Too many pirate stations in Boston

[beantownradio25]

An Urban AC pirate on 100.3??

Must be pretty weak, don't think I've ever heard that?

 

[trock]

Why can't the corporate suits in Boston just put on a good solid urban station and be done with it. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see that half of these pirates showed up around the time WILD cease to exist. You put the station on get a 3 or 4 share take the steam out Jamn and even kiss and everybody's happy. I really don't get it. Some of these urban pirates are playing COMMERCIALS for crying out loud. Please stop the non sense.

 

[robotique]

see thats the thing.... over half of the urban pirates are Caribbean... boston has a huge jamaician and trini population with no broadcasts serving their needs. Sure you get a college station with one or two shows that play the music, but you dont get a community voice. You dont have an radio outlet where restaurants and salons and stuff can advertise directly to that community. How many different caribbean festivals are there in boston and cambridge annually?

on the other hand, not every community can have a voice. the band isn't big enough. are some of the pirates redundant? yes... but so are the commercial stations. you can hear Beyonce on Kiss 108, Jamn 945, Mike 93.7 and Mix 98.5



...and btw, what language does the fcc count jamaican patois as?

 

[Eli Polonsky]

An Urban AC pirate on 100.3??

Must be pretty weak, don't think I've ever heard that?

I've heard it, very weak and distorted, only in some of the Boston inner city neighborhoods. It doesn't get out of the area at all.

 

[kms575]

see thats the thing.... over half of the urban pirates are Caribbean... boston has a huge jamaician and trini population with no broadcasts serving their needs. Sure you get a college station with one or two shows that play the music, but you dont get a community voice. You dont have an radio outlet where restaurants and salons and stuff can advertise directly to that community. How many different caribbean festivals are there in boston and cambridge annually?

on the other hand, not every community can have a voice. the band isn't big enough. are some of the pirates redundant? yes... but so are the commercial stations. you can hear Beyonce on Kiss 108, Jamn 945, Mike 93.7 and Mix 98.5



...and btw, what language does the fcc count jamaican patois as?

I don't see it happening though. New York doesn't even have a full-service Caribbean station to my knowledge, and that's a much larger population.

 

[Rick]

Not to say that illegal broadcasting is in any way acceptable, but if you must put on an illegal station, at least pick a clear frequency. There basically isn't any that are completely clear that won't impair someone's ability to pickup a distant station, but from the list provided in this thread, I have many concerns...

94.9 - Translator near Worcester for WTAG and WHOM in NH... NO GOOD.
96.5 - NH... Not so bad, but still NO GOOD.
97.3 - WJFD in New Bedford... NO GOOD.
100.3 - RI and NH... NO GOOD.
101.3 - Fairly clear... not a bad choice.
102.1 - Fairly clear... not a bad choice.
102.9 - Cape Cod... NO GOOD.
103.7 - RI (Kenne, NH too)... NO GOOD.
104.7 - Cape Cod... NO GOOD.
106.1 - Cape Cod... NO GOOD.
107.5 - Cape Cod (Portland, ME market too)... NO GOOD.

Not to mention any adjacent channel interference. Oh well... what can you do! (I know what the FCC *COULD* do - GRRRRRR.)

 

[raccoonradio]

102.1 is no good either, NH seacoast though maybe in Boston itself it could work. Not that it should be done
though

 

[beantownradio25]

101.3 isn't bad at all, FNX used to have a 5 watt translator on 101.3 that had some decent coverage from the top of the Prudential, but fussy engineers at 101.1 and 101.5 got it shut down :.

101.3 is too tight with WWBB and WGIR to work for a new legitimate station, but for a pirate it's perfect! ;D

BIG City swiped up the best pirate frequency in Boston, I'll tell ya that! They're over at least 1,000 watts in Stereo as of June and no interference whatsoever.

 

[jake1966]

i'm listening to the 88.5 pirate out of the somerville area right now. he's playing some jefferson airplane album in its entirety and babbling about having to go downstairs to release liquids from his body.

That's the transmitter of the former so-called "Radio Free Cambridge", which was busted a few years ago in its former Inman Square art gallery location, but their equipment was not confiscated and someone involved took it home to their own location near the top of Winter Hill in Somerville, and throws it on the air when they feel like it.



I zeroed their location to near Broadway around the top of Winter Hill because only in that spot it was strong enough to wipe out my car FM transponder, which I also set to 88.5.

Tried listening to my Sirius radio today and was unable to listen due to interference on 88.5 FM. Today he was playing Led Zeppelin. I wonder if he is broadcasting from 425 Broadway or near there since that would be the top of Winter Hill.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

101.3 isn't bad at all, FNX used to have a 5 watt translator on 101.3 that had some decent coverage from the top of the Prudential, but fussy engineers at 101.1 and 101.5 got it shut down :.

Wasn't that a 10 watt translator? There was no longer any need for it once WFNX moved their transmitter to One Financial Place downtown. That translator no longer covered anywhere that their new current main location doesn't.

 

[beantownradio25]

Sorry that was a typo I meant 10 watts and really? Yeah that makes sense, because they did a bunch of noticeable signal upgrades a few years back.

Big City should rent out space on say 99.1's HD-2, and then since 99.1 is somewhat of a rimshot station, they get a Boston translator on 101.3 and have it repeat their HD-2 and there we go. Doubt it would ever happen but as far as the fcc and being legitimate it could happen... It happened in Manchester on 94.1/103.1 "Hot Hits NH", but the only difference, the HD-2 isn't being rented out.

Or maybe not even 99.1, maybe a Worchester station like WXLO or WAAF.

 

[DavidZ]

Or maybe not even 99.1, maybe a Worchester station like WXLO or WAAF.

You have another typo, it's Worcester! No 'h'. It happens to be one of my pet peeves, too.

 

[JerseyDude]

I visited my cousin in Dorchester about a month ago. I didn't know Boston had all of these Urban and Urban AC pirates. I was miserable listening to the watered down crossover stuff on Jamn 94.5.

I will have this list ready for my next trip to Boston.

 

[HHH]

Isn't 87.7 now the perfect pirate frequency?

Nobody (legally, anyway) on 87.9, and no channel 6 anymore from R.I.

87.9 is my second choice, but not too close to Cambridge (WMBR 88.1) please.

 

[Rick]

New Bedford (WFHL 88.1) also.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

87.9 is my second choice, but not too close to Cambridge (WMBR 88.1) please.

Speaking of which, coming back from CT two Sunday nights ago, WCHC 88.1 from Holy Cross College in Worcester was broadcasting a dead carrier - transmitter on, nobody home - causing interference to WMBR from central MA to around Framingham. This was around 11 PM.

 

[carmen]

893,913,989 are all the exact same thing

same with 1013,1029,1053

i know its radical but. what about approaching them to merge into 1 legit station a piece. then we've got 4 more freqs free

 

[carmen]

one more thing, whats with the Oprah Color Purple ads that ran on _all_ the stations? some chutzpah there..

 

[beantownradio25]

What about 99.9? Would 99.9 work for a Boston pirate? Throughout most of the hub today, didn't hear much on that frequency.

 

[jlehmann]

What about 99.9? Would 99.9 work for a Boston pirate? Throughout most of the hub today, didn't hear much on that frequency.

I noticed yesterday that there's another pirate on 99.7 (different from the gospel one of a couple years ago), and also 103.7. Both were the typical over modulated Caribbean stuff.