I'd venture to guess a transmitter under a watt would likely go unnoticed for quite some time, if not forever. The usual reason illegal operators get caught is due to interference of some kind.
Installing an FM..."Do I care about ninny-watts, point-zero whatever, OMG-am-I-breakiing-the-law? What about 250 Mickey-Vol-yules per meter...at 7 feet off the ground..." GAWD! I ain't even worried about it.
Even at 1/5th of a watt, this thing is no threat. I have no desire to go 24/7. But I'd buy another one of these ST-200 units in a heartbeat! One recharges and the other one plays. I like the battery idea. There is NO hum! It's as clean as my Veronica. In fact...
That's what I did today...recharged it last night, signed on this morning at 6...it's going now. So, Legacy...thank you for pushing me in this direction! It's this, or a CCrane-FM2. I got a better deal with this.
Doug
on my frineds 3rd story balcony in the next complex over to extend my range just a little bit more. it's linked via internet and a barix setup. covers his building, pool, weight room, and office there very well and then my carrier current here serves about 1/2 this complex. i still need a remote site up near our off/pool/weight room.
the remote site is on 1620 the main site is 1630 and i still have another Barix and BV FM TX i can make use of if i ever find a site close to the office of our complex.
glad you came to the Elite section of my site and read the test reports. Now on to the subject of the Spitfire AM transmitter:
I have been thinking about trying to simulcast my station on AM as well as FM for several reasons. As you know trees and different obstructions will affect FM where as AM certain obstructions don't affect that so in the areas where people can't hear me on FM they might have a chance on AM The Spitfire transmitter seems to be a nice little unit and from what I can tell is easy to set up. I've listened to some of the audio test on YouTube and it does sound a lot better than the Talking House version 5. That being said without the hum there might be a chance. I've been looking around to see different prices of these transmitter so that I could try and save up for that as well.
Today on my station I got a lot of requests. Most of it was due to the fact that today is New Year's Eve. Lots of folks are really enjoying some great album Rock tonight.
About Reply 259 (Radiodugger): Installing an FM ... "Do I care about ninny-watts, point-zero whatever, OMG-am-I-breakiing-the-law? What about 250 Mickey-Vol-yules per meter...at 7 feet off the ground..." GAWD! I ain't even worried about it. Even at 1/5th of a watt, this thing is no threat. ...
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That is your stated point of view, Radiodugger, but just to note that the FCC has cited MANY operators of unlicensed FM transmit installations that were non-compliant with §15.239.
While the risk of such FCC citations might not worry you, Radiodugger, it might (should?) worry others who read and accept your posts.
Yeah, Rich...can't argue with ya. But hey, I'd just fire up the Veronica at the full tilt boogie, if I was really wanting to broadcast! But no. Did that. I'm really happy with the little yard-caster. It's indoors, ready to use, and I doubt at the level I have it set for, it'll cause any trouble...unless...
Someone complains. I cannot imagine someone doing that. That would be the lowest. Not because I am causing interference. I checked that. Nope. A person would complain simply becauce they felt I am not "following the rules". To the (expletive)-ing letter! I despise that sort of person.
But, that said, I do not recommend a person buy or use anything that is suspected of being incompliant with our illustrious Rule Makers! No, NO! Be GOOD kids..
Doug
One reason I wanted to make sure that the LOWEST setting didn't go too far was because my Stepmom is not technically savvy. I didn't want her broadcasting oldies from her smartphone and several cars down the road get their favorite station jammed while she merrily listens to Frank Sanatra. That being said the low setting does quite well for the yard, pool and maybe the house/appartment next door and then fades to nothing but static.
I preset the power to the lowest and when my Stepmom starts her car (with the cigarette lighter plug into the TX guess what default to Low Power so even if she was to somehow change to High or the second level she would not really know how to do it again.
My Stepmom is not interested in running a Radio Station with it but wanted to listen to her oldies and easy listening music in the summer at the pool. She has even brought it to the gym and worked out and the folks in the office listened to what she played through the transmitter. This is what part 15 is for simple short distance like this. Inside a building your signal gets attenuated so outside the gym I doubt its going to the end of the sidewalk someday I'll see if it really is.
That is setting 3. It complies with the 3-meter antenna, and 100 mw into the final. It covers two houses to the left and right of me, across the street, the cul-de-sac...and that's it. I have not ridden in a car yet.
I am curious if this makes it downtown. I'd be surprised. I'd turn it down a notch. To 10 mw. As I said, this thing is surprising. I like that it's switchable to MONO if desired. I like the power settings. I can't think of any reason to use full power (1/5th of a watt). But the CCrane FM2 cranks up to 200 mw...so...
Thing is...seeing the discussion on the Fail Safe CZH-0B FM transmitter, I did a search. Just to see what is being BOUGHT. OMG...my little 200 mw ST-200 is NOTHING! My gosh...the FCC is NOT going to be able to handle this...I see why the states stepped in, like Florida and New York, making illegal broadcasting a FELONY!
Look at the 'Bayster! Damn it. Amazon! Holy - type in...FM broadcast transmitters...on eBay. OK...first one listed @ Buy It Now:
5W/15W PLL FM Transmitter Radio Stereo Station...
FIVE watts MINIMUM? WTF??? And you know these dolts will crank the max 15 watts...with nary a thought of a limiter...or filtering...at 15 watts? I bet we got corned beef and hash! Over-mod at 15 watts and it's a guaranteed NOUO...HA! They're gonna be BUSY!
And they are desperate to sell these things! Look-a THIS:
I about fell off my chair! Not one! Freakin' TEN! With everything!
- 10 x 5W/15W FM Transmitter
- 10 x Power Adapter
- 10 x Telescopic Antenna
- 10 x Audio Line
- 10 x English Manual
I shake my head ruefully. I don't EVEN want to hear &*^% about my liltte 100 milliwatts!
Doug
These are not allowed in China either....I think China's rule for FM is 1 or 2 mW(not field strength there). These are made there for the pirate market or for places where there aren't rules, where ever that is? In New Zealand these are illegal too.
Mark
Just to note that in the U.S.A., the operator of an unlicensed AM/FM setup risks an FCC citation if the FCC measures that setup to be non-compliant with FCC Part 15 -- whether or not the transmitter used in that setup was granted Part 15 FCC certification.
The 100mW and 3 meter antenna restriction is for AM only, not FM.
Today I received what may be percieved as good news for some. Rumors have been circulating that Live365 was coming back.
I signed up on their website a month ago to be put on the waiting list so I could move my streaming and royalty payments to their facilities.
Today I had the invitation to sign up in my email. No details yet on what problems I will encounter, but I will bring everyone up to date when I get the process started and when the stream goes live. I will probably not do that today, but I will dedicate time to it this week.
I consider this a big step for those of us that have been looking for solutions to handle streaming and royalty issues at a reasonable cost.
I am actually a wee (in spirit of the Irish) bit excited about this.
and it was fairly easy. I have a local Icecast2 server I have been using as a test bank. I merely added a stream encoder in Altacast and directed it at the appropriate Live365 server. I was working in minutes. They updated their website within a couple of hours to show my station, with my temporary logo and artwork (don't laugh).
Costing is tiered, starting at around $60 per month including royaties and streaming. Visit their website for details.
I am still cleaning up some advertisement triggers and working on some things with a few pre-recorded shows I am hoping to run. I am also working on album art. In early days we didn't worry about that when we recorded an album. Now it is nice to see it display when available.
My website is www.jacksbororadio.net There are links there to take you to the listening portal.
I will create a Facebook page later this week.
And I still have the ongoing multiple transmitter project I am working on.
Did a drive test of my signal on 1650 AM today. I find that the station can be heard up to about 1,600 feet away. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5pJpBPJ71ufWW4zemRYZGpSR1k
🙂
on my backup homebrew tube type transmitter and changed the final grid circuit to boost the DC input power to 75 mW.
Neil