Hello all,
I am very happy to see the comments on another thread on this board regarding a "National Association of MicrocBroadcasters", and I say pursue your dreams.
But for me, I am happy just providing a signal that I can receive on my modest one half acre estate which I believe I am doing in accordance with Part 15 rules. Those who would argue that serving the community should take precendence over my wishes should consider that my wishes will fall victum to yours.
Hello all,
I am very happy to see the comments on another thread on this board regarding a "National Association of MicrocBroadcasters", and I say pursue your dreams.
But for me, I am happy just providing a signal that I can receive on my modest one half acre estate which I believe I am doing in accordance with Part 15 rules. Those who would argue that serving the community should take precendence over my wishes should consider that my wishes will fall victum to yours.
Now, think about where you want to go with community broadcasting. I would welcome getting the rules changed to allow bigger antennas or higher power, but based on my experience, I need to question a few things.
Who is going to assign frequencies and mediate interference and how is this different from the current FCC actions regarding licensing?
Are you satisfied with the current LPFM rules and do you want these to supersede the current part 15 rules where anyone can yardcast but new rules would allow only a few to gain access according to some coordinating authority overseeing the spectrum?
Where will I, as a yardcaster, find a frequency that I can use for my humble estate when all are occupied by "sanctioned" stations? What if I was there first with no license? Do I have any control over the spectrum?
I have first hand experience with amateur radio "frequency coordination" for repeaters and I know that the big guys gobble up the available frequencies to the exculsion of the little guys. I have no expectation that if part 15 AM is afforded increased power and range that this will result in a different outcome.
Believe me, there will be a real big food fight if part 15 rules are changed to allow for increased range. Someone or some group will be in charge of frequency allocation and most of you will be left out in the cold. I have seen this and I have lived this!
The part 15 rules for AM were never intended to provide for broadcasting. They were set up for "phono oscillator" applications for in home use.
I hereby unofficially cast my vote for status quo on part 15 rules so that I can continue my yardcasting and I do not support anything which will change the current Part 15 rules because if effective range is allowed there will be political forces to exclude the little guy such as I.
Comments welcomed.
Neil
I agree. Part 15 should remain the way it is. Part 15 FM should be changed to more reflect the rules on am band a set power output and antenna size.
I think covering a 1/2 mile to mile even under poor soil conditions is good enough. if more range is needed than you have the option of multiple sites. you could even stream over a WiFi Mesh network and each mesh site could have a rangemaster on the tower simulcasting the stream. and with streaming multiple entities could pool their recources and each have their own stream on the network. there is no reason to beleive that future wifi won't offer better range and faster throughput. 802.11n is up to 300mbps. a distributed server network could releive the bandwidth on any one tower site. it's all creative imagination and $$$. and it will be a whole lot cheaper than buying a comercial station. the present part 15 am rules offer plenty. you just need to be creative is all. I think part 15 am goes beyond phono oscillators. it gives future and present engineers and ham ops a place to tinker without a license requirement. don't forget we have 10,000uV/m@30m around 13mhz also. that is a lot of juice. 10mv@30m and no reason why this band could not be utilized as a stl for part 15 am. People need to stop looking for the easy way out and use your god given brains to be innovative and creative.
that is where i stand
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.org
Moderator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
Thanks for your comment and thanks to the moderator who apparently very kindly enabled the links to the other thread.
Neil
one comment about the lobby situation. we need a lobby group to protect what we have on am/fm, as opposed to trying to gain more. the lobby group could also go after other bands such as the soon to be unused long wave band and could join manufacturers in gaining more microwave spectrum and possibly part of the old analog TV bands for use of faster throughput, longer range unlicensed WiFi equipment. need to leave AM status quo. I think i may even change my position about FM. These are hot button topics(NAB,BCasters), We need to go after other bands that licensed b,casters won't see as a threat until it's too late. manufacturers are starting to sell WiFi Radio's which are boomboxes that pick up streaming internet stations using wifi. am broadcasting started out as a grass roots deal. there were stations before there were receivers. the same could be said about wifi. you need to make the investment and give people a reason to go out and buy the technology to hear you. as said before there is no reason that you could not simulcast on multi site AM and run spots pumping the better quality streaming system. Forget Licensed LPAM or Higher Power unlicensed AM. it's a pipe dream. and Neal is correct. i am a Ham and have been in radio since i could pick up a soldering iron and have seen just what he is talking about. look what happened to LPFM. it went to Road Depts and God Casters. You want to let them Screw up yet another band?
I think I just found a blog to work on 😉 Stay tuned to this channel for more info to come.
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.org
Moderator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
I had meant to comment on the earlier thread about creating a National Association of Microbroadcasters, but I suppose I'll do it here.
Personally, I am far more interested in the technical side of things then I am in making sure that my programming is heard by a large audience. I mostly use my part 15 transmitters to transmit my own mp3s around the house. Like Neil, I would fear that a loosening of the Part 15 rules might invite more people to crowd out the scarce available frequencies.
On the other hand though, I fear that our right to broadcast under part 15 rules may soon be diminished through both legislative and practical reasons. Consider that while the NAB is commisioning a study to show that current consumer level "part 15" transmitters are causing harmful interference, the FCC is also working towards expanding HD radio which will increase the bandwidth of current stations and make open frequencies harder to find (these, of course, refer only to the FM band). I would like to see a NAMB (or maybe NAµB :)) form to advocate for the protection of what we are currently allowed to do.
There is one change that I would really like to see made to the part 15 rules though; I would really like the FCC to change the cumbersome 250 µV/m at 3 meters rule for FM to something closer to the AM rules. For example, the FCC rules might change to allow a 10 mW transmitter output into an antenna of no for then x meters on the 3 meter band. I think something like that would be more practical for the hobbyist to measure and stay compliant with and it would eliminate a lot of the confusion and arguing about true part 15 FM transmitters that you find all over the web.
That's my 2 cents. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.
...the FCC is also working towards expanding HD radio which will increase the bandwidth of current stations and make open frequencies harder to find (these, of course, refer only to the FM band).
HD radio is authorised for AM broadcast stations as well, and also adds interference on the 1st and 2nd adjacent channels above and below the HD station.
//
Good point, Rich. I had forgotten about that one. I guess that makes the case for a Microbroadcaster group even stronger.
Unfortunately, I pay less attention to what's going on on the AM dial since the band is wiiiide open where I live. I know that this isn't the case in much of the US.
The Situation with the AM band is the same with me as it is with Cairn. Where I live it in North Alabama there is 2 AM stations close to me. One is talk, the other station is gospel. In other words, I would have nothing to worry about considering competion of new laws or regulations or anything like that. Travis Allred B-1600/Real Country
www.geocities.com/wbgrradio/index
... I would have nothing to worry about considering competion of new laws or regulations or anything like that.
Just a gentle reminder that Part 15 AM & FM limits apply whether or not you live in an area with competitive (or even ANY) other stations. Of course, everyone is free to do whatever they want, as long as they accept the risk of doing so.
//
Hi Travis,
You may have the advantage of geography in this case, but the audience is in the urban/suburban areas. Those who seriously want to reach an audience under present Part 15 rules for AM will have to do so in high population density areas where most of the AM and FM frequencies are already gone.
I reside in a city of 37000 folks which is a suburb of the largest city in Ohio (no...it is not Cleveland!) Even the X band frequencies (1600 to 1700 kHz.) are already spoken for. Licenses for TIS stations have been issued to government agencies here even though they have not bothered to put them on the air. If they do, there will be no good AM frequencies left. I have heard my city's TIS 20 miles away from the transmitter. TIS therefore with legal protection can blank Part 15 AM operators over an entire county. My concern which prompted my post is that if low power AM stations gain legitimacy through formal FCC licensing or volunteer coordination, that there will be no room for Part 15 AM operation as it now exists.
Neil
That is a good idea,Neil. I did not think about it in that way. I am now beginning to think part 15 should be left alone in some cases considering it may become another crisis like LPFM.
Travis Allred B-1600/Real Country
www.geocities.com/wbgrradio/index