Is anyone using SDR# and an RTL-SDR to improve their part 15 operation?
I have had a hard time finding a good FM channel for my C Crane FM2 transmitter. I am northeast of Baltimore MD so the FM dial is crowded here. I have used radio locator’s open channel finder. I have used FM fool to see where should be quiet on the dial at my site. I have sat in my vehicle and gone channel by channel to see what I can hear. I have used a good sangean FM radio with an outdoor antenna to see what I can hear channel by channel. I narrowed it down to a handful of possible channels but could not figure out the “best”.
I got an e-book The Hobbyists Guide to the RTL-SDR and an RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 Dongle. I hooked it up to a vertical omnidirectional antenna I have above my roof and started looking at the FM band. A station with HD radio takes up a ton of spectral real estate. Where I can see the HD sidebands for some of the DC stations in addition to the Baltimore stations. The HD stations near me have obviously maximized their HD coverage, I can see some are using asymmetric digital sidebands. Translators have been shoehorned in anywhere they can. There are a few spots on the dial by me where there is no room. For example, HD on 105.7, translator on 106.1, HD on 106.5, translator on 106.9.
Instead of finding a best spot for my part 15 transmitter I have ended up seeing how full of garbage the FM Band is.
FM has become useless for hobby Broadcasting south of Gloucester, VA too. I'm seeing less space on FM. AM is your best choice.
FM has become useless here in Toronto also as not only the Toronto stations but from all the areas around. Buffalo, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Oshawa, Barrie, Richmond Hill, Kitchener/Waterloo, Rochester NY etc. No place where there's blank space with clear adjacent spots each side. Going one frequency at a time in the car there's something on almost every frequency.
Last spring, a year ago switched to AM.