Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Patrick J. Kiger Do we have a right under the first amendment to speak via a radio station even if it is unlicensed by the FCC and is there potentially a case that can kind of exemplify why pirate radio is not protected under the First Amendment? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: My guest has been David Dombrowski, Regional Director for Region One in the FCC Enforcement Bureau. 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. In the United States, the term pirate radio implies the unlicensed broadcasting use of any part of the radio spectrum that is reserved for use by governmental, public or commercial licensees by the Federal Communications Commission. Our agents are pretty smart on the tricks. 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. They are very low power and the range of them are very small. If you click on "radio" you'll come to a page where you can input your address and your phone number and email and a description of like what, you know, what you are experiencing. Many are confused by the term pirate radio, otherwise known as free radio. Either term is sufficient, and some stations prefer one designation or the other. They came and seized all of my equipment. 1. Everyone should agree that pirate radio stations - by any definition - are completely illegal. Pirate radio stations are a crucial part of British music culture. This book makes it easier for you to locate and tune in pirate stationsand tells you all about the unlicensed broadcasters who play David to broadcasting conglomerates Goliath. 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. The history of pirate radio stations is inextricably linked with the development of countless genres, including hip-hop, garage, punk, and grime. 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. Some pirates have even shown in in the SWBC bands, including 49, 31 and 25 meters. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, to lease some air time off these legitimate stations. 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. Like me, you might just get hooked! It will also help to have some sort of adjustable bandwidth filter (wide/narrow). VIEWS. 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. All you need is a location to host the antenna and access to electricity unless you've got batteries, then just the location.". Stations such as Weekend Rush, Kool FM, Pulse and Innocence wanted to represent the streets and promote local scenes.. The result was a border-blaster that covered a wide geographical area. We try to interview them. Evan is joined by David Dombrowski, Regional Director for Region One in the FCC Enforcement Bureau. MR. DOMBROWSKI: No, not the public face, but he's all the behind the scenes guy. But the interesting thing about this was that it was operated by a group of people who considered themselves Moors, which are indigenous people of the United States who were here before the United States was colonized. . Revealing the history of pirate radio from 1925 to today, author Andrew Yoder, pirate radio aficionado and long-time writer on radio, electronics, and audio subjects:. Give me an address or an intersection in the town that you are picking it up on. MR. DOMBROWSKI: The majority of the people do not give us truthful information and so our agents have to be trained to do interviews to know when people are telling the truth or not and it may just require keep asking the right questions and keeping after it. Loggings are in real time and there are very fewif anyoff-topic posts. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, very creative on that, wasn't it? MR. DOMBROWSKI: Raise it all the way up 100 feet and our director at the time rode up there and got the antenna down. I received this QSL from the amazing Radio Ronin Shortwave shortly before he received the knock from the FCC and stopped transmitting. No, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or East Africawe're talking about pirate radio. Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. Some of those, you know, if you tune your dial and find some spaces where there is some dead air, well those are intentionally put there in order so that stations don't cause interference to each other. 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. 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. Join. We also recommend that the complainant contact the station that they are getting interference to --. So what is pirate radio? Jason Scott Archivist. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: It's not working properly and that's why it's going into air traffic control. Enter the dawn of pirate radio. And I have had to make this clarifying point on other podcasts that I have done at the FCC. 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. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. I have four offices, it includes Chicago, it includes Boston, New York, and Columbia, Maryland. 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.. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Is that a point of pride for you from Philadelphia? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. Sometimes we find stations that just access the rooftops without anybody knowing and put the transmitter kind of hidden in a wall somewhere or a crevice and the antenna on the roof and remain anonymous for months without anybody knowing that the station is there. 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. That was particularly true on the other side of the Atlantic, where the U.K. allowed only state-controlled radio from the 1920s through the mid-1960s. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Got you. I will put in the show notes a link to the FCC complaint page and the phone number if you would like to get involved. It could be harmful if we let a pirate radio station operate because sometimes they cause interference to other services, like aeronautical communications. The station is capable of running off of 13.8/28 volts DC battery, which can even be charged with solar power. The FRW is an email-only newsletter devoted to the hobby of pirate radio listening, and is distributed free to those who contribute. MR. DOMBROWSKI: We do make them aware that they are contributing to this illegal activity. Ask your local radio club or search the Internet for local/regional pirate stations. 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. Addeddate 2022-03-13 23:21:58 . 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. It's not. Set up your Raspberry Pi You'll need to get Raspbian, the Linux-based operating system for the Raspberry Pi. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well they had their antenna up really high. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, we don't have a rule in the books that prohibits that from happening. Total Views 29,573 (Older Stats) ITEMS. Is it when you are driving in, you know, to and from work? In 1971 I was ordered to Cease and Desist by our friends at the FCC. Nothing. We do that with every pirate station. Note: This podcast was recorded on June 21st. What would that bill do differently? So when we license stations, you know, I used to work in the FM branch so I am very knowledgeable about the process, but there is a whole legal and engineering study that has to be done before you get a license and it takes resources to do that, financial resources. 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.". I was glad to be here, it was a great opportunity. 123. Even as many legacy international broadcasters are abandoning the shortwave bands, shortwave remains active and vibrant in another quadrant: namely, on shortwave pirate radio. Oh, it happens a lot, especially in these urban areas like New York. You might need that sensitivity and an outdoor antenna to pull these relatively low-powered signals from the ether. That's really helpful because then we can note when to send the agents out. 19. r/HamRadio. MR. DOMBROWSKI: And let them know. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And we talked a little bit about why this is a problem. Has it evolved over the years? In the U.S., pirate stations have popped up in recent years all over the country, from West Virginia to Washington state, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which plays a continual game of whack-a-mole in an effort to keep them off the airwaves used by licensed broadcasters. Of course, it's called the PIRATE Act, and that stands for Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act. But what hast made the problem really expand is the equipment is readily available with the internet now. That's part of it, right, and you rely on some cooperation in some instances to get it done. Pirate radio stations are unlicensed broadcasters. 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. It helps to show that -- That's a deterrent in itself right there when you get media coverage. Last updated: December 2022 Are people generally cooperative or are people just like I have no idea what you are talking, I have never seen anything, what is this, I don't want to deal with this? For consistencys sake, I will use the term pirate radio in this article. Shortwave DX Blog - A blog with loggings and information relating to shortwave pirate radio in Europe. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. While you can hear some on weekdays, your best bet is Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, local time. (Disclaimer). But if we sign it into law we would have some additional resources, first increasing the fines. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Oh, yes. "He convinced me to not stay on as Bond I'd be in danger of becoming part of the Establishment," Lazenby wrote on in an Instagram tribute after O'Rahilly's death in April 2020, noting that he had no regrets about taking that advice. Do you hear it on the weekends or is only a station that operates during the weekends? 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