Flipside #3  July 1995
     Once again I must start out by reminding everyone that there is a lot of
work that goes on behind the scenes in order that we each receive our ACE every
month.  For a long time, Rob Keeney has been the publisher of our newsletter. 
Other obligations have finally caused Rob to pass on the sometimes thankless
job to others.  Thanks Rob for all of the efforts in the past.  I hope you have
time now to get a few stations logged for a change.
     Far from meaningless complaints or empty rhetoric, the June comments that
not all sideband signals exhibit drift and not all AM signals produce low audio
are, in this authors humble opinion, right on the mark.  Let's hope that such
statements are remembered by all the next time someone wants to try to dictate
what is or is not an acceptable way to participate in the hobby.
     I would also like to address the long time ACE member who believes that
because I responded to someone elses definition of the heros of pirate radio,
my "obviously inflated ego" should find other outlets.  Sorry you do not
approve of the presentation of alternative views regarding subjects which have
had a single view expressed ad nauseam, month after month, in the pages of the
ACE.  Every person who is involved in any way with providing a free radio
broadcast to the listeners is a hero in my book.  I have no intention of
attacking anyone for doing what they believe to be is their own personal
version of what free radio means to them.  If you want to be a DX'er or a
listener, an operator or a studio pirate, it appears to me that the choice is
yours alone to make.  I will however, continue to present a rebuttal to
statements made by others who believe they have some inherent right or gift to
define the hobby as they see fit.  If such future statements appear to be
"holier then thou", I suggest turning the page.
     On to hopefully, more useful material.  Chris Smolinksi has created a
Pirate Radio home page on the internet.  For you WEB browsers, this is a
fantastic link to a lot of useful information.  The address is: 
http:/www.access.digex.net/~cps/pirate.html.  Chris includes links to the
growing number of shortwave pages and has also produced a numbers station home
page.  An ACE page was recently added as was online access to Kirk Trummel's
Black Book.  Another new development on the internet is that SRSNews now has a
listserv address.  Send mail to: listserv@warp.slink.se and include in the
first line of your email SUBSCRIBE srsnews.  This handy insight into the Euro-
pirate scene is sent every Tuesday and contains a host of useful information.
     Although some have claimed to "know what I am doing", dangerous practices
continue to show up on the internet.  The records so far retrieved from the
government regarding an FCC visit earlier this year reveal without question
that the FCC used information from a posting in alt.radio.pirate in their
attempt to shut down a free radio station.  The affidavit used to support the
search warrant indicates that the FCC has located unlicensed transmissions to
within a 15 mile radius.  If a station has been monitored by the FCC, the
software fix from the monitoring station provides a general area within the 15
mile radius where the transmission originates.  The affidavit next explains
that using this 15 mile radius and the announced ID of the station, information 
was obtained from the alt.radio.pirate newsgroup that announced a specific
station broadcast would be airing at a certain time and frequency.  The FCC
then dispatched direction finding equipment to a site within the 15 mile radius
and waited for a signal on the announced day.
     There is a lesson that can hopefully be learned.  Announcements listing
future broadcasts should never include a station identification or any other
distinguishing characteristic.  Even an anon server address, used repeatedly,
will enable the FCC to associate that anon address with a certain station. 
Unless the station is using a different transmitting site, the FCC will
undoubtedly have narrowed the search to within a 15 mile radius and they will
know when the next broadcast is scheduled.
     Until next month, stay safe and have fun!