'I got pissed off and bought a radio transmitter and a satellite dish.'

As the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. celebrates with great fanfare the opening of its CBC Radio Two station in Iqaluit this week, some residents must be left puzzled.

After all, Iqaluit's fans of jazz and classical music have listened to CBC Radio Two for years by tuning to 90.1 FM, although the music may come in faint, or cut out when it rains.

Don't thank Jurgen Gothe, the host of Discdrive, who is broadcasting his show from Iqaluit this week. Thank Bryan Pearson, owner of the Astro Theatre, and operator of the city's only classical music pirate station.

"It all came about 12 or 13 years ago," Pearson explains, when CBC cut Saturday Afternoon At the Opera from its AM broadcast.

"That's the only show that I listen to religiously. So I got pissed off and bought a radio transmitter and a satellite dish," he said.

For several years Pearson broadcast from his home. Then, to improve the reach of his tiny transmitter, he moved the station to the roof of a building in the West 40, where it remains today.

CBC's new frequency, 88.3 FM, picks up with crystalline clarity compared to Pearson's pirate broadcast. He only broadcasts with 1.8 watts of power, while he estimates the new station must use 300 to 500 watts.

"They once gave me a licence for 1/600 of a watt, which is the same as your toaster," he said.

While his broadcast is technically illegal, Pearson says he did it to provide a public service to the community, and has never been hassled about it.

The new station makes Pearson's broadcast redundant, but he says he plans to leave his station plugged in anyway. "It's no skin off my nose. It just chugs away."

Pearson has received some thanks over the years from classical music fans in town, although "people generally don't realize it's me, a pirate."

He says he's just happy to help other classical music buffs out there.

"Help yourself, please."