http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/n ... ton_again/



THE bosses of a pirate radio station in Taunton say they’ll be back despite being shut down for the second time in five months.

A spokesman for the industry watchdog said the raid on Rage FM on Friday morning was part of an inquiry into “radio interference”.

A Rage representative said he was incensed by the early morning operation.

He said: “Their (Ofcom) tactics are turning desperate.

“Their activities woke many residents in Lisieux Way and Kenwyn Close – just to seize an FM transmitter rig and aerial from a tree.

“Their claims of interference to emergency services radios and anti-social behaviour are generalised to say the least and no such evidence exists in our case.”

He added: “However, Rage FM will not go away and we will take it all the way to make a stand against these monsters.

“Meanwhile our station continues as usual on the worldwide web and we'll work as hard as possible to return on FM in future, just as it did following their last attempt to silence us.

“This will remain a positive asset to the community whenever possible. We look forward to providing this service to the community of Taunton Deane again soon.”

Rage FM was previously taken off air in Taunton in April following a raid in the High Street area under the Wireless and Telegraphy Act 2006.

A spokeswoman for Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries, said: “Ofcom can confirm that it is investigating radio interference in Taunton. The investigation is ongoing.

“Ofcom takes swift and firm action to take off air illegal radio stations which are broadcasting without a licence.”

BTW, it was "about 12 personnel including 5-6 coppers". So, that's 5-6 Coppers, and therefore 6-7 Ofcom just to get a rig out of a tree

I like this stations music they probably got busted cause they are political.

When you're the only pirate in your area which slowly starts to pick up then and people start talking about it, they don't like it!

teckniqs wrote:When you're the only pirate in your area which slowly starts to pick up then and people start talking about it, they don't like it!

very true sadly. good on rage though they will probably be back (if not all ready)

Yeah, they are well known now and the only pirate for a long way so they get all the hassle. Of course, they aren't the type of station that just plays its music and stays quiet, they are political and play the artist taxi driver's rants out with swear words intact. That does not help their case much. However, the trouble really started when the community stations got their licenses and immediately started to complain to Ofcom.

I dunno if their stream is live or not but I like listening in the evening. I hope someone sees this and lets them know people are checking em out, might perk em up if they are off FM, it was finding this topic on this forum that started me listening.

Given what you said it is going to take some balls to come back knowing however you lash your gear up there is probably some snotty people with their hands on DTI phone no. I think if I was them I would work out a way to source cheap rigs and just cover the core of that town centre... a nice supply of 5-10 watters in nice high places. Get 7 mile each way with em ona good spot, town is only 3.5 mile across. That way keep costs down and take the hit each time. Might wear DTI out in the end.

Best of luck Rage, stick it to em.

DTI? How old are you?

i still call em D.T.i lol fuk my last bust was the by the latter dont hear many busts up hear ofcom are too busy with PMR thumpers and repeater jammers as the conviction rate is higher and are kept very busy with PMR as locals here play cat and mouse its funny most are sitting with boafeng dual band handsets driving 100w odd amps with 8stacks omni dipole arrys just to see how far they can get lol and make sure repeaters are jammed also stuff like shouting ham call signs on emrg coast guard so ofcom up this way far too busy we have a team of 4 , 2 investigators and two managers according to their website...

also av been trying to get a rise from em but nothing lol some time ago removed three filters i use by passed DSP and limiters wnet full power for 9hours and ripped the band to shreads and nothing... listening to other bands and what ppl were saying that " that guy is ok dosnt bother with noone and all seems to be set up properly must have had dirty cds " lol

How long ago did the DTI stop??

not sure my last bust was 2003 and the then infamous investigator was retiring even more so when the judge too the total piss out him when he took the stand the simple sniggerd and asked "what actual harm are these illegal broadcasters causing..?" Mr Jackson (dti) just went red fuming he was demaned an recess couldnt stop laughing there was 3 pirate station in same court that day went back in judge said " this is a serious crime blah blah blah no option but to forfit the transmitter dti recomends full forfit of everything, judge declines.. result.. dti had to bring everthing except Tx back it was then jackson retired and it was shortly after ofcome took over maybe 2005 perhaps...?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom

According to that end of 2003. I remember when it was DTI only too well, hell they would crack down on unlicenced CB radio also. Must have had more resources available to them.

Usually check when I go past each day. Still off.
They can't have been running much power as only got them for a couple of miles, even from a tree.

think loads of volunteers from RSGB just remembers their id cards two each one with RA and the other RSGB never saw anything ever from dti except when it was 20 questions and identified them self as radio authority C.O brackets aka dti

Rage are live and sound good on their site not sure if on FM.

http://www.ragefm.org.uk/

Nope, still off this morning.

Somebody got a new rig for xmas! Now audible up and down M5, A303, even into Yeovil! Must be using something better than that tree they had before

Good to hear.

Saying that, they went off day or 2 later. Blown pa? Still off.