Pirate broadcasters in the area?

[kenglish]

I saw where the FCC is asking for money so they can hire agents to enforce the new Pirate Act.
Has anyone heard a pirate in the Salt Lake area in the last few years?

[David]

It's been at least 10 years ago, but I recall hearing a pirate station on 93.7 in the Ogden area for a brief period of time. I live in NE Ogden, and from what I recall the signal covered nearly all of Ogden from my location to the junction of Harrison Blvd. and Highway 89 in South Ogden. I don't think it was on the air for more than 2-3 weeks IIRC.

[Terry]

For more than a year 95.7 in the east Murray/Cottonwood/Holladay area has been broadcasting Christian music in the Spanish language.
I haven't tried to track down their location. They have a good strong signal in the area as I drive around.
I just checked: At this moment their carrier is on but no modulation.
They actually play pretty good music. But I don't like people flouting the law.

[drpepper]

95.7 is an EMF Translator IIRC. The only Pirate signal i can think of recently was 87.9 which covered parts of Orem and provo

[Terry]

95.7 is back on with music now.
I don't think it is EMF. It's entirely in Spanish. There is no announcer, no voice at all, just Christian music.

[kenglish]

Just ran out for some Greek Spaghetti.
They were coming in loud-and-clear around Fort Union and Murray. Gotta clean up the battery contacts on my Field Strength Meter and go buy ten D-cells 😁.

Noticed Wheeler Farm is locked up. Never saw them using locked gates and crossarms before.

[CAwasinNJ]

The only legal 95.7 even remotely near there is KUTC and that's way down near Ephraim. The EMF translator I think drpepper is thinking of is K237FG on 95.3 which relays KUTR 820.

The idea that the FCC needs to actually ask for money is crazy. For one thing, they should have had the money to do their job all along. For another, if they actually enforced the fines they levy they'd have plenty of money. It sounds great in the press release that the FCC levied a $100,000 fine against Pirate X, but he's almost certainly going to either claim poverty and have the FCC reduce or eliminate the fine or just ignore it completely. The pirates know this. Maybe this time will be different with Pai in charge but I'm not holding my breath. If the FCC would have just a few high profile cases where a pirate had their bank accounts and property seized to pay a big fine that would scare the daylights out of any sane pirate and go a long way to fixing the problem without the FCC having to lift a finger. I've been saying this for 20 years and it's SO OBVIOUS.

[kenglish]

Stopped at Burger King for breakfast and lost them at the drive-thru. So, they may be slightly north-west of there, in Murray.

The FCC should get to keep at least a portion of the fines, but any money they collect goes to the government's general piggy bank. Think what they could do if they had real support from Congress. There's a guy in Florida who has a business empire in the Latin community, with numerous stores, services and real estate. The FCC has been writing him letters for 25 years, and he keeps ignoring them. What if there was a way to make the fines stick, and seize his entire empire (like they do drug dealers)? Instead, they just increase the numbers on the NAL and mail a new one.

[CAwasinNJ]

I agree with everything Ken just said. You're of course correct that the fines go to the general fund, which is crazy just by itself. They probably can't change that without an act of Congress, but there's precedent for an agency keeping their own fines. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does. That could be easily fixed.

At least with PIRATE the FCC can jump straight to the NAL fine stage instead of going through the Notice of Unlicensed Operation warning first. The pirates loved that NUO because that let them move next door and force the FCC to start all over again.

There are also some references to getting on the Dept of Justices' radar, whatever that means. If one were an optimist one could think that means the DOJ might be prosecuting the offenders and actually get some real results.

[kenglish]

KYFO 95.5 (100 KW, Ogden) also has a 7-watt booster on Ensign Peak in SLC. That, being a first-adjacent channel, could be a problem.

[David]

Whatever station is on 95.7 in the Salt Lake area definitely isn't KYFO. The 1490/95.5 simulcast ended in the mid 2000's when the AM station was sold to Morgan Skinner and became KOGN. KYFO's programming consists entirely of English language programming from the Bible Broadcasting Network.

[kenglish]

95.7 seems to get stronger as you approach downtown SLC. They had no audio earlier, but then had a live church service this afternoon.
I was hearing the 95.5 booster splattering on them while they were quiet. Also, the 95.9 KXRK translator from Provo was strong all the way to downtown. First adjacent interference could be an issue on many receivers.

[drpepper]

Was trying to remember why i thought EMF owned it, and i realized it was just from speculation. No one had confirmed it as far as i know.
This thread from 2017
Spanish Christian on weekends 95.7 FM | Talking Utah Radio
where at David mentions he'd seen reference to EMF owning it, but wasn't able to verify it.
heres his post.
"There has been some discussion of this station on the Utah Radio Chat Facebook group as well. One poster has identified it as Radio Nueva Vida (KLOVE in Spanish) owned by EMF Broadcasting. Since I can't verify that information, please take it with a grain of salt. The station has been reported to be broadcasting in mono."
So, long story short, my initial reply was based on something none of us have been able to verify. I unintentionally passed that info on as factual.

[kenglish]

Has anyone tracked down the location of this pirate yet? I had to take a long drive yesterday, and it was still booming in everywhere...good signal at the old KDYL studio. It's solid almost everywhere on the car radio.
BTW, the antennas and the KCPX van are still there.