Pirate Stations

[WPHA]

Back around 1986/7, I also did a little broadcasting on 7415Khz! Only had about 20 watts, but it was fun. Used an old Heathkit ham rig, modified for better fidelity & modulation. I used it off and on for only about a week. During this time, I also ran a small signal (probably between 30~50 milliwatts) on 87.9 FM for a couple of months. I played Contemporary Christian Music on both.

My little FM was actually listenable for a couple mile stretch of I-95 between exits 27-24. This was mostly due to its elevation and the fact that it somewhat curved around my old neighborhood. A church friend would listen to me every morning on her drive to work. It was cute, because she even told me that she prayed for traffic congestion, just so that she could hear my station longer! Once she got off the exit, it was all gone. I had even set my alarm clock, and went downstairs to fire it up and do a live DJ show, knowing she was listening. I did that for a couple of weeks. Then I shut it down, and that was the end of that. I found out several months later, that the FCC was actually going to come down to find and stop the pirate! I had shut it down, THE DAY BEFORE! Thus, they never had to come down.

Sometimes, God DOES watch over young fools. 

[Barry]

InsideRadio mentions that recently fined gospel station Sela Radio in New York has "stopsets that some licensed stations may crave."
Tuning around the dial from time to time, I've noticed that many unlicensed stations carry plenty of commercials for local businesses. This seems different from the pirates of decades past, which were often on the air mainly as hobbies, or for the desire to disseminate a certain type of programming.
With expenses that could be very low compared to licensed stations, pirates could be quite profitable, especially in large urban areas such as New York. They may regard F.C.C. fines, if they actually end up paying them, as just one of their few significant expenses.

[Nick]

And all of the profit is tax-free.

[WPHA]

Yeah, that's all well and good, provided the following:

a) They actually have enough power to provide a reasonably GOOD signal over a sufficient area
b) They have the skilled people available to actually SELL those ads
c) They can demonstrate their signal in those places of business. (Ties back to point a)
d) They have good enough production abilities to make a good-sounding ad
e) They have a lot of chutzpah to flout the law so brazenly
f) They provide a listenable product. IE: They do NOT sound like a bunch of kids, "playing radio".

[ansky212]

Yeah, that's all well and good, provided the following:

a) They actually have enough power to provide a reasonably GOOD signal over a sufficient area

The pirates I've heard in the Newark area have no trouble in that department.  There is a very strong pirate on 96.7 that I can pick up around Newark and it was still strong when I drove up to Wayne last weekend...that's at least a 20-mile radius!  Depending on how strong K-Love's signal is in this area it will be interesting to see if the pirate changes frequency or overpowers K-Love.

[mz41966]

Has anyone ever heard a pirate station in a suburban area?  I'm not talking about a pirate based in the city that is strong enough to reach the suburbs, but a pirate that actually broadcasts from out in the 'burbs.

Yes, in Bridgeport and Westport I have heard some pirates.  Can't remember where on the dial tho, I just know I've heard them.