LPFM Day is February 8 at FCC headquarters. The event is akin to a “mini trade show,” a chance for advocates of low power radio to show off the technology and talk up its benefits to FCC staffers. The Prometheus Radio Project is organizing a mini-conference on LPFM for the day before. It is even rumored that Mikey Powell may grace the event with his presence – the least he can do for failing to accomplish anything substantive as far as advancing the rollout of LPFM stations.
SF Weekly has a new feature on Pirate Cat Radio. Since 1997 this “punk as fuck” station has, according to its founder, “Monkey,” received more than 120 warning notices from the FCC while operating unmolested in Los Gatos, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles. So far it’s been on in the Bay area for some two years and nary a peep from the FCC. Telling tall tales? Consider this: he blames the October 2003 raid of San Francisco Liberation Radio on interference SFLR caused to Oakland International Airport – yet he chuckles about complaints from neighbors when Pirate Cat messes up TV reception, and it hindered reception of at least one Los Angeles station during its run there.
I’m all for being “punk as fuck,” but damned if the devil-may-care attitude that comes with the territory tends to get damagingly narcissistic over time. Pirate Cat’s also branching out into TV, taking advantage of FRB‘s new TV transmitter kits to occupy Channel 13. Video broadcasts are supposed to have begun this month.
Finally, a quick apology for the lack of substantive site updatage. We managed to switch DIYmedia to a new server over the holiday period without anyone noticing, but my home computer fritzed out this week and it’s still in hospital, taking an uncomfortably large chunk of my life with it.