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106

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 25 2023 UTC 2351 - Jan 26 2023 UTC 2357 (AFE822x)

« on: January 27, 2023, 0020 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 1403 942 340 341 288.0 200 Cape Ray, NL Canada 47.636 -59.241 2,621 71 7664 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

107

General Radio Discussion / FCC Says Its Pirate Enforcement Is Picking Up, Including New Hires And Equipment

« on: January 26, 2023, 1935 UTC »

https://www.insideradio.com/free/fcc-says-its-pirate-enforcement-is-picking-up-including-new-hires-and-equipment/article_ca2470da-9d61-11ed-8f70-f7ef226e3ebd.html

Quote

Jan 26, 2023

The Federal Communications Commission says its battle against pirate radio returned to more normalcy as the agency’s pandemic response became less restrictive and it had more flexibility to return to undertaking more investigations. The result is the Enforcement Bureau took 38 actions against alleged operators of unlicensed stations, including issuing 21 notices during 2022 to property owners where those stations were broadcasting from.

“Because pirate radio stations often cease operating for a period of time but then return, the Bureau will continue to monitor the properties for which notices were provided and will initiate enforcement action where appropriate,” the FCC says in an annual report about its progress in combatting pirates. The annual report is now required under the Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act or PIRATE Act, which was signed into law by President Trump in January 2020.

If the number of enforcement actions seems small, the FCC explains that ever since the new law took effect field agents have been hampered by not only the pandemic but also a “lack of funding” to implement many of the requirements in the law. It is a similar complaint the FCC shared with lawmakers when it issued its previous report a year ago.

The PIRATE Act raised the potential maximum fine for those found guilty of operating or supporting an unlicensed station to $100,000 for a single act of violation, up to a $2 million maximum. It also gave the FCC additional enforcement authority over property owners and managers that permit pirate radio stations to operate from their property.

Under the new law, the FCC was required to build a database of pirate radio stations. This week the Enforcement Bureau released its first version of the database, covering all of the agency’s interactions with alleged pirates last year. It shows nearly half of the pirate enforcement actions were in New York, where there were 18 investigations last year. Pennsylvania accounted for 16% of the investigations, while Maryland is where another 11% of cases were focused.

Pirate Sweeps Begin

The PIRATE Act also required the Commission to conduct annual enforcement “sweeps” in five cities where pirate radio is the biggest problem at least once a year. And then, within six months, field agents are mandated to return to those markets to conduct “monitoring sweeps” to determine whether the unlicensed operators simply powered back up or changed frequencies.

Those sweeps were slow to begin – not because of the pandemic, but because Congress failed to provide additional funding to the FCC to conduct them and the agency opted not to shift existing resources to pay for the staff needed to meet the requirement. But that should change this year since the Biden administration included funding for the pirate enforcement as part of the FCC’s current $390 million budget for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Under the Biden proposal, the Enforcement Bureau would receive an increase of $5 million to implement the new law and to hire the 15 new employees. To date, the FCC has posted six full-time positions – five field agents and one field counsel – and it says it has additional hires planned toward the end of the fiscal year.

Even without the additional staff, the FCC report says its staff reviewed pirate radio complaints in order to identify the current top five markets with the most pirate radio operations. “The Commission developed a plan for pirate sweeps, which was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2022,” it says, offering no further details.

The annual report to Congress also says that more money is being spent on FCC equipment to hunt down pirate stations. That includes developing new mobile direction-finding vehicles to help field agents trace a pirate station back to its home base. The FCC says it also is prepared to purchase six vehicles to support the additional staff that will be hired. That process has been delayed, however, until a government purchase window opens. In the meantime, the FCC says it will continue to use older, existing vehicles in its fleet that were scheduled to be taken out of service. It has also begun to purchase and develop investigative tools that will be integrated into the new direction-finding vehicles after they are purchased.

108

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 24 2023 UTC 2345 - Jan 25 2023 UTC 2351 (AFE822x)

« on: January 26, 2023, 0022 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 19 972 901 902 302.0 200 Miraflores Panama 8.993 -79.585 4,220 157 3548 971 903 904 307.0 200 Gatun Panama 9.261 -79.937 4,181 158 892 942 340 341 288.0 200 Cape Ray, NL Canada 47.636 -59.241 2,621 71 3880 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

109

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 23 2023 UTC 2340 - Jan 24 2023 UTC 2345 (AFE822x)

« on: January 25, 2023, 0134 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 1825 942 340 341 288.0 200 Cape Ray, NL Canada 47.636 -59.241 2,621 71 3483 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

110

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 22 2023 UTC 2334 - Jan 23 2023 UTC 2340 (AFE822x)

« on: January 24, 2023, 0015 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 216 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

ID NW-C-0063-23 Date 2023-01-23 22:10 UTC Status Published Title Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) in Canada Areas Canada Categories DGPS Description Following the discontinuation of DGPS services across Canada on 15 Dec 2022, some infrastructure may become operational in an unreliable state or for testing purposes. Mariners are not to rely on readings or corrections that may be provided by DGPS.

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

111

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 21 2023 UTC 2329 - Jan 22 2023 UTC 2334 (AFE822x)

« on: January 23, 2023, 0208 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 6640 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

112

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 20 2023 UTC 2323 - Jan 21 2023 UTC 2329 (AFE822x)

« on: January 22, 2023, 0202 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 6 972 901 902 302.0 200 Miraflores Panama 8.993 -79.585 4,220 157 816 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

113

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 19 2023 UTC 2347 - Jan 20 2023 UTC 2323 (AFE822x)

« on: January 21, 2023, 0049 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 199 942 340 341 288.0 200 Cape Ray, NL Canada 47.636 -59.241 2,621 71

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

114

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 18 2023 UTC 2311 - Jan 19 2023 UTC 1715 (AFE822x)

« on: January 19, 2023, 2357 UTC »

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 43 942 340 341 288.0 200 Cape Ray, NL Canada 47.636 -59.241 2,621 71

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

115

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 17 2023 UTC 2306 - Jan 18 2023 UTC 2311 (AFE822x)

« on: January 18, 2023, 2337 UTC »

No stations yesterday and another that is not quite dead returned last night.

Cape Ray Wednesday, January 18, 2023 01:42:24 Wednesday, January 18, 2023 01:44:54 Wednesday, January 18, 2023 01:46:34

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 3 942 340 341 288.0 200 Cape Ray, NL Canada 47.636 -59.241 2,621 71

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

116

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 15 2023 UTC 2355 - Jan 16 2023 UTC 2300 (AFE822x)

« on: January 17, 2023, 0026 UTC »

Very poor propagation, but with only two Canadian stations and two Panamanian stations...

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 12 971 903 904 307.0 200 Gatun Panama 9.261 -79.937 4,181 158

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

117

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 14 2023 UTC 2349 - Jan 15 2023 UTC 2355 (AFE822x)

« on: January 16, 2023, 0138 UTC »

Last night was poor propagation.

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg
2709 971 903 904 307.0 200 Gatun Panama 9.261 -79.937 4,181 158
142 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

118

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 13 2023 UTC 2343 - Jan 14 2023 UTC 2349 (AFE822x)

« on: January 15, 2023, 0203 UTC »

No decodes. Unsure if local QRM, poor conditions, and/or they finally shut off those last two Canadian stations.

In the future, if there are no decodes, then I will not be posting.

_{AFE822x v2.0 SDR with 43' Wellbrook ALA100LN loop oriented E-W}

119

DGPS / DGPS Logs Jan 12 2023 UTC 2338 - Jan 13 2023 UTC 2343 (AFE822x)

« on: January 14, 2023, 0049 UTC »

Meh. Propagation was poor.

Count ID ref1 ref2 kHz Baud City Country Lat Lon km Deg 2 971 903 904 307.0 200 Gatun Panama 9.261 -79.937 4,181 158 89 936 332 333 319.0 200 Point Escuminac, NB Canada 47.075 -64.8 2,210 74