81–90 of 93 posts
Fascinating how terms such as "pirate station" get into common language and nobody is getting a pause. Pirates are people who ransack other ships on the sea. The term has originally nothing to do with not having a license. Is a ship crew who sails the seas without a license a group of pirates? No. Is this a language psyop to implant people with a negative view of people who do stuff without official license?
Seems like a good topic to ask about this: As you may remember, around 2009 or so, the US mandated that all TV signals had to be sent digital. And of course if you set up an antenna, you can receive crystal-clear HD broadcasts of local TV stations over the air. However, I used to live near a lot of towers and I was actually able to pick up a stray ANALOG station. It was a Spanish-language station but it came through.…
One of the problems with the switch to digital is the usable signal doesn't go as far as analog, so if you're in a rural area even with an antenna you lost access to some of the stations you were used to being able to receive. A lot of people in rural areas switched to cable or dish tv as a result.
And one of the perks of analog is that you can use a crappy signal, as a kid we didn't have cable and you could usually get the higher stations like UPN or Fox by messing around with the antenna.... usually the audio would be okay but the picture would be fuzzy or have interference/noise. Was it a perfect picture? Hell no. But you'd be able to sit and watch a show successfully. With digital if the signal is not good you just got pixelation as the tuner tries to buffer & compile the signal unsuccessfully.
I have to wonder if the switchover was encouraged by TV manufacturers because, while they made converter boxes, the public mostly reacted by turning all their existing tvs into e-waste and buying new ones instead. And in states where throwing out tvs is illegal and it costs money to dispose of them (if you can find a place that will take it if you pay them), so the public reacted by dumping them in the woods, creeks/rivers, swamps etc when no one was looking.
I wrote a book on low power AM broadcasting. It's pretty rare that pirate stations cause meaningful interference, they operate at very low wattages (sometimes 100 watts or less) and usually have low pass filters installed in-line that prevent harmonics interference, whereas commercial stations operate at 100,000 watts and are far more likely to cause interference issues even when designed correctly. It's more likely…
The FCC's actions are public documents and published on their website. Its not a coincidence that the ONLY actions the FCC takes for pirate stations have to do with FM or TV. Try finding -any- instance where someone was fined for an AM pirate station in the last 20 years. People with part15 AM transmitters or signal generators have to go out of their way to get the attention of the feds.
87.7 in Dorchester MA: Operates on same frequency as low power TV station WVCC-LD/Westmoreland, NH (Bridge News LLC) blocking reception of much of WVCC's coverage area (out of band on TV Channel 6 spectrum [3])
88.5 Dorchester MA: No major interference (other than to fringe WWRN areas)
89.3 Boston MA: No major interference (other than to fringe WCDV-LP and WNPN areas)
96.5 Brockton MA: Uses same frequency as W243DC/Boston (Gois Broadcasting)
100.1 Brockton MA: Uses same frequency as WBRS-FM/Waltham (Brandeis University)
100.1 Mattapan MA: Uses same frequency as WBRS-FM/Waltham (Brandeis University)
105.3 Brockton MA: Uses same frequency as W287CW/Methuen, MA; operates over digital sideband of WWLI 105.1 FM/Providence, RI (Cumulus Media) within it's service area
105.3 Randolph MA: Uses same frequency as W287CW/Methuen, MA; operates over digital sideband of WWLI 105.1 FM/Providence, RI (Cumulus Media) within it's service area
107.5 Mattapan MA: Operates over digital sideband of WKVB 107.3 FM/Westborough, MA (K-Love) within it's coverage area
Just over half of the interference is to independent broadcasters. 4 of 9 are unauthorized analog stations operating over a licensed digital broadcast (meaning, they probably found what they incorrectly thought was a blank spot on the dial).
[1] https://radioinsight.com/headlines/261774/fcc-report-12-3-ho...
[2] https://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/locate?select=city&city=bo...
[3] https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=print_station...
We need more punks running pirate radio and less Clearchannel corporate nonsense. Like anybody’s life is better because of corporate radio… I for one welcome the interference. What is Radio being used for that’s so critical these days anyways beyond emergency spectrum stuff (that doesn’t get messed with on these spectrums to begin with)? Just remember that the system generally wants to shut down any media it can’t co…
FCC Low-Power Radio, Time to Apply 1 Week Now!
This will be the first Low-Power FM (LPFM) filing window to apply for a legitimate broadcasting license since 2013.
This is significant because it allows for a small enough transmitter to broadcast over the regular FM airwaves, that the purchase cost of the transmitter as well as the energy needs are small enough to be affordable to an individual, even though only organizations not individuals can qualify for this type license.
Looks like there is also no application fee, very uncommon.
This is the hobbyist size of transmitter no bigger than a shortwave Ham radio operator would have, that is otherwise forbidden or rarely licensed for use on your regular local FM radio airwaves.
Outstanding rare opportunity for educational nonprofit or Native American organizations.
https://www.fcc.gov/document/lpfm-new-station-application-fi...
Anyone eligible should really jump on this before it's too late.
The application appears especially bureaucratic, but Prometheus seems like they are there to help.
"LPFM Application Window Rescheduled to December 6-13
November 9, 2023
With the additional time, we have expanded capacity to assist nonprofit organizations applying for LFPM licenses. The best way to reach us is by email to info(at)prometheusradio.org or you can call 215-727-9620."
https://www.prometheusradio.org/18-days-until-the-lpfm-windo...
The obvious issue is whether radio adds any value now that we can stream over the Internet, with unlimited channels. While I'm a geek and love the idea of broadcast over free airways, practically how is radio any more useful now than cable tv? Here are some answers: * We're talking about pirate radio, not commercial. Pirate radio is a person broadcasting to the world, or really to their neighbors. We can do that on t…
> While I'm a geek and love the idea of broadcast over free airways, practically how is radio any more useful now than cable tv? Broadcast radio has fewer deadzones than cell service. Additionally, while audio streaming is relatively low bandwidth, my current cell plan charges all bits against my usage allowance and there's a hard cap; if I used streaming audio instead of terrestrial radio while driving, I'd hit my u…
I guess this depends a lot on where you live, but my experience has been the opposite. E.g., I get cell coverage inside buildings, basements and tunnels where FM turns to static, and there are more cell repeaters in mountains where the FM gets radio shadow
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Serendipity is such a joy, and I’m enjoying it with my custom tv channels I set up in my house with my content. I think the direction we are heading with AI (Radiant, Spotify) allows for custom tailored radio stations using our music preferences to bring back that sense of serendipity while also having a host to introduce the content. But I really like your idea! Human-curated content with analog devices is an area I…
Ha ha, I have my own TV station at home as well. A 5TB drive attached to a Raspberry Pi means no network required. The software I wrote for it though still eaves a lot to be desired.
We need more punks running pirate radio and less Clearchannel corporate nonsense. Like anybody’s life is better because of corporate radio… I for one welcome the interference. What is Radio being used for that’s so critical these days anyways beyond emergency spectrum stuff (that doesn’t get messed with on these spectrums to begin with)? Just remember that the system generally wants to shut down any media it can’t co…
I'm a little biased here, since my family runs a small Boston-area AM radio station, but... no? It's not a huge business, but it is a full-time job for a few people and carries advertisements for local businesses. There are other local stations keeping the spirit alive as well (WJIB, rip Bob Bittner). Sure, you'll anger the bigger stations, but you'll also hurt all the smaller stations that play by the rules and do s…
Which makes it a business interest; they are beholden to businesses for survival, and businesses are generally backers of the state. Being beholden to those forces and the need to make money limits the range of interesting things a traditional station can engage in.
I would agree with OP, though. The utility I get from broadcasters is so low that I would support rolling the commercial wavelengths into the non-commercial one just to see if someone can do something more interesting with it. The current approach to the spectrum seems to have run its course.
I will certainly acknowledge that I don't consume any radio which colors that view, though that's not a weird situation these days. I hate radio enough that I'd rather actually pay for cell data to play my own stuff than listen to radio for free.
> There are plenty of other, open broadcast mechanisms to use out there.
Not with the qualities of radio. It's geographically scoped, every car has a built-in receiver for it, it's free listening is communal/simultaneous, and it's difficult to censor (relative to something centrally managed like YouTube).
Various combinations of those properties give interesting possibilities that are much harder to replicate via Twitch or YouTube or IceCast.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ha ha, I have my own TV station at home as well. A 5TB drive attached to a Raspberry Pi means no network required. The software I wrote for it though still eaves a lot to be desired.
I’m pretty sure I previously responded to a comment you wrote about your tv software that inspired me to take the time to set mine up. Thanks for the inspiration!