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MP3 Radio 98.5

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Mike Sheridan

Mike Sheridan

WOW I don't know who they are but whoever is doing this pirate station knows how to program a lot of great oldies. It covers Charlotte farily well in the car. On the off chance they see this I just want to say great job! Not that I am condoning anything illegal but it really is a fresh sound. Lots of flutter in the car but a bigger signal than I expected.....No it's not me!

MikeM
 
A few years ago there was a 98.3 with a powerful signal in Charlotte and a great mix of 80's oldies. No ID or talking. Just music. It seemed to be most powerful just southwest of Uptown, but faded-out on I-85 and I-77 on the north end of the city. I'm guessing it was the same person?
 
Mr Winston-Salem said:
A few years ago there was a 98.3 with a powerful signal in Charlotte and a great mix of 80's oldies. No ID or talking. Just music. It seemed to be most powerful just southwest of Uptown, but faded-out on I-85 and I-77 on the north end of the city. I'm guessing it was the same person?
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I think that may have been one of the early LPFM stations we had. The owner was a local personality and he had several transmitters around the city. He never could make any money with it so he turned it off.

98.5 seems to cover a wide area with a lot of flutter while driving so I assume the antenna isn't very high.

MikeM
 
The 98.3 signal was a pirate two or three years ago. I don't remember the exact date, but I think it was December 2003? I drove out to South 21 on Independence and heard great 80's music at 98.3. No legal ID and no personalities. It was very well done. As I drove through Uptown to 77, it was in and out and by the time I reached Huntersville, it was gone. Around the 77/85 interchange, it was extremely weak. I'm guessing it was somewhere around Dilworth or Myers Park? It wasn't southwest Charlotte, but south or southeast Charlotte. Sorry about that mistake. Not 100% sure of the exact location though. I never investigated it, but I liked what I heard. Is this the same pirate?

I think you're thinking about a Business Radio 98.7. They used three towers in the mid-to-late 90's to broadcast business news and talk. It was legal and licensed as experimental in 1997 by Columbine Investments. The idea was to create a travelers info station using multiple towers on FM. It did cover Uptown well and the neighborhoods to the south. It was off the air around 2000? Can't remember the exact date it went off the air. It didn't cover the whole city, but Charlotte is such a big city in land area. It did cover a very large area for a multi-site mono LPFM. If you can't cover all the city it's a good idea to focus on Uptown and the most dense areas of the city, which they did.

I also remember a pirate in 2004 broadcasting spanish language programing at 87.9. It sounded like an actual licensed commerical station. I think someone did track it down to Rowan County, if you can believe that!
 
Yes that was what I was thinking of 98.7. Thanks! Wow has it been off that long?
 
Mike...I'm glad you enjoyed the tunes!

I'll hook up the old IPOD to the TV antenna on the roof again and play more "Good Time Oldies" this weekend.
Friday: 70's
Saturday: 60's
Sunday: 70's

Hell, it's got to be better than listening to the "little drummer boy" for the 500th time!

Long Live the OLDIES!

8)
 
Wow is all I can say!!! A great mix of hits I hadn't heard in a long time (even the '70's which I'm pretty burned out on right now), nice balance. The coverage was decent too.

Is it really an iPod? Mine doesn't segue THAT well.

Too bad there isn't a clearer frequency around here.
 
If you want oldies in Charlotte, tune in 90.3, WRBK. Comes in better than any pirate and is available legally 24/7. Surprised there is not more mention of this really cool station as the oldies issue is continuously discussed in this thread...
 
And no commercials per say! Interesting how a "wall to wall" oldies station qualifies as an educational FM, or did I miss something regarding the rules for that end of the dial?

Only complaint I have is that theu sometimes play a re-recorded version by the artist rather than the original.
 
WRBK is a darn good oldies station. Hell it’s the only one left in our area. When I’m not listening to BT I’m grooving to the Oldies on RBK. Lousy signal north of town though.

I’m also very upset that some of you would call me a “Pirate”. That term is no longer politically correct and should not be used.

I am now called an “Undocumented Radio Station” or Undocumented Radio Person”. I am also sure that if the government ever comes knocking, George Bush will give me and my station the amnesty we deserve.
8)
 
Better be a darned good Republican! Wasn't there an "undocumented radio station", to use your term, that was recently fined about $15,000?

Hope you made a substantial contribution to the National Republican Committee!
 
Yep I know about WRBK and the signal is not great on the east side where I live. Mr MP3radioguy has a much better mix but sorry it's still pirate radio and it's still not legal. The FCC doesn't do as much inforcing as I'd like to see but they sure love to go after illegal broadcasters. You sure must be running more than Part 15 power to have that kind of coverage. Be very careful.
 
Yea, our government will let 10 to 20 Million “undocumented persons” live and work in this country and then go after one little dinky undocumented radio station. Now that’s justice!

???
 
Because of course what you are doing is above board right?
Small independents busting there butt to comply, paying fees,
jumping thru every hoop, doing what's required and then there's
....you.
 
Yes, you’re absolutely right.
But small independents are struggling not because of my flea powered radio station. It’s because the Big Guys (you know who I’m talking about) have gobbled up all the major FM’s in this country and priced them out of reach of the “common man”! Not to mention all the frequencies being wasted by thousands of translators; and Low power FM is a joke thanks to the NAB.
And in their infinite wisdom the Big Guys have locally decided we no longer need a radio station that programs to my generation. So, if I can make a few neighborhood “geezer” friends of mine happy by playing the oldies…then hell, let them go ahead and “deport me”!
Point taken.

8)
 
Yep I'm one happy geezer  ;D

In this day and age of short list over researched oldies what you were playing sounded great and I thank you.

But, the FCC is there to make sure that you do not interfere with other radio services air, fire, police, business and broadcast stations.
Then there is the fact you are not paying ASCAP and BMI (after all who could afford it just doing radio as a hobby) but you already know that....

As for you're "Why me" question...it's kinda like a cop picking one car out of an entire group of speeding cars.  Nobody ever said that life would always be fair!

In Miami back in 2001 the FM band was full of pirate stations (lots of Reggae for some reason).  I heard the FCC was slow in shutting them down because somehow the stations were providing tips to the DEA.  Some were pretty blatant about it, they even sold commercials!

Stay safe,

Mike
 
Ok, Ok… Mike you’ve shown me the error of my ways!

I going to throw my little IPOD FM modulator in the garbage and be happy listening to the Good Time Oldies by myself.

You won’t have Mp3RadioGuy to kick around any more!

Over and Out.

:(
 
To MP3 Radio. Please just move on up to Huntersville as we have little to listen to here. Mix 106.1 is not listenable in north Meck as the other 106.1FM in Lenior interferes and the low powered SC Oldies station is nice when I am on the southside, but dies fast as one travels to uptown north.

Huntersville did have a low power FM at 100.1 for a couple of years. It was pretty weak but could be heard over a 5 mi radius or so. I am not sure what happened to it though as it went dark about 2 or 3 months ago.

We have open arms for some non-corp sounding radio. All we have now is radio where you can sleep to it, wake up, and immediately want to turn it off. Is difficult to care much for the FCC with what they have allowed to happen to local radio and the moves that have occurred over the last few years. They are obviously a puppet political organization run by corp $$$$.


mp3RadioGuy said:
Ok, Ok… Mike you’ve shown me the error of my ways!

I going to throw my little IPOD FM modulator in the garbage and be happy listening to the Good Time Oldies by myself.

You won’t have Mp3RadioGuy to kick around any more!

Over and Out.

:(
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MP3 man hit me up, I'll help you crank that thing. I'll work for anyone, licensed or not!! It's gotta make enough power to hit us up here in Mooresville/Lake Norman!!
 
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