Connecticut pirates

[TPO]

An FCC inspector told me about ten years ago that Connecticut had a reputation as a hotbed of pirate radio activity. I can personally recall a number of "significant" pirates that operated in the seventies and eighties, including WKOB 1200 in New Britain, Radio 1040 in Kensington, WYBS 88.9 in Hartford, WFCC 1150 in Hartford, WHVY from Manchester with up to 250 watts(!) and of course WPRT which operated on numerous frequencies from several locations including Manchester and W. Hartford (they even have their own web site).
More recently, the list includes Praize FM 105.3 in Bloomfield and several ethnic pirates who operate between 1600 and 1700.
Anyone care to venture a guess why there was so much pirate activity in the state?

 

[wxctintern]

105.3 Prayze-FM was back on earlier this year. They were simulcast on the SAP Channel of WUVN Channel 18.

And there was also that hip-hop pirate on 99.5 FM.

Although I don't think they are 1620 in Hartford claims they're Part 15. They're Spanish Religious. They're the flagship station of Radio Avivamiento. Stations that are part of this also include WSGG 89.3 in Norfolk, a 98.3 Translator in Meriden, and a 89.7 translator in Talcottville. <a href="http://www.radioavivamiento.com/">Radio Avivamiento</a>. They started as a pirate on 97.1 in the late 1990s.<P ID="signature">______________
~Jay Clark~
</P>

 

[DJKraze]

> 105.3 Prayze-FM was back on earlier this year. They were
> simulcast on the SAP Channel of WUVN Channel 18.
>
> And there was also that hip-hop pirate on 99.5 FM.
>
> Although I don't think they are 1620 in Hartford claims
> they're Part 15. They're Spanish Religious. They're the
> flagship station of Radio Avivamiento. Stations that are
> part of this also include WSGG 89.3 in Norfolk, a 98.3
> Translator in Meriden, and a 89.7 translator in
> Talcottville. Radio Avivamiento. They started as a pirate on
> 97.1 in the late 1990s.
>

What hip-hop pirate on 99.5? that's my sirius radio tuned to one of the urban channels between 40 & 50. (though lately I'm getting some unmodulated signal that actually blocks the frequency enough that my sirius is soon going to another frequency).

But seriously, the only pirate I hear on 99.5 these days is called WNFR and is definitly not a hip-hop station (I can't ID the dead carrier). Nor do they hold back much on content, withing the last few months I heard uncensored Rodney Dangerfield amongst other things.

They also have a thing for plate reverb, and old radio airchecks.

Isn't there a rule about pirate broadcasters not being allowed to obtain legal licenses? I wonder how Radio Avivamiento and the folks over at WBCQ in Maine (shortwave) got past that.

 

[wxctintern]

Kraze,

My post says was. Was is past tence. There was a hip-hop pirate on 99.5 years ago in the late 1990s. Come to think of it I was talking to Paul Walker on Aol Instant Messenger last night about that pirate and he said he thought you ran it.

Jay<P ID="signature">______________
~Jay Clark~
</P>

 

[DJKraze]

> Kraze,
>
> My post says was. Was is past tence. There was a hip-hop
> pirate on 99.5 years ago in the late 1990s. Come to think of
> it I was talking to Paul Walker on Aol Instant Messenger
> last night about that pirate and he said he thought you ran
> it.
>
> Jay
>

I was being tounge-in-cheek... note the "But seriously" on the begining on the second paragraph.

I do know the station you speak of quite well, I've spent many hours sitting in the on-air chair there, but I did not set it up, however, I know who did.

Sitting in a studio doesn't always mean you run a station, I'm possibly the only person here who has set foot in, let alone seen the WKOB 1200 AM studio, but I had nothing to do with it. Back door of the building/station entrance (now a parking area) used to have a slogan on it. Something like "The best music on the radio, until the FCC found out", hard to remember the exact quote after nearly 30 years

The one thing I have done and continue to do is run the internet version of the station which is a live365 station. (look for "Jammin 99.5")

I don't think it was a pirate though, just a well-done part 15 (I know there are those who will dispute that, I can only say what I know). The modulator, which was never altered, is a Drake FMC 1000 and the specs are shown at the following web page...

http://www.rldrake.com/catv/fmc1000.html

As many a Ham will tell you a good antenna does wonders, and as small as it was it got out pretty well though I had trouble getting it down the street from the station, my Sanyo plug-n-play Sirus radio with built in transmitter gets out further (I've tracked that up to half a mile) and that's out of the package.

If that PNP radio is illegal, then there's alot of people unknowingly broadcasting illegaly out there.

Speaking of which I had to run out to New Britain a couple of hours ago and I had my PNP radio with me, I was running the wiers and noticed at times as the wipers hit a certain point on the windsheild, the signal on the radio got static. So I turned it off, and there was WNFR but without the signature plate reverb. I heard Rubber Band Man Segue into YMCA when I reached my destination and turned the car off. I got back to the car just as they were playing some kind of goodnight song and about 60 seconds after the song finished, the carrier dropped (about 10:03pm) Hey, can I get a QSL card?

 

[TPO]

Re: Connecticut pirates WKOB

WKOB sure had a nice set up when they were at the youth center on Main St in New Britain. I was amazed that they could get out so well with such an unusual antenna (a piece of wire strung around the building attached to a CB antenna on the roof!) I could hear them fairly well on a communications receiver in Hartford during the day.
Their original set up, from the operator's house on Shuttle Meadow Rd in the same town got out better. I believe the antenna was a 50' or so vertical sitting on a soda bottle!
Friends reminded me of two additional pirates that were on in the Hartford area in the seventies. WNR, who for some reason called themselves "The Rock of Detroit," operated on AM out of Simsbury on 1570 I think. They had professional jingles and the studio had a Cetek professional board and modern cart machines. The transmitter was war surplus, putting out 150 watts into a vertical.
And then there was WSTR from the Elmwood section of W. Htfd with a very tight top-40 format on 91.9 I think.