I am noticing more and more of the stations nowadays are no longer announcing the frequency any more and Im wondering which stations still have people say the frequency? To be honest I dont see why so many stations are being strict saying you can't never say the frequency over the air to try and fool DTI to think it's just an internet set up surely they arent that stupid, or is this some kind of pirate radio loophole?
I stopped doing radio 25 years ago and I know a lot has changed since when we were using pagers with band 1 transmitters direct out the studio linking up to the block but Im just a bit baffled why stations dont want to give out the frequencys any more and just give out internet radio address instead when the authoritys cant be that stupid to be busting studios and the station getting let off saying we are internet only and someone else is putting us on air its not us?

Lighting 90.8 is the only one I can think at the moment

I do know of one London-based station whose operators have said that it can help in case of a raid. Often with no proof that the FM broadcast is not a relay the TX will - apparently- be taken off but no arrests made.

I think this Is quite an interesting question and your 'Pirate loophole' could be more accurate than you thought! It is hard to understand courts and the justice system until you have seen it at work! I once did jury service on quite a serious firearms case, Whilst to me and fellow jurors the evidence was clear! However a significant amount was disregarded as inconclusive!

So in answer to your question, No Comment seems the wise thing to do!

Although it's on 87.8 now, The Rock still announces as The Rock 926.

What I believed was back in the day,you would only get dti at your door once you announce your station name and frequency over the air and dj name .but funny enough I put this to the test I never spoke on the air for over 3 months not once did I see them .but once I started talking on the mic that was it game over .so that answers your question they use that as evidence .but what if you kept changing dj name and station name would that mean they would have to wait again to build up a evidence case .I believe so .unless your interfering then it's game over quicker than you could imagine .

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This is an interesting subject and I also wonder if any stations have managed to avoid prosecution playing the "internet only" card?

I'm aware of one or two stations that claimed that they were "unaware" of the FM output of their web streams. As far as I'm aware, it was a successful dodge in at least one case, as the forensic chaps were unable to find any fingerprints (apart from those of the OFCOM muppets) on a couple of rigs.

You have to remember that the OFCOM "inspectors" are fairly clueless. The most common way for a station to get raided is by them (or the Police) carrying out surveillance on known DJs. They have seldom actually tracked signals and raided studios - it's usually down to poor security by the station staff.

I know of one London DJ who led a team of OFCOM and Police followers all over London for days. He visited every record shop he knew of, met LB and me for a drink on the Thursday night, went to a couple of clubs at the weekend, did his laundry on the Sunday with a plain-clothes Plod waiting in the laundromat with him, then went home.... and didn't go near the station for almost three weeks! He emailed pre-recorded programmes from home, and when one of them was being broadcast, he got the "knock on the door" from an OFCOM idiot and two coppers - they assumed that the studio was in HIS flat.....

They really aren't the brightest!

PS: One thing that used to really confuse them is if you linked across the river. They used to have teams divided by the Thames (I don't know if this is still the case) and it really was a case of one hand not knowing what the other was doing!

I think that's the route that Kool 945 went down when they changed to 'Kool London', never heard them say the frequency after that!

....Before that it was always "sounds of the Kool FM 945" and was regularly still being announced as "945" after the move up to 94.6 around 1996/97.

Yeah so it seems about 2 or 3 (90%) of London pirates are no longer saying the frequency over the air.
I makes me wonder if there probably is a cheeky little loophole and that's why.
It kind of starts to all make sense now to me and times have changed.