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I wrote a book on low power AM broadcasting. It's pretty rare that pirate stations cause meaningful interference, they operate at very low wattages (sometimes 1
by kyledrake 3y ago
I wrote a book on low power AM broadcasting. It's pretty rare that pirate stations cause meaningful interference, they operate at very low wattages (sometimes 100 watts or less) and usually have low pass filters installed in-line that prevent harmonics interference, whereas commercial stations operate at 100,000 watts and are far more likely to cause interference issues even when designed correctly. It's more likely competing FM stations calling in to complain than the airport calling in to say their planes can't land.
Not making an ethics call on pirate radio, just commenting that the argument that they regularly cause dangerous interference is somewhere between nonsense and propaganda.
I think the bigger critique I would have is why even bother to do pirate stations anymore now that the Internet is here and it's much easier to subvert corporate media that way anyways. Clear Channel's radio monopoly went from a dangerous culture lock that could ban Beatles songs "because of 9/11" to useless junk pretty quickly, there's a reason I got out of the space a long time ago. The commenter alludes to this when they describe how important the station is by referencing their Spotify playlist (BIG 103.3, which doesn't look dancehall, subversive or frankly very good).
- dtx1 3y agoWhile it's of course easier to do it on the web, the innate locality of pirate stations has a certain appeal. And of course the cat and mouse game and the "illegality" of it makes them feel more special then just a random webstream
- s1artibartfast 3y agoThere is also the question of discoverability, especially unsought discovery. Nobody casually scrolls through urls and and finds a radio station.
- dtx1 3y agoI suspect people don't do that with radios anymore either but it spreads through word of mouth
- s1artibartfast 3y agoInteresting, why do you think that? My assumption is that it would basically be the same as always.
- cf100clunk 3y ago> I wrote a book on low power AM broadcasting. Sound great. I hope you'll post a link. > they operate at very low wattages (sometimes 100 watts or less) Since the original article is about a station on the shoulder of the TV VHF-Low and FM bands here's my take on it. Even a very low power transmitter rated <5 watts in the FM band can have its ERP (Effective Radiated Power) multiplied greatly by the combination of a good antenna and altitude above average terrain. A pirate with a small transmitter cabled to an omnidirectional antenna mounted atop a high apartment block can easily output a >100 watt ERP. Frankly the pirate's rig might even achieve ERP levels in the 6-8kw range if they get lucky, enough to cover a medium sized city. Interference issues crop up because the pirate broadcaster likely did not have the engineering knowledge or resources to analyze and predict problems in that chain, even if the transmitter is itself quite clean. That's why we have strict broadcast licensing technical requirements almost everywhere in the world.
- ooterness 3y agoSorry, but no. EIRP is actual power plus antenna gain; ERP is the same thing minus 3 dB. By definition, an omni antenna has low gain. Narrow directional antennas will have high gain, resulting in higher EIRP, but would not be suitable for covering a whole city.
- cf100clunk 3y agoI now realize that I should have replaced ''the pirate's rig might even achieve ERP levels in the 6-8kw range if they get lucky'' with ''the pirate's rig might even achieve ERP levels in the 6-8kw range if they get better gear''. Anyway.
- quesera 3y ago> Interference issues crop up because the pirate broadcaster likely did not have the engineering knowledge or resources to analyze and predict problems in that chain In this case, in Boston, the FM band is full. No new licensees can be fit in, due to the dearth of open channels and minimum power regs. So any pirate is likely to be stepping on someone. Maybe not in protected contours, but I'm willing to bet that the complainants are not actually measuring interference anyway.
- JKCalhoun 3y agoI miss the serendipity of radio when driving though. Thinking of some tech where low-power transmitters around the city could packet-dump compressed audio to some kind of car receiver that would then play, at a specified time/schedule, audio content (podcasts, music, etc.). The car receiver could indicate which channel/content you prefer and then passing a transmitter would dump you the day's-worth of compressed content for that day's schedule.
- sotix 3y agoSerendipity is such a joy, and I’m enjoying it with my custom tv channels I set up in my house with my content. I think the direction we are heading with AI (Radiant, Spotify) allows for custom tailored radio stations using our music preferences to bring back that sense of serendipity while also having a host to introduce the content. But I really like your idea! Human-curated content with analog devices is an area I am a fan of.
- JKCalhoun 3y agoHa ha, I have my own TV station at home as well. A 5TB drive attached to a Raspberry Pi means no network required. The software I wrote for it though still eaves a lot to be desired.
- sgath92 3y ago> on low power AM broadcasting The FCC's actions are public documents and published on their website. Its not a coincidence that the ONLY actions the FCC takes for pirate stations have to do with FM or TV. Try finding -any- instance where someone was fined for an AM pirate station in the last 20 years. People with part15 AM transmitters or signal generators have to go out of their way to get the attention of the feds.