Holy buckets of lard, I've heard pirates on the FM dial while driving around in Brooklyn before, but today it was really insane. I heard pirates at 89.3, 89.7, 90.1, 90.5, 90.9, 95.9, 96.7, 97.5 and other spots.
I was driving around in Brooklyn today, generally getting stuck in traffic and wishing I'd taken the subway instead, trying to listen to WFMU (91.1 FM). I came through Manhattan, then going across the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, and at first WFMU's signal was fine, as I went eastward on the BQE and then exited at Flushing Ave., then turned right onto Nostrand. Somewhere around mid-to-southern Bed-Stuy as I was heading in a southerly direction on Nostrand Ave, I started hearing a lot of interference to WFMU's signal. This has happened before. It was a (Haitian? Creole?) French-language-sounding pirate at 90.9 FM. As before, the interference seemed worse as I approached the general vicinity of the Brooklyn Museum. It continued all down Ocean Ave. on the east side of Prospect Park, and in the Flatbush and East Flatbush areas, as I wandered around lost.
Fortunately, when I finally found my way back over to downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, and Red Hook, the pirate's signal faded somewhat. WFMU's signal didn't suffer interference in those neighborhoods.
I heard that the FCC rolled through town recently and shut down this 90.9 pirate, but they're back *already*. Didn't take long.
WSOU actually has it worse than WFMU. It suffers from Brooklyn pirates on both sides: one at 89.7 and one really splattery overmodulated pirate at 89.3. The one at 89.7 was causing some interference to WKCR in the Flatbush/Prospect Park area. One of these was even giving out its phone number and taking calls. I also heard pirates there all over the commercial part of the FM band: at 95.1, 95.9, 96.7, 97.5, etc. Of course, most of them are smart enough to pick a frequency that's not directly adjacent to a big powerful commercial station, unlike the fools in the Newark area in New Jersey at 96.1 and 96.5 who are probably royally ticking off WQXR.
Plus I heard one at 90.5 (that can't be making WFUV too happy) and a faint one at 90.1, different from the infamous New Jersey one.
Hey FCC, get back up here please!
WFMU used to have a lot of listeners in Brooklyn. I wonder if that's still the case.
Thoughts? Do they have specific hours? I live in NJ, and some of my area's local pirates are only on the air in the evenings and overnights. I was kind of surprised to hear all these Brooklyn-area pirates on the air in *daylight* hours between Noon and 5 p.m., although it was a Sunday. Anybody ever called in to one of these stations? For the ones carrying advertising, I'd like to see the businesses alerted, assuming they don't know, but I didn't hear any ads on these stations today. And anyway, I'm rarely foolish enough to drive into Brooklyn and get stuck in traffic (I really should've taken the subway... I would've gotten to my destination a lot quicker).
I was driving around in Brooklyn today, generally getting stuck in traffic and wishing I'd taken the subway instead, trying to listen to WFMU (91.1 FM). I came through Manhattan, then going across the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, and at first WFMU's signal was fine, as I went eastward on the BQE and then exited at Flushing Ave., then turned right onto Nostrand. Somewhere around mid-to-southern Bed-Stuy as I was heading in a southerly direction on Nostrand Ave, I started hearing a lot of interference to WFMU's signal. This has happened before. It was a (Haitian? Creole?) French-language-sounding pirate at 90.9 FM. As before, the interference seemed worse as I approached the general vicinity of the Brooklyn Museum. It continued all down Ocean Ave. on the east side of Prospect Park, and in the Flatbush and East Flatbush areas, as I wandered around lost.
Fortunately, when I finally found my way back over to downtown Brooklyn, Cobble Hill, and Red Hook, the pirate's signal faded somewhat. WFMU's signal didn't suffer interference in those neighborhoods.
I heard that the FCC rolled through town recently and shut down this 90.9 pirate, but they're back *already*. Didn't take long.
WSOU actually has it worse than WFMU. It suffers from Brooklyn pirates on both sides: one at 89.7 and one really splattery overmodulated pirate at 89.3. The one at 89.7 was causing some interference to WKCR in the Flatbush/Prospect Park area. One of these was even giving out its phone number and taking calls. I also heard pirates there all over the commercial part of the FM band: at 95.1, 95.9, 96.7, 97.5, etc. Of course, most of them are smart enough to pick a frequency that's not directly adjacent to a big powerful commercial station, unlike the fools in the Newark area in New Jersey at 96.1 and 96.5 who are probably royally ticking off WQXR.
Plus I heard one at 90.5 (that can't be making WFUV too happy) and a faint one at 90.1, different from the infamous New Jersey one.
Hey FCC, get back up here please!
WFMU used to have a lot of listeners in Brooklyn. I wonder if that's still the case.
Thoughts? Do they have specific hours? I live in NJ, and some of my area's local pirates are only on the air in the evenings and overnights. I was kind of surprised to hear all these Brooklyn-area pirates on the air in *daylight* hours between Noon and 5 p.m., although it was a Sunday. Anybody ever called in to one of these stations? For the ones carrying advertising, I'd like to see the businesses alerted, assuming they don't know, but I didn't hear any ads on these stations today. And anyway, I'm rarely foolish enough to drive into Brooklyn and get stuck in traffic (I really should've taken the subway... I would've gotten to my destination a lot quicker).