Pirate on 92.9

[joei1892]

A pirate station usually isn't strong enough to penetrate through huge buildings like the skyscrapers in Philly anyway so I'm not surprised there is no reception there. I was in Burlington Township and the signal was still there, but fading out somewhat. I would guess it's up near Trenton as well then. Heck, even local stations receive a minimal amount of interference downtown on the Roxborough signals. MMR is always fine being on top of One Liberty Place as well as WRNB, WKDN and the WXHL translator on 97.1.

[Nick]

The 92.9 pirate in Trenton was a dance station. This one isn't dance and its signal is more south of the 92.9 in Trenton. I could hear it in Bensalem, PA. The 92.9 in Trenton was overmodulated and splattered on to 92.7 and 93.1. This one sounded undermodulated.

[TimeIsTight]

Has anybody noticed a significant difference in the way the FCC office in Philadelphia handles pirates as opposed to the way the New York office deals with them?

Some years back it seemed the Philly office was very quick to shut down and fine an AM pirate in Phillipsburg, NJ, while on the other side of North Jersey there were clusters of pirates in lots of cities that were mostly ignored, and the few that were targeted received warning notices first.

I am curious if it seems like the Philly office is more effective in dealing with this problem than the guys in NYC?  Or are South Jersey and the Philadelphia area filled with clusters of pirates too?

[joei1892]

UPDATE: Pirate is offline. Let's hope it was either shut down or abandoned.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

It's obviously not someone's Part 15 since 3 different people here have heard it.

The dance pirate used to be heard for 10-15 miles around Trenton.

Part 15 does state you "may not cause harmful interference."
I guess that means you can have your own 1/2 watt station from your bedroom which may have coverage up to a half mile,
as long as you don't cause interference on a protected channel, so an empty channel works best there.
If not in a big city then maybe in a rural area where no one would care.
If an outdoor (vertically polarized) antenna is used to boost signal then it's definitely illegal.

The mini FM transmitters on the market barely can make it 100 feet in most cases.
That's barely able to cover all of someone's house.

[TimeIsTight]

I guess that means you can have your own 1/2 watt station from your bedroom which may have coverage up to a half mile,
as long as you don't cause interference on a protected channel, so an empty channel works best there.

Not to split hairs here, but FCC documents indicate that "acceptable" Part-15 transmitters are generally in the milliwatt range.  They also state that the signal should not be receivable more than 200-feet away.  And you can't hook a transmitter to an antenna with gain that will exceed that limit.  So if you can pick up the signal for half a mile around, it ain't legal. 

I have an engineer friend whose house is in the middle of his five acre property, he has a really good Part-15 setup that scrupulously follows every FCC rule.  He has the measuring equipment and has done the math, and there are places on his own property where you can't hear his transmitter.  But it works just fine around the house, barn and garage workshop, which is exactly the kind of personal use the FCC had in mind.  When I am in his neighborhood I often try to pick it up because he has a great music collection coming out of an old computer, but it can't be heard even when passing his rural mailbox.

[RadioPhillyFan]

Actually, I just heard a CHR pirate on 107.3 near Media, PA. But it's down already, this is the third occurance of this in 2012.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Not to split hairs here, but FCC documents indicate that "acceptable" Part-15 transmitters are generally in the milliwatt range.  They also state that the signal should not be receivable more than 200-feet away.  And you can't hook a transmitter to an antenna with gain that will exceed that limit.  So if you can pick up the signal for half a mile around, it ain't legal.

There are many instances where someone may want a little more coverage,
without the intent of being a pirate. Here in the Carolinas there are numerous drive-in movie theaters and churches
that make use of good FM radio transmitters and cover up to 1000 feet in all directions.

The CZH-05B transmitter is a great example of one of these transmitters, it has a high and low power setting
(100mw or 500mw). So it can still be just for your house and not cover more than necessary.
A stronger signal from a transmitter means that every radio in a house or building can be in sync and static free. 
It's a better option then running speaker wires/drilling in your house and they can replace lots of expensive stereo equipment.