Stevezone
Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2010
- Messages
- 2
In the 1980's I was a member of a radio group in So Cal known as "Pirate Radio Group"... the group was founded by Laszlo "Larry" Hirsch, WA6SWG/SK, an engineer from TPL and Pathcom/Pace.
The system used a primary transmitter located on Palos Verdes penninsula @ 100 watts output F.M on 27.275 (ch 27). Input was 40 ch. up and down (multiple input receivers). One receiver was at Larry's residence in Lomita and the other receiver was located in Green Valley Lake, near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino mountains. Input was controlled by CTCSS with a non-standard tone. the 11m/10m all mode radios were simply modified to jump or drop a band to accomplish the input split. The sites were linked on "baby monitor" or cordless phone channels on 49 mhz using Pace 6 meter/Low band vhf radios. Larry built and operated the system to demonstrate that c.b. could actually be useful as opposed to the power wars and agitation that normally goes on there. Larrry tried to get the F.C.C. to legalize this type of operation but of course that was never accomplished. The system features an autopatch for member to make telephone calls.
The system worked great and had fantastic coverage over the L.A./O.C. area and was heard 5 by 5 in San Diego however there was no input receiver in that area. This all happened during the infancy of the internet and I suggested to Larry that it would be great to do away with the radio links and use the internet to link the sites as well as adding many new input and output sites to the existing system... possibly even spreading out to link 11m repeaters in cities all over the country and world... it was before VOIP and never got past the idea stage, but made for interesting tech conversations.
The repeater was operational for several years, until several c.b. operators/hams from 11m channel 15 turned the Pirate Radio Group in to the F.C.C. after harassing the users for over a year and conducting daily jamming sessions on the output frequency. Actually the jealous operators conducted a campaign of letter writing and phone calls to the F.C.C. until enforcement action was taken. The F.C.C. went to the Transmitter site in Palos Verdes and shut the equipment off but didn't seize anything. They then went to Larry's home and spoke to him about the operation. Larry received an official notice of violation via U.S. Mail but it was never pursued much by the F.C.C. The repeater was back on the air for nearly another year but eventually was taken down because the jammers/complainers found the transmitter site and harassed the property owners until they made Larry remove the equipment. It's interesting to note that 2 of the jammers/detractors put up 11m repeaters/remote bases of their own and used U.H.F. GMRS frequencies for input/link. I took control of these several times in retribution for the harassment of the Pirate Radio Group repeater. After the P.R.G. repeater was taken down for the last time, the equipment sat in storage for years until Larry bequeathed it to me. Sadly, Larry was run down 2 years ago by a city bus driver while he was crossing the street in his 3 wheel scooter en route to the store for groceries.
Just my input on this subject... I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about repeaters during this time.
An for those who may want to comment negatively, YES I am a licensed Amateur Radio operator but I was not at the time of the Pirate Radio Group.
73
The system used a primary transmitter located on Palos Verdes penninsula @ 100 watts output F.M on 27.275 (ch 27). Input was 40 ch. up and down (multiple input receivers). One receiver was at Larry's residence in Lomita and the other receiver was located in Green Valley Lake, near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino mountains. Input was controlled by CTCSS with a non-standard tone. the 11m/10m all mode radios were simply modified to jump or drop a band to accomplish the input split. The sites were linked on "baby monitor" or cordless phone channels on 49 mhz using Pace 6 meter/Low band vhf radios. Larry built and operated the system to demonstrate that c.b. could actually be useful as opposed to the power wars and agitation that normally goes on there. Larrry tried to get the F.C.C. to legalize this type of operation but of course that was never accomplished. The system features an autopatch for member to make telephone calls.
The system worked great and had fantastic coverage over the L.A./O.C. area and was heard 5 by 5 in San Diego however there was no input receiver in that area. This all happened during the infancy of the internet and I suggested to Larry that it would be great to do away with the radio links and use the internet to link the sites as well as adding many new input and output sites to the existing system... possibly even spreading out to link 11m repeaters in cities all over the country and world... it was before VOIP and never got past the idea stage, but made for interesting tech conversations.
The repeater was operational for several years, until several c.b. operators/hams from 11m channel 15 turned the Pirate Radio Group in to the F.C.C. after harassing the users for over a year and conducting daily jamming sessions on the output frequency. Actually the jealous operators conducted a campaign of letter writing and phone calls to the F.C.C. until enforcement action was taken. The F.C.C. went to the Transmitter site in Palos Verdes and shut the equipment off but didn't seize anything. They then went to Larry's home and spoke to him about the operation. Larry received an official notice of violation via U.S. Mail but it was never pursued much by the F.C.C. The repeater was back on the air for nearly another year but eventually was taken down because the jammers/complainers found the transmitter site and harassed the property owners until they made Larry remove the equipment. It's interesting to note that 2 of the jammers/detractors put up 11m repeaters/remote bases of their own and used U.H.F. GMRS frequencies for input/link. I took control of these several times in retribution for the harassment of the Pirate Radio Group repeater. After the P.R.G. repeater was taken down for the last time, the equipment sat in storage for years until Larry bequeathed it to me. Sadly, Larry was run down 2 years ago by a city bus driver while he was crossing the street in his 3 wheel scooter en route to the store for groceries.
Just my input on this subject... I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about repeaters during this time.
An for those who may want to comment negatively, YES I am a licensed Amateur Radio operator but I was not at the time of the Pirate Radio Group.
73
