While reading a 1998 issue of Maximum RocknRoll, it occurred to me I have rarely written anything on the subject of Pirate Radio, despite my interest in the topic?  Part of the problem up until then had been a lack of any in my listening area.  At the time I wrote my first pirate-oriented article for my MarkTime zine and for APA Centauri, there were only the 90.5 stations in  Harwood Heights and LaGrange, and those are seldom heard outside their actual suburbs.
 
    Anyhoo, I'm interested in radio, with a minor in the community-service aspects (or LACK thereof) of the typical radio station here in the multi-ownership and satellite-fed tail end of the 1990s.  So, I look at pirates as being unique on two levels...generally, the "Let's put on a radio show!" aspect, with the added "edge" of it being illegal to broadcast at more than one-tenth of a watt on either the AM or FM bands, and in recent years the community-service, "micro-broadcasting" of news, information and music not available elsewhere on one's local dial.  Either way, I tend to support such pirates, so long as their signals do not interfere with any other radio operation, and I give extra points for their broadcasting anything I can't hear somewhere else on the dial...in many northern cities with a large Spanish-speaking population, or in way too many cities large or small supposedly "served" by a licensed station but have no news or local events broadcast outside of weekday mornings if at all anymore, there can be many programming holes to fill.

    While I have deliberately sought out pirates in my dial-spinning, their typically small coverage area and erratic schedules mean I usually only stumble upon them by accident, even when I know where they are and roughly when they're on.  Also, once I find them, they can rarely be heard on  two attempts in a row!  I will try to share stories of those I know or knew about, though I may try to leave out a few specifics when I know them (such as exact addresses), for you never know when some "rat" is lurking out there, ready to use the FCC's address or phone number (see the "WFAT" story) or if someone else will publish parts of my article in a forum the FCC snoops around in?
 

"WZZZ" and/or "WGNS-FM"

My own feeble attempts, sporatically from 1975-80, using legal transmitter kits...albeit modified (and thus illegal).  I have a tape snippet of both around ("WGNS" is in MarkTime AudioZine #24 even).  I normally used 1620, 87.9 and/or 91.9, with such wacky programming as reading from books or from the zines Tape News or Chicago Media Mag, interrupted only by the occasional TV or movie theme.

"KRKD"

A professional-style operation on 103.3 in Oakland CA.  Heard them easily, in nice stereo, when I lived in Oakland, and it got all the way to San Francisco on 41 watts.  "KRKD" was run by a combination radio engineer and jazz fan.  He was on infrequently, and sounded so much like a "legal" jazz station, they have apparently had little or no FCC trouble.  Apparently still on, as I saw a mention in the hobby/trade publication FM edia a couple years ago.  Recorded as much as I could...see my aircheck tape list!

"Kiwi Radio"

Have only ever heard this New Zealand shortwave pirate via tape, but he and I corresponded for a time in the mid-80s, and I produced some recorded programs they could take with them to play on their field transmitter.  I lost track of Kiwi when they ran into some government trouble around 1988, however they are back in action, or at least they were in 1998.  Should still have some of the programs I taped, and perhaps one or two New Zealand-produced broadcasts?

"(Name Forgotten)"

A DXer acquaintence in Marin County had a shortwave pirate going for a time in the mid-1980s.  Only got to hear a couple times, and then not very well even from the next county to the south...would be interested in reports from folks who received this!  I was supposed to do something like with "Kiwi", producing pre-recorded programs at home to air on it, but the station got get busted first.  Heard something about a revival of his station a few years ago, but the most recent mailing address (still in Marin county) I had for him was no longer good.  Never did record any, darn.

"WNRC"

On-site "station" at the National Radio Club convention in Milwaukee, Labor Day weekend of 1988.  May have also been at other NRC conventions, but this is the only time it was on when I was at the hotel long enough to hear and record it.  Fairly professional, including a couple custom jingles, put on by several club members in "the biz", at least one of them with one of those "Hey, listen to my fake-ballsy voice" which either you love or ice-pick your own ear-drums.  The other problem was a bad choice of frequencies...89.1 had trouble next to local WYMS on 88.9.  Only just recently unearthed the tape I made, should you wanna hear them badly enough.

"(107.3)"

Heard this a number of times in the early-to-mid 90s on the south side of Milwaukee, playing nothing but non-stop rock with no announcements.  I first picked this up on the Summerfest grounds and as far west as S. 27th St. a couple times in the early 90s.  I had deliberately tuned in 107.3 as I was curious if I could hear WSJY out of Fort Atkinson, and to find out if they were still ez listening.  My first thought was, eek! what a switch, except then I realized the signal was too steady (but the audio too muddy) for the fringy WSJY, and there were never any interruptions to the rock.  An Eastside record store had a playlist up for a "WTPS 107.3" around 1995, but did not hear on that visit, or since.

"WNRR" (aka "Winner")

A DXer in the southern half of Milwaukee County, WI has put on a number of ultra-low powered stations over the years.  The only one I heard over the air, and of the tapes heard the one I liked best was the early-80s "Winner", a tightly-formatted mix of hits and gold.  He was on 98.6 MHz "with a whopping 1 watt", with "Winner" and "WNRR" jingles scattered about.  Brief samples available on tape.

"Power 87.9"

Checking DX conditions on the car radio one commute home in the early 90s, was hearing bits of music and chatter between WITI audio (87.75) and WNTH.  Was not even thinking pirate (had given up hope of hearing one in metro Chicago by then), so silly me did not investigate further.  A few weeks later, a couple teenagers in Brookfield got busted by the FCC, and then one of them got on the Steve & Garry show on WLUP with some of their tapes.  Should still have a tape of the nice interview with Dahl around here somewhere....

"90.5"

A tape-trader of mine was not sure what they wanted one time early in 1996, so just asked for "anything in the non-commercial band you haven't sent in awhile."  I spun the dial in search of unusual signals on the left end and hit something strong on 90.5.  This frequency is usually a battleground between several stations too weak to ever dominate, but this sounded nothing like the urban or Mexican from (at the time) WCYC, the rock from WMTH or the jazz or classical from what was then WNIJ.  And, this was a strong steady signal, carrying a bunch of 70s hits, but no ID or announcement of any kind.  Would hear one or more days each weekend during the winter and spring, and I eventually tracked it down to an apartment building in Harwood Heights, only about 1.5 miles from where I was then living.  (Don't want to get any more specific, for there's always some rat out there...see "WFAT" below).  The perpetrator apparently bought a microphone (though a cheap one) during the spring, as he actually spoke a couple times, including a sort-of-sign/off one evening, calling it simply "90.5".  I moved out of range in October of '96, and have heard him on just once (6/20/98) on my rare visits to the area since.  Lots of tapes made, of course.

"Kettle Falls Community Radio/KFCR"

I stayed overnight near Kettle Falls, WA town one night in September 1997.  My normal spin of the dials caught the two stations in Colville WA, 10 miles east, and a big band/standards station on 102.5 I could not identify from my reference books.  First thought it was an unlisted translator for some NPR or even CBC station, especially when they went into BBC news (having not IDd in any way?).  After the news, however, a guy came on to promote a live noon-time talk show at a local restaurant, and called the station "KFCR" and "Kettle Falls Community Radio".  A reference to microbroadcasting was made at some point, too.  Being as close as I was to the "Aryan Nation" area, had to be pleased the pirate was not one of those?  Got "KFCR" all the way east to Colville, never strong but quite steady signal.

"91-X/WKTX"

Have almost always heard pirates by accident.  In this case, one Saturday in March 1998, I was taking the train from Lisle to Cicero, to to record an elusive ID from WRTE.  I tuned in 90.5 early to check if they had ever improved their coverage to the west.  By Western Springs, I began to pick up a signal.  Just before we got to downtown LaGrange, it was clear I was not getting WRTE yet...this one had alt.rock with slickly-produced "91-X" promos between records.  I decided "Radio Arte" could wait (again) and jumped off the train, lunching at the LaGrange Road  Wendy's where I normally tape WLTL or WHSD.  Wondered if this was related to the old "Power 87.9" (above), except their signal barely lasted to the west edge of Brookfield, and their reply to "91-X" e-mail said they were unaware of any other area pirates.  Of course, I misplaced the tape not long after, and it took me 4 months to get back there on an afternoon when both they were on and I had time to stop.  Have occasionally heard since, on several Friday nights and a couple Saturday afternoons, with either still the alt.rock and frequent promos, even once with a live DJ for a few breaks, or with non-stop, no-promos urban-dance.

"Radio Free Vermont"

Bob Nelson first caught on to these guys on one of his fall '98 visits to the Rutland area of Vermont.  When Susan and I went to Vermont the following spring, I made a point to stay in Rutland.  These guys are on 96.5, covering the city but little more with decent stereo audio and excellent (standards, big band, swing) programming.  Their web-site (will add a link soon) is right-wing-wacko flaky, but fortunately it does not carry over to the broadcasts.  4+ hours of tape available for trade!

"WZCM" (aka "Z-Com Radio")

Hmm, has this anything to do with the Chicago-area "Zecom Communications" web-site?  Can't tell, as the site is now too busy with moving icons and oddball links to find anything.  A part-time tape trader mentioned these guys, so first chance I got (late July, 1999) I drove up to Hoffman Estates, tuned in 101.5, and tracked them down in a fairly prosperous looking, 70s-era subdivision.  Nice mix of 60s to 80s album rock, with (so far) a minimum of burnouts, and a professional (but not overbearingly so) presentation.  Their signal does not carry well...my first time out there, WNSN out of South Bend, Indiana was still eating them less than a mile away, and by the time I found a good spot to record them, I did not have enough time to run a full side.  Have been up that way twice since, once with another radio-fan pal, so of course that day they weren't broadcasting though the transmitter was on?!

"KDOR"

The perpetrator of "830 K-Door", a Los Angeles-area handicapped man hoping to start a small licensed non-commercial FM but could never get approval, was a bit of a local celebrity for awhile in the late 1970s.  Got to meet him and his 1kw AM transmitter on an area visit in March of 1986, long after he had given up.  If I still have the tape, the audio quality is only so-so, recorded in LaHabra, on the far southern fringe of its signal area.

"WFAT"

Either the biggest of a rash of late-70s Brooklyn pirates, most of them on 1620kHz if I remember right, or just the one my contact in the area could record at home.  Put on by couple radio nuts who worshipped "77~WABC" in its heyday, playing bits of old airchecks, records WABC played during the 1960s, and too many jingles from "77" and other US top 40s.  My main source for WFAT tapes would soon turn "rat" and fink on them to the FCC just because of certain language used on the air, the friggin' dickweed.

"WHOT"

The "WFAT" Brooklyn radio nuts return, sometime in the early 1980s.  "WHOT" was also a goofy station heavy on chatter, and my source for the couple tapes had to travel some distance and time it just right to get them.

"Radio Newyork International"

The "WFAT/WHOT" folks were hired on to help get "R.N.I." going sometime later in the 80s, gaining much press and TV attention on a ship in international waters, until they parted company with management over the usual radio-business crap.

"WLHA"

I was checking out Tim Noonan's radio web-site sometime in mid-1998, and noticed he had a link to Madison's still-not-on WSUM (licensed to broadcast on 91.7, strange choice with proximity to UW-Whitewater's WSUW?!).  On their site was an article on WSUM's unlicensed ancestors, including one I heard via tape, "WLHA".  Am trying to track down the one tape I got of them, from about 1986, when they were on 91.5.  There were some factual discrepancies in the article.  For instance, "WLHA" used too much power to be legal, it was supposed to be on during most of the 1980s and up to 1993 though I never caught them on my frequent visits to Madison since spring 1988, and "WLHA"'s own predecessors, "WMHA" and "WSRM", from the way the article was written would both have been legal, "carrier-current" AMs, sending their signals through the dorm building electrical wiring.

"(???)"

Somewhere around here I have a tape a contact in Fort Wayne, IN sent me in 1989.  Some teenager set up the transmitter simply to play music for a nearby backyard party, but it was strong enough to be picked up by a DXer elsewhere in town.  Late in the tape, the operater gets into some crude language, and you then hear his mother tell him to knock it off or she'll knock off the station!

"(104.7/87.9)"

Another all-music, no-yap jukebox of a station, this blaring metal-rock from somewhere in the Ontario, CA area?  My friend out there ran into them first on 104.7 in early 1997, but later found either them or someone similar on 87.9.  He found the heavy metal back on 104.7 last year.

"(104.7)"

A Los Angeles-area radio web-site had listed a 104.7 in Silver Lake amongst the "non-commercial stations", but that would be too far west to be the same as the one above.  As it turned out, there was indeed a community-oriented pirate audible in the Hollywood area, which a friend was able to record just prior to it being shut down in the fall of '98.

"Radio Free Detroit"

A Canadian contact sent some tapes of this, recorded in 1992.  Was on 106.3 with a mix of ethnic, folk and political music and comments.  I think he said he recorded the tapes in Windsor, so it got out well.  Not sure if "Radio Free Detroit" is still on...a DXer passing through Detroit early in 1999 did not hear them near downtown.

"KAW"

Pirate in Lawrence, KS, named after a local river.  Was I think on 88.9?  Sounded much like a typical student-run college station, a bit odd as KJHK at Kansas U. fits that bill just fine.  A former contact in the area sent me two tapes in the winter of 1998, before they were apparently warned off by the FCC.  Was not back on when I passed through in August, 1999.

"WYIF"

Bob Raccoon Times Nelson sent me a side of them, from the 1998 "Anthrocon" furry-fandom (fans of anthropomorphic comics and cartoons...animals with human-like look and actions) convention, in Albany NY.  They were on 88.7 with non-stop techno-dance music interrupted only for one "WYIF" voice mention.  Bob heard nothing like it at this year's con (in King of Prussia, PA).

"WGCD"

Oldies-oriented pirate, running on 1160 in Bridgeport CT, 1992.  A friend in the area just sent me a tape of them, pretty professional-sounding in both presentation and in audio quality, but did not seem to stand out from any "legitimate" station in the area (too similar to WICC) enough?

"Energy 92.9"

Also recorded and sent by above pal.  Broadcast dance hits from in or near Shelton, CT.  Again, a good station, but to me not enough different from any existing, licensed station?

    Decatur and Springfield are two downstate Illinois cities with large black populations but no stations even pretending to serve them...well, none except a couple pirates.  I believe the Decatur one was/is on 99.7, while the latter has been on 107.1 for years, between busts, but so far this reporter has heard neither one.

    Bob Nelson mentions former pirates he heard in the Boston area:

"I remember getting a station here on (the) North Shore called 'WSEX', at 96.5, sometime in the mid-80s.  They had album rock and some dance music, and one of the DJs was calling himself 'Mikey D.' (I wondered if it was the same Mikey D. who was music director at WMBR/MIT, or was it WMFO/Tufts?).  They were basically on late night on weekends.  Around that time, I also heard something called 'WHDL', at 102.1.  They had album rock, and gave a phone number; I looked up the exchange in the phone book and found it was in Brockton.  Shortly afterward, I read in a Boston paper that the FCC had shut them down, and told them there would be a $10,000 fine if they went back on.  The article said that the station had usually functioned at about 10 watts, but they boosted it up to 80 watts (that's probably why I could suddenly pick them up around Salem).  Someone called the FCC and asked if they were a legitimate station.  Bingo.  Picture the movie Pump Up the Volume with all those FCC signal detection trucks moving in on a quiet suburban neighborhood.  Anyway, the article said that the station's calls had stood for either 'We Had Hotdogs for Lunch' or 'We Hate Dumb Listeners'."

"There have been other pirates up my way, like 'WDOA' in Worcester and 'EB-101', 101.3 in East Boston.  Recently, Radio Free Allston, in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, was shut down by the FCC.  They'd had a few watts pumping out at 106.1, broadcasting community affairs and some music from an ice cream shop.  While [they] were on the same freq as WCOD in Hyannis, the complaint actually came from adjacent stations WROR (105.7) and WMJX (106.7).  Personally, I never got to hear 'WDOA', 'EB-101', or Radio Free Allston, mostly because I don't live in Worcester or Boston."

    Would also like to hear, preferably in person but tape will do, the currently most famous pirate, "Radio Free Berkeley", on 104.1 I believe, on the air pending what the courts decided on the micro-broadcasting issue.  Have been reading about many other pirates in the Bay Area, also in the Minneapolis, Cleveland, New Haven, Portland (both), central Florida and of course Brooklyn areas.  Tapes of any of the above, or pretty much any US or Canadian pirates, are welcome here!

    Should also note that brief samples of "91X", "KFCR" and "KRKD" show up on MarkTime AudioZine #20, and "WGNS" on MarkTime AudioZine #24.  Both are available from the usual place for $2 cash/stamps/trade.
 

    Certain aspects of radio still fascinate me, such as the pirate activities noted above, plus school and other "non-commercial" stations, the rare live & local small towners, and some history (for the latter, see my Chicagoland radio history, a major revision of an article I'd written back in the fall of 1996...is organized by call-signs, old and new, so may read a bit "dry" like a list, but will perhaps be of interest to radio fans or Chicago people?).

    What the broadcast industry has not ruined, too many of the radio hobbyists have.  Scary to think that, for a time, I was one of the hobby "insiders", until I caught on to too many of their double-standards and other inconsistencies.  For one thing, it is considered bad manners to offer any form of personal opinion contrary to what everyone else thinks to be Sacred Truth.  If you do not like something about someone, you are required to tell as many radio geeks as you possibly can...except never in front of the one person who can either do the changing or could just explain themselves.  This means that back-stabbing is a good thing...lying to the person by saying something different, or by ignoring their questions, is a virtue.  I must be an odd-ball because I can not respect, let alone trust, people who talk behind backs?  I could go on, but radio geek-dumb is no longer worth the trouble to understand.

"Aside from censorship considerations, why else would someone want to avoid getting an FCC license?"

Radio station licenses are extremely difficult to obtain.  As things stand now [speaking as if the FM "low-power" authorizations the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was considering will be a long time coming, if ever - MarkTime], the FCC only occasionally opens up a new station allocation, and then you are stuck applying for a specific frequency in an assigned city or town in who-knows-what state.  The application process can take years, especially when the rare choice opening comes up near a city large enough to theoretically support a new station, thus attracting two or more applicants.  The only way to legally start broadcasting quicker is to buy an existing station. If you are lucky, or do not mind broadcasting in a place away from any large or prosperous community, the station you want is not already owned or being wooed by one of the major chain companies...I will get into that in my answer to question #2.  Now, besides the resultant unavailability of licenses, there no doubt are more than a few "pirates" who just plain don't want to bother with them. It can be for the point you bring up (the FCC is not mandated to censor broadcasters, but that does not always stop them, especially in matters of "community standards", a can of worms I am not equiped to open), or because of a dread of government bureaucracy, finances too low to either meet minimum technical standards or to have a payroll large enough to keep the station on a minimum number of hours a week, or just for the pure joy of doing something that is against federal law.

"What was it about the Radio Communications Act of 1996 that reduced diversity?"

The primary change with the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was to allow a person or company to own many more stations than they could in the past. From the early 1940s until the late 1980s or so, "7 and 7" was the rule...one could own no more than 7 AM and 7 FM stations in the entire country, and only one of each in any metropolitan area.  I am not up on the specific language of the current rules, and I guess neither is the FCC...there was supposed to be limits on how much of any given market could be controlled by any given company, either by a set number of atations, or a precentage in each market, or?  However, there are situations like in Cincinnati, where one company owns or leases more than half the major players.  Thus, fewer station owners, which is one way to reduce diversity of station ownership and programming.  Also, while the FCC has not been obvious in backing off from encouraging minority station ownership, fewer available stations and the resultant increased prices of the stations which are left is not helping matters.  And, while I have no solid numbers at hand, the total number of radio stations owned by minorities has declined, as part of the general decline in the number of persona and companies that own stations.  Isn't the FCC working on a plan for allowing low-power broadcasting, or is that just some rumor?  I agree that setting aside one or more frequencies for small-time stations is a good idea, but I see a bureaucratic nightmare to regulate it...if the frequencies are to be on one of the existing broadcast bands, larger cities with already-overcrowded dials will not have room.  The AM band is more available, but there are still limits to open frequencies, plus it's somewhat more difficult and expensive to set up a technically proficient AM station.  If the frequencies are to be outside the existing 540-1700kHz and 88-108MHz ranges, where are they to go and who will be equipped to tune in?  Will the FCC assign a specific frequency and/or time-schedule to each wannabe, requiring a license application process?  Or will they have non-specific license with a "Go play, but play nice" suggestion, not unlike in the early days of Citizen's Band...until that band got so overcrowded with the CB Craze of 1975-76 the FCC gave up even pretending to watch over it?

"Isn't the FCC working on a plan for allowing low-power broadcasting, or is that just some rumor?"

I agree that setting aside one or more frequencies for small-time stations is a good idea, but I see a bureaucratic nightmare to regulate it...if the frequencies are to be on one of the existing broadcast bands, larger cities with already-overcrowded dials will not have room.  The AM band is more available, but there are still limits to open frequencies, plus it's somewhat more difficult and expensive to set up a technically proficient AM station.  If the frequencies are to be outside the existing 540-1700kHz and 88-108MHz ranges, where are they to go and who will be equipped to tune in?  Will the FCC assign a specific frequency and/or time-schedule to each wannabe, requiring a license application process?  Or will they have non-specific license with a "Go play, but play nice" suggestion, not unlike in the early days of Citizen's Band...until that band got so overcrowded with the CB Craze of 1975-76 the FCC gave up even pretending to watch over it?

[I had even more comments and ideas, but they got lost when my computer ate my homework, first time I wrote the comments aargh....]
 

Take Care!

    "When the pope dies, the light bulbs on the cross will turn purple É"

    "We started finding all these body parts: arms, legs, torsosÉ"

    "He left a skunk wrapped like a European bonbon on the curb É six hours later, it was gone."

    Bits of stories like these were heard by all within a one-block radius of Katarina Soukup's bicycle on the weekend.  Some were in French, others in English, and they were broadcast over the radio as she biked through Lafontaine Park, St. Louis Square and the intersection of St. Denis and Pine Sts.

    They came from a 1Ú2-watt radio transmitter strapped on the back of her bike with bungee cords, and a T-shaped antenna a metre high.  As Katarina pedaled the stories through the Plateau streets, a 10-strong gang on bikes and inline skates followed her, all with radios tuned in.

    It made a strange sight. With the antenna towering over her, Katarina's bicycle looked distinctly odd.  And the disembodied voices coming out of the radios made for an equally odd effect.

    So it was not surprising to see people staring at the procession.  One cyclist stopped in his tracks.  A man walking his dog looked on in wonder.  Another, finding himself directly in front of Katarina's contraption, jumped out of the way.  "I think I terrified him," she said.

    This was not a case of someone selfishly blaring her radio for her own amusement, but one where the radio served as the medium for transmitting city legends to Montréal residents.

    The stories, six in all, were part of a pirate radio broadcast known as Radio Bicyclette, emitted over the airwaves on 90.7 FM.  Why 90.7?  Because to have a pirate radio broadcast, "you have to find a space on the FM dial that's not taken," Katarina said.  "Before CBC took 88.5, it was available for use.  But it's pretty packed on the FM band now."

    Indeed, one is supposed to have 3 hertz separating each station, so Katarina was "overlapping a bit," which became evident whenever one fell out of her transmitter's range, which happened when she moved ahead by more than a city block.  Then, songs and voices from other radio stations would come over the air, obliterating her signal altogether.

    The stories ran in a continuous loop, 15 minutes long.  "You get fragments of stories," she said.  "But each time you hear them, you get to hear a little bit more."

    And they often ended with that familiar Bell Telephone voice saying, "end of message," as they'd been recorded off Katarina's voice mail.  They were responses to an ad she'd placed in Hour and Voir magazines that asked people to call with interesting tales.  "I was looking for urban legends with a Montréal flavour," she said.

    The idea of taking Montréal's stories to its streets has its inspiration in something totally unMontréal.  Rather, it's an outgrowth of the response many radio broadcasters had to the Soviet Invasion of the Czech Republic in 1968.

    Katarina had heard stories of pirate radio broadcasts from her parents, who'd escaped the invasion by moving to Canada.  "A web of underground stations emerged in opposition to the Soviets.  People who worked at the Czech equivalent of the CBC went underground and broadcast from mobile devices: trains, trucks"

    One story in particular really struck her.  "My father told me of some underground broadcasters who used tram cable lines as antennas so they could broadcast all over the city."

    Having been to Prague to research the history of pirate radio there, she now thinks this particular story is also an urban legend.

    But the point of the moving signal is not.  "It's hard to track.  You can't get a lock on it, so it's hard to find the source."  Which, when you're doing an illegal broadcast, is key.

    But it's also hard to keep up with when your transmitter has a mere 1Ú2-watt power-base. To give you some idea of how weak that is, CKUT has a broadcasting power of 50,000 watts.  Which meant that, in order to hear the stories in full, I had to follow close behind, otherwise I'd lose them.

    At one point, I was so engrossed in the story about a man's battles with city officials over the skunk on his property, I bladed through a red light, heedless of traffic.

    So aside from getting a unique dose of Montréal folklore, I also got to experience something of the personal danger inherent in this form of broadcasting.  Probably exactly what Katarina had in mind.