Pirate Radio Station Heard on 89.1 FM

[colonelparker]

Did anyone elso heard a strange radio station yesterday?

I was at the Arlington Hts Metra station yesterday around 4:30pm
while waiting for my Metra Train to arrive going to Chicago.

I happened to tuned in my Sony Walkman, I was scanning on the FM band
and I happened to stummbled into a strange sounding frequency on 89.1 FM
while I was trying to get WONC from Naperville.
This station was transmiting only on one channel, out of my left ear only.
It had a real bad tinny chinky sound and the audio was real awfull.
I coundn't make out what they're were saying because they were bleeding over
on the same frequency that WONC was on (89.1 FM)

Did anyone else heard this pirate radio station???

Colonel Parker <P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by colonelparker on 11/09/05 06:15 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[CADXER]

> Did anyone elso heard a strange radio station yesterday?
>
> I was at the Arlington Hts Metra station yesterday around
> 4:30pm
> while waiting for my Metra Train to arrive going to Chicago.
>
>
> I happened to tuned in my Sony Walkman, I was scanning on
> the FM band
> and I happened to stummbled into a strange sounding
> frequency on 89.1 FM
> while I was trying to get WONC from Naperville.
> This station was transmiting only on one channel, out of my
> left ear only.
> It had a real bad tinny chinky sound and the audio was real
> awfull.
> I coundn't make out what they're were saying because they
> were bleeding over
> on the same frequency that WONC was on (89.1 FM)
>
> Did anyone else heard this pirate radio station???
>
> Colonel Parker
>

You don't mention the type of programming you heard, but I have been hearing a station on 89.1 for the last 4 months in the western suburbs calling itself Asian FM. It appears to be a relay of some radio show from New York. It is broadcasting in English and Hindu languages and plays a lot of Indian music. Their signal in the western suburbs is quite strong and it oblitirates WONU.

 

[colonelparker]

> You don't mention the type of programming you heard, but I
> have been hearing a station on 89.1 for the last 4 months in
> the western suburbs calling itself Asian FM. It appears to
> be a relay of some radio show from New York. It is
> broadcasting in English and Hindu languages and plays a lot
> of Indian music. Their signal in the western suburbs is
> quite strong and it oblitirates WONU.
>

Well, I will try to tune them in this afternoon again. and I will
see what kind of programing it is through their static signal.

But Please Note!
that you will only hear one channel, the left channel that is.
and their audio output is very awfull.

 

[tmesser]

> You don't mention the type of programming you heard, but I
> have been hearing a station on 89.1 for the last 4 months in
> the western suburbs calling itself Asian FM. It appears to
> be a relay of some radio show from New York. It is
> broadcasting in English and Hindu languages and plays a lot
> of Indian music. Their signal in the western suburbs is
> quite strong and it oblitirates WONU.

Where are you hearing it? I have yet to hear this. WONC 89.1 is in the western suburbs (Naperville) with 1500 watts and that would likely be enough to blow a low-power pirate out of the water.

 

[SteveMiller]

I have heard this station over the last couple of months too. I usually hear it after 4 pm as I am driving around Glenview, Wilmette, Niles, and Park Ridge. I agree the audio quality is terrible. It does sound like Hindu music, and I have never heard the call letters. Before I started hearing this station, I would be able to pick up WONC, even though it was a little weak. Now I hear this pirate radio station, but WONC occasionally bleeds over. Sometimes I am not able to hear WONC until I am on I-294 south of the Grand Avenue curve. I personally would prefer to hear WONC, partly because I used to work there in my college days. My question however is could this station be one of those LPFMs that the FCC recently approved instead of a pirate station?

 

[colonelparker]

>
> Where are you hearing it? I have yet to hear this. WONC
> 89.1 is in the western suburbs (Naperville) with 1500 watts
> and that would likely be enough to blow a low-power pirate
> out of the water.
>
Over at the Arlington Hights Metra Train Station in Arlington Hts IL.

 

[colonelparker]

> I have heard this station over the last couple of months
> too. I usually hear it after 4 pm as I am driving around
> Glenview, Wilmette, Niles, and Park Ridge. I agree the
> audio quality is terrible. It does sound like Hindu music,
> and I have never heard the call letters. Before I started
> hearing this station, I would be able to pick up WONC, even
> though it was a little weak. Now I hear this pirate radio
> station, but WONC occasionally bleeds over. Sometimes I am
> not able to hear WONC until I am on I-294 south of the Grand
> Avenue curve. I personally would prefer to hear WONC,
> partly because I used to work there in my college days. My
> question however is could this station be one of those LPFMs
> that the FCC recently approved instead of a pirate station?
>
Well? what do you meant by one of those Low Power FM transmitters
that the FCC recently approved? instead of a pirate station?
I don't quite understand?

Do you meant a Part-15 FM mirco transmitter? with a power of 250
milliwatts in whitch a quarter of a watt? (Quarter Watt Transmitter)
I have two FM transmitters: one is by Ramsey Electronics the FM-25
and the C-Crane FM Digital Transmitter.

Colonel Parker

 

[Clubhead24]

> > I have heard this station over the last couple of months
> > too. I usually hear it after 4 pm as I am driving around
> > Glenview, Wilmette, Niles, and Park Ridge. I agree the
> > audio quality is terrible. It does sound like Hindu
> music,
> > and I have never heard the call letters. Before I started
>
> > hearing this station, I would be able to pick up WONC,
> even
> > though it was a little weak. Now I hear this pirate radio
>
> > station, but WONC occasionally bleeds over. Sometimes I
> am
> > not able to hear WONC until I am on I-294 south of the
> Grand
> > Avenue curve. I personally would prefer to hear WONC,
> > partly because I used to work there in my college days.
> My
> > question however is could this station be one of those
> LPFMs
> > that the FCC recently approved instead of a pirate
> station?
> >
> Well? what do you meant by one of those Low Power FM
> transmitters
> that the FCC recently approved? instead of a pirate station?
>
> I don't quite understand?
>
> Do you meant a Part-15 FM mirco transmitter? with a power of
> 250
> milliwatts in whitch a quarter of a watt? (Quarter Watt
> Transmitter)
> I have two FM transmitters: one is by Ramsey Electronics the
> FM-25
> and the C-Crane FM Digital Transmitter.
>
> Colonel Parker
>

**this station comes in somehwat clearly here at my school (rt 83 and thorndale rd) in bensenville. so if your ever in the bensenville area, please tune in, i have known about this indie station for a few months now!

 

[tmesser]

> Over at the Arlington Hights Metra Train Station in
> Arlington Hts IL.

I was replying to CADXER. It sounds like you guys are saying there are two different pirates, one in the NW suburbs and one in the western suburbs.

 

[CADXER]

> **this station comes in somehwat clearly here at my school
> (rt 83 and thorndale rd) in bensenville. so if your ever in
> the bensenville area, please tune in, i have known about
> this indie station for a few months now!
>

It appears that this is not a pirate station.

I went to the FCC web site and it appears that the station in question is an FM translator license DW207BJ and authorised to broadcast with 120 Watts from Mt. Prospect. The licensee is Best Media. According to the transmitter coordinates on the FCC site, the antenna should be located near Busse Rd and Algonquin Rd intersection.

Digging through the the information on the FCC site I found out that originaly the station was granted a licence to broadcast on 89.3 FM, but after complaints from WNUR they asked and received a CP for 89.1 FM. I remember hearing a similar station (Hindu music) on 89.3 last year interfering with WNUR.

I am hearing the station on 89.1 best on my car radio while driving in Wood Dale, Itasca, Addison, Bensenville, Elmhurst and Elk Grove. However I have heard it well in Schaumburg and Arlington Heights as well.
<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by CADXER on 11/10/05 04:15 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[CADXER]

> > Over at the Arlington Hights Metra Train Station in
> > Arlington Hts IL.
>
> I was replying to CADXER. It sounds like you guys are
> saying there are two different pirates, one in the NW
> suburbs and one in the western suburbs.
>

Well it appears that this is not a pirate at all, but a translator station licensed by FCC. See my post beloow for more info as well as where I am hearing the station.

 

[tmesser]

> I went to the FCC web site and it appears that the station
> in question is an FM translator license DW207BJ and
> authorised to broadcast with 120 Watts from Mt. Prospect.
> The licensee is Best Media. According to the transmitter
> coordinates on the FCC site, the antenna should be located
> near Busse Rd and Algonquin Rd intersection.

It does seem that way, yes. The only thing I take issue with is the "D" preceding the call sign -- that indicates a license has been cancelled. Indeed, a CDBS station query on the FCC site says "license cancelled," but that's for the 89.3 frequency. A regular FM query turns up DW207BJ with a CP for 89.1. A CDBS application query shows that they're running under special temporary authority and have applied for a license to cover.

The general manager of WONC replied to an e-mail I sent him this morning and confirmed that "Asian FM" is legitimate. WONC has been aware of their presence for a few months. It sounds like the station's antenna has been tweaked as much as FCC regulations will allow, but little can be done since the translator is licensed and is outside of WONC's protected contour. That's just the way it goes.