I play in a band and I am looking for a cheap mobile FM tx for my van with a good legal range to transmit my bands music and contact info. We spend alot of time on the road driving to shows and parked in gas stations so I had the brain storm to put a sign on our van telling people to tune to the channel I am broadcasting at for more info. On long interstate drive with people following close by I think this would work well. I have been looking at some mini transmitter kits from Hobbytron that claim to be stable
I would hope that one like this would work. Or do you know of any
lowcost off the shelf ones that would give me a range of about 200ft.
Thanks,
Brian
And cheap units arent good! If you are going to market your band you will want to use something that really works good and is FCC approved. Forget anything that is not PLL,the tunable ones are a pain in the axe! For the best non FCC approved unit,I'd go with the EDM. There arent many that are FCC approved and those that are will cost you big dollars.Landmark Audio sells approved units which work good,you pay for the FCC certification in the higher unit price. Personally,I wouldnt mess with Ramsey or anything on Hobbytron. Buy it once,buy it right,saves time and money in the long run.Been there,done that,got a mess of old transmitters lying around I wont ever use again to prove it...junque! You wouldnt buy a guitar at WalMart,would you? Regards,Lee
Well, if you've got a gig this weekend, but you don't have a couple grand to buy a new Gibson, yeah, you may end up buying a guitar at Walmart to get you by until you can do better.
Might take you a few months or longer to save up for the good guitar, but if you can get a gig before somebody else, "Needs as must when the devil drives."
But all that aside, at a minimum go for a PLL transmitter rather than one you tune with a screwdriver. Most car stereos are digital tuning and trying to get it exact enough with a screwdriver will drive you crazy. I'm not sure how much being in a moving vehicle would further complicate it, but considering a few degrees of temp can make a "tank tuned" (screwdriver tuning) one drift.. you just don't want to mess with that.
Neat promo idea though. Even if it doesn't ever get many extra audience members, it could still be good for keeping the band and crew hyped if you travel with vehicles close together on the highway.
I was in a band in the early 80s that used an old radio shack "wireless FM mic" that had been adapted to take a line in with a little dipole antenna. But we'd set it up outside a window with a light clamp and hook it into the PA board. Some venues we played even then were "no smoking" and also people went out to their cars a lot during shows (most likely to get stoned), and it was a neat gimmick so they kept listening and were more likely to actually come back inside. Range was maybe a block if the wind was blowing just right, but only actually good near the building we were in. Some people thought it was neat, especially at benefits and other multi-band gigs, since they could just tune it in on the car radio and come back inside when their fave band was getting ready to play.
I'd slapped it together when I found the transmitter for something like 2$ at a yard sale and a set of rabbit ears for 25 cents and the lightbulb went on over my head. Sound wasn't very good, it could about manage to cover the small parking lots of places we played and maybe the sidewalk out front, but it did the job well enough for people to think it was a neat idea.
But something really nice sounding to use for car to car promo or sort of like a 'talking house" type promo when the van is parked and you're playing so people can tune in for a quick sample? I can see where that would at least sure be worth a try. With some signage on the van, maybe a little spot or something to attract attention to the sign when the van is parked.. Yeah. Great thinking.
Daniel
That does sound like a fun idea, for all the reasons Rattan mentioned. More and more states are banning smoking in all venues now, especially on the left coast. Your band would be uniquely positioned to make those "smoker calls" 🙂
Units that might be especially useful for your purpose are the low power FM transmitters sold by EDM design. Available in a tough metal box and with a 12 volt cigarette lighter adapter, this would be a quick way to "get the show on the road"
Sounds like a great way to get some extra publicity, too!
These are not FCC certified and the higher power units are a bit beyond Part 15, so read the info carefully.
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The Idea of hooking into the sound board at clubs is a great idea. I already have someone working on magnetic signs for my van so when I travel far out of my local range and nead to change the channel I am broadcasting at I can also change the sign. Thanks for the Ideas and help like always.
Brian
The EDM is an excellent choice,I have one and it works very well. I have come up with some other uses,I use one connected to my AOR scanner so it can be heard anywhere around the house. I put the fire monitor in the other channel. I have also run one transmitter in my car with a mic on it as a sort of "crime monitor". I am planning to put one in the ham radio comm van as an audio feed to officials and maybe the press to listen in. I just bought a Landmark Audio FM-350-u and it matches the performance of the EDM-10 and has the FCC tag on it! Range is identical with supplied antennas. The FM-350 is going up the tower,unmodified and in a waterproof container. Well,after the blizzard season it will....... Regards,Lee
Y'know, with AM and using some of the ideas people use for antennas for 160 meter mobile operation, you might be able to get a nice bit of range for when the van is parked. Use the FM for nearby off the board and use it also as an STL to the AM rig at the van OR.. Use the FM for off the board, and the AM for hype, short samples, mini-interviews you've prerecorded and adverting the venue.
Daniel
C Crane makes a Part 15 Certified (I think) transmitter that is PLL and has excellent audio quality for about $70. You can get it from their web site (www.ccrane.com) or catalog. There have been other postings and a review about this on Part15.us, so try some searches here, as well as other parts of the web.
Some of the postings here I recall included schematics and pics off the FCC website, but I have been unable to find them at fcc.gov (I am not great at searches.)
I can't compare it to the Landmark, but a comment that I have seen is the Landmark probably has better range.
I can tell you the EDM10 and the Landmark 350 are comparable in range and both are better than any hobby type mp3 transmitters.
Regards,Lee