Radio nerditry: looking like another active weekend for shortwave pirate broadcasts. Stations audible in DC right now on 6950 AM (stereo!) and 6960 AM.
And more shortwave pirates on again today. 6950 USB and 6979 AM currently audible in DC.

@mattblaze

Any clue as to where they originate?

@FediThing Seem to be concentrated in the mid-atlantic states

@mattblaze

Hmm? What were they playing?

@mattblaze Stereo shortwave? That's a thing? How?
@x0 you can do AM stereo with different channels on the upper and lower sidebands. But only the pirates seem to actually do this.
@mattblaze What the Wikipedia article calls independent sideband, then? Kahn's system? Rather than C-QUAM?
@mattblaze Which is basically what, SSB per-channel?
@x0 right, AM with independent sidebands. Demodulates as mono on a regular receiver
@mattblaze What do these pirate stations broadcast? Sea shanties? Trotskyite debates? Live tiddlywinks tournaments? Inquiring minds want to know.
@mattblaze nothing on 6950 here in Florida or on my radio at home in NJ. Got something on 6944 in both locations, though. 6960 is noisy but audible
6960 just IDed as Ballsmacker. For those of you not familiar with shortwave pirates, that’s a fairly polite station name.
@thereisnocat 6950 seems to have gone off the air. Getting 6944 here now, with a pretty decent signal.
@mattblaze HF Underground says it’s Sternradio, and was on 6950 but moved to avoid QRM from Ballsmacker on 6960. So same station.