The Chicago Tunnel Company on Pirate Radio

It was, by definition, a premeditated crime. We knew it was illegal to build and operate a radio station without submitting to government control. All we wanted to do was make good radio on a budget, but there was no way we could do it without breaking the law.

Our gang of otherwise upstanding citizens (credits to our community, blah blah blah...) banded together with a single ultimate goal: To bring the public airwaves back to the people. In the process, we also hoped to play an eclectic musical blend and present political views that aren't heard in the mass media. Our programming was peppered with technical tests and rambling dissertations by guest announcers, but on the whole we were entertaining and informative and unique. The real crime is that we fell between the cracks of the crumbling and out-dated regulations of an unconstitutional bureaucracy.

The simple reason that we couldn't play by the rules is that we lacked the money it takes to run a radio station by government standards. It really doesn't require racks of equipment and a giant antenna to make radio. We did it for a few hundred dollars. We made radio the only way we could, because our ideas didn't fit into any conventional format: we weren't amateur (or HAM) operators, we certainly weren't commercial, and there was no place on the dial where people were allowed to experiment in the spirit of the radio pioneers. Free Form Radio, except at a few college stations, doesn't officially exist. .

Left with no alternatives, we build our transmitter, wired up the stereo and the microphones, and joined what we prefer to call The Free Radio Community. Some call us Pirates.

There are many of us and we mean you no harm. Most of us are conscientious broadcasters who try not to blot out existing stations. By unspoken rule we stick to a few empty frequencies, primarily on the shortwave band. We use shortwave radio because you can send a signal a long way with very little power. We used fewer than 100 watts and covered most of the continent.

Our station may not have been legal in the eyes of the FCC, but it was not the work of pranksters. Our goal was to provide a service to listeners who weren't lucky enough to live near a college with a decent radio station. Many rural listeners crave something other than talk, country, and rubber- stamp rock stations. If you live too far from a major market, you may have virtual\}'Ÿ8†eÀ8ù for the serious scanner hobbyist. $19.95 delivered.

RF Consulting

935 Sequoia

Corvallis, OR 97330

(503) 740-8132

ck the valves before buying, they're rather costly.

SETTING UP YOUR AERIAL (AM)

Security precautions and preparation are the same as for FM. But there the similarity ends. For a start your total aerial length is 1/4 your wavelength, so if your wavelength was 200 meters, for instance, your aerial would be 50 meters long! You use a ordinary thin single strand wire. Buy a roll, keep it on the roll and measure it out, meter by meter. Ideally the aerial would point straight up, but that's just not feasible, unless you hang it out from the side of a tower block or a steeple, or suspend it from a balloon (only the balloon blows away). The normal method is the 'dogleg' which works just fine. The ideal site is a field, or deserted common land, far away from houses, with two tall trees (only 2 if possible, poplars are best) about 30 to 40 meters apart. Now string the 'dogleg' between the trees and down to your TX without touching branches or leaves. Sounds impossible? If you have a trained monkey that's just fine. Otherwise try our method. Practice and patience is necessary.

Bring along with you a catapult, a long reel of 70 lb. strength fishing line, a plenty of lead fishing weights (not too heavy for the catapult). Also some small plastic rings (cut out lids of plastic containers work fine).

Tie one end of the fishing line to a lead weight, leaving the line coiled neatly and loosely on a piece of bare ground. Then fore the lead weight from the catapult right over the center of a tree! Go and search for it (don't try this at night). Tie on your plastic ring in place of the weight and pass about 30 meter of your aerial wire through the ring. Now get your mate to pull the other end of the fishing line, if it doesn't get tangled pull it till the ring is about 5 meters from the tree top. Tie the fishing line securely (to the tree), cut it, and head for the second tree. Repeat the performance, firing right over the tree from the far side. Pull the aerial end through, and this time tie it to the ring. Pull up as before to about 5 m from the top and tie the line. Now back to the roll of aerial wire (extended with fishing line as necessary) and start pulling it in till it's suspended without touching the trees! It's hard to get it just right so the aerial reaches your TX and is tight, adjust fishing line lengths and/or position of TX. Better choose two trees too far apart than too close. When you finally get it all set it's hardly worth taking it down again after the broadcast, though you should loosen it off or it'll snap in the wind. Disguise it if possible. A further problem can be with kids and passers @mcs.com> here