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Question on pirate radio

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ChrisSmolinski:
Every so often I will see an AM pirate turn up in the FCC enforcement list of NOUOs, but it is pretty rare. I would bet that there's a fair number of ethnic pirates in many of the larger cities, but they probably don't get out more than a few miles, and as they are not radio hobbyist related, we don't hear much about them.

While the band was pretty active in the 80s (I recall being able to hear an AM pirate from NYC most weekends), the expanded band took out most of the frequencies for wide coverage area (high power) hobbyist related AM pirates. TIS stations on 1710 were the final nail in the coffin. 1720 is generally open, but I assume stations don't use it because you can't tune it in on a regular AM radio. Which perhaps doesn't make sense since the target audience are really hobbyists with full coverage receivers. Some may think MW/SW pirate radio potentially has a wide audience from the general public, but I think this is delusional  ;D    (FM pirate radio OTOH obviously does have a wide audience)

redhat:
The definition of 'wide audience' is a matter of perspective.  MW/SW pirates have the potential to reach far greater audiences than the average FM pirate, simply from a signal footprint aspect.  Receiver availability or signal quality are other concerns, but I'm still in awe of the fact that 100 watts can cover a continent on SW, whereas at 100 MHz and a good location, your generally limited to a dozen or so miles.

It is likely in the future that we will play on 1720, but for reasons already pointed out, its a tough cookie to crack, the footprint of the antenna system is the biggest hurdle I see.  A 300' circle is hard to fit into the average suburban lot, and low dipoles at those frequencies don't work that great either.

Part of me thinks, at least from a professional aspect, the MW will continue to decline, probably starting with some of the rimshot stations with complicated directional arrays that either cost to much to maintain, or don't generate enough revenue to subsidize the land taxes and power they consume, to say nothing of licensing and staffing costs.  This may be one of the silver linings of the AM translator debacle; if the FCC decides that AM's with translators can let the AM plant go dark and maintain the FM signal.  It would lead to a new cry for FM spectrum, but may provide a new means for some of these struggling stations to stay afloat.

There is also the matter that FM doesn't seem to have the appeal it once did either.  The number of nights I gave out a phone number on a relatively high powered FM pirate and never got calls told me a lot.  I'm sure its a different story for ethnic stations that have a built in audience to support it, but the average joe is just pushing buttons, or listening to itunes.

I have a feeling there are more people listening to shortwave than any of us would guess based on some of the email I've received over the years.  You never know whose out there, and that's what makes it fun.

Time will tell,

+RH

Pigmeat:
Satellite radio becoming near standard in all new vehicles is hurting FM, too. No more tuning around and no more hitting that pirate station with limited range.

When I was pirating on SW, it always surprised me how many emails I got from broadcast engineers. We would swap tips and tricks and how not to electrocute yourself. They were normally my best monitors. On the technical side of radio there's not much animosity between the pros and pirates. It's management that is the PIA.

MDK2:
This is slightly off topic, but I used to wonder about the DJ character in the movie "Do The Right Thing" played by Samuel L Jackson. I found it odd that he was broadcasting comments about the characters when he saw them on the street. Now I'm guessing that he was an FM pirate who was only transmitting to the neighborhood, which would make a lot of sense. Growing up out west I never had any idea. Of course if there are low power pirates with 2 mile diameter broadcasts here, I've probably never lived within any of those circles and would have little idea that they weren't legit if I heard them but they were in Spanish.

BDM:
I agree with RH for the same reasons. My experience with FM free radio over the last 10 years has given me the same experience.

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