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mystery station on 108.7 fm?

R

radioman1181

Hey guys, I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone before?
A few years back ...I was scanning out of the normal fm band way past the 107.9 frquency. I didn't have any special receivers. I was useing a Montgomry Ward stereo from the early 80's. I am assuming that it was one of the first receivers of this brand that had a digital tuner. Anyway, it went alittle past the regular fm band and being the curious one that I am ...would occasionally scan past 107.9 just to see what I could hear.

Well, one day as I was scanning on up the dial.. I came onto 108.7 ... and I was hearing oldies music. It was back to back no dj's or id's ... The signal was pretty weak but audible. So I was pretty certian that it was not local. If what I was hearing was local I am quessing it was probably a pirate doing some very illegal broadcasting... because I believe that the aircrafts use the frequency's above 107.9... correct? The only other thing I quess it could have been would be a carrier (ssb) station that they use in stores and stuff??

I only heard this station once or twice and I never heard from it again. This has always buffaloed me and I thought I would share it with you all and see if you've maby experienced a similiar situation. If so, does anyone know exactly what I was hearing as far as the status of this mystery station?

Radio Striker
 
Maybe it was Alan Weiner before his "Radio New York" offshore shipboard pirate broadcasting days? -- Jason

> Hey guys, I was wondering if this has ever happened to
> anyone before?
> A few years back ...I was scanning out of the normal fm band
> way past the 107.9 frquency. I didn't have any special
> receivers. I was useing a Montgomry Ward stereo from the
> early 80's. I am assuming that it was one of the first
> receivers of this brand that had a digital tuner. Anyway,
> it went alittle past the regular fm band and being the
> curious one that I am ...would occasionally scan past 107.9
> just to see what I could hear.
>
> Well, one day as I was scanning on up the dial.. I came onto
> 108.7 ... and I was hearing oldies music. It was back to
> back no dj's or id's ... The signal was pretty weak but
> audible. So I was pretty certian that it was not local. If
> what I was hearing was local I am quessing it was probably a
> pirate doing some very illegal broadcasting... because I
> believe that the aircrafts use the frequency's above
> 107.9... correct? The only other thing I quess it could
> have been would be a carrier (ssb) station that they use in
> stores and stuff??
>
> I only heard this station once or twice and I never heard
> from it again. This has always buffaloed me and I thought I
> would share it with you all and see if you've maby
> experienced a similiar situation. If so, does anyone know
> exactly what I was hearing as far as the status of this
> mystery station?
>
> Radio Striker
>
 
> Maybe it was Alan Weiner before his "Radio New York"
> offshore shipboard pirate broadcasting days? -- Jason

I don't believe any pirate in his/her right mind would use a frequency in the aero band. Reason: pilots keep a very close ear on these frequencies, and would have a freak-out leading to the FCC being called immediately. Jamming a VORTAC or Flight Service Station would be a dangerous public safety thing, indeed. Think: plane crashes.

Two things could explain this: cheap radios are subject to image and phantom signals which aren't being transmitted on the indicated frequency at all. This one was displaying frequencies which don't even exist on the FM dial, after all. Also, technical malfunctions of licensed stations could do this, but as in the first case, the FCC would be all over such a thing in no time.
 
What you say is true, but some pirates do stupid things.

In South Florida, more than a few FM pirates have (and still do) broadcast on the same frequencies as licensed FM stations. -- Jason

> > Maybe it was Alan Weiner before his "Radio New York"
> > offshore shipboard pirate broadcasting days? -- Jason
>
> I don't believe any pirate in his/her right mind would use a
> frequency in the aero band. Reason: pilots keep a very
> close ear on these frequencies, and would have a freak-out
> leading to the FCC being called immediately. Jamming a
> VORTAC or Flight Service Station would be a dangerous public
> safety thing, indeed. Think: plane crashes.
>
> Two things could explain this: cheap radios are subject to
> image and phantom signals which aren't being transmitted on
> the indicated frequency at all. This one was displaying
> frequencies which don't even exist on the FM dial, after
> all. Also, technical malfunctions of licensed stations
> could do this, but as in the first case, the FCC would be
> all over such a thing in no time.
>
 
Perhaps it could be IF interference?

108.7 - 10.7 = 98.0, which means the pirate could be on 97.9 or 98.1 <P ID="signature">______________
chargeradioweb.jpg
</P>
 
It could be intermodulation of strong local stations.<P ID="signature">______________
17-year-old radio geek
Location: Princeton Junction, NJ
AIM: KewlDude471
WWPH 107.9 FM: http://wwph1079fm.no-ip.org</P>
 
> Well, one day as I was scanning on up the dial.. I came onto
> 108.7 ... and I was hearing oldies music. It was back to
> back no dj's or id's ... The signal was pretty weak but
> audible.

I have heard of pirates operating in the 108-109 MHz range, but no specific details come to mind.

On the other side of the band, numerous pirates have transmitted on 87.5 MHz, because although it is not an official part of the FM band, most FM tuners can receive it. 87.9 MHz is also a very popular frequency for pirates, because only a handful of FCC-licensed FM stations transmit on 87.9 MHz, so any pirate using it is sure to get very good coverage. Unfortunately the FCC rules restrict Part 15 FM transmissions to "88 to 108 MHz", so transmitting a Part 15-type signal on 87.5 to 87.9 MHz is not legal.
<P ID="signature">______________
It's a common mistake to not use punctuation in its proper form.
<a target="_blank" href=http://www.cgl.uwaterloo.ca/~csk/its.html>Be kind to your friend, the apostrophe.</a></P>
 
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