Pirate FM in Passaic

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wa2sqq

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Been listening to 95.1 for past 18 months. There was a Spanish station on the air that had a reasonable coverage area. No station ID's. I assume it's a pirate station since no FCC data exists. They've been off the air twice, presumably busted and have recently returned with lower power. Any info on this?
 

SCPD

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They are always out there check 91.9 and 95.9 when they are not on that frequency.They bounce around alot.This guys been on for years and the FCC has
given him a NAL already.He doesnt care and neither do they.

http://diymedia.net/old/fccwatch/eadtable15.htm

Orange,NJ is full of them as well! I get one at night all the way in Clifton.
 
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902

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Hi Bob!

I was back home last month and was driving on the east side of Manhattan trying to tune in WDHA-FM (105.5) and was picking up a very strong ethnic broadcaster in Brooklyn with no identification, but lots of advertisements. I looked them up, and could only find a LP station in Queens that was probably not them.

I can only imagine that if these guys are bringing in revenue like a real station, they might actually calculate occasional fines into their business model.

The NJ statute on operating an unlicensed radio station has always been interesting. That could also bring a criminal charge, but I don't know if it's ever been tested.
 

RadioDitch

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There's a pirate broadcaster on 102.5 in Queens, with quite the signal also. Guy has guts. He runs local ads, even takes callers. At least once a week he taunts the FCC on air.
 

ansky

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Hi Bob!

I was back home last month and was driving on the east side of Manhattan trying to tune in WDHA-FM (105.5) and was picking up a very strong ethnic broadcaster in Brooklyn with no identification, but lots of advertisements. I looked them up, and could only find a LP station in Queens that was probably not them.

I can only imagine that if these guys are bringing in revenue like a real station, they might actually calculate occasional fines into their business model.

The NJ statute on operating an unlicensed radio station has always been interesting. That could also bring a criminal charge, but I don't know if it's ever been tested.

That pirate on 105.5 in Brooklyn has been on the air for years. From what I've heard, WDHA has complained to the FCC about that pirate, but clearly nothing has been done (and likely nothing will ever be done) to get that pirate off the air. It's basically a losing battle. If you're anywhere within 5-10 miles of Newark you can hear a pirate station on just about every open frequency.
 

902

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Noice.

It's a big difference from back in the day when Judd Mansbach was chasing "Johnny Lightning," "Hank Haze," and friends. Judging by the website and on-air presence, this is a big money-maker operation that can afford to pay off a fine here.

You've got to wonder how effective the "new" structure of the enforcement bureau actually is. My guess is: not very.

I'd be very upset if I were Greater Media.
 

902

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Jam the invaiders.
Too much effort, too much energy, and it automatically makes the jammer wrong. If the enforcers can't enforce, they need to be better organized, better structured, or better funded. Or better support from the ones they report to. The rest would be politics (and the Tavern would probably be a better place to hammer that one out in than here).
 

nr2d

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Too much effort, too much energy, and it automatically makes the jammer wrong. If the enforcers can't enforce, they need to be better organized, better structured, or better funded. Or better support from the ones they report to. The rest would be politics (and the Tavern would probably be a better place to hammer that one out in than here).

Tell Congress to give the FCC more money for enforcement and less money for lawyers. The FCC has in the last 10 years closed more the 50% of their field offices in an effort to reduce it's budget.
 

902

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Tell Congress to give the FCC more money for enforcement and less money for lawyers. The FCC has in the last 10 years closed more the 50% of their field offices in an effort to reduce it's budget.
"We have a 'BINGO'" at least in terms of who to blame is. This is the FCC that Congress has made.
 

ion_op

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With a new administration maybe we can turnback the downsizing the FCC has been doing with regard to their field offices and enforcement.
 

902

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With a new administration maybe we can turnback the downsizing the FCC has been doing with regard to their field offices and enforcement.

That was Congress' doing, and the word from the affected parties was that it was in reprisal for the Commission's stance on net neutrality. Granted, things could always be more efficient, but the concept of reducing the field profile and forming their centralized "tiger team" places the response way behind the curve.

I'm not sure any president could change that back by executive order, as Congress continues to hold the purse strings for the FCC. The organization that falls under the Executive branch is the NTIA. They have parallel responsibilities to the FCC to some respect, but their goals with non-federal resources are more 50,000 feet as compared to ground level for civil matters.

Here's the controversial part: A number of people in the industry think that the overall strategy is to shift communications to revenue-bearing platforms. Many of the architects of that concept were appointees of the soon-to-be former administration. Conjecture around that is probably a Tavern conversation, but it shouldn't be ignored. For NJ, the reduction in enforcement and what is still an imminent loss of spectrum (the heavily-used T-Band) leave little alternative. To an extent, we're seeing "pay-to-talk" already by some agencies leasing spectrum from auction winners or renting time on FB6 systems. I'm thinking specifically of Palisades Park's using Horizon's frequency pair for their system, and also the use of Part 22 frequencies which had to be bid on outside of the normal process.

If we had a significant turnover in Congress (I wasn't paying attention to the Congressional vote... my bad), perhaps these things can be revisited. I suppose the bottom line is that it's way too early to tell what the climate will be after the "first 100 days" of the new administration.
 

Jimru

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That pirate on 105.5 in Brooklyn has been on the air for years. From what I've heard, WDHA has complained to the FCC about that pirate, but clearly nothing has been done (and likely nothing will ever be done) to get that pirate off the air. It's basically a losing battle. If you're anywhere within 5-10 miles of Newark you can hear a pirate station on just about every open frequency.


Why is it a losing battle? Is the FCC not interested in prosecuting this, or is there a reason they can't? Seems pretty cut-and-dry to me!
 
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