BAXX-FM Edmonton - a Pirate?

[jon]

Original Title: Now an Edmonton Pirate

I'm not sure how long they have been on the air, but Edmonton now has itself a genuine pirate station. I first heard it yesterday, but wrote it off to one of the early FM Transmitters that came out when Satellite Radio first came out, and were significantly overpowered. They were all recalled, but who is going to return one if it performs better than the replacement you'd get stuck with?

The coverage area is pretty huge for a pirate.

At first listen, it sounds like it is just a satellite station. But today I actually heard them ID'ing, with "professional" level imaging by a solo female announcer, giving an e-mail address and web site URL, as well as the on-air frequency, though no mention of Edmonton. It is done so infrequently, that I didn't catch it completely. Both the domain name of the .com web site and the gmail e-mail address have "baxfm" in them, as best I could make out.

Unfortunately, I can not detect a trace of them in my garage or house, and no longer have a portable receiver I could record from. Right now, though, I have the car parked at the other end of the block, where the reception is the best, though not perfect, and have a portable digital audio recorder recording off the speakers. Crude, but all I could manage in a hurry. I can't believe that Industry Canada will leave them alone for much longer.

The frequency is 107.9 MHz. I have noted a consistent and clear (enough to be listenable) signal at enough points throughout the City that would equate to a 300 square kilometre coverage area. Buildings and hills do block reception in much of that area, however.

Based on signal strength, as best I can hear it off a car radio, and the best reception behind concrete buildings, an extremely wild guess would be someone in one of the highrise rentals just East of Southgate shopping centre. Using the old roof top TV antenna as a transmitter aerial. Buildings of that age (early 1970s) have a coaxial connection in each suite that goes directly to the antenna on the roof, so it would be easy to "back feed". I can't believe anyone uses them anymore, so who would notice?

The gaps between songs are too long for a satellite channel. And I heard two of the same songs back to back today as yesterday, which indicates it is a fixed play list of songs, at least an hour in length, probably much longer. Album cuts, mostly heavy guitar Rock, from the mid-'60s to mid-'80s. As I started the digital recorder, they were playing CCR's full (10+ minutes) version of "Heard It Through the Grapevine", which I've actually never heard any Edmonton station ever play [KOL-AM Seattle played the full album version in Afternoon Drive in 1970 as part of their Top 40].

I can't guarantee that they are on the air all the time, as I did hear an Open Carrier in the car for a while yesterday late in the day. And 107.9 MHz is used heavily here for FM transmitters inside cars. But the ones I've heard might be heard 10-20 car lengths away at the most.

[jon]

Well, it worked. Recorded the ID. And even tracked the whole thing down.

http://sites.google.com/site/baxxfm/

The site states that the transmitter is only 1 watt, but there is mention of antenna cable, which leads me to believe that a well-placed (i.e. - significant height) and effective antenna is being used.

The web site says 3-4 square miles, but I get solid reception 10 miles away. Downtown, at least at street level, is pretty much hopeless because of the tall concrete buildings. And ravines at any distance are also a problem.

[jon]

Here is what Industry Canada says, effectively defining FM pirates:

Q. Are there any FM broadcasting transmitters exempted from Industry Canada's authorization requirements?

A. Currently, the only FM broadcasting transmitters that Industry Canada exempts from authorization are those that meet the requirement of Broadcasting Equipment Technical Standards 1 (BETS-1). These transmitters, commonly called Low-Power Announcement Radios or alternatively Real Estate Radios, have very small coverage areas. According to BETS-1,

"The maximum power output of the transmitter into its antenna, with no modulation, shall not produce a field strength level of more than 100 μV/m as measured at a distance of 30 metres,"

which corresponds to a transmitter power output of less than 1 microwatt (μW). CRTC licence exempt or not, any broadcasting transmitter not meeting the technical standard specified in BETS-1 will require authorization from Industry Canada for its installation and operation, regardless of the identity of the equipment manufacturer, purpose of the broadcasting transmission or the affiliation of the operator.

ref. - http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.ns ... 87.html#q2

Bottom line: BAXX-FM is certainly running a pirate (illegal) FM transmitter.

[MIKE FM]

Funny you bring that up because for the last few nights, it's been coming in crystal clear at Global.
It'd be pretty easy to fox hunt it from the roof, lol.

[i2thesky]

At one time in 2007, there were three pirates in Calgary. One was out of a garage two blocks south of 64 Ave NW, west of 4th street. I was able to remove the whip off my car antenna when I got closer and eventually located a whip antenna in someon'e back yard. I think they were at 100.1 but have since shut down. There was another rogue station in The Mackenzie area just off deerfoot trail SE at 94.3. They were playing rap music and swearing constantly. I had to call industry canada on them because of the foul languange. i'm not one for being a stool and usually i wouldnt care but If it wasnt for the horrible music and the bad language I had to make the exception.

There might be another one at 93.1 in the SW part of town, shaughnessy are I think, was one there a few years ago.

[PMC]

Don't be surprised if more micro FM's don't appear with some seniors having plenty of time on their hands.... the same applies to other things, and the boomers move forward etc.

[MIKE FM]

There might be another one at 93.1 in the SW part of town, shaughnessy are I think, was one there a few years ago.

If I'm thinking of the one you're talking about, it's 93.3 and they mostly play old time radio shows. It's somewhere in Millrise...

[i2thesky]

Yeah come to think of it, 93.1 would be too close to the X 92.9. so it would be at 93.3. I've been able to pick that one up as far north as the Glenmore overpass over Deerfoot at times and even as far east as Mackenzie town. That guy has to be the longest running pirate ever.

Finding quality, affordable low and medium power FM broadcast gear isnt hard these days. You can even get amps, antennas and coax easy enough. No surprise alot of these companies on the net originate from great brittain, the world's capital of FM piracy. The UK government has dedicated an entire wing of the department of trade who's soul purpose is to triangulate, locate and bust pirates that flood the FM dial at night.

[Mike Cleaver]

Check Ebay listings under "broadcast."
Everything needed is there in vast quantities from used 50 thousand watt AM transmitters, 20 thousand watt FM's, everything down to one watt.
Antennas, amplifiers to boost power, towers, consoles, studio equipment, it's all there at some pretty ridiculous prices.

[Eldon-Mr.CFAY]

Congratulations Jon on receiving your first pirate fm station in Edmonton. This is the first I have heard of any pirate station ever operating in Edmonton or Calgary for that matter. Thanks to i2tothesky for talking about the Calgary stations. I don't blame you for reporting the fm pirate with all the obscenity etc., there is no reason a pirate station to go overboard with vulgarity etc... When I lived in Calgary in the 1980s (1983 to the 1990s) I tried many times to receive pirate stations on AM or FM bands in Calgary with no luck at all. Had portable loop antennas, fm antennas and sensitive portable receivers but there just didn't seem to be any on-air in the Calgary area in those days. I used to try a lot on weekends from Nose Hill Park in NW. Calgary which seemed very good in height (one of the highest points in Calgary) and low noise on the bands. Spent a lot of time around 1985 testing out loop antennas and trying for pirate stations on Nose Hill. Got distant FM stations from Edmonton, Red Deer, and Shelby, Montana among other licensed stations. I tried from our workshop in Calgary but for fm it was much lower so not good for FM pirates unless they were nearby in the downtown area. Last time I tried for Calgary pirate stations was the early 1990s. So no luck at all, so I came to the conclusion there were no pirate stations operating there at least with not much range! I did try from other areas of the city too, but the results were the same. So I guess by the 2000s particularly 2007 a few stations have sprung up there. The closest thing to a pirate or unlicensed station was RADIO RADIO l04.5 CABLE FM which had been on the air 24 hours using the cablevision companies fm band. They have never broadcast over-the-air to my knowledge. They put out a printed music playlist of which I still have some. I know they have existed since at least 1978 and were carried on the cable throughout Calgary in the 1980s and longer. I think I heard them while visiting friends in Calgary in 2002 January. They were a very music intensive station playing a lot of esoteric/free form and punk rock. You really had to listen to hear announcements since there were few. I don't recall any local news or weathercasts. Radio Radio was an independant operation out of downtown Calgary near the Stephen Ave Mall, 8th Street. I visited them one time but no one was there in the day, it seemed almost automated music.

I*ve heard quite a few pirate stations in Greater Vancouver over the years but none in Alberta. I used to try for USA Shortwave and AM pirates at night from Calgary but did not hear any from there. Calgary was very good for long range daytime reception. From near downtown (l2th Ave. and 8th Street SW) we could hear 600 AM Saskatoon daily with good signal strength. Other stations from Medicine Hat, Edmonton, Swift Current and Shaunavon came in fairly well with different radios I used and the loop antennas boosted them to fairly good listening in the day. Ground wave reception was very good for AM in Calgary even downtown. The low noise level was quite amazing considering in the city of Vancouver its much worse. One of my best 12 Noon daytime receptions was from KGLE 590 Glendive, Montana, thats in SE. Montana near the N. Dakota stateline. They were only 500 watts but with the GE Superadio Two (among other receivers) and the portable loop antennas they came in with an average signal strength. Another station that came in although probably from weak skywave propagation was CFUN 1410 at 12 NOON. I think RADIOFAN had them a few times too in Calgary at mid-day. I also heard l550 KNTR Ferndale around mid-day a few times. ThatS Ferndale, Washington, its now KRPI with Asian programming now.

Regarding Unlicensed and Pirate stations in Canada and the USA. Part l5 or RSS-210 (industry Canada equivalent) in Canada are booming across the USA. There are several companies including Rangemaster (in Cary, North Carolina) and Chez Radio (who make the Procaster Part l5 Am Transmitter in Canada) that are approved by Industry Canada and the FCC and have certificate or approval numbers on them. There are a lot of Part l5 AM and some FM stations across the USA and they are legal unlicensed l00 milliwatt (Less for FM operation) stations. There are also a lot of pirate stations across the USA including one that was in downtown San Francisco operating from a storefront coffee house 24/7. The City of San Francisco even supported them. The FCC found out about them (they were called Pirate Cat Radio FM) and paid them a visit. They shut down (temporarily?) but still stream on the internet 24/7. Its not just North America especially the USA where pirate stations operate, the latest issue of Monitoring Times magazine has info. about Spain which has more pirate stations operating than licensed ones. Canary Islands has over 400 pirate stations and few licensed ones. A lot of the pirates broadcast music formats to the tourists including a lot from the UK.. Argentina, Taiwan, UK, Brazil and some other southeast Asian countries also have a lot of pirate fm stations. One part 15 station in Stayton, Oregon was not a pirate but a legal unlicensed Part l5 station using Rangemaster transmitter (which is approved by the FCC) ran into some trouble from a misinformed FCC agent out of Vancouver, Washington. He paid them a visit after seeing it mentioned in a Portland, Oregon Newspaper. The owner is a local businessman who owns Staytons music store where the station KENC 1620 is located. Anyway the FCC agent tried to intimidate KENC's owner and through a bunch of bureacratic red tape at him. It turned out the FCC agent ended up with egg on his face and the FCC phoned KENC's owner a month or so later saying a mistake was made and they were legal after all. See KENC 1620 AM Stayton, Oregon website for more info and the latest news on this one. You can also go to the CFAY website for a link to KENC under selected station websites.

In Canada the CRTC exempted certain radio broadcasting undertakings back in April 1993 and more in the following years. You are allowed to operate tourist information, highway/logging road info. stations, historical (local town/city History series), and special even stations without a CRTC licence. Some of these can be operated at up to 50 watts on FM and 100 watts maximum on AM but with certain conditions. Even though you don't need a CRTC license you can't broadcast music formats or religious programs. In fact its mainly the specific information listed above as a format although you might be able to provide musical interludes between the information or endless loop tape or computer cds, thats information not music cds... This is for the 50 watt or up to l00 watt stations. You also should be using a type accepted Industry Canada transmitter meeting their specs. and installation specs.. There are quite a few of these on the market now. Certainly the USA, Canada and Europe has some pretty impressive state-of-the-art low power transmitters that meet or exceed government standards. That is in contrast to some of the cheap wirless mikes for nine bucks or so that I bought from Radio Shack in the late 80s and early 1990s with believe it or not an Industry Canada Approval Sticker and Number!!! The thing is even if you do everything right and operate a 40 Watt FM Tourist Information Station License exempt for your town there are several other points to consider. One you don't interfere with any licensed station or airport traffic particulary with FM operation. The other thing to consider is this: IF SOMEONE ELSE - A COMPANY OR INDIVIDUAL- DECIDES TO APPLY FOR YOUR FREQUENCY AND YOU ARE OPERATING DAILY, IF THEY GET A LICENSE FROM THE CRTC YOU MUST MOVE OFF THE FREQUENCY OR GO OFF-THE-AIR. This might not seem like a big deal in a more rural area but if FM frequencies are in short supply it could be a problem. So AS AN UNLICENSED BUT LEGAL STATION YOU HAVE NO FREQUENCY PROTECTION OVER LICENSED STATIONS, EVEN NEW LICENSED STATIONS!!!! So if possible and you want to operate on a daily basis its probably smart to obtain a low power (even 5 watt developmental AM or FM ) license.

I have tons of CRTC info. and DOC info over the years from the 1970s onward. Some of it is very useful and informative. I have attended quite a few CRTC Hearings in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and one in Edmonton over the years (none lately though) and was very interested in the radio applications being heard. Some of the Cablevision and Telecommunications stuff was very little interest and I found boring!!! I visited the CRTC and DOC (now Industry Canada) in Ottawa at least half a dozen times since 1978 and found the Ottawa/Hull hqs. quite helpful and friendly. I have not found the Vancouver regional locations as helpful or friendly although the CRTC downtown Vancouver office has been fairly good. I*ll never forget a funny experience RADIOFAN and I had at the DOC office on West Hastings in downtown Vancouver (long since gone). It was way back in 1970 or 69 and the older guy at the DOC office couldn't stop talking about ham or amateur radio. We we were looking for radio broadcasting lists and technical information requirements for radio broadcasting stations. He didn*t seem to get it that we were not looking for any information about ham radio or amateur radio. He also went into a long tirade about how only millionaires start radio broadcasting stations in Canada! So much for informing young people about the technical requirements of radio broadcasting in Canada! RadioFan and I walked out of there amazed at this guy, what a funny situation to hear someone telling you about what you didn't even want to know!!! I never have had this happen since at the Ottawa hqs.... Anyway good listening, hope you Albertans hear some more pirates soon!!!

[Dan Sys]

While on the topic of pirates, apparently Calgary has what appears to be a relatively established pirate on 95.1:
http://members.shaw.ca/cjxf/
These guys are listed as operating with 20 watts on Thomas Hokenson's "Radio Station World":
http://radiostationworld.com/locations/ ... .asp?m=cal

[PMC]

While on the topic of pirates, apparently Calgary has what appears to be a relatively established pirate on 95.1:
http://members.shaw.ca/cjxf/
These guys are listed as operating with 20 watts on Thomas Hokenson's "Radio Station World":
http://radiostationworld.com/locations/ ... .asp?m=cal

If he has proof of concept for a community station, things are better for a licence... Bruce Hubble is the name at the bottom of the page.... there are some entrepreneurs that run their concept of a station over the net...

[i2thesky]

Yeah I could not find any government documentation on CJXF. I'm somewhat impressed to find that they have a station manager and some degree of a program listing posted on thier site. Some degree of organization there.

I've also found some indian reserves out there especially in southern alberta will have their own community pirates as well. I've followed one on the morley reserve west of cochrane that used to broadcast very low powered, probably 50 watts on 88.1, then got punted by CKAV and moved to 90.3, then got pushed out of that slot by Newcap's Fuel. Nowadays I'm not sure where they moved to or if they are still going.

There was another on the Siksika reserve near Gleichen at 97.7 back in 2007 and must have moved since CIGY moved in. They had a low power right on the reserve that you could pick up on Hwy 1 that was in full stereo, running good quality sounding MP3's with digital processing and very professional sounding. They even had decent announcers on tape loop.

Here's all I can find on that.....american calls??? http://www.yelp.ca/biz/khdh-97-7-fm-the ... iksika-146

And here's a site that could link us to the Morley thing.... http://www.morleyradio.org/

Next time someone travels up the 1a towards Canmore, try scanning the FM dial and listen for some traditional aboriginal type music. I'd be curious if their still going

[Dan Sys]

Both of the Aboriginal stations i2thesky mentioned above are licensed and totally legal. CFIR 88.5 in Morley operates with 50 watts and CHDH 97.7 on the Siksika Reserve is 25 watts (50 watts Max. ERP). According to the Industry Canada database both stations are currently operational, however I too wonder how CHDH can exist on 97.7 without CIGY obliderating them.

http://www.siksikamedia.com/

[i2thesky]

When I was living in that area last, the morley station must have been a pirate back then because they were jumping around the dial lots. i`m glad industry canada awarded them a licence and assigned them a channel, now they have a protected frequency to run on. You should be able to do a search to find which channel the Siksika station is on.

Come to think if it, 107.9 would work ok, not occupied by any other station within 150 miles of any kind of power, 3 steps away from CFGQ in calgary, the only high powered station in the area and one adjacent channel away from CFVR in lethbridge which would barely make it in and would not be powerful enough to cause any splash over. Another channer that could work would be 105.7 as it would be only 2 steps away from low powered 106.1 in aidrie and one step away from a very distant CHUB from red deer. 105.7 would be the cleanest.