MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, if it's imported. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well they had their antenna up really high. On Easter Sunday in 1964, the station went on the air, playing the Rolling Stones' single "It's All Over Now" as its first song. Pirate radio guru Andrew Yoder started his own pirate blog last year, and has already began populating it with regular updates, QSLs, and recordings. Given other responsibilities and obligations, however, the Commission's resources are stretched, and it seems that stopping pirate radio is not at the top of the priority list. So a transmitter that complies with the Part 15 requirements has a very small operating range, about 100 feet. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, we don't have a rule in the books that prohibits that from happening. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Got you. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Is that a point of pride for you from Philadelphia? They came and seized all of my equipment. Radio GDay came on from Australia occasionally, but no one else. The FCC argued that we were here to regulate the airwaves. Friday March 17, 1989 5:00 am. URL Here: https://dkng.co/rogue-----For entertainment purposes only. Here's a 12-minute recording of Radio Caroline DJ Tony Blackburn's show in 1965, which includes both a breakfast cereal commercial and the Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" and "For Your Love" by the Yardbirds: Because the station had to fill so much airtime DJs had to come up with 2,500 tracks to play each week Radio Caroline helped foster what Moore calls "an explosion of new artists and bands who may have started recording conventional pop music, but who then expanded their musical abilities. We also had a case in Queens, New York, where several pirate radio stations got involved together and they were using each other's equipment in order to change location to avoid detection. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes, so you have options. In the late 1980s, unlicensed operators tried broadcasting from a Honduran-flag freighter in the waters off Long Island, according to The New York Times. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Right. Shortwave DX Blog - A blog with loggings and information relating to shortwave pirate radio in Europe. There is a studio somewhere. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Hometown. Find this podcast in the iTunes store or Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts. 14 July 2020. Its much better, of course, if you have a table-top receiver, software-defined radio, or ham radio transceiver with a general coverage receiver hooked up to a resonant outdoor antennaespecially if you live outside Europe and North America. But it worked out great, it was a great career in the media bureau. Meanwhile, the Ross Revenge was repaired and converted into a floating museum for tourists. Additionally, pirate broadcasters don't have to deal with all the legal complexities of setting up and running a streaming internet service, such as writing terms of service or meeting contractual obligations, he notes. KQLZ Pirate Radio stormed the Southern California airwaves in 1989, and listeners "flushed" their former stations as they. So over the last ten years people get online and purchase a transmitter and get it delivered to their door and so that makes, you know, everybody a hobbiest now and to have an interest to start a pirate radio station because it's so available. They label the equipment as something else. Andrew Yoder, author and publisher of the 2012 Pirate Radio Annual, defines pirate radio as: [A]ny unlicensed hobby broadcast operation that is using more power than the legal limit.. Dont believe me? That would allow us to increase the fine to $100,000. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360 interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and route planning . MR. SWARZTRAUBER: All right. MR. DOMBROWSKI: And so they said well because we were here before it was colonized our federal laws don't apply to us. But what hast made the problem really expand is the equipment is readily available with the internet now. I have four offices, it includes Chicago, it includes Boston, New York, and Columbia, Maryland. Pirates are always active during holidays, too, most especially on Halloween (31st of October), which seems to be pirates favorite holiday. They can call their State Broadcast Association to get our contact information. Ive noticed increased pirate radio activity during the winter months, as well. We hope you understand, and are grateful for your support. In addition to this 2019 BBC documentary, Goren also has created the Pirate Radio Map, which documents pirate radio stations in Brooklyn and even includes brief samples from their broadcasts. So we try to shut down, you know, that equipment coming in to the purchasers. The original 60s pirate station, playing fresh pop / rock music to Britain's young masses from a boat in the North Sea, floating in international waters four and a half miles off the Essex coastline. Unlicensed radio broadcasters have been around practically since governments started trying to control and regulate the airwaves. While the magic of shortwave radio can transport a small signal vast distances, to hear pirates regularly and clearly, some precision is required. I decoded this Wolverine Radio SSTV QSL on the SSTV iOS App. One of the first pirate radio operators we know of was Ronan O'Rahilly. And I am glad you mentioned call signs because that could be a potential suspicious signal is that pirate radio stations, because they are illegitimate by their very nature, are not doing typical radio station things like announcing their call sign at the top of the hour or doing, you know, certain regular scheduled activities, so that could be something that might mean you are listening to a pirate station. In the quieter winter months, stations seem to pop out of the ether. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. Yes, they come with weapons. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well there was a version of the bill that passed the House first and now there is a similar bill being considered by Senate. To track pirates, youll need a radio with both AM and SSB modes. Oh, it happens a lot, especially in these urban areas like New York. MR. DOMBROWSKI: There is a variety of pirate radio stations out there. So it's not just that a pirate radio station might be harming other radio stations, which is bad in and of itself and could pose a public safety risk with emergency communications, but we're talking serious stuff when we talk about FAA and air traffic control. So, for example, if youre listening for North American pirates from Europe, youll need to plan accordingly. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Just because it's easy to buy it doesn't mean it's legal. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, very creative on that, wasn't it? So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, well, you know, they operate in the AM band so it sounds really distorted when you are trying to listen to FM radio on an AM radio. Not just Aussie and NZ pirates, but stations in places like The Phillipinesmaybe Japan, South Korea, or Thailand. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And it's important to clarify that FCC enforcement agents are not law enforcement agents, but I was struck by how some of the work that goes into identifying and shutting down a station is like good old-fashioned police work, like knocking on doors saying, hey, have you seen anything weird, have you seen people carrying around transmitters or antennas. 16 days ago. Now, of course, my favorite thing that I want to ask you is what are some fun examples, maybe not fun, but interesting examples of cases that you have closed where maybe the circumstances were a bit bizarre or interesting that might help a listener understand just how weird some of this stuff can get and just how interesting some of these operations can be. But so when we say Region One I think even most people in the FCC are not necessarily aware of how the country is carved up when it comes to enforcement and the field offices, et cetera, so can you give the listeners a brief sense of what do we mean by Region One, what areas do you cover? The reason is, no matter what time of the year it is, no matter what the space weather (yes, I said space weather) or conditions of the ionosphere are--FM stations are relatively few, local, and always broadcast in the same spots on the FM dial. comment. It is illegal for companies to market equipment that hasn't gone through what we call a certification process, equipment authorization process, where they get a company to look at their transmitter to make sure it complies with our technical rules and doesn't have potential to cause interference to other radio services. That was right when the internet really started exploding so he was able to get his message out. So it's not the -- In terms of size wise for mileage it's the smallest region, but it's the most populated. It was the strongest pirate station I have ever witnessed. Our agents will contact you. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. So when they say, oh, I don't need a license to operate I'm a Part 15 transmitter, well we have to do studies and measurements to see if that's true. Very old school, and cheap enough for anyone's budget. It could be harmful if we let a pirate radio station operate because sometimes they cause interference to other services, like aeronautical communications. Borderhunter Radio is one of the strongest Euro Pirates Ive ever heard. In the U.S. the most famous example of a Pirate Radio station was Mexico's XERF. Marshals actually seize it. A lot of stations conceal their antennas, they hide behind things, they take the antennas down during they day, so they try avoid detection. Click here to view a list of all sponsors. Pirate radio operators usually have day jobslike most of usthus only transmit while home from work. So when the FCC licenses FM stations those stations are generally not going to interfere with aeronautical operations because we make sure that they are not. So we have a lot of those stations operating, so it's big revenue for them. While this reality is not surprising, we . We also recommend that the complainant contact the station that they are getting interference to --. Recycling is good. Unauthorized stations are particularly prolific in the New York City area, where a 2016 study by the New York State Broadcasters Association (NYSBA) found that there actually were more pirates then on the FM band than legal licensed stations. He was going around the country and stirring the pot and getting a lot of people excited about microbroadcasting, so that's really where it started to really proliferate. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: So everyone can now breathe a deep a sigh of relief, you are not going to have to go out and get a license for your security camera and you garage door opener. And that's a pretty big deterrent when you show up with police officers threatening to arrest somebody because they are operating a pirate radio station. David, thanks so much for joining. Hover over one of the three pirate radio neighborhood zones (the center zone has the most stations) and click for a list of stations that broadcast to those areas. Our agents are pretty smart on the tricks. Some pirates have even shown in in the SWBC bands, including 49, 31 and 25 meters. 2. Everyone should agree that pirate radio stations - by any definition - are completely illegal. So we have had the most success in getting stations off the air when the district attorney is involved, because the U.S. Attorney's Office when we do the in rem seizures, they have a lot of case work and very high profile cases so there is a little reluctance sometimes because of the case precedence for the U.S. attorneys to take on our cases. We have had cases where we have gone in on in rem seizures and found drug paraphernalia inside the building and so that becomes now a law enforcement issue and they take care of that, they handle that situation. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Welcome to "More Than 7 Dirty Words," the official FCC podcast. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: So there are no doubt some good samaritans listening to this show that want nothing more than to help with the scourge of pirate radio. The price of the equipment is $2,960.51. 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