Pirate radio stations, are there any left out there?

[2cvbloke]

I'm just curious about whether there's still pirate stations out there, hi-jacking the airwaves? There's certainly not a single one round here...

And what'll they do once the analogue stuff dissapears? It'll be pretty difficult to get any decent frequencies without the digital stuff getting in the way!!!

 

[Analoguesat]

There are dozens operating in London - its so bad now that they are wiping out reception of the legit stations in some areas!

Most of the big cities have some activity

 

[dig deep]

and on the net billions of them

 

[PaulR]

and on the net billions of them

Billions?

I've told you a million times not to exagerate...

 

[2cvbloke]

There are dozens operating in London - its so bad now that they are wiping out reception of the legit stations in some areas!

Most of the big cities have some activity

I bet ofcom are having a field day in London then, ripping down all of the dipole antennas...

 

[rolfw]

Trouble is that as soon as the Home Office investigators take them down, they put another one up, it is only if they can confiscate the transmitter that they gain a partial victory.

In many cases where the antenna is on the roof of a block of flats, it is only a relay, they use microwave equipment and an LNB on the roof to receive the remote stream, have seen many such setups when working on headends.

It appalled me to see in some cases how little they considered the residents in the block they were using, often tearing down the UHF TV antenna, to use the mast for their own dipole.

 

[2cvbloke]

Trouble is that as soon as the Home Office investigators take them down, they put another one up, it is only if they can confiscate the transmitter that they gain a partial victory.

In many cases where the antenna is on the roof of a block of flats, it is only a relay, they use microwave equipment and an LNB on the roof to receive the remote stream, have seen many such setups when working on headends.

It appalled me to see in some cases how little they considered the residents in the block they were using, often tearing down the UHF TV antenna, to use the mast for their own dipole.

Yeah, the Microwave link is one of the more crafty ways of keeping your audio equipment, but they must earn a lot of money in order to replace the antennas and the receiver-ends of the links, unless they have an endless supply of old Blue cap LNBs and modified satellite receiver tuners...

Yes, I do know how to set one up, but I wont as there's little financial gain from doing so...

 

[Turok]

,in italy,it is perfect,everyone,can open his own ukw/tv station,i was in neaples,visit ing friends,some,in the main center area,has his own tv channels,the complete spectrum is full

reglimentation is good,but not to many i think!

how many mw i fm transmitter,in ukw,is allowed,to operate?
0,1?
for range,in the own house?

 

[2cvbloke]

,in italy,it is perfect,everyone,can open his own ukw/tv station,i was in neaples,visit ing friends,some,in the main center area,has his own tv channels,the complete spectrum is full

reglimentation is good,but not to many i think!

how many mw i fm transmitter,in ukw,is allowed,to operate?
0,1?
for range,in the own house?

Sounds fun over there, running your own TV station!!!

As for the power of transmitters here, I'm not too sure of the legal ones, but running your own FM station is completely illegal, only little MP3 FM transmitters are legal as they have a very limited range as they're for use in cars mainly...

 

[chucklebezza]

But are there any pirate radio stations based on the water like the good old days?

 

[Turok]

how,much you pay,when freqency comsion,catch a private station,with out licence,in austria i think between 1500€ and 2000€

are the any private stations,on miduim wave?
or in 41 m band?

 

[2cvbloke]

how,much you pay,when freqency comsion,catch a private station,with out licence,in austria i think between 1500€ and 2000€

are the any private stations,on miduim wave?
or in 41 m band?

I think the fines are pretty hefty, but I don't know how much. But most pirate stations, of not using the Microwave links, have all equipment seized, if using the links then it's just the antenna and microwave receiver that are taken away...

As for medium wave, I only have 1 radio that has that band available, but I hardly ever use it these days so I don't know what's going on with MW...

 

[2cvbloke]

Here we go, Pirate radio station operators, if caught can face

an unlimited fine and/or two years in prison, plus
anyone convicted of an offence is barred from working on a legal station for 5 years

So, being a pirate is a risky business...

 

[drunken-monkey]

if the legal stations played what ppl wanted rather than the same old rubbish , we wuddnt need pirates, & when fm goes completly digital, i think the pirates will spring up every where as there will be thousands of anoluge radios with no legal stns in the way, uk gov shud make it cheaper & easyer to broadcast, other countys are far more easyer & cheaper than uk,

 

[Analoguesat]

But are there any pirate radio stations based on the water like the good old days?

None in Europe, and I think the last Israeli one has gone too.

Of the famous ships from the radioship era:

MV Peace (Voice of Peace - Israel) was deliberately sunk at sea
Ross Revenge (Radio Caroline - North Sea) preserved and undergoing heavy maintenance
MV Communicator (Laser 558 - North Sea) scrapped this summer in Orkney
Mi Amigo (Radio Caroline - North Sea) Sank in a storm after running aground 20/3/80. Mast remained visible until mid 1986, remains later reported blown up as a shipping hazard (!)
MV Galaxy (Radio London - North Sea) Sank in Kiel harbour 1975, used as underwater welding practise, scrapped 1986
Mebo II (RNI - North Sea) Sold to Libyan Navy, sank in 1984 after being used for target practise

 

[T_G]

Here are some serious questions to consider on this subject:
1) If a legal Station have all their workers wear pirate costumes with hooks, wooden legs and parrots, does this make it a pirate station?
2) If real bad ass pirates start to broadcast music from their pirate ship (or wherever their lair is), is it then called a "pirate pirate Station"?

 

[Analoguesat]

Just to confuse things further there is a legal station in Redruth called Pirate FM, and BBC Essex runs occasional "Pirate Radio Essex" celebrations

 

[chrisy t]

Yeah, the Microwave link is one of the more crafty ways of keeping your audio equipment, but they must earn a lot of money in order to replace the antennas and the receiver-ends of the links, unless they have an endless supply of old Blue cap LNBs and modified satellite receiver tuners...

Yes, I do know how to set one up, but I wont as there's little financial gain from doing so...

Remote links are common place in nearly all established pirates. Few broadcast direct and these are normally kids who come on for a night to impress their mates!

Microwave is popular, as was band 1 and 3 but these are used less due to their easy method of tracking - its not just Ofcom that come looking for you!!

I don't know one single FM pirate that has used blue caps for studio links. They all use gunn modules at the studio end(shfmicro.com for more info) and standard lnbs at the transmitter site or mid point (before its remote linked again!). Transmitters vary in price from £150 to £350 depending on power and the engineer. Aerials vary in price as do the design (dipole, jbeam, 5/8).

Many pirates struggle to break even but there are a few that make a living - not by selling/ promoting drugs but by their passion for music and sending it to the public that aren't served by the BBC or local stations (who are all owned by the same 2/3 companies!!).

Obviously a pro pirates point of view! ;)

 

[dig deep]

Before we had commercial radio here in Sweden we had a few Pirates

One was operating from a ship, just outside the 3 miles border

But the pirates of today have bigger problem, all stations can now ask for (and obtain) a licens.

Here in Sweden U can get a local radio licens (less than 500W) and it will be allowed to transmit and also sell ads so U can (perhaps) live on the work

Anyway, radio is more than dead If U find a good station then it is sending more ads than music

Long live the Original Pirate Radio Station

 

[T_G]

When I was a kid there used to be a pirate station operating in the international waters off the Israeli coast. It was called "Kol Hashalom" (The voice of Peace). The guy behind it was Abe Nathan, and the broadcast was mainly English, with a peace message. Anyone wants to now the tecnical details of the transmitters and studio equipemnt have a look here: h**p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_peace

It operated for 20 years or so, so they were very successful pirates...