Good Morning All,
Well I got home to find the transmitter shipped as promised. Upon opening the package I found the transmitter along with a small microphone. Peeking through the air vents on the top I could clearly see that modifications had been made to the circuit card assembly as there were components that were "roached" on.
Deciding not to open it up I connected it to a TenTec power supply that I use for my amateur radio gear. I used an iPad as an audio source and compared to the unmodified V.5 the results were astounding. Listening to a receiver close by with no antenna connected and at 6 kHz audio bandwidth, the playback was very smooth to the ear. The music selection was an early Beatles album.
Keep in mind that this evaluation is not scientific and I made no measurements with test equipment. But that being said, for those who are not inclined to solder and cannot afford the higher end transmitters like the Rangemaster or Procaster, the modified i.AM V.5 is well worth the $249.
I will evaluate range later on.
I got myself a TH and it is right now getting shipped to my house. Im guessing the newer ones have a blue LCD screen?
Thanks
Thanks for the review.....confirms that audio has been improved and if I would go AM this one I'd get. Really the best bang for the buck...all adjustments on outside with digital readout and auto antenna peaking....no accessing circuit board and it's built!
What about the hum problem I hear about? Was that any less on the I AM?
Mark
The problem is that it's not approved for use in Canada, and we're supposed to use only approved gear. That might be something to talk to IAM about (i.e., getting it RSS210 certified).
Ya, forgot that....the only AM transmitters IC approved is the Procaster and maybe the Hamilton Rangemaster...the Sstran isn't either.
The Talking House should think of getting it IC certified....but RSS-210 is the same so why don't they recognize that?
But my FM is working fine.
Mark
The ProCaster (and it's precursor, the Talking Sign) are the only 2 AM transmitters I know of that are RSS210 certified. Not even the Hamilton Rangemaster (I asked Keith about it a while ago and he said that it would be too costly, given the small number of sales).
Actually they look the same. The V.5 modified with have an i.AM lable on the bottom with the words tested. And like I said earlier you can see the parts that were added through the air vents. There is a pot that was added right near the ribbon cable from the input slector switch on the rear.
two simple modifications need to be made to the iAM, balanced audio and asymetrical modulation capability and maybe putting the rectifier bridge inside the talking house unit itself and changing the input to 15 to 24VAC, these modifications would result in superior sounding audio and allow for remote outside mounting over a nice ground plane in a weatherproof box. allowing the ability to send relatively higher end of the low voltage spectrum in ac would minimize power line losses over long distances and the balanced lines in addition to facilitating connection to broadcast processors would alleviate much of the hum on the audio.
I finally got my window to open thanks to a friend who helped me to get it to open. I had the wire that came with the Advanced Talking House 5.0 threaded between the window frame and the metal screen frame. Ran the antenna wire to the side and up the tree tied to a branch. Later Mike says he'll try and make it more vertical for me and that way I'll get out further too. I did a small test Today and the signal was cleaner at the end of the sidewalk where I'd have to cross the street to continue. Before it was almost too noisy but now it was clear. So I'm sure I increased my range another 300-600 feet. I'll have to check with a car Radio or get someone to help me walk to the end of the signal and see how far it went. If you can get your wire outside it makes a little difference. Just thought I'd give the range report. Maybe I'll try and do a video so people can hear the results.