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Day 2 - 9/11/02

Today the Mosquito Fleet hoped to launch its first real broadside on the Seattle radio dial. Most folks met back at the IMC to patch together what gear they had and get stations installed and online.

Headaches began here. Some station componentry brought from Texas didn't match with stuff from Oregon; travel also caused a few equipment casualties, precipitating emergency repairs before some stations could become fully functional.

Even with the added burden, the core group of broadcast engineers (there were about four, varying from complete DIY techies to folks with a Ph.D.) were able to assemble several four-watt transmitters (most were kits from NRG) and assorted amplifiers, ranging from 20 to 150 watts. The four-watt units not paired up with amplifiers became "floaters" that were set up at special events throughout the week.

Several types of antennas were employed, including the popular Comet 5/8 wave, 1/2 wave J-pole, and dipole designs. Someone even brought in a circularly-polarized antenna bay to play with, but there wasn't much success in getting good results with it (perhaps in a more controlled environment).

In addition to selecting frequencies, the local coordinators had also identified host locations for stations to broadcast from. In many cases, apartment-dwellers invited total strangers into their homes for a week of pirate broadcasting.

These preselected locations greatly speeded up the installation of microradio stations, but they presented their own challenges once the gear was actually in the space. Some antenna locations weren't as good as first thought, some dwellings weren't built with proper electrical wiring and grounding, etc. Only one of the stations (an eight-watt outlet installed in a van) was mobile, so everyone else pretty much had to make do with the surroundings they found themselves in.

The entire day seemed heavy with the constantly reverent words and images pummeling us from the mainstream media. After all, it was "one year after," and proper media genuflection set the initial emotional tone of the day. Reports of police massing a block from the IMC flickered through the space, sparking a flash of nervousness until somebody realized they were there for Seattle's "remembrance ceremony."

If there was a good day to set sail with the Mosquito Fleet, today was it. By Wednesday evening, four microradio stations were on the air at 87.9, 94.5, 101.1 and 102.1 FM. "System P," the station at 102.1, had assembled a special 9/11-themed show constructed entirely out of audio collage from the past year's news. Other Fleet stations linked up to relay the programming.

It was a great dress rehearsal for the full-on anti-corporate radio assault that would take place on Thursday. Most stations powered down for the night, although over the course of the week several stations broadcast for most of the day (101.1 FM led the way, committing to programming every day from 7 AM until at least 10 PM).

Next Page --> Day 3 --> Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5