Time to let go. We get it. Your weekly posts are not productive.
wdcx Said:
Time to let go. We get it. Your weekly posts are not productive.
MrBruce Said:
I do not get your point, I am backing up a true statement being made by another person who is warning/cautioning another member to be careful and you're speaking to me like I'm complaining about another situation which would be unrelated.
Everyone here is telling the topic creator to put his trust in someone just because they know the ropes (in this case, the transmitter seller), but when it comes to an inspection from an FCC agent, it is not the seller who gets the visit, it is the operator. Long ground leads on AM transmitters are illegal in the USA on a 3 meter antenna if they are directly coupled to the AM transmitters ground.
You can't let a new comer come here and give them that false sense of security, that as long as the seller installs the system, it is going to be 100% compliant, because that certainly isn't always the case. I bare witness to that situation.
So sorry to disagree with you.
But in my opinion that IS being productive, I am not allowing someone I do not know to be mislead into trusting someone just because they sell transmitters.
Bruce.
Sorry. Back to 40 meters.
Well, I haven't had a lot of time to do this, but to shave costs on AM Carrier-Current broadcasting, I've aquired a couple of carrier-current couplers, and LPB T-8 and a Radio Systems CP-15 (Still sold by Radio Systems today!). I had to repair these units, but they were actually given to me. Since 1991 I've been using a Panaxis AM-100 100mW transmiter and made a 1.5W push-pull linear with 7 element Chebychev filter dead-nuts on 600KHz. Problem was, when I moved, this system wasn't FREQ agile, (I couldn't change FREQ's easily, or at all.) Try bidding on e-spray for a used LPB or Radio Systems transmitter and you'll get outbid everytime. I did. So, I went with the Greek made transmitters at www.pll.gr and bought the 0W - 20W programable AM mono transmitter. The USA made, and FCC certified equivelant would have been X10 as much. Now, AM C-C (Carrier-Current), apparently isn't done in Europe, so I had to educate the Greek engineer on what AM C-C was, but he was able to understand this. He can't afford FCC Certification costs, but wants the USA market badly. AM C-C apparent allows for kits, and I've heard of totally home-brew transmitters working out there. (You just have to be sure that signal is very clean!) Fortunately, AM C-C couplers are an addition set of tuned filter circuits. Where I am in semi-rural my AM C-C signal only covers one road about 1km in each direction, and it doesn't matter if I use 100mW, or load in 10W, signal drops right off at same spots. I have the same on-road range. To cover the empty fields and properties beyond, I'm using the Radio Systems I Am Radio 100mW FCC Certified transmitter and ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit.). This is the more modern version of the old Talk House system and can be had at www.iamradio.net . My AM C-C is on 610KHz, since you want to go very low in FREQ for AM C-C operation. (Low FREQ's follow long lines well.) The 100mW, 10ft antenna, station is at 1620KHz. Daytime range is about 1 mile in my good directions, better in winter with good soil continuity. AM1620 gets killed with night time propagation. My AM610 doesn't ket killed with as much propagation at night. (Nice!) BTW, I have both transmitters in seperate locations. AM610 AM C-C feeds audio to AM1620, about 80ft away, in a garage. I use a trashed car stereo's AM tuner to receive AM610, and feed that audio to AM6120. The best of both worlds, that I'm still testing. Both are Part #15 operation and are permissible under Part #15 FCC rules. Passing thoughts, but I would stay away from doing anything on FM since there's such a witch hunt to track down and bust FM ops today.
i was going to try syncing a carrier current with a part 15.219 install on the same frequency using my GPS clock as a syncing source. in my case it would be 1630 kHz.
Since my CC LPB units are down for repair, I am tempted to go for the Greek unit like Tha Dood has:
"I went with the Greek made transmitters at www.pll.gr and bought the 0W - 20W programable AM mono transmitter."
Having used the Greek unit with sucess for quite awhile by now it has passed the test, and without Dood's bravery I never would have taken the risk.
BE CAUTIOUS WITH CARRIER CURRENT. LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE POWER.
I don’t think it would honestly take 60 Watts to hit 3-4 miles. 1 Watt could cover at LEAST 2-3 Miles. People think it takes gobs of Power but forget the antenna and their height.
I’ve experimented with 100mW CB transmitters and found that using good material like copper (not copper plated) wire will go further than aluminum wire would. I have some members of The New Radio Revolution who has been working on some things and I can tell you that even 100mW on AM can cover 3-4 miles under the right conditions.
Also as far as antennas and 100 mW bigger is not always better. Even at 1 Watt AM the fact again that the power is low means that it could possibly not even reach the tip of an antenna that is too long. But if you have a good earth conductivity in the soil you can possibly get better range. If you can’t ground the system get it as high as you can. Even AM does better with height.
Oh and if you ran 100 Watts on AM you’d get busted relatively quick. 1-5 Watts you could have a better chance but ONLY in a rural area and that doesn’t make it legal. Just saying facts. There is NO WAY you can even think of throwing a 100 Watt station up without a license for that is what LPFM runs. When I talk about Hobby Radio and what other countries like New Zealand is doing it’s about 1 Watt ERP (Effective Radiated Power) to the antenna. I won’t even dream of asking the FCC for unlicensed service with power levels exceeding 1-2 Watts and that would be a hard sell but again I’m just saying what is more than likely to happen to you if you tried that.
The fact that you want to Advertise makes you an open target if your transmitter is over the limit and here is why: A recent article about Pirate Radio and the FCC talked about how their main enforcement will be towards HIGH POWERED pirates and ones who ADVERTISE. Otherwise if they were running shy over the limit they would not be first priority unless interference was part of the scenario. So just saying once again that in my opinion 1 a few mW’s over may or may not get you a visit depending on the situation. Again not saying it makes it legal but does show that the FCC may be looking on raising the bar a bit.
100mW can really get out there with the right setup. Roughly 800mW can get me to 10 faint miles. 60 Watts is about right for 6-10 miles of moderately noise free reception. Up in the northeast 60 watts might get you a handful of miles, likely topping out around 5 or less.
Is this using a 3 meter antenna?