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SOUL PIRATE ON 102.5

D

dx1ng

Has anyone else heard what I presume to be a pirate on 102.5 playing what I'd describe as soft soul music? Noted for the first time this Sunday afternoon around 2pm. Wasn't there this morning, but if it's on just a few hours here and there, they may have been around a while. Strong good-sounding signal where I am just North of Poughkeepsie. It may be coming from the west side of the Hudson. Music is segued, with a voice over the segues, but I can't make it out... the voice is too soft compared to the music.

Remember the rock pirate on 102.5 in Hopewell that was shut down by the FCC after serveral years! I wonder how long it will take them with this new pirate.
 
Update:

The pirate was on the air all Sunday evening 10/24, switching to a Jamaican sound, then they off all week. Returned to the air Friday evening 10/29 with an internet feed from "Zip FM" from Jamaica. Audio quality was much better last weekend. It looks like this will be a weekend-only pirate.
 
Many pirates are weekends only because most FCC investigators are usually not working on weekends. I gave them a listen, they sound pretty weak, scratchy and off channel at my home in Hyde Park.
 
Broadcasting on the weekends only?.....From my own experience it usually takes about 8 years for the FCC to come a knocking.

Nice to see someone else carry on the torch at 102.5 but to bad a better format wasn't picked!

-Rappin Ron
 
The pirate was on all weekend with Jamaican "ZIP-FM", but off by Monday morning, so indeed it looks like weekends only. I noticed in car Sunday the signal sounded "scratchy"... I think this is due to a combination of overmodulation and multi-path (probably a very low antenna). The signal was nice and clear in downtown Poughkeepsie, so that is probably where they broadcast from. Everywhere driving through the Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park areas the signal was heard... no dead spots.

In many cases "8 years" sounds about right... but the 105.3 pirate (or was it 105.7)? in Poughkeepsie a few years back did not last long.... don't know if the shut down was due to FCC interventon or not. They were in downtown Poughkeepsie with hip-hop.
 
MHVRadiofan said:
Many pirates are weekends only because most FCC investigators are usually not working on weekends. I gave them a listen, they sound pretty weak, scratchy and off channel at my home in Hyde Park.
Click to expand...

If memory serves me correct; the FCC busted Z-Rock on a weekend and yes, they do work weekends if they have reason. I give them 2 months until the FCC sends out a notice of unlicensed operation to them and if they persist, then they'll get a friendly visit from the US Marshal's office.
 
Boardengineer12 said:
MHVRadiofan said:
Many pirates are weekends only because most FCC investigators are usually not working on weekends. I gave them a listen, they sound pretty weak, scratchy and off channel at my home in Hyde Park.
Click to expand...

If memory serves me correct; the FCC busted Z-Rock on a weekend and yes, they do work weekends if they have reason. I give them 2 months until the FCC sends out a notice of unlicensed operation to them and if they persist, then they'll get a friendly visit from the US Marshal's office.
Click to expand...


Your not gonna rat out them out too are you Cornwall aka Boardengineer12?
 
Rappin Ron said:
Boardengineer12 said:
MHVRadiofan said:
Many pirates are weekends only because most FCC investigators are usually not working on weekends. I gave them a listen, they sound pretty weak, scratchy and off channel at my home in Hyde Park.
Click to expand...

If memory serves me correct; the FCC busted Z-Rock on a weekend and yes, they do work weekends if they have reason. I give them 2 months until the FCC sends out a notice of unlicensed operation to them and if they persist, then they'll get a friendly visit from the US Marshal's office.
Click to expand...


Your not gonna rat out them out too are you Cornwall aka Boardengineer12?
Click to expand...

Ahhh...the famous Rappin' Ron. I've heard about you; your well known in these parts. Anyhow to answer your question, nope, never ratted anyone out and never will; don't have to. They do it themselves. Z-Rock allegedly got busted because the chief engineer of a local station heard them and called the FCC. This current station will get busted because they are over modulating, spreading the bandwidth and their output is way, way over the permissible limit. If they are smart, they'd stick within legal parameters, find a high hill for their xmtr and live with it. just like the rest of us do and use the internet if we want to be heard outside of our locale.

I still give them 2 months. :)
 
I checked out pirate 102.5 again on Thursday, and they sounded better. Of course it’s not standard broadcast quality, with too much treble in the processing, but the over modulating scratchyness is much less. At least it is listenable if you like Jamaican music - I don’t. They seem to have a lot of power for a pirate; I could still pick them up out past Millbrook. I think they must be in the Poughkeepsie, Arlington area. I got significant splash onto 102.7 and to a lesser extent even down a channel 102.3.That kind of interference could get them in trouble. The adjacent channel splash is much less at my home in Hyde Park. In fact the tinny sound is much more pronounced here. But they aren’t pros so that is to be expected.
On Thursday anyway they were using some internet feed for Jamaican ZIP 103 Radio, with commercials and even TOH news.
 
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