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I work for a local radio station that has a few remote transmitter sites. They widen the broadcast area or put out specific frequencies for that area. Annoyingly, this happens more often than you’d think.
Over the years we’ve had about a handful of transmitters stolen. We’ll get complaints about poor reception or a frequency being off air and we send a tech guy out. And sure enough, the transmitter’s completely gone.
Of course it’s all insured, but it tales a few days to get the new gear and install it. That costs us listenership and potential ad revenue.
Usually the thefts are done by people who run pirate radio stations. Because if you’re doing crimes already, one more doesn’t make a difference. They use the stolen transmitter to set up their own remote site so they don’t get caught. We’ve had gear recovered by the police when they discovered pirate station locations.
The transmitter, sure, I can see that, but a 200 foot tower?
We haven't had OUR towers stolen per se, but we have had people strip wires and lightning strike protection stuff from them when the scrap metal prices soared years ago. Most of our towers are close-ish to populated areas, so I doubt it's worth the risk to hang out for a few hours to dismantle one. I could see someone stealing one of it's remote enough and given enough time.
Where are pirate radio stations still a thing? And that cops deal with?
Here in the Netherlands, pirate radio is definitely still a thing. As long as radio has been around, people have tried to regulate it. And if something's regulated, people are bound to ignore and break those rules.
Our own local station actually has its roots in pirate radio. Back in 1994, a group of local pirates got together and formed a legit, licensed FM radio station. The reason being that those pirates got caught frequently. They figured going legit would be cheaper than constantly paying fines and having equipment seized.
Even in 2024, pirate radio still exists. In 2023, the police and Dutch telecoms agency caught 114 illegal stations. When someone finds an illegal transmitter, police get involved. In some cases, that's also due to safety issues. There have been cases where the pirates put the equipment in trees, surrounded by asbestos as a deterrent to dismantling it. That's actual, legitimate crime that endangers people. When caught, they can get fined up to 45.000 euros.
Now, you might be thinking: why even risk that? Why be a pirate when you can just set up a completely legal online station? Online radio gets you an even wider audience without all the risk. But to the pirates, that risk, the illegal nature, is part of what draws them to it. Most pirates aren't assholes, thankfully, and they frequently run nicer, more modern equipment than the stuff we use. As long as they keep off legit FM frequencies, we don't really have beef with them doing their thing.
I haven't heard about pirate radio in the U.S. in years though. So I don't think that's the case here.
Makes sense. Here in the Netherlands, it's quite densely populated. You only need a very small antenna and not much power to reach other people. I know a guy who's a pirate. He has a telescoping antenna fixed to the back of his house that he can raise up when transmitting. He can reach everyone in his city of about 24.000 people, even with relatively low power. When he's not using it, the antenna isn't visible to anyone.
In the US you'd need a lot more power and a bigger tower to reach people, which means easier detection.
Part of that is how quickly the US will find the stations. The FCC won't let you be.
I briefly worked the telephone support line for a radio scanner manufacturer a few years ago and had an FCC field agent call to confirm a couple of things before they purchased several to scan for pirate radio stations
How in God's name does a person simply steal a 65 m transmitter?? Do they not bolt that thing to the building or to the pavement?
With a big wrench
Cut the cables and the bolts will break.
At least y'all had the sense to be insured.
Even so, it's a pain in the ass involving police reports, there's a deductible, the equipment needs to be special order, etc. etc. Not to mention the week or two of complaints you get. But yeah, insurance is good to have when an FM transmitter can cost anywhere between 3000 and 16000 euros depending on wattage and features. The remote ones are at the cheap end of the scale, but you're still looking at about 4 grand when all other costs are factored in if you didn't have the insurance.