******************** * THE BASIS BEHIND * * RADIO HACKING * ******************** PART I In the future, we hope to bring you more installments of this article as more is learned about this fascinating new hobbie, FREQUING. Future articles hope to include: finding frequencies and codes, satellite design, CB, cellular phones, the Ham bands, radio design, plus much more. Pirate Radio Stations --------------------- Remember piracy? Piracy is when something protected by a copywrite is copied against the wishes of a copywrite holder. Software, books, pieces of art, etc. can be pirated. Radio stations, especially popular music stations, require many records in order to make people listen to them. The more listeners the station seems to have, the more money the station can charge for advertisement. Pirate radio stations get around the huge cost of records by taping them off of other radio stations. Pirate stations are characterized by the mediocre sound of their songs. Of course, it takes alot of money to operate a legally licensed radio station. The FCC has many regulations, such as equal employment, community service, and licensing fees. As a result, many pirate stations are not licensed (non licensed stations are called "midnighters"). It is not to hard to get business for midnighters, especially in large urban areas with lots of small shops. Many midnighters use loops as call in lines, instead of giving their number over the airwaves. Ghost Stations -------------- Many Frequers like to set up their own radio station without commercials, and often "replacing" stations of lesser quality (i.e. classical stations, country stations, easy listening, etc.). Short-lived stations that are more than just frequency jamming and saying four-letter-words into a transmitter are called "ghost stations." Ghost stations offer a chance for one to play any kind of music one wants. Often listeners don't realize the station isn't legal. You want to set up a ghost or midnighter station? All you have to do is build a FM or AM transmitter with lots of power. Information on building these can be found almost anywhere! If you plan on operating for a long time, there are some simple steps to follow: 1. The best place to operate is out of man's best friend, The Car. Just be carefull to CONCEAL the antenna! A benefit of this mode is easy trafic reporting. 2. Don't give any real names, or phone numbers. Especially phone numbers that don't exist. Why? 3. Avoid making your station look like it isn't real. That's why. If someone calls you up, only to find you don't exist, they may smell a rat. 4. Try to monitor FCC bullitens and communiques. If you see anything that may say they're looking for a ghost station in your area, STOP TRANSMITTING!!! 5. Stick to one frequency. See #3 The FCC ------- The Federal Communications Commission has alot more clout than you may think. The airwaves not only carry your frequer's ghost stations and rock music, it also carries top-secret military information, messages to pilots that are life and death, and the entire basis for communication in time of emergency. They monitor the airwaves. But how can they track you down? They often listen in to ghost stations for any kind of information on where the illegal station is transmitting from, and who is doing it. The second way is mechanical. In the old fashioned method, 2 or 3 cars with loop antennas took bearings on where the transmissions are comming from. Also used is an omnidirectional strength meter to make sure they are going towards you and not away. These can track down most frequers stations within 10 feet. At that range, the station's equipment can be seen. (Oh yeah, all the equipment of a station is called 'the machine', and the place that houses it, 'the vault') There are a few other ways of tracking that are more modern, but the system hasn't changed too much from the cars and loop antenna system. Some usefull numbers+addresses: FCC 1919 M St NW 655-4000 Radio+TV programming 632-7048 Cable TV 632-7048 Telephone 632-7553 Interferance (301) 962-2728 Operator Examiner " " " " News Media Division 254-7674 Press Release Recording 632-0002 Mass Media Burea 632-6460 Authorization and Standards (301) 725-1585 Field Operations Bureau 632-6980 (field operations employees are called 'FOPS' which rhymes with cops) FOP Watch Officer 632-6975 Laurel Monitoring Station ('The Laur') (301) 725-3474 Private Radio Bureau 632-6940 Ham+CB+Walkie Talkies 632-4964 Aviation and Marine 632-7175 All numbers are in the 202 NPA unless otherwise stated. Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253