Pirate, UBR or Unlicenced Broadcast Radio
The Pirate Radio jingles in MP3 are at the bottom of this page!

Press Release from The Radiocommunications Authority 18 September 2003

The battle against pirate radio stations received a boost today as new powers of arrest under the Communications Act came into force.

The police, working with Radiocommunications Agency investigators, will be able to arrest a pirate broadcaster or anybody suspected of supporting or facilitating illegal broadcasting. Previously police could only detain someone if they suspected them of giving a false name and address or another criminal act, such as a breach of the peace or assault.

The new powers of arrest will also extend to acts of deliberate interference with radio communications and hoax calls, especially false distress calls.

Communications Minister Stephen Timms said:

“These new powers will be an important weapon in the campaign against pirate broadcasters.

“By interfering with communications services which are vital for public safety, pirates can put lives at risk. They also cause interference with other licenced radio users and can be a social nuisance to those who live near pirate stations.”

The number of pirate broadcasters is declining whilst the prosecution rates are rising. Figures for 2002 showed a fall of 15% in the number of illegal stations whilst prosecutions more than doubled to 49, with a further 55 prosecutions so far in 2003. Pirates detained under these new powers could face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.

"The Pirates" Part One

"The Pirates" Part Two
The "moon faced" loony at the beginning of this clip is "Barmy" Barry Maxwell, ex head of the Radio Investigation Service.

This is a genuine quote from the RA website December 2003!

WARNING FROM RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS AGENCY REGARDING DJ COMPETITIONS

The Agency has learnt that a licenced broadcasting station is running a competition to recruit DJ’s from pirate radio stations.

The economic value of the UK radio industry is worth £20 billion at 2000 prices. The Agency is responsible for ensuring that this vital national asset is not threatened by misuse of the radio spectrum. The greatest threat comes from unlicenced broadcasters who operate with total disregard for authorised radio users.

Recruitment of staff from pirate radio stations may require pirate broadcasters to provide information that is effectively evidence of their committing a criminal offence of unlicenced broadcasting. The penalties for that criminal offence are:

• an unlimited fine and/or two years in prison, plus
• anyone convicted of an offence is barred from working on a legal station for 5 years.

The Agency expects that anyone in possession of such evidence will hand it over to them for further investigation. Failing that it can be seized under the Agency's legal powers under section 15 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 and section 79 of the Telecommunications Act 1984.

Success or failure? These are the results of their efforts:-

A bit big & clunky but a wealth of info  http://www.offshoreradio.co.uk

Pirate Radio, Unlicenced Broadcast Radio or UBR as the Radio Investigation Service call it, is also a major interest of several of our members.

We always hear the same old lame excuses when a UBR (or pirate broadcaster) is taken to court, interference with emergency services, when the reality of the matter is that meticulous care is taken when selecting a frequency so better coverage is achieved. This is becoming ever more difficult with the proliferation of legitimate stations.

It is usually easy to find a UBR as the signal is set to over-deviate (that’s loud for you non-technical types!) so you can identify a UBR as you scan the broadcast band. There are dozens of station active at weekends, and even more that appear only on Bank Holidays, to evade the R.I.S. and their tight budget when it comes to overtime.

We think they do no harm, so the more the merrier. Here are a few links to useful suppliers of equipment if you want to have a go!

• Official Radio Caroline site
  Magic FM - Official Magic Fm site
• Midland Pirates Group - Email based board for pirate info and chat
• Rave FM - Official Rave web Page
• Trance FM - Official Trance FM page
• Groove FM - Official Groove FM website
• Unique FM - Official Unique FM web site
• Freedom Radio - The official freedom radio web site
• Pirate Radio UK - The definitive midland pirate radio web site, with interviews, station dj line ups and much more
• Ian Branch's pirate site - Containing all London listings news and pics
• Pirate chat uk - The E-groups site for the pirate scene across the whole of the UK
• Mix fm - Official mix site
• Dimension FM - *NEW* Official Dimension site
• Heaven FM - Official Heaven FM Site

Free Radio Berkley has some info on antennae and other useful stuff.

Ramsey have several kits, apart from a very nice crystal controlled transmitter for repeater bugs, they also sell a decent FM transmitter for $299.00, as well as smaller and cheaper ones. An interesting item is an AM transmitter, and whilst only 100 milli-watts, with a decent aerial it will give fair coverage. A new item is their TV transmitter. Download their catalogue in Adobe .pdf, if you can find the link to it on their site!

Jump straight to their FM Transmitter page!

Pirate Radio Links 

Good source of info!
Micro-Power broadcasting guide
Pirate Radio Network
Max Transmitters.com
Lots of pirate radio links
pirate-radio.co.uk live feed
Canadian manufacturer
Low power broadcaster
How to be a "Radio Pirate"
Lot's of memories and up to date stuff 2

Britain Radio Jingles
Download Radio Caroline Jingles in MP3
Pirate Radio Compilation
I Spy For The DTI Commercial
Veronica Jingles

Laser 558 - DTI Jingles
Various Anti-Pirate Law Jingles
The Moronic Surveyors - I Spy For The DTI