...listeners would have to remember based on their location what frequency to tune in to.
There's a licensed Michigan AMer (I think owned by Birach Broadcasting) that actually changes frequency at sunset, and their audience knows how to find them. The sample promo I put in my previous posting stated one way to educate the audience on how to listen based on the best frequencies to tune in to and where. Display ads and local billboards complete the job. Frankly, if the public is too dense to tune a radio, I may suggest they are unfit to safely operate a car.
Synching two or more inexpensive transmitters on the same channel will be more troublesome as unavoidable nulls will occur, and those nulls will drift all over the coverage area as the transmitters slip out of phase. Wireless feeds between transmitters will boost the cost of the entire operation. But having the same program appear on the dial in more than one location and on more than one frequency is affordable, easy to maintain and no different than an LMA'd commercial AM'er running the same program as the boys crosstown.
Besides, to the creative mind, having your signal on more than one stick in town is fertile territory for creative promotion:
We Own This Town;
We're Everywhere You Are;
Twice The Music, Twice the Fun, Still Free;
Local? Oh Yeah, We're Local!...
Just an idea.
Well, you'd have to remember what frequency to tune to as you drive through town (and there could be several) - I suspect that most would find that more trouble than what it was worth. Plus it doesn't give out the appearance of a 'professional' licensed station. For home listeners, it doesn't matter.
Clear out to a mile is great for that synched transmitter setup - I wonder how far it goes in the fringes of the signal? And is it a mile on a car radio, or an ordinary consumer radio?
HMB uses 5 rangemaster linked together within about 25 feet of each other - give or take. in an X pattern.. the sound when you are within a mile is very clear, very solid.
Do you know if these five systems use elevated mounts? If so, how high above the earth are the bases of the 3-m whips?
Good Afternoon,
Looks like Old US 10 parallels the business district for about 7/10 of a mile? A single transmitter installed in the middle might get it done.
Wow, thanks for all the replies, you guys are great. I found a website where you can draw a radius on a map. If I could get 1.5 miles out of a transmitter it would work, but just barely. And from what I'm hearing, they do make AM transmitters that would get that, but only if you're in a car. I left a message with Hamilton Rangemasters and will see if they can sell me some kind of setup that would work, but the more I look into it, the more impossible it seems. If I wanted to do it as a hobby fine, but I'm looking to quit a job that makes me about 100K/year and try and make that much by running a "professional" station. I do appriciate all your thoughts and ideas though, I had pretty much decided last night that this dream was dead. Now after reading this thread I have a little bit of hope back.
Now, how about an idea thats illegal. I'm not at all about doing illegal things. But if I got a 50 or 100 watt transmitter who's going to know that I'm running that much watts. Or I could even go so far as to say who the heck would even care. Obviously the FCC would care, it's illegal. But I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere Montana, it's not like I have an FCC inspector living across the street. Besides, even if someone did care, how would they know I had a 100 watt transmitter instead of several well placed and well synced Part 15 transmitters?
We would know and YOU would know. Then you would not be able to sleep at night.
Yes, you are right about that. I'm not saying I would do that, I've never done anything highly illegal in my life. But it would be possible to do it and get away with it pretty easily. And it would be easy to sleep at night I think, it would be easy to justify. "I didn't want to do it this way, but the station is providing a valuable service to the community" 🙂
It is fair, I believe, to examine in depth the possible consequenses of eceeding the rules. Discussing it and learning about it is not a rule violation.
20-Watts or less would probably do, with a well matched 60 or 100-foot antenna.
You might be go undetected for years, perhaps for life, but four or more possible scenarios can happen by sheer chance:
1.) You might get good publicity on TV or the newspaper, and someone who reads the story might report you. This has happened;
2. A licensed station somewhere in the state might discover your station, and they might report it;
3.) A HAM (amateur radio) operator in your area might report it. Some HAMs consider this a duty;
4.) An FCC agent checking on local communications in your town might detect it.
What if you were inspected? Be honest about why you are doing it and tell them you will turn it off and keep it off.
A fifth thing that might go wrong... we're talking about it now on the WWW, and somebody might remember.
I've always wondered what would happen if I found 1-million gold bricks somewhere... won't say where.
yeah - totally not worth going intentionally rogue.
So - you say 1.5mi - is that from the transmitter out (3mi total) or point to point?
Dan -- I sent you a couple private messages -- I assume they go to your registered email, but I'm not sure -- I've never done it before. let me know.
Tim
Hey Tim. I haven't gotten any private messges in my email from you. I did get one from mlr, which thanks by the way! I will check my junk mail box too though. And no people, I'm not thinking about going rouge. I was just pointing out that the FCC has made it so hard to do something like this, that it would be possible to go a few extra watts more than a person is suppose to and get away with it.
I need 1.5 from the transmitter out for a total of 3 miles, minimum. If you look at a map of Columbus MT, I am just on the west edge of town. I need to be able to cover the whole town including the golf course. I have a picture that would show it perfectly, but I don't think I can upload it here.
I'll try and paste a copy of my picture here, not sure if it will work or not.
You might also consider applying for a low power FM station license. Do some research on LPFM to find what is involved.
What about a regular FM station license? If you are as isolated as it appears then there may be available frequencies.
Neil
Next filing in maybe 10 years based on the last filing