The FCC reports that it seized transmission equipment from two pirate radio stations in Boston on March 26. According to court documents, the seizures involved an illegal broadcaster that identified as “Big City” on various FM channels from Dorchester, Massachusetts (with a studio in Roxbury) and pirate “B87.7 FM,” which operated on 87.7 FM from Dorchester. Both unlicensed stations had been issued multiple warnings but continued to operate. Pursuant to federal forfeiture statutes, authorities seized equipment operated by each radio station. The forfeiture actions came in the wake of complaints to the FCC — including one from a licensed broadcaster — about interference, the FCC said.
“When pirate radio stations refuse to cease operations, despite multiple warnings, action must be taken,” US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling said. “It is a public safety hazard for illegal radio stations to broadcast, potentially interfering with critical radio communications. We will work in conjunction with the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to identify violators of federal communications law.”
Over past year, the FCC has significantly ramped up its enforcement activity against unlicensed broadcasters, netting at least two Amateur Radio licensees alleged to be involved in pirate broadcasting.
Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold said the FCC has been “pursuing multiple legal routes to stop pirate broadcasters,” and that the seizure action in Boston is just one of them. The Communications Act of 1934 prohibits the operation of radio broadcasting equipment above certain low-intensity thresholds (under FCC Part 15) without an FCC license. The Act authorizes the seizure and forfeiture of any electronic or radio frequency equipment used to broadcast without an FCC license.
The US Marshals Service and Boston Police Department provided assistance with the seizure operations. — FCC News Release
Source:ARRL
Antenna
New Product MFJ-4713
This MFJ-4713 HF 4-Position Remote Antenna Switch lets you switch between four antennas remotely. Covers 1.8 to 30 MHz. Run one coax from the indoor s... Read more
Multiband Delta Antenna – M0PLK
Multiband Delta Antenna Closed loop antennas are always less sensitive to noise than open driven element antennas (e.g. vertical or dipole). T... Read more
Solid Delta loop for 20m band
Delta loop Antenna Boom length: about 7m, projection on the ground 4m per arm Mounts on mast from 40 to 50mm, 60mm optional. suggested height at least... Read more
10 6 MOXI 5 | NEW FOR 2015! | 10 METER / 6 METER MOXON YAGI HYBRID BEAM
Stunning 2015 design from G0KSC: ten meter Moxon mated with a 3 element six meter Yagi on one boom with a common feedline. Look at the pattern and ban... Read more
Hy-Gain AV-680 9 Band Vertical Update Video
Hy-Gain AV-680 9 Band Vertical Hy-Gain Multi-Band PATRIOT Vertical Antennas 9-band vertical covers 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 Meters • No radials • No... Read more
VHF
How To Do a VHF SOTA Activation by K0NR
The Summits On The Air (SOTA) program has really taken off in North America. SOTA originated in the UK in 2002, so it took a little while for i... Read more
ISS 437.800 MHz cross band FM repeater activated
At 01:02 GMT on September 2 a cross band FM amateur radio repeater with a downlink on 437.800 MHz was activated on the International Space Statio. The... Read more
WRC-19 Day-19: 50 MHz Approved!
WRC-19 has approved an allocation in the 50 MHz band for amateurs in Region 1 at its morning plenary in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Thursday 21 Novembe... Read more
EI3KD works Cape Verde on 144 MHz to set new Region 1 DX record
“On Sunday the 5th of August 2018, Mark Turner EI3KD managed to work D4Z on the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of of Africa on 144 MHz, a dist... Read more
VHF Handbook Available for Download
The new version of the IARU Region 1 VHF Handbook 7.50 covering VHF, UHF and Microwaves is now available for download. The handbook has chapters on Ba... Read more
VHF Repeater Project (GB3XP) – ICQPODCAST
In this episode, Martin M1MRB / W9ICQ is joined by Ed Durrant DD5LP ,Martin Rothwell M0SGL, Chris Howard M0TCH and Andy Mace 2E0IBF to discuss the lat... Read more
Review
A Beginner’s Guide To Ham Radio In Space
“The most entertaining look at amateur radio satellites ever. In my almost 10 years in the hobby, I’ve been intimidated and never tried to... Read more
Xiegu G90 Unboxing
G90 is a portable 20W HF amateur radio transceiver with an SDR architecture with built-in auto antenna tuner. The display unit and the radio can be se... Read more
DMR Handheld Review: TID TD-DP580
TID TD-DP580 DMR Radio UHF Radio Ham Radio Digital 2 Way Radio This DMR radio is reasonably cost effective due to its high quality and ergonomic desig... Read more
The PackTenna Mini 9:1 Random Wire Antenna Antenna
http://www.packtenna.com Read more
App - Mobile
RFinder – The World Wide Repeater Directory now supports Twitter!
“RFinder has been the ‘Social Repeater Directory’ for a while now with its support of repeater check-in postings to APRS and... Read more
Pocket Radio Android App ( TX and RX )
This is an Android application used to remotely control several HAM radio – any CAT enabled transceiver over Bluetooth, USB/Serial or with secu... Read more
SmartSDR for iOS v1.0.4 Now Available
FlexRadio Systems announces the release of SmartSDR for iOS v1.0.4 is now available for download or update from the Apple App Store. This release con... Read more
EchoLink for iOS version 2.6.14 is now available
EchoLink for iOS version 2.6.14 is now available in the App Store. This is a 64-bit build that is fully compatible with iOS 10 and modern iOS devices.... Read more
Ham GeoTool APP
A tool all-in-one for the radio amateur in Portugal and Spain created for personal use but at the last JOTA / JOTI, was released at the request of som... Read more
Rfinder for Visually Impaired on Android
Rfinder Tom W3ZX, a visually impaired ham gives a great demo on Android using TalkBack for the visually impaired. See More: http://www.rfinder.net/blo... Read more