CHOO Radio Recollections

An on line scrapbook of images & text for former staff and listeners alike

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The CHOO Radio / Oshawa Pirate Radio Connection - Revealed!

Hi, I find [your site] very interesting. I have always been fascinated with radio and have always wanted to 'get into' it as well. I admit I did not faithfully listen to CHOO radio because country was not my favourite music. I did apply to the station off Harwood Avenue quite a few years ago when my family and I were much younger. There was no interest in my application but I would have loved to have gotten a job there. I can only recall leaving a resume and a cassette tape, one rainy night, with a young, dark-haired person (male) in the front office. Could you say that I was in some microscopic way, a 'part' of CHOO Radio way back?

Years ago I worked part time for CKQS-FM in Oshawa. It later changed its letters to CKQT. I was not on the air. I remember the mixer in the FM station's control room. It was made in 1947. They also had an old reel to reel tape deck that needed to be stopped by slamming one's hand down on the reels of tapes in order to stop them in their 'rewind' mode. The only on-air names that I recall are Paul Fisher, who later went on to CHFI in Toronto. There was also Don Allman. He has since passed away. I miss the way radio used to be. The original CHUM Radio, for example and others where the announcers had far more control of their programs.

Back in the mid 90's I was 'caught' operating a pirate FM radio station here in Oshawa. Because of my longing to be in radio, I built myself a two-watt FM transmitter kit and made myself a roof antenna. I chose an unused frequency [at the time] and broadcast my music. Broadcasting for about a year from my basement workshop mostly late in the evenings, I played a variety of music,including tapes and CDs donated by a few local musicians. I gave my home telephone number out quite a few times because I wanted people to phone me if I was causing any interference to their reception - radio, TV, etc. The only phone calls I ever got were one from a newspaper person and the other was from a teenaged girl who had requested a song which I didn't have. She thought it was a 'genuine' station and sounded very nervous when she called in.

My face was on the front page of the long-gone Oshawa Times newspaper. It was an experience to be remembered. One night, months after I had started broadcasting, a reporter from the Oshawa Times newspaper happened to tune in and hear me. He wanted to ask me quite a few questions, saying that there might be a story in this. I said that I was tired and would call him back the next morning, which I did. He sent over a photographer and I put on a plastic see-thru mask. I thought that maybe there would be a small story about me somewhere in the paper a few days later. Instead I found myself staring at the front page with about half of it showing me wearing that mask. That was May 31,1994. I knew that my days of 'pirate' broadcasting would be soon over. Sure enough, about two weeks later two men came to my house and explained that I could be fined a very large amount of money if I were to continue. They gave me an official written warning and other information which included the proper procedure about obtaining a license for broadcasting. I immediately ceased transmitting and took down the antenna from my roof. I was even a little afraid to use my wireless telephone after that! I gave away the transmitter and antenna to a friend who lived in Mississauga. Later, the same photographer from the newspaper came back to take the second photo of me 'unmasked'. That was sometime in August,1994. Thinking back, it was really a lot of fun. I especially liked playing music from the local musicians, here in Oshawa. One young musician had forgotten that he had given me a cassette tape with him on it. I was playing one of his home recordings over the air early one Saturday. Apparently he had just gotten out of the shower and turned on his clock radio and heard himself. It was a pleasant shock to him. He phoned me as soon as he could.

Well, that's my 'claim to fame' I guess. Since then I have had three internet radio programs. One was 'live' which I found to be far more interesting than the pre-recorded shows I did. I am not active on any internet radio program at this time but I never lose the urge to do it again.

Thanks for the memories you've brought back for me.

Len Jeffrey

(TOP, ABOVE) The CHOO Radio rejection letter that would eventually lead to Len going on air in Oshawa as a pirate broadcaster. (ABOVE) Portions of the infamous Oshawa Times articles. All images on this page courtesy Len Jeffrey.

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What a great radio story! Thank you Len for sharing it with us. To think - if you'd got that job at CHOO you might never've had your unique memories as a pirate.