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: There is a variety of pirate radio stations out there. 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. SWARZTRAUBER: And that is obviously at the highest importance when we are talking about public safety. 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. That's really helpful because then we can note when to send the agents out. It lasted three years there and then I had an opportunity to get to the Philadelphia Office Enforcement Bureau with the field work and that's been -- I was there for 20 years. And did I mention the cool QSL cards? To determine the wavelength of your signal in inches, divide 11811 by your transmitter's frequency in megahertz (MHz). ACTIVITY. March 13 2022 . So I have -- In terms of population I manage 20 States in the Northeast area of the United States. I know that lots of pirates operate there, mostly on AM and FM, but no one is on SWand if they are, they arent sending QSLs, [or] operating in places where radio hobbyists would hear them. So, the F. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Right. The original converted ferry sank in 1980, but the five DJs on board and the ship's canary, Wilson, named after British Prime Minister Harold Wilson all were rescued, according to O'Rahilly's New York Times obituary. 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. It could be harmful if we let a pirate radio station operate because sometimes they cause interference to other services, like aeronautical communications. If you just use an internet browser and search FCC complaint you will come to the link for filing a complaint. He was going around the country and stirring the pot and getting a lot of people excited about microbroadcasting, so that's really where it started to really proliferate. Is this something that plays a role in alerting you to these stations that broadcasters themselves are identifying them and complaining about them? So they thought that was a way for them to avoid detection by hopping from building to building and frequency to frequency. 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. "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. But by the 1960s, the postwar baby boom filled the U.K. with millions of teenagers who were eager to hear the rock 'n' roll records that the BBC declined to play. The HF Underground: http://www.hfunderground.com. 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. Now all those things have one thing in common. Radio Caroline founder Ronan O'Rahilly had another claim to fame, in that he influenced actor George Lazenby to give up the role of James Bond after playing in just one film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," in 1969. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So the complainant needs to tell us where they hear the station. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, very creative on that, wasn't it? And one of the reasons that they are causing harmful interference, in particular to the FAA operations, is because they are not tested, right. Now that maybe gets us down to the building, you know, where it might be operating. Click here to view a list of all sponsors. The frequency spectrum is a natural resource and so all of our decisions that we make when we allocate spectrum is for the public interest. Unlicensed radio broadcasters have been around practically since governments started trying to control and regulate the airwaves. Pirate radio broadcasting on shortwave radio in North America is mostly done in a frequency range just below the 40 meter amateur radio band, from about 6815 kHz to 6970 kHz. And as a bonus, Radio Caroline still exists though, ironically, it's gone legal. 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. So we would rather take one single complaint from a broadcast licensee saying, hey, I've gotten 50 listener complaints in this area, here is where we are hearing it, do a little leg work yourself and verify that it's an unlicensed station, and then we can work with them in getting the station off the air. MR. DOMBROWSKI: A lot of these stations are streaming at the same time so it really boggles my mind why an FM station that's unlicensed, you know, has its stream content and then also it's broadcasting over the airwaves. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: It doesn't say FCC pirate agent? 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. To track pirates, you'll need a radio with both AM and SSB modes. 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. So we try to shut down, you know, that equipment coming in to the purchasers. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, we have a lot of stations in New York, in particular. 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? And that is where we ask for the public's help. "Private radio was prohibited and only the British Broadcasting Corporation, which was part of the political establishment, sent radio to the British people with the remit to be morally uplifting, informative and educational," Moore says. And that's it, we will catch you next time. And another thing, also, we would have to direct our attention annually to five markets that are most affected by pirates and we would do some step-up enforcement. Well, I can't say exactly what it is, but, yes, they're --. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Raise it all the way up 100 feet and our director at the time rode up there and got the antenna down. Well media bureau was on there, they are the ones that license FM stations, and I kind of chose that as kind of my eighth choice. Back when KIWI was on the air regularly in the 90s, I assumed that pirate radio would explode in Oceania and Asia. "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. 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. 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. 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. More areas, more just the urban areas. Jason Scott Archivist. So that is a big concern for the broadcasters in those areas. Please support this website by adding us to your whitelist in your ad blocker. 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. So we get complaints from the FAA quite often, more than a few times a month in New York, and that the pilots are flying over the city and they are trying to communicate with air traffic control and all of a sudden they pick up a radio station. So what is pirate radio? We get them in Virginia, we get them out in Illinois, even just remote areas of West Virginia they pop up. Pirate radio stations are unlicensed broadcasters. 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. Finding Shortwave Stations and Broadcasts. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well they had their antenna up really high. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. It has a radio receiver in it, it has a computer screen with a map, and it has a little compass rose that tells us what direction the signal is coming from. But sometimes it is very difficult with those stations that have put more investment into the equipment. "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. Yoder actually addresses this apparent restriction, to some degree, in the 2013 Pirate Radio Annual, which has only just been released. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Is that a point of pride for you from Philadelphia? He got the craft back and kept at pirate radio for nearly another quarter century. VIEWS. There was a case that I worked back in Philly back in the day --. We want them to be as descriptive as possible. I received this QSL from the amazing Radio Ronin Shortwave shortly before he received the knock from the FCC and stopped transmitting. To the contrary, though, more than a half-century later, pirate radio is still a thing. So that's been great because now we can work with the local authorities, such as the police or the district attorney's office, and get them involved in the investigation, and they have the power to arrest and fine people. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So we have fines that we could issue. Unlike trying to locate China Radio International, Radio Australia, or the BBC World Service, hunting pirates requires a decent-quality radio and antenna. Be specific. So those are some of the challenges that you all have to tackle in taking on this important enforcement function. Set up your Raspberry Pi You'll need to get Raspbian, the Linux-based operating system for the Raspberry Pi. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And obviously as a good citizen I have never to my knowledge listened to a pirate radio station. Indeed, since pirates are operating at lower power, they get much more bang-for-the-watt out of SSB. We do let stations operate with low power transmitters but they have to comply with the technical requirements of Part 15 of our rules. So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? After the reorganization and modernization of the field I then became the Regional Director and manage several offices now. URL Here: https://dkng.co/rogue-----For entertainment purposes only. Give us a little of your background. Interestingly, the antenna was so high up on the tower we had to bring a bucket truck in from a fire station and raise it --. So we have had the most success in getting stations off the air when the district attorney is involved, because the U.S. Attorney's Office when we do the in rem seizures, they have a lot of case work and very high profile cases so there is a little reluctance sometimes because of the case precedence for the U.S. attorneys to take on our cases. They could stream. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Patrick J. Kiger We try to interview them. And when KIWI went silent, that was it. Now stop your Googling right now because that is illegal, right? No, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or East Africawe're talking about pirate radio. It could be computers, antennas, coaxial cables. 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? To have a radio station here helps to establish the station's operator as an important source of information and influence in the community.". For his new show, Bruce promises "me and my musings and all the great . That would be not a good practice. 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. What would that bill do differently? MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, this is the fun part, the (inaudible). MR. DOMBROWSKI: Sure. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So some States have laws on the book that prohibit pirate radio operation, States like New Jersey and New York and Florida. Other times though you might have reason to suspect that they are in on it, they are getting a kickback. The bulk of the pirate radio broadcasters I log transmit just below the 40-meter amateur radio band: anywhere from 6,850 kHz to 6,970 kHz and typically on a frequency spaced at 5 kHz. 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. KQLZ Pirate Radio stormed the Southern California airwaves in 1989, and listeners "flushed" their former stations as they. "The government decided that radio was too influential as a means of mass communication to be in private hands," Peter Moore explains in an email. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: So don't bother looking for it. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Oh, yes. And I am glad you mentioned call signs because that could be a potential suspicious signal is that pirate radio stations, because they are illegitimate by their very nature, are not doing typical radio station things like announcing their call sign at the top of the hour or doing, you know, certain regular scheduled activities, so that could be something that might mean you are listening to a pirate station. For many of the people in those communities, who may not be able to afford a computer or a smartphone and a broadband connection, pirate radio is an affordable medium. 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: We're not using an FM spectrum for this podcast. HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. 2. You still have to go down on foot and go out onto maybe the rooftop where the antenna is to confirm that that is the source. Ragnar Daneskjold hosts an occasional podcast serving the shortwave pirate community; it includes pirate radio news, off-air recordings, and more. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well it depends what level we are at with the investigation. About Google Maps. You know, when they do that they get a ticket number when they file the ticket online so the broadcasters can call us and find out, let us know that they filed the complaint and follow up with us. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And then just out of those four offices you then have to dispatch agents to 20 different States, so it's quite a big chunk of the country in terms of population. PIRATES RADIO NETWORK AFFILIATES Pennsylvania PITTSBURGH: KDKA-FM 93.7 Altoona: WVAM-AM 1430 Ambridge: WMBA-AM 1460 Beaver Falls: WBVP-AM 1230 Bradford: WESB-AM 1490 Butler: WISR-AM 680 Radio GDay came on from Australia occasionally, but no one else. Powerful, uncertified transmitters manufactured in foreign countries easily slip through customs at U.S. ports. We have pirate radio there, too, not as bad as we did in New York. We call them Notices of Apparent Liability where we will fine the operator. We also get the other federal agencies involved, the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, where we can seek a warrant. Addeddate 2022-03-13 23:21:58 . I mean you got to give it to Congress for the bill naming that they do. This radio in a single case is also capable of re-broadcasting any audio source. There is always a building manager they call the supra and he has a shop down in the basement and a lot of times we find the equipment down in his shop. You have somebody that puts a station on the air and then what that person does is he leases air time for his station for other DJs and they come in and so he is getting a kickback from the DJs and he is getting advertising revenue. 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. I know out on the West Coast in California we have more significant numbers than other areas, so that probably would be one of the five markets identified, maybe the L.A. area would probably be another market that we would look at. 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. They also have potential to cause interference to the adjacent channel stations, you know, up above their frequency and below their frequency. 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