It's been about a year now that I got the idea of running a community station. In that time, I've done a lot of reading, and understanding how the FCC works. It just seems to me that Part 15 will never be expanded because there isn't real interest in it. It's not that there aren't thousands of people out there right now that wouldn't start a station right this instant if they could, but...where are they? They're not here, they're not petitioning the FCC.
The thing is, logically, expanding Part 15 into something a bit larger (like 1250 or 1500 uV) would be enough for community-based FM but it's going to take more than a dozen radio nuts to convince the FCC to bother.
No, I think it's going to take something stronger than that. It's going to take at least several hundred people to get the FCC to take notice of something. Or, the FCC is going to have to be shown that they're losing out if they don't get a community radio system to operate at a lower-than-LPFM power level.
I'm not giving up, I just don't know how to attract the large number of people around the country that would be interested in this in the first place.
You're right, macdev. The FCC has bigger fish to fry than accommodating us humble hobbyists. But there's strength in numbers, as you point out, and a larger-scale *coordinated* effort is what's needed.
I still feel that petitioning the Commission to allow for much longer ground leads -- but with the same power -- would be something that would have a chance of passing. It's a fairly uncomplicated proposal from an engineering standpoint.
Oh I agree as far as AM goes 100 mW can do a lot with some decent ground. And Station8's antenna that he is inventing for a longer legal renge for part 15 AM is a huge success and is very promising. It doesn't even require a ground. Add 30 plus feet of ground and you could cover a 5 mile range on AM. FM however we can't begin to ask for 5 miles, but ¼ to ½ mile on a digital boom box should not be a hard sell. At least allow that for a car Radio. Since we have Timinbovey's field strength for the secret HIGH power setting of the Whole House 3.0 I say ask for at least 310 mW (which is the exact power that the transmitter puts out when the lightning bolt is ON. This gives a range of ¼ mile of quality STEREO FM reception. Good enough to cover a small estate such as Fishing Bay Estates in Deltaville, VA. This allows a small community to receive your station clearly without causing havoc to anyone. As soon as your outside the community the reception is GONE. Why not make a operator feel better knowing it is legal instead of having to bend rules to get that range. For AM you can almost do that with the wire antenna connected to the iAM (Talking House) AM Transmitter. At least allow FM to have a level playing field. This was why I started the initiative was because FM has been treated unfairly for years as far as Hobby Radio and I plan to try and get enough of us together to try and change that. 87.7 and 87.9 Mhz really needs to be made national Hobby Radio frequencies and then legally added to certified transmitters like Whole House FM Transmitter 3,0 as this transmitter really is good and with a compressor limiter either software or otherwise can sound like a professional Radio station. In my humble opinion it is all you need to make a neighborhood or 1 mile community station because connected to a 3 foot piece of wire you cover slightly more range. Good enough we don't need overkill in power for FM. We hafe the field strength and exact mW's from Tim which is 310 mW. Lets ask for that.
Well your biggest hurdle isn't going to be the FCC in particular, but rather the obvious backlash from license holders citing increased interference.
Out of the 300 million people in the US how many actually know what part 15 is? And in Canada even the music rights licencing people don't know what BETS-1 is let alone the general population. And out of the 350 million people in North America how many care about hobby radio stations?
A very small number of people have to make a lot of noise!
How do you do that I don't know....even on this forum each few days there's 5 more new members and the member list is quite large but you never hear from 98% of them. So you couldn't get a big petition or protest even from here.
Unfortunately this is not an important issue. Maybe if there was a bumper sticker that said "more FM signal strength for FM part 15" people would see it and want to know what that was.
Mark
Well the major issue I see with the Initiative and it is really quite daunting to me. Most folks would rather simply say “It will never happen” and let it lie in that ball park. As far as licensed stations are concerned, I think we can convince them that most folks are satisfied with a 1 mile to a boom box (Two miles MAX to a car radio) range. Simply put the reason Pirates run 50+ watt transmitters is because they think the more power the better. However with FM I have proof that more mW's or watts doesn't always mean more range. Case in point the SainSonic AX-05B supposedly has 500 mW and is not as clean as the Whole House FM Transmitter 3.0. Yet the range is not further than 310 mW's from the Whole House FM Transmitter 3.0 at High power. So this is the iron we strike. Since the Whole House FM 3.0 is cleaner and more efficient it takes far less power and thus a chance it will cause less interference due to the fact it was TESTED CLEAN. This “your a Freeloader” notion has to quit. It compares apples to oranges. Hobby Radio is just that in most cases and as far as I know most folks are not making a fortune from their little stations. There is a few exceptions to this rule I'm sure we can find. Also the convincing argument can be New Zealand's General User Radio License which I don't think that would be an issue. Inconveniencing both the licensed stations and the FCC that 87.7 and 87.9 should be the frequencies allotted for a neighborhood signal on FM. If we use Neighborhood in the petition I think it will have far more merit.
Well the main concern that even I see myself, is that obviously one or two people running a station that covers a mile or so isn't that big of a deal. The problem arises when either more people run these stations, or more likely the manufacturers get just a little more lazy about emissions in both their production and from their devices they produce. LED TVs, ballasts, CFLs, computers, the list goes on.
I'm not against more power for part 15, theres just some glaring technical issues that need to be sorted out by the FCC.
we need a power to the people petition along with a notice of proposed rule making in tandem.
we make a NPRM to the FCC in addition we create a petition on the whitehouse website and urge the Obama Administration to lean on the FCC a little bit to act on that NPRM.
You guys *do* realize, I hope, that if you become a true neighbourhood station with more range and listeners, there will be increased pressure to pay licensing fees. Plus increased regulation from the FCC (that occurs in New Zealand as well).
The only way I see it happening (& getting useable range on FM) is to have several frequencies set aside in the guard bands (low or high) to reduce the possibility of interference. Good luck with that, considering the number of AM stations wanting to move to FM.
Perhaps AM is a better choice for a neighbourhood classification.
I dont see the PRO's going after a 1 mile FM station remember most folks dont pay royalties for AM which goes a little further. Some of your IF technical c[ncerns i can sort of rap my head around however the royalty deal is a bit much. We also should look at how some licenced stations treated LPFM stations as far as their feer of competition.
Let's get the ability to go further than a block and then we'll worry about licensing.
how about on FM we up the field strength to 100uV/m @ 30m and allow for measurement at up to 100m from the closest property boundary to the antenna. allow this to aplly to both public, semi public / Semi Private, and private properties. basically apartment complexes, stadiums, race tracks, drive in's, private dwellings, apartments, camp grounds, educational grounds, etc. set asside a small handful of frequencies (maybe 6, 3 hi, 3 lo, or 6 in the TV-6 band) on fm.
on AM open up 1710, 1720, and 500, 510, 520 (require radio manufacturers add these new frequencies) and allow for a longer ground lead (maybe 100m) and give 100mW output into 50 ohms at the antenna output connector on back of Tx vs 100mW input to final stage.
this would solve many a problem and just might pass.
FM: Does not solve the problem of measurement capability. Needs to be quantified in terms of power not uV/M.
AM: Does not solve the issue of what a ground lead is. This introduces more murkyness into the equation.
One has to decide whether you are a hobby or a broadcaster seeking range. If you are a hobby then you work withing the framework of the rules as many out here do. If you are a broadcaster then locate an AM station to buy. There are many out there cheap.
they can setup an alternative to the field strength measurements in addition to the forementioned rule idea's. maybe allow 50mW TPO into a maximum of a single half wave (0 DBD Gain) dipole. i have expermented with 100mW into a half wave 20ft in the air. it went about 1 mile to a sensitive portable stereo with lots of static at 1 mile.
I agree with KC8GPD about 100 uV/m from the closest property boundry from the Antenna. This has been talked about on HB as a already found loop hole in the law. Only difference the current rule is 250 uV/m from the property line and a Radio camp for kids was made on behalf of that. So since Fishing Bay Estates is a 1/2 mile square this would be a great place for hobby Radio. This is why i want to make some Gray areas clearly legal. Going 100 meters from the property line at 100 uV/m is a start. For AM it should be 100 mW from the antenna connector and with Station8's new antenna you have promise for AM. Plus allow a 60 foot ground lead. However i think the 100 mW from antenna connector is a very good idea. Im pushing for Hobby Frequencies within the FM and AM band and and an educational movement for licensed stations.