The Rangemaster will decimate that TH in everyway imaginable, I'm actually a bit surprised the coverage is nearly the same.
If it was me I'd keep both and run two formats. OTR or Talk on the TH, Music on the Rangemaster.
I've found the build quality of the TH to be highly variable. Perhaps he got an exceptionally good one.
The ATU will increase the field strength of the TH substantially. But even with the ATU, my Range master always had better range.
Yes the build quality is hit or miss. I have two TH transmitters one does great and the other one is lucky to get 2 blocks. They both work much better when plugged into the isolation transformer. No hum at all and I seem to get a bit more distance. I have a better mount where I used to have my ground mounted Ham Radio antenna. I tried both on that mount and the Rangemaster blew the TH/ATU away. Clean, loud and stable even at night. That is why the ATU is now on eBay $150.
I saw somewhere, a test that showed the TH only at 80% before it distorts. That RangeMaster can handle 125%, IIRC.
Doug
Interesting, I post how to protect your ground mounted transmitter from theft and a discussion suddenly pops up over there, about ground mounted AM transmitter theft and Mr. Bill steals my idea about burying the AM transmitter box in the ground and how water won't get in the water tight box, blah blah blah. Geesh! I should have patented my idea and nailed him for plagiarism.
Bruce.
"I should have patented my idea and nailed him for plagiarism." - Mr. Bruce
Actually, this is not a new concept or idea....burying transmitters for various reasons has been around for decades.
A while ago I bought a lot of 3 new TH's (non IAM). One powered up but didn't get out past my porch, another barely got around the block, and one did nearly as well as my Procaster.
It's pretty easy to 'hide' your transmitter outdoors in plain sight, without extreme measures such as burying.
Hams have been using variations on the flagpole antenna for years. Install your transmitter at the bottom of a 3 meter metal flagpole and it's unlikely anyone will notice, particularly if you plant a few small bushes around it.
If you're using a transmitter with a wire antenna, put it in a weatherproof box, use a fibreglass or fiberglass pipe, & run the wire up through the pipe.
Other possibilities include free standing umbrellas, signs, or ? Let your imagination run wild.
That Firestick clamp might have worked. Did not see that.
but like the idea of a locked wood or fiberglass dog house with a antenna feedthrough and feeding a blaw knox dimaond antenna replica scaled down to 3m over a nice ground plan.
if i had any property this is what i would do.
i have done attic antenna's as well when i lived in a garden type apartment with attic access back in NJ.
here through they lock the attics so you can't access them and we live on a 1st floor anyways.
hence why i run carrier current here and have a 15.219 remote site at my friends 3rd story apartment balcony.
havent played with a rangemaster but based on what they cost, i doubt it ever will. the TH units can work very well if fed with processed audio. i do all my processing via PC. the C301 cap mod helps some with the audio on the TH. the biggest issue is the limiter chip and hum.
the limiter chip can be removed and the unit fed raw audio which will have much better fidellity. the issue is doing it without bringing in more hum. its an involved mod that i figure will require a decent quality audio isolation transformer and obviously good external processing to brick wall your levels just before distortion.
as far as theft.. this may sound nasty but nothing like a big ole dog pile smeared on something to keep little dirtbags from touching it.
A few interesting things about this old thread. One is that in regard to potential range, it probably doesnt matter if you have a Rangemaster, Procaster, Talking House with or without a range Extender, or a home built unit. In general it doesnt matter which you use the range is going to be about the same. Where the primary difference arises is in quality of the circuitry and quality of the signal as well as how long it last before fail.
Another interesting thing coming out of this thread is results of changing out the audio coupling capacitor in the older TH II to improve quality, and the suggestion to bury your trsnsmitter!.. I don't know.. doesn't sound like a good idea to me at all, but I did like the dog house idea!
Also interesting, it appears to have been the topic starters (jpjanze) first post here.