. Occasionally he was allowed to say something on the radio.
But it is also nice because some of the station names used remind you of the heritage of the Netherlands. Radio Markies is an example. And so is Radio Turftrekker. While the next paragraphs are not really about radio or DX, I just enjoyed writing them. Skip it if you want, but if you like it, please leave a comment!
About the name of Radio Turftrekker
A “Turftrekker” or “Peat Puller” was a worker that extracted peat using a scoop with a net attached. Peat was used as a fuel to heat houses before we switched to coal (and Holland what late in doing so). However, with the peat being extracted, deep pools of water formed in Holland.
“God created the earth, except for the Netherlands, for the Dutch did that themselves” is a well-known Dutch saying referring to the polders and reclaimed lands. But what is often forgotten is that the same Dutch first lost almost half their country due to peat extraction.
“Turftrekkers” extracting peat. A picture from 1895 used in schools.
The prime example is the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake), the polder in which Schiphol (Amsterdam International) Airport is situated today. In the Middle Ages four lakes were formed as a result of peat reclaiming. Additional illegal reclaiming and storms resulted in the collapse of dikes, allowing the lakes to merge into what became the Haarlemmermeer. That lake was so large that it became an inland sea, and with southwesterly storms, it expanded ever further in the direction of Amsterdam.
The collapse of the dike between Amsterdam and Haarlem
The Haarlemmermeer acquired the nickname “Waterwolf” as the water consumed more and more land. A beautiful artwork created in 2024 visualizes this. The Waterwolf seems to be at rest in this statue, as is the Haarlemmermeer.
The “Water Wolf” statue in the Haarlemmermeer. Finally at rest after 4 centuries.
Plans were made to reclaim the Haarlemmermeer as early as the 18th century. However, by then the lake was too large to be drained with windmill technology applied in the Beemster, Wormer, and Schermer polders. And so nothing could be done and devastating storms in 1836 caused parts of Leiden and Amsterdam to flood.
The Haarlmemermeer in 1740, top left the city of Haarlem, top right Amsterdam
But fortunately there was the introduction of the steam engine. In May 1840, thousands of laborers began digging a 60-kilometer-long ring canal and constructing a ring dike with shovels and spades. Three steam pumping stations were built: De Leeghwater, De Cruquius, and De Lynden. On July 1, 1852, the Haarlemmermeer was completely drained, and the development and parcelling of the more than 18,500 hectares of new land could begin.
One of the steam engines draining the Haarlemmermeer
Back to Radio “Turftrekker”. Jeroen mentioned he didn’t have a QSL card. I proposed this design based on the school picture shown above. What do you think?
During the Pirate Hunt 2026 event I was able to log Radio Kristal, broadcasting from Twente, East Netherlands on 1655 kHz.
Operator Jan confirmed my reception with a nice eQSL featuring the offshore radiostation Veronica. The station I grew up with as a child.
Radio Kristal works with a tube transmitter and inverted V antenna. Jan mentioned that he is active for 47 years on AM and his station has been raided by the “Radiocontroledienst” (the authorities) twice.
ZoomRock FM is a new station broadcasting with 730 Watts only on 1242 kHz from Turku, Finland. Despite the fact that the provisional loop antenna that I use at our temporary house is directed east/west, which is not optimal, I was able to receive this station in the first two weeks of April, identify a couple of songs and record an ID. Harri was so kind to reward my reception with a nice QSL. The station shares the frequency with the 200 kW strong Radio Sultanate of Oman. But after 2h UTC that station (listed 24h) is either off air or fades out (I don’t know). Between 2h and 2:30 h UTC ZoomRock FM is audible.
Below a MP3 clip with the “bassy” ZoomRock FM station ID. Poor reception quality. If you want to hear a better recording, you can find one at Hugo Matten’s site.
I had a nice email conversation with Harri, the man behind ZoomRock FM. He told me that he received 130 reports, my report was the 2nd from The Netherlands. On the Facebook page Harri shows his equipment. A neat transmitter, but also an impressive antenna set up as he is apparently allowed to hook up his 2×58 m dipole to a commercial antenna tower.
ZoomRock FM transmitter
ZoomRock FM dipole antenna
It also turns out that Harri is an avid DX-er. Using two virtual SDRs he is trying to receive Transatlantic FM signals. Two YouTube videos show the locations and the stunning scenery:
Another catch during the Pirate Hunt 2026 held in the Easter weekend was Radio Alabama on 1620 kHz. Manfred from Radio Alabama was so kind to confirm my request with a kind email. He mentioned that he is broadcasting from the Netherlands with a staggering 2000 Watt homemade mosfet transmitter. But I’m afraid his location is on my null of the loop, and his antenna set-up might imply I’m a little bit in the dead zone.
And no the logo above is not the one from Free Radio Alabama. But I liked it a lot.
During the Easter weekend I received a program of MCB Radio on 1467 kHz. I was quite surprised about this, as I had MCB, and LPAM from the Netherlands, listed on 846 kHz only.
So I sent a report to MCB and Otto from their technical department was so kind to confirm my reception as well as the answer to my question: the MCB program was relayed by Radio Vliegende Hollander from Meppel, The Netherlands, which makes sense as this is only 37 kms from my current QTH in Coevorden.
Below the audioclip of the Easter program I received, with the clear ID “De grootste hits uit de jaren 70… dit is het 70ies weekend op MCB… 1974!”
Radio Caroline North was live from the Ross Revenge with an Easter special. I received them broadcasting via the 648 kHz 4 kW transmitter in Orfordness, United Kingdom. Despite the fact that I’m now living further away from the sea the reception quality was excellent, even during the day.
My report sent to north(at)radiocaroline.co.uk was confirmed by Alan:
Hello Peter,
Thank you for your report which has reached me. I can confirm that you have indeed received Radio Caroline North, live from the Ross Revenge, via 4G link, on 648Khz AM, April 4th 2026, at 14.31 hours. I’m often in Harlingen in Friesland so am familiar with how strong the signal is on the east coast of the North Netherlands, so good to know you get a good signal in the East towards the border. Hope you have enjoyed this weekends special programmes.
Regards, Alan
Their next program from the Ross Revenge is scheduled for 9-10th May. More info on their website.
Radio Argus is a pirate station based in the UK, broadcasting on shortwave 48 meter band, but recently also heard testing on 1431 and 1440 kHz. I was made aware of this station by Henry Poelman via the Benelux DX Club Facebook group. I heard them in the night between Sunday and Monday, 01:00 and 04:38 h UTC (no trace of Radio Regional from Italy). The program consisted of rock music presented by a male ID. After 2 hours the program was repeated as I heard the same songs again. Signal strength was not great, SINPO 24332.
Bert Bridges sent me a brief “thank you” email, stating that my reception report was useful as they were testing on various frequencies. And invited me to suggest a song to be played on the radio.
I’m not an expert on British pirate stations, but sources on the internet state that the transmission on 1440 AM might come from the London area with 20-40 Watts of power.
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