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jta · October 26th 13, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BakersT

In article , "Radio Pro"
wrote:

{sniip}[i]
think the owner intended to make it a US based station....(IE: broadcast for
a US audience which is not legal for US SW stations)
Chris
Former ABC Radio Networks Engineer

Huh?? Tuning across the shortwave bands in the evening with a cheap
pocket radio, almost all I hear are obviously American bible thumpers
telling you how to live your life and begging you to send money to a
U.S. address. Many at least claim to be broadcasting from a "studio"
somewhere in the U.S., and many have call-in telephone numbers that also
appear to be in the U.S.

So is the mere assertion that their intended audience is "international"
sufficient to make this legal, or are their transmitters in fact
offshore somewhere? Inquiring minds want to know...

You can thank Joe Costello for that. He put WRNO on the air in New Orleans with an alleged "target area" of Europe - beamed right up the Atlantic coast. More recently Al Weiner did the reverse with WBCQ - built it in Maine beaming to Latin America. In both cases they had excellent coverage of the large population centers of the USA.

"Legally" they cannot target a domestic audiance, but it certainly doesn't stop them from doing exactly that.

The bible-thumpers you mention above are mostly time-brokered; if you want to get on the air you record a program, buy an hour on their transmitter, and they'll put you on no questions asked.