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New Haven's dead-air pirate

W

WPHA

The dead air continues... apparently 24/7, unabated, in the New Haven area on 104.5! This is the frequency that once carried over-modulated Spanish programming, but now, ANY time I have checked, it is just a very strong, completely unmodulated carrier. It's full quieting from Exit42 of I-95, all the way up I-91, to about Exit 8, where it starts picket-fencing.

This should be "easy prey" for the FCC to nail, since it never stops transmitting!

WHY some pirate would just leave their transmitter running for MONTHS like this, is incomprehensible!
 
What is the deal on WSIN ? (not to change subjects but it is New Haven and...)

I would pick them up all over New Haven area on 1590. Hard to be legal. Last heard if anything was a much weaker signal just might just be legal.
 
WPHA said:
This should be "easy prey" for the FCC to nail, since it never stops transmitting!
Click to expand...

Then again, the FCC has to ACTUALLY VISIT to do something about it! The pirate in Bridgeport on 106.5 has been on forever and except for the one time an inspector came down, nothing! They either don't have the funds to come down, don't have the time, or just don't care.

shepaug said:
What is the deal on WSIN ? (not to change subjects but it is New Haven and...)

I would pick them up all over New Haven area on 1590. Hard to be legal. Last heard if anything was a much weaker signal just might just be legal.
Click to expand...

I remember picking them up as far South as the Sikorsky Bridge, but that was two decades ago. I was told somebody took their carrier current transmitter and connected a long wire to it. I don't recall if the FCC ever levied any action against them.
 
Driving around New Haven WSIN would have a pretty good signal -- at least around the 'college' areas. Even around by West Haven ---

Of recent times I hear them but not very strong.


At least they play music not from some formulated list.

Bridgeport Pirate. I guess nobody cares. I was talking to somebody not log ago that seemed part of the operation and they thought they were so secret. geeezzz I was virtually 'invited in' as a stranger...
 
Having briefly been in the pirate radio business, I can tell you how hard it is to shut off the transmitter.
It's only slightly less addicting than heroin.
The dream lives on. The adrenalin rushes! One's primeval territorial instincts emerge, and they won't surrender!
And when you hear what's actually being broadcast by "legitimate" stations, you get so heartsick that you could vomit.
You could do so much better. (And you could! ;D)
So the carrier is there - if nothing else. The toe-hold for a dream.
 
Zenith Transoceanic said:
Having briefly been in the pirate radio business, I can tell you how hard it is to shut off the transmitter.
It's only slightly less addicting than heroin.
The dream lives on. The adrenalin rushes! One's primeval territorial instincts emerge, and they won't surrender!
And when you hear what's actually being broadcast by "legitimate" stations, you get so heartsick that you could vomit.
You could do so much better. (And you could! ;D)
So the carrier is there - if nothing else. The toe-hold for a dream.
Click to expand...

I've had my share of "micro-stations" on the air, as well... some with more than a mile of coverage! These guys are getting roughly a 10 mile radius! Now, for MONTHS, it's just a dead carrier! I mean, really? When you can buy an 8 Gig MP3 player for about $40? Why not fill it with whatever music you want, and plug THAT in, then? Why waste the power, airing nothing at all?

When it came time to shut them off, I shut them OFF. (I don't want to leave a dead carrier!)

I agree with wanting to vomit because of what is on the air, now! :p It's little more than an MP3 player plugged into a multi-thousand-watt transmitter! (An MP3 player with only about 50 songs and a pile commercials.)

I have the ZaraRadio software running 24/7 on a computer that I put up into my guestroom closet. It runs thru a little audio processor, a home-made stereo generator, and a micro FM transmitter. It barely reaches the end of my dead-end street. (About 0.1 mile) With 1700+ songs, it sounds amazing! It even tells me the time every 15 minutes! ;) I'd sure love to feed that 104.5 dead carrier with THIS! ;)
 
Zenith Transoceanic said:
Do it. :D
Click to expand...

I WISH! No question, this format would have support. A 10 watt LPFM would do well in New haven or Bridgeport! There are no frequencies, though... but translators? Oh, sure... they can fit those RIGHT IN!!
:p
 
There's never been a window for 10 watt LPFM's, and there never may be one. The FCC talked about eliminating the class back in March. It should be noted that if a 10 watter ever made it to the air, it would be "sub-secondary," that is it could be bumped by full power stations, translators, and even LP100's.

I'd also like to bring up the fact that almost every translator licensed in CT with the exception of a few are owned and operated by non-commercial and non-profit organizations, many based here in CT and serving their communities. CPBN, Sacred Heart, Town of Monroe, etc.

Most of these translators were licensed before LPFM was even a thing.

I'd wait and see what the next LPFM window brings before I'd break out the pitchforks.
 
reelyreal said:
There's never been a window for 10 watt LPFM's, and there never may be one. The FCC talked about eliminating the class back in March. It should be noted that if a 10 watter ever made it to the air, it would be "sub-secondary," that is it could be bumped by full power stations, translators, and even LP100's.
Click to expand...

That's just wrong. The 10 watt LPFM, especially if LOCALLY owned and operated (as the FCC Rules mandate for LPFM's!) would do a whole lot MORE for a community than YET ANOTHER translator of NPR or stations that are already audible.


reelyreal said:
I'd also like to bring up the fact that almost every translator licensed in CT with the exception of a few are owned and operated by non-commercial and non-profit organizations, many based here in CT and serving their communities. CPBN, Sacred Heart, Town of Monroe, etc.

Most of these translators were licensed before LPFM was even a thing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, some of whom own MULTIPLE translators, ALL WITHIN the listenable contours of the main stations. Why do we need 3 or 4 copies of the same station on the dial? (I get that, here!) Why does one particular abuser of translators need to apply for ANOTHER translator, a mile and a half away from an existing one? WHY???? (Thank GOD it was denied, but this is typical of them!)
 
I looked up WPHA, and there is no (licensed) radio station using those call letters at this time.

Was there one, at one time, WPHA? Or are those letters just meaningful to you?
 
The translator service was designed as a fill-in service, to be placed within the protected contours of full-power stations. Translators outside the contour are much more abusive of the spirit of the service. They're designed to fill in gaps where terrain or buildings create coverage issues.

Not for nothing, but WNPR serves the community very well.
 
That dead-air pirate was OFF THE AIR this morning when I checked around 10am! Wow! Could it be that because the translator on 104.9 in BPT is moving to 104.5, this finally was taken care of by the FCC? In any case, I'm glad it's gone. Months and months (literally) of a very strong dead carrier is such a waste!
 
Well, I guess I typed too soon... that powerful dead carrier IS BACK. Most likely, the site was without power until recently. Sigh. Here I thought that MAYBE, just MAYBE, the FCC managed to bust him. :( Well, it's a "sitting duck" for direction-finding!
 
Maybe with the change in translator frequency the field office may actually come and bust them and maybe while they're here they'll finally do something about the 106.5 pirate in Bridgeport.

Then again, I'm not holding my breath on that one.
 
With "sitting-duck" pirates, (IOW, they are on-air 24/7 or close to it, and NOT mobile) it shouldn't take the FCC long to find them! BUST 'EM!!
 
WPHA said:
With "sitting-duck" pirates, (IOW, they are on-air 24/7 or close to it, and NOT mobile) it shouldn't take the FCC long to find them! BUST 'EM!!
Click to expand...

But you're making the assumption that the FCC will actually care enough to do so. The only hope is that with the translator's change in frequency the owners will note this to the field office to have it looked into.
 
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