Experiments with the Talking Sign (TS-100) Transmitter

So, I want to move back to AM, but also want to use an Industry Canada certified transmitter to be entirely legal.

So, I want to move back to AM, but also want to use an Industry Canada certified transmitter to be entirely legal.

I have an older TS-100 Talking Sign transmitter (the forerunner to the ChezRadio ProCaster) and until my current Procaster is fixed (I bought it on e-bay, it doesn't work correctly, big surprise) I thought I'd try this radio out again.

It has some unique features. First, it has a built-in antenna tuner for the almost 10 foot (3 meter) antenna wire that it comes with (and was certified with). It uses a similar grounding system to the Talking House with the wire antenna (through the electrical outlet, I believe).

I looked up the TS-100 on the Industry Canada Equipment list, and it states that the power output is 90mw - I have no idea if that is indeed the case, or a typo. It would be mighty efficient if that was the case.

Now, I've found that the key with low power AM transmitters is to get the antenna up as high as possible to avoid obstructions (the signal is easily absorbed and weakened by said obstructions). There is also no radiating ground wire to worry about with this transmitter, so here is what I did.

My studio is in a closed in car port at the side of my house. I put the radio on a shelf as high up as I could get it in the room. I ran the antenna wire out the wall and threaded it through a small diameter (3/4 inch) PVC pipe, fixing it at the top end. The pipe is about 7 1/2 feet long, and the rest of the wire ran to the end of the pipe. The pipe is fixed to a wall-mounted satellite mast. Thus, I got the end of the wire up just over the roofline of my bungalow.

The results were quite good, all things considered. In most directions, I can hear my signal quite clearly (with some noise, of course, increasing as you get further away) 1/2 to 3/4 mile away. In one direction, which is 3/4 open field, 1/4 built up, I could hear it easily another mile away (for a total range of just under 2 miles).

And all that with a stock (unmodified) certified transmitter (it's FCC certified as well) with no radiating ground wire!

I should state that I was in my car when doing the range tests, a 2011 Nissan Cube, with the stock radio which is good, but not exceptional like the one in my Hyundai Santa Fe was, and the stock car antenna.

The sound quality was not quite as good as the Rangemaster and the Procaster (both of which I've used in the past) but entirely acceptable, particularly since low power AM is noisy unless you're really close to the transmitter.

So now I have 2 projects - 1) to see if I can get the antenna up even higher (perhaps I'll put the transmitter in a waterproof box with power outlets in it, and run power to the box) and 2) see if I can improve the sound quality a bit. I use VST in my software audio chain with a compressor and a stereo to mono converter - I think I'll add a light footprint equalizer and see if that will make any difference.

Based on these results, I'm not convinced that I'll get any greater range with a ground mounted Procaster (and if you mount it in the air, you've got the radiating groundwire problem).

This is fun!