Carl Blare

Funny. I was just reviewing the Part 15 Regulations which clearly state that low power is NOT allowed on VHF TV frequencies, and I remember two years ago asking Ramsey about a VHF LP transmitter in an old catalog, and they told me it was discontinued because of the rules. That all made sense.

Now I have a freshly printed Ramsey Catalog and the VHF TV Transmitter is back (page 73) under part # TV6C AC125.

I’m going to do a Wiki search under the subject “reality.”

Now that I have a working experimental signal on 13.56 mHz, 21 meter band, I’m thinking about a shortwave radio in the car so I can DX the signal. Has anyone had experience with an auto SW receiver?

Many capacitors have a number which is not the electrical value, and I cannot find a cross-reference chart for knowing what they are. The numbers are like: 152, 562, 682, 822, 222 and many others. How does anyone look these up?

It’s still possible to purchase a modulator. I’ll concentrate on VHF TV modulators, although there are also FM modulators.

It’s still possible to purchase a modulator. I’ll concentrate on VHF TV modulators, although there are also FM modulators.

The cable companies use modulators to translate audio and video onto particular channels for cable transmission. Those exact modulators are available at a decent cost. Consumer modulators are quite inexpensive and convert audio/video to channel 3 or 4 for inputting to the antenna terminals of a TV receiver, but they will also drive a longer antenna line or cable.

A fellow I know ran his channel 7 modulator into an outdoor antenna and sent movies to his neighbors back in the early days of VHS videotapes. Modulators are little transmitters with as much as 10 watts of power.

For the moment the Part 15 rules expressly forbid unlicensed operation on TV channels, but changes in the rules could happen because of the end of analog TV.

I have a C.Crane TV Radio, which tunes every VHF channel. All these components could be put to work as a handy STL (studio-transmitter-link), so it’s worthwhile to keep track of rule changes in the future.

In the meantime, outdoor 75 ohm cable which can be buried in the ground, is relatively inexpensive, which means a legal cable link would be reasonably possible.

Most VCRs have built in modulators for sending AV to the TV on channels 3/4, and could easily be repurposed as part of a home cable system.

Low Power Radio will be the subject of THE HAPPY STATION hosted by Keith Perron this Thanksgiving Thursday at 1600 UTC on WRMI, Miami, at 9955 kHz shortwave, including a conversation with part15.us member Carl Blare. Podcasts of the show will be available through pcjmedia.com, the show’s producer.

John Anderson at diymedia.net does a neat job of posting FCC enforcement actions year by year. The 2009 list is lengthy and is updated into this month of November, and includes 100% FM actions.

John Anderson at diymedia.net does a neat job of posting FCC enforcement actions year by year. The 2009 list is lengthy and is updated into this month of November, and includes 100% FM actions.

Of particular interest is a case against Jerry and Deborah Stevens in Austin, Texas, for operation on 90.1. It so happens they are owners of Rule of Law Radio Network, a free program source I’ve mentioned before. Tonight’s subject on The Rule of Law Radio Show was all about micro-radio and detailed a legal position they believe is correct, by which the (Federal) FCC has no jurisdiction over INTRA-state broadcasting when the signal does not cross state borders. This show, dated 11/19/09, will soon be archived at ruleoflawradio.com

The power levels of all these cases are not shown.