We all respond to tyranny in our own way. Some of us are religious about it and loyal to the letter. Others recognize that rules can be arbitrary; sketchy; estimated; ball park; a rough guide.
It is clear that the Part 15 rules for radio broadcasting are the gentry's idea of a joke: really silly rules meant to tease small people with their uncontrolled wild impulse to communicate wirelessly.
We get the joke.
Hi Everyone
Ok Wow. First off in the past part 15 transmitters could be constructed.
They did not have to be part 15 certified from the FCC. They gave you the
guide lines and you built your transmitter according to the part 15 rules.
From what I get still from the FCC you can construct your own transmitter.
AM transmitters
No more than 100mw to the final stage.
No more than a 3 meter antenna.
There never was a field strength for AM transmitters.
FM transmitters yes a field strength was given
250uv @ 3 meters.
So you should be about 10 feet from the antenna and only have a readind of
250 uv or less.
This is legal . I did not give the FCC part rules # but I have them all.
I also am licensed with the FCC.
I agree that we need to watch each other and police our own set ups.
Anyways you can opperate with out a FCC certified transmitter but you better
make sure you can prove it meets all the rules.
Here is what I did before setting up any station on the air. I got the name the
agent I talked to. Then I ask them to give me a list of approved transmitters
they suggest using. This at least makes them aware you are trying to set
up a legal station. There are FCC approved transmitters. If you are going to
run FM station. Have a very good digital readout Field Strength meter.
Take reading everyday and log them,so you have a log to show you made sure
you did not exceed the 250uv @ 3 meters.
You will find out that FM range is very short at this strength unless someone
has and extreamly sensitive receiver or out door antenna to receive your signal.
The only way FM is going to get out far at that power is a receiver set up
with an outdoor antenna with alot of gain.
Yagi type antenna looks like a large TV antenna. your listeners really need
to set up a good antenna on a sensitive radio.
Anyways there are FCC certified FM transmitters that state they only output
250uv @ 3 meters. This is one way to go it you do not have all the test
equipment to take reading from your antenna comming off of your transmitter.
I have been doing this along time the FCC does not play games when it comes
to complaints on part 15 transmitters.
Remember the main rule of these device must not cause interferance and must
except any interferance.
Here is what I have done to make sure a listener knows we are legal. Every
once in a while. Say this is a legal transmitter under FCC part 15 rules.
Then give the FCC ID number. Then any one can check the FCC ID number and
know you are not running a pirate station. Really this does help. First off
if a FCC agent hears your station then hears the FCC ID number then they know
your are running a transmitter they approved.
You can also say you are in compliance with the FCC part 15 rules.
Example.
You are listening to KJIR .We are running a legal FCC part 15 transmitter with
the FCC ID ######## in compliance to all part 15 rules. Have any questions
please call the station at this number ##########.
This is one way to make sure who ever is listening know you are legal also it
gives them the chance to call you. This will stop alot of problems before they
can even start up.
Anyways enough of that for now. If you are out in the country like I am the
problems will never happen since there are no radio stations out here.
Anyways I hope this helps some. I have been license for almost 28 years.
Thanks
SeanKW40
All good suggestions, but at the end of the day, if someone complains about your station, the FCC (or Industry Canada or whomever) will investigate. Just because you're running an FCC certified transmitter does not mean that it is installed in the correct manner, or hasn't been modified.
I stayed away from a lot of the detail of unlicensed transmission in my station IDs, as most people really don't care (and I wanted to sound as much like the 'big boys' as I could) - I just stated that my station complied with the rules issued by Industry Canada and the CRTC. And gave people a way to contact the station if they had any issues.
Hi
That will work also. I never said they would not investigate,but it will keep
people from calling in andd saying I found a pirate radio station.
I have talk to the FCC and they would rather not waist alot of time tracking
down a radio station that is in compliance with the FCC rules part 15 or
any other part. Like part 73 and Part 74 stations.
They have told me they have better things to do than mess around with a person
who went out and bought a legal un modified transmitter. Just to find out
you are in compliance with the rules. It take money to send people out to
do an inspection of a station. If your transmitter is right out of the box,
and has the antenna attached to it that FCC approvedd then it has been a
waist of their time. Examples the Rangemaster, or the Procaster hae a antenna
coming out of them. Then you are using an approve transmitter as well antenna.
These 2 transmitter are good examples because they take out so many things
that the FCC is looking for. One the power input is 100mw ,second the antenna
is of the correct length. It really does not matter how you mount these transmitters. Mounted to your roof,fence,or any structure these will remain
legal. Yes if you tamper with the insides of the transmitter then I could see
that being something.
Now one way the manufactures of these transmitters could seal them and only have the necessary adjustments required by the user exposed. See a special
labels could be placed around the seals of thetransmitter and if they were
not borke then the FCC could place this back on the company instead of the user.
They place seals on electronics now to void a warranty. So if an FCC inspector
did come out he could see the seal had not been broken and could not take it
out on the user of the device. Then they would actually have to place to complaint on the manufacture of the device.
This would really protect the user of these so call FCC approved devices.
This would also show the FCC that the device had not been tamper with at all.
Really the FCC could have these labels issue to the manufacture,and they
place them on the transmitter so it could not be open unless by the
company making them. This would protect the consumer from any wrong claims.
What does anyone think of this. If you do not like it that is ok. I have just
been around in radio a long time and think this would protect us from any
wrong judgements.
Thanks
Seals wouldn't work on the Rangemaster or ProCaster, as you have to tune them (by opening up the box). For devices such as the Talking House, Talking Sign, etc. it would be OK.
There have been some certified transmitters that the FCC has had problems with due to long ground leads - the 100 mw input to the final stage is only one factor in the equation - the other is that the antenna plus feedline plus ground wire cannot exceed 3 meters. And having an elevated transmitter, grounded even with a short ground wire to a metal structure such as a mast has been deemed illegal in at least one high profile case.
I do agree that using a certified transmitter increases your chances of staying under the radar of the FCC (or whatever the regulatory body is in your country) but some specialized knowledge is still required to run within the rules.
The initial shock at the beginning of this thread has transformed as new information has come in.
But fear was generated, and several Part 15 stations headed for cover. Now we're slowly coming back out.
The ALPB (Association of Low Power Broadcasters) made the recent FCC actions the main talking point of their May 3rd Meeting, and you can hear it on Low Power Hour Nos 76A & 76B. It is very reassuring.
Neil Radio8Z made the very strong point that by his research, the actions against FM stations were all based on field readings extremely above Part 15 levels, which means that those operating within Part 15 parameters have never been inspected. That's FM.
As to the Jerry Gaule case, we are still flummoxed as to why Part 15.219 was not cited in relation to his take down. That is an AM case and we remain perplexed about what it means. The subject remains open.
As to the Jerry Gaule case, we are still flummoxed as to why Part 15.219 was not cited in relation to his take down. That is an AM case and we remain perplexed about what it means. The subject remains open.
can't discuss it currently. there is way more going on here in both situations and the average user of any certified transmitter including the TH and it's ATU installed per the user manual has nothing to fear.
when Dan is ready to release info and a statement publically i will post a link to that info.
rest assured running a stock talking house with wire antenna or atu installed per the manual is fcc legal and the average user has nothing to worry about.
it is all the info i can release on this at the moment.
as for fm it's best to run certified transmitters not kits. i recommend the decade. a little pricey but worth every penny.
The Decade is the cadillac of unlicensed FM transmitters. But it seems overkill (in terms of price) for the U.S. to transmit a maximum of 600-800 feet to a sensitive car radio (or a professional communications receiver setup with corresponding antenna).
In Canada it makes more sense, since you'll get up to 4 times that range here. Plus these things are rugged! I ran one 24/7 for about 2 years, and it was inside a weatherproof box on top of a building.
The Panaxis ACC 100 (particularly the mono version), if you can find one, does a good job for a lot less money. They're FCC certified, but you probably should replace the wall wart with a good, regulated, 12 volt power supply. I also recommend the Landmark FM-350, again if you can find one, as it too is certified (both FCC and Industry Canada), and sounds almost as good as the Decade (plus it has a built-in mains power supply).
Looking back in time a member posted
"can't discuss it currently. there is way more going on here in both situations...
when Dan is ready to release info and a statement publically i will post a link to that info... it is all the info i can release on this at the moment."
Who is Dan?
Dan is Dan Braverman, president of Radio Systems.
It's been over two months since RadioBoy's post, and we still haven't heard from Dan Braverman at Radio Systems. Is that still happening?
Meanwhile, today, I looked through the FCC Database and noted 7-raids so far in 2013, all in the east, and most involving FM signals, only 1-AM/FM combo.
http://www.diymedia.net/fccwatch/eadtable13.htm
One station, WSQT in Washington D.C., raided on April 3, is what I would rate as a civil-disobedience station rather than a "pirate." The very competent people at that station cover protest/activism in the Washington D.C. area and share their professional reports at radio4all.net, just search "WSQT." They have continued posting reports, most recent date June 23. The contents listed for recent programs do not include mention of their raid.
i believe (again can't prove) a individual who shall remain nameless has bad mouth me to mr braverman and the discussion pertaining to the incident with mr gaule is taking place behine the other forums iron curtain.
so once again un named individual has shoved their nose in matters that don't pertain to them and on top of ruining my sale of the RS Tx has ruined my name with my contact at RS as well.
so it appears i will most likely not get any further info from mr braverman and likely won't be getting any info on this situation via the other site.
so that is that it appears.
guess running me off their forum was not enough they have to continue to put the screws to me even after.
A lot of Part 15 people have been banned from that other not named website. How many has it been?
I'd be afraid to join over there, they might kick me out!
Meeting and talking in secret seems anti-social.
Part15.us and thealpb.com are 100% open to all with no secret activities.
We believe that the people who practice Part 15 are the main thing about it!
Maybe I'm not "in" with the part15.us crowd anymore 🙂 They have not kicked me out.. but.. i dont really see the point in visiting more than one forum.. so many of the same content, same discussions, same everything.. one spot to chit chat is enough. Plus.. people like Carl keep me smiling 🙂