Allen H. Weiner (born June 12, 1953, Yonkers, New York) is a long-time pirate radio operator and activist. Events 1381 - Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Yonkers is the fourth largest city in the US State of New York (behind Rochester, Buffalo, and New York City) and the largest city in The term pirate radio usually refers to illegal or unregulated radio transmissions Weiner is currently the owner/operator of WBCQ, a licensed shortwave station broadcasting from Monticello, Maine, and also owns AM radio station WCXH (formerly WREM) in Monticello. Shortwave Radio operates between the frequencies of 3000 KHz (3 Monticello is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States on the northern branch of the Meduxnekeag River. Channel X Radio is a network of American radio stations in Aroostook County Maine.
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The Falling Star Radio Network
Becoming fascinated with radio at an early age, Wiener began building radio transmitters as a teenager. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. Weiner was operating an unlicensed station that he called WKOV, when he was contacted by a fellow teenaged radio pirate, Joseph Paul Ferraro. Ferraro's station shared time with Weiner's, with the two stations alternating back and forth on the channel. The stations were renamed "WFSR", for the Falling Star Radio Network. Later, two FM stations were added to the network: Weiner's WXMN and Ferraro's WSEX. The network was renamed the American Radio Broadcasting System, and was the subject of an article in Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published After the network was raided by the FCC twice in 1971 , Weiner and Ferraro penned a letter of protest to the FCC, stating in part:
- . . . we went about a year ago . . . to apply for a license. Our attempt proved quite humorous to your employees, who sent us away with word of "Forget it. " Further investigations showed us why our attempt was then so comical. Licenses were so expensive and hard to get that even small stations were being sold for millions. Broadcasting was reserved for power men.
- . . . We are not disputing, however, your right to assign channels and set aside bands for the prevention of interference. We certainly, however, are disputing your right to reserve broadcasting for the well-to-do only.
Ships Ahoy
Weiner and Ferraro continued throughout the 1970s and 80s with various unlicensed stations. Some projects were operated separately from one another, but others saw the duo collaborating as they did on Radio Newyork International, which operated from a ship, the M/V Sarah in international waters off the Long Island coast. Radio Newyork International was the name of a Pirate radio station which broadcast from a ship anchored in international waters off Jones Beach, New Long Island is an island located in southeastern New York, USA, its western shores directly across from Manhattan, from which the island stretches Again raided by the FCC, Weiner and Ferraro began purchasing airtime occasionally on licensed shortwave station WWCR. WWCR is a Shortwave Radio station located in Nashville Tennessee in the United States.
Another attempted shortwave station operated from a ship at sea, this time from aboard the M/V Fury and operated from off the South Carolina coast, was raided before the ship had left the harbor when the FCC claimed to have monitored test transmissions coming from the ship. South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. The South Carolina operations were to be funded partially by controversial fundamentalist preacher Brother Stair, whose broadcasts would also be carried from the ship. Fundamentalist Christianity, also known as Christian Fundamentalism or Fundamentalist Evangelicalism, is a movement that arose mainly within British and Ralph Gordon "Brother" Stair is a radio Preacher otherwise referred to as a self-proclaimed "Last-Day Prophet of God The ties to Stair, whose views stood in sharp contrast to Weiner's, led to accusations that Weiner had "sold out" his long held beliefs in pacifism and agnosticism. "Sold Out" redirects here For other uses see Sold Out (disambiguation or Selling Out (disambiguation. Agnosticism ( Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the Stair frequently clashed with Weiner and especially Weiner's engineer Scott Becker during the abortive project.
License granted
After the M/V Fury fiasco, Ferraro purchased a small licensed AM station, WHVW in Hyde Park, New York. Amplitude modulation ( AM) is a technique used in electronic communication most commonly for transmitting information via a Radio Carrier wave WHVW (950 AM) is a Radio station licensed to Hyde Park New York that is noted for its eclectic format based on old-fashioned blues jazz country and Americana See also New Hyde Park for the village on Long Island there is also a hamlet named Hyde Park in Otsego County, near Cooperstown
In 1998 , after a decade of lobbying and another threatened off shore broadcasting effort, Weiner was granted a license for shortwave station WBCQ and AM station WREM in Monticello, Maine. Monticello is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States on the northern branch of the Meduxnekeag River.
Programming on WBCQ is an eclectic mix of music, plus brokered religious and political programming. Some former radio pirates produce shows on WBCQ as well. WREM is now known as WCXH, with programming hours being leased to the operators of Caribou-based music radio network Channel X Radio. Channel X Radio is a network of American radio stations in Aroostook County Maine. Before this WREM rebroadcasted the talk programming of Presque Isle's WEGP. Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in the sparsely populated Aroostook County, Maine, United States. WEGP (1390 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format
Having received a license after years of battling the FCC has brought more criticism from pirate radio enthusiasts. Also criticized has been Weiner's decision to sell airtime on WBCQ to extremist right wingers such as Hal Turner and Brother Stair. Extremism is a term used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political center of a society or otherwise claimed to violate In Politics, right-wing, the political right, and the Right are positions that uphold traditional values and/or authorities Harold "Hal" Turner is an American white nationalist and White supremacist from North Bergen New Jersey.
WBCQ's operations on the frequency of 7415 kHz are another sore spot with radio pirates, as that channel had previously been the most popular frequency for shortwave pirates to use in the 1990s.
In January 1997 , Weiner published his autobiography, Access to the Airwaves: My Fight For Free Radio which was published by Loompanics Unlimited. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" Loompanics Unlimited was an American book seller and Publisher specializing in nonfiction on generally unconventional or controversial topics with a philosophy arguably tending
External links
- Article on Weiner's early broadcasting Includes the complete text of his 1971 letter to the FCC.
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