Have You Ever Heard Of The Lucky 7 Pirate TV Station In Syracuse NY?

Have you ever heard of the Lucky Seven pirate TV station that went on the air for two days in 1978 in Syracuse? Allegedly, it is the first known instance of a pirate TV station in the U.S.

The station had an unidentified man in a gas mask hosting a variety of movies. Who wouldn't want to watch "Rocky", "Behind The Green Door", and even "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest". The station even showed an adult flick called "Deep Throat". Clearly this pirate had a great sense of humor.

Even to this day, this station is a massive mystery to the F.C.C. The person responsible has never been caught, and they probably will never get caught. There is one theory floating around on the internet about the station:

Word has it that it was the brainchild of some Syracuse University communications students who used some equipment, normally used for closed circuit broadcasts on Channel 7 on the University's cable system and simply found the necessary means to amplify the signal and send it on its' merry way via a makeshift antenna cut for Channel 7. Considering the height of "Mount Olympus" (where Syracuse University is situated), "line-of-sight" was for many miles around the Greater Syracuse area. Eventhough VCR's were hard to come by on the consumer market at the time, UMatic video tape decks were used by practically every educational institution around the country. Since Syracuse U. is a well known communications school (with a big Radio and TV production facility), well..... you get the idea."

Could a student have pulled this off? Hopefully the student works for some major network nowadays.

The funniest part of this whole pirate station, the F.C.C. never received any complaints on programming. They did however receive complaints when the station went off the air.

Do you remember this stunt?