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- ********************
- * THE BASIS BEHIND *
- * RADIO HACKING *
- ********************
- PART I
-
- In the future, we hope to bring you more installments of this
- article as more is learned about this fascinating new hobbie,
- FREQUING. Future articles hope to include: finding frequencies and
- codes, satellite design, CB, cellular phones, the Ham bands, radio
- design, plus much more.
-
-
- Pirate Radio Stations
- ---------------------
-
- Remember piracy? Piracy is when something protected by a copywrite
- is copied against the wishes of a copywrite holder. Software, books,
- pieces of art, etc. can be pirated.
- Radio stations, especially popular music stations, require many
- records in order to make people listen to them. The more listeners
- the station seems to have, the more money the station can charge for
- advertisement. Pirate radio stations get around the huge cost of
- records by taping them off of other radio stations. Pirate stations
- are characterized by the mediocre sound of their songs.
- Of course, it takes alot of money to operate a legally licensed
- radio station. The FCC has many regulations, such as equal
- employment, community service, and licensing fees. As a result, many
- pirate stations are not licensed (non licensed stations are called
- "midnighters"). It is not to hard to get business for midnighters,
- especially in large urban areas with lots of small shops. Many
- midnighters use loops as call in lines, instead of giving their number
- over the airwaves.
-
-
- Ghost Stations
- --------------
-
- Many Frequers like to set up their own radio station without
- commercials, and often "replacing" stations of lesser quality (i.e.
- classical stations, country stations, easy listening, etc.).
- Short-lived stations that are more than just frequency jamming and
- saying four-letter-words into a transmitter are called "ghost
- stations." Ghost stations offer a chance for one to play any kind of
- music one wants. Often listeners don't realize the station isn't
- legal.
- You want to set up a ghost or midnighter station? All you have to
- do is build a FM or AM transmitter with lots of power. Information on
- building these can be found almost anywhere!
- If you plan on operating for a long time, there are some simple
- steps to follow:
-
- 1. The best place to operate is out of man's best friend, The Car.
- Just be carefull to CONCEAL the antenna! A benefit of this mode is
- easy trafic reporting.
-
- 2. Don't give any real names, or phone numbers. Especially phone
- numbers that don't exist. Why?
-
- 3. Avoid making your station look like it isn't real. That's why.
- If someone calls you up, only to find you don't exist, they may smell
- a rat.
-
- 4. Try to monitor FCC bullitens and communiques. If you see
- anything that may say they're looking for a ghost station in your
- area, STOP TRANSMITTING!!!
-
- 5. Stick to one frequency. See #3
-
-
- The FCC
- -------
-
- The Federal Communications Commission has alot more clout than you
- may think. The airwaves not only carry your frequer's ghost stations
- and rock music, it also carries top-secret military information,
- messages to pilots that are life and death, and the entire basis for
- communication in time of emergency. They monitor the airwaves.
- But how can they track you down? They often listen in to ghost
- stations for any kind of information on where the illegal station is
- transmitting from, and who is doing it. The second way is mechanical.
- In the old fashioned method, 2 or 3 cars with loop antennas took
- bearings on where the transmissions are comming from. Also used is an
- omnidirectional strength meter to make sure they are going towards you
- and not away. These can track down most frequers stations within 10
- feet. At that range, the station's equipment can be seen. (Oh yeah,
- all the equipment of a station is called 'the machine', and the place
- that houses it, 'the vault')
- There are a few other ways of tracking that are more modern, but the
- system hasn't changed too much from the cars and loop antenna system.
-
- Some usefull numbers+addresses:
- FCC 1919 M St NW 655-4000
- Radio+TV programming 632-7048
- Cable TV 632-7048
- Telephone 632-7553
- Interferance (301) 962-2728
- Operator Examiner " " " "
- News Media Division 254-7674
- Press Release Recording 632-0002
- Mass Media Burea 632-6460
- Authorization and Standards (301) 725-1585
- Field Operations Bureau 632-6980
- (field operations employees are called 'FOPS' which rhymes with cops)
- FOP Watch Officer 632-6975
- Laurel Monitoring Station ('The Laur') (301) 725-3474
- Private Radio Bureau 632-6940
- Ham+CB+Walkie Talkies 632-4964
- Aviation and Marine 632-7175
-
- All numbers are in the 202 NPA unless otherwise stated.
-
-
-