Is their a pirate station on 103.5 FM? Tonight I was getting a stereo signal on 103.5 on my car radio in Southington that was just broadcasting a loud hum. There's no legal station on 103.5 although there is a CP for WSIM-LP at the Simsbury Fire Department and a CP for WZMA-LP in New Britain.
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Pirate on 103.5?????
- Thread starter MarcB
- Start date
The signal was still there tonight, but tonight there was music actually broadcasting on the signal. The music is soft underneath the loud hum. The hum reminds me of something that's not properly grounded. No ID of any kind in-between the songs or at the Top of The hour. Just a few seconds of silence (aside from the hum) in-between the songs.
I have my suspicions that the mystery signal on 103.5 FM is WZMA-LP, but I have no proof. The signal is playing music, but it's in English, not Spanish. I listened for 25 minutes today and there were no announcements in-between songs and there was no Top of the Hour ID. That being said there was some strange really strange music with what sounded like Spanish voices heard in the background.
They must've been testing because they're now on the air for real. Last night I heard them playing Spanish Music and a voice over mention "WZMA Radio Zima". According to their website they play different kinds of Spanish Music. Their studios are located in an apartment at 250 North Street in New Britain. - Not one of the best neighborhoods in the city. (I also question the legality of having their studios in an apartment).
http://zima103.com/
http://zima103.com/
They are licensed by the FCC. WZMA-LP Licensee: HISPANIC AMERICAN CULTURAL COUNCIL INC.
https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/...&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
And you thought they were a PIRATE.
Too much crap about PIRATEs lately, if radio stations played what their listeners wanted to hear, PIRATES would no longer survive.
https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/...&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9
And you thought they were a PIRATE.
Too much crap about PIRATEs lately, if radio stations played what their listeners wanted to hear, PIRATES would no longer survive.
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For a radio station I thought there were zoning regulations, unless the rules vary by town. I remember back when WPRX 1120 in Bristol was WBIS 1120 and they moved their studios from Farmington Ave to an office building on Bradley Street the city of Bristol had a bird because they said the office building wasn't zone form a radio station.
My post initally thinking it was a pirate was based on the fact that there was a stereo signal with a loud hum on in like something wasn't grounded properly. I never thought a legit station (LPFM or not testing or not) would sound like that.
WZMA-LP makes the 4th station licensed to New Britain that plays some sort of Spanish programming.
WLAT 910 is licensed to New Britain and they're Spanish Tropical. Their antennas are in Farmington and their studios are in East Hartford.
WRYM 840 is licensed to New Britain and they're also Spanish Tropical, but they also air programming in Italian and Polish. Their antennas and studios are on Willard Ave in Newington.
WPRF-LP 96.9 is licensed to New Britain and they broadcasting a Spanish Religious Format. Both Music and Preaching and Teaching. I don't know where their studios or antenna are. Their unlicensed operation on 1620 AM has an antenna on Osgood Ave in New Britain. The license for 96.9 FM has an address in Bristol. Not sure what that is either.
And WZMA-LP 103.5 makes 4.
Yes, that is what is happening with the FM band, CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP and more CRAP and the FCC allows it!
The best stations out there are PIRATES. The local stations know this, the NAB knows this and so do the true listeners of terrestrial broadcasting.
It is time to shut down the NAB, they are nothing but money hungry animals that promote CRAP programming.
The FCC is another waste of Government money as they stand for the wrong reasons and wouldn't know a good station if it bit them on the ass.
Anyways, when a station gets a CP, that allows them to build their transmitter site and work out mechanical bugs and issues with ground faults while they are on the air, often at very low power until things are working properly, then they can increase their power output to that, that they are authorized to transmit at. That is why this station was silent and had a hum, they were working out some of those bugs that might be more obvious when a transmitter is in operation. Some equipment may need better filtering or grounding to avoid RF from the transmitter getting into the audio chain.
The thing that bugs me is we already have an over crowded FM broadcast band and they still continue to authorize more translators carrying the same programming making a utter mess of our public airwaves.
Expect it to get even worse as more and more AM stations fight to get in on the golden rainbow called FM radio.
There is not room for FM band expansion because when those FCC moron's get finished with the re-packing of the UHF televisions broadcast band to channels 14 through 21, VHF will go back to using channels 2 through 6 again. You can only fit so many people in this FM elevator and then you reach a limit and nothing more can be added.
We need to fix this broken Government and kick the FCC out the door and those NAB morons with them.
Bruce.
The best stations out there are PIRATES. The local stations know this, the NAB knows this and so do the true listeners of terrestrial broadcasting.
It is time to shut down the NAB, they are nothing but money hungry animals that promote CRAP programming.
The FCC is another waste of Government money as they stand for the wrong reasons and wouldn't know a good station if it bit them on the ass.
Anyways, when a station gets a CP, that allows them to build their transmitter site and work out mechanical bugs and issues with ground faults while they are on the air, often at very low power until things are working properly, then they can increase their power output to that, that they are authorized to transmit at. That is why this station was silent and had a hum, they were working out some of those bugs that might be more obvious when a transmitter is in operation. Some equipment may need better filtering or grounding to avoid RF from the transmitter getting into the audio chain.
The thing that bugs me is we already have an over crowded FM broadcast band and they still continue to authorize more translators carrying the same programming making a utter mess of our public airwaves.
Expect it to get even worse as more and more AM stations fight to get in on the golden rainbow called FM radio.
There is not room for FM band expansion because when those FCC moron's get finished with the re-packing of the UHF televisions broadcast band to channels 14 through 21, VHF will go back to using channels 2 through 6 again. You can only fit so many people in this FM elevator and then you reach a limit and nothing more can be added.
We need to fix this broken Government and kick the FCC out the door and those NAB morons with them.
Bruce.
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At least your station will be legal. That's unlike the crap somebody is spewing out by Stanley and North Streets in New Britain on 102.5 FM. Every time me or my brother go by that area on the CT Transit #128 bus towards WestFarms Mall, it wipes out WDRC-FM 102.9 for close to 3 blocks. On the southern end, the interference starts at roughly the beginning of MLK Drive at East Main Street. On the northern end, it seems to end after Wolcott Street, after passing by a big sign gantry on CT Route 9 to the immediate right (when northbound on Stanley Street). 
I believe what's on the roof of this building at the corner of North and Stanley Street in New Britain is your culprit. I don't remember that being up there last week. I highly doubt it's for a single tenant wanting better reception of channel 30 or 61.
P.S. Check out that "quality" cable installation on the building next door! In person, you'd say it has FIRE HAZARD written all over it!
P.S. Check out that "quality" cable installation on the building next door! In person, you'd say it has FIRE HAZARD written all over it!
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In a bizarre twist, it turns out WZMA WAS a pirate after all. In the form of identity theft and being former pirate broadcasters themselves!
https://radio insight.com/headlines/109753/fcc-report-1218-identity-theft-leads-to-lpfm-deletion/
(remove the space)
https://radio insight.com/headlines/109753/fcc-report-1218-identity-theft-leads-to-lpfm-deletion/
(remove the space)
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