This is Radio Free Brazil

filthy light thief — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:43:27 -0800

On March 18, 39 licensed amateur radio operators were apprehended throughout Brazil for clandestine activities of telecommunication. This followed six months of investigations from local officials who received information from the US Department of Defense in regards to unauthorized use of Fleet Satellite Communications System. These geosynchronous satellites, also known as FLTSAT, were used by the U.S. Navy for UHF radio communications between ships, submarines, airplanes and ground stations. These satellites are simple repeaters with no authentication or control over what they retransmit. But the illicit satellite use was not limited to those experimenting with radio systems. Truck drivers love the birds because they provide better range and sound than ham radios. Rogue loggers in the Amazon use the satellites to transmit coded warnings when authorities threaten to close in. Drug dealers and organized criminal factions use them to coordinate operations. People have noticed the Brazilians using the old satellites for a while, and the recent bust hasn't quieted the transmissions: "I logged another 3 channels over the weekend full of pirate activity although 255.550 MHz seems to be the centre of activity. I can monitor all of the channels using the UBC-3500XLT with just a standard antenna so it's suprising how strong the FM signal is from these old satellites." Another user of that forum found this video of the bust, and users have commented on the equipment used. There are plenty of videos recording live transmissions, and some of the YouTube user comments note what equipment you can use to listen. The Wired article links to a PDF, auto-translated here, which discusses some more history and technical details. The rest of the author's site has more PDFs, for your perusal. (via)

The Uncle Floyd FPP!

not_on_display — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:01:28 -0800

Deep in the Heart of Jersey you'll find "Uncle Floyd" Vivino, roaming the streets of various towns and cities, kibbitzing with the locals. In Belleville. Nutley. Bloomfield Avenue and Ferry Street in Newark. Kearny. Cliffside Park. Main Street, Paterson. An abandoned lot in Paterson. What, you never heard of Uncle Floyd? From 1974 to 1998, Floyd Vivino hosted The Uncle Floyd Show, a low-budget mess of a parody/tribute to variety shows and kids' shows, at the same time championing many local and/or outsider musicians, and accumulating a wide underground following via the UHF airwaves--why, David Bowie even wrote a song about Uncle Floyd. Here's a link to the entire Uncle Floyd Show Album Floyd currently plays over 300 gigs a year. His booking website gives a few examples of his New Jersified vaudeville stylings (not to mention some great publicity photos): 1 2 3 [music automatically plays when page is loaded] Here's more of UF on the pee-yanner. The late CM "Mugsy" Calam was a favorite performer on the Uncle Floyd Show; archive.org has some footage neatly arranged for you; there's plenty more of Mugsy on YouTube. Some newspaper articles about Floyd: NYT 1/10/88 ...more by Anthony Buccino, reporter for various NJ newspapers: 3/3/77 visiting the set | 3/17/77, Uncle Floyd Meets the Mayor of Bloomfield | 11/3/77 Web presence? Yeah! Uncle Floyd on Facebook Uncle Floyd on Flickr Photos: Backstage with Uncle Floyd And, finally, Uncle Floyd's Web Site, with updates on what cast members are doing these days.

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This is Radio Free Brazil

The Uncle Floyd FPP!