Well, 1610 is TIS Turnpike Info. But a lot of radios do not tune that high. What, 1605? Something like that? The new HeathKit AM Explorer radio goes up to 1650. But I had 1560 from the start. I had no idea about that 50K blowtorch in NY. I figured that is where my night time signal went.
At night, I barely get downtown. Now I know why. Daytime is fine. Orban feeding the TH gave me a loud, clear signal. Until that thing fizzled. Now the SSTRAN gets the test. And ya know...
No reason why I can't try 1630 or 1640. Right now, the only thing I have that tunes that high is my Denon AM/FM Tuner. I plug that into a cassette deck locked into REC mode. I measure the average modulation on a strong AM station here (1340), and calibrate to that. A good DIY modulation monitor!
Doug
I am running an AMT3000. I was running a TH 5. I actually get more distance from the AMT3000 with the loading coil built using the design on SSTRAN's website than I did with the TH 5 and a 102 in whip at the exact same height and location.
My coverage, at a height of app. 18ft, on top of a metal roof is 1/2 mile solid coverage (daylight/straightline measurement) in most vehicles all directions. I can hear it beyond that, and have heard it 2 miles out in one direction, but it was just perceptable.
The audio quality of the AMT3000 is hands down, way beyond anything the TH 5 ever did.
I have a Hamilton Rangemaster sitting behind me, just waiting on all the pieces for the install in the next few days. I hope that it works as well as everyone says it does!
Good luck with your project, keep us posted... BTW, building the antenna system on the SSTRAN website really makes a difference in range.
Oh, yes, Craig! I already love the little box! I plan on just "the wire out the window". Not sure how that's gonna pan out. My last 3000 went three or four blocks with just the wire! That's at ground level. I'm up on the second floor overlooking downtown. The Talking House 5.0 easily covered that and went a half mile out, but terrible audio. Like a telephone...
In the past, I built the Vectronics AM transmitter:
http://www.vectronics.com/Product.php?productid=VEC-1290K
The 1290K sounded FAR superior to the Talking House! Not a bad unit for $30! Ya gotta get the case for it though! It's a fun build! The SSTRAN is way superior though. But the first kit I ever assembeled, transmitter-wise was similar to this:
http://www.vectronics.com/Product.php?productid=VEC-1292K
I sent an inquiry to this address:
DC Electronics
P O Box 3203
Scottsdale AZ 85271
He replied:
The Stereocaster is an FM stereo transmitter kit based on the BA1404
chip with a few milliwatts of output power ($29.95 plus $4 S & H). It
has a smooth fine-tuning control which makes it easy to get on the
exact frequency you want, and a voltage regulator which improves
stability. It has been reported that the signal strength can be
increased by replacing the supplied output transistor with an MRF581.
The Stereocaster is more stable than Ramsey's famous FM-10.
It was a good little unit. But Vectronics improved that a bit with a few mods, but still had the basic BA1404. It needs filtering. I was never impressed with Ramsay. I built the AM-1 and the AM-25. Toys. The Talking House was my serious intro to Part 15. The SSTRAN just galvanized it for me.
My BA1404 FM unit had the signal strength increased by replacing the supplied output transistor with an MRF581. I had a Comet 95SL vertical 5/8 antenna, 30 feet in the air. I put out about a mile, clean.
Then, not satisfied, I bought the Veronica FM Stereo 30-Watt. I was very happy for four years.
Florida passed a law though. All these transmitters now spelled trouble as far as I was concerned. Even Part 15 could land me with a felony! That's a nope. I lost everything in a foreclosure anyway. I managed to keep my Veronica 30W, but lost the antenna and cable.
Here in Maine, I find I don't need FM. I inherited a BRAND NEW Talking House unit and set up AM 1560 KLW a number of years ago. That unit got wet from the rain and died. Then I bought another one on eBay, a brand new TH5.0. Now that is dead after little more than a year!
Here we go again! The SSTRAN is a more rugged unit methinks. I might just order another 3000 as a backup seeing that I don't know how long Phil plans on doing this.
Doug
Craig, you are going to LOVE that Hamilton Rangemaster! It's a beast to set up. You need to be up in a cherry picker to tune it. It has to be where it will be permanently mounted, to tune it right. Once that's done...that's it! Lucky you. A Hamilton Rangemaster! Drool!
Doug
That is a great post about what you have done over the years! Mentioning the Ramsey kit , reminded me of the one I built years ago when I lived NC. I was so unimpressed with the output and sound quality, I can't even find it now! Pretty sure I gave it to someone to tinker with. I also tabled part 15 for 14 years as a result. Yes, I was expecting much more!
It is a shame that Florida passed such a restrictive law when more important things need attention.
Here in Texas, my little town has really embraced my project. I am asked daily what I am doing next to improve signal and what kind of off the wall personalalized programming I will be airing. I am more concerned about the FCC than the town officials are... So, I keep it legal..at least in my interpretation.
I wanted a AMT5000, I sent a couple of emails and got no response. So I bought a used Rangemaster off of ebay. It looks good, but I am waiting on a crystal for it, so I have not implemented it yet. I may still purchase a AMT5000 kit to do a comparison in the future. I would like to see more AM stereo opportunities also. I love AM, always have...but I live in the past.
Keep us posted concerning your progress. I really hope you get the coverage and listeners!!!
Craig
Keith still has a few crystals on hand. Agreed, you are going to love the Rangemaster and you will never go back to any other transmitter. I like mine so much I'm thinking of getting another one. The Dallas FCC office is extremely Part 15 AM friendly. Read into that as you will. *wink*
Keith was very prompt in answering my questions and got my order out pretty fast. I estimate it will be here today or Monday. I am going to remove my current transmitter toolbox from the roof and mount the Rangemaster on the roof in a slightly different location.
I am working out the ground details. That is one of the problems with the roof mount.
I would prefer it be ground mounted, but I can't get it in the clear at my house or at work, and though it would be safe at the house, here at work, the roaming meth heads would probably steal it if it were mounted at ground level.
I am doing my best to keep it legal, I am hoping that when/if the guys from Dallas show up, that my efforts to comply with their desires results in a positive outcome. I have even left a visible note on the door nearest the transmitter with my contact info.
Awesome Craig! One Step closer to getting another Texas station on the air. The Folks in Dallas are pretty friendly, pending how far you are from DFW/Denton the likelyhood of them stopping by is pretty low but best to keep it up to snuff in case. The Dallas office for the most part just hunts for FM activity. Oddly the Dallas office doesn't seem all that active, I'm not sure if the area is just clear of pirates or what.
My transmitter is on a pole in the yard, most folks are confused by it. They are about to be a heck of a lot more confused when my 8 foot satellite dish goes up behind it.
On top of my warehouse. I didn't get to put it where I had intended because of structural design of the building. I will have a bit more trouble with running cables etc. As usual, a 30 minute job turned into 1 hour and 30 minutes. I will hopefully get time to run some cables tomorrow and begin my tune up and testing by the weekend.
My transmitter is contained inside a watertight box at the base of my antenna system and I routinely monitor the DC supply current to the system. I noted that the current had fallen quite a bit from the normal reading and investigated. The RF power output of the transmitter was only 1/4 of what it should be so I opened the box to discover that water was standing on the PC board. I think it got in via the power/audo cable which is sealed at the box but open at the other end and the water probably wicked up between the conductors and the sheath. Anyay, I dried the board and box contents and it is back to normal.
Neil
My current transmitter is in a small truck tool box on the roof (Yes I carried it up there). I needed the size for the TH5 I was originally using, and left it when I switched to the AMT3000 (I could mount a lot of stuff in there). It has worked well for supporting the loading coil and whip I use.
When I built the loading coil, I put an alligator clip on the lead wire that attaches to the coil taps. I meant to take it off after tuning, but I never brought a soldering iron to the roof with me. It has begun to corrode, so periodically, I get to go up there and wiggle it around to make sure it is making full power. If I were continuing to use it, I would actually solder the connection.
The other morning, it was damp outside and power was greatly reduced. I suspected the usual problem, so I got the ladder out and on the roof I go. When I got up there a spider was between the tap I use and the nearest tap. It was wet, and I guess it was shorting out the connection. It was hit and miss for a few seconds as we fought for the right to use the tap I had claimed. I won, and normal coverage was resumed.
I had time to run a cat 5 cable and get everything cabled up. I brought it on line in conjunction with the AMT3000 nearby late this afternoon. They actually beat together, I was expecting distortion, heterodyne etc. This warrants further tests!!!
The radio I had on the roof with me to listen to the signal was overpowered until I removed its antenna, (with both units running) which then cleared the signal up.
I then removed power from the AMT3000 and did a drive around town.
I haven't seen a significant improvement over the AMT3000 yet, but I also need to do some tweaking to the Rangemaster.
I think my loading coil /antenna combination on the AMT3000 was working to the max efficiency of available power to the antenna, so I am not surprised. Yet, I was hoping for more.
Over the next few days, I will fine tune things a bit further, rework some grounding issues I am not happy with, and report back. I also need to take a different voltmeter to the install. The one I was using is an autorange unit, and I had trouble peaking the match, it does not show the digits floating more than one or two places behind the decimal. I will dig in my stack and either carry an old analogue unit or one that is a bit more primitive when I go back up.
Good news is, it still sounds good, and I didn't lose any coverage.
Comments or thoughts are welcome. This is a roof install, metal roof on a large building. Current height is about 6 ft above the roof. Total height above ground is about 18 ft. Would prefer a ground mount (I am tired of the ladders), but a clear lot is not available where I can provide a secure install.
To another computer for streaming instead of streaming direct from RadioDJ (which works great). This will allow me to break the audio to both the transmitter and the stream for either live DJ work or my upcoming weather alert capabilities.
I am still working out the bugs on the transmitter upgrade. I am going to relocate the system next week to another section of the building with easier access to a suitable/hopefully FCC compliant ground.
Ironically, while I was testing the live microphone mix.. I received a text asking what I was babbling about. Nothing like a live upgrade when you have listeners and no backup control room.
Haven't really done anything for my station in weeks and weeks, other than making a mess, cleaning it up, and occasionally adding a piece of gear here and there. The typical stuff.
But
I've decided that it's time to expand the studio considerably. The studio actually has a small couch along one wall. It's on it's way out. That wall will be lined with another work desk that runs nearly the length of the wall. I always build my own so I can get exactly what I want -- mostly 2x4's and a top from that pre-made shelf/table stop stuff from Home Depot. Then I can make cutouts to go around things like radiators and windows (the house is 100+ years old so the windows are tall and run from below desk level about 5 inches to about 6 inches from the 10' ceilings). This desk will be about 7 feet by 24 inches. this will become the "live" side of the studio. The opposing side is where I do all recording, which includes tons of voice overs for clients, as well as produce commercials and PSA's for my Part 15, and produce the Oompah Hour, etc. The new side will be specifically for show production and live on air work, while the other side will remain the "production" side of the room. Besides live on the air it will be used for "live" show productioin -- the Oompah Hour is recorded straight through as a live show, even though it's pre-recorded, but it's performed live from beginning to end.
The new desk will be set up with an Arrakis ARC-8 mixer, two new Stanton turntables, Stanton CD player, rackmount digital recorder, RE20 Electrovoice mic, and other typical stuff. A nice thing about all this is I'll finally have room for an equipment rack, so gear that's just stacked here and there will have a home. It's gonna be a pain in the butt for a few weeks but should add a ton of functionality.
I'm about to launch another syndicated program and it will be easier with a smoother way to DJ a show with all records, than the hodge podge setup I use for the Oompah Hour. Oh, this will also include a bit more storage for LP's. The polka records have pretty much taken over the room! I'll try to remember to post a pic when I get a chance.
This all happening with a ton of stuff going on at work -- building a new air studio for a new station, replacing a 40+ year old 100,000 watt FM transmitter, replacing a 50 pound RF module in an AM transmitter, and the general insanity of an election year and the launch of Christmas right after Halloween! Busy boy around here!
TIB
BTW, I am airing your halloween dungeon show tonight right after the polka show. May re-air the dungeon show Monday night also since we will have tricker treaters around town.
My studio is my office at work, which is my real job. I have a folding table behind my desk with my mixers, the RADIODJ laptop, and now a streaming laptop. I haven't worked up to turntables yet or cds etc. Simply not enough room! I move everything into the music database on the laptop and pull from there.
My production work is done on my office computer and I just upload across the network into the RADIODJ database. It also has a limited amount of programming material to carry me thru the occasional reboot or a failure of the RADIODJ laptop.
As this progresses, I have another area in my building cluster that I have picked out for the control / production room. That is provided I reach my goal of licensed broadcast in the future. Provided I get that far, it will have all the goodies a real station should have.
I noticed you are using a Electrovoice mic, I need to commandeer one. I have a couple of low end mics that sound ok, but to get the sound I want, I have to crowd them, and if I turn my head slightly, the sound changes. I have told myself, I am not stealing anything else from the ham radio room to carry to the broadcast station !!!
As a side note, today I began work on two really nice Magnavox vintage consoles. One of my great aunts is moving into a retirement home at 83 years of age.
She wanted a cousin of mine and I to have the consoles. One is early 70's with separate amp (guessing 50-100 old style watt rating) built into the cabinet. It is a monster and will run you out of the room at half power. Both are early solid state. I was actually hoping for tube equipment. I have an old tube early Zenith that I need to recap...just haven't got to it.
The other console is middle/early 60s' with 15" woofers and metal tweeter fired at 45 deg into the corners. It is also a power house, but with different low end response and highs. The lows don't sustain as long as the early 70's model, but are really strong and distinct.
I spent the morning checking electronics/ cleaning pots and fired them up. They are very near my AM transmitter so they really make my part 15 station sound good. Nearly as good as the C.Crane fm transmitter I also use in the building to monitor the internet stream.
One of the consoles is going into my office for on the air feed monitor. The other is going to my cousins office across town after I rework the record changer.