1620 WICR in Queens, NYC - Part 15 or Pirate?

[satech]

I noticed on Wikipedia's list of radio stations in the New York City market is 1620 "WICR", a Caribbean format station in Richmond Hill, Queens:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WICR_(AM)

On their web site they proclaim to be "North America's first Worldwide Indo-Caribbean Radio Channel broadcasting locally on an assigned AM terrestrial frequency of 1620 KHz and transmitting in (HD)":

http://www.icrradio.com/

Regardless if they are a legal, unlicensed 100 mW Part 15 microbroadcaster or a pirate using a higher power level and/or a larger antenna, the claim to be broadcasting "in HD" is amusing, as HD Radio's digital coverage at such a low power level would be practically non-existant!

And for the record, the only real WICR in the FCC database is an FM station on 88.7 MHz in Indianapolis, IN.

 

[WNTIRadio]

The "HD" carriers would be at about 10mW at the most. Of course, I'm sure iBiquity would love to get hold of someone using their patents without paying the licensing fees. Would probably get them shut down more quickly than the FCC.

More likely, they're just using the term "HD" because it sounds official.+

Has anyone copied the station while in the area??

 

[AlNYRadio]

Here in Southern BK, no signal at all as of 8 PM last night!

 

[secondchoice]

According to FCC website there is no station licensed to the State New York on 1620 but there is an application (no construction permit yet) for 1620AM for Toms River.NJ.

http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=87149

 

[satech]

According to FCC website there is no station licensed to the State New York on 1620 but there is an application (no construction permit yet) for 1620AM for Toms River.NJ.

http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=87149

That was WJRZ(AM), the planned sister station to 100.1 WJRZ-FM... originally supposed to be on 1550 kHz but before the station ever got built they applied for an Expanded Band license in hopes of putting it on 1620 kHz instead. But as the New Jersey AM Radio History web site says, "With financial difficulties and zoning problems with their antenna system continuing, the station's CP was cancelled on September 14, 1995." The Expanded Band allocation for 1620 kHz remains assigned to WJRZ, but for all intents and purposes the station is dead and will never be revived.