More FM Pirates in Brockton Now Than Ever

[jlehmann]

Things are getting out of hand again in Brockton, with the Haitian pirates. For the past few years, it's pretty much been 89.3, 90.1, 91.7, 94.9, and 96.5, with the last 2 on and off. Now the number is up to 9 and possibly 10! There is now 87.9, 88.5, 89.3, 90.1, 91.7, 94.9, 96.5, 100.1, and 102.1. A friend of mine even heard a weak one on 100.5 today, but maybe they're on a different freq (102.1?) tonight.

88.5 seems to now be running the programming that was on 1710. I guess now even the Haitians are giving up on AM... pretty pathetic, because they had a hell of a signal on 1710. Of course the audio on all of them is absolutely atrocious. The others on AM seem to be missing lately too.

91.7 of course destroys the new WUMB relay, WUMG in Marshfield, which should cover a lot better than it does. I saw a post on a Brockton related message board that someone was no longer able to listen to their favorite station, WERS because of the new very technically dirty 88.5. Will anything ever be done about this problem? Of course not!

 

[chrish]

Time for a major raid by the Federal marshalls with ICE in tow.

 

[cd637299]

Miami/Ft. Lauderdale = Brockton South, apparently. Gotta be here to believe it.

cd

 

[freqlost]

I wonder how many of these stations receive funding via the "blue card" ?
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/op...es_a_beach_on_ebt_street/srvc=home&position=1

 

[nocomradio]

I suspect that no one is complaining. Look at the Field Notices that the FCC publishes and you will find they are complaint driven almost to the last one. Most people who are hearing the interference probably have little idea who to complain to anyway, or don't understand that what they are hearing is illegal broadcasting, so they generally go on their way. The FCC field offices apparently don't listen anymore, and other legit stations obviously aren't complaining either.

The only complaints I see about pirates these days seem to just show up on message boards.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

91.7 of course destroys the new WUMB relay, WUMG in Marshfield, which should cover a lot better than it does.

The new WUMB relay in Marshfield is WUMT.

WUMG are the call letters of the WUMB relay licensed to Stow, that time shares the facility with WAVM, Maynard High School.

 

[Laurence Glavin]

It's funny that a link to the Chicopee Herald above is to a column by Michael Graham, the guvvamint-hater. I wonder if he'd be hot-and-bothered if some pirates on 96.5, even 96.7 or 97.1 interfered with his show and he heard about, he'd then be screaming for the Feds to shut them down?

 

[raccoonradio]

As far as I know there have been no pirates on 96.7 or 97.1 (though one pirate had threatened to
go on 97.1, yeah right)--if they did they prob would be shut down, like "Datz Hits 99.7" which dared
to be on the first adjacent of WCRB, and also interfered with aircraft radio. Yes, 96.9 FM Talk
would put up a stink about a pirate being so close, if it were to happen.

If anything the FCC is a necessary part of the government in matters like these. When the frequencies are federally licensed and a pirate causes reception problems (perhaps even to aircraft radio),
the FCC is needed to step in. Once a complaint has been filed, of course.

btw I don't think they're the Chicopee Herald anymore--I believe they are now printed by, of
all people, the Boston Globe-Democrat. They sold off the Herald building and are, or will be,
relocating to diff. offices and I think the Globe is printing them now, or will be. (Or at least
SOME editions would be printed by el Globo):

May of last year:
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/05/globe_in_talks_1.html?p1=News_links

>>The Globe would print and deliver the Herald’s city edition Sunday through Friday, with the balance of its editions to be printed those days at a Dow Jones & Co. plant in Chicopee. The Globe would print the Herald’s full press run on Saturdays.

 

[jlehmann]

Sorry about the WUMT/WUMG mixup...

Greater Media hasn't been able to get 105.5 or 106.5 in Worcester shut down, which are definitely hurting ROR and MJX. Maybe WTKK, being a talk station would be more vocal about it, but it's not a guarantee. 96.5 certainly does destroy 96.9 in downtown Brockton, but I don't know of them ever mentioning it on the air, does anyone else? I think callers to Loren and Wally did mention when there was a 105.5 in Brockton a few years back. Not sure if it was just a coincidence that they disappeared or not. If I recall, they did get a NOUO.

Here's the thread that I mentioned seeing on the inbrockton forums... obviously the people there are a bit uninformed about radio:
http://www.inbrockton.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10035

 

[nd2023]

I do remember the 105.5 in Worcester had a huge signal. It could be heard up to the CT/MA border. It has a better signal than the 94.9 translator in Worcester. It probably takes out WROR in Worcester. If 106.5 has an equivalent signal, it would also take out Magic 106.7. It's doubtful WSRS 96.1 would complain, since they probably like that the pirates are taking out their competition.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I do remember the 105.5 in Worcester had a huge signal. It could be heard up to the CT/MA border. It has a better signal than the 94.9 translator in Worcester. It probably takes out WROR in Worcester. If 106.5 has an equivalent signal, it would also take out Magic 106.7. It's doubtful WSRS 96.1 would complain, since they probably like that the pirates are taking out their competition.

WWFX may benefit from WROR being cut out in Worcester.

 

[necrat123]

I do remember the 105.5 in Worcester had a huge signal. It could be heard up to the CT/MA border. It has a better signal than the 94.9 translator in Worcester. It probably takes out WROR in Worcester. If 106.5 has an equivalent signal, it would also take out Magic 106.7. It's doubtful WSRS 96.1 would complain, since they probably like that the pirates are taking out their competition.

*has* a huge signal. These guys have been flipping off the FCC and the rules for years now. They cause a tremendous amount of interference to WROR and to W287BT (The 105.3 Fitchburg translator of WPKZ). They are on top of the roof of this building right next to I-290, you can't miss it when you're driving up or down 290. (There was a good article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette about them) A lot of power + a good transmitter spot = the signal they have.

Worcester has a total of 4 pirates (89.3, 102.9, 105.5 and 106.5). They also have an occasional 98.3 too.
102.9 recently was issued a FCC notice of unauthorized operation and last I checked, (two weeks after the notice) they were off.

The Brockton situation is rediculous. The 94.9 and 96.5 pirates were co-located on a roof at one time, using seperate antennas with absolutley no engineering involved, and the two radiating antennas were interacting with each other like crazy, causing "spikes" all up and down the FM band.
I can imagine they were also interfering with the aircraft band too.

 

[chrish]

Laurence, why are we continuing to fund the FCC, they certainly not doing the job they were mandated to do and now like mutated government in action they have their progressive noses in everything else

 

[raccoonradio]

Maybe some have been shut down, and if so, good.

Some say they need fed. marshalls to do raids/shutdowns and they're busy with other stuff,
or maybe they need to have the FCC crack down more on the pirates because they cause interference, despite all
the "oh they're serving the community" bit. Something needs to be done--this would be like
people all gathered for a wedding and suddenly protestors run into the church and start
doing that MIC CHECK! repetitive exercise. Er, excuse me, who told you to interrupt my
wedding with your political protest?

And who told you that you could set up shop right next to my non-commercial, legitimately
licensed classical station so that you could run hip hop or Haitian or whatever?

Just for fun check out this page which shows NOUOs (Notice of Unauthorized Operation), fines,
etc.---it takes them several warnings, fines etc. and they STILL ignore them:
http://diymedia.net/fccwatch/eadtable11.htm

Two diff. people in Boston running a 99.7. Repeated contact. $15,000 fine.
A 96.5 in Mattapan. That only goes up to last August; prob. more since then. NOUOs issued?
Fines? Yet there are stubborn pirates right up against legit broadcasters

 

[nocomradio]

Just for fun check out this page which shows NOUOs (Notice of Unauthorized Operation), fines,
etc.---it takes them several warnings, fines etc. and they STILL ignore them:
http://diymedia.net/fccwatch/eadtable11.htm

Two diff. people in Boston running a 99.7. Repeated contact. $15,000 fine.
A 96.5 in Mattapan. That only goes up to last August; prob. more since then. NOUOs issued?
Fines? Yet there are stubborn pirates right up against legit broadcasters

It is really very simple. The FCC does NOTHING.

They can issue and publish all the NOUO's and NAL's they wish, but until there are some teeth to them, there isn't any real point in wasting the paper. Its like the bad parent who keeps threatening the misbehaving child with punishment, but never follows through. You end up with what you have here. The FCC has no power to collect fines or enforce anything without involving Justice. That is how our government was designed.

I read an article recently and I will see if I can dig it up again, that stated somewhere around 80% of the fines imposed by the FCC go uncollected. If that is true, its no wonder the pirates keep on broadcasting. When caught, many of them simply disappear, only to resurface 2 blocks away and start over. With the current policy of the FCC that requires a whole new case to be opened again. Plus, does anyone at the FCC really think that someone willing to fire up a transmitter with as much power as some of these have, interfere with a legal station, advertise, and even set up their own website is going to take a letter from the FCC seriously? Plus, those letters are sent to the landlord of said suspected area where the RF is coming from via certified mail, requiring a signature. No pirate in their right mind would sign that receipt or acknowledge anything of the sort. That right there is a problem of another Federal agency having their heads buried deeply in the sand (or somehwere else less pleasant.) To me, the way its set up now, there is about as much fear instilled by the FCC NOUO's and NAL's as the FBI warning at the beginning of every DVD.

 

[WNTIRadio]

Fine schmine... The only way this problem will subside is if the federal marshals go in there and sieze all the equipment and make some arrests. Given that our federal government can barely protect our borders, I wouldn't hold my breath for them to stop illegal radio broadcasts.

It is up to the licensed stations to hit them where it counts the most: money. Speak to every advertiser that is on the pirate station, say, "Hot 97". Let them know they are supporting an illegal enterprise. Some won't care, but others are most likely unaware that they are on a pirate station.

Get all TV off channel 6. Make 87.5 and 87.7 unlicensed LP channels. You get 25 watts and as high as you can go. Any interference? Sort it out amongst yourselves, boys. If you transmit anywhere else on the band, probation and 500 hours of community service picking up trash by the side of the road.

 

[Uncle Kaimbridge]

Fine schmine... The only way this problem will subside is if the federal marshals go in there and sieze all the equipment and make some arrests. Given that our federal government can barely protect our borders, I wouldn't hold my breath for them to stop illegal radio broadcasts.

It is up to the licensed stations to hit them where it counts the most: money. Speak to every advertiser that is on the pirate station

Even better, drop a dime to the IRS! :

 

[DG02816]

And if people complain, just tell therm that the pirates are breaking the law. I'm past sick to death of the PC crowd whining about shutting these stations down. Are these people so uppity that they're too good to go buy time and do things legally?

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Even better, drop a dime to the IRS! :

They'll take as long, if not longer, than the FCC to get to them. What you want to do is sic ASCAP, BMI and SESAC on them. They have no patience.

 

[nocomradio]

What you want to do is sic ASCAP, BMI and SESAC on them. They have no patience.

They may have no patience, but they also have no intent to do anything either. So far they don't seem bothered about the problem enough to even raise an eyebrow, or go after it on their own.

Like the FCC, they only seem to go after the low-hanging fruit. That is the standard these days.