Below band signals in BMT

[ContinuousWave]

Driving on I10 in BMT today...and heard a stereo signal on 87.9 !!! and NO it was not a car FM modulator...it had what sounded like network programming/spots on it!!...it was only in for 3 miles or so....(north of College and then lost it north of Delaware on 69/96/287.....)

Heard it as I drove back so its stationary.......also heard a COUPLE of carriers on 87.7...one stereo with some audio but a mono was covering it and had no audio....time to go a DFing...they are doing MORE than Part 15 allows (and Part 15 does not allow that much outside the 88-108 range anyway...if the FCC office in BMT was still opened, they would not last long...especially when Barry Nadler was the EIC.....the CBers were scared of him back in the 70s!! When he left for Florida and Joe Coleman came in from Kingsville, the CBers sighed relief..and Joe was too busy with marine and other issues anyway; So was Barry but he hunted them on weekends!!!)

 

[93QClassic.com]

Ah yes, the lonely frequency of 87.9 MHz. While it sits at the top of the VHF Low Band at the edge of Channel 6, it is also channel 200 in the FCC table for the FM band.

In other countries, 87.9 is regularly used for FM broadcasting. Here in the USA, however, there have only been two or three licenses issued for this channel, and the criteria to get one is stringent. Per Doug Smith, a TV station engineer in Tennessee, this is the legal criteria to get a license for 87.9:

– You must be a “Class D” station. (there are only 100 left. No new ones have been authorized since 1978.)
– You can’t find any technically suitable channel above 92MHz.
– You’re at least 402km from the Canadian border (250mi.) and 320km from Mexico. (199mi.)
– You won’t interfere with any station on 88.1, 88.3, or 88.5.
– You won’t interfere with any channel 6 TV station. (that was a LOT harder to show before digital TV came along)

Not that this has discouraged pirates, since in many areas 87.7 and 87.9 are the only open frequencies one can use without (1) receiving interference from licensed stations, and more importantly (2) causing interference to a licensed station. I know of at least two pirates on the east coast operating on 87.9, one with over 1KW of power, that have been on the air for two years. They have websites, Facebook pages, and are professionally run.

Interference complaints are what drive the FCC. If you are a licensed station on 94.1, and a pirate starts splattering on top of you, the FCC will quickly alleviate that. If a pirate gives it a go at 107.9 and puts splatter on the adjacent aircraft band, the FCC will be on that quicker than O’ Continuous One can do the Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

The FCC regularly receives complaints about pirates, but has neither the manpower nor funds in its shrinking budget to go chasing after all of them. Unless there is a complaint – and it is a legitimate complaint that an FCC field agent can verify, mind you – of interference, the FCC pretty much takes a wait and see approach. Pirate stations seldom make money; most fade away in a month or two as pirates finish having their fun. For the few that persist longer, the field agent will do some paperwork in the form of a Notice of Violation and apparent liability (e.g., a monetary fine). They’ll send the pirate what amounts to a bill – acceptable payment methods include money orders, cashiers checks, and/or credit cards. This will scare most people; they shut things down, and the FCC never bothers to try to collect.

Noteworthy is that there are two states where pirate broadcasting is punishable by jail time. Everywhere else it’s a fine – albeit a fine the FCC never bothers to collect. Eventually, after a year or two of legal wrangling, they’ll send in the Gestapo to shut it down.

 

[93QClassic.com]

Driving on I10 in BMT today...and heard a stereo signal on 87.9 !!! and NO it was not a car FM modulator...it had what sounded like network programming/spots on it!!...it was only in for 3 miles or so....(north of College and then lost it north of Delaware on 69/96/287.....)

Heard it as I drove back so its stationary.......also heard a COUPLE of carriers on 87.7...one stereo with some audio but a mono was covering it and had no audio....time to go a DFing...they are doing MORE than Part 15 allows (and Part 15 does not allow that much outside the 88-108 range anyway...if the FCC office in BMT was still opened, they would not last long...especially when Barry Nadler was the EIC.....the CBers were scared of him back in the 70s!! When he left for Florida and Joe Coleman came in from Kingsville, the CBers sighed relief..and Joe was too busy with marine and other issues anyway; So was Barry but he hunted them on weekends!!!)

CW... I'm in the hospital today; otherwise I'd take a drive east to check it out. Why don't you get that little Boost Mobile smartphone you've got and record a short video documenting this egregious violation? Then share it on YouTube and post a link here. Then get your field strength meter out and figure out where its coming from. That's how I found the pirate playing disco on 87.9 in central Houston. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLFgjit-FF8&feature=youtu.be

 

[93QClassic.com]

Driving on I10 in BMT today...and heard a stereo signal on 87.9 !!! and NO it was not a car FM modulator...it had what sounded like network programming/spots on it!!...it was only in for 3 miles or so....(north of College and then lost it north of Delaware on 69/96/287.....)

Heard it as I drove back so its stationary.......also heard a COUPLE of carriers on 87.7...one stereo with some audio but a mono was covering it and had no audio....time to go a DFing...they are doing MORE than Part 15 allows (and Part 15 does not allow that much outside the 88-108 range anyway...if the FCC office in BMT was still opened, they would not last long...especially when Barry Nadler was the EIC.....the CBers were scared of him back in the 70s!! When he left for Florida and Joe Coleman came in from Kingsville, the CBers sighed relief..and Joe was too busy with marine and other issues anyway; So was Barry but he hunted them on weekends!!!)

Took a quick drive out I-10 to Beaumont today, but didn't hear anything on 87.9 MHz. On 87.7, for a few minutes, I caught a distant signal calling itself Louisiana's Real Country. A search discovered that there is an actual station called Mustang 87.7 based in Lafayette. http://mustang877.com/page.php?page_id=861 It appears its actually an analog TV license (KXKW-LP) being operated as a radio station. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=33177

Also spoke briefly with Scott Price at Channel 6 KFDM in Beaumont. He wasn't aware of any pirates using 87.7 or 87.9, but will look into it. Even though the TV channel is digital, a pirate using these frequencies in the Beaumont area could cause interference.

 

[stan]

CW, I have heard what sounds like CNN broadcasting on 96.7 in the same area where you were talking about hearing 87.9. This area is basically between College street and the area around KFDM and the Clear Channel studios.

 

[ContinuousWave]

I dont think its Sinclair or iHeart (former crap channel).....but I could be wrong.

I'll ask Richard R at the radio side and Todd T at the TV group via the local SBE mail list...but the signal seems to be strongest south of them...

 

[Mediafrog+]

Also spoke briefly with Scott Price at Channel 6 KFDM in Beaumont. He wasn't aware of any pirates using 87.7 or 87.9, but will look into it. Even though the TV channel is digital, a pirate using these frequencies in the Beaumont area could cause interference.

KFDM transmits on RF Channel 25, so any signals on 87.7 or 87.9 are irrelevant to them.

 

[Mediafrog+]

CW, I have heard what sounds like CNN broadcasting on 96.7 in the same area where you were talking about hearing 87.9. This area is basically between College street and the area around KFDM and the Clear Channel studios.

If you hear TV audio being transmitted on the FM band over a small area, look for a fitness club nearby. Many such places have multiple TV screens with various channels for customers to watch while working out. Instead of a cacophony of sound inside the building, the audio is transmitted on Part 15 FM units for headphone receivers such as iPod Nano or an FM enabled smartphone.

 

[stan]

The Wilton Hebert Wellness center at St. Elizabeth has radio transmitters for their TVs but they are about a block east of I10.

 

[ContinuousWave]

KFDM transmits on RF Channel 25, so any signals on 87.7 or 87.9 are irrelevant to them.

Correct...KPIS-LD is RF 6 but its not on the air....KFDM moved off 6 in June 2009 when its analog went away (Mary Robinson of Groves pushing the TX Off button thanks to then CE Richard Kihn giving her the honor )

 

[ContinuousWave]

If you hear TV audio being transmitted on the FM band over a small area, look for a fitness club nearby. Many such places have multiple TV screens with various channels for customers to watch while working out. Instead of a cacophony of sound inside the building, the audio is transmitted on Part 15 FM units for headphone receivers such as iPod Nano or an FM enabled smartphone.

Good point!!! I may seek out on Saturday daylight while out and about...thanks for the reminder

 

[stan]

You're apparently going to hear interference with KGLK in Beaumont as Kzzb is moving their translator to 107.5, apparently. Between that and the phantom 97.1 translator that was to be built here the fcc has really dropped the ball - again.
http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/f...&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9

 

[ContinuousWave]

HA!!! that translator has never been built and I took pics of the tower....no FM transmit antenna the AGL where they said it is....also it was announced today Martin (who owns KZZB) is buying the translator (are we shocked???) for............Now this is a shocker

$75,000!!!!!

NO WAY its worth it...hell 990 is not worth it either......and last report Martin gave a $250k wanted price for the AM...

Getting paperwork together to file on the sale and to get E String fined and the xlator license revoked!!!! This is a POS and the FCC let it go thru....they dont care...

 

[ContinuousWave]

You're apparently going to hear interference with KGLK in Beaumont as Kzzb is moving their translator to 107.5, apparently. Between that and the phantom 97.1 translator that was to be built here the fcc has really dropped the ball - again.
http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/f...&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9

Stan, this IS the phantom 97.1...just moved sites and freqs!!! So you can see how screwed up it is........what a joke this whole thing is......ESTING Wireless of SA is the owner.......filed a lot of xlators.....and got this one in SE TX.......need to cancel it...it serves NOONE and 107.5 in Liverpool and the 107.5 out of Lake Charles throw enough RF into BMT...

time to do some target practice with a drone......hehehehe

 

[93QClassic.com]

Driving on I10 in BMT today...and heard a stereo signal on 87.9 !!! and NO it was not a car FM modulator...it had what sounded like network programming/spots on it!!...it was only in for 3 miles or so....(north of College and then lost it north of Delaware on 69/96/287.....)

Drove around Beaumont this afternoon. The TV news audio feed signal on 87.9 MHz is so weak and in and out that its really hard to pinpoint the source. My strongest reception point was on Louisiana Street right behind the Midtown Inn. It strong enough not to be legal Part 15, but its not on a frequency that will cause anybody interference. Its weak enough that nobody cares about it except specific listeners trying to get it. Definitely not anything to call the radio cops about. I say let it be.

 

[93QClassic.com]

Definitely not anything to call the radio cops about.

Speaking of "radio cops," I think a lot of you will get a good laugh from this rare Classic 93Q video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHA2VT9x9cg

Enjoy.

/s/ Joe

 

[ContinuousWave]

Stan, this IS the phantom 97.1...just moved sites and freqs!!! So you can see how screwed up it is........what a joke this whole thing is......ESTING Wireless of SA is the owner.......filed a lot of xlators.....and got this one in SE TX.......need to cancel it...it serves NOONE and 107.5 in Liverpool and the 107.5 out of Lake Charles throw enough RF into BMT...

time to do some target practice with a drone......hehehehe

Actually called COXs lawyer (Cooley LLP) In DC...talked to one of the senior members and offered him my photos and sworn deposition to file against the 107.5 License (too late for the CP) and sale to Martin......another lying radio preacher!! (I met several FORMER employees from 990....oh they did not have good words to say about the coke snorting rev either!!!)

BUT also working on my own paperwork to file...when I can find the time...OK I HAVE GOT to wash clothes!!!

 

[ContinuousWave]

ONE last thing..for those on FB, join the "I LOVE PICTURES OF TRANSMITTER SITES" and "I LOVE AM RADIO" groups...

Lots of discussions and pics there.......(maybe even me!! )

Also for those interested in two way radio, a group was just recently formed to coexist with the Yahoogroup mail list of almost 30 yrs of existence.......lot of people were wanting one..

NOW on to the washer...