Pirate Radio Report, December 1998
Last Updated on October 13, 2005 by Ralph Brandi
Hello and welcome to the last PIRATE RADIO REPORT of 1998! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Now it’s time for Christmas.
FCC Cracks Down on Pirates!
If you’ve been tuning the pirate bands over the past few weeks and haven’t heard anything, don’t worry. It’s not bad propagation, a broken radio or antenna that’s the cause.
What some are calling “The Great Halloween Pirate Massacre of 1998” occurred on October 30th and 31st when the friendly FCC agents tracked down and visited four alleged pirate operators in Massachusetts, Illinois, Texas and California. The stations were handed violation notices, told to stop operations immediately and warned that fines or equipment seizures would be forthcoming if broadcasts continued.
These were the first such busts since 1995 and word traveled throughout the pirate community like lightning, causing all those not visited to go silent.
In addition to the FCC visits, word leaked out of an operation “Clean Sweep” in which the FCC is going to keep track of all SW pirates, obtain search/seizure warrants and bust all those selected on the same day. This story has not been confirmed and some are doubting its validity.
Despite all this, we do have some logs to report, although most were made before the FCC enforcement activities occurred.
My thanks go to our faithful reporters Bill Wilkins in MO and David Krause in Ohio. Many thanks guys! If not mentioned it was 6955 kHz.
JERRY RIGGED RADIO was heard with their Halloween show on November 1st at 0001 UTC featuring a séance and eerie music. [Wilkins-MO]
PARTIAL INDIA RADIO, a funny parody of AIR was heard on October 17th at 0026 UTC reading letters from listeners and mentioning Pakistan. [Wilkins-MO] Also heard on October 25th at 2145 UTC. [Krause-OH]
RADIO EUROGEEK usually makes an appearance just before or after the annual Radio St. Helena broadcast. This year was no exception. They were heard from 1804-1841 sign off. Format included pop mx and talk about leaving pirate radio due to financial difficulties. The frequency was 11092.5 USB. They use the Providence drop.[Wilkins-MO, Krause-OH]
RADIO FREE SPEECH, featuring Bill O. Rights was noted in the AM mode at 1144 UTC on October 24th with a scary Halloween show. [Krause-OH]
RADIO METALLICA WORLDWIDE, popped up on 7415 kHz on October 17th at 1948 UTC. Dr. Tornado was playing rock and German steel metal music. [Krause-OH]
RADIO ONE, was heard on October 17th at 2324 UTC with station IDs and Rockabilly mx. They use the Belfast drop. [Krause-OH]
It’s Europirate Season Again!
Now that darkness is upon us, don’t forget to check for Europirates between 0600-0900 UTC in the frequency range of 6200-6400 kHz on Saturday/Sunday AMs.
Farmers From Holland is usually found around 6300 kHz. If they are coming in good, try looking for a few others. Some others may be testing from Europe between 2300-0500 on 6955 kHz if the frequency is vacant. If you hear anything, be sure to report in to us here at the PIRATE RADIO REPORT!
Until next month, Merry Christmas and Happy Pirate DX!
Chris