The Talking Sign TS-100 transmitter (manufactured by ChezRadio) was certified only for use with a 3-meter wire, but they also manufactured an external antenna (to be connected to the 50-ohm output) not unlike the one used by Talking House. The use of the external antenna by Talking Sign was not certified, and they had to pull it off of the market.
The Talking House external antenna was certified for use with the Talking House transmitter, and therfore Talking House was allowed to continue selling their external antenna, while Talking Sign was not.
The TS-100 has not been sold for several years. I think that the only transmitter now sold by ChezRadio is the Procaster.
Hi
You are right the antenna was pulled before I could get one. Anyways the TS-100
does have a 50 ohm output and the FCC has nothing against people experimenting
with antenna's.
if that was so then you could not build your own transmitter from scratch and
design your own antenna to go with it.
The FCC rules part 15 clearly says a person can design their own
transmitter as long as the final power doe not exceed 100mw to the final.
Also states that a 10 foot antenna can be used but feed line is included.
So a person could use 1 foot feed line of 50 ohm coax to a 9 foot antenna.
I am just not sure if it should be a base loaded antenna with a coil or a
tranformer match of some sort.
Now does anyone know how the Range master matches up it antenna to the 8 foot
antenna it uses.
Has anyone used the range master transmitter and what kind of range does it really get?????
Thanks
SKW
Both the Talking Sign and Talking House external antennas have very long coaxial cables (about 100 feet), which make them both in violation of the letter of the law of Section 15.219(b). Since the Talking House antenna and transmitter were certified together, Talking House got a waiver from the FCC, while Talking Sign did not. Using a very short length of coax (as suggested) would bring the Talking Sign antenna into compliance, but then it would not really be an "external" antenna.
The Rangemaster, and most other Part 15 AM transmitters, do not use any transmission line, in order to more easily comply with 15.219(b).
The Rangemaster uses an output step-up RF transformer with only a few turns in the primary winding and a high-inductance secondary winding. The secondary winding is the loading coil of the Rangemaster. There is a tuning capacitor across the output terminal that is in parallel with the antenna capacitance. The tuning capacitor is adjusted to resonate the secondary winding of the RF transformer with the antenna capacitance.
The Rangemaster uses a parallel-tuned output circuit. A lot of other Part 15 AM transmitters use series-tuning, such as the SSTRAN AMT-3000. This makes a difference when analyzing the tuning circuits of these two kinds of configurations.
For parallel tuning, the resistive component of the output impedance has a high resistance, and for series tuning the resistive component has a low resistance.
"Has anyone used the range master transmitter and what kind of range does it really get?"
Yep. Gets good range..cept you need to spend more money for that unit because by default, it does not come with a whip, inter-connecting cables, and is not frequency agile unless you have it equipped with the PLL board.
Add another 300 bucks or so on top of the price of the transmitter itself. It also does not have an internal tuning meter, which can be added for more $$$, and you need to know how to use a DVM and interpret the reading to adjust it to be in full compliance.
For the all in one package, the Procaster or iAM/ATU is the way to go and you get everything you need to get on the air at a FAR less price. And you don't need to worry about interpreting DVM readings or tag along a slide rule just to go on the air.
Side note: More stations got shut down using Rangemaster than any other TX.
RFB
If more Rangemasters really do get shut down than other models, it would be because of the manufacturer's instructions for getting the advertised "1 to 2 mile range."
The Rangemaster has been around a fairly long time, there are probably more of them in the field than any other hi-end Part 15 transmitter ... Keith has done a great job of advertising, you'll find the Rangemaster at or near the top of every reference to Part 15 transmitters, and tons of testimonials from users.
When you have more product in use in the field than anyone else, you're bound to attract some attention. If you mount your system in compliance and according to the instruction details, you'll be OK, but if you mount it grounded to and on a 50' tower, you could certailnly get busted ... because the tower is transmitting more than the whip antenna, and together they are really a dipole ... which is not the way the system is supposed to work.
I think you can get out 1-2 mi, depending on interference, structures, ground conductivity, atmospheric conditions, and most of all the receiver ... from any hi-end Part 15 TX. With several thousands of dollars worth of modern general class receiver and a longwire antenna, my station can be heard at S8 nearly 8 1/2 miles away ... just to give an admittedly extreme example. But that guy can receive commercial AM station signals from thousands of miles away.
Also, considering the above, there are many more busts on Part 15 FM, because people want to do it in stereo. and certainly more range than the length of a football field, which is about all you can expect from a Part 15 compliant FM transmitter ... again reception equipment being a major consideration. But, there are ads right here on this forum site for easily obtainable FM transmitters which are in no way whatsoever compliant with license-free radio regulations in the U.S. ('tho I wish they were and maybe should be).
By comparison, the number of Part 15 AM transmitter shutdowns is very rare.
Hi Everyone
Yes I was well aware of the Range master being shut down by the FCC.
The Procaster did not exist yet ,so the FCC advised me to use the
TS 100 ,and said I could make my own antenna. It more trouble to set up,
but the TS 100 does have an antenna tuner built in and could be set
up with a 10 Foot whip. You would just have to mount it in a sealed box on
a tower. That why I a short 1 foot wire could be ran from the transmitter
to a 9 foot antenna. Or you can use a 50 ohm base loaded antenna with
1 foot of coax. You would just have to run power up to the box and audio
cable to the studio from the transmitter on the tower.
Anyways this would make it legal. I was able to get 2.1 miles just using
a 10 foot wire out side with the built in antenna tuner. This was with
the transmitter only 4 foot off the ground.
SKW40
It was said most recently in a thread on "Interference" and it needs to be repeated often, that AM shut-down notices from the FCC lack the detail we all need to better plan what we do with our stations.
The common fact is always a reading of "over power", which means more microVolts per meter than allowed.
But we are not told the transmitter type, or the exact details of actual antenna design, ground scheme, or the input-to-final in mW.
Without that precise information our discussions have always been somewhat in the dark.
Therefore I would ask, how does RFB know that many shut-downs have gone toward Rangemaster 1000 installations?
"Therefore I would ask, how does RFB know that many shut-downs have gone toward Rangemaster 1000 installations?"
How about reviewing all of the NOUO's and NAL's over the last 4 years.
The two stations with clusters of Rangemasters, KENC and it's metal structures at two locations.
And that is just of recent years.
To boot, the instructions were clearly posted on how to mount these way up on a metal structure and using that metal structure as the ground return path, exceeding 3 meters AND causing that metal structure to radiate. Even the RF choke that was once approved by the FCC, then later redacted as being an approved solution, did not save the day.
Read, heed and learn, and most of all...remember.
Pretty simple eh.
And since we are discussing AM and not FM, I see no reason why even FM was mentioned here. The point was not about how many FM's vs AM's getting popped, the point was about how many AM's got popped using that particular TX and it's recommended setup as published by Keith..which was taken off the site almost immediately after the KENC fiasco.
If the Rangemaster is set up properly, ie not mounted up on a tall pole with a long ground wire or metal pole using it as the ground path, you will be fine. But set up ANY Part 15 AM TX in a similar way, using the metal structure as the ground return path, its gonna be in violation..period....choke or no choke.
RFB
I understand, yes, the KENC situation is now legendary, iconic and the classic case.
From that case I also recall that an elevated transmitter with no ground does not perform well.
Therefore I think the consensus would be that there is no legal way to elevate an AM part 15 antenna and have a legal ground.
But certified AM transmitters, the last time I looked, are still shown in images as being up high, on a chimney or other structure.
Confusions will abound until the FCC declares that part 15 AM antennas cannot be raised more than X-feet above the ground.
I think the Liberty 1640 Network was using
Rangemasters on top of buildings and towers.
I also believe they were using Barix equipment
for audio distributions. And I think they were
using the best audio processing equipment
they could get. Maybe they were using
Inovonics 222s, I don't know.
Did the FCC completely shut down their cluster,
or are there some transmitters still operating?
I have seen conflicting posts on the net.
I know they were big news a couple of years ago.
Have any of you guys heard anything else about them?
Best Wishes,
Bruce, DOGGRADIO STUDIO 2
I am in the same position as Doggradio 2, having been aware of Liberty 1640 as a very strong presence with a lot of links with other webcasters, like Rule of Law Radio Network in Texas. Then "bink" they were gone.
All I've heard are untraceable hints that the FCC did something to them, but I never found out the details.
By all means, if anyone knows the story, share up.
"But certified AM transmitters, the last time I looked, are still shown in images as being up high, on a chimney or other structure."
Yes..and what the pictures do not show is what may be in question and unless shown, no one can say those you seen in pictures are in fact legal installations.
We all know that a return path is vital to making the system work. To have that return path, there has to be either a wire or metal conductor serving as that return path.
The argument is if the term "lead" as per in the rule book only means the short wire from the TX to a metal structure or ground system versus that metal structure being a part of that same "lead".
When they test these things for certification, they are NOT mounted up on a 50 foot tall water tower or mast. They are mounted to a table 1 meter off the ground plane in the testing chamber and the TX's ground connection is tied to this ground plane system exactly 1 meter below the setup.
In essence, it means these things are certified only if they are installed in the same manner as they are tested for certification.
The exceptions are the TH/iAM units and their ATU's fed by a coax.
"Confusions will abound until the FCC declares that part 15 AM antennas cannot be raised more than X-feet above the ground."
I believe they already have by the way they set up the units to test for certification...1 meter off the ground plane system in the testing chamber. This does not mean someone cant mount one up on a pole, but it does mean that with the TX mounted up on a pole or water tower and that structure is used as the return path, the FCC's interpretation of that is exceeding the 3 meter length limit...as noted in the NOUO's and NAL's mentioned earlier.
The FCC is not going to hand us the simple answer on a silver platter with a full glass of wine so we can dine and forget about having some basic elementary understanding of this thing called radio. They do expect us folks to have some smarts and be capable of understanding what is written and what is enforced.
They expect us to use the brain bucket for more than just an ornament above our shoulders.
RFB
"having been aware of Liberty 1640 as a very strong presence with a lot of links with other webcasters, like Rule of Law Radio Network in Texas. Then "bink" they were gone."
Had to be a reason why "blink" they were gone. Whatever that reason is..at the very least it is plausible that the "blink" they are gone stemmed from a violation of some sort, or if it was not a shut down, they took it down before that could happen, which would raise the question about the legality of their setups to begin with.
Action speaks louder than words.
RFB