h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A subject like offshore radio, where you have something like 25 stations operating over a period of 32 years, is way too big to really be summed up in an article of this kind. Even so, it would have been nice to see at least SOME mention of the VOA Floating Radio Station (proved the technology), Radio Mercur (first commercial offshore station and the first to use two ships), Radio Nord (original use of the ship that became the MV MI Amigo), Radio Syd (first pirate to defy the law; later lent its ship to Caroline when the Mi Amigo ran aground and needed repairs), Radio 390 (sweet music as opposed to top 40), Radio Scotland and Radio 270 (regional broadcasting), Radio England and Britain Radio (first time 2 stations broadcast from one ship, a technique later used successfully by Caroline and its Dutch partner stations), Radio Atlantis (um... it was fun) and Laser 558 (short-lived but very successful).

There are also a few typos and inaccuracies, or at least oversimplifications. Just to pick a couple:

*Radio North Sea International was officially Radio Nordsee International. Could have done with some mentions of the RNI jamming, boarding attempt and arson attack as well.

*Caroline used 558 AM, not FM. I assume that's just a typo, but there's a whole saga associated with the 558 frequency. Caroline originally wanted to use it in 1983 but for some reason went on air on 963 instead. Laser subsequently used 558 so Caroline used a nearby frequency of 576 as well as 963. Then Laser got towed away and within two days Caroline had moved to 558. When Laser attempted a comeback it was forced to use the previous Caroline frequency of 576. Spectrum Radio came on air on 558 BEFORE Caroline vacated the frequenct, in what was seen as an attempt by the British authorities to jam Caroline. Instead it was Spectrum's signal that got swamped. Spectrum threatened to sue the Radio Authority until it was granted a second frequency of 990 kHz. Eventually Caroline did abandon 558 and moved to 819 for the last few months of offshore broadcasting, which ended in November 1990, not 1991.