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Pirate Radio | Modern Pirates Of The Airwaves

You don’t have to break out your eye patch or learn to preface every statement with “Aarrrrr” to be a modern radio pirate. All you really need is a computer and the desire to be heard. There is a potential audience of 1.6 billion internet users worldwide and, as the technology that enables digital broadcasting continues to evolve, its ability to compete with traditional analog radio also increases. For example, both Shoutcast and Ustream now have iPhone apps that allow listeners to receive digital broadcasts wherever they go.

via filminfocus.com

known as ‘the boat that rocked’ over here pirate radio the film hits screen of silver round about now (thanks to @inga22 for the tip off) this article looks at modern day pirates in the US, some flying the war flag to claim immunity from prosecution.

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radio bicycle [1970’s]

@dojodub reminded me of this radio today, you had to zig zag your way
home to hear Radio Dublin 253m in Inchicore but Diamond 199 in
Fairview was perfect until you turned left near the shops. what a
silly design. but it worked better than indoor DAB on offer from RTÉ
today.

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broadcast convergence

Slide

“As technology speeds up content delivery, radio gains pictures and TV
audio can be heard in car. Online becomes IP over the air and
everything goes digital. This future may be more harmful to some
players who need universal access to the lowest common denominator
without seeding all control to private sector carriage. Public service
should have a distinct claim on spectrum and the types of codecs used
for the public good to balance the digital or advanced technological
divide.” Brian Greene October 5th 2009 illustration by @wally1

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Digital Radio DAB+

Athena Media’s Digtal Radio report suggests DAB+ as a way forward for
local national and quasi national broadcasting. RTE has no problem
going DAB+. 20,000 DAB radio sets are not forward compatible and will
be unable to get the improved DAB+ signal. RTE closed down all its
medium wave (MW) services & said the budget saving would be spent on
digital roll out. RTE rolled out 18 year old DAB & now could adopt
DAB+ leaving set owners stranded? DAB+ sounds better than DAB even in
poor reception conditions. It is better at spectrum usage. (more
stations! to you and me) So my gripe is that RTE killed MW for poor
old DAB, and we could see them kill off DAB before independents even
start to broadcast in digital, this is a CRAZY WASTE. 20,000+ digital
radio set owners will be pissed off. dual broadcast of DAB & DAB+
would be spectrum inefficient. they were told it was old tech when
they trialled it but it graduated from the trial and has been made
available to up to 56% of the population.

More and more it seems broadcasters and the state institutions favour
multiplex systems over IP as it is a way of controlling who will
compete for our ears and our attention. Under the current broadcasting
system the scarcity of spectrum allows for the finite issuance of
licences controlling who can compete. But on mobile data towers and
with emerging technologies like wimax, access to spectrum is much more
democratic. IP radio services right now are available to mobile phone
owners via dedicated players and apps downloaded from device makers or
online radio stations. This shift is redefining what radio is and who
is allowed to run radio services. The old broadcast method of one to
many is being challenged by innovators and users alike. I doubt that
the incumbents and their regulators have much to gain in IP space,
when asked in the survey that was used to compile the digital radio
report, was online a competitive threat RTE said “No not a
replacement. A strong novelty factor.”

the report can be downloaded here http://url.ie/2ix0

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radio is my bomb

despite what you might think i did not write this.  I am writing a manifesto for social radio, and I came across this. I know who wrote it, I remember it been written, I can not get over how sharp it still is. INTRODUCTION

    This is a second edition of a pamphlet which we brought out first in 1992. The first edition was concise and contained all the relevant information needed to get you interested in starting your own free radio station. The first edition was not an original idea. A magazine distributed through the anarchist press with the same name “Radio is my bomb” has been very popular with those interested in setting up radio stations. Our first edition did fairly well . Many thanks goes to those at “Catharsis” zine for standing in the photo-copying shop for hours on end to bring out the first edition. Some critics of the last edition said it was too technical and didn’t explain itself very well. ?? This was true for those without a good knowledge of basic electric’s. For this edition I have tried to broaden out the issues involved and also give insight into each subject and the technical detail. This book will also look at new areas such as the history of free radio and the history of politics in radio specially focusing on propaganda during the cold war and world wars. The technical area won’t have many new features. It covers basics such as equipment; studios; transmitters; aerials and relevant accessories. It will have the usual hints and tips picked up by stations in the past learning from our mistakes so you have the privilege of not doing the same. Continue reading “radio is my bomb”