87.7 Pirate "Hot 97 Boston" Covering More Grounds Than Ever Now

[necrat123]

They could boost it to 50,000 watts and it's not going to hit Rhode Island. The current location is so low that the Blue Hill site completley blocks the signal to the south-southwest.

 

[radiorama1]

We grateful for all the love you showin of the Hot97 broaadcast on 87.7 WPOT. We got 100000 listeners and we bout to get more when we boosted the antenna to 5000 watts. WPOT be the #1 Boston station no one else comes close.

5,000 watts? (!) Isn't this unprecedented for a pirate station? Is there no line they will not cross... sounds to me like they are playing a game of "chicken" with the F.C.C.

 

[rapking]

We grateful for all the love you showin of the Hot97 broaadcast on 87.7 WPOT. We got 100000 listeners and we bout to get more when we boosted the antenna to 5000 watts. WPOT be the #1 Boston station no one else comes close.

5,000 watts? (!) Isn't this unprecedented for a pirate station? Is there no line they will not cross... sounds to me like they are playing a game of "chicken" with the F.C.C.

F.C.C. Shut down a Pirate station in Boston ? Nevermind ! F.C.C. cant shut there own door. Pirate stations RULES !!!!!

 

[Tom Wells]

We grateful for all the love you showin of the Hot97 broaadcast on 87.7 WPOT. We got 100000 listeners and we bout to get more when we boosted the antenna to 5000 watts. WPOT be the #1 Boston station no one else comes close.

5,000 watts? (!) Isn't this unprecedented for a pirate station? Is there no line they will not cross... sounds to me like they are playing a game of "chicken" with the F.C.C.

F.C.C. Shut down a Pirate station in Boston ? Nevermind ! F.C.C. cant shut there own door. Pirate stations RULES !!!!!

Have you ever seen a Notice of Apparent Liability? I assure you, when you do, you'll notice.

If you have 10,000 dollars laying around, the FCC will want that. If you don't, they'll garnish.
Not caring about the FCC is foolish. If they want to find you, they'll find you. Enjoy the present, for the future is iffy.
I was lucky to have field agents who had a wee bit of respect that I had built my own transmitter and they took nothing.
My fine was 1000 dollars, but that was 1991. It costs a bit more to play the game now.

If you are truly a pirate, and are not at all worried about your "future", have at it. But don't say no one told you so.

 

[beantownradio25]

They could boost it to 50,000 watts and it's not going to hit Rhode Island. The current location is so low that the Blue Hill site completley blocks the signal to the south-southwest.

Very true. At first I as well as others thought they had a directional antenna, but Great Blue Hill shields their signal to the South, and makes this pirate notably weak on the South Shore compared to their North Shore coverage.

 

[raccoonradio]

The FCC recently was a little sympathetic and reduced the fine for one particular pir-- er, undocumented broadcaster-- from $10k to $2.5 k citing an inability to pay.

I would hope indeed that some kind of garnishment would be in order or at least have the friendly folks at
the IRS deal with them ("Iris here! Your IRS helper.* Listen...I know you really want to serve your community with
an illegal radio station, but it's against FCC regulations. Now the IRS and the FCC are teaming up to offer
you a payment plan for your fine...")

*--current PSA campaign

----
http://www.rbr.com/radio/18245.html
>>Grover’s contention that he was unaware that his station was illegal of course did not wash with the FCC, who hit him with the standard $10K fine. However, he was able to demonstrate his inability to pay that much, and the FCC reduced the fine to $2.5K.

 

[w9wi]

F.C.C. Shut down a Pirate station in Boston ? Nevermind ! F.C.C. cant shut there own door. Pirate stations RULES !!!!!

I'm a bit surprised I've never heard of a licensed broadcaster filing a civil lawsuit against a pirate. Especially in cases (like when WPOT was still on 97.5, or the "Streetz 96.5" case in Newark) where massive interference to a licensed station results. Indeed, in the latter case I would think* a restraining order would be possible. If such an order were ignored, local police action against the pirate would be a possibility.

I suppose in many cases the pirate doesn't have enough recoverable assets to cover the legal costs. Wouldn't bet on that being universally applicable.

* disclaimer: I'm an engineer, not a lawyer...

 

[AckDX]

They could boost it to 50,000 watts and it's not going to hit Rhode Island. The current location is so low that the Blue Hill site completely blocks the signal to the south-southwest.

So true. Blue hill does have that nice blocking power. I guess that's why I can get a legal station WCOD-FM on the south shore.

 

[Don Juan]

F.C.C. Shut down a Pirate station in Boston ? Nevermind ! F.C.C. cant shut there own door. Pirate stations RULES !!!!!

I'm a bit surprised I've never heard of a licensed broadcaster filing a civil lawsuit against a pirate.

I think most licensed broadcasters would not want to give more publicity to the pirate operator in question.

Also, the pirate would then play up the role of the martyr....."look at that big company trying to shut down "our" community radio station!"

 

[MickeyD]

F.C.C. Shut down a Pirate station in Boston ? Nevermind ! F.C.C. cant shut there own door. Pirate stations RULES !!!!!

I'm a bit surprised I've never heard of a licensed broadcaster filing a civil lawsuit against a pirate. Especially in cases (like when WPOT was still on 97.5, or the "Streetz 96.5" case in Newark) where massive interference to a licensed station results. Indeed, in the latter case I would think* a restraining order would be possible. If such an order were ignored, local police action against the pirate would be a possibility.

I suppose in many cases the pirate doesn't have enough recoverable assets to cover the legal costs. Wouldn't bet on that being universally applicable.

* disclaimer: I'm an engineer, not a lawyer...

With today's attitude towards large radio group owned stations it would give a David and Goliath appearance and who exactly would you sue? You would end up with a transmitter and some audio equipment. It is the FCC's job but Congress is light on support could be they want to eliminate it. I have no idea what they would replace it with though another government agency?