InterceptRadio.com Forums

A lot of the kids are getting stuff retail -- overseas of course.

You can get a nice 200 watt setup for under $1500 these days....including antenna, exciter, amp, coax, limiter/compressor. The gear is very clean, but not type accepted in the US.

A couple vendors of choice are nrgkits and pcs electronics. A less desirable (and one with very poor RF) is an older Ramsey. The BA1404 chip inside produces spurs all over the place -- people have even found them in the GHz...the ramsey just puts a 1 watt amp on that :o

103.7 has been on and off over the past week. The signal seems degraded now.

I finally had a chance to listen to "The Chronic 93.7". To best describe their format, imagine Cheech & Chong living in the 'hood and suffering from Tourette's Syndrome. They have a very good signal, especially in the area between I-5 and Hwy 99 just south of Kent-Des Moines road (near Day Wireless for those who know the area) . In fact it was so strong that I could receive it with the antenna disconnected from my radio.....

:D :D Yes, the old Raytelco building - 240th and the Highway (99). Thats the spot. Or as 93.7 would say 'the G spot', for gang hang out. (LOL).

Sounds to me like you might have zeroed in on the pirate's cove Rich. If you were picking up that signal without the antenna, I'd say you were probably right on top of him.

...which explains why i am getting such a strong signal in my house. I am LOS to that location.

Well there's your answer then! So he's still broadcasting loud and clear huh? I wonder how long it will be before he has an internet feed. I'm kind of interested in hearing his programming. Never heard a really and truly pirate station before! We don't get that kind of "excitement" in Tri-Cities :lol:

That's pretty funny, your really saying a lot for the Tri-Cites area. You wouldn't happen to work for the visitors bureau would you? I'd love to see more discussion about low power FM stations on this forum, legit or not. The technology has become more readily available, and the patience of your average wannabe station owner has grown thin. Dealing with the FCC can REALLY SUCK sometimes (ummmm....MTM?).

Outside of general vulgarities, can anyone find harmful interference caused by 93.7 ?

A new thread on this topic might be in order.

-Marcus

I wouldn't say anything against an agency like the FCC. I have 5 applications all pending that were filed in 1995 and 1996. I am sure that the FCC will get to them as soon as they can. After the FM auctions in November -- the FCC will have more than $ 750,000,000.00 to hire some file clerks to process the paper work. Its only been 8 - 9 years, give them time to do their jobs. I notice that this topic has drawn a lot of interest - and I am glad the top dogs have not said that this subject was off topic. Commercial radio is not like it used to be. Its now more like TV - a vast wasteland. And lets not even get started about HDTV. You have to wonder -- who is minding the store ?? Ten years to wait for a commercial or non-commercial FM or AM license is WAY TOO LONG. Turn it all over to any State DMV or County License Bureau. At least they get the paperwork out. And how many Low Power FM applications are yet to be reviewed ??? LOTS.

Nah, I'm just a minimum-wage photographer. :D Just stating the facts. We don't have a whole lot of bandwidth to play around with here. Pretty much all the stations on the dial are used up by both english and spanish stations.

But I will go back on what I said though previously. I guess there was a pirate station long while back that has since been licensed by the tech school in Kennewick. But to my knowledge there's not been any pirate stations active on the air in a long time since then. I think mainly just because of the lack of bandwidth.

There's room for one or two more stations in the Tri-Cities. 102.3 A Waitsburg, WA - 104.9 A Union Gap, WA and my favorite channel 100.1 C2 at Arlington, Oregon. My bread and butter is dropping in FM channels. There was a "pirate" on 540 khz AM in Orange County. Used an old 250 watt RCA transmitter from KPPC in Pasadena, CA - one of the first AM station in the US. The antenna was a converted CB base station with over 1200 feet of copper wire on top of a garage -- until the roof caught on fire from the heat. Covered a 60 mile radius. His parents made him get rid of the transmitter.

Hello everyone, just want to clear up the rumors and let everyone know we are still on the dial.

For brandon, I used to simulcast my staion on the internet a long time ago using the shoutcast technology.. Since then att now comcast cable modem upload bandwdith isnt that great, preventing me from getting more then a few listeners at the quality level i want, so i dont bother. However, on our website you can see our playlist to get an idea of what music we play.

To explain the signal loss some may have noticed. We have moved our operation to a new point in Des moines at a lower elevation. location and haat is everything, our new spot only gives us clear coverage in des moines, federal way, north tacoma, and parts of kent. There is a new coverage map on our website.

For those interested, we use winamp with a 3,000+ song random playlist on the pcs electronics PCI card transmitter, software based multiband compression, alesis hardware compressor, 2 co-phased stacked vertical dipoles, and plenty of wattage.

To MTM, yes i care about radio, suppoprt and bandwidth. I get nothing but positive remarks and praise in emails from listeners. If i got complaints from people, I would just turn it off. I broadcast our website hourly with an email address plainly on it for people to send in feedback. I apologize if I appeared to not care about the people listening, because I do. A LOT! I simply meant, I do not care if people choose not to support me and listen a differant radio station. It is their prerogative.

thx all for the comments, i do read them and take them all into consideration.

The Bossman
The Chronic 93.7 FM
thechronic937@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/thechronic937

:D So we got a little to close to the transmitter location and you had to move. That happens. But if we can find you - the FCC just drives up to your front door and the US Marshal covers the back door. Its NOT like it was say ten years ago. The FCC is REQUIRED to collect your SSN and inform the IRS to collect the cash - fine. If you even go on Welfare, the IRS gets paid first. You could be living in the parents garage for the rest of your life. And that $ 80.00 a week job at Burger King or Jack In the Crack - will have the TEN G fine paid off in about 2 - 3 years. But during that 3 years - you will NOT receive a DIME. NO CASH. Just the IRS with their hands in your pocket for 3 years. Not even enough cash to buy a candy bar or pack of smokes. You'll have to use a skate board until your 30 years old. Any every tiny part of your station and studio will be gone. No PC - No Nothing. All gone. KNAC - on the internet is just that. Its NOT over the air - but the MAKE MONEY for playing what the people want to hear. Pure Rock - KNAC - check it out dude. Start an internet station and make money and play what you want. NO FCC. Lotts of babes and NO STATIC AT ALL. MTM and S. Dan :D :D :D

But what if the FCC does come knocking, then what? Free Radio Santa Cruz has been on the air for 10 years after a few raids--Free Radio Olympia has been on since 01' Countless others, too. Any station that plays Democracy Now! and talking about the narrowing gap of station ownership can't be all bad. I would rather have a different point of view, regardless of legality than 1 or 2 owners in town calling all the shots .

The FCC had a chance to grant micropowered stations to communities as many applied but gave away a lot of them to religious stations as translators , just tune the low end of the dial now(re: 91.5 in SW Wash covers the KOPB signal from Portland now) Paul Allen, with his seed money allowed KEXP to buy the old 91.7 out of Tacoma and use it for a south -end KEXP transmitter, but that is Paul Allen......

I'm not knocking religion but how many local communities have had new grants below 92.3 that have been truly non-profit, non religious and run locally and not by a link based in Calif?

You presume a lot guy. I moved because i found a better house to live in. I didn't move because of any heat from anyone. That would be pointless. If the FCC wanted my loacation it would take them a mere few hours ot find it. Moving to a new location is not going to increase my on the air time. In most cases the FCC do not raid your station, they give you a chance to comply with regulations before proceding legally. As i know many broadcasters online and know this to be true. If your trying to scare me or something, you failed miserably.

Funny you mention working for burger king and such. As the owners of restaraunts and fast food chains rely on me to repair their IT problems when situations arise 24/7. paying a lot more then $80 a week bro.

And im not interested in making money off of radio broadcasting. you miss the point entirely. I do this for the fun of it. To show what radio could be if perhaps just a small portion of it would be approved for microbroadcasting, it would be a refreshing change to the monotony of everyday radio.

I hope this clears up your common misconceptions of a typical free radio broadcaster.

The Bossman
The Chronic 93.7 FM
thechronic937@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/thechronic937