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WPOT BECOMES HOT 87.7 FM MONDAY ACCORDING TO CHUBBY CHUBB'S TWITTER

LAUROJRM said:
I was leaving Dorchester (Ashmont Train Station) area of Dorchester listenning on a walkman. It came in good (but) every now and then it interfear with a Police Dispatch or some Dispatch. The station came in from Ashmont to JFK. Then I couldn't hear it.
As I got to Airport Station to Wonderland (heard it slightly, with that Dispatch) Going more north, I got nothing, mostly static and KISS 108 coming in and out
Click to expand...

I love Walkman's, I have three of them, but as far as selectivity and sensitivity they aren't that great. I use them mostly when I am at the beach and I live near Monmouth airport and they teach Skydiving. Usually on a sunny weekend you can hear "JUMP.JUMP" come over the radio wherever it is tuned on the FM dial. I am surprised you could get anything inside an electrified subway car.

Ah the Blue Line took it from Revere Beach to Boston during my younger days. Long before the cars were heated!

Mike
 
MickeyD said:
Nick said:
According to Hot 97 Boston's twitter, WPOT is broadcasting in "HD Digital" on 87.7
Can anyone confirm if there is IBUZ on 87.5 and 87.9?
This must be the first pirate station in HD!
Click to expand...

I think what they mean by HD is that they have a clear channel now. Ibiquity wouldn't work with this station because first the price is prohibitive and secondly assuming that the analog power is 100 watts the HD power is 10 watts wouldn't work.
If the main channel was digital you would hear hash. RDS would be a classy idea.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind, it's a pirate station, FCC laws don't apply to it. It can run however many watts on its IBUZ as it wants to. Might make a good test case for an HD power boost, considering how short spaced it is to WMBR.
Maybe they got an 87.7 transmitter from a former analog channel 6, in which case it would transmit on 87.75.
 
Nick said:
Keep in mind, it's a pirate station, FCC laws don't apply to it. It can run however many watts on its IBUZ as it wants to. Might make a good test case for an HD power boost, considering how short spaced it is to WMBR.
Maybe they got an 87.7 transmitter from a former analog channel 6, in which case it would transmit on 87.75.
Click to expand...

Probably not. The transmitter they have is most likely a frequency agile transmitter that was "retuned" to 87.7. The problem is, and im surprised no one has mentioned it yet (or I missed it.) 87.7 isn't a valid FM frequency in the US table of allotments. The US FM band goes from 87.9 (channel 200) to 107.9 (channel 300). 87.7 is a 50khz offset of the TV 6 aural frequency. Not all radios will tune to 87.7 MHz. (I know the JVC I have in my car won't.). It's still not a "clear" frequency in the legal sense either, as it is 2nd adjacent and horribly short spaced to WMBR on 88.1. It is also IF spaced to 98.5, which gives CBS radio a valid complaint against them to the FCC. And from the measurments I've taken, their signal is easily a kilowatt or more.
 
Nick said:
MickeyD said:
Nick said:
According to Hot 97 Boston's twitter, WPOT is broadcasting in "HD Digital" on 87.7
Can anyone confirm if there is IBUZ on 87.5 and 87.9?
This must be the first pirate station in HD!
Click to expand...

I think what they mean by HD is that they have a clear channel now. Ibiquity wouldn't work with this station because first the price is prohibitive and secondly assuming that the analog power is 100 watts the HD power is 10 watts wouldn't work.
If the main channel was digital you would hear hash. RDS would be a classy idea.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind, it's a pirate station, FCC laws don't apply to it. It can run however many watts on its IBUZ as it wants to. Might make a good test case for an HD power boost, considering how short spaced it is to WMBR.
Maybe they got an 87.7 transmitter from a former analog channel 6, in which case it would transmit on 87.75.
Click to expand...

They don't have an Ibiquity unit and they are using a regular FM transmitter. A channel 6 transmitter would cost too much to run, most of the power would be videoa and it isn't designed to transmit stereo.
 
I just spoke to a friend in DC and he was telling me there is a station that plays SPanish music on 87.7 the ID's itself as WBCN-LP.
 
MickeyD said:
I just spoke to a friend in DC and he was telling me there is a station that plays SPanish music on 87.7 the ID's itself as WBCN-LP.
Click to expand...
WDCN-LP is a Channel 6 LPTV that is licensed to broadcast in analog, hence it can be heard on 87.7. It was supposed to become another Pulse 87, but that never happened. The 87.7 in Boston is a pirate. It has no license at all. It is not an LPTV, it is flat out illegally broadcasting on 87.7.
 
A friend of mine was telling me that when he tunes to 87.7, it sounds great at first, but quickly changes to sounding off frequency. This sounds typical of a car radio that adjusts it's filtering based on how strong the signal is. Seems like they must be slightly off frequency. I have no idea if it's on 87.75 or not though. Sometime when I'm in Boston I'll take a look at it on a spectrum analyzer.
 
Nick said:
According to Hot 97 Boston's twitter, WPOT is broadcasting in "HD Digital" on 87.7
Can anyone confirm if there is IBUZ on 87.5 and 87.9?
This must be the first pirate station in HD!
Click to expand...

I just checked it here on my Insignia HD walkman-style portable (which tunes down to 87.5). I'm on the side of a south-facing hill (toward Boston) in Somerville.

I get it in analog stereo. Depending on where I hold the radio (the antenna is the headphone cord), I can get up to three out of four "bars" on the signal strength. No trace of the HD symbol on the screen lighting up or blinking, and I don't hear any IBOC sound on the adjacents. Perhaps I'm too far away to detect either, but I don't believe that the "station" is broadcasting in digital.

It seems to be no threat to WMBR out here, but I don't know whether that's still true in the Boston neighborhoods.
 
And why aren't these guys off the air yet? Some small guy running a station in a small state runs a pirate and he gets busted and gets fined thousands of dollars. But these guys can get away with it?!
 
jlehmann said:
A friend of mine was telling me that when he tunes to 87.7, it sounds great at first, but quickly changes to sounding off frequency. This sounds typical of a car radio that adjusts it's filtering based on how strong the signal is. Seems like they must be slightly off frequency. I have no idea if it's on 87.75 or not though. Sometime when I'm in Boston I'll take a look at it on a spectrum analyzer.
Click to expand...

aaah ok good to hear its not my car's radio.
 
Necrat said:
Nick said:
Keep in mind, it's a pirate station, FCC laws don't apply to it. It can run however many watts on its IBUZ as it wants to. Might make a good test case for an HD power boost, considering how short spaced it is to WMBR.
Maybe they got an 87.7 transmitter from a former analog channel 6, in which case it would transmit on 87.75.
Click to expand...

Probably not. The transmitter they have is most likely a frequency agile transmitter that was "retuned" to 87.7. The problem is, and im surprised no one has mentioned it yet (or I missed it.) 87.7 isn't a valid FM frequency in the US table of allotments. The US FM band goes from 87.9 (channel 200) to 107.9 (channel 300). 87.7 is a 50khz offset of the TV 6 aural frequency. Not all radios will tune to 87.7 MHz. (I know the JVC I have in my car won't.). It's still not a "clear" frequency in the legal sense either, as it is 2nd adjacent and horribly short spaced to WMBR on 88.1. It is also IF spaced to 98.5, which gives CBS radio a valid complaint against them to the FCC. And from the measurments I've taken, their signal is easily a kilowatt or more.
Click to expand...

No 87.7 isn't a valid FM frequency but except for a radio proessional who would know that? If it works use it. Most of the pirates in Boston directly impact one or more licensed stations and except for a courtesy call from the FCC they really do nothing about it. The 98.5 concern by comparison is low on the FCC's list if even on their radar.

They are in fact using a regular frequency agile FM stereo transmitter and a dipole antenna the pirates favorite (the Dominator).
 
radiojomo said:
And why aren't these guys off the air yet? Some small guy running a station in a small state runs a pirate and he gets busted and gets fined thousands of dollars. But these guys can get away with it?!
Click to expand...

That is a very good point.
 
And of course no mention of its pirate status on the wiki page. Even mentions a City of License and that it broadcasts in "HD".
 
trojanrabbit said:
And of course no mention of its pirate status on the wiki page. Even mentions a City of License and that it broadcasts in "HD".
Click to expand...

It does mention at the end that it is broadcasting without an fcc license. I don't know why they just don't call themselves Hot87Boston. It would be a little less confusing.
 
trock said:
trojanrabbit said:
And of course no mention of its pirate status on the wiki page. Even mentions a City of License and that it broadcasts in "HD".
Click to expand...

It does mention at the end that it is broadcasting without an fcc license. I don't know why they just don't call themselves Hot87Boston. It would be a little less confusing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, NOW it does.
 
So how is it determined how much WPOT pays for music rights fees?
 
MickeyD said:
trojanrabbit said:
So how is it determined how much WPOT pays for music rights fees?
Click to expand...

Who says any pirate pays music fees?
Click to expand...

Seems like they'd be an easy enough target for the RIAA to go after then. If the FCC can't / won't do their job maybe someone else will.
 
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