Szoka's Screwing Continues; Miscellaneous Self-Props

Jerry Szoka, former proprietor of Cleveland’s popular Grid Radio, was socked with an $11,000 fine more than six years ago, and the government came collecting in February. Szoka doesn’t have that kind of cash and has been trying to appeal the collection. He was supposed to have a hearing yesterday but the judge cancelled it and entered a judgment for the FCC: “They said they tried to contact me but didn’t have my home number…A complete travesty of justice.”
Szoka will attempt to continue to the appeals process, but without a lawyer (or the funds to hire one) the outlook remains grim. Continue reading “Szoka's Screwing Continues; Miscellaneous Self-Props”

Miscellaneous Piracy Afoot

Some scene reports to share:
Steamboat Springs, CO – “We went on the air about 9 PM Friday (1/30) and took things down at 11 AM Sunday (2/2). The X-mitter was a North Country MPX-96 feeding 2 modified and filtered Radio Shack HTX-10 amplifiers in series. Power out was ~30 watts into a wire 1/2 wave dipole on the balcony of a 2nd story ski-in/ski-out condo about 500 vertical feet above town and 200 feet above the base of the resort. Coverage was excellent as you could imagine. Covered downtown and the whole resort area, didn’t drive far enough to lose the signal. Oh, and the snow was OK, skiing great, and weather WARM.”
Boulder, CO – There has been some sort of split within the Boulder Free Radio organization. Most of the station’s founders are now working on an internet-only radio station presumably called “Real Public Radio.” New folks now have the transmitter; their intentions are unknown. Continue reading “Miscellaneous Piracy Afoot”

Supreme Court Declines Grid Radio's Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of Jerry Szoka and GRID Radio, an unlicensed microradio station in Cleveland, Ohio who’s been sparring with the FCC since 1998 and went off the air after receiving a federal court injunction in 2000.
This is the second microradio case to be declined recently by the Supremes; the first was Minneapolis’ Beat Radio, whose petition for certiorari was turned away last year. Continue reading “Supreme Court Declines Grid Radio's Appeal”