Pirate station on 102.1 in Pinellas County

[SarasotaJim]

There is actually a reasonable solution to this. It is becoming more clear with every passing day that IBOC was the last nail in the coffin for AM radio. Stations are going off the air in droves and almost can't be sold unless at a fire sale price. CC just gave away...literally gave away...a fulltimer licensed to suburban Detroit, a station that once owned the Detroit market.

The technical issues are such that...and it's just an opinion...AM radio is on its way to electromagnetic hospice. I would like to suggest that, as each station goes dark and the license is eventually pulled, the FCC allows the frequency to be occupied by unlicensed squatters. The usual modulation, frequency deviation,etc. issues would have to follow accepted norms and any signal emitted would have to meet the usual interference standards.

Hold powers to, say, 50 watts in any case. And in the name of God Almighty, get rid of the BS regulations that create nothing but increased expense. When CC can't make a station successful in a market the size of Detroit, why not allow the hobbyists a shot?

Oh, and if they interfere with each other, who cares? A person who interferes with someone else's signal isn't going to care if that other signal is licensed or not and will eventually get busted.

 

[frankberry]

The biggest problem with limiting LPFM stations to non-profit and local Government organizations is that they all have an agenda.
These organizations are not interested in serving the general population. In many small communities, a local LPFM station would give the people of the town or village local information which the bigger stations ignore. Under the current rules, LPFM stations in these small towns are most likely licensed to churches or other religious organizations. How does this benefit the general public? LPFM licenses should be open to anyone who is willing and able to serve the needs of the community without forcing a particular agenda upon the listeners.

 

[drt]

The biggest problem with limiting LPFM stations to non-profit and local Government organizations is that they all have an agenda.
These organizations are not interested in serving the general population. In many small communities, a local LPFM station would give the people of the town or village local information which the bigger stations ignore. Under the current rules, LPFM stations in these small towns are most likely licensed to churches or other religious organizations. How does this benefit the general public? LPFM licenses should be open to anyone who is willing and able to serve the needs of the community without forcing a particular agenda upon the listeners.

One LPFM station that has been on the air at least 5 years is WSLR 96.5 Sarasota; it's 23 watts with an antenna height of 201 feet.

It has an agenda though and that is to cover news, political events and almost anything else that is not covered by the Tampa/St. Pete media. The problem they have is that even though Sarasota isn't as spread out as much as Tampa, St. Pete or Clearwater (speaking strictly of city limits) is they don't even cover all of the geography/people in the Sarasota city limits.

The area north of Myrtle Ave to the Sarasota/Bradenton airport and some of the s.w. portion of Sarasota receive poor reception.

I have picked up WSLR maybe 2 or 3 times in several years near or in downtown St. Pete, when the Bradenton/Palmetto translator on 96.5 is off the air and the tropo conditions are just right.

At one point, wasn't there a recommendation to allow LPFM's to operate with slightly higher power? I'm thinking either 250 or maybe even 1,000 watts.

drt,
st. petersburg,fl

 

[coolaid213]

I hold the unpopular opinion that AM radio is still far from dead... but hey, I like what you're saying anyway SarasotaJim. There are openings on the FM band here, and there are also openings on the AM band... these should be used for something good. I am a firm believer that a rising tide lifts all boats. If there are more reasons to listen to broadcast radio, ALL stations will benefit.

 

[ok walters]

Ok, I'm going to try to respond to all of your comments in order.

First of all, it is a absolute fallacy to claim that pirate radio drains money from legitimate stations. You average listener doesn't even listen to pirate radio stations, and your average pirate isn't dumb enough to start selling spots on their station... and when they do start doing things like that, they're usually nabbed pretty quickly. By the way, if an average listener does happen across a pirate station and listens to it for more than a few minutes, I see that as a net positive for terrestrial broadcasting. Lord knows, terrestrial radio is lacking creativity and originality as it is.

The point you're missing about the Dunifer incident and the other rash of pirate busts in the 90's, is that they were specifically responsible for "LPFM" being created in the first place. Of course, the NAB wasn't going to roll over, which is why LPFM is the joke it is today. I like how you use LPFM being a "bust" as an example of why low power FM broadcasting is bad. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about as "hobbyists" WERE NEVER CONSIDERED for an LPFM license... ever. Again, you contradict yourself claiming that LPFM's couldn't hack it in the radio business, even though you earlier pointed out correctly that the LPFM service is exclusively NON-COMMERCIAL. I seem to recall you saying that consolidation and deregulation were the best things that ever happened to terrestrial broadcasting... so I guess that explains where you're coming from.

As for the radio locator graph, it is correct because I typed in my zip code, and I have an extensive collection of very sensitive receivers... I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't know it to be true... the reason the people I know were denied was because they WERE hobbyists, and their applications were thrown out immediately without consideration. The parallels between LPFM and the Affordable Healthcare Act don't miss me... there are so many regulations and restrictions that it's practically impossible for any well meaning citizen or community organization to get a permit...

As for my blah blah blah comment, again you're taking it unnecessarily out of context. I wasn't suggesting anyone was causing interference to a legitimate operation, quite the opposite, I was saying that argument is generally a bunch of hogwash. If a pirate IS ACTUALLY causing interference to a legitimate operation, it doesn't last very long.....

The bottom line is that as long as there's money to be made in terrestrial broadcasting, the little guy will be shut out, and the fat cats will continue to belch the same old crap onto the band. Fortunately, there are still a few options for informative and entertaining radio in this market, but it's not like it used to be....

Cedric/CoolAid213 -

You and others claimed that the NAB was behind the pirate law in Florida and the neutering of LPFM, and you claim they spend millions lobbying. If pirates are no issue to a licensed broadcaster, why would they do that? Why spend time and money on something that doesn't affect you? They wouldn't and they didn't - it does affect them.

The term "hobbyists" is exactly what I meant - most of the LPFMs are run by hobbyists who set up a 501C3 to be legal. Look at the history and the names of some of these non-profits - they are obviously someone wanting to play radio. If they were all run by legit non-profits, there wouldn't have been so many failures despite the costs to operate being almost zero. The local LPFM to me is exactly that - a radio buff/electronics guru wanted to put jazz music on the radio so he formed a non-profit and was awarded a license. The station was on and off again, and has now been dark for over a year because he doesn't have $1500 for a CAP EAS box. Either he doesn't have it or putting the station back on just isn't important anymore because it is just a hobby.

Your continued rant about "big guy" and "little guy" is ironic. LPFM gave a bunch of "little guys" a chance to play radio and we all see how that has worked out - see above for just one example of many. Even with the low costs of LPFM equipment and on going operations, and reduced royalty fees from all of the organizations, many of them are so cash strapped they just disappear.

Your Radio Locator graph is a good place to start, but without a real study there is no way to make any use of that at all. I never said anything about deregulation or consolidation so I do not know where you got that from.

Another issue you guys seem to ignore is the crappy non-compliant equipment that many pirates run sending interference into everything, including the aviation band in some proven cases. Is it a problem if a plane can't talk to the tower due to a pirate? Not a good time to find out about a pirate station I wouldn't think. The " If a pirate IS ACTUALLY causing interference to a legitimate operation, it doesn't last very long....." argument doesn't work too well when aircraft are involved. It is also like saying someone driving 100 on the freeway is fine until they cause a problem -a little too late for action then isn't it?

 

[ok walters]

There is actually a reasonable solution to this. It is becoming more clear with every passing day that IBOC was the last nail in the coffin for AM radio. Stations are going off the air in droves and almost can't be sold unless at a fire sale price. CC just gave away...literally gave away...a fulltimer licensed to suburban Detroit, a station that once owned the Detroit market.

The technical issues are such that...and it's just an opinion...AM radio is on its way to electromagnetic hospice. I would like to suggest that, as each station goes dark and the license is eventually pulled, the FCC allows the frequency to be occupied by unlicensed squatters. The usual modulation, frequency deviation,etc. issues would have to follow accepted norms and any signal emitted would have to meet the usual interference standards.

Hold powers to, say, 50 watts in any case. And in the name of God Almighty, get rid of the BS regulations that create nothing but increased expense. When CC can't make a station successful in a market the size of Detroit, why not allow the hobbyists a shot?

Oh, and if they interfere with each other, who cares? A person who interferes with someone else's signal isn't going to care if that other signal is licensed or not and will eventually get busted.

CC has donated many stations - most of them were like the one in Detroit. Bad signals with multi-tower directional arrays in bad condition. Doesn't make sense to try and rebuild it - as you said, it is 2013 and this is AM radio we are talking about. they have also donated some to be sure that the station doesn't compete with them ever again. There are actually as many AM stations now as there were in 1960, so while many of them are failing or on the verge of failing the numbers haven't fallen much yet.

 

[Robert Bass]

Wow, I wasn't aware LPFM's had to install the EAS system! At any rate, people can now "play radio" on the Internet, and you don't have to purchase EAS equipment for it. Streaming is the future of radio.

R

 

[frankberry]

An LPFM station should not be required to install a CAP EAS box. EAS does not work in the real world. C/D didn't work in the 50's. EBS didn't work in the 60's, 70's, 80's .....
A non-commercial FM station with a coverage of a few miles should be exempt from the EAS rules.
Perhaps they should be able to receive and pass along emergency information via the internet.
It is the Government's responsibility to get the information to the public. A little LPFM station which is prohibited (by the Government) from making any kind of profit should not be required to purchase Government-mandated EAS equipment.

Now ... about WSLR-LP. Sarasota has a number of commercial radio stations. In my opinion, LPFM licenses should be reserved for small towns which do not have commercial radio stations (and are not a suburb of a city with AM or FM stations).
There is one little Village not far from here (Midland, Michigan) without nearby radio service. This would be a prime example of a place where an LPFM station would benefit the little community. It's unfortunate that the FCC rules exempt all but non-profit organizations from obtaining a license. In this little town, there are few, if any, non-profit organizations. Of course, someone could create such an organization .... and wait (possibly for years) for the IRS to approve the non-profit status. The folks in this little Village were excited about the possibility of getting their own little radio station ..... until they understood the difficulties in obtaining a license and the expenses involved in meeting the FCC requirements for EAS and other mandates.
There has got to be something better than this system. There should be exceptions for small towns which are not served by commercial media.

 

[SarasotaJim]

The folks in this little Village were excited about the possibility of getting their own little radio station ..... until they understood the difficulties in obtaining a license and the expenses involved in meeting the FCC requirements for EAS and other mandates.
There has got to be something better than this system. There should be exceptions for small towns which are not served by commercial media.

For starters, the federal government has no business getting involved in licensing stations with listenable signals that don't cross state lines. Those stations should be licensed by the individual states. Federal regulations have been a problem since Day One, going all the way back to the Radio Act of 1912. There is ALWAYS some BS regulation to make things difficult. Even few radio people still realize that the original brilliant idea of the bureaucrats included limiting broadcasting to only two frequencies...and one of them was allowed to broadcast nothing but crop reports and weather forecasts.

There is a certain bureaucratic mindset and a main tenet of bureaucracy seems to require a complete lack of knowledge of whatever is being regulated, no matter what it is. Just look at our current healthcare mess for proof. Is there a single soul left in Washington who doesn't have their head stuffed firmly up their posterior? By extension, that includes the FCC.

In 1956, my father applied for a station in the town where we lived at the time. He filled the application out by hand and the license was granted within six months. When I lived in Detroit, during the 1970s and '80s, what should have been a simple license renewal for one of the local TV stations ended up being a pile of paperwork more than 20 feet deep. This is insanity.

Why should building or acquiring and operating a viable station cost into the millions? Bureaucracy and lawyers. Period.

 

[drt]

Now ... about WSLR-LP. Sarasota has a number of commercial radio stations. In my opinion, LPFM licenses should be reserved for small towns which do not have commercial radio stations (and are not a suburb of a city with AM or FM stations).
There is one little Village not far from here (Midland, Michigan) without nearby radio service. This would be a prime example of a place where an LPFM station would benefit the little community. It's unfortunate that the FCC rules exempt all but non-profit organizations from obtaining a license. In this little town, there are few, if any, non-profit organizations. Of course, someone could create such an organization .... and wait (possibly for years) for the IRS to approve the non-profit status. The folks in this little Village were excited about the possibility of getting their own little radio station ..... until they understood the difficulties in obtaining a license and the expenses involved in meeting the FCC requirements for EAS and other mandates.
There has got to be something better than this system. There should be exceptions for small towns which are not served by commercial media.

I have looked at the schedule of WSLR and they do offer programming that the commercial stations don't. (bluegrass; progressive talk, Sarasota arts etc) and while a lot of this seems to be syndicated and/or off the bird, there seems to be maybe 30% that is stictly local and that is more than any of the commercial stations. To be honest, none of their programming excites me and if I lived in central Sarasota I probably wouldn't be a frequent listener; just as I'm not a frequent listener of most commercial radio.

Four FM commercial signals originate out of the Bradenton/Sarasota market and the one signal that covers the whole market with a very strong signal (102.5) markets itself as a St. Pete/Tampa station with studios in St. Petersburg. If you want any local connections (Sarasota/Manatee county news or events); you're out of luck. ClearChannel has the other three commercial signals and the Sarasota/Bradenton cluster does a very good job with what they have; but with three FM signals, you can't possibly cover very many formats and two of the three FM signals do not cover the entire market. (try receiving WCTQ in North Port, it comes in, but not a very strong signal). Then the Buzz (alternate rock) at 105.9 covers Sarasota southward, but it's reception north of Bayshore Gardens can be iffy at times.

There's one AM signal that blankets the whole Sarasota/Manatee market during the day (WLSS 930) and it is basically a repeater of WGUL 860 out of Dunedin; other than Friday night football and the quick one or two minute canned local news and weather after Salem Radio news at the top of the hour (recorded and broadcast from their Tampa studio), there is no local connection I've ever heard (and the Dunedin station they repeat is stictly satellite and brokered programming).

Now the cities offhand I can think of in south central Florida that should get special consideration for LPFM probably don't have the financial backing available to get a license, put it on the air and keep it on the air. I'm think of Okeechobee, Clewiston, Arcadia, North Port and places like that, that are on the fringe of markets with not too many viable signals. Unless someone like Donald Trump or Bill Gates steps in, the odds of being financial viable in those small towns are slim and none.

If someone in one of those underserved communties could get a license and the only frequency available was 96.5 then I think WSLR would/should have to surrender their license; but since at this point they've jumped through all the hoops and as far as I know have done everything legally, I can't think of a reason as why they shouldn't be on the air. The Sarasota/Bradenton market is in the shadow of the Tampa/St Pete market, which really doesn't cover Sarasota and Manatee county with much if any local news and cummunity events.


Clear Channel's Sarasota cluster does a great job with the three signals they have; they provide an Oldies format, country, and alternative rock and 106.5HD2 offers Classic Country which I enjoy and Oldies 107.HD2 offers older oldies than the main signal.... but that still leave a lot of types of programming not available and many of the Tampa FM's have strong signals in Manatee county but the static and interference starts around Sarasota and points south.

I do agree that small rural communities should get special considerations and maybe the rules should be relaxed for them as far as expensive requirements that may not be necessary.

If Midland City,MI is incorporated, is the city allowed to operate an LPFM? I don't know that option would be the answer, just trying to think of options where a small isolated city or town like that could reasonably expect to get a broadcast signal and service.

drt

 

[drt]

My apologies to ClearChannel; they do any outstanding job with 4FM signals (not three); how could I forget 92.1 WLTQ?

 

[dwtpa97]

I notice that there's an article in the Metro section of today's Tampa Tribune that the Pinellas Park Police and the FCC have closed down the pirate station. The transmitter and antenna were located in Pinellas Park.

 

[IckPodcastGuy]

Well, as was said since the beginning of the thread, it was only a matter of time before the station was shut down.

 

[Robert Bass]

Link to the story: http://tbo.com/news/crime/pinellas-park-police-bust-pirate-radio-station-20131115/

R

 

[drt]

Thanks for the link; on the six or seven comments (so far) all are sympathetic to the pirate and irked at the Pinellas Park Police and the FCC.

here is another link (basically the same info that I can determine):

http://www.tampabay.com/news/police-shut-down-pirate-radio-station/2152762

I'm wondering if any advertisers have put any substancial $$$ up front? If so, I'm sure they are out of luck now; and how about all those prizes they were offering; wonder if their facebook page is still up; will have to check.

drt

 

[coolaid213]

I just got this email from someone associated with "WKMJ" lol

"Hey, why don't you get the whole story before you start posting videos on YouTube. Check out wkmjradiolive.net and listen in on Wed night from 8-10. We got a special message for you and your little band of cb radio nerds."

 

[drt]

I just got this email from someone associated with "WKMJ" lol

"Hey, why don't you get the whole story before you start posting videos on YouTube. Check out wkmjradiolive.net and listen in on Wed night from 8-10. We got a special message for you and your little band of cb radio nerds."

Hey CB Nerd!

I would think that the team at 102.1 wouldn't want to wait 4 days to get their story out, but rather update their Facebook page today and give their side of the story; last Facebook entry was the 14th of November, indicating that they were making radio history due to hard work etc.

drt

 

[byron]

Even by remaining on the internet, they're still not legal unless they're covering the streaming royalties. Looking at the Facebook photos, and since we saw where they were operating from (business address) they're really not running this thing quite like a business should. (By the way, vinyl signs, rear dash decals, they really blew some cash away on the marketing of the AM/FM frequencies.) Now somebody hand me a mic I need to break 1-9 good buddy. <roger beep>

Byron

 

[ok walters]

I just got this email from someone associated with "WKMJ" lol

"Hey, why don't you get the whole story before you start posting videos on YouTube. Check out wkmjradiolive.net and listen in on Wed night from 8-10. We got a special message for you and your little band of cb radio nerds."

Yep, sure enough - no reason for a law against pirates. I would say it is unbelievable but it isn't.

 

[drt]

There is now a new facebook entry, which implies they are still on the air. IMO there seems to be a disconnect between their Facebook posts and what is actually going on.

This is the short post:

"When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die. In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.
WKMJ Radio Live we are the people station 102.1 & 1710 AM"

In my travels up to Pinellas Park to check them out, I never found the 1710 to be on the air; at least nowhere within 1.5 miles of their FM antenna site at 62nd St N and Park Blvd. (which was in fact right around the corner from the Pinellas Park Police station and their communication towers - probably not more than 750 feet, if that far).

As of now, there are 6 likes to that latest post, but no actual comments.

drt