Ok.. but I still believe the current state of the economy is directly and significantly related to the actions taken in response to covid years ago. I'm not trying to convince anyone, it's just my own perspective on the matter.
I'm not saying your incorrect, just that I see it differently.
Bringing this discussion back to Part 15 broadcasting, the tariffs will definitely cause prices to go up, from components all the way to finished goods. Even if we only look at the short term, rarely once prices go up do they go back down.
I worry more about the chain effects of these tariffs and price increases, much like the after effects of the covid assistance. The Chinese tariffs are effectively an embargo on trade with that country. At what point, and after what amount of time, do the Chinese just say screw it, and look for other markets and trade relationships, effectively cutting the U.S. off?
Going down the manufacturing line, at what point do the producers and sellers, particularly small businesses (and Part 15 is all small business), just give up and go look for more lucrative opportunities?
The latter, imo, is the biggest concern, not just the potential of rising prices.
You know, just to put it in a different perspective..
In the 1970s, part 15 AM transmitters comparable to ours now had cost just over $1200 each, and even more for the ones with synchronicity capabilities (like our Rangemaster). $1,200 in 1971 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $9,475.53 today (each).. In the 1980s Talking Houses were about $400, which is equivalent to about $1,167.15 today.
What's more, 20 years ago they wouldnt even sell the new Talking House to hobbyists, theres old threads talking about it.
So really, even if the prices go up, they will still be considerably cheaper than they've ever been in the past.
Considering the investments many of have actually put into our stations, I really don't think price increase due to tarriffs or any other reason will make much of a difference. I really doubt it will have any kind of detrimental effects at all.
I originally balked at the Rangemasters prices and was going to just get a Ramsey, but soon changed my mind and bought a Rangemaster anyway.. I balked at the prices of used proccessing equipment, but eventually spent well over a thousand on that too. I had balked at the Shlockwood proccessor price initially too, but have since changed my mind and plan to ultimately buy one..
I think we all have spent ridiculous money over the years to satisfy our passion of the hobby. So any potential raise of prices may raise eyebrows, but ultimately will have no effect at all.
The tariff situation sucks and will probally have er effects on the economy as a whole, but part 15? nope, I don't see how.
Seems to me tariffs will have little if any effect on our hobby. Maybe it will result in the Procaster costing a little more to get across the border - but is that really so devastating?, will it really hurt their sales? How many have they sold in the last few years? How many has Rangemaster? Talking Houses (most of which come used from ebay). . How much bearing do you really believe tariffs are going to have on the part 15 broadcast hobby? I say none. I dont believe it's a valid concern.
My thoughts too. I seem to remember someone here (Mark, I think) telling us the number of Procasters that Gerry had sold in a whole year, and it was well down in the low single digits. I imagine Rangemaster sales are similarly low. If you look at the avtivity in the small number of Part 15 forums and the few FB groups, I'd bet that nearly all of the participants already have their transmitters. How many more are they going to buy? I bought 3 Decade MS-100's a few months ago - all used, all in excellent condition, and all for around $60 each, give or take. At any point in time, there are several MS-100's on eBay that sit there going unsold for quite long periods. I don't think that many people are buying Part 15 transmitters, either new or used.
I apologize for being a Debbie Downer, but Part 15 broadcasting is a very, very niche pursuit. As for the comments in this thread that aren't directly related to Part 15, and concern politics in a wider sense, I don't think they're appropriate in a Part 15 forum - but hey, it's not my site (and I don't post here very often, so my opinions don't carry that much weight).
I meant that to say Dave's opinions do carry weight @rugster in case that wasn't clear. I was responding that his last comment was not true. It was bull.
I guess it came out much more vulgar than I intended. It was a jerk reaction.
So much for keeping the thread on topic...
Anticipating some (further) disruption in early 2025 I bought some back up radio items. I continue to do that and seek ways to back up a radio signal for brown outs or grid down. One item I got was a spare Part 15 transmitter. Speaking of, I need to try it out.
I partly do the Part 15 thing out of concern to get information out in an emergency, so redundancy is important. But mostly done for my nerd amusement.
... and seek ways to back up a radio signal for brown outs or grid down. One item I got was a spare Part 15 transmitter. Speaking of, I need to try it out...
Well obviously the transmitter itself pulls almost no energy at all, in fact it's so little that you dont need to bother even factoring it in.. Your primary draw is going to be whatever your using to feed the audio and whatever proccessing.. like maybe a laptop.. Rough guesstimation it will pull somewhere around.. I don't know 30 watts? (I'm guessing) Let's say it's 30 watts. Don't know what kind of batteries you got but let's say it's a standard capacity 50ah car battery, that provides about 600wh of power, so your station would run about 20 hours before having to recharge the battery.. add a 100w solar panels and your station would run indefinitely.
It really depends how much power your laptop or whatever is going to draw while in operation.