MickeyD said:
Mmmm hmmmm....okay. So the street corner purse seller in Chinatown is "promoting" Louis Vuitton and Coach by selling fake versions of their product.
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WPOT BECOMES HOT 87.7 FM MONDAY ACCORDING TO CHUBBY CHUBB'S TWITTER
Mmmm hmmmm....okay. So the street corner purse seller in Chinatown is "promoting" Louis Vuitton and Coach by selling fake versions of their product.
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MickeyD
Guest
rockcaptain said:
Yes exactly !
MickeyD said:
Glad to know the crack has kicked in. Going to alert my contact at Ibiquity on Monday that a pirate station is using their trademark without permission (or paying licensing for it). If the FCC won't act, maybe a civil suit will get them to change their ways.
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MickeyD
Guest
quote author=rockcaptain link=topic=153551.msg1305516#msg1305516 date=1254617526]
Glad to know the crack has kicked in. Going to alert my contact at Ibiquity on Monday that a pirate station is using their trademark without permission (or paying licensing for it). If the FCC won't act, maybe a civil suit will get them to change their ways.
[/quote]
The crack kicking in? Hey they don't call me the Rockcaptain. I thought the term Rock had to do with music but I guess I was wrong. Must have been the other kind of rock. I was just screwing with your head.
Seriously though, The term HD isn't registered to anyone. HD Radio is and they don't use that term on the air. HD was used to define a new mode of television and that is it. I don 't know how old you are but many years ago certain radio stations defined themselves as "color radio". Color radio and HD radio are on the same level of logic.
I dont think that they will care everything today is "Hi-Def". While you are at it, tell them about those "Hi-definition" sunglasses they sell on TV. What did surprise me was that people on this list actually thought a pirate would go through the effort to install a system that is in serious trouble and needless expense.
MickeyD said:
Glad to know the crack has kicked in. Going to alert my contact at Ibiquity on Monday that a pirate station is using their trademark without permission (or paying licensing for it). If the FCC won't act, maybe a civil suit will get them to change their ways.
[/quote]
The crack kicking in? Hey they don't call me the Rockcaptain. I thought the term Rock had to do with music but I guess I was wrong. Must have been the other kind of rock. I was just screwing with your head.
Seriously though, The term HD isn't registered to anyone. HD Radio is and they don't use that term on the air. HD was used to define a new mode of television and that is it. I don 't know how old you are but many years ago certain radio stations defined themselves as "color radio". Color radio and HD radio are on the same level of logic.
I dont think that they will care everything today is "Hi-Def". While you are at it, tell them about those "Hi-definition" sunglasses they sell on TV. What did surprise me was that people on this list actually thought a pirate would go through the effort to install a system that is in serious trouble and needless expense.
B
beantownradio25
Guest
The station no longer sounds slightly off frequency, they sounded fine to me today, there was none of that sounding good at first then going bad anymore.
They seem to be covering even more grounds now, they must have raised their antenna.
Their 87.7 signal easily beats Big City 101.3
After a day trip in Boston, I could STILL get "WPOT" fuzzy but listenable in a parking lot in North Andover and I was amazed I could get a Boston pirate so far away and under decent conditions, however they were the only pirate I could get besides Big City 101.3 who had WGIR all over them.
87.9 The Wave was right next door crystal clear, these pirates are a bit close but not that bad.
They seem to be covering even more grounds now, they must have raised their antenna.
Their 87.7 signal easily beats Big City 101.3
After a day trip in Boston, I could STILL get "WPOT" fuzzy but listenable in a parking lot in North Andover and I was amazed I could get a Boston pirate so far away and under decent conditions, however they were the only pirate I could get besides Big City 101.3 who had WGIR all over them.
87.9 The Wave was right next door crystal clear, these pirates are a bit close but not that bad.
Since I Reported The Off Frequency Thing I Got An E-Mail From A Source Saying They Fixed It. Also I Can Beat Getting It In North Andover. I Got WPOT In Plaistow New Hampshire On A Ford F-150 Stock Radio.
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MickeyD
Guest
You can really put on some mileage when you are the only stations on a frequency.
Hopefully It Will Come In Even Better Once The Antenna Is Raised.
You are correct that the phrase "HD Radio" is a registered trademark. http://www.ibiquity.com/corporate/trademarks I'm not sure about just "HD" but if they're a RADIO station saying "HD" and "Radio" in the same paragraph, on the air, in a way describing their own transmission systems....IANAL but I think iBiquity would have a case.
Whether or not iBiquity would choose to pursue it is another story. The legal costs alone would probably be an order of magnitude more than anyone at WPOT has in the bank.
I'm surprised the guys at WMBR aren't screaming bloody murder over this, though. WMBR already has tremendous signal competition from stations on 88.1 (like WCHC) and 88.3 (like WGAO, WBMT, WIQH and WRPS) and, to lesser extent, also from WFCR on 88.5. They certainly don't need additional interference from the other side of the dial.
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MickeyD
Guest
aaronread said:
I am sure you have heard the phrase, "You can't get blood from a stone". If ibiquity wants to chase them down it will cost the more money to prosecute them than anything they can get from it. Who exactly would you sue? At most they may send a letter to the station telling them to knock it off. I would venture to guess that iBiquity may not even be around in a couple of years. The necessary power increases will most certainly interfere with analog FM. NPR plans on increasing the power only 6dB and they have stated that they expect it to cause interference. Like FM radio needs to sound like a noisy AM station right now. This should be the last thing on their minds right now and pretty certain that it is.
AS for WMBR screaming, 87.7 is two channels away and I am not sure that WBMT isn't even on the air anymore. This station is below the FM broadcast band to begin with. Considering all of the pirates in Boston, 87.7 has to be least offensive station to any of the licensed stations.
What strikes me as being funny is, I have been reading all of the possible interference claims and up to a couple of months ago, there were two high powered TV stations on the very same frequency for decades. All of the Non-Comm FM stations up and down the coast had to protect them so what has changed; except the license part of it of course?
aaronread said:
As far as I know, WMBR has not yet received any listener interference complaints due to second-adjacent "WPOT". It sounds to me like any half-decent radio can separate them around greater Boston. I could see perhaps low quality receivers with poor selectivity (clock radios, boom boxes, Walkman-type portables) having trouble in the Boston inner city neighborhoods near the pirate, but I don't think WMBR will try to do anything about it unless they begin receiving listener complaints.
There's nothing WMBR can do about co-channel WCHC in Worcester and the other outlying second-adjacents on 88.3. Although WMBR was audible in many good spots around Worcester and west of 495 before WCHC moved to 88.1, the protected coverage contours for WMBR and those other stations do not overlap as determined by the FCC. WIQH is right up to the line, and WMBR certainly comes in quite well in Concord and environs when WIQH is not on, but the signals are legal.
For the most part, those 88.3 stations were already on the air with their current signals when WMBR made their last (and final) power increase from 440 watts omnidirectional to 720 watts directional in 1995. The directional pattern that WMBR had to employ for that last increase was to protect those stations.
WMBR may be losing a large portion of their fringe (unprotected) but very listenable coverage area southwest of Boston when co-channel WELH Providence upgrades from 125 watts omnidirectional to their granted CP of 4000 watts directional, if it hasn't happened yet. Before WELH existed, WMBR could be heard faintly in good spots in Providence, but I don't think WMBR's protection goes much beyond the Route 128/95 interchange in that direction.
Second-adjacent WFCR is too distant and much too weak within WMBR's listening area to be of any concern.
Kind of side issue here, but regarding WCHC in Worcester I could never understand their licensing. There antenna is on top of the Hogan Campus Center which is one of the higher spots in Worcester, however their license states their HAAT as -2M!! If you are standing on the top of the Hogan Campus Center you can practically see to Boston! http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=65560
Some engineering type please explain what I'm missing?
Some engineering type please explain what I'm missing?
Eli Polonsky said:
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MickeyD
Guest
Nick said:
They were supposed to but if you look at 87.7 and 87.9, they are running relatively low power compared to some of the Boston stations and achieving some very distant reception reports. The FM band a long time ago was like that throughout the band. The regular band has stations all over each other and HD radio generating noise on the band. They are both on clear channels for their locations and that is what an FM clear channel looks like.
the other stations are there. i like a Dipole
eg 91.3. rotate vertical and point it towards dorchester, its haitian. horizontal and west, and its worcester. if dorchester shuts off, its New Hampshire in that orientation. Curry / Tufts on 91.5 is similar...
co-chan seems to be a much bigger problem than neighboring chan. what with the superb antennas and power that commercial stations have
eg 91.3. rotate vertical and point it towards dorchester, its haitian. horizontal and west, and its worcester. if dorchester shuts off, its New Hampshire in that orientation. Curry / Tufts on 91.5 is similar...
co-chan seems to be a much bigger problem than neighboring chan. what with the superb antennas and power that commercial stations have
carmen said:
There's also a 91.3 in Framingham (WDJM) in between 91.3 in Dorchester (Haitian pirate) and 91.3 in Worcester (WCUW).
I understand the legal issues. I am a law abiding citizen who respects and follows the letter of the law (well 98.4% of the time hehe). I especially understand and agree with the laws in place when a pirate affects the frequency of a licensed broadcaster either by using the same or neighboring frequency. However I loved the old WBOT Hot 97.7 and love the fact that its continuing on the pirate. Because they are not subject to corporate payola, you hear songs you dont normally hear on commercial radio. Another VERY KEY thing for me is that its presented in a more polished commercial-like format. Theres nothing worse than having halfway decent music selections on a college radio station interrupted by stuttering timid soft-voiced college undergraduates. the whole staff at Hot 87.7 is professional and presents either talk or music in a seamless energetic manner.
if you want someone (fcc/irs etc) to go after 87.7 agressively, than ethically you MUST apply the same amount of force to the schmo who runs 87.9 the wave. the wave 87.9 interferes with WMBR a lot where I'm at and 87.7 doesn't touch it.
and since we are talking about WMBR....why is their audio so soft and weak compared to Hot 97/87.7? I understand that commercial stations jack their audio up to sound louder....so why not everyone do it so i dont have to keep adjusting the volume??
One final note - for the people whining about not having a frequency for their ipod transmitter....There is no FCC rule that guarantees you a free frequency for your personal microbroadcaster.
if you want someone (fcc/irs etc) to go after 87.7 agressively, than ethically you MUST apply the same amount of force to the schmo who runs 87.9 the wave. the wave 87.9 interferes with WMBR a lot where I'm at and 87.7 doesn't touch it.
and since we are talking about WMBR....why is their audio so soft and weak compared to Hot 97/87.7? I understand that commercial stations jack their audio up to sound louder....so why not everyone do it so i dont have to keep adjusting the volume??
One final note - for the people whining about not having a frequency for their ipod transmitter....There is no FCC rule that guarantees you a free frequency for your personal microbroadcaster.
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MickeyD
Guest
robotique said:
Ethically you have to go after all of the pirates that are parked on the commercial band too. 87.7 and 87.9 are on the non-comm part of the band. Not bothering anyone. I don't know where you live but WMBR is protected to about saugus and that is it. I don't know what kind of piece of crap modulator can't over power any FM station. The transmitter is right next to the receiver
robotique said:
Because the pirate is probably OVERMODULATING, as many of them do. They don't conform to regulations requiring a license, why should they conform to regulations governing overmodulation?
And, they don't have to sound distorted to be overmodulating. They can be slightly exceeding legal modulation levels without necessarily sounding (very) distorted. It's still illegal if it's over a certain level.
Most commercial stations sound louder than most college stations because, besides transmitting with a lot more gross wattage for the most part, most commercial stations heavily compress their audio to make sure that their levels are right up to, but not exceeding, legal levels at all times. Lower-level or "quiet" portions of music are brought right up to the same levels as the loud portions. They do this because they believe that it makes them more competitive with one another on the dial, so they all feel that they have to do it. But, they also know that they can run right up to, but not exceed, legal levels or they would be subject to fines if caught.
Pirate stations are already being fined for simply being on the air, and ignoring them, so why should they worry about an overmodulation fine? A legitimate station could (possibly) risk their license for being caught in technical violations such as overmodulating. A pirate has no license to lose, so crank up the volume!
The MIT students/alums who run and maintain WMBR are careful to make sure that they are up to, and not exceeding, legal modulation limits on loud audio peaks, but they may not sound as loud as commercial stations because they (and many other college stations) don't want that heavily compressed sound artificially making all portions of music and programming the same volume level. They do employ some necessary minimal compression, but not enough to ruin the original dynamic range of the recordings they play. "Softer" portions of recordings still sound softer over the air than louder portions, as the producers and artists intended them to.
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