Rangemaster Not Getting Results I Expected

Can be found here:

http://tinyurl.com/2dml3rg

And you might check in with the manufacturer to see if he can connect you with other users in your area.

By all accounts the Rangemaster is a good piece of equipment so hopefully you can get it to work.

Chuck,

There may not be anything wrong with your installation. Two "short city blocks," at 1/10 mile per block, is more than 1000 feet. This is not too bad for a Part 15 AM system. As for the expected 2-mile range, Rangemaster has not made that claim prominent on its website for quite some time, although it does appear in advertising.

Perhaps if you describe your installation in detail, some members of this Forum can give some some ideas for increasing your range. I would sugest not offering payment for results.

Ground Conductivity IS also a factor. The North Is not well known for good Ground Conductivity.

Well everybody up till now, on the Rangemaster@yahoogroups discussion group and elsewhere, has said even in the worst soil a minimum of a mile is not a problem if set up and tuned right. As far as soil, I'm no expert on that, but I'm near Lake Ontario and the FCC websites soil conductivity rating for the part of Monroe County, NY I live in is rated at 8. The areas several miles to the east and south of me get a 4 rating. As far as urban areas, somebody who used to post on radio-info has a part 15 in North Dallas, TX said he got about 3 miles. I think they have around a 15 soil rating. That would be the difference between 2 short blocks and a 3 mile radius? I remember one of the regulars on the Yahoogroups site said he once ran a commercial Part 15 AM in a little town called Medina, NY(about 45-50 miles west of here.

As for the set up, someone I know with some tech experience, set it up for me. I have a 2 story wooden frame house. The tower is currently about 17-20 feet high. It was higher, but the only way he could safely get up on my one story kitchen add-on was for me to lower it a bit(as was suggested last year on HobbyBroadcaster's forum). Tuning it didn't make a bit of difference. My tech friend even tried turning up the dial inside the Rangemaster that he said raised the power to about a full watt - no difference. Out of frustration, I tried raising the tower again by another 5-6 feet - made only a minor improvement in range. Actually the 2 block range I'm getting is mostly north/south. East/west is much less.

As for my ground system. As Rangemaster's site suggests, I purchased many feet of #8 insulated wire(at Lowes) - I noticed like everything else in life, there lots of differences in opinion among broadcast engineers). I stripped the insulation off, per Keith's suggestion(my engineer friend said that would make no difference). I have it going out about 20 feet into my very small backyard. I also have an additional wire going about 10 feet at a different angle in the backyard.

Any suggestions/comments are welcome. I would like to either see if I can improve my range. But if I can't, this purchase strikes me as a colossal waste of money and not worth doing as a hobby so a couple neighbors might accidentally hear it down the street. It would be a lot easier to simply run a pirate FM signal around my section of the city. I'm not going to get caught - the FCC pretty much could care less about little operators. I went Part 15 AM because I want some range and wanted to be perfectly legal.

I found on the internet a guy in Buffalo who runs a Rangemaster broadcast from his house and claims to get a 2 miles range. He's also has the 8 soil rating. (I offered to pay him to setup my system, but he said his schedule was too limited)

The installation should be:

1. Transmitter is mounted atop 15-20 pipe, and at least 20 feet away from other objects, structures and trees. Part 15 AM signals do not propagate through metallic surfaces, metal light poles, buildings, earth berms, rock and concrete. Shrubbery will knock the "snot" out of the range as well. Make sure to choose a frequency above 1610 KHz; above 1660 KHz is ideal. Mounting at the bottom of a sharp grade/hill can seriously degrade the signal in the direction of the elevated grade.

2. Ground radial system: 16 X 20-25 feet on top of the soil or just below the surface. The deeper you bury the radials the less signal they contribute to the system. surrounding the base of the mount pipe and connected to the ground lug on the transmitter. 360 degrees is best.

3. Transmitter must be tuned to the sharp peak in measured current. There may be other current peaks. The sharpest or narrowest tuned peak is the one you need to operate at maximum range. Try other coil taps to find the sharp peak with the highest current when tuning the output cap. This may not appear obvious at first. By the way, a human body is close proximity will change the tuning. And every time you change something in the antenna system you will need to re-tune the transmitter.

4. THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR: The Rangemaster transmitter is capable of modulation in excess of 100% on positive peaks. to operate at 95% negative peaks and 120% positive peaks will require an AM broadcast audio processor similar to the Inovonics Model 222. Additionally, NRSC AM audio pre-emphasis can help increase the listenablility of the signal. This is the only way for a Part 15 AM transmitter to overcome environment and atmospheric noise.

Some of these suggestions may not be supported by scientific theory. After 2 years of experimenting with my
Rangemaster in several locations these have been helpful.

In discovering the actual problem, do ONE SOLUTION at a time until it works. And finally, the one mile figure is on a car radio, not inside a building. Best of luck.

You are Correct about the ranges of 1650's here in the DFW area
The one in North Dallas goes 3 miles

The one in Rockwall goes roughly 15 Miles

And The One Farthest North (Mine) Goes 2 City Blocks.
The One that goes 15 Miles Runs a Range master on a 20 Foot Pole near Lake Lavon.

The ground conductivity in this area is Excellent
(200 Watts on 730 Gets you 60 miles of Local Grade Signal)

I would suggest to do what KK7CW says. AM at Part 15 levels dislikes things by the antenna.
Not Everyone gets the Same Results.

Interesting. Of course, I'm tech challenged and can't understand most of what you wrote, but you know what you're talking about. I think I have to find a person with AM engineering experience who knows what's he doing.

One other thing - how does an "8" rating measure up for soil conductivity - that's at least within reason?

I've always felt that the claims of Rangemasters getting over a mile range were exaggerated. Just even stating that is a gross simplification of the issues involved.

First, what kind of signal are you listening to at that distance? You may hear it, but would you really want to listen to it? So, the quality of the signal is important (and also very subjective).

What kind of ground is being used? A lot of these long range installations are using long ground wires (or equivalent, such as grounding to a mast) which can radiate unless filtered (and may or may not be legal, depending on who you are listening to, and the opinions of the local FCC or Industry Canada investigator).

What kind of receiver is being used at the other end? You'll get far greater range on a car radio (at least 4 times more - just look at the sensitivity of a car receiver and compare it to an ordinary home stereo). Most of these claims don't even talk about what the receiver has to be to obtain the range.

In my opinion, there's no way you're going to get a listenable signal at a mile + range on a home stereo with a Part 15/Industry Canada legal transmitter installation, even a Rangemaster, which is one of the best.

I've experimented with the Rangemaster, and yes, I've heard my signal at times over a mile away on a car radio, but I wouldn't want to listen to it for any length of time whatsoever (particularly music). The best I've been able to do is to get a clean, listenable signal about 1/2 mile away (again, on a car radio), and that was pretty close to line of sight over water. Obstructions such as trees reduced that range to 1/4 mile or so. So, you may not have done anything wrong at all - it may just be the expectations that are a bit high.

There is one thing that can be tried, and there was no mention if you are doing it in the original and subsequent posts (although one reply did talk about it). Audio processing can give your signal additional punch, and the Rangemaster does support > 100% modulation. Using equipment such as the Inovonics 222 may (and I do mean may) help increase your range somewhat.

I do have a Inovonics 222. I don't have an audio monitor, but have an Inovonics 222. The folks on rangemaster@yahoogroups all say a minimum of 1 mile should be a breeze, if set up right, but I'm finding this interesting that I'm get different opinions here.

Thanks for the input.

Please accept the fact that most if not all reports of signal coverage are probably subjective. I say this as what one person may consider a useable signal the average person would never listen to.

I use a Talking House II transmitter bought on Ebay for $10 plus shipping. I also bought on Ebay the Talking House Remote Antenna/Tuner. That item cost $100 but was well worth the price given the simplicity of tune-up. The manufacturer insists the FCC certification includes using the remote antenna. From my experience, the antenna and tuning of such makes all the difference.

The antenna is roof mounted with 6 ten foot radials under it. On a good day I can "hear" my signal two miles away but a more realistic (read useable) range is 1/2 mile. That of course is received on a car radio which is much more sensitive than a typical home receiver. That signal range is very dependent upon season, time of day, weather conditions and other factors.

You haven't stated why you would like to cover a 2 mile radius but cheer up. Even at 1/2 mile radius in a moderately populated area, you could be reaching quite a few listeners.

I have a dim memory of once reading that chemicals can be added to the ground to improve conductivity. Is this worth investigating?

A half mile range and up to 2 miles on a good day would be fine - actually great at this point. Did you tune you xmtr?

"6 ten foot radials under it."

Interesting again, but this brings up my main problem - I don't understand so many of the "Tech Terms." What is a ten foot radial and why is it underneath the xmtr? Is the radial something you use instead of my #8 wire for the ground system?

I have not seen anyone mention local noise level. You should try tuning your car radio to a dead spot in the band near your frequency and listen to the noise level. Perhaps you are near High tension lines and no receiver will work very well there. Part 15 is the equivalent of talking softly and it works in a quiet room but if your at a party forget it.. A ground radial is the wire you put out to prov ide a complete circuit for your radio signal leaving the antenna. To a point the longer and more of them the better. Dirt is a poor return so you want radials (think spokes in a wheel) so you want radials all around the base of your antenna. "8" is a lousy ground. The rating is not 1 to 10. It's 1 to several hondred if I remember correctly with salt water being almost as good as 360 radials of wire. Tests have shown that however tall your antenna is, is probably OK for radial length. Try gathering up all the 50' extension cords you can (say at least ten) and lay them radiating out from the base of your tower, hook them to the base of the tower with jumper leads or whatever, retune the transmitter and see if your range goes up. Finally have you tried another transmitter? Maybe it's bad. Final question is that avatar of yours the shoe pounding Nikita?