Starting fresh

Good Morning,  First, what is your expected coverage area? Part 15 FM is quite limited in range. Part 15 AM is ALWAYS a better option both from a legal and coverage point of view.

i use these peoples Tx for FM http://www.waio.com/ their BR8000 model, and the chez procaster for am http://www.chezradio.com/ or you could use the hamilton rangemaster as well http://www.am1000rangemaster.com/ good processing and good site installation is the key to getting out on AM. you can also use a multiple site system which i am working on here to cover my whole apartment complex via part 15 radio.

How much do you want to spend?  Can you mount a FM transmitter up high outside?  Is your target audience people in their homes, people in cars, or something else?  Have you listened to the radio dial near you, do you have a frequency that is really quiet with the frequencies above and below it also being quiet?  If you want much more than 800’ range on FM it is not going to happen with part 15 allowed field strength.  The C Crane FM2 is inexpensive and out of the box it should not be over the limit.  There are low production volume transmitters that are set by the manufacturer to be right at the 15.239 limit; they may get you more range than a C Crane FM2, but they will cost about 10x more than an FM2. 

On the other hand, on AM you can get out farther, but the question is how much you want to spend.  A talking house can be found on ebay for $50.  That will get you on the air.  A transmitter that is as efficient as possible can be $1000; combined with as much of a buried ground field as you can put on your property will get you the most range possible on AM.  If you rent or live in a non-ground floor apartment/condo, I would recommend a talking house and be done with it.  People can get passionate about grounds for non-ground floor residents.

Thank you all for the help. To clear up a few questions: I did learn that AM would be better for what I want. I would like to reach as far as possible. As far as budget goes, I guess im not sure... I am not looking to shell out thousands of dollars for it, I am more doing it for experience first. I do know I want it to reach more than just my house or a small area like that. 

I'd read as much as I could, here and other places.

Then my only advice is experiment, experiment, experiment.  Start inexpensively and simply, try things out, and stop when (or if) you achieve the results that you want.

There are so many factors involved in range, audio processing and sound quality, streaming, music licensing, etc. that it is impossible for anyone to give you a short answer.  One day someone should write a white paper on this subject, although it might turn into a book.

Asking this question is like asking "I'd like to start a church. What religion should it be".

You mentioned FM.  In most cases you'll be lucky to cover your block with a legal Part 15 FM. If that's what you're going for buy a name brand FM Part 15 transmitter, from a company that's not selling them from China, and have at it.

On the other hand, if you want people to hear you, you want AM. A decent installation will get you a mile radius, maybe more if you're in a good low noise area. (that's a circle two miles across with your station in the center). Of course it depends greatly on your installation and local conditions.

Asking what trnasmitter to buy is like asking a bunch of car nuts what motor oil to buy. You buy the one you believe in. When I started Part 15 over 2 years ago I narrowed it down to a Procaster or a Rangemaster. Procaster won due to ease of tuning (built in meter) and built in processing (no extra doodads to buy that cost as much as the transmitter). It's served me well for over a year and a half with great sound.  Rangemaster gives you the ability to synchronize multiple transmitters for greater coverage, although I've never talked with anyone currently doing that. You'll need processing with the Rangemaster. Which is fine if you like to diddle with that sort of thing but it adds to the cost.  The SStran units are decent looking as well, have built in processing, but must be built from a kit and aren't made, as is to be installed outside, which you'd want to do to maximize output.

Lots of choices.  Good results can be obtained with most.

There are many diehard fans of FM Part 15 here.  But in reality range is so limited in most cases it's not worth the work to me. To others, maybe. To me, no.

Beyond that what you'll need depends on your intended programming. Computer, live, mixer, turntables? The studio possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

TIB