Rumors of the demise of United Patriot Radio have proven to be false; whether or not this is a good thing, only time will tell.
United Patriot Radio is a shortwave pirate broadcasting from somewhere in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Run by a self-described militiaman named Steve Anderson (no relation), UPR originally came to life as Kentucky State Militia Radio (KSMR) in March, 2000, relaying militia-related news and advocating resistance to further encroachment by the Federal government on the lives of America’s citizenry.
Broadcasting on the upper sideband of 3260 kHz with a handful of watts and a homemade antenna, KSMR caused a small stir in the shortwave pirate community: never before had a clandestine station targeting the United States government actually broadcast from within its own borders.
But, as more and more people tuned in KSMR, more and more began not to like what they heard. Continue reading “Itching for a Fight”
Category: Pirate Radio
New Moves in the Netherlands
For years The Netherlands has been a hot-spot on the European pirate scene. Dozens, if not hundreds, of FM stations operate there with relative impunity. The impetus for Dutch pirates has been a cultural one – popular niche music (such as dance and electronica) are all but ignored by the country’s commercial outlets. Pirates have rushed to fill the void, using hundreds of watts of power in the process.
For a country less than twice the size of the American state of New Jersey, you’d think their “radio police” would have little problem shutting stations down. But the State Agency for Radiocommunications, or RDR, has been unable to clear the airwaves of pirates, who often resume broadcasting almost immediately after being caught.
Several tactics have been tried in the Dutch war against pirate radio. First the RDR issued stiff fines against unlicensed broadcasters, but many were overturned in court when the judges ruled that the RDR hadn’t collected “sufficient evidence” to justify the penalty. Measuring and monitoring an unlicensed radio signal is not enough – if agents don’t confirm the actual presence of a pirate transmitter with their own eyes, then there isn’t enough grounds to issue a fine. Continue reading “New Moves in the Netherlands”
Party Pirate Gives it Up?
Pirate radio blooms around the world for different reasons and faces different challenges, depending on where the station is located and the reasons for going on the air. In the United States, pirates tend to take to the air for political reasons: whether it be to protest the corporate takeover of the local airwaves or to challenge the authority of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), putting a pirate station on the air is a signal of open defiance to the status quo.
Nobody has exemplified this nature of struggle more than Doug Brewer. He joined the ranks of the microradio movement early on in the game, setting up Tampa’s Party Pirate 102.1in 1994 as an outgrowth of a small station he installed to broadcast Christmas music at his home during the holidays.
Listeners in Tampa flocked to the station but the FCC wasn’t pleased; an overzealous crew of enforcement agents based in Tampa made it their mission in life to take the Party Pirate off the air. They began with a visit in 1996 and issued Brewer a $1,000 fine for unlicensed broadcasting. Continue reading “Party Pirate Gives it Up?”
Infighting Kills Militia Pirate
It looks like a controversial shortwave militia pirate station is off the air now, possibly for good.
Kentucky State Militia Radio, or KSMR, began broadcasting a couple of months ago from a location in Kentucky. Major Steve Anderson was behind the mic, and he used the station to disseminate contact information for militia groups around the United States. However, the operation of the station was not sanctioned by Anderson’s parent organization, the Kentucky State Militia.
When the Militia’s commander found out about Anderson’s broadcasts – and the pending confrontation it would cause with federal authorities – he ordered Anderson to cease operations.
Anderson complied for a few days, then returned the station to the air under the name “United Patriot Radio.” Anderson claimed the station had no ties to the Kentucky State Militia anymore, and that he’d recruited help from other groups around the country to keep the station running. Continue reading “Infighting Kills Militia Pirate”
KSMR Reborn
On the shortwave front, a militia man in Kentucky that made history in March is back on the air under a different name.
Major Steve Anderson, a member of the Kentucky State Militia, first fired up Kentucky State Militia Radio on March first. KSMR became the first clandestine shortwave broadcaster ever to target the United States from within the country itself – stations of this type traditionally broadcast outside of the country they’re trying to propagandize.
Touting the station as an expression of the First Amendment “protected by the Second Amendment,” KSMR made several broadcasts for about three weeks, passing along militia contact information and warning the FCC to stay away. Continue reading “KSMR Reborn”
KSMR Makes History
When Major Steve Anderson of the Kentucky State Militia fired up a shortwave transmitter and gave birth to Kentucky State Militia Radio (KSMR) this month, it’s not clear whether or not he knew he was making history.
The amateur and shortwave radio bands are heavily populated by militia and other “patriot” broadcasters who criticize the federal government for regularly overstepping its Constitutional bounds. In many cases, these broadcasters advocate isolation from anything federal in nature.
Anderson falls into this category: last year he turned in his amateur radio license to the FCC as a symbolic gesture of detachment from the reins of federal authority. Continue reading “KSMR Makes History”
2001 "Pirate Hunt" Begins
The U.S. microradio movement is all abuzz over the recent raid on Radio Free Cascadia – the 90-watt unlicensed station broadcast for three years in Eugene, Oregon, and some members of the station conducted a broadcast in Seattle during the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization.
On Thursday, March 15, FCC agents backed by 11 federal and local law enforcement officers paid an early-morning visit to RFC. Guns were drawn, a battering ram was employed, and when it was over the agents had confiscated the station’s broadcast equipment and left Eugene with one less voice on the radio dial.
The RFC collective was quick to respond: “This was an obvious attack on free speech and autonomy,” said a statement posted to the station’s web site. “We will be back on the air!” Continue reading “2001 "Pirate Hunt" Begins”
Party Pirate Attacked Again; Former Pirate to get Second Station
The FCC appears to be experiencing a moment of schizophrenia.
On the regulation and enforcement fronts, the hands of the FCC are working in very different directions.
Yesterday, a new volley was fired in the ongoing battle between the radio police and Doug Brewer, operator of Tampa, Florida’s “Party Pirate” 102.1 FM.
There’s a long history to this skirmish, which has flared up twice before since Brewer put the Party Pirate on the air more than six years ago. Continue reading “Party Pirate Attacked Again; Former Pirate to get Second Station”
Shortwave Bonanza
Unlike their microradio cousins operating on the FM dial, shortwave pirate broadcasters aren’t in the game to serve a specific community – unless you include those who’ve turned the hobby of scanning the shortwave bands into a science.
Shortwave radio broadcasting and listening is a very different sport from low power FM. Both types of broadcasters use only dozens of watts to get a signal out but FM signals are very localized. They only travel in a line-of-sight fashion, at best covering dozens of miles.
Shortwave radio, on the other hand, takes advantage of the upper levels of the atmosphere to extend their range. Using the electrically charged particles in the ionosphere, it is possible for a shortwave signal to “skip” through this layer and be heard hundreds or thousands of miles away.
This provides a fascinating challenge to the shortwave listener, who must optimize their receiving antennas and other equipment to best pick up these whispers of pirate radio. Continue reading “Shortwave Bonanza”
Target: Translator
Translators: they are a pox on the FM radio dial.
Translators, by definition, are small low-power FM radio stations licensed with power levels of up to 250 watts. Translators are licensed by the FCC as “relay stations” only: they may not originate their own programming and must rebroadcast the signal from a full-power “parent station.”
Translators were originally designed to be used by FM radio stations located in difficult terrain, like mountainous regions of the United States, to help fill in gaps in their signal area.
Instead, several groups (most notably religious “pay to pray”-type broadcasters) have used the translator rules to build large networks of low-power radio stations across the country. Translators are easier to site and cheaper to build and operate than full-power FM radio stations. Continue reading “Target: Translator”