PIRATE STATION on 87.9 ?

[OldChicago]

I have been hearing Spanish music at 87.9 FM around the Richmond/Hillcroft area of town. Its seems to be Cuban/Puerto Rican
type music as opposed to "mexican" type. Anyone else hearing this?

Old Chicago

 

[willdav713]

I have been hearing Spanish music at 87.9 FM around the Richmond/Hillcroft area of town. Its seems to be Cuban/Puerto Rican
type music as opposed to "mexican" type. Anyone else hearing this?

Old Chicago

Is it only on at night or during the day as well? My guess would be one of those nightclubs has some type of transmitter operating from a back room somewhere, and if the FCC catches wind to it, They will be big fines. In Austin there was a pirate 90.1 fm and the FCC came down hard on this guy who operated it, fine him 10,000 I think.

or

The owner got LP FM approval from the FCC, but it has to be for educational, non profit use because it is on the lower band of the FM dial.

 

[johndavis]

The non-comm band starts at 88.1 and I don't think there are any analog LPTV's on channel 6 in the area, so this one's bound to be a pirate.

 

[OldChicago]

[/quote]

Is it only on at night or during the day as well? My guess would be one of those nightclubs has some type of transmitter operating from a back room somewhere, and if the FCC catches wind to it, They will be big fines. In Austin there was a pirate 90.1 fm and the FCC came down hard on this guy who operated it, fine him 10,000 I think.

or

The owner got LP FM approval from the FCC, but it has to be for educational, non profit use because it is on the lower band of the FM dial.

[/quote]



MYSTERY SOLVED:

http://houstontropicalradiostation.com/


This MAY even be a legal operation. It has very little coverage. Good signals on Hillcroft between the Westpark Tollway and 59. There is some kind of XMTR you can get and transmit on FM without a license
if you stay under a certain amount of power. I think it is called a PART 15 FM transmitter. This station sounds very good from a technical standpoint. Music makes me want to move my feet, and I am not that into "salsa" music, even tho I like the kind that comes in a jar !!


OLD CHICAGO

 

[stuckinthe50s]

This MAY even be a legal operation. It has very little coverage. Good signals on Hillcroft between the Westpark Tollway and 59. There is some kind of XMTR you can get and transmit on FM without a license if you stay under a certain amount of power. I think it is called a PART 15 FM transmitter.

Part 15 FM is based limited by coverage, not power. If this one covers the range you said, it's not a legal Part 15 transmitter.

 

[chicano82]

Over here in THE HEIGHTS I have been hearing some sort of gospel music in english on 87.9 FM

 

[purpledevil]

This MAY even be a legal operation. It has very little coverage. Good signals on Hillcroft between the Westpark Tollway and 59. There is some kind of XMTR you can get and transmit on FM without a license if you stay under a certain amount of power. I think it is called a PART 15 FM transmitter.

Part 15 FM is based limited by coverage, not power. If this one covers the range you said, it's not a legal Part 15 transmitter.

A part 15 transmitter shouldn't reach further than about 6 houses in any direction given its manufactured design, and that's on a home theater system or car radio. Case in point, I've done some "upgrades" on my transmitter that gets my signal out about 3/4 of a mile. No matter how I slice it, or try to justify it, it is illegal and from the sounds of it, this 87.9 is too.

 

[stan]

My Part 15 gets out a block radius - on a good day, 2 blocks.