How can a "microbroadcaster" achieve greater coverage legally and still be part 15 compliant? Post your ideas, methods, and comments here, and keep the language clean and appropiate.
could get one of these and stick your rangemaster at the very top 🙂
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.org
Moderator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
The BIG qualifier in your request is the word "legally". Anytime operating outside the current Part 15 rules, without a license, you run the risk of running afoul of the FCC. The "gray area" exception is the use of FCC certified transmitters like the Rangemaster AM1000. And even then, the FCC expects the operator to stay as close to the letter of the rules as possible.
Oddly enough, raising the antenna/transmitter to 30-40 feet (in the clear) does help some. However, a ground conductor of 10-12 AWG isolated from the mast or tower, connected solidly (soldered) to an 8 foot ground rod and at least 4 - 10 foot long ground radials conected solidly to the ground rod will also help. The ground conductor MUST take the shortest, most direct route to the ground rod. Ground conductivity in your area will have a great affect on the range of your station. Reducing ground losses should be your number one concern.
There are folks who will get into highly technical reasons why neither of these are strictly legal, but history indicates both are acceptable, most of the time, when using a FCC certified transmitter in AM broadcast service.
However, the most bang for your buck is going to come from the addition of a NRSC compliant AM audio processor. The best investment of the "all-in-one" boxes available is the Inovonics 222 AM broadcast processor. This processor, when setup correctly, can increase the listenable range by as much as 70 percent. Licensed AM's have been doing this for decades. And best of all, your station will sound better, create less "in-band" interference and it's 100 percent legal.
Finally, the best course of action is to make sure your transmitter and audio equipment are calibrated, set up and operating properly. No hum on the signal, soldered conections, RF torroids in the audio and DC lines at the transmitter, eliminating ground loops, level and impedance matching are all "good engineering practices" used by licensed broadcast stations. If you want to sound like the big guys, do the things the big guys do.
I have been a practicing broadcast engineer for over 35 years, and I try to maximize my stations signals by continually monitoring the signal integrity and quality.
Marshall Johnson, Sr.
Rhema Radio - The Word In Worship
http://www.rhemaradio.org
Thanks for the info. It is a big help. -TRAVIS ALLRED