Every so often I like to do a round-up of events in unlicensed broadcasting. In this update we have a review of FCC actions against unlicensed broadcasters, including one on the shortwave band and another on the CB band, good buddy. Plus, there’s an investigation into one of the country’s most notorious TV pirates. Sniffing […]
Here’s what’s been going on in the world of pirate and unlicensed broadcasting. A Radio Survivor reader tipped us off to this story about a pirate radio operator in the hotbed of South Florida who died installing his antenna. The aerial accidentally hit a power line and he was electrocuted. His death is certainly unfortunate, […]
The Massachusetts legislature is considering a bill to make unlicensed broadcasting illegal, joining New York, New Jersey and Florida with state laws prohibiting pirate radio on the books. As John Anderson reports, the Massachusetts bill would not make it a crime, but rather permit the Attorney General to take legal action that may result in […]
The Egyptian government is trying to prevent supporters of ousted president Morsi from taking to the airwaves in Cairo. To accomplish that the Egyptian Radio Television Union is “loading” the FM dial with stations on every available frequency playing religious music or readings of the Quran, according to Ahram Online. Pro-Morsi protestors were set to […]
Maybe it’s because spring is in the air in North America, but pirate radio is bubbling up a bit in the popular consciousness, as well as the FCC’s. Seems like a good time for a pirate radio news round up. Albuquerque’s Alibi hazily reports on “at least one station operating without a license” in Northern […]
Last year we posted about the Decentralized Dance Party’s appearance at SXSW. The DDP uses a low-power unlicensed FM transmitter worn in a backpack, instead of a PA, to broadcast dance party music in public places to participants carrying boombox radios all tuned to the same frequency. Project founders Tom and Gary call it “The […]
The Daily Camera reports on an unlicensed broadcaster in Boulder, Colorado that was previously little heard of outside of Boulder. Boulder was home to Boulder Free Radio, which was famous in free radio circles for playing a long-running cat-and-mouse game with the Denver FCC office, until being busted for the last time in 2005. It […]
Thanks to John Anderson and “Spatula” for their comments on why a South Florida pirate radio station was likely interfering with the keyless door entry systems of Lexus vehicles. “Lexus keyless entry operates at ~315 MHz. Harmonic? Blanketing interference? Sounds fishy,” Anderson noted. Ditto, declared Spatula. “Almost certainly a harmonic around 314.1 MHz.” As we […]
The Sun Sentinel, which covers all matters related to Broward County, Florida, has an interesting pirate radio story this week. Apparently a slew of folks around the Hollywood police station (Hollywood, Florida, that is, north of Miami) were having trouble opening their Lexus and Toyota vehicle doors via their keyless entry gizmos. Fingers pointed all […]
I’m a little bummed and surprised that I only found out these two radio and sound art conferences this afternoon. free103point9 is hosting the Transmission Arts Colloquium this weekend at its Wave Farm Study Center in New York State’s Hudson Valley. The Center is home to community radio station WGXC which dedicates much of its […]
