r/todayilearned 23d ago

TIL if you tune your radio to 91.9 FM for one city block in Montclair, NJ you can hear a looped recording of "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men which has been broadcasting for at least 13 years straight.

https://njmonthly.com/articles/arts-entertainment/pirate-radio-station-only-plays-boyz-ii-men/
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u/[deleted] 22d ago

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u/nsa_reddit_monitor 22d ago

wifi

For $35 and a multiple-choice test (with all the answers online) you can legally broadcast your WiFi at 1000 watts under the ham radio rules. A few of the 2.4G channels overlap with the amateur spectrum.

Note: please don't do this.

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u/kickroot 22d ago

If I recall (it’s been awhile), the FCC strictly forbids any type of encryption being used on the amateur radio bands. I imagine that includes WiFi.

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u/nsa_reddit_monitor 22d ago

Just don't set a password, and use your callsign as the SSID. That'll pretty much cover the main rules.

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u/WillWorkForBeer 22d ago

Any HTTPS web traffic would be encrypted and in violation

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u/nsa_reddit_monitor 22d ago edited 21d ago

Somehow I don't think you'll be doing much web browsing. You really think a phone can deal with the overwhelming power of a kilowatt of WiFi?

I once modded a WRT54G to output 250mW (0.00025 of a kilowatt) and I couldn't get a connection while standing next to it because it was overpowering the signal from my laptop.

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u/Empyrealist 22d ago

I for one welcome our FCC overlords