Attached here is a pdf of an interesting article. Below are some select excerpts...
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Electronics Now, August 1999 (5 pages)
Low -Power FM Transmitters
Join the growing ranks of clandestine radio broadcasters, and perhaps stay in the good graces of the FCC as well.
For decades, the concept of low-power radio was held in check by technical barriers. Those favorable to the concept were told by those in commercial broadcasting that the transmitting and audio equipment were too expensive.
End of story. Most of these radio
enthusiasts had no technical background and were mesmerized simply by the notion of impressing their audio on the radio spectrum. To these and most other "normal" people, radio is still less a science than alchemy -using engineering
voodoo to convert sound into radio
signals....
...the only way to stay on the air legally is to purchase a Part-15 compliant transmitter and operate with very low power. A number of these transmitters are available.. ... to stay within Part-15 limits. ...
...But the nature of Part 15 makes that a very iffy proposition. For example, one peculiarity of the FCC's Part -15 rules is that no specifications are given for output power. Part 15 relates only to unintended interference emitted from an electronic device. ....
.. the interference rating can't be given in output power. Instead, the rating is in milli-volts-per-meter, which is the signal strength at a particular distance away from whatever is emitting the signal.
While such a specification is fine for unintentional radiators, it makes life very difficult for anyone trying to comply with Part 15 with a broadcast station. The big problem is in making the measurements. It requires that you have specialized test equipment, an RF millivolt - meter, in particular. The least - expensive millivoltmeter that I've found to date is available from Ramsey Electronics and costs $695. That's more than most personal broadcasters can afford.
Because of that and other Part-15 issues, most personal broadcasters in this country avoid the details and simply purchase Part-15 compliant transmitters and run them with the specified power input and antenna. One advantage of that approach is that the FCC has generally been more flexible with very low-powered FM broadcasters.
Part -15 stations are very rarely visited by the FCC; most FM stations running higher power are typically warned, not immediately fined. On the other hand, this is not an invitation to violate FCC rules...
...Instead, we will focus on what we consider to be "broadcast - quality" transmitters. The term "broadcast quality" is used here to represent transmitters that are intended for amateur broadcasting and have better general specifications than other hobbyist kits. ...
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Attached here contains only the full 5 page article that I extracted
. You can download the entire issue at World Radio History, it begins on page 37: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Electronics/90s/1999/RE-1999-08.pdf
"The least expensive millivoltmeter that I've found to date is available from Ramsey Electronics and costs $695. That's more than most personal broadcasters can afford. "
What? You mean a meter is available that can measure our small signals can be had for $695, not thousands$$$$ like the Potomac? We spend that much on our transmitters or processing gear.
I have never seen this, and I just looked. If this was available back in 1999 how come none of us knew about this?
I skimmed a couple Ramsey archives but didnt see a 1990s catalog or a millivoltmeter in their later catalogs..
https://archive.org/details/ramseyelectronic00unse/page/5/mode/1up
It's interesting the guy who wrote it was the same guy who had published the "Hobby Broadcasting" magazine which Jpjaneze had been searching archives of: https://www.part15.org/community/temp/back-issues-of-hobby-broadcaster/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Yoder publishes Hobby Broadcasting magazine. He has also written the following books about pirate radio:
Pirate Radio Stations, Pirate Radio,
and Pirate Radio Operations. He can be contacted at: ayoder @cvn.net or P.O. Box 642, Mont Alto, PA 17237
He apparently has three of his old issues availble on his Amazon along with his other books: $18 https://www.amazon.com/Books-Andrew-Yoder/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAndrew%2BYoder
Wow.. even more.. whoever said there were only two or three issues was mistaken. I havent found any pdf downloads. These things belong on the Internet Archive.
Christopher Laplante posted some pictures of his issues on facebook in 2022:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/hfunderground/posts/1113571103358624 /
pigmeat over a HFunderground said on November 19, 2022, https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php?topic=105434.0
I've got a bunch of Andy's old "Hobby Broadcasting Magazines" from the turn of the century, including a few with "Radio Al Fansome" QSL's featuring Al's trailer and Capt. Ron's cardboard box underneath. No phony baloney QSL's for our Amish admirers
A few existing here too..
Spr-Fall 98
https://library.civicmediacenter.org/collection/periodical/hobby-broadcasting
A couple more covers:
Getting back to the Ramsey RF Millivoltmeter mentioned in 1999.. I dont suppose this would be it, as it doesn't look like it would have ever cost $695 to me... They want $40 for this one now
Ramsey MVM-1 RF Million Meter https://www.ebay.com/itm/326254529396 ?
