Orlando FL - FCC & local deputies shut down pirate radio station

[kkn50]

Fla. officials shut down pirate radio station they say broadcast info on drugs, prostitutes

Associated Press
March 7, 2009 - 11:59 AM

ORLANDO, Fla. - Federal Communications Commission officials and deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's gang unit busted a pirate radio station they say was reportedly broadcasting information on where to buy drugs.

 

[RADIOGUY2002]

shocker

humm theirs a shocker, i always thought their was some werid songs being played on a few radio stations, this might explain that.

 

[newsphotog]

Link: Police Bust Alleged Gang-Promoting Radio Station - News- msnbc.com

 

[LouisvilleScanMan]

"Fla. officials shut down pirate radio station they say broadcast info on drugs, prostitutes"

They shut down a pirate hip hop station?

 

[RADIOGUY2002]

They shut down a pirate hip hop station? Nice Dig, have to give them credit for utilizing a tree to get out. Nothingb for looking for a needle an haystack , still pretty cool thow that the direction finding equipment nabbed it.

 

[SCPD]

"Fla. officials shut down pirate radio station they say broadcast info on drugs, prostitutes"

They shut down a pirate hip hop station?

Shame if it actually played good hip hop from back in the day.

Nevertheless, the "Street Heat" broadcast seemed interesting, I wonder what it sounded like or how crazy it was when they got busted. Nowadays you can get transmission equipment and a station running so easily it's unbelievable.

 

[kb2vxa]

First of all a tree is only nature's antenna tower, spotting an antenna is easy once you know where to look. You know where to look when you have it triangulated, the FCC is no smarter than a ham on a fox hunt.

Good hip-hop? What is so good about it? Anyway the bit is it's all in the programming, acting like a moron is the easiest way to get caught and they most certainly proved it in very short order. Another way is using a crap transmitter, harmonics and spurs causing harmful interference alerted authorities to WILD, an AM pirate in my home town back in the 60s. Unlike these potty mouths the now defunct Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal published a parody article about having kids Dancing In The Streets, just one clever use of several popular song titles.

What do you mean by "nowadays"? Since the early days of radio it's been super easy to cobble together studio and transmitting equipment, all you need is a bit of tech savvy and junk box parts scrounged from here and there. Whaaa, da ya tink we BOUGHT r stuff dere matey? AAARRR! We izzn't just a bunch of cut throats on th' high seas, summavus gots sum smAAARRRts.

Anyways it's illegal, we had our fun and took the advice of the FCC field engineer who shut our station down after 6 years of broadcasting, we studied a bit more and got ham licenses. Heh, like a doctor once told me "We have the best drugs... and they're legal."

 

[vabiro]

A friend of mine worked at a Pirate station in Dublin Ireland. It was running for years, and even simulcast their broadcasts on the Internet.

After doing their thing for a few years they applied for a broadcast license, and after a lot of political BS, received their license. Phantom 105.1 is on the air, and my buddy does the morning show and Programme Director roles.

The key was, as far as pirate stations go, they were very professional. Many of the people involved were experienced at College and University stations, and as a result ran it like a proper radio enterprise, and properly managed their transmitter.

Victor

 

[kb2vxa]

Now THAT struck a familiar chord! I don't remember the name offhand but years ago I was a regular listener. Some pirates have real professional talent and THEY (and "we") surely had, both with great sound and clean signals, trouble is our callsign became legal unbeknown to me. WUMS was originally an Ohio River pirate in the 1930s, the letters standing for We're an Unidentified Mysterious Station and I liked the idea but nobody ever mentioned it on the air. (;->) Somewhere along the line it was assigned to the FM station at "Ole Mis", We're the University of Mississippi. Another thing that slipped by me is the corporate logo I dreamed up was already taken, Broadcasting Associates Inc. owns WBAI, NY, a subsidiary of the Pacifica Foundation... oh well.

Anyway regardless of professionalism or some numnuts hacking around, transmitting without a license is illegal and for good reason. The FRC was formed as a coordinating committee to pull organization out of chaos and put a stop to Wireless Wars in the very early days when anybody with the know-how could get on the air any way and anywhere they liked.

Just to give you an idea, here's the very beginning of WOR in New York. If it looks like a primitive version of the typical home brew pirate transmitter, it was.