I dthere anyone out there that woulkd be willing to give me a hand starting a part 15 am or fm.
I think almost any of us would be willing to help. Just let us know how we can help.
Frank
www.easthillradio.com
What Frank said plus if you could give us some idea of what you are trying to do such as personal use or microbroadcasting, coverage, your technical abilities or willingness to learn, space (apartment,etc.) many here could make suggestions. I am sure if you have specific questions they will be answered here.
Neil
Also the approximate area that you want to cover (yard, apartment building, city block, etc.).
I come from commercial radio and I am so tired of whewre it is going. I live in a rural community. So of course I want as much range as possible but I know the limitations. our rural high school would benefit from the sports broadcasts and I am planning on similcasting on the internet. I know with the way things are going with LPFM it will still yake some time for that to become a reality and I know fiding a frequency wil be tough. How is LPAM going have not heard much. I was approaced by members of out city council to see if I was interested in this project. I just told them I have looked at LPFM but if we can do something with AM that would be great. I just need some advice from people who have done this. I have some decent tech knowledge and already have a computer and automation software, I just need that additional help
Well if get financial backing from the town hall or city then you need to contact keith hamilton "keith at hampcb dot com" http://www.am1000rangemaster.com depending on how far you want to go/spend he's very capable of supplying you with enough tx's to cover an entire town and has done so in the past.
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.org
Moderator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
This is partly in response to KC8QPD's post above. I agree that the Rangemaster is a reasonable approach to consider but to claim that it can "cover an entire town" is not. I am sure if you think about this statement you will agree that it depends on the town.
It would be more helpful, I believe, if you could give typical range experiences with this transmitter.
I would suggest to the original poster that AM is the way to go considering the very limited range (hundreds of feet) of compliant FM. SSTRAN and Rangemaster both have sites whereby you can get information. This board also has a multitide of post regarding these two systems.
It is not realistic to expect a service range of more than about a mile or two from part 15 AM transmitters unless conditions are extraordinarily favorable.
Neil
Dear Rev,
Sorry if I got your ham call wrong. With the new fonts here, I can't really see what I type and your call Q and G look the same.
Neil
For a good example of a Part-15 covering a town, look at Auburn Community Radio (www.auburncommunityradio.com). They're running five transmitters and go a good job of covering most of the city. You migh want to email them.
Frank
www.easthillradio.com
Northernlights,
Frank, in the post above, has given a link to a system using multiple transmitters to cover a "town".
My post referenced a single transmitter and perhaps that was not clear.
Now you have something to consider given the range of a single transmitter versus multiple transmitters. There have been posts here previously where the problems of co-channel transmitters including audio and RF phasing considerations have been presented. You might do a search for these so you will know what is involved.
You might also consider the population density and electrical interference in your proposed "service area". Maybe you could go on the air with a unit such as the SSTRAN with the antenna described on their site or use a Rangemaster and get some idea of your coverage.
Keep in mind that mobile reception is usually better than in home reception due to the reduced electrical interference and higher receiver sensitivity as compared to a typical home AM radio. For example, I can hear a usable signal from my transmitter about .2 miles away mobile, but can barely hear it 200 feet away with a cheap portable radio. To be fair, I mention that I am not using an outdoor antenna to transmit, but the comparison between receiver quality is still evident.
Hope this helps.
Neil
If you have the community behind you, then you might be able to get an LPFM license, unless of course all the channels have been grabbed. Otherwise, you are going to have to get one of the part 15AM systems and see how far it goes, and then decide if one tranmission site is enough, or if more are needed.
So far there are no licensed LPAM plans yet, so it may be many years before you could license for something that has more than the 100mw input that the part 15 systems use.
new LPFM being released is very slim right now until they repeal the Radio preservation act and now with IBOC taking over it will be a long time if at all before their is another application window for any. Unles The FCC changes their mind on the third adjacent channels there will not be one availible in my community. Part 15 am is about the only way to get it done .
I see... You are in the same boat that I am with the college that I work for. No FM to be had at all unless they cut things back to 2 or maybe even 1 adjacent channel for a guard band. Gotta love IBOC, you get three for the price of one. And in so doing, in many markets, there will not be 3 channels clear between stations, there will only be a single channel between them. A digital only FM should be able to operate with no clear channels between the stations. But that's getting a little off the subject.
I am looking at a part 15 Am because it may be the only way to go. I have contacted some people to help but it seemes they are out to make money than to help. I have been in commercial radio for over 25 years and have some very good experince when it comes to programming and selling, my tech knowledge just is not the best. I beleive I can do this with multiple transmitters. I live in a small town in Ohio and they would love to get local sports and local government on th air. I have been contacted by one council member about putting a station up. What kils me is the number of LPFM that were granted to people and they never got them going and the cp exired. I really can use some help with this but I can not pay someone $1,000 just for basic knowledge.
For more background information you might try this link:
You might try to contact a local amateur radio club. Even if your area does not have one, look for one in a nearby city. It is not unusual for these clubs to have widely dispersed members perhaps in your area and you might find a ham who would be willing to lend you a hand with this.
It does sound as if you will need to go the multiple transmitter route, but even one transmitter on the air is a way to start, assess and demonstrate the feasibility of the project. Perhaps if this is successful then more transmitters can be added as funding and resources permit.
Neil