Illegal interference

[joe]

For the last few days I have been unable to get Radio 4 on 93.5. I've tried several sets both with synthesised tuners and with good old fashioned tuning caps. A nearby neighbour has the same problem. Digital reception works as does LW and internet.

Slight mistuning brings in the cacaphony of what sounds like a "pirate" staion belting out POP "music" (a problem all too common in parts of London).

I phoned OFCOM who are unable to help and referred me to the BBC. They took lots of details but still no R4!

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Joe

[paulsherwin]

It's nothing to do with the BBC. Ofcom should take down the details, but enforcement action may take a while. This is a perennial problem in parts of London and the only permanent solution is to use a different source such as Freeview or DSat, perhaps together with an FM microtransmitter on a clear frequency (if you can find one.)

[kalee20]

Just a thought - is this someone else, having a similar problem except that their desired station IS the pop station, and they are re-radiating themselves with a FM microtransmitter that's not as micro as they probably think?

You've tried with several differen radios, but were these all the same location or did you take one 100 yards down the road? That might give a clue.

[f.cooper]

Hi ,
You could try and find the source, you would need a directional aerial plus reception from at least 3 different locations. Tri angulate the results and you may find the source.

[paulsherwin]

Ofcom know where all the significant pirates are transmitting from - there are only so many tower blocks, after all. The problem is the difficulty of shutting them down - the raids need significant resources as aggressive dogs, knives and firearms are often involved, and removing the transmitter and antenna only gets them off the air for a few hours as they have replacement gear on standby.

London FM pirates aren't schoolkids with home made transmitters in their bedrooms, they're major commercial operations controlled by organised criminals.

[Ian - G4JQT]

The BBC does now have responsibility for sorting out interference problems:

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/jun...from_ofcom.htm

Regards,

Ian

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Ian - G4JQT

The BBC does now have responsibility for sorting out interference problems

I stand corrected. I wasn't aware of this change.

[G8HQP Dave]

You could try one of the neighbouring R4 transmitters. Unless you are in a dip, you ought to be able to receive two or three alternatives, although with poorer signal-noise ratio. Hopefully they won't all have pirates sitting on them. Tune slowly from 90.2 to 92.4MHz.

[Boom]

When I lived in London one such station which was supposed to be operating on the FM band was putting out a stronger sprog on some 148MHz than its fundemental. I did 'advise' them via their mailing address that they had a problem but nothing was ever done. They were probably running a bought in box with no idea of what I was telling them.

I don't know about the legalities/politics of it all but could they be operating between channels using a simple VFO? This might present a problem to a PLL controlled radio using stepped channels. It could also make it very difficult for their audience as well.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Boom

could they be operating between channels using a simple VFO?

They use professional broadcast transmitters from people like Broadcast Warehouse. London FM pirates are about as far from a traditional radio hobbyist as it's possible to get.

[murphyv310]

I had no idea the problem was so bad in London and that it was linked to criminal activities, perhaps that is one reason for the FM switch off although I would think it could make the problem worse with a clearer band!
Not good at all!

[Sideband]

If you are in or around the London area and you have access to a good FM receiver, you can tune in to as many as 15 or more pirates over the weekend period. Some do seem to try and operate a fairly professional station including stereo and text information but most of them are over-deviated, hum and are generally unbelievably poor. Most of these are related to drug and other related crime and sound quality does not enter the equation. Some of the better one's (if I may use that expression loosely) have gone on to become legitimate. One such is Radio Jackie which gave the DTI a bad time during the 70's and 80's.

There is a local pirate operating in my area which I have been trying to locate which has an annoying habit of 'crashing' R2 with it's over-deviated signal on 89.5 (R2 is on 89.1 from Wrotham in this area). Several tower blocks are likely candidates and I think I've narrowed it down to two.

Personally I think the operators should all be strung up to their aerials and then have a couple of hundred watts of RF shoved through them.....


SB

[Boom]

Originally Posted by Sideband

Most of these are related to drug and other related crime

Are you sure? This sounds a bit alarmist to me. I'd have thought using a radio transmitter to advertise drugs and other illegal activities would not be the brightest of ideas.

I had some experience with pirate radio in the late 60s and in those days it was very much a case of a few like minded people got together and built a fairly high quality transmitter to spread music that wasn't generally available elsewhere. A hummy signal would not have been acceptable.

[G8HQP Dave]

Sorry, 90.2 to 92.4 would get you R3. R4 is 92.4 to 94.6MHz.

[johnmarshmanagain]

Originally Posted by Boom

Try http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...s-1461770.html

Pip pip J

[Boom]

Originally Posted by johnmarshmanagain

Pip pip J

As I said. Alarmist tabloid rubbish. Probably means one of the DJ's were caught at the station having a spliff.

Then again I suppose that as running such a station is illegal that it could well be said that every one of these outfits is involved in crime.

[Sideband]

Well obviously we can only go by reports but when I contacted the DTI many years ago, I got fairly chatty with one person who worked there and was actively involved with some local pirates. Apparently the ploy was to advertise venues often using code words or 'street' slang where drugs (and other items) could be bought and sold and the pirates were paid from part of the proceeds. Raids could get very nasty and of course the DTI had no powers of arrest so the police had to accompany them.


SB

[Sideband]

Originally Posted by Boom

I had some experience with pirate radio in the late 60s and in those days it was very much a case of a few like minded people got together and built a fairly high quality transmitter to spread music that wasn't generally available elsewhere. A hummy signal would not have been acceptable.

I'm sure you are right in those days. A lot of land-based pirates started up in protest to losing the original marine pirates like Caroline and Big L. The afore-mentioned Radio Jackie was one of these and just wanted to play popular music to a ready audience when the BBC were still struggling to replace the marine pirates.

However times have changed and now that there are local pop stations in most areas (and also specialist stations in London) there is little need for 'pop' pirates. There may be a few that do it for fun and a couple have tried to specialise (Rock FM run by some students, specialised in classic rock and were actually quite good) but they were raided by the DTI and never reappeared). Others have been raided many times but reappear days (even hours) later. Some are very sophisticated using remote studio's and RF relays to link to remote transmitters. The equipment they use is not the 'schoolboy' stuff but requires serious money to keep it going.

SB

[matthewhouse]

I mostly agree with Dave. I worked in London for a few days recently and had pirate stations on the radio almost all the time I was awake. There certainly were coded messages being broadcast by the DJs mostly advertising illegal raves, for obvious reasons certain details aren't mentioned until the last minute to give the Authorities little time to prepare. Most stations were almost non-stop music (brilliant!) and most stations were really quite good (IMHO), there was certainly no hum or distortion etc. High power FM transmitters can be had cheaply and seem to be freely available to buy.

That said I don't condone illegal activities including causing interference to legally broadcast stations.

Look on the bright side, you are only missing R4, most of AM is un-listenable in my house due to continuous external interference. Chances are all you can really do is cross your fingers and hope the offending station goes away soon. Could a directional FM aerial help in this situation?

[Boom]

Originally Posted by Sideband

The equipment they use is not the 'schoolboy' stuff but requires serious money to keep it going.

SB

Yes indeed, I seem to recall that one of the biggest backers of several of the original offshore UK stations was Coca-Cola.