Unid Pirate

Re. https://mediumwave.info/2023/09/11/pirate-unid/
The station on 1620Khz, is not on the air tonight, but I have heard Dutch Pirates on the Freq, one in particular where the Dj has a deep voice and has a laboured voice, does not sound Professional.
Looking through the WRTV Handbook, the only other stations using this Freq are in Cuba, although Dutch Pirates, Greek Pirates ,and Serbian Pirates use Freqs between 1600Khz to 1650Khz.
Good reception from Brittany tonight on 1593Khz. Radio North star in Bergen comes in well sometimes on 1611Khz. The top end of the MW band is like SW at night, so is possible for radio signals to travel over these distances under good conditions.

Rgds Mike Simmonds (2023-09-11)

Pirate Unid

The pirate on 1620 is on again tonight (Sunday EDT).  I heard them already on when I tuned in around 2034 EDT (0034 UTC).  So far they appear to broadcast every Sunday night although mostly they start closer to 2100 EDT (0100 UTC).  Tonight they are coming in with a fair to good signal, which is pretty typical at my location, but fades are quite deep.  Still playing the usual 1950s to 1970s easy listening/pop music with no ID or announcements.
Interestingly enough they were not on last Sunday (Sept. 3).  This was a holiday long weekend both in the U.S. and here in Canada so maybe they took that weekend off.
SDRplay RSPdx with SDRuno; Cross Country Wireless LAA++ active loop.

John Hudak,   VE3CXB near Hamilton, ON to irca iog (2023-09-11)

Poland

Pirate radio in Poland explored.
In this episode of The Debrief, we meet radio historian Dr Urszula Doliwa from the University of Warmia and Mazury.

The history of pirate radio in Poland is slightly different to the stories many know about the famous pirate stations of the 1960s and 70s such as Radio Caroline. Here, pirate radio was more a fight for free speech than looking for the latest music trends…

Listen to podcast here: https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/pirate-radio-in-poland-explored-40080

Mike Terry to WOR iog (2023-07-24)

Greece

Greek AM-pirates picked up outdoors with an XH Data D-808 + Tecsun AN 200 (induction)
QTH: Mavrovuoni, Gytheio, s.Peleponessos
17-18 June, around 22:00, local summertime (GMT+3), plenty of local QRN-noise, almost all with nonstop laikes music

801 heard both nights
846 greek pop music
882 both nights, phone number
972 laikes  
1044 strong signal, heard also in Athens
1125 live px, phone number, messages, DJ with echo, ID: “Radio …..”  ( may have been Miniwatt?)
1188 laikes
1206 both nights
1224 laikes
1233 laikes
1287 laikes, ads (?)
1386 laikes
1395 strong signal
1440 both nights, strong signal
1476 + arab-QRM
1512 laikes
1530 laikes
1539 both nights
1548 laikes
1557 laikes
1602 laikes
1611 laikes

Lars-Olof Franzén (2023-06-24)

United Kingdom

Big L Radio London 1206 kHz Felixstowe 29 July – 14 Aug.
Big L Radio London is being promoted at https://www.biglradiolondon.co.uk/ (including on 1206 kHz medium wave and online) 24hrs a day, 29 July – 14 August.

Broadcasting not from a ship but from studios in a red bus in the car park of Felixstowe’s Spa Pavilion on the seafront, the station is being run by Ray Anderson / RadioFab and the Spa Pavilion.
“Part sponsored by RadioFab.Com – Big L Radio London is back on the air this summer for a special 17 day broadcast!
This OFCOM licensed RSL will bring back the great sound of this popular station. Playing all the hits from the ‘Pirate Radio’ years with many of the famous Deejays from the past!
You can tune in on 1206 kHz or find out more at www.biglradiolondon.co.uk ” (RadioFab.com Facebook)

The station coincides with other offshore radio nostalgia events at the Spa Pavilion that weekend:

On the 12th August see ‘Roger “Twiggy” Day’s Pirate Radio Hits Show’ on stage at The Spa Pavilion Felixstowe with Dave Berry, Vanity Fare and Chris Farlowe.
https://thelittleboxoffice.com/spapavilion/event/view/37875 (£26)
Plus on the 13th August The “Radio Days – 2023 Pirate Radio Conference” with Deejays and fans – Talks & Discussions with Susan Moore – daughter of the Radio City bosses Reg & Dorothy Calvert, Norman Barrington’s Pirate Radio Jingles Extravaganza plus talks on Radio Caroline, RNI & Radio Laser. https://thelittleboxoffice.com/spapavilion/event/view/180504 (£25)
This is followed by a ‘Pirates Banquet 3 course Meal’ with after dinner speakers. Your chance to hear some of the amusing stories from the days of ‘watery wireless’! (Spa Restaurant 01394 336 336 – £45)
The following day on the 14th August, which is the 56th anniversary of the passing of the ‘Marine Offences Act’ – we shall be taking ‘The Last Tender’ – a fast vessel with the Deejays to lay memorial reefs at sea, close to where the original MV Caroline, MV Laissez Faire, MV Galaxy and MV Mi Amigo were anchored. You can tune in and hear live commentary on 1206 kHz as Radio London will transmit a special programme called ‘Voices From The Sea’ together with the Deejay voices and songs from the past from the relevant stations.”

(www.biglradiolondon.co.uk via Felixstowe & Offshore Radio Facebook page and Alan Pennington, bdxc-news)

WOR iog (2023-06-21)

Greece

Greek pirate Radio Ekfrasi 1431.
1431 Radio Ekfrasi 26/5  1631 with nice old songs the presenter has a very nice radio voice. For around 20 minutes he only advised for dedications and salutations to  his listeners  Songs were quite good until 1635 then lowered the music quality to ‘heavier’ folk songs but after 1655  he returned to good songs.  

2×15 khz wide signal with 55+SNR signal  -75/-130db floor  

I stopped the SDR and continued  to listen via a portable Tecsun radio (signal 40/25) just in case  he advised any more personal info till the end of the program.  He didn’t notice any info.

Zacharias Liangas to mwcircle iog (2023-05-27)

Ireland

40th anniversary of Irish pirate raids.
It’s 40 years this week since a major clampdown on Irish pirate radio when Dublin stations Radio Nova and Sunshine Radio were raided by the authorities. Due to the high power of Radio Nova in particular, both stations were heard on the west coast of Britain on AM and sometimes on FM. Listen back here to recordings of that dramatic period on the Irish pirate radio archive Pirate.ie by clicking here:
https://pirate.ie/archive/tags/1983-raids/

Forwarded from John Walsh. bdxc-news May 19th via WOR iog (2023-05-23)

United States

In Pirate Hunt, FCC Puts the Focus on Landlords.
The FCC has been deploying new tactics to pursue pirate radio offenders, targeting the owners and landlords of properties where illegal signals are being emitted. But it’s too soon to tell how well the strategy is working.

A review of a commission database as of September shows that the frequency of enforcement actions has seemingly increased this year after a pandemic in which agents had to cut back on field time chasing signal complaints. 

The FCC does have a bigger hammer to deploy now. The Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement (PIRATE) Act, signed by President Trump in January 2020, has been “a helpful tool” in the fight against illegal broadcasters, according to the commission. It gives the FCC authority to levy fines of up to $100,000 per violation and up to $2 million total.

Stronger penalties and “the fact that those penalties can now be applied to landlords and others who help illegal broadcasters is a helpful deterrent,” according to an FCC spokesperson. The new law “is a strong tool when we warn those that are facilitating illegal broadcasting, who are then incentivized to stop the pirate radio operations on their property.”

However, no forfeitures have been assessed under the act.

“To date, due to pandemic-related restrictions, as well as lack of funding to implement the PIRATE Act until earlier in 2022, no forfeitures have been assessed” under the act, the spokesperson said.

In early 2021 the head of the Enforcement Bureau noted that Congress had not yet provided additional funding for implementing the act even though the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cost $11 million to do so.

The act requires the FCC to take further steps, such as mandatory sweeps of the top five cities with the highest concentrations of pirates — typically New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas — and the creation of a public database that lists all entities that have received notice they are operating a broadcast station with proper authority. The database was one of the items for which the commission lacked funding.

A summary of the commission’s FY2022 budget discusses proposed hiring in connection with the new law, but the FCC does not comment on personnel matters, according to the spokesperson. 

As autumn arrived Congress was considering a $390 million FCC proposal for FY2023, which was to begin on Oct. 1, but the legislators instead passed a continuing resolution, giving themselves until mid-December to finalize a budget.

The proposed amount could allow the FCC to hire as many as 15 new full-time employees to work on anti-pirate initiatives.

The commission declined to answer specific questions about current efforts, “since we do not comment publicly on the details of enforcement sweeps or other investigative techniques in order not to compromise the effectiveness of its enforcement efforts.”

It declined to provide Radio World with a copy of its annual PIRATE Act report, which it submitted to Congress earlier this year, deferring questions to the relevant congressional subcommittee. A request for interview with Loyaan Egal, acting chief of the Enforcement Bureau, was declined.   

But recent public notices indicate that the FCC is actively using its new landlord authority now. 

In a recent instance, field agents traced an FM signal to a property in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City. The property, which is owned by Paul Wilfrid, is on 229th Street. He received the following notice: “You are hereby notified and warned that the FCC may issue a fine of up to $2,149,551 if, following the response period, we determine that you have continued to permit any individual or entity to engage in pirate radio broadcasting from the property that you own or manage.”

Wilfrid was told to respond with evidence he was no longer allowing illegal broadcasts to originate from his property.

A similar notice was delivered to Michelle Hepburn of Yonkers, N.Y., also this summer. The letter stated: “Agents from the New York Office confirmed by direction-finding techniques that radio signals on frequency 104.5 MHz were emanating from your property at 159 South 13th Avenue, Mount Vernon, N.Y.” 

Again the letter indicated that fines of over $2 million could kick in if the broadcasts didn’t cease. Another letter in July went to the owners of a property in the Bronx where a signal on 105.7 MHz was emanating. The FCC followed in September with notifications warning property owners of alleged pirate operations in places like Brentwood, N.Y., Battle Creek, Mich., and Beltsville, Md.   

If forfeitures eventually are levied but not collected, PIRATE Act cases are referred to the Justice Department or Treasury as governed by section 504 of the Communications Act. But for years, broadcasters have complained that such cases frequently are not prosecuted.

The most recent forfeiture order in the FCC database was in in June 2020. In that case, Gerald Sutton of Alma, Ark., was issued a civil penalty of $10,000 for operating an unlicensed pirate radio station. It’s not clear from FCC recordkeeping whether that fine was collected.

But in some cases the threat of large fines seems to be effective. The FCC in 2019 issued Notices of Apparent Liability against several alleged pirate broadcasters in the Boston area, including one for $450,000 against Gerlens Cesar, operator of Radio TeleBoston. Cesar eventually entered into a consent decree with the commission in which he admitted he violated the FCC’s rules and agreed to pay a civil penalty of $5,000. He also agreed to pay $225,000 in additional fines if further violations occur.    

By Randy J. Stine
Published October 17, 2022 in RADIO WORLD (2022-10-18)