From one inspector to the next the interpretation of their rules is very subjective.
Any details?
The site is in Ely, Nevada. The radials you see are not attached to the transmitter. The signal fades out at 2 to 2.5 miles.
Of course we are curious to know why the site was inspected
Is there an FCC document detailing the "investigation"? If a NOUO is not issued is there no follow-up document?
"The radials you see are not attached to the transmitter."
Could anyone kindly explain why the pic linked by WDCX shows the radials used in that system without showing the ~3-m vertical conductor (whip) commonly used with Part 15 AM systems, and which almost certainly has a greater OD than those radials ?
It is quite difficult to see but if you look at the top of the image directly above the box mounted at the top of the mast you'll see a white, vertical tube extending down to the box.
You have to zoom in quite a bit to pick it out.
Perhaps because it may be shiny, unlike the radials, it blends in with the clouds.
Here is the same picture enlarged about 400 times:
Hard to tell but it looks like a vertical tube up from the box.
There it is, MRAM found it.
What are those "radials" visible in the picture which are not electrically connected to transmitter?
I wondered if they're actually guy wires for the pole.
Hi Guys: Here is a picture and where you can go for other information.
I hope this helps Jeff
Hi Guys: Here is more.
http://www.elynews.com/2014/04/11/local-radio-station-loop-going-online/
By Garrett Estrada
Ely Times Staff Writer
Eric Skye monitors his radio frequency AM 1610 The Loop out from his broadcast studio, located next to his home in Ely.
Eric Skye has always had a passion for building and tinkering. Growing up in his dad’s recording studio Skyelabs Mobile Recording, that passion grew into a job. He became a mobile broadcast facilitator, then an audio engineer.
Now, sitting in his own mobile broadcasting center in Ely, Skye commands the airwaves on his own “micro-broadcast,” and he couldn’t be happier about it.
“Building this stuff, it’s my natural tweak,” Sky said.
The stuff he is building is actually a way to stream his radio station, AM1610 The Loop over the channel’s website, www.am1610theloop.com. He refers to the station as a “jukebox on the air,” a music station that plays anything but country (another station already has that market covered). It’s an eclectic mix of songs, not unlike the jukebox he mentions.
His mantra?
“If you don’t like it, wait three minutes,” Skye said, referring to how the next song to play in a playlist is usually something completely different from the last.
Despite the station’s current limited transmission range, Skye estimates it covers “just about all of downtown,” the outgoing radio director has big plans for the station. First off, streaming the music live through the website, a feature he hopes to have installed by the end of the week. Next, finding a way to boost the signal.
Every idea from then on brings a smile to his face, and there is a lot of them.
“Our station is eventually is going to be about local, local, local,” he said. “News, weather, community calendars, community announcements, anything. My wife and I even want to start up a morning talk show, Eric and Ericka in the Morning.”
It’s an effort that is going to require more than the two signal transmitters that The Loop currently uses, but he adds, he can legally have up to 50, it’s just a matter of making the money to get there.
Financially speaking, Skye makes clear that he isn’t in the radio business to become rich and famous. He calls the station a “full-time job” but in reality he pays the bills with another full-time job as a cable television installation expert.
“There’s no money in radio. We just hope to make enough on advertisements and DJ’ing events to keep this thing running,” Sky said.
Though AM1610 is a for-profit station, Skye said the reality is the operation is run similar to a non-profit organization, because every dollar earned is turned right back over to try and improve the station to invest in more transmitters.
Cheap advertising has been part of the plan since the station began in 2008. Instead of $5 ads, they would run “$1 hollers,” a spot that would cost a dollar each time it’s played. As for providing the tunes for local events, The Loop’s variety of music could be heard all over a frozen Cave Lake during the popular Fire and Ice festival during winter.
As a self-professed “rocker,” Skye admits he’s still learning through doing, and that one day, he hopes to bring the music and potential local content of The Loop to an FM frequency. But in the meantime, he is going to continue having fun playing music, “hopefully until I’m an old man.”
Watch out for the FCC... says:
While I like Mr. Skye’s take on radio, he’s got to be very careful being a Part 15 broadcaster. Under the FCC’s rules, an unlicensed station such as The Loop is limitied to about a 200 foot broadcast range. The station, while not a powerhouse, can be heard much futher that that. The Ely Times has done him no service by making his potenially illegal activities a new story, documenting them for any FCC enforcement agent to see.
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Thank you for your concern in protecting my business endeavors. The Loop is using a Hamilton Rangemaster which is fully compliant with the Part 15 rules. The reason it spans farther than 200 feet is the use of multiple transmitters with STL over IP. I have already been investigated by the FCC, 4 years ago, and am in COMPLETE compliance with ALL rules and regulations of Title 47 Part 15.
hope this helps Jeff
Yes Mr. Jeff station8, now we know "The Rest of the Story," as Paul Harvey always said.
Having the name "Skye" is good for radio, and there he is "up in the sky" tweaking the Hamilton.
I want to be standing up on a pole tweaking an SS Tran AMT5000.
These pictures will be the inspiration.
You are crazy! 🙂
John WDCX said: "You are crazy!"
We respond: "That's what it takes!"
"While I like Mr. Skye’s take on radio, he’s got to be very careful being a Part 15 broadcaster. Under the FCC’s rules, an unlicensed station such as The Loop is limitied to about a 200 foot broadcast range."
Where the HECK do people keep coming up with this 200 foot range BS? There is NO limitation on DISTANCE in ANY FCC rule. Granted, on FM you are limited to a given field strength which gives a pretty good indication of greatly limited range, but there is no such rule on AM. If you're running a Part 15 legal AM station and only getting out 200 feet you might want to check and make sure your transmitter is plugged in, or you've connected your antenna. This is probably the 5th time in as many months I've heard someone refer to the 200 foot FCC rule.
Tim in Bovey