Aussie Radio Pirates 1990s & 2000s: True stories

The 4th part of our Australian Radio Pirate series where we look at illegal transmissions in the 1990s and 2000s.

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[INTHEMIX]

haha good to see me in there...i was kickass fm on the southside of brisbane using a very crude transmitter of various mountains....now have legit lpon and play on shortwave

[andymate]

I know this is Pirate Radio but I ran a Pirate TV station from 1996 - 1999 called ABD TV. I was broadcasting kids TV shows as I was a kid myself. I had no idea what I was doing was illegal but had quite alot of fun. In 1999 I publicly announced on the station at the end of the year I was going to shut it down as I had started high school and I wouldn't have any time to run the station. I think it was around February, March I came home from school and my parents were waiting for me to come home as during the day they got a knock on the door by a radio inspector. I was forced to shut down but wanted to turn on the station one last time to say Goodbye. I also ran a pirate radio station with the same name but called it ABD Radio in 2010. I wasn't on the air for long as I was inspected by ACMA again. Lucky I only got a warning letter but the inspector said if I do pirate radio/TV again I would be fined.

[Desertwolf]

Great video! I sure miss Radio Australia

[ScottEvans-vkhse]

Vale VK7MAT, Matt was the founder of what became Energy FM. Sadly Matt was killed in a car accident in 1999 and the station continued for several years after his death, but it looks like it's now an internet streaming only service.

[INTHEMIX]

pirate radio was fun back then...good times

[vkig]

Thanks for the video, Peter.

That's interesting about what VK2BVS got up to.

And I wonder if Matt at 2:22 is someone I knew in VK7 in the early 90's who by then had an amateur radio licence. :)

[BronsonTheCat]

A station that comes to mind is ABD Radio 91.5 FM in Sydney circa 2011. Video here on YouTube somewhere.

[bitemykrank]

Went to Sam Voron's home in Roseville once, to have a radio tuned. Upon arriving, he's keying up in his shack and his 70+ father was up the ladder, adjusting the gamma's on his trapped beams.

[PeterIllmayer]

I met Sam once, darn long time ago....Gotta say these were darn good days ;-)

[brentmcc]

Met Sam myself, went over to purchase a few things, great days and great stories. Surely the pirate station at Hurstville had something to do with JD? lol