PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be

included in this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have

other questions you may inquire at the above adddress.

ANTENNAS

Antennas are probably one of the most debated, most studied and

cause for the most misinformation of any field in radio. The most

important part of your station is a properly constructed antenna!

For example: Transmitter A runs 100 watts to a improper antenna

and gets heard only marginally. Transmitter B runs 10 watts to a

properly constructed, resonant antenna and gets heard much better

and louder than Transmitter A. I cannot stress enough the

importanceof a good antenna! It makes all the difference in the

world!

For the sake of simplicity, only three antenna designs are

going to be presented here. If you are a beginner, I suggest that

you erect the dipole and worry about the other designs later. For

the intermediate and advanced, by all means try out the Vertical

and Loop! There are many books available on Antennas, which go

into much greater depth, detail and variety.

Perhaps the easiest and most popular antenna is a Dipole. The

dipole antenna is easily constructed, almost impossible to mess

up and works well at almost any height above ground. For the

beginner, this is the antenna to use. For your antenna to work

well, you need to determine the frequency you are going to

operate on. For example, we'll say 7445 Khz. To determine the

length of wire our dipole antenna will need, we use the following

formula: 468 divided by Frequency in Megahertz = Length in Feet.

So, working the math, 468 / 7.445 =

62.86 Feet. Round that off and we come to 62 Feet 10 Inches. This

is TOTAL length of the antenna. To make a dipole, cut two wires,

each one 31 Feet 5 Inches long. See Figure 1.

Already I see the plethora of questions spinning around your

head. You're probably wondering what kind of wire to use for the

antenna. Small speaker wire can be quite serviceable and it's

easily found. You will also need Three Egg insulators, One for

the center and each end of the dipole. These are getting to be

difficult to find but I think Radio Shack still has them. If you

cannot find insulators anywhere, small, rectangular scraps of

phenolic perfboard will work just as well (at low power levels).

You are also going to need some string or high test fishing line

to support the ends of your dipole. Also, electrical tape or

silicon sealer to be used on the center connection of your dipole

to keep moisture out of the coax. A soldering Iron is also a must

have item for any station; a 100 watt iron should cover just

about any job. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, so I

refer you to Figure 2 for a typical dipole installation.

While not absolutely necessary, a Balun is recommended. For

Dipole antennas that are fed with Coax line, a 1 to 1 Balun is

suggested. A Balun matches a BALanced Line (Our Dipole) to an

UNbalanced Line (Our Coax). This makes for an even greater

transfer of power from the feedline to the antenna and will also

prevent the ground shield of your Coax from becoming a radiator

of RF! Baluns are a complex and difficult subject to fathom but

there are books out that explain the How To's better than I

could. Just remember, A Balun is optional but is worth the

trouble and $25 to install one.

Another question you might be asking "How high should I try to

get my dipole ?". My answer: as high as possible. If 10 feet is

all you can manage, then that will have to do. The higher, the

better. Dipoles typically have the most favorable radiation

patterns when they are 1 wavelength above ground. In the case of

our 40 Meter Dipole, that comes to a whopping 125 Feet! I think

it's safe to say that 99.99% of all 40 Meter Dipoles erected DO

NOT reach these lofty heights!

The last consideration you need to think about is that of

antenna orientation. A dipole will radiate the majority of power

in lobes that are perpendicular to the axis of the dipole. What

this means is, if you run your dipole North to South, then the

majority of your RF signal will be radiated in a East to West

pattern. So depending on your geographical location of your

transmitter and the location of your listeners will depend on how

you orient your antenna. You may also find that there is only one

or two possible ways to place your dipole on your property, don't

sweat it. Just hang it up and see what happens!

TIME PASSES ...

Now that you have your dipole antenna erected AND know how to

tune your transmitter, it's time to test out the new antenna! You

SHOULD have read the chapter on SWR, if not, NOW is a good time

to read it! Find out where your dipole is resonant and determine

if you need to add or subtract wire, if you're lucky you won't

have to change anything!

That's it! By now you should have a good working knowledge of

radio transmitting and all that's left is to put on a good show!

ADVANCED ANTENNAS

Going beyond our simple dipole, the next most popular and

efficient antenna for LOW BAND work is the Vertical. Vertical

antenna's produce what is known as a "Low Radiation Angle" given

a decent height above ground. This is very important for Long

Distance or DX type work. Verticals are also Omni-Directional,

which means they radiate EQUALLY in ALL directions. To construct

a vertical, use the formula for figuring half wave antenna

lengths

and refer to Figure 3. Vertical antennas can be fed with 50 Ohm

coax. Vertical antennas work best with as many radials as you can

manage. Just keep in mind, for any improvement you must double

the number of radials. Eight, typically is a manageable number of

radials to use.

The final antenna presented here is the Full Wave Loop. These

are a little more advanced than a dipole and will possibly

exhibit some gain over one. They can also perform as verticals if

fed properly. The only downside to using full wave loops is that

they require more room and supports than a dipole or vertical. I

refer you to Figure 4.

A loop will radiate the majority of it's power at right angles

to the plane of the loop, similar to the radiation pattern of our

dipole, so it's important to keep this in mind when orienting

your loop. To figure the length of wire needed for our loop

antenna, we must use another formula. Divide 1005 by Frequency in

Megahertz will give you total length in feet. For example, if we

wanted our loop to operate on 7415 Kilohertz we would 1005 /

7.415 = 135.53 or 135 Feet 6 Inches of wire would be required.

We also must use what is known as a Matching Section in order

to feed this

antenna with 50 Ohm coax. To make the matching section, a quarter

wavelength of 75 Ohm coax is required. To figure out the length

of the matching section, use the following formula: 246 Divided

by Frequency in Megahertz Equals Length in Feet. Thusly, 246 /

7.415 = 33.17 Feet or 33 Feet 3 Inches. BUT, DON'T START CUTTING

COAX JUST YET, We also need multiply our result by the Velocity

Factor of the particular 75 Ohm coax we are using! Don't worry

about the what's and how's of velocity factors in Coax cable.

Right now all you need are the proper numbers to plug into the

formula. The insulation used in Coax cable plays the

biggest part in determining a cables velocity factor. Solid

Polyethylene insulation has a V.F. of 0.66 and Foam Polyethylene

has a V.F. of 0.80. Remember to ask when you purchase your Coax,

they should be able to tell you this. RG-59/U is the recommended

type and it has a V.F. of 0.66. So, to determine the final length

of our matching section we Multiply 33.17 by 0.66 and come up

with 21.9 Feet or 21 Feet 10 Inches. Now that you have all the

math, building your very own loop should be no problem.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

AVOIDING RESPONSIBILITY

Several factors play a role in avoiding that dreaded knock at your door.

You need to understand what you are up against (the FCC) , how they work , and what might

be their motivation for finding you. Knowledge is your best defense.

There are several theories about why and how pirates get busted. One popular belief is

that the FCC has a personal vendetta against all pirates and will go to any extreme to find

them. It is often believed that the FCC is selective and will go after the pirates that offend

them the most.

In some cases this may be true but, as a general rule, a pirate is most likely to be busted for

their interference to others than for their ideology. If someone complains to the FCC about

your activities, then your chances of being busted have increased considerably. Know your

equipment and use it properly to avoid causing interference to others, use a low pass filter, and

ground your equipment.

Your neighbors could be a bigger threat to you than the FCC. Don't tell them that you are a

pirate. If possible don't even let them see your antenna, if they do, tell them it is a scanner or

short wave antenna. Make sure your neighbors are not experiencing interference. One way to

do this is to bring it up in a conversation, tell them you were having trouble with your TV and

ask them if they noticed anything also, if they say they haven't , just say "It must just be my

TV" and drop the subject. If they say they have, then fix whatever your problem is, don't go

on the air until you are sure the problem is fixed (see the section on QRM in this book).

Lets discuss how the FCC monitors you. The FCC has several monitoring stations across

the US, which are equipped with sophisticated receivers and directional antennas. They also

have mobile units for close in direction finding.When a monitoring station wants to locate a

signal, they contact the other monitoring stations for assistance. Other stations receive the

signal and call in with directional bearings. This data is put into a computer which processes

the information and produces a circle of probable locations, this is usually a 13 to 20 mile

radius from the signal location. Repeated loggings of the signal can reduce the size of this

circle.

If a mobile direction finding vehicle is sent to this area it will likely be within a few miles of

the signal and with similar direction finding techniques the signal can quickly be narrowed to

the exact location of origin. This is when you get busted. Obviously the best way to avoid

getting busted is to avoid being the target of this process.

A few common sense rules will help avoid an FCC direction finding party.

1. Don't cause interference to others, this means no one: Hams, MARS stations, licensed

broadcasters, neighbors, public services. If no one complains about you, the FCC will be less

likely to be interested in what you are doing. Stay out of the HAM bands; they have worked

hard for their frequencies and they will protect them by reporting you to the FCC.

2. Don't broadcast on a regular schedule, or don't announce a schedule. Keep your broadcasts

to a short length of time, forty five minutes or less. If they are trying to find you, it is not

likely the FCC will spend the time or money to travel to your location and wait for you to

broadcast if you are only on the air for a short time once a month, Make it difficult for them to

predict the time and day of your show. If they do predict it, and you are only on the air for

less than an hour, they may not find you before you sign off. After you sign off the air, don't

go back on a few hours later; you may be giving them a second chance.

3. Don't give out a traceable phone number or address. If you desire audience contact, then

use one of the mail drops listed in this book.

4. Maintain tight security. Be sure you can trust those who know what you are doing.

5. If possible, broadcast from different locations. Many pirates operate with a mobile setup.

Be sure to have the owners permission if you are on private property. Avoid broadcasting from

areas that will arouse suspicion. If you set up at a park or campground, be aware that park

officials or police may ask why you are stringing wire into a tree. If they do, don't tell them to

get lost, very kindly explain that you are setting up a shortwave receiving antenna . If they

leave you feeling like they understand what you are doing they will be less likely to check

further into your activity.

6. Don't create evidence of your activity. After you finish your broadcast, don't leave your

equipment set up with a tape of your show still in the tape deck. Some pirates keep their

transmitters hidden until a broadcast is made; when they are done, they return the transmitter

to its hiding place. They also keep all evidence related to their station in one place, like QSLs,

letters from listeners, tapes of your broadcasts, etc. These are often kept in a suitcase or box

and hidden like the transmitter. Antennas can be erected just before a broadcast, and taken

down and hidden away after you are finished.

7. If possible, maintain a look out while broadcasting. If you see suspicious activity, such as a

vehicle driving slowly past your location, take evasive measures. Try not to be too paranoid,

but if you feel there is pending danger, get off the air; they can't easily trace a signal that is

not there. Remember, FCC direction finding vehicles may look very normal, some are

equipped with hidden antennas and cannot be easily distinguished from ordinary vehicles.

8. Be aware of how close you are to a Monitoring station (refer to Figure 1). Although not

proven, some believe that pirates who live near a monitoring station are more likely to be the

subject of direction finding activities. If you live near a monitoring station, you can still be a

pirate, but it might be worthwhile to take a few extra precautions. If you live a long way

from a monitoring station, don't get too confident; stations have been busted in all parts of the

U.S. The FCC might be in your town right now on business unrelated to pirate tracking.

Regardless of where you live, the "DON'T INTERFERE WITH ANYONE !!!!" rule is still

your best route to a bust-free pirate radio experience.

9. Remember that anyone can file a complaint against you with the FCC. If you go on the air

right after an evangelist goes off, and grandma Jones hears you shouting profanities on the

frequency that she thinks is owned by her beloved Reverend Big Bucks, she might call the

FCC and report you. This is one of the only times that the actual content of your show may

result in a bust.

10. These rules can change at any time, and even the most careful pirate who follows every

rule in this book could be busted. You must be aware of the risks involved. The best way to

avoid getting caught is not to broadcast at all.

Remember: this is illegal, and there are no guarantees.

LOCATIONS OF

FCC MONITORING STATIONS:

Ferndale, Washington

Livermore, California

Douglas, Arizona

Grand Island, Nebraska.

Kingsville, Texas

Allegan, Mighigan

Powder Springs, Georgia

Vero Beach, Florida

Laurel, Maryland

Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico

Anchorage, Alaska

Belfast, Maine

Honolulu, Hawaii

Figure 1

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

AVOIDING RESPONSIBILITY

Several factors play a role in avoiding that dreaded knock at your door.

You need to understand what you are up against (the FCC) , how they work , and what might

be their motivation for finding you. Knowledge is your best defense.

There are several theories about why and how pirates get busted. One popular belief is

that the FCC has a personal vendetta against all pirates and will go to any extreme to find

them. It is often believed that the FCC is selective and will go after the pirates that offend

them the most.

In some cases this may be true but, as a general rule, a pirate is most likely to be busted for

their interference to others than for their ideology. If someone complains to the FCC about

your activities, then your chances of being busted have increased considerably. Know your

equipment and use it properly to avoid causing interference to others, use a low pass filter, and

ground your equipment.

Your neighbors could be a bigger threat to you than the FCC. Don't tell them that you are a

pirate. If possible don't even let them see your antenna, if they do, tell them it is a scanner or

short wave antenna. Make sure your neighbors are not experiencing interference. One way to

do this is to bring it up in a conversation, tell them you were having trouble with your TV and

ask them if they noticed anything also, if they say they haven't , just say "It must just be my

TV" and drop the subject. If they say they have, then fix whatever your problem is, don't go

on the air until you are sure the problem is fixed (see the section on QRM in this book).

Lets discuss how the FCC monitors you. The FCC has several monitoring stations across

the US, which are equipped with sophisticated receivers and directional antennas. They also

have mobile units for close in direction finding.When a monitoring station wants to locate a

signal, they contact the other monitoring stations for assistance. Other stations receive the

signal and call in with directional bearings. This data is put into a computer which processes

the information and produces a circle of probable locations, this is usually a 13 to 20 mile

radius from the signal location. Repeated loggings of the signal can reduce the size of this

circle.

If a mobile direction finding vehicle is sent to this area it will likely be within a few miles of

the signal and with similar direction finding techniques the signal can quickly be narrowed to

the exact location of origin. This is when you get busted. Obviously the best way to avoid

getting busted is to avoid being the target of this process.

A few common sense rules will help avoid an FCC direction finding party.

1. Don't cause interference to others, this means no one: Hams, MARS stations, licensed

broadcasters, neighbors, public services. If no one complains about you, the FCC will be less

likely to be interested in what you are doing. Stay out of the HAM bands; they have worked

hard for their frequencies and they will protect them by reporting you to the FCC.

2. Don't broadcast on a regular schedule, or don't announce a schedule. Keep your broadcasts

to a short length of time, forty five minutes or less. If they are trying to find you, it is not

likely the FCC will spend the time or money to travel to your location and wait for you to

broadcast if you are only on the air for a short time once a month, Make it difficult for them to

predict the time and day of your show. If they do predict it, and you are only on the air for

less than an hour, they may not find you before you sign off. After you sign off the air, don't

go back on a few hours later; you may be giving them a second chance.

3. Don't give out a traceable phone number or address. If you desire audience contact, then

use one of the mail drops listed in this book.

4. Maintain tight security. Be sure you can trust those who know what you are doing.

5. If possible, broadcast from different locations. Many pirates operate with a mobile setup.

Be sure to have the owners permission if you are on private property. Avoid broadcasting from

areas that will arouse suspicion. If you set up at a park or campground, be aware that park

officials or police may ask why you are stringing wire into a tree. If they do, don't tell them to

get lost, very kindly explain that you are setting up a shortwave receiving antenna . If they

leave you feeling like they understand what you are doing they will be less likely to check

further into your activity.

6. Don't create evidence of your activity. After you finish your broadcast, don't leave your

equipment set up with a tape of your show still in the tape deck. Some pirates keep their

transmitters hidden until a broadcast is made; when they are done, they return the transmitter

to its hiding place. They also keep all evidence related to their station in one place, like QSLs,

letters from listeners, tapes of your broadcasts, etc. These are often kept in a suitcase or box

and hidden like the transmitter. Antennas can be erected just before a broadcast, and taken

down and hidden away after you are finished.

7. If possible, maintain a look out while broadcasting. If you see suspicious activity, such as a

vehicle driving slowly past your location, take evasive measures. Try not to be too paranoid,

but if you feel there is pending danger, get off the air; they can't easily trace a signal that is

not there. Remember, FCC direction finding vehicles may look very normal, some are

equipped with hidden antennas and cannot be easily distinguished from ordinary vehicles.

8. Be aware of how close you are to a Monitoring station (refer to Figure 1). Although not

proven, some believe that pirates who live near a monitoring station are more likely to be the

subject of direction finding activities. If you live near a monitoring station, you can still be a

pirate, but it might be worthwhile to take a few extra precautions. If you live a long way

from a monitoring station, don't get too confident; stations have been busted in all parts of the

U.S. The FCC might be in your town right now on business unrelated to pirate tracking.

Regardless of where you live, the "DON'T INTERFERE WITH ANYONE !!!!" rule is still

your best route to a bust-free pirate radio experience.

9. Remember that anyone can file a complaint against you with the FCC. If you go on the air

right after an evangelist goes off, and grandma Jones hears you shouting profanities on the

frequency that she thinks is owned by her beloved Reverend Big Bucks, she might call the

FCC and report you. This is one of the only times that the actual content of your show may

result in a bust.

10. These rules can change at any time, and even the most careful pirate who follows every

rule in this book could be busted. You must be aware of the risks involved. The best way to

avoid getting caught is not to broadcast at all.

Remember: this is illegal, and there are no guarantees.

LOCATIONS OF

FCC MONITORING STATIONS:

Ferndale, Washington

Livermore, California

Douglas, Arizona

Grand Island, Nebraska.

Kingsville, Texas

Allegan, Mighigan

Powder Springs, Georgia

Vero Beach, Florida

Laurel, Maryland

Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico

Anchorage, Alaska

Belfast, Maine

Honolulu, Hawaii

Figure 1

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

TRANSMISSION LINES

Any antenna that you are going to connect to your transmitter MUST be done through the use

of a feedline. Feedlines can be either one of two types, the more common co-axial line and the less

common open type.

Co-Axial feedline, or simply referred to as COAX, is the most commonly used and is perhaps the

safest and easiest way to get your RF to the antenna. With all feedlines there are several

determining factors that should be considered before you go out and buy your coax. First, and

most important, is to look at your transmitters manual and see what IMPEDANCE LOAD is

recommended. Some transmitters can "load" into a variety of impedances and some transmitters

will only work correctly with certain impedances. The most common impedance is 50 Ohms.

Right now, you should not be concerned with the How-To's and Why's of antenna feedline

impedances. The second concern is the RF power rating of the transmitter. Feedlines are rated in

both IMPEDANCE and POWER HANDLING, so it's important that you know what you need.

For 99% of any type of transmitter/antenna combination you will probably encounter the most

generic and all around used coax is RG/8U or the same spec, but smaller RG/8X. Some prefer the

RG/8X because it's smaller. RG/8U,X impedance is 50 Ohms and can handle up to 1000 watts.

Buy quality cable and not the cheap Radio Shack stuff!

There is no critical length to use with feedlines, just keep the length of coax between the

transmitter and antenna as short as possible to avoid losses. The more feedline, the more power

you will lose before it ever gets to your antenna. Usually, losses are not apparent until the length

of the feedline gets to be 100 feet or longer.

The Outside end of your coax that connects to the antenna, you should take great care to seal

the end to prevent moisture entering the coax! Use lots of electrical tape, silicon sealer, or COAX

SEAL tape. The capillary action on the outer braid of your coax cable will actually draw water up

through the entire cable. I have seen water come out of coax cable that looked like it was a

garden hose! Once your coax becomes water logged it's

pretty much useless, but can be used for ground connections in your station! You will also need

a medium duty (Several 100 watt) soldering iron for soldering COAX connectors. PL-259 types

are the most commonly used and you should ask for silver plated with teflon insulators to get the

best connectors. Again, if you buy the Radio Shack cheapies, they could turn out to be more

trouble than they are worth!

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

"FEEDING" THE TRANSMITTER

Feeding your program audio into your transmitter properly can be a difficult and frustrating

challenge! To start with, a Microphone level signal is High in impedance, typically, and quite

"small" electrically. This is what the input circuits of your transmitter are expecting to "see" when

you operate it in a voice mode. Now, the typical output level of a tape deck is Medium in

impedance and electrically much higher than a microphone signal. This is where the

trouble starts.

Ways to tell if you are experiencing problems is that your transmitted signal will be "Under

Modulated" meaning you are not supplying a large enough signal ;or the reverse will be true, your

transmitted signal will be "Over Modulated" meaning it will sound distorted, will be wide, and

generally, unlistenable. Take heart that both can be cured and all you need is a little knowledge!

What you need is a matching network , more commonly known as a PAD, between your

program audio and Mic Input of your transmitter. I present you a simple circuit that should work

about 99% of the time - Chauncy's Magik Matcher. See Figure 1.

Before we jump into the circuit and talk about it's uses, I need to lay down a little ground work

first. You should be aware that you have a "Mic Gain" or sometimes called "Audio Gain" control

on your transmitter somewhere. What you would like to end up with is a Program Audio Level

that will sound correct at about 3/4 of this controls range. This will ensure that you are supplying

enough audio without Over or Under Modulating your transmitter. Another recommended item is

a way to control the output level of your tape deck. If you are going to purchase a tape deck, it

will help if you get one that has a output level control on it. If the one you use does not, you can

use the audio part of a Radio Shack Video Processor box to control the line level audio up OR

down. These are quite available and are typically $20.

For those sharper readers, You may have noticed I haven't mentioned anything about mixing

boards! Well, since this manual is geared to the neophyte, live broadcasting can bring on all sorts

of problems with RF Feedback into equipment that the beginner doesn't need to deal with. Not

that I am opposed to live broadcasting; it's just much easier to produce programs on cassette and

then feed the transmitter with a tape deck. You still might experience RF Feedback problems with

simpler setups but the cure will be much easier and less overwhelming to deal with. There is

another chapter to this manual that discusses RF Feedback and how to cure it.

OK, now that we have gotten that information out of the way, let's talk about our matching

network or Pad. A Pad simply is a "buffer" that will bridge the impedance mismatch between two

pieces of equipment. The circuit we are presenting does this, and also will "Knock Down" the

signal level to an acceptable level your transmitter will like and will also "Roll Off" the Low Audio

Frequencies that your transmitters audio section won't transmit anyway.

You might have noticed there are no values given for the components. This has been done for a

reason as it would be impossible to determine the correct values for every type of installation.

What I am going to do is give you a "Starting Value" and then it's up to you to experiment with

the values by increasing or decreasing them until you find the proper ones. R1 should start out at

around 10,000 Ohms or 10K. R2 is a variable resistor with a value of 20K. C1 should start out

around .05 uF and can be Ceramic Disc or Mylar. When you use this circuit to pad your

transmitter, you can plug the components into a solderless breadboard. While transmitting, listen

to yourself "Off the Air" and adjust the values of the components until you find the ones that

sound the best to you.

R3 is optional to better match the impedance of the transmitter. A possible starting value of

around 20K would be a good place to start.

Once you have determined the best values, You can solder the mess up and wrap it with

electrical tape right into the cable feeding your transmitter! Or if you want to get fancy, you could

mount everything into a box. Either way is fine and not critical.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

FREQUENCIES

The shortwave spectrum is a big place and each part of it has different characteristics. Knowing

where you are and what to expect is a BIG part of successful broadcasting. For the "Big Picture",

I refer you to the frequency chart.

As you can see, Broadcasting and Amateur Services make up a small part of the spectrum. The

services and users on shortwave is staggering, but for all the activity there are selected parts of

the spectrum where a Pirate and his Transmitter might find a listening audience!

Groups of frequencies that support a particular service have traditionally been assigned a

METER BAND designation that is the wavelength of those frequencies and can be used as a

"generic" designation to refer to any or all frequencies of a particular band. I have researched

pirate activity on the Shortwave bands and based on the usage patterns I am presenting, quite

possibly for the first time, a complete list of "Pirate Bands" with unique and accurate Meter band

designators. I hope that these are used and adopted by Broadcasters

and Listeners.

*** PIRATE BANDS ***

METER BAND FREQUENCY RANGE NOTES

185 Meters 1610-1640 Khz. The expansion of the Broadcast Band to 1700Khz

will see these traditional frequencies lost or pirates may move

to 1710 - 1750kHz.

90 Meters 3400-3500 Khz. Some North American pirates have been testing here recently,

conditions on this band will be best in the winter.

76 Meters 3900-4000 Khz. Popular in Europe. NOT recommended for use in

North America!

74 Meters 4000-4100 Khz. Not much activity in the Past.

51 Meters 5700-5900 Khz. Used occasionally.

48 Meters 6200-6400 Khz. Popular in Europe and used somewhat by North

American Pirates.

45 Meters 6400-6800 Khz. see 48 Meters.

44 Meters 6800-7000 Khz. Has seen activity in the past. Perhaps more in1994?

41 Meters 7300-7500 Khz. The Most Popular. 7385, 7415, 7445, 7465 Hot Freq's

38 Meters 7500-8000 Khz. Sporadic Activity Europe & North America.

32 Meters 9300-9500 Khz. Europe & North America Active here.

30 Meters 9900-10000 Khz. Europe & North America Active here.

26 Meters 11400-11500 Khz. Europe & North America Active here.

22 Meters 13900-14000 Khz. Europe & North America Active here.

20 Meters 15000-15100 Khz. Europe & North America Active around 15050.

19 Meters 15500-15700 Khz.

14 Meters 21450-21500 Khz. Good place to experiment with new frequencies!

11 Meters 25900-27000 Khz. It's a jungle out there!

And there you have it! There are also a lot of isolated frequencies that see use like 12255 Khz.

Radio Clandestine was the first and others have followed by operating inside the Shortwave

Broadcast bands as well.

SURVIVAL TIP #1 - Unless you are crazy, DO NOT operate your station in a Amateur Band!

Not only will you be jammed but in all likelihood the FCC WILL BE notified within minutes! If

you want to draw the WRONG kind of attention to yourself, this is the best way!

With all these frequency choices it looks like picking a spot to set up shop could be a daunting

task. Not so; simply look and listen to where others are being heard and try these frequencies.

SUCCESS TIP #1 - When choosing a frequency to use, monitor it for several days to determine

who or what might be using it. A clear frequency is a good frequency!

For beginning pirates, I suggest that you attempt 41 Meters to start with. Don't worry about the

other bands yet. 41 is the easiest to start out with and has the least interference potential and

biggest listening audience. You also will probably not have to modify your transmitter in any way

to get going on 41 and if your just starting out, keeping things simple and easy as possible will

help you greatly. It is difficult enough just getting on the air! With time and

experience under your belt, you will develop the skills and confidence to tackle the other bands!

For intermediate pirates, give 87, 74, 44, 22, or 14 Meters a try! Most of these bands can be hit

without having to modify your amateur transmitter in any way.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

STATION GROUND

A happy station is a properly grounded one! Many people overlook the necessity of a good

ground system and their stations will suffer because of that. A good ground system is neither

expensive or difficult to install.

The biggest benefit a good ground system is that of SAFETY! Should your transmitter develop

a problem, UNGROUNDED, there is the possibility of LETHAL VOLTAGES being present on

the chassis of the transmitter! This means that you could be electrocuted from simply touching

your rig! NOT COOL! Now the same transmitter with the same problem, GROUNDED, will

simply "Blow" the AC power fuse and prevent you from receiving any kind of shock! Much

Better! This also brings me to another....

SAFETY TIP #2 - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER OPERATE YOUR TRANSMITTER

UN-FUSED or If it keeps blowing the fuse DO NOT STICK IN A BIGGER FUSE! THIS

IS A GOOD WAY TO GET HURT OR KILLED!

Another benefit to a proper ground system is that your transmitter will "Tune Up" much more

easily and quite possibly give you better "On Air" performance as far as coverage goes. A ground

for a transmitter will also help to reduce or eliminate any potential QRM problems! This in itself

should be enough to motivate you to ground your station.

"OK, I'm convinced! What do I need to do now?" That depends on a couple of things. Your

ground will perform best, RF-wise, if you can keep the length of wire connecting your transmitter

to the ground rod as short and as large as possible. So with this in mind, try to figure out the best

location for planting your ground rod. "Can't I use the traditional Cold Water Pipe connection as

a ground?" . Unless your house is old, the probability of PVC or PLASTIC pipe being used to

service your house is very high. This means that the cold water pipes running throughout your

house probably will not be a good ground. The only way to be sure is to plant your own ground

rod.

Ground Rods are commonly available through Electrical Supply Houses. Get one that is around

EIGHT feet in length, the longer the better. Your better ground rods will be copper coated steel.

You can expect to pay in the neighborhood of $15 for a suitable rod. DO NOT USE THE

RADIO SHACK 4 FOOT SPECIALS! They are a waste of time because they are not long

enough!

Now that you have your ground rod, it's plantin' time! Get a ladder and a sledge hammer and

with much manual labor, drive that rod down until only 3 or 4 inches are remaining above ground.

Connecting the ground rod to the transmitter can be done in several ways. There are a couple of

important items that should be observed. The first is to keep the length of the connecting wire as

short as possible. Second, use as heavy gauge (Bigger) wire as you can. Last, make sure the wire

is one, continuous piece. I have used Romex wire for my ground. Romex is the three conductor

wire used for AC wiring in most homes. For best results use all three wires these can be easily

stripped out for your ground system. The other alternative is to use the ground braid of the larger

coax cable like RG-8. If you have old cable that is no longer suitable for feeding an antenna, it will

make quite handy ground wire. Again, this can be stripped out but is a little more difficult and

time consuming to do.

The connection of the wire to the ground rod can be done with a couple of automotive type hose

clamps. Get small ones just big enough to accommodate the wire and rod. Make sure and clean

the rod so it's nice and shiney before you make the connection. After you make the connection,

paint the exposed rod and connection with Day Glo orange paint to help prevent oxidation and so

no one trips over it or runs over it with the lawn mover!

Connecting the wire to the transmitter can be done either by connecting the wire directly to the

CHASSIS, and there is usually a screw terminal for this purpose or you can get fancy by using a

Lug terminal to make the connection. Either way is fine.

Now that your transmitter is properly grounded, this point at where the ground rod is connected

can and should be used as a connection point to ground the rest of your station equipment as

needed.

Now for those of you who want the ultimate ground system , here are some more helpful hints.

Use multiple ground rods. Two rods will work better than one and four ground rods will perform

better that two. Multiple rods will perform best when placed farther apart than they are long. If

you use multiple rods, just remember to connect all rods to a single connecting point. Another

helpful tip for those who live in areas where soil conductivity is a problem, before you drive your

rod, take a post hole digger and dig a post hole down about three feet, drive your rod down the

center of this hole and then fill the hole with water softener salt up to about 6 inches from the top

of the hole. Fill the rest of the hole with dirt and then the rain will leach out the salt into the soil

and increase your ground rod's effectiveness. The downside of this approach is that is salt is

corrosive to copper and will destroy your ground rod sooner than normal.

Live on the Second or Third story of a apartment building and can't really install a ground? Not a

problem, while not as effective as a "True Ground" a "Counterpoise" can be used to help

compensate for the lack of a ground rod. A counterpoise is nothing more than a wire that is at

least one wavelength long. It is then connected to a transmitters ground terminal and will function

somewhat as a ground. To figure out the length of your counterpoise wire, see the section on

Antennas. Another alternative is to use a artificial ground. MFJ manufactures one, The Model # is

MFJ-931 and lists for $80 and could provide you with alternative ground.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

MOBILE OPERATIONS

If you decide to operate your pirate radio station on the move,

you will need to prepare your station a little differently than

usual. We will discuss what you may encounter as well as possible

station setups.

First you must decide what kind of broadcast are you going to

do, a taped broadcast is always the easiest method however live

broadcasting could be possible.

Where will you be doing the broadcast and how will you get

there? Most mobile set ups are from a remote location in a car or

van. You can also broadcast from a tent, out house, airplane,

boat, etc. Use your imagination but be sure to consider the

following objectives.

1. You must have an adequate power supply for your equipment.

Choose an area that has access to AC power, or use a battery

operated tape player and a transmitter equipped for 12 volt DC

car battery power. If your transmitter won't run from 12 volts

DC, then you can buy a DC to AC inverter that hooks to your cars'

battery, be sure it can handle the amps required by your radio

(some older tube-type radios require up to 500 amps!). Inverters

can be purchased from RV dealers and camping retailers. When

running from your car battery, be sure to keep the motor running!

Radio equipment will drain your battery very quickly. You may

find that your equipment will not operate from your cars' DC

output.This may mean that your cars' alternator does not produce

the amps required, this can be remedied by installing a new, more

powerful alternator, but it is expensive.

2. Find a location that you can safely set up your station. This

means don't trespass, and avoid locations that will arouse

suspicion. The terrain can also play an important role, if you

are in a valley your signal may not get out as well as you would

like.

3. Make sure you have a safe place to erect an antenna, Avoid

stringing wires near power lines! You can use one of the popular

HAM radio automobile antennas or you can erect your own dipole or

other antenna if you have available supports. If you have a tree

nearby you can use it for a very effective support for your

antenna. A good way to get the wires into the trees is to use a

sling shot to launch a weight tied to 50lb test fishing line

across the top of the tree, the line can then be tied to the

antenna and pulled to the top of the tree.

4. Provide a good ground for your equipment This may require

going to the location in advance and pounding a copper rod into

the ground.

5. Set up your station in a manner that will allow you a quick

exit if needed. Choose a place that provides a good view of the

entrance and at least two exits so you will be able to spot

trouble

and escape before it arrives.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

RADIO "NEIGHBORS"

In the course of your pirate activities you could run into many

types of stations. This part of the manual will explain who they

are.

MARS - No these transmission do not originate from the red

planet but come from the "Military Affiliated Radio System".

There are literally 100's of these nets that are active OUTSIDE

the normal amateur band limits. Most stations in these nets use a

3x1x3 type callsign, i.e. NNN9YES. Modes used are USB & SELCALL

AMTOR. They typically handle message type traffic. DO NOT

INTERFERE WITH THESE OPERATIONS! Since they are run by hams, you

WILL get reported to the FCC for interference! Most of the nets I

have heard typically only run during the day and most of them are

finished by 2000 GMT. Unless you are into early broadcasting you

probably will not have to worry about interfering with a MARS net

but it helps to be aware that they are there and should be

avoided at all

costs!

SPANISH LANGUAGE NETS - Much speculation abounds as to the

source and purpose of these operations. Since callsigns are never

heard, it is probably safe to assume that these transmissions are

of the unauthorized nature and will have little if any

consequence for you by interfering with them. More than likely

they will move to another frequency if they experience QRM from

you. It's also possible that your signal could be QRM'd by these

stations as well so avoidance is a good strategy.

MILITARY NETS - These nets can show up anywhere at anytime.

Most originate from units on maneuvers in the field. Calls

consist of 2 or 3 letters typically. Most military HF gear uses a

channelized system so they usually have no idea where they are in

the HF spectrum! I would not suggest that you operate on or near

these types of nets. Not that it will get you reported to the FCC

since most field units have no or difficult phone access, but

that they will QRM your broadcasts. Avoidance again should be

used. Take heart in knowing that

these type of nets don't stay on any frequency for any great

length of time.

RTTY - Stands for Radio TeleTYpe which is a forerunner of

todays digital transmission modes and still are in widespread use

on the HF bands. Avoid these stations! Not only are they licensed

users but their signals will interfere with your signal much more

than you would ever bother them. I have seen demonstrations of

RTTY signals copied 100% when the signal, in my opinion, was

totally useless! It is probably rare that your activities would

generate a

interference complaint from these stations.

SWBC - Super Wide BroadCast or ShortWave BroadCast, take your

pick. These stations should be avoided like the plague! They

typically run 100's of KILOWatts and ruin 10+Khz chunks of the

spectrum where they broadcast. Your low power signal will be

obliterated so give these station a wide berth!

OTHER SERVICES - Spy Numbers, Fishing Boats, VOLMET, Time. The

shortwave spectrum is a busy place and you could run into

anything! The basic rule of thumb is: if your not sure what

it is just avoid it! This could keep you out of trouble and your

listeners will appreciate it!

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

PRODUCING A SHOW

What you decide to put on the air is only limited to your imagination, every day someone is

thinking of an idea that has not yet been tried on pirate radio. This is what is so appealing

about pirate radio: listeners are treated to unique and interesting material. Even if the material

is not what each listener agrees with or likes, most appreciate the fact that it is genuine,

without bias from commercial sponsors, or governmental influences. With that in mind, it is

my wish that this book does not influence the content of your programming, I will offer

suggestions on technique and ideas, but the final outcome of your work should reflect what

you enjoy, believe, and feel; your show should reflect the reason you wanted to be a pirate in

the first place.

In order to write this chapter, I must make a few assumptions. First I will assume that you

will want to be popular with your listeners, and second I will assume that you will want to

develop some sort of a following of regular listeners. If you do not fit this category, don't feel

that you are wrong; many pirates broadcast without concern for who listens or what they think

and desire no kind of recognition what so ever. If this is what you want, that's great, that's

what it is all about: individual choices.

Once you have set up your studio and decided it is time to produce a show, you will likely

have a certain subject matter or format in mind. If you don't, then take some time and review

why you wanted to be a pirate in the first place, was it to make a certain point or political

view, do you want to entertain or inform, do you just want to play your favorite music, or do

you want to do all of the above? In most cases you will be sucessful at anything that you enjoy

doing. Concentrate on what you would like to hear from a station; chances are that if you like

the show others will also. The important thing is to jump right in and have fun. Dont spend

too much time trying to sound like a professional DJ, and you don't necesarily have to make a

point, the content of your show will stand alone. Pirate radio listeners are not like the average

FM broadcast station listener. Pirate radio listeners aren't hypnotized by a slick sound, they

listen to content, they appreciate what you are doing, in fact most pirate listeners report that

their favorite stations are the ones who use homemade productions as opposed to commercially

made material. They also report that they like the stations who do more than just play music,

after all you can hear music anywhere. Whatever you decide to do, quality production skills,

and quality technical skills will certainly put your station on the top of any DXers list.

Quality production skills are not difficult to learn. Quality does not mean elaborate or

complicated, it simply means clean, understandable audio, proper use of equipment, and

attention to detail. If you throw a show together with little concern for quality, it will

certainly be noticed by your listeners; don't insult them by broadcasting a bunch of junk just

to fill up time. There can be a whole lot more to being a radio pirate than just being on the air.

Here are a few tips that will help you produce a better program:

1. Go easy with the special effects, Reverb sounds great, but after it is bombarded by noise

and weakened by distance, it often can't be understood and is quite annoying. If you speak in a

normal voice, with no echo or overpowering background effects, you will be more likely to

get your message to your listeners. Always be aware that long distant shortwave listening is

often difficult, so your programming should contain material that is easily understood, a good

production can be overdone with too many effects and background noise. Sometimes things are

better if kept simple.

2. ID your station often, speak clearly and repeat your ID. It also helps to have different

people give your station ID; some voices are easier to understand through the noise than

others. Some stations give their ID phoneticly, others have used Morse code.

3. It is a good idea to have a few identifiable traits about your show, this will help regular

listeners recognize your station. In the past stations have used traits such as Seal barks, Dogs

barking, a few bars of music or chimes , musical IDs. Some always play the same song at the

beginning or end of their broadcast.

4. When editing a tape, make the edits clean and tight. Avoid long pauses. If you are

recording to a cassette tape, and you have a good recorder, you can use the pause control to

make fair edits but be sure to go back and check the edits often, most decks are designed with

the erase head placed up to an inch away from the playback head, this can cause you to either

clip what you have just recorded, or create a longer than desireable pause. Know how your

recorder works, make a few test edits to learn the characteristics of it, with practice, you can

make very clean and tight edits with a cassette deck.

5. Use a mixer to soften changes from one audio source to another. A cheap mixer can add a

lot of professionalism to a show. It also will make your production time much easier and more

enjoyable.

6. If your recorder has an audio level meter try to make sure all of your audio is at the same

level, and make sure the overall level is correct; if it is too high you may get distortion on the

audio peaks, if it is too low you will have increased noise on the tape. Nothing is more

annoying than hearing a pirate station with music coming in at a good level but the announcers

voice is so low you can hardly hear him. Or worse yet, the station is coming in very well, but

it is so distorted that you can't understand a thing that is being said. If you don't have an audio

level meter, you will have to trust your ears. With practice it can be done.

7. Because you can't announce a schedule, most of your listeners are forced to try to find you

while you are on the air; this usually means that very few people ever hear the first few

minutes of your show. When you put your show together, it is better to put the most important

parts at the end of the show. Many pirates play a few minutes of music at the beginning of

each show to allow the listeners time to find them, others play an interval signal much like

what is heard before licensed short wave broadcasters go on the air. This lets the listener know

that someone is getting ready to broadcast.

The interval signal has a few drawbacks, first it requires you to be transmitting longer, thus

giving the authorities more time to find you, and second your interval signal may not be heard

by someone who is just scanning the bands.

8. In most cases it is wise to avoid live broadcasting . To broadcast live and sound good is a

VERY difficult thing to do. This is not to say it cant be done, many stations have the talent

and experience to do it well. However, others do it and it is disasterous. Live broadcasts can

result in lots of dead air; if you encounter a problem you will have to be prepared to solve it

while maintaining a live show in the air. If you tape your shows you will have time to review

what you have done and redo it if needed, you can take as long as you like to think of what to

say next, and you will almost always sound better. And on the technical side, it is much easier

to connect a single tape deck to the transmitter and eliminate the RF noise and feed back, than

to connect a whole studio to the transmitter. If your show is on tape you will have the freedom

to perform other important tasks while on the air, like maintaining a look out.

9. Ground your studio equipment and use shielded cables to prevent audio "hiss" and

equipment "hum". Use quality recording tape (you get what you pay for).

10. Use quality audio input, avoid scratchy records and bad tapes, If you use a poor quality

microphone your audio could sound "muddy" or "tinny" good mikes arent always expensive.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

PROPAGATION

Like I mentioned in the section on Frequencies, each part of

the spectrum acts "differently" depending on many variables of

natural conditions. Propagation is a fascinating science and can

be studied for many years without ever learning it all! This

section is intended ONLY as a rough guide and there are many

books that cover this subject in more detail. Should you wish to

learn more, look wherever radio books are sold!

Rather than explain about such things as Sun Spots, 11 Year

Cycles, A & K Indexs, etc. I'm just going to outline general

propagation characteristics for each of our newly designated

pirate bands.

185, 87 and 74 Meters - During the hours of daylight, reception

should be possible up to 200 miles. During the hours of darkness,

reception should be possible up to 1000 or more miles. During

years of low solar activity, long distance reception at night is

not uncommon. High static levels make reception difficult during

late spring, summer and early fall.

48, 44 and 41 Meters - During the hours of daylight, reception

should be possible up to 1000 miles. During the hours of

darkness, reception should be possible up to several thousand

miles or more. During the Winter Dawn and Dusk periods it is

possible to have reception from the other side of the world, as

signals follow the darkness path. Late spring, summer and early

fall will contribute to higher static levels.

32 and 30 Meters - During the hours of daylight, reception

should be possible up to 400 to 1500 miles. During the spring,

summer and fall seasons reception during the hours of darkness

should be possible up to several thousand miles. During the

winter months in the hours of darkness should produce only

marginal reception.

26 Meters - During the hours of daylight reception should be

possible up to 500 and 2000 miles during the entire year. Longer

distances should be possible for a hour or two after local

sunrise and during late afternoon and early evening. During the

spring and summer reception should also be good during the hours

of darkness.

22 Meters - During the hours of daylight reception should be

possible up to 600 and 1800 miles and increasingly further during

the winter season. During late afternoon, early evening and for

several hours around the sunrise period, reception should be

possible from 1000 miles to HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD! During the

summer months reception of very long distance can be expected

during the hours of darkness. During the peak years of solar

activity, this band will be "open" almost on a 24 hour basis.

During low solar activity, this band will

be "open" mainly during daylight hours and is especially good in

the dawn and dusk periods.

20 Meters - The best reception will occur for an hour or two

after local sunrise and again during the late afternoon and early

evening. Medium and short distance reception should be possible

during the daylight hours. During the summer season excellent

reception conditions may also extend well into the hours of

darkness. This band shows highly variable propagation depending

on the solar activity levels. During high sunspot years, this

band will be favorable to long distance reception almost 24 hours

a day. At mid levels, this band will produce the most favorable

reception during the daylight hours. Sporadic E type skip, single

hop up to 1300 miles and double hop up to 2600 miles, is common

during early summer and mid-winter.

14 Meters - Primarily a daytime band. Conditions should be

optimal for long distance reception during the fall, winter and

spring seasons. During the summer season, reception will favor

North-South paths. Because of decreasing solar activity,

conditions on this band will be marginal.

11 Meters - Primarily a daytime band. Conditions are more

dependent on high solar activity than any other band. Long

distance reception during the daylight hours should be possible

up to several thousand miles during the fall, winter and early

spring seasons. During equinoctial seasons, reception will favor

North-South paths. During the winter season, reception will favor

East-West paths. During the summer season, reception should be

possible from 800 to 1200 miles.

Sources of Up to Date Propagation Information:

Geological Survey of Canada, Geophysics Division in Ottawa.

For a 72 Hour Forecast call (613) 992-1299

WWV & WWVH. 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0 and sometimes on 20.0 Mhz.

or you can call (303) 499-7111

Geophysical Reports are issued during the 18th minute of each

hour.

Geophysical Alerts are issued during the 46th minute of each

hour.

"What do the Numbers mean that I hear in the Reports?"

SOLAR FLUX - A relative indication of Sunspot Activity. The

Range is 0 to

200. The Higher the Number, the increased likelihood of Band

Openings in the Higher Parts of

the Spectrum.

A INDEX - A relative indication of Geomagnetic Activity

averaged over the

last 24 Hours. The Range is 0 to 400.

The lower the number, the

better propagation conditions should be.

K INDEX - The same as A Index except averaged over the last 3

Hours. The

Range is 0 to 5. Lower is Better! Also

note that QUIET = 0 or 1,

UNSETTLED = 1 to 3 and ACTIVE = 4 to 5.

Use "Beacon Stations". If India on 7412Khz or Botswana on

7415Khz is booming in, you can be pretty sure that the band is

open somewhere! Time Stations make suitable beacon stations as

well!

Selected list of Amateur Beacon Stations:

10.144 DK0WCY Germany 30 Watts Dipole

14.100 4U1UN New York 100 Watts Ground Plane

14.100 W6WX California 100 Watts Turnstile

14.100 KH6HO Hawaii 100 Watts Ground Plane

14.100 JA2IGY Japan 100 Watts Vertical

14.100 4X4TU Israel 100 Watts Ground Plane

14.100 OH2B Finland 100 Watts Ground Plane

14.100 CT3B Portugal 100 Watts Vertical

14.100 ZS6DN South Africa 100 Watts Ground Plane

14.100 LU4AA Argentina 100 Watts ???

18.080 PY2AMI Brazil ??? ???

24.901 PY2AMI Brazil ??? ???

This should be enough for you to start getting a handle on the

fundamentals of propagation. The best way to learn, is to Listen,

Listen, Listen and Read, Read, Read!

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

QRM

These 3 very important letters are taken from the Amateur Radio "Q Codes" and literally

mean "Is my transmission being interfered with?" or "Your transmission is being interfered

with." The source of the interference is typically MAN made. QRN means the same thing

except the source of the interference comes from NATURAL causes.

While broadcasting and another of your radio neighbors decides to use the frequency you

have chosen, You are being QRM'd. This is unfortunate but since you are not supposed to be

there anyway, just move to another frequency!

While broadcasting and YOUR transmitter is QRMing your neighbors TV, Radio, Stereo,

Phone, etc. you have a SERIOUS PROBLEM! Do not ignore it! From what little information

on pirate busts I have obtained, MOST seem to be related to unresolved interference problems!

It is in your best interests to take a active approach to solving your QRM problem. If you do

not solve QRM problems, the FCC WILL take steps to solve the problem! Since we know

what their solution is, I am going to present easier, less costly, painless ways to solve your

problem.

START WITH YOUR OWN GEAR - Perhaps the most overlooked part of any station is a

good ground system. See the chapter on Station Ground Systems.

Use a low-pass filter on your transmitter. This is a passive device that you insert into the

feedline between the Transmitter and Antenna. While not difficult to build, for a beginner, I

would recommend purchasing one. You can expect to pay between $25 to $75 for a GOOD

low pass filter. They are rated in Watts so you need to know much power your transmitter

runs so you won't get one that is to "small". Some of the better units are tuneable, which will

help to knock down harmonic interference greatly. Any Ham Radio Equipment catalog will

carry several Low Pass filters, so they are not hard to find.

While more advanced, your Transmitters Parasitic Supressors could be "smoked". Your

Transmitter will appear to operate normally, as it should, if your supressors are fried but will

generate more harmonic type QRM than is normal. See Figure 1 for a schematic of a parasitic

suppressor. Usually mistuning a transmitter is enough to burn out the resistor in a suppressor

and since the resistor is in parallel with the coil, you cannot easily tell if the resistor is fried

with out un-soldering one side of the coil. If the resistor looks like a charcoal cylinder, it's

pretty safe to assume it's bad. "Hey, my Transmitter doesn't use parasitic supressors!", find

somebody to add them. It is not terribly difficult and can be done by anyone who knows how

to solder and wind some wire around a resistor! Learn how to properly tune your transmitter!

If your transmitter is not tuned correctly you could be generating interference. Read and study

your manual!

Do not "over-drive" the transmitter! This will generate QRM and also make your signal

wide, splatter, and sound distorted! It is easy to over-drive any Transmitter. The best way to

check if your pushing your transmitter to hard is to listen to yourself off the air. You may find

that you need to put some distance between yourself and the transmitter to keep from

overloading your receivers front end into distorting. This is simple to rectify, simply reduce

the "Audio Gain" on the transmitter or reduce the line level audio feeding the transmitter until

your signal's audio clears up.

Use a properly constructed, RESONANT, antenna! See the chapter on antennas for more

information. You could find that it is your choice of an antenna that is giving you problems.

Watch the TV in your house to see if you are interfering with it. Check your phone, stereo,

etc. and notice any interference problems, if any. This will help to determine if you are really

at fault. It is always convincing if you can demonstrate that you do not interfere with reception

in your own home.

"I'VE DONE ALL THIS AND I STILL QRM MY NEIGHBORS!" - This is where the game

can get interesting and you need to have your "cover story" well rehearsed in order not to "tip

off" anyone to ILLEGAL activities! If you have any experience with phone phreaking, the

term "Social Engineering" will mean a great deal to you. Should you not know what "Social

Engineering" is, I will try to tell you what it means in general and how to apply it to dealings

with neighbors.

Social Engineering is the art or getting information out of people without raising their

suspicions. Sounds easy doesn't it? Believe it or not, in practice it is quite easy to use.

Remember, none of the following information will do you ANY good if your neighbor and

yourself are already on bad terms! The damage has already has been done and you should

concentrate your efforts on the preceding information! It is in your best interests to stay on

friendly terms with your neighbor because He or She can very easily end your pirate career

with unpleasant results!

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

RF FEEDBACK

No matter what you do, RF Feedback WILL rear its ugly head in one form or another at your

station. Perhaps the only way to avoid RF Feedback is to use a Studio To Transmitter link (STL)

to get your transmitter away from the rest of the station. Don't worry, you won't have to go to

that extreme! RF Feedback can be cured 99.99% of the time. All it takes is a little understanding

of the problem and some tried and true cures.

RF Feedback is caused by being in close proximity to a source of High Level RF Energy. It

doesn't mean that your equipment is really at fault, other than being too darn close! Anything

electronic is a potential victim for RF Feedback and it will be quite apparent when RF Feedback is

present!

The simplest cure for RF Feedback is the RF Choke. A RF Choke is a coil wrapped around a

ferrite core to impede the flow of RF Energy. Radio Shack manufactures a snap on unit, it works

well. A cheaper, and sometimes just as effective, alternative is the ferrite rod from an old AM

Radio's loopstick antenna. Whatever you can come up with should be used. The key to using RF

Chokes is in the amount of turns you can use: The more the better. Places to

use chokes are on the AC Power cords and ALL Audio Cables. Electrical tape helps keeps the

wraps in place.

Another simple way to reduce the possibility of RF feedback is to make sure that any patch

cords or audio cables are high quality shielded cables. Cheap cables are more trouble than they are

worth. Also try plugging your transmitter and audio source into different AC outlets.

If you still suffer from RF Feedback problems, the next step is to install Bypass Capacitors into

the effected equipment. I suggest using .01 uF Ceramic Disc capacitors rated at 1000 volts. To

properly de-RF a piece of gear, you need to concentrate your efforts in two places. First, the

Power Supply of the unit. Typically, RF will enter via the AC line cord and get into the power

supply affecting everything else. Open the unit, MAKE SURE IT'S UNPLUGGED! Locate the

power supply, if you don't know what a power supply looks like you might want to find someone

who does. Places to install bypass capacitors are on each side of the AC line cord to ground,

across the Secondary windings of the transformer to ground and finally, across the rectifiers to

ground. This should clear up any RF getting into the power supply.

Should you still suffer, the next step is to bypass all the line in and out connectors on the gear.

Simply connect your capacitor from the Hot Side (Center Conductor) to the chassis ground. Also

make sure the equipment is properly grounded in the first place! Do this for all the connectors,

regardless if they are used or not. And finally, don't forget about your speaker connections, they

might be bypassed as well since speaker wire tends to act as an antenna!

If you try all this and you still have problems, try moving the transmitter or antenna farther away,

sometimes a few feet can make all the difference in the world. You may even have to resort to

trying another tape deck, some cheap tape decks are impossible to protect from feedback.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

Sources of other pirate radio information

The Association of Clandestine Enthusiasts. The A*C*E features a monthly bulletin that

reports on pirate, clandestine, covert, and other unexplained broadcasts, also the readers are

provided with other available material concerning motives, explanations, and theories behind these

various broadcasts and broadcasters. The A*C*E has many regular features like pirate loggings,

QSL reports, pirate news, etc. P.O. Box 11201, Shawnee Mission, KS. 66207-0201

The Pirate Pages. a bi-weekly newsletter with recent pirate logings, and news related to pirate

radio listening and broadcasting. P.O.Box 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA. 17214

Pirate Radio Stations. A very well written book by Andrew Yoder. Covers pirate radio from

the past and present, lots of good information. Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294 - 0850

The Pirate Radio Directory. A very complete yearly listing of all active pirate radio stations.

Written by George Zeller and Andrew Yoder, this book gives a brief description of each station as

well as photos of QSL cards. Tiare Publications, P.O. Box 493, Lake Geneva, WI 53147

Antique Electronics Supply, Inc. A good source for transmitter tubes and hard to find parts for

older transceivers. P.O. Box 27468, Tempe, AZ 85285 (602) 820-5411

DVS Communications. Source for transmitter manuals, audio mods, consulting, and equipment

acquisition. They also have a great collection of studio quality pirate radio recordings. These are

great for entertainment and for giving you good ideas for your station. Send SASE for list to,

P.O. Box 452, Wellsville, NY 14895

ANARC SWL HAM Net. 7240 kHz LSB 1500 GMT sunday mornings. Tune in to hear

everything from pirate loggings to DX tips and technical information.

ANARC - BBS. Use your modem and computer to contact pirate listeners, read and contribute

loggings, and get the latest in pirate news. 1-(913) 345-1978

Radio Hobby , BBS. Has a pirate logging and message area much like the ANARC BBS.

1-(708) 238-1901

Free Radio Network , BBS. Dedicated to Pirate radio, has an extensive filebase with lots of good

information, also many Pirates log on to this bbs and can be contacted for help and advise

1-(417) 624-1809

Internet Web page http:\\www.clandjop.com\~jcruzan

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

Sources of other pirate radio information

The Association of Clandestine Enthusiasts. The A*C*E features a monthly bulletin that

reports on pirate, clandestine, covert, and other unexplained broadcasts, also the readers are

provided with other available material concerning motives, explanations, and theories behind these

various broadcasts and broadcasters. The A*C*E has many regular features like pirate loggings,

QSL reports, pirate news, etc. P.O. Box 11201, Shawnee Mission, KS. 66207-0201

The Pirate Pages. a bi-weekly newsletter with recent pirate logings, and news related to pirate

radio listening and broadcasting. P.O.Box 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA. 17214

Pirate Radio Stations. A very well written book by Andrew Yoder. Covers pirate radio from

the past and present, lots of good information. Tab Books, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294 - 0850

The Pirate Radio Directory. A very complete yearly listing of all active pirate radio stations.

Written by George Zeller and Andrew Yoder, this book gives a brief description of each station as

well as photos of QSL cards. Tiare Publications, P.O. Box 493, Lake Geneva, WI 53147

Antique Electronics Supply, Inc. A good source for transmitter tubes and hard to find parts for

older transceivers. P.O. Box 27468, Tempe, AZ 85285 (602) 820-5411

DVS Communications. Source for transmitter manuals, audio mods, consulting, and equipment

acquisition. They also have a great collection of studio quality pirate radio recordings. These are

great for entertainment and for giving you good ideas for your station. Send SASE for list to,

P.O. Box 452, Wellsville, NY 14895

ANARC SWL HAM Net. 7240 kHz LSB 1500 GMT sunday mornings. Tune in to hear

everything from pirate loggings to DX tips and technical information.

ANARC - BBS. Use your modem and computer to contact pirate listeners, read and contribute

loggings, and get the latest in pirate news. 1-(913) 345-1978

Radio Hobby , BBS. Has a pirate logging and message area much like the ANARC BBS.

1-(708) 238-1901

Free Radio Network , BBS. Dedicated to Pirate radio, has an extensive filebase with lots of good

information, also many Pirates log on to this bbs and can be contacted for help and advise

1-(417) 624-1809

Internet Web page http:\\www.clandjop.com\~jcruzan

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

BUILDING A PRODUCTION STUDIO

Unless you plan to broadcast some sort of pre - produced programming, or plan to relay

other pirate radio stations, chances are you will need to put together your own material for

broadcast. In this section we will discuss some of the ways you can build a production studio

that will serve your particular needs.

A production studio does not need to be something you might see at a commercial radio

station, it can be a simple as you allow it to be or as complicated as you want it to be. We will

assume for now that you will be preparing pre recorded material for broadcasting at a later

time. Much of this material will also apply to a live setup, but will become more complicated

as the subject of RF feedback surfaces.

To prepare a taped program, all you need is a way to record on the tape, this can be a small

pocket tape recorder. You can simply record your message and use the pause control to

perform minor edits. After you have completed the messages the recorder can be connected to

the transmitter and the show played back over the air. Most pirates desire more creative

freedom than this, some pirate stations have studios that rival commercial setups, as you grow

with the pirate radio hobby it is likely that your studio will also grow. It is almost always a

good idea to start small and improve your setup as you need to, don't get too anxious and

spend hundreds of dollars buying equipment that you find later you didn't need.

A good way to begin is with your own stereo system, most are equipped with a tape deck, a

turntable, and possibly a CD player. Using an inexpensive microphone, you can turn a system

like this into a decent low cost recording studio. Using the pause control on the tape deck you

will be able to record your voice, pause the tape, record music from another source, pause the

tape, then record your voice again, etc. This results in sometimes abrupt edits, but if you read

the section on Producing a show, you can pick up a few tips that will help you improve this. If

you don't have a stereo system you can usually find good used components at local pawn shops

and garage sales, shop around and you will likely get it at a reasonable price.

One of the first additions that is made to a pirate studio is a mixer. A mixer is a device that

allows you to connect the outputs of various components (such as turn tables, CD players, tape

decks, microphones, etc) to its input. The mixer's output is then connected to the input of a

tape recorder. The mixer combines these signals and allows you to vary the volume of each

signal. This facilitates talking over music, fading from one source to another, and gives you

infinite control over all of your audio levels. A mixer can add a professional sound to any

studio. Prices of mixers vary from a thirty dollar Radio Shack mixer to as much as you want

to pay.

The price will depend greatly on how many sources you want to mix as well as how much

control over the signal you want to have; some mixers have built in special effects and graphic

equalizers.

Special effects sometimes find their way into a pirate studio; though they are interesting and

fun, they are rarely necessary. However if this is something you want to try, there are a

number of sources for these effects. Effects boxes for electric guitars are often available on the

used market and are usually adaptable to a studio setup. There are a wide variety to choose

from; everything from echo to phase shifting can be found. By far the most common effect

that is used is the echo chamber, or reverb. Radio Shack makes a low cost microphone reverb

unit for around 30 dollars. Be sure to read the section on Producing a show and not over using

special effects.

Some pirates have created their own special effects, such as modifying a tape recorder to

play back at a slower or faster speed to change their voice, Kits can be purchased for complex

voice disguisers. Your imagination is your only limit.

Another helpful addition to your studio might be a graphic equalizer. Placed in line just

before the tape recorder, the equalizer can help improve the overall quality of your recording.

Shortwave usually makes music sound terrible; if you can improve the sound before it gets to

the transmitter, you may be able to improve your on air sound as well.

A compressor- limiter will also help your on air sound, this device will help you maintain a

more stable overall audio level and sometimes makes your signal appear stronger.

One often overlooked studio component is the video cassette recorder. A vcr can be

connected to your mixer to allow you to use audio from movies, TV, etc. this can be a great

creative source.

Now that you have built your studio and made your first program, it is time to broadcast it

for the world to hear. One obstacle still remains: how do you get the audio from the tape deck

to the input of the transmitter. Much of this will depend upon the type of transmitter you have

chosen. In most cases the audio source from the tape deck will replace the microphone on the

transmitter. This is one reason it is a good idea to have to manual for your radio.

It will likely be necessary to wire the output from your tape recorder to a plug that fits your

radio. This may include a switch to enable and disable the push to talk function of your radio.

Since this varies widely from radio to radio I can only refer to this in the most general terms.

If you are not electronically inclined, you should find a friend to help you with this. It is not a

difficult task on most radios (see "FEEDING " the TRANSMITTER).

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

SWR

Standing Wave Ratio or SWR is probably another mis-understood concept in radio that has a

tendency to mess up some people. While I'm not going to get extremely technical, I will try to

explain what SWR means and how you can cure High SWR readings.

SWR is a term used to measure the amount or ratio of RF Power that IS being radiated by your

antenna to RF Power that is NOT being radiated and reflected back into your feedline/transmitter.

The actual formula to determine this involves some complex math and I'm not going to get into it.

Instead, I refer you to the diagram of a typical station layout showing the transmitter to antenna

RF path. If you see where the SWR/Power Meter is placed in the line, you can understand why it's

able to measure this.

A perfect SWR is 1 to 1. This means that all RF power is being radiated by the load or antenna

and none of it is being reflected back. "What causes RF Power to be reflected back?", Most

typically the cause of this problem is by using a Non-Resonant or Random Length Antenna. You

can quickly understand the importance of using resonant antennas is to MAXIMIZE your on air

signal by actually radiating ALL the power you are transmitting!

"What happens to the Reflected Power?", It returns back into your transmitter's tank circuit and

finals to be dissipated as waste heat! This should be avoided if possible. In fact, some of the newer

solid state transmitters will shut down if the SWR becomes too high, in order to protect the finals.

As your SWR increases, your radiated power decreases. Typically, your SWR can be as high as

2 or 3 to 1 before any real problems start. To maximize your signal you should try and keep the

SWR below 2 to 1.

SWR/Power meters can be purchased easily and even the cheaper ones tend to work just about

as well as the more expensive models. There are several features available with these instruments.

You must make sure that the meter can handle the power level you are running! Typically, most

meters will measure up to 1KW but not always. I prefer the dual meter type where I can watch

my FORWARD and REVERSE power at the same time. Any type of meter is fine as long as you

obtain and use one!

"How can I reduce the SWR of my dipole antenna?", In order to do this, you need to determine

the RESONANT FREQUENCY of your existing antenna. Now, in the chapter on antennas we

discussed how to "cut" a dipole for the 40 meter pirate band, However, depending on the

antennas proximity to other structures and height from ground, the math used to determine the

length of the antenna is only a close approximation.

To find out just where your antenna IS resonant, tune up and check the SWR at 100 Khz points

across the 40 meter band. For example:

7000 Khz ......... SWR 3.5

7100 Khz ......... SWR 2.4

7200 Khz ......... SWR 1.8

7300 Khz ......... SWR 1.0

7400 Khz ......... SWR 2.0

7500 Khz ......... SWR 3.2

As you can see from this SWR plot, our antenna is RESONANT around 7300 Khz and becomes

LESS resonant (i.e. SWR increases) the farther we move away from 7300 Khz. To correct this

problem, we would need to CUT wire, about one or two inches at a time from each end of the

dipole and repeat the measurements until we make the dipole resonant around 7400 Khz. If the

antenna were resonant around 7500 Khz. you would need to ADD wire to each end of your

dipole until you LOWERED the resonant frequency.

Now I would like to talk about Antenna Tuners or Matchers. A ANTENNA TUNER WILL

NOT MAKE YOUR ANTENNA A MORE EFFICIENT RADIATOR! "What?", you say! "With

my antenna tuner I can make my SWR 1 to 1 where before it was 4 to 1.", that's true, but if you

look at our station diagram, a antenna tuner only makes the standing wave 1 to 1 between itself

and the transmitter! NOT between the tuner and Antenna! If you doubt this, move your SWR

meter to the Antenna side of the matcher to see what is going on. The only advantage to using an

antenna tuner is in the rare case you cannot erect a resonant antenna, a antenna tuner will let your

transmitter load up into just about anything, but it is NOT and should NOT be used as a substitute

for a RESONANT antenna!

The last theory I would like to debunk is that of "Cutting Your Coax" to decrease the SWR. The

length of your feedline IN NO WAY will affect your SWR! Cutting or Lengthening it will

accomplish nothing but wasting your time! Purists will argue this point and I will tell you that for

certain antenna applications, feedline length DOES play an important part. Even more so, Radio

Buffs will tell you that for the most accurate SWR measurements, the instrument should be placed

at even wavelength multiples in the feedline, or better yet,

right at the antenna feedpoint. These are true and much more difficult to accomplish. Just placing

the meter in line will give you a close enough reading to spot any troubles in your antenna or

feedline.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT G.M.T.

The universal time scale, also known as Greenwich Mean Time or Greenwich Civil

Time, is based on the mean angle of rotation of the earth about its axis in relation to the sun. It is

referenced to the prime meridian that passes through Greenwich, England.

Since actual solar days vary throughout the year, a mean solar day of 24 hours is used to denote

one revolution. Determinations of the rotation of the earth relative to the sun are made by

observing mean sidereal rotation of the earth and converting it to mean solar rotation by

ephemeris tables based on the accumulated data of many astronomical observatories.

Mean solar rotation derived from uncorrected astronomical observations is denoted UT0.

Annual variations occur in the speed of rotation of the earth and are probably due to seasonal

changes in the wind patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. There is also a

semiannual variation due chiefly to tidal action of the sun, which distorts the shape of the earth

slightly. The cumulative effect of these variations is that the earth is late about 30 milliseconds or

0.45 arc second near June 1, and is ahead about 30 milliseconds or 0.45 arc

second near October 1 each year. When UT0 is corrected for these periodic variations, it is

denoted UT1.

Irregular variations in the speed of rotation of the earth also occur. These may be due to turbulent

motions in the core of the earth. In addition, friction of the ocean tides causes a decrease in speed

of about one millisecond per century. Observations of these effects throughout the world are

reported to the Bureau International de l'Heure at Paris, which issues corrections to UT1 to

establish UT2.

"Standard Times" are based on UT1 or on UT2.

The world is divided into 24 zones, each 15 degrees of longitude, or 1 hour angle, apart. The

meridian of Greenwich, England, is the center of the zero zone, which extends to 7.5 degrees east

and west. Proceeding eastward from Greenwich, the zones are numbered 1 to 12 with the prefix

"plus" to indicate the hour angle to be added to universal time to obtain local "standard time".

Proceeding westward, the zones are numbered 1 to 12 with the prefix "minus" to

indicate the hour angle to be subtracted from universal time to obtain local "standard time". For

example, Washington, DC, at longitude 77 degrees West, is in time zone -5.

Actual boundaries of time zones are defined by law or custom and generally do not coincide with

the theoretical zone, even in some places at sea. In many areas, local legal "standard time" differs

by 60 or 30 minutes from theoretical standard time.

Note the above does not take into account "daylight savings time" or "summer hours". These are

purely set by custom or law, and vary from country to country.

WWV and Universal Time.

WWV and WWVH broadcast voice announcements of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

each minute. The reference time scale is the Coordinated Time Scale maintained by the National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), formerly the National Bureau of Standards. The

UTC(NIST/NBS) scale includes small frequency offsets relative to the NIST primary frequency

standard for coordination purposes.

The 24-hour system is used. Numbering starts with 0000 for midnight at the Greenwich Meridian

(longitude zero). The first two figures give the hour, and the last two figures give the number of

minutes past the hour when the next .8 second tone begins after the announcement.

Prior to 1/1/72, time signals broadcast from WWV and WWVH were kept in close agreement

with UT2 (astronomical time) by making adjustments of 100 milliseconds as necessary. On

December 31, 1971, the UTC (NIST/NBS) scale was retarded 0.01076 second to give it an initial

difference of exactly 10 seconds late with respect to the International Atomic Time (TAI) scale as

maintained by the Bureau International d l'Heure (BIH).

Since the new UTC rate (effective January 1, 1972) is no longer adjusted periodically to agree

with the rotation rate of the earth, UTC departs more rapidly than before from earth rotation time

(UT1), gaining about 1 second per year. Corrections to UTC are now made in step adjustments of

exactly 1 second (called a leap second), as directed by BIH. The leap second adjustments ensure

that UTC signals as broadcast never differ from UT1 by more than about +0.7 second.

Corrections no longer relate to UT2.

P.R.S.G. Notes: 99% of all Shortwave Listeners use GMT time. You should learn how to use

GMT correctly, REMEMBER TO ADVANCE THE DATE AFTER 2359!

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be

included in this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have

other questions you may inquire at the above adddress.

VERIFYING YOUR EFFORTS

So now you have made your first transmission, you will likely have the same question in mind

that most pirates have after a broadcast. Did anyone hear that?

There are several ways to find out how well you were heard. One way is to watch the hobby

newsletters and publications for loggings of your station, this requires patience because even the

fastest newsletters will take a few days or weeks to arrive; the magazines can be as much as three

or four months behind. Hobby publications are a great place to see what is going on and who is

doing what. I would highly recommend the ACE or Pirate Pages as a good source for keeping up

with the pirate scene. But when you have worked hard to achieve a good signal, you really need

some hard data that will tell you what you are doing wrong and right.

The best way to obtain this information is from the people who listen to you. Pirate Radio

listeners collect cards that verify that they have heard your station (QSL cards). Most listeners in

exchange for one of your cards will provide a fairly detailed report of your signal as well as

comments about the programming content. From these reports you can determine where you are

heard the strongest, how well your audio was understood, and what your listeners like to hear.

This is information that commercial radio stations pay a fortune to find out.

How you get these reports is not easy. You cannot give your home address or phone number on

the air, and using any address that is local to you will lead the wrong people to you. The most

logical option is to use a maildrop, the idea is simple. A mail drop is operated by a person who

wishes to support free radio and will act as a forwarding point for your mail.

This means that you will have to expose your identity to some one else; however the operators of

the major mail drops are extremely secure and are trusted by hundreds of pirate stations. In order

to obtain the services of a mail drop you will first need to contact the operator. They will in turn

advise you of their rules and ask you for pertinent information such as where you want your mail

forwarded to and the name of your station, etc. Most operators have a few rules that they expect

to be followed; some require that you announce that the listeners send three stamps to pay the

cost of postage to the pirates address and back. Most drop operators operate their drops for free,

your respect of his time is important, he is doing you a great service and you should do as much

as possible to make it easier for him. During your broadcasts you will announce the address of

your drop with any specific instructions such as, "send a detailed report and your comments on

the show, with three stamps". The listeners will prepare their reports and send them to your drop

operator. He in turn repackages the reports and mails them to your address. You will then

reaview the reports for accuracy , prepare whatever you want to send to the listeners and mail

them with appropriate postage to the mail drop operator. He will then mail the responses to the

listeners. This is a great way to gain listeners.

The pirate radio community is surprisingly well informed; a station that does not respond to

listeners reports will soon be known to all and notice a sharp drop in listener response. However a

station that verifies reports with reliability will be well liked by the listeners and will likely see an

increase in mail coming into their drop. The bottom line is, if you don't plan to verify listener's

reports, don't ask for them.

When you get your reception reports don't just gaze over them and throw them out, you can get a

lot of good information from them. Look at where your signal is strongest; according to the

design of your antenna does this reflect what you were trying to do? If someone says that you

sounded distorted, was this because you were over modulated? Or did you use too much echo?

Look at what type of radio the listener has; if it is a cheap low end radio you can expect his signal

to be less than the guy with the mega-buck deluxe model. Did he use a good antenna ? Or did he

hear you on the radios whip antenna? Notice the time that you were on the air; does it seem that

certain times of the night some of your listeners report a lot of static? Do certain frequency

choices get better reports?

Many pirate stations keep a detailed log of information from reception reports, some have maps

with marks or numbers on them reflecting the best reception areas, times and frequencies, some

pirates have found that they can target a certain area by choosing the frequency and time dictated

from the information they have compiled. If you are trying to entertain your listeners, use their

comments about your programming to choose the parts of your programs that seem to attract the

attention of your listeners. Although opinions vary widely, you can tell if you are getting your

point across. If you broadcasted a commentary on the" homeless" and your listeners thought you

said "homesick", you may want to review the method in which you presented this subject. Could

you be talking too fast? Is your background music too loud? Or were the band conditions just too

noisy? Some listeners will misunderstand your message no matter how clear it is made.

Verifying Reports:

Pirate radio listeners collect verifications called QSLs. This can be anything that acknowledges

that the listener did hear the show. If a listeners report contains enough details that you can be

sure that they heard your station, you can then send them a QSL. Designing your QSL card can

be as much fun as producing your show; it adds to the "image" of your station. You can be as

creative as your mind will allow. Some stations have in the past sent some very bizarre QSLs,

Radio Blandex sent out "DX Condoms", CSIC sends occasional rubber chickens, other stations

send bumper stickers, personalized pens, pennants, banners, posters, books, etc. If cost is

important, keep in mind that your QSL will have to be mailed twice (once to the drop operator

and then to the listener) large QSLs or anything that can't be placed in a normal size envelope will

cost extra postage. Other stations use the more simple approach, a card with the station name,

and a nice design and information regarding the broadcast is always a good choice.

Your QSL can be hand made or professionally printed, but don't be too worried about getting a

professional look. Some of the most creative QSLs are often hand drawn on a plain piece of

paper.

Listeners always like a little station information such as transmitter power and the type of

antenna used. Some stations include a station information sheet that gives a technical description

of their station. Samples of station QSLs are provided throughout this book.

Some listeners will add to their reception report by including a tape recording of your show so

you can hear for yourself what the signal sounded like. A good way to reward the listener for

providing you with this is to return the tape with a copy of the program recorded from your

studio master. Radio Airplane,often randomly sends tapes to listeners,this is possibly because

they just liked the report, or they just want to encourage more letters. The way you respond to

your listeners is totally up to you. Be sure to have fun with it and remember that it is important

that you just respond.

Some of the CURRENTLY ACTIVE PIRATE MAIL DROPS

P.O. Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895

P.O. Box 109, BlueRidge Summit, PA

P.O. Box 146, Stoneham, MA 02180

P.O. Box 293, Merlin, Ontario NOP 1WO

P.O. Box 605, Huntsville AL 35804

P.O. Box 17534, Atlanta GA 30616

(may not accept new stations)

P.O. Box 40554, Washington DC 20016

(not very active)

Always remember to write to the Mail drop operator and obtain permission before announcing

an address on the air. All drops listed may not be accepting new stations, you must inquire

with the operator to assure availability.

PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written by; Nemesis of

Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and would

like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either Nemesis or

Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not be included in

this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other questions you

may inquire at the above adddress.

TRANSMITTERS

One of your most important and difficult investments will be the purchase of a transmitter.

While it is possible to build your own, it is much easier and usually cheaper to purchase a

transmitter. In this chapter we will discuss what transmitters are, how they operate and what

you need to know when buying a transmitter.

** SAFETY TIP ** SAFETY TIP ** SAFETY TIP **

TRANSMITTERS UTILIZE LETHAL VOLTAGES! NEVER OPERATE A

TRANSMITTER WITH THE SAFETY DEVICES BYPASSED OR THE CHASSIS

REMOVED! YOU COULD BE KILLED! RF ENERGY ALSO WILL LEAVE A

NASTY BURN IF YOU MAKE "CONTACT"! TREAT YOUR TRANSMITTER WITH

RESPECT AND CAUTION!

** SAFETY TIP ** SAFETY TIP ** SAFETY TIP **

"What is a transmitter?" Good question. A transmitter is a device that converts AC or DC

energy to RF energy. By itself, RF energy doesn't do us much good, so a transmitter also

requires audio information to "Modulate" the RF energy it generates. The modulated RF

energy is coupled into an antenna to be dispersed into the ionosphere. Now that you know

what a transmitter does, we're going to discuss variations and capabilities that can be found

when looking for your dream rig.

- CONTROLLING THE FREQUENCY -

In the beginning there was Crystal Control. This means you must supply a crystal cut or

ground for a specific frequency to operate on that frequency. If you wanted to operate on 7415

Khz, then with a crystal controlled transmitter you would have to supply a crystal cut or

ground for 7415 Khz. You could NOT operate on 7465 Khz unless you supply ANOTHER

crystal for 7465 Khz. As you can see, if you want to remain flexible in your frequency

options, crystal controlled transmitters are not reccomended unless you can afford around $10

per crystal! One advantage that crystal control does have is that the transmitter will NOT

"drift" or if it does drift, it will be very little. Usually drift is not a problem if you let your

transmitter "warm up" for a couple of hours before using it. Since active frequencies change

often, it's hard to "Keep Up" with a crystal controlled rig.

Variable Frequency Oscillator - Sounds like something right out of a Star Trek episode. This

is the next step up from "Crystal Control". A transmitter that comes equipped with a VFO or

can use an external VFO gives you freedom to operate on any frequency that it covers and

where the transmitter is able to tune up. Most VFO's will cover the ham bands in 500 Khz

segments and this can be utilized by the pirate to get outside the ham bands. It also allows for

moving your frequency at a moments notice. The ONLY disadvantage to using a VFO is that

they are more prone to drift. If you let your gear "warm up" drift is usually not a problem.

With the newer synthesized types of VFOs drift is practically nonexistent.

- NOW YOU'RE TALKIN' -

By now, you might be familiar with some terms that describe types of modulation. The most

used by broadcasters is Amplitude Modulation or simply referred to as AM. Other types

include Single Side Band (SSB) which means Upper Side Band (USB) or Lower Side Band

(LSB), Double Side Band (DSB) and even more exotic are Frequency Modulation (FM), Phase

Modulation (PM). For now, the modes we are most concerned with are AM and SSB.

We touched briefly on the basics of modulation earlier and now we are going to dive right

into the good stuff! So put on your thinking caps and let me guide you into the mysteries of

radio. Modulation of a RF signal is impressing audio information on a radio frequency

waveform. Sounds exotic doesn't it?

AM modulation, a carrier wave determines your frequency and 66% of your transmitter

power is used here! The modulating signal, audio information, is used to vary the amplitude of

the carrier wave by means of upper and lower side bands. This is where the remaining 33% of

the transmitters power goes. See Figure 1.

The range of audible frequencies to most people is 20 to 20,000 Hertz. In most amateur gear

the audio bandwidth is restricted to 300 to 3,000 Hertz. Music withstanding, this is the audio

range that affords the greatest intelligibilitly to a voice signal. Now in AM mode combine 2.7

KHz for both upper and lower sidebands and you have an AM signal almost 6 KHz wide. If

the frequency response of the transmitter was increased to 10 KHz, the resulting AM signal

would be 20 KHz wide! Now you begin to see why it helps to give broadcasting stations a

W-I-D-E berth!

AM is also uses what is known as a 100% "Duty Cycle". This means that your transmitter is

working 100% of the time. While this is not a problem in normal amateur communications,

trying to run a amateur transmitter for 30 to 60 minutes continuous in AM mode is asking for

trouble. The components in the transmitter will tend to overheat and you may need to cool

them while broadcasting. An exhaust fan can be used to pull hot air out of the transmitter.

Never blow cold air onto a hot tube! If you have managed to get a "broadcast quality"

transmitter, don't sweat this as they usually built for continous duty.

P.R.S.G. PURCHASING TIP #1 - Always make sure you get the book or manual with

ANY transmitter you are considering buying!

Trying to find manuals for older pieces of gear

can be a difficult and expensive task!

Single Side Band modulation has been around since the 1960's and is the most predominant

mode used in the ham bands today. For hams, the rule of thumb is LSB on 40 meters and

down, USB on 20 meters and up. Most pirates use USB instead of LSB and it has become the

adopted standard. Their is NO difference in quality between USB or LSB! A Fully modulated

AM signal has 66% of its power in the carrier and only 33% in the sidebands. The sidebands

carry the intelligence to be transmitted and the carrier only "goes along for the ride" to serve

as "demodulation" in the receiver. By eliminating the carrier and transmitting only a sideband,

the available transmitter power is used to GREATER ADVANTAGE! Assuming two identical

transmitters, one used in AM and the other in SSB, the use of SSB can give an effective gain

of 9 dB over AM, equivalent to INCREASING THE TRANSMITTER POWER 8 TIMES!

SSB signals are much narrower than AM signals and will "fit" into places where an AM signal

would get creamed by co-channel interference.

SSB's duty cycle is based on the audio informations peaks, and will typically be around 50%

which means 30 to 60 minute broadcasts are easily achievable with amateur gear. You still

might have to provide cooling to your transmitter but SSB is far less brutal than AM.

The biggest complaint when using SSB for the transmission of music is that it "messes up"

the music. Well, AM signals are the most easiest tuned but a properly tuned SSB signal is

indistinguishable from AM! The key word to that statement is "properly"! Tuning is critical on

SSB, 100 to 200 hertz mis-tuning will give unpleasant results! With time and good tuning

skills a fair strength SSB signal can be tuned in to the proper pitch and will sound

every bit as good as AM! As a pirate, you should remember to try and broadcast something

that most people recognize to serve as a "Tuning Guide". It is up to the listeners to improve

their tuning skills! For practice, try tuning the ham bands or RFPI/HCJB's SSB transmissions.

It takes a while to get used to it, but look folks: SSB is here to stay!

My final pitch for the use of SSB over AM is that most shortwave receivers are MORE

sensitive to SSB signals than AM. Typically 1 to 2 microvolts. Since we are dealing with low

power stuff here, any edge, no matter how slight, should be taken advantage of!

UNCONFIRMED THEORY DEPARTMENT:

Another slight advantage that SSB might have over AM comes from the fact that "Direction

Finding" uses your carrier to peak their directive antennas to aid in locating you. Since SSB

does not use a carrier and is constantly changing in signal strength, DF attempts are much

more difficult! Think about it

- WHERE CAN I GO? -

Hams are assigned groups of frequencies spread throughout the entire electromagnetic

spectrum. These groups of frequencies are known as Bands. These bands are usually referred

to by their wavelength. All amateur equipment covers some if not most of the bands that hams

use. The most popular and easiest band to operate on is the 40 Meter Band. Almost every

amateur transmitter made covers this band. There are others, and figure 2 will show you

just what and where things are. Most pirate activity takes place on the "High End" of 40

Meters because most ham transmitters will operate "Out of Band" to some extent there. Most

ham gear will operate a little ABOVE and BELOW each ham band, this is the important part!

Without modification to your transmitter, you could operate it on 40 Meters at say, 7415 Khz

or 6975 Khz, without having much problem. Some transmitters will not operate very much

farther out of the band without serious degredation to their performance like reduced power

output or the increased possiblity of Television Interferance!

For the more advanced pirate, it is quite possible to modify your transmitters tuned circuits

and get your transmitter to operate in places it was never designed to go. Remember this, A

MODIFIED TRANSMITTER HAS VERY LITTLE RESALE VALUE TO THE LARGEST

PART OF YOUR POTENTIAL MARKET! If you think there is even a slight chance that your

are ever going to sell off your transmitter, you are better off NOT modifying it in any way! If

you are going to keep it forever, dive right in ....

P.R.S.G. PURCHASING TIP #2 - Let your nose be your guide! This may sound odd

but stick your face right down into the

transmitter, POWER OFF!, and take a big whiff!

If it smells "burned" it would probably be wise

to keep looking at other transmitters!

By now you should be getting a handle on transmitters. If anything does not make sense so

far, go back and read the material over. Going to your library and getting books on Amateur

Radio is a good idea. Read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on!

- POWER -

Another consideration to keep in mind when looking to purchase a transmitter is Output

Power. A majority of ham transmitters typically have power outputs in the neighborhood of

100 watts. This is a fair amount of power and should let you get heard quite well if you use a

decent antenna!

Be careful because some ham tranmsitters were specifically manufactured for QRP or "Low

Power" operation and will have around 10 watts out! Older novice type ham transmitters will

have a maximum power output of 75 watts or so. Some transmitters were also made that had

output powers of 500 watts. Just about anything is posible to find so make sure and ask!

I would like to tell you a little bit about the myths of power. For example, say I use 100

watts and I'm heard S7 at Joe DXer's. I can increase or reduce my power 50% without any

noticable difference! Sounds incredible doesn't it? The only time Joe DXer will notice a

difference in my transmitted signal will be by doubling or halfing my power! 200 watts is 3dB

louder than 100 watts BUT most people cannot detect a 3 dB difference in signal strength! This

means for people to even detect a louder signal you would have to go up to 400 watts for a 6

dB increase to actually be noticed! If you use 400 watts now, you would

have to increase your power to a whopping 1600 watts to be louder than 400 watts! If I am

running 100 watts and I'm heard right at the noise level at Jane DXer's, then almost ANY

increase in power will improve my signal. If you are ever going to try "crossing the pond"

with your station, a fair amount of power is typically required. If your transmitter is supposed

to put out 100 watts but you can only get 75 watts out, the only thing that will be noticed

is the slight decrease in your electric bill.

- ANALOG Vs. DIGITAL -

"Should I buy a Tube Type or Solid State Transmitter ?". A discussion into the Pro's and

Con's of each could easily take up an entire section alone. Rather than extole the virtues and

drawbacks that both have, I'll simply touch on a few points and let you make your own

decisions.

Tube type transmitters are perhaps more easily found, can usually be purchased quite cheaply

and are more "forgiving" when handling mistuning. The downside is that they can be drifty,

difficult and expensive to replace bad tubes, are very dangerous because of high voltages used

with tubes, and are generally quite large in physical size and weight. They don't call them

"Boat Anchors" for no reason!

Solid State Transmitters are smaller, some can be simply modified to transmit anywhere in

the shortwave spectrum, are more easily used because most of the tuning is computer assisted.

The downside is, they are much less forgiving to impedance mismatches and can be difficult if

not impossible to repair yourself.

So you can see, both have advantages and disadvantages. It is up to you to decide what you

can or cannot deal with! I will not make any reccomendation other than use what you can get!

ANY transmitter, usually, is better than NO transmitter!

- WHAT's LEFT? -

"What are Transceivers?", I'm glad you asked! A transceiver is a combination of a receiver

and a transmitter in the same box. If you already own a good receiver, you may not want to

spend more money by buying a transceiver. I will tell you this, some transceivers receiver

sections perform better than some general coverage receivers because they are optimized to

operate only in small parts of the bands. It may also be desirable to monitor two frequencies at

the same time. If you don't already own a receiver, a transciever is the way to go. This is for

you to decide what you need, want, or desire.

"Is there anything that should be avoided?", Yes. Do not purchase military surplus

equipment! Unless you have a lot of experience with radio equipment, military surplus stuff

can often turn into more trouble than it's worth. Connectors will be diffiucult and expensive to

find, power requirements are often non-standard and repair parts can be almost non-existent!

Beginners should stick to amateur gear.

P.R.S.G. PURCHASING TIP #3 - Under NO circumstance should you inform the

potential seller of a Transmitter what you are

going to be using it for! Just say something

like you are studying for your ham license

- FINDING A TRANSMITTER -

OK, now that you know enough about transmitters to hopefully make a wise purchasing

decision, where can you find them? If money is not a issue, then there are a plethora of

busnesses that sell New and Used amateur equipment. A good starting place is to pick up a

copy of any amateur magazine and start looking at the adds and calling for catalogs. When it

comes to new equipment, the sky is the limit! On the other hand, if you're like me, money is

an issue and generally I don't have enough of the stuff! There are many ways to find used

gear, start by keeping a look-out in your local newspaper's classified section. Occasionally,

you will find Amateur gear listed there and the advantage is it will be a local call to find out

more information and possibly see the rig in action before purchasing it. Most equipment that

you find listed here will be from Bootleg CBers, and you can expect just about anything.

Another alternative is if you live in a larger city with a Amateur Radio store, they usually will

sell used gear along with new stuff and again you will probably get to see the rig in action

before purchase. Also you might get some kind of token warranty with it, but not always.

Another potential source of equipment are Ham Fests. These electronic swapmeets take place

all over the country and generally during the summer months. This is where you can find just

about anything and prices are generally negotiable. There is also the increased risk of buying

JUNK and, while not common, it does happen that people do get burned, so be careful!

The best way to find out about Ham Fests is to make contact with someone in your local ham

community. If you know of no local hams, drive around till you spot the tell-tale antenna farm

and introduce yourself as a radio enthusiast, potential ham, etc. and ask him or her about ham

fests.

Most Hams attend these functions and it is not difficult to ferret out information about them.

They are open to all and just because you're not a ham will have little impact. So you have

found out when and where the next one is, the most important rule of hamfests is to show up

EARLY! That way you can browse over all the gear that is available and compare prices on

similar equipment. If something is unmarked, don't be afraid to ask how much. If the seller

says "Make me an Offer.", you might not have any idea what to offer. It could be wise to

move on or ask what the "rock bottom" price is. Sellers generally love to talk about their

wares and this is a good way just find out general information on items you have no intentions

of purchasing, remember KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! The more you know, the better off you

are!

Another area to capitilize on is the END of the Hamfest. Some sellers may not relish the idea

of lugging all their stuff home and will be more likely to cut a better deal! Ham fests are also

great sources of general station supplies like connectors, wire, components, etc.

There are also several publications that deal with used amateur equipment. The only down

side is, you really have no idea what you are buying unless you know what the radio is.

Caveat Emptor!

- FINALLY -

Now that you have purchased your dream rig, Read, Read, Read and Re-Read the manual

you got with it! Become familiar with all the controls, connectors and functions of your

transmitter. Did I mention read the manual? This is very important, most manuals not only

will tell you how to hook-up the transmitter but will also tell you how to tune it up! You may

find that the manual will say connect your transmitter to an antenna or to a dummy load. A

dummy load is nothing more than a giant 50 ohm resistor that can dissipate RF Energy. The

advantage to using a dummy load is that you don't transmit anything on the air, so you can

practice tuning up, adjusting your transmitter without really broadcasting. Follow the

directions in your manual and with any luck you will soon be broadcasting your first pirate

show!