WHO IS your listening audience?

I have no way of knowing if anyone at any time is listening. There are hundreds of POTENTIAL listeners. Have advertised with a sign on the community mail box, sent a flyer a few years back in the mail to all houses that would most likely get me in the house with a GOOD receiver, not a $20 clock radio. A whole lot of townhouses across the street from me.

Told the mail girl when she was bringing me a parcel and I was sitting outside with my station on and she said she liked it, that she can listen in the truck when at the mail boxes and around here.

So no estimate to give you. Wish I knew. I give my email contact for comments with my disclaimer about this being a legal unlicensed station using an approved transmitter but never got any reply.

I Know I Am

My station exists as a personal service to myself and I listen to it most of the time.

I can tell when I'm not listening, because I run a ticking-clock with time announcements every minute so I can avoid missing the good talk programs that start-up again as soon  as I'm ready.

There are houses nearby that could receive 1st class signals, but I know nothing about their media habits, except that I can detect Wi-Fi signals and assume the strongest ones are the immediate neighbors, so they are on the web doing something, maybe looking up recipes.

The mailman has ear-buds and listens to a station but I never asked him about it.

This is a question about terrestrial radio, but my online stream does have three regulars.

In Deltaville Virginia I do have a few listeners on my terrestrial stream listening at 1640 kilohertz on am. The reason for so as I do advertise it on the Deltaville Virginia Facebook page. One gentleman said he was going to get out his Clarion C quam AM stereo receiver that he had taken out of his older car and convert it to a home stereo receiver so that he could hear me and see qualms.

AM radio is a hard sell but if you have a good genres of music or a good jonra in general that people are interested in they may listen. I don't see why not tell people about your station.

I'm sure that's pretty much the consensus; nobody knows who tunes in to their station. The question really stemmed from the other thread which implied the idea of people tuning in on a car radio was ridiculous. Point being we don't know who, how, where, or if anyone tunes in, so why rule anything out.

I'm assuming most part 15 stations a ran by one person, the primary purpose simply being personal pleasure, and that most of them have a consistent audience of less than 4 listeners! However there's always exceptions, but even they can't really know who their audience is.

I was kind of wondering how many might really operate more in the sense of a community effort.. IE, community radio station. I guess Tim in Bovery does, and we all know Sausalito does.. anyone else?

When I was on  Bowen Island, I ran Artisan Radio as a community radio station (under BETS-1 FM rules).

We were located in a storefront, located in an artist's enclave (Artisan Square, hence the name) overlooking Snug Cove (what passes as downtown on Bowen) and the ferry terminal.  The enclave consisted of stores, artist studios and residences.

Our target audience was the ferry lineup (all those car radios, you see, with people with nothing to do but listen to the radio while waiting for the ferry), and ideally Snug Cove residences (although we couldn't reach many of them).

The station coexisted with a bookstore that I also ran, and had a studio which could handle live concerts.  We broadcast a variety of music (copyright legal with a SOCAN license), as well as community-based programs and PSA's.  It was funded via sponsorship from businesses in the community, and managed to break even.

Artisan Radio was broadly supported by the community, including other local media outside the community.  We had an Internet stream to cover those areas that we couldn't reach with an over-the-air signal, and always had regular listeners.  While the actual ether listenership was ancedotal, I had regular feedback in my interactions with store customers (a few even said that they drove and parked at Artisan Square just to listen to the station).

I believe, though, that I made a fundamental mistake in using BETS.  If I had to do it all over again (and who knows, I might, even if the right situation comes up in a different area), I'd go with RSS-123.  That's a licensed (but relatively easy to get) way to broadcast to an area with specific boundaries (such as a shopping mall, or a civic square).  RSS-123 allows up to 1 watt output power to cover the specified area, as long as the field strength at the boundaries is 100uv or less (it's very similar to the AM campus rule in the U.S., but this would be FM here).

Basically, you get BETS strength at the boundaries of the property you are licensed to cover, so you would get BETS range from the boundaries.  Your range inside the property is essentially 'free'.

RSS-123 is not considered broadcasting in Canada (broadcasting is defined as transmitting to the general public), so you don't need a CRTC license.  It's the CRTC license that's extremely difficult to get here.  The RSS-123 license is considered a general radio license, and costs less than $100 per year.  You just have to convince Industry Canada that you are meeting all their requirements.

I just feel that BETS, and to the same extent, Part 15, generates too puny a signal for general listeners.  Unless you have a very specific application that involves cars and car radios, or convince people to use very sensitive communications type receivers and outside antennas, you're just not going to get the coverage.  At least legally.

It's fine for personal listening on your own, and perhaps a few, very close neighbors.  But with all the other listening choices available (and that give pristine quality), it's probably asking too much for someone to listen to a quality compromised radio signal.

Gated Neighborhoods

The ideal situation described by Artisan Radio, a convenient captive audience all massed together within convenient reach, makes me remember the gated community in which I previously resided.

The street was shaped like the letter Q with the tail of the Q being the entrance and exit, my house in the exact center on high ground.

A part 15 transmitter would have reached every house with a prime signal, although at the time I was employed by a 100 kW station so running a hobby station wasn't in the picture.

Point is, that's the kind of circumstance the radio hobbyist dreams about if the objective is to have a fixed audience.

I like the idea of using RSS 123 but I could never get away with it as I am broadcasting to the public with no defined boarder. Maybe if I drew a line on a map and said this is my defined area but still it's not an event or a tourist area...doubt I would get the license and especially not for an unlimited time period. Even if I was in a small town in cottage country(3000 or less) and said I was serving the town and the town boundaries were my defined area my purpose wouldn't get me the license. BETS-1 will have to do.

Sounds good though.

"..It’s fine for personal listening on your own, and perhaps a few, very close neighbors.  But with all the other listening choices available (and that give pristine quality), it’s probably asking too much for someone to listen to a quality compromised radio signal."

As always.. it really comes down to what's airing. If your broadcast is tailored specifically to the listening audience within your limited range area, whether it be a particular style or genre of music, or the specific communities interest, or whatever, if it's something that makes it worth tuning into, then most people will forgive a less than pristine broadcast without a second thought. That's probably why AM talk stations are still so popular... Consider the immensely popular 'Coast to Coast AM', no one gives a second thought to putting up with any static or interference they might experience, they tune in anyway. But it doesn't just apply to talk stations.. there was some recent article about an AM program that features only music from 8track tapes (country I think, but not sure, I'd have to find the article again) and people loved it and it created a strong local following.

It's comes down to what's being offered, not if it's AM or FM or if the reception is less than perfect.. Not the medium by which it's delivered by, but the content is the deciding factor.

Wouldn't you agree?

Artisian, while I was reading about your bookstore/radio station it reminded me of a part 15 station in Montana, the studio is in a candy shop and gun store. His station also has a community connection and has been part sponsor for the local race track and other events. He's never been a member of any forums that I know of, but I've had a few email correspondence with him. From what he tells me he has a pretty strong background in radio. I like listening to his stream fairly often, it's a bit unique, and I like it!    https://retroradio1490am.com/

... By the way, I realize Mighty's station goes by the name Retro Radio too, but this guys name is Dave Hurrt

People's Reactions to Your Station

I met a neighbor woman who was smiling back and forth by my bamboo grove which borders a public sidewalk. (I found out later she was high on some drug). I told her about KDX but she was just out of range in her house.

She did a drive-by and got KDX in her car, but said, "It doesn't go very far".

Then she tuned in on the internet stream and remained connected for many hours every day. I found out later that she left it on for her cats while she went to work or other errands.

Then she announced she had purchased a C.Crane Transmitter so she could have her own radio station and connect it to Pandora, her preferred station, but she was not happy with the in-house range of the C. Crane.

In an effort to help her I loaned her my Ramsey FM25b, which she also disliked. I offered to help her work on antenna arrangements to improve the result, but she had run out of patience and said that in her opinion either things worked or they didn't and she didn't like to mess around with it. She moved away with my transmitter leaving no forwarding address.

The last thing I found out was that she had previously been a he and was a transsexual. KDX doesn't have any trans programs.

Reply to Rich Powers(End 80).....I agree with you. Back when when AM was playing music and rock and roll I spent my time at night loving all these stations that could be picked up from all over the USA from Toronto and I had some regular stations I waited till nighttime for to listen to as they played songs you wouldn't hear here and to get Wolfman Jack. I didn't care about it not being pristine audio and fading in and out a bit.

In the seventies I listened to WNBC New York all the time for a Do-wop show each evening from Toronto.

Wasn't pristine audio with 0 interference but it was what I wanted to hear and loved the way I could have a radio and pick up all these stations from everywhere.

Artisan is right though when he says it's not likely to get people to get a better radio.

When i was referring to a quality compromised radio signal, I was really talking about Part 15 AM.  When I was running my Rangemaster, and getting well over a (listenable) mile range to my car radio, I couldn't get what I considered a quality signal to a good portable for more than a block or two.  After that, static started to really intrude into the listening pleasure.  I was able to get much more quality range with BETS FM and a Decade MS-100 (admittedly, with almost ideal, line of sight, conditions).

AM sensitivity isn't a high priority in most portable receivers.  Even on high end stereo components, you'll see AM sensitivity far exceeded by FM sensitivity (25uv vs 1-2 uv for a noise free signal).  Combine that with high noise levels on the AM band, and Part 15 AM becomes rather difficult past your immediate neighbors.

I couldn’t get what I considered a quality signal to a good portable for more than a block or two

About two residential blocks with a hand held receiver is the best I've ever done with any installation anywhere, and usually not even that far. I really believe it takes a car radio OR an external wire antenna to do better.. unless you got a CCrane Radio or something, and maybe it would do better.. I don't know.

I found out later that she left it on for her cats while she went to work or other errands.

Why? Didn't she like her cats?

Artisan is right though when he says it’s not likely to get people to get a better radio.

I totally agree with that. I don't think most people even realize or care the difference. I used to basically think a radio was a radio, my conception used to be that the speakers and amp quality was all that made a difference.

Still can't get at the LPH Carl...