Yesterday, while I was recording the daily weather update. One of my friends came in with his 12 year old son.
He is kind of shy. But I asked him if he wanted to record the weather update for me.
He wasn't sure, but I wrote the script out for him and let him read it a couple of times.
I didn't make him put the headphones on, but my production audio monitor and mic setup lets me run the background while recording.
He got it right in two takes!! We put it in the hourly the weather cue for the day. Later his dad called me to say when they stopped at the grocery store down the street an hour or two later, it was airing and his son's eyes lit up when he heard his voice.
He didn't realize other people really could hear it! It made my day!!
Other than that, my transmitter loves cold weather. It was 11 degrees here last night coldest temps we have had in years. The transmitter was booming all over town. It is today also.
What a lovely experience for a young boy. This is why I may try the Spitfire and AM.
This is why I'm passionate about Real Range for Hobby Broadcasting.
I agree. I remember my first encounter with radio when I was not much older than him. I never forgot it. And though I did not end up in commercial broadcast, radio and technology has been a large part of my life ever since.
If and when I finally get things formalized here with a plan to get licensing, a community radio focus with interaction from our younger generations is on the list of things that I hope we accomplish.
Back to the subject....I'm on air now, playing music. Right now, it's New Edition - If It Isn't Love. 🙂
I unplugged the Spitfire and put it in its box. I took the 3.5 plug and plugged into a T-200 FM Transmitter. Similar to the CCrane. Man! So far I love this thing! I opened the testing with 10,000 Maniacs In My Tribe CD. That's playing now...
Schweeeet!
Doug
You could feed the spitfire with an FM radio as a simulcast.
From Reply 247: I took the 3.5 plug and plugged into a T-200 FM Transmitter. ... Man! So far I love this thing! ...
An ebay page as of today offers an "LCD CZH-T200 0.2 Watt Portable FM Transmitter Stereo Power Broadcast 87~108MHz."
Just to note that if this is the transmitter you refer to, its advertised power (either d-c input or r-f output power) of 0.2 watts is FAR more than needed to meet the radiated field limit given in FCC §15.239, most likely even with the short antenna it includes.
Actually, the audio comes from this:
I use one channel to drive the Spitfire's input. I may use channel 2 for that. Not sure I'll need AM...
Doug
If I've seen that CZH 200 transmitter, it's the portable one with the rubber dick antenna and uses a Lithium battery right? I thought that was an interesting design, but it seems to be for PA use and guided tours, and runs just off of battery, where I'd want something that plugs into a USB type 5 volt source from a computer or adapter.
The ad I saw said that the Machine can be turned down to .01 watt, and the battery life time is > 10 hours.
I've always liked the idea of AM/FM simulcasts for part 15, makes our stations look bigger 😉
I have a household/neighborhood FM simulcast for my AM that I turn on from time to time, not an official FM that anyone but me knows about... Theres just something about simulcasting that I like.
On a related note I plan on adding an AM stereo simulcast on 1610 and possibly a low-band simulcast on 950 or 1470. (Pending on what transmitter I use, 950 would be for a tube transmitter)
"Just to note that...its advertised power...of 0.2 watts is FAR more than needed to meet the radiated field limit given in FCC §15.239..."
Haa hahaha! I know, right? LOL! But it's nice on the lower settings. As I told Legacy, I'm not trying to be a Pirate. Just cover the building I'm in. So far, I've not done any range tests. The thing is indoors, sitting on a shelf. On setting 2 it covers this building. 3 other people and me. Have not checked the neighborhood yet.
Doug
What I wonder Dugger, is can you completely run the transmitter as a base type unit, from USB or 5 volt adapter, no battery needed?
I'm looking for a new little sound feeder transmitter for around the house, something to plug into a computer or other devcie and have it relay what's playing on the gadget to FM radios around the house.
It's a function that I use a lot, and had this simple transmitter that was a Matchbox size un- named black plastic box with black wire antenna, about 6x4 cm and jacks for mini USB power and 3.5 mm stereo plug. You popped open the box and set the frequency on DIP switches, for a set at the bottom of the band and top of the band, going by a chart.
It was the simplest thing, small and perfect for what I needed, and cost about $7, but I can't find them for sale any more. Sellers move their wares to other venues it seems, but I'm looking for alternatives. I'd rather save the 35.00 for one of those 200s and get 4 of the little black boxes just to have them.
Anyone try the transmitter card with blue readout, and digital stereo generation yet? They're all over for around $4, a hacker style tiny open board with no case.
That's what I'm doing with my Partt 15 station, trying to improve feeds to different areas of the house including AM transmitters, got that idea from Carl Blare. I'd also like to test Rich's AM with counterpoise only that was proposed in that other thread, using LPFM as a feed for the "floating" transmitter on batteries.
I originally had my stepmom buy the CZE-T200 transmitter so that she could on low power transmit her smartphone into her car stereo or boombox. I thoroughly tested this transmitter and it will run off the USB cord that comes with it plugged into a computer. Plus you can use a standard cell phone charger and it will run 24/7. Also if you read the manual when you plug it in it will automatically switch to the lowest power setting which again is 0.1 milliwatt. (Yes you can still turn it up). That equals about 10 nano Watts. Remember that it was suggested per Rich that 11.43 Nano Watts to meet part 15: 239.
I know a lot of you folks in the park 15 Community are stuck on certified part 15: 239 FM transmitters. However at the lowest power setting on this transmitter I have tested with several different radio you will get a range of around 200 feet. The second setting should allow you to broadcast through a building and get out a little bit outside. In any case I don't think that you will be in any danger unless again as I suggest any FM transmitter inside a major radio Market will put you in danger I don't care if it's A C Crane or a whole house FM transmitter 3.0 somebody is going to try to take you down if there a radio engineer in a Major Market that's just the way it is. sorry I sorry I don't have web links to prove my last statement about radio engineers. Just a hunch from stories I have gotten from other people.
0.1 mw is 100 microwatts or 100,000 nanowatts. You'd have to measure the field strength to determine if it's legal. We don't know how much attenuation there is, but 100,000 nanowatts with a dipole is definitely not legal.
I have to wonder if engineers would even notice a low power transmitter like we're talking about in a major city. In a place like LA, SOCAL, there are so many powerful signals that many radios don't even work right, just a mash of intermod across the dial, so if anything, I think your low power transmitter would just be jammed out.
I'm thinking of making a VFO oscillator transmitter from Wenzell to test Ric'hs idea for the counterpoise only ground, and just run a tone into it for test modulation.