I have a couple of these transmitters. They work fine for their intended use: easily transmitting music/whatever around your house or in your car.
Thanks for the "high power" tip, I didn't know about that (hold down cycle and mute until the lightning icon appears). There was a switch in the battery compartment of the 2.0 version that also upped the power. It was hidden under a "inspected by so and so" sticker.
I have had (still have) all 3 versions of this transmitter. The original put out a strong signal, but only worked on 7 frequencies.
The 2.0 version had problems, mainly with the goofy antenna arrangement. I fixed that by opening it up and soldering the long wire directly to the point where the 6 inch wire was attached. That and flipping the hidden switch, it put out a good signal.
The 3.0 version is definitely the best and easiest to use. It was already putting out a nice signal. I can't wait to test it tomorrow in high power mode.
Great thread here and thanks for doing this, i know it was exhaustive work but i like the idea of having a use perform these tests. In a real world environment.
First thanks to Tim for all his hard work. The notion that the Patomac FIM 71 was the least bit portable was shown false. That thing must have took quite a long time to set up. This makes me think that the FCC uses a van with a Patomac FIM71 hooked up in the back of the van and a moon roof to allow the antennas to stick out. Anyways back to the transmitter itself. Some of those readings from what I read even in the USA was above the Canada standard as well? I'll have to look more clearly at the numbers but could show why some could receive the signal ¼ mile. However the fact that Tim only heard the signal a little further than 200 feet with some effort makes me wonder too about those statements. If you have to put that much more than legal power to get the range he reported makes me wonder what field strength you would have to achieve to get that range in Stereo on some good Radio's. The Tecsun was nothing to sneeze at as it is a very sensitive Radio. It does show some data I was not aware of here. I'd like to know about the splatter and rather or not your transmitter would bleed a boom box at 10-15 feet from the transmitter. Thanks for giving us accurate field strength readings we can study. But the notion that these transmitters are under the legal limit is false.
I've pretty much as of last night declared the Whole House Transmitter 3.0 to be pretty much a scam.
I went poking around looking for certification test paperwork. Found it:
https://fccid.io/document.php?id=2117102
I noted that it states in more than one place that the mini-USB connector was disabled and now does nothing. Yes the transmitter is supplied with a USB power plug and cord, as well as a USB car lighter adapter and cord, so you can power the transmitter from house power or the car. I hadn't actually tested this. Just did. The transmitter DOES NOT POWER ON with no batteries when plugged into AC power or car lighter with the supplied cord and adapters.
My guess is they found out the power cable radiated and had to have it disabled to pass certification. But they still sell them with the power adapters and cable and brag about how you can use it on different power sources.
Tim in Bovey
Tim I am not trying to take this topic off topic, but is there a possiblilty you can test a Decade MS100 transmitter and create a new topic regarding that test setup?
Bruce.
"The transmitter DOES NOT POWER ON with no batteries when plugged into AC power or car lighter with the supplied cord and adapters."
Nonsense. I have been running mine that way for months. It is powered on with no batteries installed.
Pretty Please?
This is the same lab that tested the Sain Sonic/ CZH-050B.
I need to make a correction to my previous statement. This unit WILL in fact operate off a/c power. My test last night was done with the supplied power supply "cube". The problem isn't that the unit doesn't run off external power, it's that the supplied power adapter does NOT work. e.g. it produces no power whatsoever.
But this leaves us the conundrum above -- the certification paperwork submitted CLEARLY states in several places that the mini USB jack had been disabled an no longer does anything in the transitter. Yet, it does in fact work. I was mislead by a supplied power cube that doesn't work.
Which explains why if this was "disabled" inserting the power cord (connected to no adapter) greatly increased RF output.
Terrible little device.
TIB
I'd love to test an MS100 but It's a bit out of my "experimental" budget. Looks like between $400 and $500. As I have no plans on using any FM transmitters I would just test it and try to sell it, probably at a loss. But I still insist the only REAL way to get an honest test is to buy one at retail from a regular sales outlet.
I have a CM-10 to do next and it's going to be a week or so down the road before I get to that. By the end of October or early November my test field will be covered in snow drifts bringing real outdoor testing to a close until probably April!
TIB
"Terrible little device. " "I've pretty much as of last night declared the Whole House Transmitter 3.0 to be pretty much a scam. "
On the contrary, its a GREAT LITTLE DEVICE that does what it is intended to do. The fact that you have a defective unit should not be the basis for your horribly biased "review".
BTW, the high power setting effectively tripled my coverage range. Mine is located on the 2nd floor of a wood frame house. I was already getting an easy 1/4 mile range. In high power mode I can hear it 9/10 of mile away. Yes it is very fading/weak, but I heard it. At 7/10 mile it was solid.
This was tested with my car radio. The distances are air miles, not miles driven.
Another tip for increased range is setting it to mono mode. Not that it gives more range, but it prevents the receiver from flipping between stereo/mono (on receivers without a mono setting, like my car radio), and makes the signal less irritating when weak.
I won't use the high power mode full time, as I don't need it to cover my house/yard. But its nice to know it is there.
BTW, I replied this morning about your bogus claim of "It cannot be powered by AC". Funny how it never occurred to you that something was defective. Instead you just immediately jumped to the conclusion that "its a scam".
But strangely enough, that post has not appeared here yet. I wonder if this one will get through the censors?
[Edit to add: Infrequent posters have their posts held for review before they are posted which is what happened in your case. From now on your posts will appear immediately. Neil ]
Carl mentioned that the Whole House Transmitter 2.0 was a spectoral nightmare. I wonder if the 3.0 is as bad. I don't understand however with all the high field strength your getting with the transmitter why it got only 220 Ft range? Maybe the fact that most of its energy is wasted in spurs could account for why this is. I'd like to see what my SainSonic AX-05B did compaired to that Whole House Transmitter 3.0. Does it bleed Radio's in a 10 feet range too? Some of the NOUO's in the 4K range could have been from that very transmitter. The one where the field strength was 600-700 uVm @ 3 meters is around what yours was putting out. We'd have to look at the NOUO's. The folks in Frankinmooth, Mi that I said went over 1/4 mile was using a Whole House FM Transmitter so this could show why.
Its another reason to be sue you don't interfere with anyone. You could have a Transmitter unknown to you that is overpowered for part 15.
Just because I can (and because I have all these devices sitting around the living room)
I set up the Whole House 3.0 on top of the book shelf in the living room. I switched the R-506 to read dBuV which is great for comparing output, but is in no way calibrated with the utility antenna to determine uV/m, but still great for comparing.
The R-506 was 13 feet away from the WH 3.0 and at the same height. Just the transmitter sitting by itself, no modulation, I read 40.1 dBuV. Plugging in the 4 foot audio cable into the line input (but attached to no sound device, just the cable alone) and the output jumped to 51.1 dBuV. Then I unplugged the audio cable and it went back down to 40.1 dBuV. Then I plugged in the provided power adapter cord, (about 3 feet long and connected to no power source, adapter, etc, just the cable alone) and the reading jumped to 63.7 dBuV. I already expected this effect, as I measured it with the FIM-71 as detailed up above, but just because I could here's another set of readings. In all these readings I had the antenna vertical and the receive antenna vertical on the R-506. I let the cables hang straight down so they were in effect mirroring the antenna.
Those are pretty substantial increases on a signal that already measured over the limit with nothing but the bare transmitter running.
TIB
GREAT WORK Tim! Proud to have gotten to know you on Part15.us The fact that you have this type of equipment shows you're serious about your hobby/interests.
I have frequency counters, osciliscopes and signal generators from the days of working on citizen band radios years ago, but this equipment, which is quite expensive, is something I'd love to own. Glad to have someone on the team who possesses this type of equipment.
Keep up the great effort you are making to clear up the mystery that has had us wondering for years what the transmitters we are using are capable of. I am sure that most of these devices cause some type of spur somewhere in the broadcast spectrum and else where. I mean what else can we expect from consumer type equipment? Broadcast equipment used by part 73 licensed stations have 5 times the amount of circuitry that these devices consist of and filtering stages that have components that far out weigh the cost of a $600 part 15 transmitter.
That is why I bought a part 73 30 watt FM transmitter from BW. My intention was to turn the RF down and add a siganl attentuator to the transmission line to get it down to part 15 specs. My audio would have been the same quality as the big stations with a transmitter of that type becuase I would have been using the same type transmitter they are using. Clean signal and professional audio quality is what I was looking for when I ordered that transmitter.
But Bill over at HB insisted that I was making a big mistake owning such a transmitter and the price was well over $8,000. He insisted I upgraded my audio processing at that cost and use the Ramsey FM100. Any ways, I agreed and sent the unit back to BW without opening the shipping crate. But you have to admit, if you want a really clean transmitter, buying the transmitters intended for LPFM part 73 licensed stations that have high end components is a fair guarentee that your signal starts off being clean right at the source.
I seriously doubt a lot of hobbyists are willing to pay that much for a transmitter that is legally only allowed 250 u/v @ 3 meters but for those that do and can get that signal down to part 15 specs, you're running less of a risk of creating interference and spurs.
If you think about it, if those transmitters are putting out 5,000 watts ERP and not creating interference, they certinly won't at part 15 levels.
Bruce.
Now would it be the cat's meow if Tim tested that Ramsey FM100 adjusted to what the other part 15 websites say and it was over the 250 uV/m @ 3 meters. I think we've learned a real lesson about accusations of others because the very FM transmitter you may be running certified or not could at its stock condition be well over the legal limit. So the moral is to do everything in your power not to piss off others. Keep your programming clean and also make announcements of a way to contact you if your transmitter is raising trouble with the neighbors around you. If you live in an apartment complex where apartments are in one building our part 15 units act a little like carrier current FM transmitters. I was not the only one that seemed to notice this. Mr. Bruce and I talked about my findings with the SainSonic AX-05B acting like carrier current (I think Tim's tests prove that the power line acted as a part of a dipole or a ground plane). So if your transmitter bleeds radio's across the dial at short range be sure you are not doing that to a neighbor. They will complain to someone who will eventually give them a number of the FCC to call and you will get inspected. If your over bad things can happen to you. All the more reason to be watchful of how your FM transmitter performs. I know I'd never operate my SainSonic at the power higher than the 20 foot level at that point and concentrate on the families inside the apartment building. Maybe a building only Radio station that takes requests and allows some residence to come and try Radio too.