87.9 MHz Mystery Station

About a week ago, I noticed a radio station on 87.9 MHz. It was a Spanish language station playing continuous Spanish contemporary music (perhaps, Spanish Christian contemporary music). The only voices heard were short announcements at the 27 and 57 minutes past the hour. 

Despite taking Spanish in high school and college, I had a difficult time translating the announcements, but I believe that the station is called “Radio de Morte e Vida” (Death and Life Radio).  

Springfield, Massachusetts was mentioned once, so the station may be located in that city or thereabouts, which is about 40 miles to the north-northeast. (I can receive the station on my car radio if I travel north or northeast from my home in the general direction of Springfield. Traveling south of here, there is no signal.)

As you know, there are supposed to be no radio stations on 87.9 MHz in the USA. So when I first heard the station, I figured it was a fly-by-night pirate that would pull the plug soon. But the station has been on the air 24/7 everyday since I first heard it. With a name like Morte e Vida, maybe it is a Halloween pirate station that will go away after the holiday.

I’m stumped, but I will stay tuned and let you know if I discover anything more.

Equipment used ICOM IC-R8600 receiver and ICOM AH-7000 discone antenna.

UPDATE: Less than one day after publishing the above, I tuned to 87.9 and find a dead carrier – no audio, just RF; an S-4 signal with the pre-amp on.

UPDATE 2: The dead carrier lasted all day on Friday, but this morning, the audio (voice and music) has returned.