Kanyi Pamukwendengwe a Rusitu villager in Zimbabwe writes in the South Africa Mail & Guradian about the brief run of Pachindau People’s Radio, an unlicensed shortwave station that broadcast from Chimanimani in Eastern Zimbabwe. As Pamukwendengwe explains, the inspiration for the station came from the fact that the state-run stations in Harare could not be […]
Tag Archives | Pirate Radio
Radio Free Record Store Day at Numero Group’s WTNG
This past Saturday I celebrated Record Store Day by dropping in to the Numero Group’s pop-up store in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Numero is a record label specializing on archival re-releases of forgotten treasures, especially regional records from small labels from Cleveland to Belize. They hosted a one-day record store inside Stop Smiling press’ storefront […]
Chicago’s Numero Group label to broadcast pop-up radio station on Record Store Day
Record Store Day, now in its fifth year, is an annual celebration of the independent record store. This year it goes down next Saturday, April 16. Participating stores hold special events, like in-store concerts, while selling limited-edition singles and albums. I’ve been attending since 2008 and enjoy the recognition of the threatened species of the […]
Ottawa pirate teen convicted for harassment and unlicensed broadcasting
So that kid I posted about on Monday, who was running a pirate station in Ottawa, Ontario and accused of threatening to kill another local radio personality? He was convicted Thursday of criminal harassment of both the DJ and the officer from Industry Canada who was investigating the station. He was also convicted of violating […]
Radio Caroline Pursuing a Legit License
On the heels of Radio Caroline’s 47th birthday last week, the New York Times published a story reporting on the outfit’s attempt to garner an actual license to broadcast in the UK. Caroline is pursuing 531 KHz on the mediumwave band (known as AM in the US) which was recently vacated by the BBC. While […]
Pirate Radio Roundup: Albuquerque memories, Ottawa teen tantrum
A couple of interesting pirate radio stories passed through the transom this week that I need to share. First, a writer calling himself “Captain America” wrote a short piece for the Albuquerque, NM Alibi fondly recalling an unlicensed micropower station called Rebel Radio that broadcast from that city’s “student ghetto” during the mid-90s, a period […]
Happy 47th birthday Radio Caroline!
One of the most famous off-shore British pirate stations of the 1960s celebrates the 47th anniversary of its first successful broadcasts today. Gibson’s This Day in Music Spotlight reminded me of the occasion. As writer MIchael Wright retells, the next day, the 29th, was Easter Sunday and Caroline was ready to officially launch. At 12 […]
New York state bill aims to criminalize pirate radio
Apparently looking to follow the example set by New Jersey and Florida, New York state senate bill S2737-2011 is intended to create “the crime of unauthorized radio transmission, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment and a fine in the amount of not less than $10,000.00.” Thanks go to John Anderson at DIYmedia.net and Paul […]
Old News — Lawmaker wants Oklahoma to be a haven for unlicensed radio
My apologies to Radio Survivor readers for my massive oversight on this story. Apparently I’m unable to either know what year it is now, or read the dates on the sources I’m using. The bill I cited in this post–AND the Oklahoma Watchdog article about it–is a year old, from January 2010, not January 2011. […]
What is the role of radio in the Egyptian uprising?
When the Egyptian government shut down internet access over a week ago in order to compromise the opposition movement’s ability to communicate there were several press reports that ham radio operators were stepping in to fill the information void. On the surface it seems a very credible story. Amateur radio operators have stepped in to […]