PNR: Welcome Hiphop Pirate Captain Bly, thanks for joining us today.
CB: Yeah, thank you.
PNR: What is a "Hiphop Pirate" ?
CB: Yo man, its a pirate, with a kick ass signal, thats sharing some slappin' hiphop with the public.
PNR: How long have you been a pirate ?
CB: The Hiphop Pirate Captain Bly thing about 18 months now, every damn weekend.
PNR: Where do you broadcast from ?
CB: We're on the streets, keeping it real and trying new things. San Jo, Fremont, Rich town, ya' get the idea. Man, we don't stay with the equipment none, we're like that Ronco man "just set it and forget it" then we be gone.
PNR: How is that possible ?
CB: You need to meet the Hiphop Pirate Cube bro, a portable battery operated fm station.
PNR: It looks like a bomb ?
CB: NO BOMB but its tha bomb! Blowing up the airwaves with the hiphop that doesn't stop.
Hiphop Pirate Cube
CB: The system also has a limiter, mp3 player and circuitry that shuts itself off automatically when the party's over. The system shown here today is version 4.0 the others, I built before are on the air most weekends.
PNR: The others?
CB: Yeah, I can't stop building them. They get better with each version as I learn new tricks. Version 5.0 will be at least 10 watts! As soon as I finish one system I start another. I gave some excess gear out, and hey some of its on the air. Yeah! I had to buy some frequency counters too, damn! Yo, its cool.
PNR: Don't vco design transmitters drift?
CB: Sure, but if you run your vco in a oven, have a buffer stage and use a regulated dc source, they can almost be pll stable!
PNR: Any advice for wanna be fm pirates ?
CB: Big power and high locations. The top level of any parking garage will do. Keep your eye out for, excuse me, keep your EARS open for the stereo cube soon to come. Honor thy mother. Peace!
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"...14 hours of unattended Hiphop FM broadcasting, 5 watts, battery operated and totally self contained - Captain Bly's Hiphop Pirate Cube."
Complete Fm Station
PNR: How long are your broadcast?
CB: Typically, 13-14 hours. The cube is mono so we make our mp3 files 96k mono. They sound great!
PNR: Why not stereo ?
CB: Mono for maximum range. Most of my people are looking for me, on the air and all. I get plenty of email and so far nobody has been bitchin' about it. But hey, stereo is coming. Yeah, stereo, its coming.
PNR: Where did you get your equipment?
CB:Home built, mostly of my own design. It's a modular 5 watt vco transmitter with the vco operating in a temperature controlled oven (a heated chamber).
Captain Bly's Hiphop Pirate Cube - System Diagram
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