Enter a location to find a nearby pirate radio stations. 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. Indeed, this past November, I listened to the pirate Channel Z while sitting in my truck; I was only using a Tecsun PL-660 with the antenna extended out of my opened drivers-side window. 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. Want to know why the usually run them out at sea. We do that with every pirate station. Collection Info. The price of the equipment is $2,960.51. It could be computers, antennas, coaxial cables. The FRW is an email-only newsletter devoted to the hobby of pirate radio listening, and is distributed free to those who contribute. But the FCC, Congress and the commercial broadcasting industry don't see the pirates as serving such a benign purpose. Let's say you don't get cooperation from a building owner, you don't get cooperation from the eventual studio, maybe it's in their apartment and they're not opening the door, obviously, because they don't want to get caught. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: All right. So just keep in mind next time you read some nice hipster article about how great pirate radio is in your community, that there are serious issues at play and what the FCC is doing is really important and that's why it's so great to have you on here to share your perspective and some of your history working on this and we really just want to thank you for your service. This includes the FM, AM and shortwave radio bands. 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. The government authorities in charge of the surveillance of the radio-electric spectrum can use the PROWATCH instruments to detect and locate the pirate and irregular broadcast stations of radio and TV. 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. PIRATE RADIO Once you remove the idea of pirate radio from its mythology, you. I mean you got to give it to Congress for the bill naming that they do. And did I mention the cool QSL cards? Unlike major broadcasters, many pirates dont stick to AM as a preferred mode. I am Evan Swarztrauber. The BBC played catch-up launching Radio One and recruiting the same pirates for their roster. 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. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of The Spectrum Monitor Magazine. MR. DOMBROWSKI: It's kind of sad to see, but --. It will also help to have some sort of adjustable bandwidth filter (wide/narrow). Most are run by hobbyists purely for fun, although some have political or other agendas. They came and seized all of my equipment. Now if you go that menu there are several options of different radio services. Airchecks from unauthorized broadcast radio stations throughout the years. 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. 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. In the U.S. the most famous example of a Pirate Radio station was Mexico's XERF. They also have potential to cause interference to the adjacent channel stations, you know, up above their frequency and below their frequency. 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. So it's not the -- In terms of size wise for mileage it's the smallest region, but it's the most populated. I have four offices, it includes Chicago, it includes Boston, New York, and Columbia, Maryland. This metal-focused platform is available entirely online, so you can access the music from a lot of different locations, even though the station is based in San Francisco. Though Channel Z was broadcasting in AM, as many do, its best to hunt pirates with an SSB-capable portable. Well, I can't say exactly what it is, but, yes, they're --. Set up your Raspberry Pi You'll need to get Raspbian, the Linux-based operating system for the Raspberry Pi. No, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or East Africawe're talking about pirate radio. 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. 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. 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. Thank you, too, for your support of these sites. I started as a field agent doing inspections and doing pirate radio enforcement was one of my jobs and then I moved into a senior agent position and then eventually the District Director, which the manager of the Philadelphia office. If they are getting interference to a station they would like to listen what station is that, give the call sign. They could stream. ACTIVITY. 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. Powerful, uncertified transmitters manufactured in foreign countries easily slip through customs at U.S. ports. It helps to show that -- That's a deterrent in itself right there when you get media coverage. 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. And it was good media coverage, too. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes. And they could also --. Many of our links now function as affiliate links. Radio and electronics were my hobbies. And as a bonus, Radio Caroline still exists though, ironically, it's gone legal. 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. Since FM radio is broadcast as a mono signal, with a left-minus-right signal sent alongside, they can make a two-channel stereo station by recreating the stereo pilot carrier and then adding in. To determine the wavelength of your signal in inches, divide 11811 by your transmitter's frequency in megahertz (MHz). Unlike trying to locate China Radio International, Radio Australia, or the BBC World Service, hunting pirates requires a decent-quality radio and antenna. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So you could cause like a catastrophe if we, you know, let this continue. Total . Even as many legacy international broadcasters are abandoning the shortwave bands, shortwave remains active and vibrant in another quadrant: namely, on shortwave pirate radio. So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? The Offshore Radio Museum website commemorates many of those pirates. 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: It doesn't say FCC pirate agent? 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. 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. There is a studio somewhere. And one of the reasons that they are causing harmful interference, in particular to the FAA operations, is because they are not tested, right. Goren, who's been monitoring the airwaves since the law was passed, notes that on a typical day, he picks up about 26 pirate stations in Brooklyn alone. VIEWS. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So we have two ways to file a complaint. Listening to pirate radio is perfectly legaland frequently an ear-opening experience. 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. Additionally, youll find contact information for QSL requests and mail-drop addresses as well. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. Meanwhile, the Ross Revenge was repaired and converted into a floating museum for tourists. (Click to enlarge). Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Patrick J. Kiger Ive hunted pirates with a range of such radios, among them the Sony ICF-SW7600GR, the Grundig G3, the Grundig G5, the Tecsun PL-600 and PL-660, and even the new Tecsun PL-880. They use either the internet or a wireless source to get the signal back to the transmitter. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360 interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and route planning . They just twist the dial. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, if it's imported. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And we talked a little bit about why this is a problem. We also recommend that the complainant contact the station that they are getting interference to --. They also spent the regulatory fees that they have to, you know, spend I think yearly, and so they have an investment in their service and these unlicensed stations NP that. They were also changing frequency. For his new show, Bruce promises "me and my musings and all the great . "I spoke with a pastor of a church in the community which had a station and the antenna was taken down by the FCC," Goren says. I mean are there tell-tale signs or are some of these stations so sophisticated that it's really hard for the average person to distinguish? Whether youre a QSL collector, a content DXer, or the casual SWLer, I find theres something in pirate radio listening for everyone. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Oh, yes. The British government, though, didn't appreciate what Radio Caroline and other pirate broadcasters were doing. Revealing the. But they also encroach on those legitimate stations that made significant investments and secured the necessary regulatory approvals to obtain a license. So they thought that was a way for them to avoid detection by hopping from building to building and frequency to frequency. 10. 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? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: My guest has been David Dombrowski, Regional Director for Region One in the FCC Enforcement Bureau. These guys aren't blowing off their listeners like the other radio stations. To track pirates, youll need a radio with both AM and SSB modes. Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. 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