A subject I have long wanted to explore on the Low Power Hour is the secret, hidden, underground world of "part 15 enemies."
I hear rumors all the time about covert lurkers who pretend to be legit part 15 website members, but whose real mission is to report suspected violators.
It is my understanding that, to some of these spies ALL part 15 broadcasting is a nuisance they want to eliminate.
But except for rumors, I only spot traces of these people.
Like the guy who said reporting violators to the FCC is "the right thing to do."
But that reveals a mental disorder known as "self-righteousness," in which a person appoints himself a deputy, bounty hunter, informer and enforcer, as a way of boosting self-importance. But it's a fallacy and not a healthy activity.
All I want is for one of these self-shamed hidden operators to have the gonads to step forward and join me in conversation on the LPH.
No one has had the manliness to take the challenge.
Pirate Activity: "As long as they are not interfering with my stations I could care less..." or to that effect.
according to my sources, it was someone on here that made the threats... and i got the person... becuase he also threatened the person who made the subject of the thread...
i got you, you blood sucking leech!
First of all, this is a Part 15 web site. If you're a pirate according to design, and not unknowingly, then you probably shouldn't be here. Appearing to endorse pirate acivity DOES reflect negatively on this web site and Forum for both those who wish to remain legal, and those whose job it is to enforce the rules.
I don't know about 'ratting' someone out. But if someone here is describing a situation that is clearly illegal in the country in which they reside, then it is certainly on-topic to point that out. We are supposed to be the leaders in legal, unlicensed broadcasting, and point the way for others, including those new to the hobby.
You can't beat the laws of physics. Range is a product of many factors, primarily field strength on the transmit side and the receiving equipment at the other end. In the U.S., while the FCC uses 200 feet as a barometer of legality on FM, it is certainly possible to get 600-800 feet when you're using a sensitive car receiver and you are line of sight to the transmitter (and remain within the legal field strength). But that's about it - in Canada, where we're allowed 4 times the field strength, you can get 2400-3200 feet (around 1km). But no more (and that's with line of sight to the transmitter, which is harder as you increase range).
I'm not sure what kind of receiver (and receive antenna) you'd need to have to get 5 miles range and have a legal field strength from your transmitter/antenna combo. I don't think it's possible but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
its legal and i have proven it with mesuaring and field equipment... i would show you artisian radio... but the reason why i cant show you is stated in an earlier post
In the beginning luisrosado asked about Part 15 FM, at Post # 17 John WDCX suggested Luis would get better range with AM. That was good advice.
Post # 23 I came up with a way of making FM work by placing a certified FM transmitter in every listeners home connected to their computer. Good advice too.
At Post # 33 Luis responded to the AM suggestion by asking about an Isotron Antenna, but most commenters after that kept talking about the legalities of FM, including me, by the way.
Somehow pirate (illegal) broadcasting was raised, but I cannot find the part where anything illegal was first brought into the discussion.
Luis? Have you decided what you are going to do?
If what you want is the greatest legal unlicensed range, then in the U.S. AM is the way to go.
In Canada, FM is the way to go (with unlicensed AM broadcasting hamstrung by the BETS rules and not allowed the 100mw input to the final stage rule).
Unfortunately, I just don't believe that there are antennas available that will allow Part 15 FM to compete with AM, rangewise. I'd have to be presented with hard evidence to the contrary to put any stock in such magical devices.
The Radio Brandy antenna is essentially a dipole with a balun hidden within the copper pipe.
Given such an antenna at close to a 1:1 SWR, legal Part 15 FM field strengths are achieved with a transmitter output of around 11 NANOwatts. Yes, NANOwatts. The advertising verbiage for the Radio Brandy antenna quotes that using their antenna, a transmitter with 25 MILLIwatts output achieved 3 miles (and that was the lowest transmitter output quoted). Now, that signal is about 2 MILLION times more powerful than the (legal) 11 nanowatts.
It may indeed be a good antenna. Maybe even the best out there for FM. But, basically every testimonial singing the praise of that antenna was an illegal installation (100 milliwatts, 1 watt, etc.). At the end of the day, the antenna can't do magic.
If you really want to use FM and be legal (in the U.S.), you're better off getting a certified transmitter and mounting it up as high as you can. I put a Decade MS-100 (tuned to Canadian specs) in a weatherproof box, and placed it on the roof of a building which was located on a hillside overlooking my desired coverage area. I managed to get around 1km range to a good car radio (sensitivity under 2uv), line of sight - that would translate to about 250 meters (or around 800 feet) if the Decade was tuned to U.S. specs.
Let us know when your web site is up.
IT is fitting to discuss radio streaming along with solutions for luisrosado's startup in Part 15 radio, since I suggested placing individual FM transmitters in the homes of church listeners, fed by a stream server located at the church.
IN the near future I will be taking turns running Part 15 streams on a special Indoor Antenna Experimental AMT3000 Transmitter, including WDCX, Artisan, RagFM and all the others.
ALSO, as a quick and cheap way to stay on all night I've been running Part 15 streams where licensing isn't an issue, including MRAM 1500 and Friday Harbor Tiny Radio.
AND, right at the moment, I am trying to place a permanent "Title" message that will use the Meta Data Title feature of stream serving, and I've managed to do this with two out of my three servers. It seems that not all encoder/server combinations obey the same titling rules.
I am trying to eliminate the daily chore of typing proper titles into each and every mp3 program on the daily playlist.
Even a home radio station needs an entire staff to keep it happening.
Dear Fellow Part 15ahs...
As Mentioned, I want to have a single Title Line that will remain permanently on display, in place of a distinct title for each program.
Right now, in the rap style, I am using "Meta Testa" on the two servers that let me do it. My 3rd server is still stuck with individual titles.
What I am requesting is a Permanent Title Text that will reflect KDX Worldround Radio.
Some of my early samples are "International Broadcaster", "From the Center of North America", "Internet Building", "Carl's Radio Station."
Besides eating up a lot of time everyday, individual titles don't show up on some Directories or Players. For example, Shoutcast doesn't seem to show titles anymore and the Flash Player doesn't display titles.
Maybe it should be a promo for something, like "Drive Safely."
The unfortunate reality is that with Part 15 rules being what they are, internet streaming is really the only way to potentially get to a large audience. And then, with the large number of competing streams 'out there', the challenge becomes being found by listeners - this is perhaps a topic that should be moved to a separate thread.
The other downside of streaming is that you really need to ensure that you are legal, copyright wise. It's quite likely that your puny over-the-air signal will never come to the attention of the copyright police, but the chances are much greater of being found out and called to task (if you're playing copyrighted material) if you're streaming.
Again, the rules for copyright are different in each country - not one size fits all.
As always, Artisan Radio, a charter member of the ALPB, the originator of our occasional Seminars on Part 15 Subjects, has triggered in me an idea, and perhaps indeed a separate thread will eventually be dedicated.
But let's aim this discussion toward the hopes of luisrosado to construct a church radio station to reach shutin and homebound congregants.
IF luis incorporates a streaming station along with Part 15 transmitters, it will be time for a serious discussion of the copyright landscape.
But the subject also has the makings of a tremendous ALPB SEMINAR, and perhaps Artisan can host such a seminar at a meeting. Several members have succesfully built streams around license free content, from indy bands and Creative Commons non-commercial permissions.
One such is MRAM 1500 whose streams are license free and stocked with open source programming.
I think Friday Harbor Tiny Radio is another highly professional operation based on license free content.
Then of course there's KDX Worldround Radio, built from the pixel level on up from permissions entirely apart from licensing complications.
This would be more of a symposium than a seminar, and why not?
I think we subscribe to licensed arrangements when having our preferred music is worth the expense.
As far as luis is concerned, he could easily build a license free streaming service based on church ownership of public domain religious material.
Lightning is entering the area. I may need to hide downstairs.
Coward
This thread started being about an FM antenna, and has branched into many related discussions, with the FM subject popping up in other threads, but I will grab a place here to disclose my FM application.
FM antennas are important to me, but the little stub antennas provided on certified transmitters are unsuitable and do not even make good toys.
Using more efficient antennas does NOT mean, in my application, exceeding the FCC limits on field strength. Good antennas for me are antennas that work decently well within a small indoor area, room to room. There are no FCC inspectors in the house.
I use FM to shoot signals to AM transmitters located at outer walls of the house.
Once I have a point-to-point-signal, I LOWER the power of the FM transmitter to the absolute minimum at which it will do its job.
My main FM goes from the KDX audio source carrying the main programming for AMT5000 on 1670 kHz, a total FM hop of 35-feet at 89.5 MHz.
My 2nd FM signal hops 10-feet from the production output to a FM radio at 101.5 MHz for audio editing. I also listen to You Tube and Hulu TV on this channel.
The 3rd hop is about 40-feet at 88.9 MHz used infrequently to send LP vinyl records for digitizing.
None of these FM signals is intended for an outside audience and the power is set low enough that they reach less than 100-feet.
My antenna research is intended to find ways to reduce the power even more than it is now.