MR. DOMBROWSKI: Sure. In 1967, Parliament enacted the Marine Broadcasting Offenses Act, which made offshore broadcasts from ships illegal, on the pretext that their broadcast interfered with marine weather radio and distress signals, as this contemporaneous New York Times account notes. tyson jost dad; sean penn parkinson's disease; mockingbirds attacking my cat MR. SWARZTRAUBER: No. If they have some skin in the game, an operator or a landlord or a property owner that let somebody put a station up on their rooftop, you know, it's illegal for them to have that station there. Buy me a coffee: https://www.paypal.me/ringwaymanchester Email: ringwaymanchester@mail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m3hhyofficial Facebook:. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well they had their antenna up really high. Euro pirates typically broadcast in the 48 meter band (6,200 6,450 kHz), but the HF Underground notes that you will also hear Euro pirates on the 75 meter band between 3,900-4,000 kHz, on the 19 meter band (15,000-15,100 kHz and 15,700-15,900 kHz), and even on the 13 meter band (21,000-25,000 kHz). 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. Moreover, summer conditions in the North American 43 meter band are often much noisier, thus pirates know theyll be fighting static crashes to be heard during the summer months. About Google Maps. So that's why the licensing process is so important to avoid that interference. While debunking myths about pirates, I can say that in my years of pirate radio listening Ive never heard a pirate intentionally jam a legal broadcaster. Addeddate 2022-03-13 23:21:58 . I have four offices, it includes Chicago, it includes Boston, New York, and Columbia, Maryland. A few of them broadcast from ships, such as Rev. MR. DOMBROWSKI: It is. The SWLing Post now participates in two affiliate advertising programs with two large retailers that still sell shortwave radios, the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the eBay Partnership, designed to provide a means for sites like ours to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to these retailers of radio products. 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. The U.S. has had its share of pirate broadcasters over the years as well. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, the legitimate one, the licensed station. 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. It eventually regrouped and resurfaced as an internet station, which gave it a global reach. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360 interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and route planning . My most recent logging of a Euro pirate from North America was Radio Borderhunter on 15,500 kHz; his signal was quite amazing. Just browse the pirate radio category: https://swling.com/blog/category/pirate-radio/. Unlike major broadcasters, many pirates dont stick to AM as a preferred mode. Thanks to e-commerce, it's also easier than ever for a would-be pirate to find the necessary equipment and have it delivered to his or her door, as FCC enforcement official David Dombrowski described in this 2019 podcast. 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.". MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Just because it's easy to buy it doesn't mean it's legal. We were able to prove that it wasn't a violation of the First Amendment rights and so that set the precedence for any future case for that argument. So somebody that hasn't invested a lot of money in equipment and the single processing to make it sound richer you could tell if you have an ear to it, our agents can do that. MR. DOMBROWSKI: And so that's not practical for somebody that wants to operate a radio station to cover an entire community. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: All right. Thank you, too, for your support of these sites. The station is capable of running off of 13.8/28 volts DC battery, which can even be charged with solar power. To the contrary, though, more than a half-century later, pirate radio is still a thing. (Click to enlarge). MR. SWARZTRAUBER: All right. They use either the internet or a wireless source to get the signal back to the transmitter. Want to know why the usually run them out at sea. Ive also been encouraged by pirates to hone my weak-signal DXing using exalted carrier reception (ECR)zero-beating an AM signal in SSBin an attempt to hear weak AM pirate stations. comment. Marshals actually seize it. But if you are buying something off of the dark web or whatever and it's coming into the U.S. you don't know, and when we talked before the show you mentioned that a lot of times with these FAA complaints it's a malfunctioning transmitter. There was a case that I worked back in Philly back in the day --. Not all the illegal stations are pirate stations! The Pirates flagship radio station, SportsRadio 93.7 THE FAN, will air extended local pre-game and post-game coverage before and after every broadcast. We'd like to contact you. The Who actually paid homage to Radio Caroline and other offshore broadcasters by parodying them on their 1967 concept album "The Who Sell Out," as music historian John Atkins has written. These include Amateur Radio Newsline, a weekly audio news [] Marshals, Department of Justice, because we are a federal agency, but have we leveraged the resources and the knowledge of local law enforcement in working on this, are there, you know, different approaches from different States? And that's it, we will catch you next time. 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. 19. r/HamRadio. Pirate Radio goes on the air in Los Angeles by "taking over" K-Lite 100 (KIQQ). I am Evan Swarztrauber. We do let stations operate with low power transmitters but they have to comply with the technical requirements of Part 15 of our rules. And so he kind of gets shielded, right, you know the operators who are operating the station because they advertise their phone numbers in social media and so we can easily identify them, but you always have somebody that's the money guy that's safely hiding behind all these other staff and --. When do you hear the station? Collection Info. Use promo code ROGUE to get a shot at MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in total prizes! 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. What's more, pirate radio stations gave us access to some of the most pivotal figures in UK music . After that we just destroy it through an electronics recycler. And they come -- I've worked with them when they have bulletproof vests on and automatic weapons. Please leave us a review because it will help others find this show. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well it depends what level we are at with the investigation. The warrant is issued to the U.S. In the quieter winter months, stations seem to pop out of the ether. In the U.S. the most famous example of a Pirate Radio station was Mexico's XERF. More areas, more just the urban areas. They were also changing frequency. 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. Keep in mind that pirates are relatively low-power broadcasters. The FRW is an email-only newsletter devoted to the hobby of pirate radio listening, and is distributed free to those who contribute. 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. I keep a copy handy as it helps me identify stations and better understand their format. A lot of times the studio is not co-located with the transmitter. Its a simple technique, and although it takes some practice, will work on most any radio with a stable BFO (beat frequency oscillator). 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. 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. 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. 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. As soon as there were laws on the books, there were pirate radio stations on the air. 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. It could be computers, antennas, coaxial cables. It had a 20-mile range. But if we sign it into law we would have some additional resources, first increasing the fines. 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. We do contact the property owner before we execute the warrant to let them know we are at the door and we don't want to break the door down but we need them there to open it. 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. "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. The plot is based loosely on the saga of an actual former pirate station, Radio Caroline, that was founded by an offbeat Irish entrepreneur named Ronan O'Rahilly, the inspiration for the character portrayed by Bill Nighy. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, we don't have a rule in the books that prohibits that from happening. I know at least in our region we get them everywhere. Pirate radio operators usually have day jobslike most of usthus only transmit while home from work. If you've been binge-watching movies lately, you may have come across "Pirate Radio." These pirate stations pose a host of problems for public safety, including interference with emergency alerts and air traffic control. They can be just talk radio stations, they could be religious broadcasters, or they could be full-fledged stations that have a staffing of 20 people that make commercials, that create the jingles for their station ID, and the ones that have more money and the money advertisers are the ones that are very hard to distinguish. 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. If you just use an internet browser and search FCC complaint you will come to the link for filing a complaint. We get them in Virginia, we get them out in Illinois, even just remote areas of West Virginia they pop up. It would create chaos if we allowed them. They could stream. 2 talking about this. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes, and it's also I assume illegal for these advertisers to be advertising on pirate stations, they just might not know that they are pirates. Unlike trying to locate China Radio International, Radio Australia, or the BBC World Service, hunting pirates requires a decent-quality radio and antenna. Each issue also contains a CD of sound clips from various pirates, several articles about the state of pirate radio, and other relevant info. It's not. 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? ( Disclaimer) Transcript: MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Welcome to "More Than 7 Dirty Words," the official FCC podcast. Click here to view a list of all sponsors. To track pirates, youll need a radio with both AM and SSB modes. Again, they are not law enforcement, so we don't have weapons. So we typed up this -- They showed me a license and it was something typed up on the computer that said we're licensed by their statutes of the Moors people and so they felt that they have a right to operate. You know, there was a glowing article in a certain New York publication that at least one FCC commissioner was irked by because it seemed to be kind of glorifying this underground practice and making it seem like some interesting thing, but you really got to keep in mind not just the radio stations that are interfered with, but emergency communications. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes, in those dense urban areas because the FM band is already pretty clogged up with legitimate stations that might be one of the reasons that people throw up their hands and say, well, I guess I'm just do an illegal station because I am frustrated by the legal process for getting a station, but that is not a justification in any sense of the word. The BBC played catch-up launching Radio One and recruiting the same pirates for their roster. Among the most popular queries made by readers is, How can I find and hear pirate radio stations? To help answer this question, Im writing this primer. 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. This station was operated in Pennsauken, New Jersey, which is right across the river from Philadelphia, and it covered the entire Philadelphia area. Pirate radio stations are a crucial part of British music culture. He got the craft back and kept at pirate radio for nearly another quarter century. Many of our links now function as affiliate links. Back in the 1980s, before the Internet and its online bulletin boards, I thought finding pirates was truly a huntrandom and altogether unpredictable. 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. Listening to Other Stations: Click on the tuning arrows ( TUNE >) to listen to stations up and down the dial. "While Radio Caroline is no longer 'illegal' the philosophy is unchanged," Moore says, noting that the station's staff has the motto "New Technology, Same Ideology.". Last updated: December 2022 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. 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. "He created Radio Caroline operating in that way and the station was at once called a 'pirate,'" Moore says. 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. Director Richard Curtis' 2009 comedy-drama stars the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Count, a disc jockey for an unlicensed rock radio station that broadcast from a rusty, decrepit ship off the British coast in the mid-1960s, defying government authorities to spin the rock records that weren't allowed on the BBC at the time. Enter Ronan O'Rahilly, who learned that the U.K. government's jurisdiction ended 3 miles (5 kilometers) off the coast, and that stations from other countries already were exploiting that loophole by putting transmitters on offshore ships, according to Moore. Yes, they come with weapons. Enter a location to find a nearby pirate radio stations. I was glad to be here, it was a great opportunity. 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. 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. Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. Are we talking about U.S. marshals with machine guns kicking in doors, are we talking about politely knocking on a door and saying, hey, guys, your time is up, we found you, you know, what's the image that essentially you see when this goes down in your experience or is there kind of a spectrum of different cases, some are a little bit more intense than others? To have a radio station here helps to establish the station's operator as an important source of information and influence in the community.". MR. DOMBROWSKI: So you could cause like a catastrophe if we, you know, let this continue. So it's not the -- In terms of size wise for mileage it's the smallest region, but it's the most populated. We also would be required to file a report to Congress annually on our enforcement activities in pirate radio. MR. DOMBROWSKI: And there is a lot of digital FM stations out there that are looking for programming so they could maybe work out at least an arrangement. PIRATE RADIO Once you remove the idea of pirate radio from its mythology, you. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. I am a Philadelphia native, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and I graduated Temple University and my first job was the FCC right out of college and interestingly --. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: No, and some of these are in high crime areas where there is a lot of drugs. One of the FCC's top enforcement priorities is cracking down on pirates. 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. And you have tools to escalate the situation. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Do the pilots only complain if it's a song that they don't like? Recycling is good. 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