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But the FCC, Congress and the commercial broadcasting industry don't see the pirates as serving such a benign purpose. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Ten times as much, that's big, yes. So how do you escalate the situation, you know, what tools do you have to say, okay, we're not getting cooperation let's take this up a notch? "He created Radio Caroline operating in that way and the station was at once called a 'pirate,'" Moore says. It could be computers, antennas, coaxial cables. And those rules dictate a lot of restrictions and cover your wireless transmitters that we use every day, remote controls for you car, your headset, bluetooth sets. To the contrary, though, more than a half-century later, pirate radio is still a thing. Over the past few years, Ive found that one of my favorite listening activities has become searching for unique pirate radio stations, and readers of my blog appear to have followed suit. I asked him why he would still take the risk to go back on air and he said he wanted to reach the homeless, the shut-ins, the elderly who couldn't access the internet.". Additionally, you can always tune a remote receiver, via the Internet on the Global Tuners website, or via the University of Twentes SDR in the Netherlands. 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.. Most pirates transmit using SSB with modern ham radio equipment, others use AM utilizing vintage or homebrew equipment. This is likely due to the early sunsets and cold winter nights of the northern hemisphere that tend to keep people indoors, which in turn encourages pirates to hit the air. 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. Thank you! Jason Scott Archivist. We do let stations operate with low power transmitters but they have to comply with the technical requirements of Part 15 of our rules. Enter the dawn of pirate radio. Has it evolved over the years? Pirate stations want listeners to discover them, so they broadcast in various "watering holes." Once you get a license it restricts you where you can operate, how much power you can use, what antenna you can use, and how high your antenna is. Back when KIWI was on the air regularly in the 90s, I assumed that pirate radio would explode in Oceania and Asia. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are receivedespecially when the signals cross a national boundary. So we have a team here in the Enforcement Bureau that does that, our Spectrum Enforcement Division. We Owe It All to Radio: The Inside Story of CES, Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Pictures, Special Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV Security, Radio Caroline: The True Story of the Ship That Rocked. Each issue also contains a CD of sound clips from various pirates, several articles about the state of pirate radio, and other relevant info. And so, yes, we may -- We have a warrant for the property. South America was strong for a while in the 90s, but that has also fallen silent. One of the first pirate radio operators we know of was Ronan O'Rahilly. In fact, it's possibly more widespread than it was in the 1960s, even in an age when streaming internet services such as Spotify and Pandora put the equivalent of a jukebox in the pocket of everyone with a smartphone. Enter ZIP code or city, state as well. Gimme Radio (for online listeners) Gimme Radio is one of the more modern American rock radio stations available today. No, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or East Africawe're talking about pirate radio. Bruce will host a new daily show for Bauer's station Greatest Hits Radio, taking his iconic PopMaster game with him. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: All right. And an overall limit of $2 million. Launched just five months ago, Internet Archive's Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications has expanded to more than 61,000 items related to amateur radio, shortwave listening, and related communications. Radio 510 International - European relay station broadcasting every weekend on short-wave to all of Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East on 13840 kHz. In the quieter winter months, stations seem to pop out of the ether. Pirates Week: http://shortwavepirate.info. The British government, though, didn't appreciate what Radio Caroline and other pirate broadcasters were doing. Alan Roes Music Programmes on Shortwave, List of QRP General Coverage Amateur Radio Transceivers, List of VHF/UHF Multimode Amateur Radio Transceivers, How To Tune In Pirate Radio Broadcasts on Shortwave, https://swling.com/blog/category/pirate-radio/, LRA 36 (Arcangel San Gabriel, Antarctica) Test Broadcasts on March 1st and 4th, 2023, Radio Waves: AM Buzzkill, AM FEMA Push, AM Devitalization, and RFI-Blocking Chips, Bob Zanottis presentation to the Fairlawn Amateur Radio Club (Part 2), Radio Waves: The DLARC, NASA Citizen Science, PopShopRadio DRM to Europe, Hackers Disrupt Russian Radio, and Afghan Radio Closures, LRA 36 (Arcangel San Gabriel, Antarctica) Test Broadcast Today at 20:00 UTC. Radio plays such an important role when you talk about hurricanes striking or other natural disasters, people turn to their local broadcast, including radio for information, and to have that be interfered with is a public safety concern let alone the FAA issues which are very serious. Pirates broadcast a wide variety of content, but are usually motivated by sharing their messageor favorite musicon the air. It's not. He's the station manager for today's legal, land-based version of Radio Caroline, which obtained a license to broadcast at 648 Khz on the AM band in 2017, but still strives to preserve the rebellious spirit of the original operation. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: That's some great local cooperation right there. Want to know why the usually run them out at sea. "He was waiting several months to come back on the air (and therefore was only willing to speak off the record to me). So --. And while pirate radio stations can be found across the radio spectrum, especially on AM and FM in urban areas, in this primer Ill be focusing on those that inhabit the shortwaves. This station was operated in Pennsauken, New Jersey, which is right across the river from Philadelphia, and it covered the entire Philadelphia area. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. Indeed, since pirates are operating at lower power, they get much more bang-for-the-watt out of SSB. As a self-proclaimed content DXer, what interests me in pirate radio is that the listener never knows what to expect, but you can guarantee that the content will be different from that of the major broadcasters. MR. DOMBROWSKI: It is. I believe this is why authorities like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) place shortwave pirates comparatively lower on their enforcement priority list. Addeddate 2022-03-13 23:21:58 . MR. DOMBROWSKI: So you could cause like a catastrophe if we, you know, let this continue. Stations such as Weekend Rush, Kool FM, Pulse and Innocence wanted to represent the streets and promote local scenes.. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Well at least you are recycling. So when we finally are able to pick up the signal in our car we then drive in the area in kind of a circle around the source and we plot lines, we call them lines of bearing on a map, and where they intersect is where this transmission source is originating. 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. I mean they have a significant financial investment in their stations, they have gone through proper FCC process, and now they are competing for listeners with stations that did not go through that process, did not necessarily bear the same financial burden to get up and running, and they are not maybe just competing with listeners, as we have mentioned we've been competing with, they are competing with advertisers as well. comment. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Because you don't know what you are running into. The BBC played catch-up launching Radio One and recruiting the same pirates for their roster. Pirate radio operators usually have day jobslike most of usthus only transmit while home from work. And he had some good backing, financial backing, by the ACLU who were fighting for him, and he was a microbroadcaster and he tried to encourage others to follow in his footsteps and protect our First Amendment rights, so he was --. 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. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Just because it's easy to buy it doesn't mean it's legal. Find this podcast in the iTunes store or Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts. Ive noticed increased pirate radio activity during the winter months, as well. I used a pneumatic spud gun to launch an arborist's bag to deploy my 50' end fed antenna 40' up into a tree. ACTIVITY. In January, President Donald Trump signed into law the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, which gives regulators the ability to hit pirate stations with fines of up to $2 million, according to this summary from Radio World. Not all the illegal stations are pirate stations! I received this QSL from the amazing Radio Ronin Shortwave shortly before he received the knock from the FCC and stopped transmitting. Chasing pirates has also increased my technical know-how. I mean stream --. Its a simple technique, and although it takes some practice, will work on most any radio with a stable BFO (beat frequency oscillator). To prove my point, here are some MP3 recordings of some of my favorite recent pirate radio stations/broadcasts: Though pirates can be located anywhere on the planet, and therefore can broadcast, hypothetically, anywhere on the radio dial, patterns are actually fairly predictable in order to draw a listening audience. If we can't get in touch with the property owner we try to use a locksmith and if we can't get the locksmith then the door comes breaking down and then we try to secure it before we leave. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: We only waited 15 minutes into the episode to get to the fun part so I hope you are listening. PROMAX designs several monitoring and spectrum surveillance systems. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And that is obviously at the highest importance when we are talking about public safety. HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. And so he brought this argument up when we tried to get his station off the air by using the court proceedings and he fought that we were violating his First Amendment rights. I am Evan Swarztrauber. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: So let's say that either a broadcaster or a listener files a complaint, what happens then, what tools do you, your colleagues in the FCC, have to go about finding a station, shutting it down, bringing people to justice? While the magic of shortwave radio can transport a small signal vast distances, to hear pirates regularly and clearly, some precision is required. It would identify what are the legitimate stations and also identify what stations we sanctioned so they could better get an understanding, you know, is this a legitimate station I am hearing or not. We have been at in rem seizures we call them where the U.S. marshals come with the local law enforcement and there is 20 of them and they have to secure the whole block off, the have to secure the building for our protection. Give me an address or an intersection in the town that you are picking it up on. If you live in other parts of the world, pirate hunting can pose serious DX challenges. He has taken, you know, money from under the table to allow the station to operate from the rooftop without the property owner's knowledge. 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. 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. In 1971 I was ordered to Cease and Desist by our friends at the FCC. Coffee helps fuel the SWLing Post! After the reorganization and modernization of the field I then became the Regional Director and manage several offices now. A few of them broadcast from ships, such as Rev. For consistencys sake, I will use the term pirate radio in this article. So, the F. The most popular frequency used by U.S. and Canadian pirate radio stations is 6925 kHz, transmitting in the AM or upper sideband (USB) modes. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So some States have laws on the book that prohibit pirate radio operation, States like New Jersey and New York and Florida. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: No. 40. r/HamRadio. As soon as there were laws on the books, there were pirate radio stations on the air. MR. DOMBROWSKI: No, not the public face, but he's all the behind the scenes guy. North American Pirate Radio Frequencies By far the most active ranges in North America are 43 meters (6800-7000 kHz), 46 meters (6200-6400 kHz) and 73 meters (4000-4200 kHz), with some activity in the 60 meter band (4700-5300 kHz) as well. Ex-Beatle George Harrison was sufficiently appreciative of Radio Caroline's mission that he even wrote a sizable check in the early 1970s to help keep the ship in operation, according to Ray Clark's book "Radio Caroline: The True Story of the Ship That Rocked.". And those parameters, you know, restrict your operation and the coverage of your station because we have a whole engineering study that needs to be done so you don't cause interference to other stations. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. Join. It's a very calm, peaceful, that's what our agents are trained to do, because it works a lot more in getting the truth of what's going on rather than being threatening and forceful. Many of our links now function as affiliate links. Now some folks might be asking themselves this is all great, I totally agree that pirate radio is bad, and I think that you should absolutely go after it, but what about the First Amendment? . But they secure the property for us so that we feel safe going in there and then we help them identify what equipment we need to seize. 1. So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? "In Haiti during the Duvalier regime, people depended on radio to get news from independent sources off the island. The warrant is issued to the U.S. A lot of times you can tell by the audio quality. So for that period of time they lose communications and they have to try to find another available channel to keep that communication line open. These guys aren't blowing off their listeners like the other radio stations. Now this is not just a focus of the FCC, Congress is also interested in this. Answer (1 of 14): Why I am qualified to answer this question. 1. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And we talked a little bit about why this is a problem. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: It's not working properly and that's why it's going into air traffic control. One of the FCC's top enforcement priorities is cracking down on pirates, and, no, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or the Pirates of East Africa, we're talking about pirate radio. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: So don't bother looking for it. 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. As Yoder goes on to explain in his introduction of the 2012 Pirate Radio Annual, pirates are often confused with radio bootleggers (who conduct unlicensed two-way conversations), clandestine stations (usually political stations), and jammers (who intentionally try to block broadcasts). They came and seized all of my equipment. But O'Rahilly was undeterred, even after his ship was seized briefly by Dutch authorities. I am Evan Swarztrauber. Of course, the chaos of the radio spectrum was one of the reasons this agency was created in the first place, including our predecessor agency The Federal Radio Commission, but there are other issues that broadcasters in particular complain about. About Google Maps. But with customs and border patrol seeing so much equipment coming in through the ports it's hard to identify. So that's why the licensing process is so important to avoid that interference. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, this is the fun part, the (inaudible). Ive had great results in the past with an old Icom IC-735 and a 40-meter dipole antenna. Very old school, and cheap enough for anyone's budget. Give us a sense of the universe of this problem given that it is such a priority for this FCC to crack down on it. They use either the internet or a wireless source to get the signal back to the transmitter. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So we have two ways to file a complaint. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. David, thanks so much for joining. Want to buy me a cup of coffee? So the avenues of working with the district attorneys is a great way to get the injunctions, the court orders, for the pirate station to cease operating permanently. Tribute to Pirate Radio, KQLZ 100.3 FM Los Angeles. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And those, and I think we mentioned New York, we mentioned Philadelphia, are there other hot spots in particular where this seems to just be a bigger problem than elsewhere in the country? If we are out there just gathering evidence for the first time our agents will go to the door, they will identify themselves with their badge. Pirate radio guru Andrew Yoder started his own pirate blog last year, and has already began populating it with regular updates, QSLs, and recordings. Our agents will contact you. Our agency was delegated by Congress to allocate frequencies and allocate it in the public interest and it's a resource. Airchecks from unauthorized broadcast radio stations throughout the years. It was the strongest pirate station I have ever witnessed. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well it depends what level we are at with the investigation. Marshals actually seize it. This means that by clicking on these links, a small percentage of the purchase price for goods you purchase from these sellers will help support our sites running costs. Again, I turned to Andrew Yoder for insight about pirate radio activity in the rest of the world; his reply: Im always amazed at how few areas in the world have pirates that are connected to any scene. Select a station from the list and it will play on the tuner. Radio and electronics were my hobbies. To track pirates, youll need a radio with both AM and SSB modes. They are not advertising. Meanwhile, the Ross Revenge was repaired and converted into a floating museum for tourists. March 13 2022 . MR. SWARZTRAUBER: It doesn't say FCC pirate agent? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Got you. So a transmitter that complies with the Part 15 requirements has a very small operating range, about 100 feet. Why? "These transmissions can interfere with licensed radio signals including broadcasters' sharing of vital public safety information with their communities," FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. Now you usually get one of your top, you know, first or second choice. We hope you understand, and are grateful for your support. But what hast made the problem really expand is the equipment is readily available with the internet now. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Okay. If you live in North Americaparticularly on the east coastor in Europe, youre in luck: these are the hottest geographic locations for shortwave pirate radio activity. If you just use an internet browser and search FCC complaint you will come to the link for filing a complaint. Sweet! MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, everyone's dream job. Having that exposure helped boost the careers of scores of British bands whose music eventually made it to America. They inventory it all and then they sign it over to the FCC to hold and then we finally get the courts to order that it's released to the federal government and it's our property. You might need that sensitivity and an outdoor antenna to pull these relatively low-powered signals from the ether. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes. The FRW is an email-only newsletter devoted to the hobby of pirate radio listening, and is distributed free to those who contribute. The HF Underground: http://www.hfunderground.com. We do that with every pirate station. . "By playing nonstop current pop music in a situation where this had never before been available, Caroline had within months a larger audience than all the BBC stations combined," Moore explains. It might be illegal in terms of IRS about the taxes that aren't be collected off the exchange of funds in the business that's going on behind doors. We also would be required to file a report to Congress annually on our enforcement activities in pirate radio. Set up your Raspberry Pi You'll need to get Raspbian, the Linux-based operating system for the Raspberry Pi. Broadcasting at 250,000 watts, XERF was five times as powerful as the most high-powered Top 40 AM stations on the West Coast. That happens a lot. Though Channel Z was broadcasting in AM, as many do, its best to hunt pirates with an SSB-capable portable. Keep in mind that pirates are relatively low-power broadcasters. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Oh, that's probably why they are complaining, right? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Is that a point of pride for you from Philadelphia? Marshals went in with us and we seized the equipment. So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And we're talking about air traffic control? There is a lot of misconception about what a low power transmitter is. Get one of your top, you know, first or second choice the past with old... 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