That's the name of an article over at that other Part 15 Forum.
It's also utter rubbish, full of blatant misinformation. How a so-called 'engineer' could write something so biased is beyond me.
The main premise appears to be that you can achieve greater range with Part 15 AM broadcasting than you can with FM. That, of course, with all factors being equal, is true, but the article then proceeds to give a best-case example for AM, and pretty much the worst-case for FM.
There is virtually no discussion about the various factors that can affect range with either AM or FM and in what circumstances you might want to use one or the other.
The one range factor given for FM, radio quality, is so wrong that it's not worth repeating. Suffice it to say that radio quality varies much more for FM than AM, affects FM more than AM, and can make the difference between obtaining 100 feet of range (the 'maximum' for FM stated in the article) and 1000 feet (what is really possible to achieve - legally - given the right receiver and the right location).
Part15.org is the place to get ALL the facts surrounding broadcasting. You then can make your own decision as to which way to go.
I've read that article, and it's full of misunderstandings and misconceptions. To be a radio broadcast engineer it's obvious, the article is skewed towards running people away from part 15 broadcasting. After all he's a current broadcast engineer and probably in the pockets of the corporations.
I find it rather sad.
Yes, it is obvious that the self proclaimed premier site for Part 15 broadcasting attempts to steer people away from Part 15 FM broadcasting, even though there are plenty of applications where it makes more sense than AM, even with its reduced range (such as Parking Lot Radio).
@wefr You know, I don't think that's the case. From what I can gather, he hasn't worked in the broadcast industry for a while, at least full time.
I do know that the site's advertisers and associates (including the helper in the AM Transmitter Challenge) all manufacture or distribute Part 15 AM equipment.
Who knows why anyone is biased? The trick is to look for bias, and to attempt to move past it, keeping an open mind.
@artisan-radio You may be right. But the attitude he displayed towards me and few others brings the biased part into questions. If not then he has a ego issue.
@wefr Sadly, the ALPB is no longer in existence. It was actually created out of this Forum, and in its heyday was quite active. Unfortunately, there were some internal divisions that formed, and it disbanded (maybe it was more like exploded).
The remnants can be found at the MBCF Boards. It is not very active now, with only a few, occasionally participating, members.
@wefr You're right about the bias and ego parts. It's been a problem all along.
Part15.us, now Part15.org, was the first Part 15 broadcasting site and Forum, first established in the early 2000's. It was very active when I joined in 2006 (pre the formation of Artisan Radio), with dozens of posters. That other site came afterward, although he likes to claim he's the oldest. Whatever. It shows the mindset over there.
For all that Part 15 broadcasting is a very specialized endeavor, with a relatively small participant base, there certainly are a lot of egos involved. There have been attempts to bury the hatchet(s) and work together over the years, but they've always failed. Even the ALPB couldn't find a way to exist with internal strife.
I don't expect that this series of posts will help the situation. But misinformation always has to be countered with fact.
There is no one way to do Part 15 broadcasting. My motto has always been, both here and in my professional life - think of what you want to do (i.e. the problem), and then come up with the best way to do it (i.e., the solution). If you do it the opposite way, come up with the 'best' solution first, you may not end up being able to do what you want to do.
So, get the furthest range - potentially use AM. To get the maximum number of listeners, first ask yourself the question, does anyone have an AM radio out there? Will the preponderance of FM radios in people's homes outweigh the lesser range? Best quality sound - it depends. If you're mostly playing old time radio, vintage 78s, etc., is FM really necessary? You can see that when you look at problems to be solved, solutions aren't nearly as clear cut. And YOUR solution is based on what YOUR problem is, no one elses' (not sure if that's the correct use of the possessive apostrophe but I'll go with it).
@artisan-radio I think you came very close to or maybe even dead on the head of nailing it.
And I'll roll with that also.
Artisan's last post had some good points about AM or FM. Yes especially with AM in the USA you will go much farther BUT...a big BUT..I see all the posts about the range you are getting but is that to anyone listening? When you include the electrical interference from all kinds of things and when you hear bzzzzzzzzzzzzz all over the band in the majority of homes that wasn't there in AM's heyday that range you are getting is not so good anymore. And the better the receiver the better the noise also! Even in cars it's not like it used to be.
With FM in Canada you can get better with the right location and good receiver to any *usable* range you'd get with AM. One question to ask when deciding to do AM or FM is do you want listeners other than yourself or not. As for does anyone have an AM radio...one can always be had, they are all readily available but more importantly if they don't have AM they won't have FM either and I am willing to give out radios to anyone who will be a listener. Chargers are one of the worst noise generators there is. The Sangean MMR-99 even doesn't allow charging in AM mode as it will just wipe out the band. The Tivoli PAL portable, when the charger is plugged in so goes AM completely. It is sad it's like this but the other forum owner isn't considering these points when defending AM with bias against FM. FM is not affected by any of this stuff. The electric grid is full of this noise also...it doesn't originate just in your house.
This demo should be considered when considering range you get with AM....this is the real world....
It would take a very high fm broadcast antenna with some wattage behind it to equal my am signal, especially between late fall and mid spring. I can hear my signal in other people's homes ,and very well. To create a signal that I have though requires a lot of land for all the radials ,above ground power lines also helps. I've tested my signal on foot at night . My signal is fifty dbu and above in the strongest locations at a half mile .... Average of high thirties to low forties but considering all the wire I have in place to accomplish the feat,plus metal roof...Most people won't be able to do that... One of my cars has a thirty eight dbu noise on my frequency but it takes two miles for the noise to drown out my signal during the summer and four miles plus during the winter. On the car we have with a very good radio,no noise I can hear my station seven miles most of the time and I've heard it more than ten miles at times. Am has another disadvantage... Station and antenna location. If my transmitter was in a town and just an antenna, mm maybe a mile and a half to two miles usable reception. Fm is much easier unless you live in my a valley...Power is much less important than antenna height, except when it comes to penetration of buildings. I'll get into that tomorrow. My experience with that,plus the cheap radios that are available now kind of steered me away from fm . There's also interference on fm but not static ,more like a strong his that blocks out weak stations . I can see it show on my dbu meter . I think it's from cable tv and internet. I don't have that in my house though. I'll cover as I said what I discovered tomorrow. Glad to see site back up too.
Interference on the FM band ...... I did testing yesterday with my Tecsun radio ... The reults are the following on the FM band inside a relatives house . There was a strong 41 dbu signal ..hiss in the kitchen , throughout the rest of the house it was between 21 dbu to 39 dbu . All the weaker stations blocked . I discovered the same to be true in other homes years ago , much of the FM band blocked by a strong signal without a carrier . I operated a one watt FM station 87.7 ,antenna 60 feet above ground and had a range more than four miles ...Yet was wiped out by various silent carriers ,one I found out to be the lighting system in my friends garage . Static is horrible on AM but worse than static is being snuffed out by hiss on FM ...So I decided to leave FM for this reason and after discovering how much could be done with part 15 AM ....My take on FM vs AM.
I have when driving around encountered as Artisan pointed out dead carriers in certain areas on space between stations even where I am on 89.9 but not all the time. Always thought it's someone with some transmitter in a car or a house doing this. The only thing I found in my place is on weak stations on radios with very good selectivity and image rejection so I know it is not imaging from other strong stations, when I bring the radio right beside my Bluetti power station being used as a UPS with in a foot of the unit weak stations are blocked. This with a Tivoli PAL and Sangean H 201 and MMR-99. The power station must be when right beside it is putting out some frequency modulated interference. But hiss is normal on FM as a characteristic of the band between or on very weak stations. The Bluetti tunes out the very weak signal but is not what is making the hiss. It is not as a dead carrier or it would be silent.
But interference on FM is very small compared to AM. All the electrical noise and wiping out of the band from even just the contamination of the power grid, and AM signals blocked by things like going under a bridge with steel grid in the car or inside a large building with steel structure isn't like that with FM. The electric cars that affect AM and make the car makers say they will leave it out doesn't affect FM.
Don't get me wrong, I like AM and grew up with it but back then it wasn't plagued by all the stuff it is now. You could have a nice floor standing tube radio in your house and it was noise free and DXing was great but not now as Fran's video shows.
For us it comes down to this..if you want listeners or you want to broadcast to yourself.
In Canada it is a plus to have more field strength on FM to take advantage of.
To get decent range on AM, you have to have your installation in the 'right' area. The ideal situation is in a rural environment, with minimal electrical noise, and great ground conductivity. Then you can get the kind of range that was talked about in the article referenced in the initial post, and likely lots more, particularly with sensitive radios.
But if you live in a concrete jungle, with rebar-reinforced concrete, and lots of interference-generating lighting and other equipment, good luck. Ground conductivity may be the most important factor, since AM is propagated through ground waves. You can add radials, or do some of the things amateur radio operators have done in iffy situations, such as installing metal sheeting or chicken wire in the ground beneath your antenna. That increases antenna efficiency, but you're still stuck with lousy ground conductivity away from your antenna.
To put it bluntly, no matter how well you engineer your AM station, if you live with these kinds of situations, you'll likely measure your range in hundreds of feet, rather than miles, even on the best of radios.
I've been around these Forums a long time. And I can't count the number of potential Part 15 broadcasters who have believed some of the propaganda spouted about AM, went out and purchased a transmitter, to find to their chagrin that they were only getting several hundred feet range.
The bottom line is to not believe everything you read, as it could be coming from biased sources. Reading is important, don't get me wrong, but get different viewpoints and then make up your own mind. Experimentation is the lifeblood of Part 15 broadcasting. Spend a little, try things out, and only go all in once you are convinced you're going to get the results you want.