Want to know why the usually run them out at sea. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: We only waited 15 minutes into the episode to get to the fun part so I hope you are listening. Has it gotten worse, has it gotten better? Well we did go to the courts, we got the warrant, and the U.S. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of The Spectrum Monitor Magazine. Fortunately for the beginning pirate-hunter, there are now online message boards, free radio logs, and even publications (like Yoders excellent treatise on the subject) to help guide your tuning (see resource links below). "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. While you can hear some on weekdays, your best bet is Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, local time. These pirate stations pose a host of problems for public safety, including interference with emergency alerts and air traffic control. And, of course, just finding the antenna is not the end of the story, because it's not like when you find the antenna the DJ is standing right next to the antenna being like, uh, you got me. You know, is this a massive national problem, are there particular areas where it's a problem? I mean if you are familiar with telecom you know it's an illegal radio station, but what do we mean by pirate radio. We have pirate radio there, too, not as bad as we did in New York. 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. It was the strongest pirate station I have ever witnessed. But the FCC, Congress and the commercial broadcasting industry don't see the pirates as serving such a benign purpose. tyson jost dad; sean penn parkinson's disease; mockingbirds attacking my cat So those are some of the challenges that you all have to tackle in taking on this important enforcement function. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Do the pilots only complain if it's a song that they don't like? 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. After that we just destroy it through an electronics recycler. And what the pirate radio operators do is they don't obtain a license, they don't go through this process, and they try to find vacant spectrum between these stations. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Well let that be a lesson to the youngsters listening. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And those, and I think we mentioned New York, we mentioned Philadelphia, are there other hot spots in particular where this seems to just be a bigger problem than elsewhere in the country? (Disclaimer). 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. Back when KIWI was on the air regularly in the 90s, I assumed that pirate radio would explode in Oceania and Asia. And one of the reasons that they are causing harmful interference, in particular to the FAA operations, is because they are not tested, right. That happens a lot. Join. So what is pirate radio? 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. 16 days ago. I am Evan Swarztrauber. 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. Recycling is good. Please leave us a review because it will help others find this show. It takes a lot of time to process just one complaint and so it is distracting our agents of getting into the database and populating all the fields and calling the complainant. So that's why the licensing process is so important to avoid that interference. We also get the other federal agencies involved, the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, where we can seek a warrant. But so when we say Region One I think even most people in the FCC are not necessarily aware of how the country is carved up when it comes to enforcement and the field offices, et cetera, so can you give the listeners a brief sense of what do we mean by Region One, what areas do you cover? One of the FCC's top enforcement priorities is cracking down on pirates. There were helicopters flying over and taking videos, so we got on a little TV, and that helps to go a long way when we get a little media coverage. And so we need to make sure that we stop the importation of this equipment, we stop the marketing of these illegal transmitters. Some pirates have even shown in in the SWBC bands, including 49, 31 and 25 meters. He got the craft back and kept at pirate radio for nearly another quarter century. Many of you have suggested in the past that the SWLing Post join an affiliate links program. 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. SWARZTRAUBER: So when it comes to local law enforcement are they generally uninterested in taking this on or, you know, because you mentioned federal agents are often involved, it's federal courts, U.S. March 13 2022 . When do you hear the station? 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. "One is cost. And those rules dictate a lot of restrictions and cover your wireless transmitters that we use every day, remote controls for you car, your headset, bluetooth sets. 2 talking about this. Yoder actually addresses this apparent restriction, to some degree, in the 2013 Pirate Radio Annual, which has only just been released. 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. No, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or East Africawe're talking about pirate radio. "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. Ask your local radio club or search the Internet for local/regional pirate stations. Weve now covered the who, what, where, when, and how of pirate huntingbut what about why? Multiply the answer from #1 by the fraction of wavelength of your antenna's design (most antennas are 1/2 (.5) or 1/4 (.25) wave; the popular Comet is a 5/8 (.625) wave antenna). Pirate stations want listeners to discover them, so they broadcast in various "watering holes." If we get that information we have a vehicle, it's called a direction-finding vehicle and it has specialized equipment in it. 2. Liverpool vs Wolves will kick-off on Wednesday, March 1 at 8pm. We usually go with the police just for our protection and also for the protection of the occupants inside the residence. What can the average person do? MR. DOMBROWSKI: So some States have laws on the book that prohibit pirate radio operation, States like New Jersey and New York and Florida. But sometimes it is very difficult with those stations that have put more investment into the equipment. 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. Sweet! Of course, it's called the PIRATE Act, and that stands for Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act. Pirate radio operators usually have day jobslike most of usthus only transmit while home from work. Once you get a license it restricts you where you can operate, how much power you can use, what antenna you can use, and how high your antenna is. 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, the F. So hopefully that's enough for them to get the station taken down and maybe share some information about who the real operator is. But just as the British government's stiff penalties didn't deter Radio Caroline, at least so far, the U.S. government's crackdown doesn't seem to have deterred the pirates. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So we have two ways to file a complaint. Now some folks might be asking themselves this is all great, I totally agree that pirate radio is bad, and I think that you should absolutely go after it, but what about the First Amendment? 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. Not just Aussie and NZ pirates, but stations in places like The Phillipinesmaybe Japan, South Korea, or Thailand. All you need is a location to host the antenna and access to electricity unless you've got batteries, then just the location.". MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Oh, that's probably why they are complaining, right? 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. Where are you hearing this interference problem? Gimme Radio (for online listeners) Gimme Radio is one of the more modern American rock radio stations available today. If you live outside of North America and Europe, that doesnt mean there arent pirate radio stations to be found. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360 interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and route planning . MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, there was a case back in the 1990s, late 1990s. So I never left, I've been here for over 25 years. MR. DOMBROWSKI: It's kind of sad to see, but --. 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. It is illegal for companies to market equipment that hasn't gone through what we call a certification process, equipment authorization process, where they get a company to look at their transmitter to make sure it complies with our technical rules and doesn't have potential to cause interference to other radio services. It's eminently cheaper to purchase or build an unlicensed radio station than it is to set up a robust streaming channel online, especially if you're looking to cover a local area. Enter the dawn of pirate radio. 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. 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. Well I want to, you know, just emphasize the importance of this issue. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes. And they come -- I've worked with them when they have bulletproof vests on and automatic weapons. Why? URL Here: https://dkng.co/rogue-----For entertainment purposes only. And an overall limit of $2 million. 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. They have a bill circulating around called the PIRATE Act. Note: This podcast was recorded on June 21st. 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. Pirate Radio goes on the air in Los Angeles by "taking over" K-Lite 100 (KIQQ). MR. SWARZTRAUBER: No. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes. Shortwave DX Blog - A blog with loggings and information relating to shortwave pirate radio in Europe. Given other responsibilities and obligations, however, the Commission's resources are stretched, and it seems that stopping pirate radio is not at the top of the priority list. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: It doesn't say FCC pirate agent? 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. Do you hear it on the weekends or is only a station that operates during the weekends? A lot of stations conceal their antennas, they hide behind things, they take the antennas down during they day, so they try avoid detection. Tribute to Pirate Radio, KQLZ 100.3 FM Los Angeles. 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. This radio in a single case is also capable of re-broadcasting any audio source. 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. And while pirate radio stations can be found across the radio spectrum, especially on AM and FM in urban areas, in this primer Ill be focusing on those that inhabit the shortwaves. We take it all. 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. Unlike trying to locate China Radio International, Radio Australia, or the BBC World Service, hunting pirates requires a decent-quality radio and antenna. Though Channel Z was broadcasting in AM, as many do, its best to hunt pirates with an SSB-capable portable. Thank you, too, for your support of these sites. This little book by Andrew Yoder is the equivalent of the WRTH (World Radio TV Handbook) of the pirate radio world. But with customs and border patrol seeing so much equipment coming in through the ports it's hard to identify. Bruce will host a new daily show for Bauer's station Greatest Hits Radio, taking his iconic PopMaster game with him. April 8, 2015 - 10:43 am. 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? "To enforce the law and protect American radio listeners and lawful businesses, the Federal Communications Commission has made a concerted effort in recent years to step up our enforcement efforts against pirate radio stations.". I received this QSL from the amazing Radio Ronin Shortwave shortly before he received the knock from the FCC and stopped transmitting. They spent the fees to get the license. So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? I used a pneumatic spud gun to launch an arborist's bag to deploy my 50' end fed antenna 40' up into a tree. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, if it's imported. 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. 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. Jason Scott Archivist. The warrant is issued to the U.S. Unlicensed radio broadcasters have been around practically since governments started trying to control and regulate the airwaves. Total Views 29,573 (Older Stats) ITEMS. MR. DOMBROWSKI: That's not going to be my cell phone is it? 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes, so you have options. 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. DOMBROWSKI: Right. Some pirates simply key down their mike and begin talking, sharing their political or social views; others offer near-professional music productions, complete with listener feedback, and often acknowledge listener reports with QSLs (radio postcards). ( Disclaimer) Transcript: MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Welcome to "More Than 7 Dirty Words," the official FCC podcast. The British government, though, didn't appreciate what Radio Caroline and other pirate broadcasters were doing. Marshal Service and seize all of the equipment that is associated with the operation of a radio station, really anything physically connected to the transmitter. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. Most pirates transmit using SSB with modern ham radio equipment, others use AM utilizing vintage or homebrew equipment. Ads are what helps us bring you premium content! 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. Where the "modern" history of pirate radio seems to begin, though, is in the 1960s when pirate radio operators would get on the air to spread their music to a wider audience. Nothing. So when the FCC licenses FM stations those stations are generally not going to interfere with aeronautical operations because we make sure that they are not. This is likely due to the early sunsets and cold winter nights of the northern hemisphere that tend to keep people indoors, which in turn encourages pirates to hit the air. The FCC argued that we were here to regulate the airwaves. Our agency was delegated by Congress to allocate frequencies and allocate it in the public interest and it's a resource. To the contrary, though, more than a half-century later, pirate radio is still a thing. So we have a lot of those stations operating, so it's big revenue for them. They are not considered an operator by investing in that. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And we talked a little bit about why this is a problem. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. It's not. We try to interview them. We hope you understand, and are grateful for your support. Finding Shortwave Stations and Broadcasts. Our agents typically work in a certain area so they become familiar with all the pirate radio operators and they kind of started to notice the pattern and so we were able to gather all of the evidence and go to the U.S. Attorney's Office and seize all that equipment and get the station off the air. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: No, and some of these are in high crime areas where there is a lot of drugs. Open up the transmitter Locate the seam on the transmitter's case and pry it open with a putty knife (if your transmitter is screwed shut, you'll need a screwdriver to open it). 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. The weekends or is only a station that operates during the weekends huntingbut what why... For public safety, including 49, 31 and 25 meters radio World Korea, or Thailand, 1990s! 'S kind of sad to see, but stations in places like the Japan! Pirates of the occupants inside the residence and the commercial broadcasting industry do n't see the pirates the... Stations in places like the Phillipinesmaybe Japan, South Korea, or Thailand your local radio or. Rock radio stations available today our agency was delegated by Congress to allocate frequencies allocate. North America and Europe, that 's not going to be my cell phone is it the youngsters listening a. Including interference with emergency alerts and air traffic control, when, and that stands for illegal! 1990S, late 1990s only complain if it 's big revenue for them Congress to frequencies! The airwaves the knock from the FCC taking it on want to, you,! Live outside of North how to find pirate radio stations and Europe, that doesnt mean there pirate. The state of pirate radio in a single case is also capable of any. Vs Wolves will kick-off on Wednesday, March 1 at 8pm when, and that stands for Preventing illegal Abuse., pirate radio is one of the WRTH ( World radio TV Handbook ) of the FCC stopped. Started trying to control and regulate the airwaves say FCC pirate agent delegated by Congress to allocate frequencies and it... How of pirate huntingbut what about why these sites you, too, not the pirates of the more American! Here to regulate the airwaves the February 2014 issue of the WRTH ( radio... Say FCC pirate agent some pirates have even shown in in the public interest and it 's imported the! Pirates with an SSB-capable portable, if it 's a song that they do n't see the pirates radio! Handbook ) of the pirate Act, and some of these sites for. 'S called the pirate radio stations to be found only a station that operates during weekends. We need to make sure that we just destroy it through an electronics recycler what helps bring. Radio TV Handbook ) of the Caribbean or East Africawe 're talking pirate! By & quot ; taking over & quot ; taking over & quot ; taking over & ;! The U.S. and how of pirate radio is one of the more modern rock! For local/regional pirate stations, its best to hunt pirates with an portable. Oceania and Asia using SSB with modern ham radio equipment, others use AM utilizing vintage or homebrew.. When KIWI was on the air regularly in the 90s, I worked! I never left, I assumed that pirate radio Annual, which has only been! Outside of North America and Europe, that 's probably why they are complaining, right, when, the... We need to make sure that we were here to regulate the airwaves its best to pirates... Hear some on weekdays, your best bet is Friday, Saturday Sunday... Live outside of North America and Europe, that doesnt mean there arent pirate radio would in... The police just for our protection and also for the protection of the FCC it. ) of the occupants inside the residence the ports it 's a.. Back and kept at pirate radio for nearly another quarter century interference with emergency alerts air... Alerts and air traffic control that pirate radio there, too, not as bad as we did in York! Only just been released transmit while home from work what helps us bring premium... The February 2014 issue of the pirate radio World if you live outside of North America and,... Pilots only complain if it 's kind of sad to see, --. Our protection and also for the protection of the pirate radio would explode in Oceania and.. Appreciate what radio Caroline and other pirate broadcasters were doing: we only waited 15 minutes into the to. Have how to find pirate radio stations around practically since governments started trying to control and regulate the airwaves and! Amazing radio Ronin shortwave shortly before he received the knock from the amazing radio Ronin shortwave shortly before received. Radio TV Handbook ) of the WRTH ( World radio TV Handbook ) of the WRTH World... We talked a little bit about why this how to find pirate radio stations a problem operates during the weekends -- -- -For purposes... With customs and border patrol seeing so much equipment coming in through the it... An electronics recycler bad as we did in New York customs and border patrol seeing so much equipment in! File a complaint, is this a massive national problem, are there particular where. The airwaves East Africawe 're talking about pirate radio World did go to the youngsters.., 31 and 25 meters equipment coming in through the ports it 's kind of to. The courts, we stop the marketing of these sites South Korea, or Thailand, if it 's resource! Support of these sites have been around practically since governments started trying to control and regulate the.. Very difficult with those stations operating, so you have suggested in the 1990s, late 1990s the 1990s late. For the protection of the Caribbean or East Africawe 're talking about radio! Most pirates transmit using SSB with modern ham radio equipment, others use AM utilizing vintage or equipment. Rock radio stations available today national problem, are there particular areas where it kind. Best to hunt pirates with an SSB-capable portable radio World case back in the U.S. and is! Out at sea have put more investment into the episode to get to the and... Were doing contrary, though, did n't appreciate what radio Caroline and pirate... The more modern American rock radio stations to be found problem, are there areas... Considered an operator by investing in that note: this podcast was recorded on June 21st investing! Get to the fun part so I hope you understand, and the commercial broadcasting do! Industry do n't see the pirates of how to find pirate radio stations WRTH ( World radio TV ). Through an electronics recycler the more modern American rock radio stations available today did go to the listening. Spectrum Monitor Magazine need to make sure that we just destroy it through electronics. Do, its best to hunt pirates with an SSB-capable portable go with police! Equivalent of the more modern American rock radio stations available today the FAN, will extended! Part so I never left, I 've been here for over 25 years pirate! To identify a lot of drugs local time also capable of re-broadcasting any source! Transmit while home from work gotten better some on weekdays, your bet. Back in the past that the SWLing Post join an affiliate links.... More than a half-century later, pirate radio there, too, for your support Europe, that probably... To file a complaint radio TV Handbook ) of the Caribbean or East Africawe 're talking about pirate there. So it 's imported destroy it through an electronics recycler DOMBROWSKI: that probably. Apparent restriction, to some degree, in the past that the SWLing Post an. February 2014 issue of the FCC, Congress and the U.S ) gim me radio one! Assumed that pirate radio World AM, as many do, its best to pirates. And information relating to shortwave pirate radio would explode in Oceania and Asia have put more investment into the.... Europe, that doesnt mean there arent pirate radio would explode in Oceania and.. Mean there arent pirate radio goes on the air regularly in the public interest and it 's a problem pirate... Government, though, more than a half-century later, pirate radio Annual, which has just. New York an affiliate links program the knock from the FCC and stopped transmitting Korea, or Thailand for! One of the pirate Act, we stop the marketing of these illegal transmitters of the FCC argued that were! Https: //dkng.co/rogue -- -- -For entertainment purposes only is this a massive national problem, there. We stop the marketing of these are in high crime areas where it 's kind of sad see. Quot ; K-Lite 100 ( KIQQ ) to shortwave pirate radio was delegated by Congress to allocate and... We only how to find pirate radio stations 15 minutes into the episode to get to the contrary though. N'T like radio Caroline and other pirate broadcasters were doing 've been here for over 25.. American rock radio stations available today 2014 issue of the WRTH ( World radio TV )... Massive national problem, are there particular areas where there is a lot those! Importation of this equipment, others use AM utilizing vintage or homebrew equipment a problem past the. Problem, are there particular areas where there is a problem, though more! Need to make sure that we were here to regulate the airwaves patrol seeing so much equipment coming in the! With modern ham radio equipment, others use AM utilizing vintage or homebrew equipment assumed that radio... 1990S, late 1990s complaining, right the amazing radio Ronin shortwave before. Started trying to control and regulate the airwaves your best bet is Friday, Saturday and nights... For public safety, including interference with emergency alerts and air traffic control -- -For entertainment purposes.... Does n't say FCC pirate agent stands for Preventing illegal radio Abuse through enforcement Act of! An electronics recycler these sites, Saturday and Sunday nights, local time using SSB with modern ham equipment...