MR. SWARZTRAUBER: It doesn't say FCC pirate agent? To determine the wavelength of your signal in inches, divide 11811 by your transmitter's frequency in megahertz (MHz). MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Just because it's easy to buy it doesn't mean it's legal. 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. Nothing. We do follow the bread crumbs to where it leads us and a lot of times we are able to identify the operators and where the studio is and have success in getting the station shut down. To track pirates, youll need a radio with both AM and SSB modes. Let's say they are listening, they think something is suspicious they get a tip, they see something weird in their building, what can they do to help you and the FCC tackle this problem? MR. DOMBROWSKI: Sure. Tribute to Pirate Radio, KQLZ 100.3 FM Los Angeles. 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. Chasing pirates has also increased my technical know-how. Ragnar Daneskjold hosts an occasional podcast serving the shortwave pirate community; it includes pirate radio news, off-air recordings, and more. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well there was a version of the bill that passed the House first and now there is a similar bill being considered by Senate. So that is quite a large area. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Raise it all the way up 100 feet and our director at the time rode up there and got the antenna down. 2022-03-13 23:21:58 Storage_size 430.3 GB (in 25,377 files) Title Pirate Radio Airchecks. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Well at least you are recycling. They also cover your wireless routers in your house. 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. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Right. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, everyone's dream job. So what is pirate radio? MR. SWARZTRAUBER: No. Where are you hearing this interference problem? Loggings are in real time and there are very fewif anyoff-topic posts. 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. "Pirate radio continues to exist in the internet age for a variety of reasons," John Nathan Anderson, a broadcasting scholar and author who is working on a book about pirate radio, explains via email. David Goren, a veteran radio producer who's created programming for National Public Radio, has spent years studying pirate broadcasters. Friday March 17, 1989 5:00 am. We want them to be as descriptive as possible. So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? Now you usually get one of your top, you know, first or second choice. 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? 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 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. 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. 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. The British government, though, didn't appreciate what Radio Caroline and other pirate broadcasters were doing. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: And obviously as a good citizen I have never to my knowledge listened to a pirate radio station. Additionally, youll find contact information for QSL requests and mail-drop addresses as well. Not just Aussie and NZ pirates, but stations in places like The Phillipinesmaybe Japan, South Korea, or Thailand. We also recommend that the complainant contact the station that they are getting interference to --. 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. 1. Collection Info. No, not the Pirates of the Caribbean or East Africawe're talking about pirate radio. Dont believe me? It's not. Speaking for myself, Im passionate about pirate radio listening because it combines my listening/technical skills, my appetite for highly unique content, and for building a collection of quirky QSL cards. 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: 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? That's really helpful because then we can note when to send the agents out. "Caroline now has two stations, one playing album music and one playing the original pop music for which the station is remembered," Moore explains. Addeddate 2022-03-13 23:21:58 . He got the craft back and kept at pirate radio for nearly another quarter century. If you've been binge-watching movies lately, you may have come across "Pirate Radio." MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Oh, that's probably why they are complaining, right? Thank you, too, for your support of these sites. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: That's some great local cooperation right there. MR. DOMBROWSKI: No, not the public face, but he's all the behind the scenes guy. So I have -- In terms of population I manage 20 States in the Northeast area of the United States. To the contrary, though, more than a half-century later, pirate radio is still a thing. A lot of stations conceal their antennas, they hide behind things, they take the antennas down during they day, so they try avoid detection. As Yoder goes on to explain in his introduction of the 2012 Pirate Radio Annual, pirates are often confused with radio bootleggers (who conduct unlicensed two-way conversations), clandestine stations (usually political stations), and jammers (who intentionally try to block broadcasts). 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: Yes. MR. DOMBROWSKI: There is a variety of pirate radio stations out there. After that when we don't get compliance from somebody he gets a warning letter and comes back on the air and then we do get the warrant with the U.S. marshals. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, this is the fun part, the (inaudible). MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, if it's imported. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Ten times as much, that's big, yes. It is portable, but can also be used as a permanent FM radio station. Thank you! Searching for an FM radio station on your car radio is quite easy. Give us a sense of the universe of this problem given that it is such a priority for this FCC to crack down on it. It helps to show that -- That's a deterrent in itself right there when you get media coverage. Listening to Other Stations: Click on the tuning arrows ( TUNE >) to listen to stations up and down the dial. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So all that good equipment just gets recycled. For his new show, Bruce promises "me and my musings and all the great . 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. Even as many legacy international broadcasters are abandoning the shortwave bands, shortwave remains active and vibrant in another quadrant: namely, on shortwave pirate radio. 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. In 1971 I was ordered to Cease and Desist by our friends at the FCC. And they could also --. There was an operator named Stephen Dunifer. "One reason I've found as to why people are still using pirate radio is that these communities have very strong cultural and historic connections to radio," Goren explains. It has become more common for pirates to transmit images using SSTV.A few have experimented with FM or digital modes like RTTY, PSK31 . 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? Hobby Broadcasting Blog: http://hobbybroadcasting.blogspot.com/. A few of them broadcast from ships, such as Rev. And so we need to make sure that we stop the importation of this equipment, we stop the marketing of these illegal transmitters. The important thing here is that you invest in a receiver with a respectable degree of sensitivity and selectivity. Why? I mean stream --. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, very creative on that, wasn't it? Coffee helps fuel the SWLing Post! Yoder actually addresses this apparent restriction, to some degree, in the 2013 Pirate Radio Annual, which has only just been released. So hopefully that's enough for them to get the station taken down and maybe share some information about who the real operator is. 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. While this reality is not surprising, we . (Disclaimer). * Explains how to buy and use equipment to listen to pirate stations. Powerful, uncertified transmitters manufactured in foreign countries easily slip through customs at U.S. ports. More areas, more just the urban areas. The Offshore Radio Museum website commemorates many of those pirates. 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. Created on. 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. 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. 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. MR. DOMBROWSKI: It is. Over the past few years, Ive found that one of my favorite listening activities has become searching for unique pirate radio stations, and readers of my blog appear to have followed suit. Tribute to Pirate Radio, KQLZ 100.3 FM Los Angeles. We usually go with the police just for our protection and also for the protection of the occupants inside the residence. Yes, so it's kind of like a cascade of options --. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of The Spectrum Monitor Magazine. If you live in other parts of the world, pirate hunting can pose serious DX challenges. I was hired into an engineering training program down in Norfolk, Virginia, where we got classroom orientation on all the different radio services and the bureaus and offices for the FCC. 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. Its a simple technique, and although it takes some practice, will work on most any radio with a stable BFO (beat frequency oscillator). So what is the state of pirate radio in the U.S. and how is the FCC taking it on? Meanwhile, the Ross Revenge was repaired and converted into a floating museum for tourists. They are not considered an operator by investing in that. Has that happened? HowStuffWorks may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. And so, yes, we may -- We have a warrant for the property. Radio 510 International - European relay station broadcasting every weekend on short-wave to all of Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East on 13840 kHz. And so he kind of gets shielded, right, you know the operators who are operating the station because they advertise their phone numbers in social media and so we can easily identify them, but you always have somebody that's the money guy that's safely hiding behind all these other staff and --. So it's not the -- In terms of size wise for mileage it's the smallest region, but it's the most populated. Are people generally cooperative or are people just like I have no idea what you are talking, I have never seen anything, what is this, I don't want to deal with this? If you have information about a pirate radio station, you can notify the FCC by calling 888-CALLFCC or filing a complaint online at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov. I have four offices, it includes Chicago, it includes Boston, New York, and Columbia, Maryland. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. So a transmitter that complies with the Part 15 requirements has a very small operating range, about 100 feet. So we typed up this -- They showed me a license and it was something typed up on the computer that said we're licensed by their statutes of the Moors people and so they felt that they have a right to operate. But what hast made the problem really expand is the equipment is readily available with the internet now. That was particularly true on the other side of the Atlantic, where the U.K. allowed only state-controlled radio from the 1920s through the mid-1960s. David, thanks so much for joining. Pirates broadcast a wide variety of content, but are usually motivated by sharing their messageor favorite musicon the air. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Well it depends what level we are at with the investigation. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. Want to know why the usually run them out at sea. Yes, they come with weapons. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: My guest has been David Dombrowski, Regional Director for Region One in the FCC Enforcement Bureau. 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. So you couldn't be blamed for assuming that it depicts a long-vanished phenomenon, like Nehru jackets with iridescent scarves and psychedelic-patterned paper mini dresses. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Hometown. Set up your Raspberry Pi You'll need to get Raspbian, the Linux-based operating system for the Raspberry Pi. Whether youre a QSL collector, a content DXer, or the casual SWLer, I find theres something in pirate radio listening for everyone. VIEWS. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Right. Our agents are pretty smart on the tricks. MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes. 2. We also had a case in Queens, New York, where several pirate radio stations got involved together and they were using each other's equipment in order to change location to avoid detection. We would also have to create a database for the public access. We were able to prove that it wasn't a violation of the First Amendment rights and so that set the precedence for any future case for that argument. Note:Even though it is illegal to broadcast on the shortwave bands without a license, and those who do so are subject to hefty fines, it is not illegal to listen or to send and receive QSL cards from such operators. So for that period of time they lose communications and they have to try to find another available channel to keep that communication line open. 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.". Total Views 29,203 (Older Stats) ITEMS. MR. DOMBROWSKI: So some States have laws on the book that prohibit pirate radio operation, States like New Jersey and New York and Florida. * Shows you how to find pirate stations on your AM/FM, shortwave, and online radios. After the reorganization and modernization of the field I then became the Regional Director and manage several offices now. But merely the act of purchasing this equipment is illegal and partly that's because it comes from overseas and it's not been tested by the FCC, correct? So we try to shut down, you know, that equipment coming in to the purchasers. Enter ZIP code or city, state as well. I was glad to be here, it was a great opportunity. And as a bonus, Radio Caroline still exists though, ironically, it's gone legal. We are not trying to teach you to do something illegal, we are trying to prevent you from doing something illegal, so you can stop your Google search. So sometimes the apartment owner, the building owner, or whatever, is totally in the dark about this, didn't know about. I apologize to the listeners in advance if I make any horrible, corny jokes throughout the course of this podcast, but it would probably help to start with a definition, right. What can the average person do? This station was operated in Pennsauken, New Jersey, which is right across the river from Philadelphia, and it covered the entire Philadelphia area. The BBC played catch-up launching Radio One and recruiting the same pirates for their roster. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: -- and you always try to go with the least destructive one. It will also help to have some sort of adjustable bandwidth filter (wide/narrow). Our agency was delegated by Congress to allocate frequencies and allocate it in the public interest and it's a resource. 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. Well, I can't say exactly what it is, but, yes, they're --. Keep in mind that pirates are relatively low-power broadcasters. Marshal Service actually and that allows us to go in with the U.S. 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. Has it evolved over the years? We do let stations operate with low power transmitters but they have to comply with the technical requirements of Part 15 of our rules. These pirate stations pose a host of problems for public safety, including interference with emergency alerts and air traffic control. MR. DOMBROWSKI: You know, that's hard to say. ACTIVITY. While the magic of shortwave radio can transport a small signal vast distances, to hear pirates regularly and clearly, some precision is required. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Pirate radio. They have a bill circulating around called the PIRATE Act. I believe this is why authorities like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) place shortwave pirates comparatively lower on their enforcement priority list. Pirate radio operators usually have day jobslike most of usthus only transmit while home from work. Click here to donate via PayPal. MR. DOMBROWSKI: And so they said well because we were here before it was colonized our federal laws don't apply to us. 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. They label the equipment as something else. 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. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes, in those dense urban areas because the FM band is already pretty clogged up with legitimate stations that might be one of the reasons that people throw up their hands and say, well, I guess I'm just do an illegal station because I am frustrated by the legal process for getting a station, but that is not a justification in any sense of the word. Now one thing I want to talk about is Part 15. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Yes, and it's also I assume illegal for these advertisers to be advertising on pirate stations, they just might not know that they are pirates. You know, is this a massive national problem, are there particular areas where it's a problem? 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. Most are run by hobbyists purely for fun, although some have political or other agendas. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: Welcome to "More Than 7 Dirty Words," the official FCC podcast. 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? Collection Info. There is a reason that those devices operate in an unlicensed manner because they are not transmitting very far. We have had meetings with broadcast associations where we went a room with other broadcasters and that's a very big concern of them, the financial end of it. Airchecks from unauthorized broadcast radio stations throughout the years. Among the most popular queries made by readers is, How can I find and hear pirate radio stations? To help answer this question, Im writing this primer. 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. You can sign up for the newsletter by emailing any of their edittors: John Brewer ([emailprotected]), Ragnar Danskjold ([emailprotected]), Harold Frodge ([emailprotected]), Dave Turnick ([emailprotected]) or Larry Will ([emailprotected]), OK, I suppose I must also mention my own humble blog, where I continue to amass numerous pirate radio loggings and off-air recordings. To have a radio station here helps to establish the station's operator as an important source of information and influence in the community.". MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, we have a lot of stations in New York, in particular. Everyone should agree that pirate radio stations - by any definition - are completely illegal. 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: Yes, there was a case back in the 1990s, late 1990s. So they thought that was a way for them to avoid detection by hopping from building to building and frequency to frequency. And they come -- I've worked with them when they have bulletproof vests on and automatic weapons. Total . MR. DOMBROWSKI: Yes, just 20. MR. SWARZTRAUBER: We only waited 15 minutes into the episode to get to the fun part so I hope you are listening. In January, President Donald Trump signed into law the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, which gives regulators the ability to hit pirate stations with fines of up to $2 million, according to this summary from Radio World. We do a field strength measurement to see if their power exceeds that threshold and if they meet the Part 15 requirements or not. Each issue also contains a CD of sound clips from various pirates, several articles about the state of pirate radio, and other relevant info. 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. 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 will put in the show notes a link to the FCC complaint page and the phone number if you would like to get involved. That would be inappropriate, particularly given my employer, but is it hard for the average listener, particularly in a dense metro area, you're dialing your car radio or your home radio to even know the difference? Part 15 of our rules least you are listening National problem, there!, that 's probably why they are getting interference to -- I ca n't say pirate... 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