[Swprograms] OT: Pirate DJ's sought after antenna blows over atop Hollywood (FL) building

["Steve Coletti" <scoletti@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Forwarded from alt.radio.pirate, posted by Mike Terry


By Andrew Ryan
 March 18 2005

A breeze blew over an illegal 40-foot antenna atop a building in downtown
Hollywood on Wednesday, leading authorities to two pirate radio stations
that had been covertly broadcasting Caribbean music and the "Voice of Peace
for Israel," police said.

The makeshift antenna, haphazardly anchored in a knee-high garbage can
filled with concrete, caught the attention of neighbors when it tipped over
on top of the eight-story Wachovia Bank Building on Tyler Street and dangled
over the parking lot.

Police and fire officials, responding to a call about 2:30 p.m., found a
network of antennas, an amplifier and a river of cable running to an
air-conditioned broadcast booth on the roof and another in a storage room
two floors below.

"It was a very sophisticated operation that looked like a radio station,"
said Hollywood police spokesman Tony Rode. "The good news is we were able to
dismantle two pirate radio stations. The bad news is nobody has been
arrested at this point."

Radio pirates broadcast without licenses from the Federal Communications
Commission and can interfere with the signals of established stations.

If caught, the FCC can seize a pirate's equipment, levy fines and imprison
black-market disc jockeys. Pirate radio has long been an issue in Florida,
prompting legislators to pass a law that made running an illicit station a
third-degree felony. The law took effect July 1.

The stations Hollywood authorities stumbled on Wednesday broadcast on the FM
band. The first, 101.1, played Caribbean music. Police found hundreds of
compact discs, a computer and a timer that allowed DJ's to spin music
remotely, Rode said.

The second station, 104.7, called itself "The Voice of Peace for Israel,"
Rode said.

Officials were thankful that the antenna didn't crash into the Wachovia
parking lot where people could have been injured, Rode said.

Investigators are interviewing the building's tenants, but so far police do
not know how long the two stations have been broadcasting.

The building, located at 1909 Tyler St., a block west of Young Circle, is
owned by the Whale Pond Land Trust #1, records show. Joseph Betesh, a
trustee for the company, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

In addition to state and FCC regulations, the radio pirates also violated
city building and electrical codes, Rode said.

In 2000 the FCC pulled the plug on two Broward pirate stations, including
one in unincorporated Fort Lauderdale that played uncensored rap and hip-hop
punctuated with profanity.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-sradio18mar18,0,462505.st
ory?coll=sfla-news-broward

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