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WJIB may debut // 101.3 Fri

raccoonradio

raccoonradio

Bob Bittner said on facebook that he hopes to get his 101.3 translator for WJIB 740 on by 1 pm Friday, to celebrate 25 yrs of JIB at 740.He has been testing it..heard dead carrier at 101.3 the other night on 114 in Peabody.
>>Hope so! So many moving parts on this FM project. Seems like a mess, but am working on it. Hopefully, (if nothing more goes wrong) we'll have a celebration on air after 1 PM on Friday with the FM station on the air.
 
I hope he can get the feed from Maine to Cambridge to be in stereo for the debut, unless he plans to originate the programming in stereo from the Cambridge studio.
 
Went on today 1 pm I think.Was getting it half decently in N Reading at 2:30.Some say interference from Big City pirate apparently coming in.
 
Heard it in my car, sounding good in Brighton, Allston, Somerville and of course Cambridge.

It was hitting parts of Brookline, but "Big City" was chopping it up or cutting it out completely in other parts.

The carrier is stereo with even an RBDS saying "WJIB, Boston's Memories Station", although that only comes up when I press the display for "artist".

The audio is still the mono simulcast feed from WJTO in Maine.
 
Eli Polonsky said:
Heard it in my car, sounding good in Brighton, Allston, Somerville and of course Cambridge.

It was hitting parts of Brookline, but "Big City" was chopping it up or cutting it out completely in other parts..
Click to expand...

So when can we expect FCC enforcement action against Big City now that the authorized, licensed translator is on the air?
 
CTListener said:
So when can we expect FCC enforcement action against Big City now that the authorized, licensed translator is on the air?
Click to expand...

I've heard that over the past decade they were fined several times, and raided, confiscated, and shut down once. They were back on the air within a couple of days. I guess arrests may be necessary?
 
Reception on Haverhill St Reading then 128 from Reading to Beverly--so so with cut ins from no doubt pirate Big City though possibly a 101.3 from Maine? display read WJIB Boston's memories station.At times surprisingly strong but even without the pirate, this is a fringe area.
Complaints to the FCC especially from owner Bittner should provoke action.
 
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raccoonradio said:
Reception on Haverhill St Reading then 128 from Reading to Beverly--so so with cut ins from no doubt pirate Big City though possibly a 101.3 from Maine? display read WJIB Boston's memories station.At times surprisingly strong but even without the pirate, this is a fringe area.
Complaints to the FCC especially from owner Bittner should provoke action.
Click to expand...

Driving around South Boston and the South End....found WJIB's FM to be battling it out with Big City 101.3
 
The letter is dated July 13 of this year. Now that WJIB // 101.3 is on the air, yes.
They have a facebook page with good reviews. They probably have some interesting programming. What they do not have is a license. Breaking the law. (What are their call letters by the way? They have none because they are not legal.)

>>On May 4, 2017, Agents from the Boston Office of the Federal Communications Commission’s
(FCC’s or Commission’s) Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) investigated an unlicensed FM station
operating on the frequency 101.3 MHz in Boston, Massachusetts. The Agents confirmed by
direction finding techniques that radio signals on frequency 101.3 MHz were emanating from a
business building 614 Blue Hill Ave. in Boston, Massachusetts. The Commission’s records
show no license issued for operation of a radio station on 101.3 MHz at this location in Boston,
Massachusetts. The Agent determined that you host a morning show on the radio station and are
an operator of the radio station.
Radio stations operating on a range of frequencies,1
including 101.3 MHz, must be licensed by
the FCC pursuant to Section 301 of the Communication Act of 1934, as amended (Act). 2
 
2014

http://www.wbur.org/news/2014/05/14/pirate-radio

>>TOUCH 106.1, which calls itself "the fabric of the black community," is one of the most well-known pirate radio stations around Boston, but you can no longer find it on the FM dial.

"They took all of our computers, all of our monitors, DJ equipment on this side, that side, ripped stuff out of the walls," said Charles Clemons, the founder of Touch 106.1.

On April 17, federal authorities took about $20,000 worth of radio equipment from Clemons' makeshift studio in the Grove Hall section of Dorchester.

By 11 p.m. that night, Clemons had gotten himself back up — but only online.

The problem, Clemons said, is that many of the people he's trying to serve have no way to get online.

(um, smartphones...?)
 
raccoonradio said:
http://diymedia.net/old/fccwatch/eadtable17.htm Near top of this page is link to letter sent last month to the 101.3 pirate (Big City? Presumably...) that is now cutting into the legally licensed WJIB translator.The business on Blue Hill Ave was given 10 days to respond/stop broadcasting.Will see what further action arises.
Click to expand...

Yeah because those orders to stop broadcasting work so well. 2 months after their license was revoked WPRX 1120 in Bristol, Connecticut is still blasting out the Hispanic Hits and Yard Goats baseball en Espanol.
 
Once in awhile it works--see Touch 106 and Datz Hitz. Boston a bigger market to deal with and maybe people will put pressure on the feds to act. Online the FCC has a diagram showing the various pirate NUOUs, etc and Boston and NYC had quite a few
Some did get shut down...
The procedure is probably warning by letter, warning by visit*, fine, bigger fine, seizure of equipment/raid.

Get the IRS involved too if need be. Are they reporting their earnings? That's how they got Capone.

*--The May date in the letter was probably a visit to the area to determine the source, not necessarily going into the business and contacting the owner or current operator
 
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raccoonradio said:
Once in awhile it works--
Click to expand...

One thing I noticed starting a while back ( and I have not read the Daily Digest and other things in a while ) is that when the FCC was issuing NOUO's they were also issuing one to the property owners where the suspected Pirate was located.

The "community broadcaster" may have zero assets and could not care less about a letter from the FCC, but when the property owner is faced with the potential of a N.A.L., or several of them, if the property owner is not involved with the unlicensed operation, chances are they are going to take some sort of action ( eviction) rather than have the Feds ding them for a few grand plus.
 
Driving near the Newton / West Roxbury line a while ago, 101.3 was an ugly mix of the Milford translator, the pirate, and WJIB. Every few feet, one or the other would become briefly dominant. In various spots, easy listening, rap, and baseball all were mixed together. Even without the pirate, neither translator would likely be listenable.
 
channel99 said:
Driving near the Newton / West Roxbury line a while ago, 101.3 was an ugly mix of the Milford translator, the pirate, and WJIB. Every few feet, one or the other would become briefly dominant. In various spots, easy listening, rap, and baseball all were mixed together. Even without the pirate, neither translator would likely be listenable.
Click to expand...

Translators: they seem to be quite the headache on FM. They are a menace to the "integrity" - or what's left thereof - of the FM band, and I fail to see how they contribute to the "revitalization" of the AM band. It seems as if the wool is being pulled over lots of eyes - and ears!

Note to FCC: get rid of translators and LPFMs; make the FM band great again.
 
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