@ Mark You said: "I think that since part of the wording is "excluding power for the filament" for tube amps the meaning of stage is the final amp."
But that is not logical. If it were true, then all of the tubes in a 'tube-type' phono oscillator would be final RF stages.
@richpowers Here's the thing. I was told by the certification lab here in Toronto that certified the Procaster and asked if I want to use the Procaster indoors but the 3 section rigid 104" antenna it comes with is impractical indoors...I'd have to put it somewhere sideways and the metal rod would be across the room, try to imagine the Procaster or Rangemaster inside a room with antenna it comes with, insane! so I say why can't I substitute the outdoor antenna for a equal length of wire for indoors and was told changing the type of antenna it is made with and certified with voids certification. I don't have access to having it outside and a line out from inside for power and audio not to mention lightning and vandalizm.
So for me the Talking Sign is the other answer for AM but I am not happy with the Talking sign as like the Talking House, now called Infospot was not made for music audio quality and I am having issues with the Talking Signs I picked up for me and Artisan(the only other AM certified in Canada) that was certified with indoor wire antenna as the sound is slightly distorted, bad sounding, no it's not overmodulation, it works and as it warms up the sound deteriates. Why? who knows. He Gerry, told me that these were never made for good audio, just speech for selling houses etc. He's glad I took them off his hands and I am the listener to my station and I want good sound so the only option to me is FM with Canada's increased power and use the Decade and forget about AM for Canada. I love the great coverage AM gives you and it's where my programming belongs but here it seems a no no for me. I am not legal by changing how the Procaster was intended to be used and changing the antenna it came with to use inside with a wire around a window for example.
@richpowers No, no restrictions on using it indoors or out BUT....A Procaster or Rangemaster indoors with the antenna it comes with.....try to imagine that. The ceilings aren't high enough, and the transmittter could be at a 45 degree angle with the rod antenna across the room, try to picture that! The issue is clipping a 104"wire to the lug on the Procaster instead of using the stock antenna,which could be voiding certification. Would I ever get a visit and be told I can't do that....most likely not but that isn't the issue. It's voiding certification that's the issue.
I like the Procaster the best. After recently about a month experimenting with the Rangemaster. Performance wise sound and coverage I couldn't get it to perform as good as the Procaster. Keep in mind I've work in broadcast radio working on various aspects of radio stations for many years. I pretty much know what I'm doing with tuning etc. And the Rangemaster just was not able to do the job as well as the Procaster does.
@wefr Interesting! Not good for so much more money for the Rangmaster!
I think part of the expense is the special case material made in Germany.
All those jumper taps to tune it to a better peak you'd think it would be the better of the two. Well this is good information you presented here.
It's rare to hear the Procaster outperforms a Rangemaster, but really as pointed out previously, they all pretty much are capable of achieving equal range. Then there's what version of which models to consider, as most have undergone various modifications.
Build wise, I suspect the Rangemaster will always be in the top class with superior components. I recall discussions in the past referring to "military grade" - Dont know how accurate a description that is, but it does insuate top grade circuitry.
Speaking of versions of models.. My transmitters use crystal's, but new models use the adapter variable thing (whatever its called).
Do the non-crystal transmitters perform equal to the newer models? Or is one better than the other? Is one more stable than the other?
And why are AM crystal now so hard to get? The Crystal's for RC cars and planes are still made, how much harder can it be to shave those same Crystal's for the AM band?
You have to take advertising with a grain of salt.
The base Rangemaster is crystal controlled and yes, it would be stable.
Back before 2010 I had a Rangemaster with that frequency agile module, so it's not new. I found it to be accurate and had no problems. I never compared the two side by side because I only had that one transmitter.
I also don't feel that the frequency agile module is worth US$199, particularly when a crystal controlled transmitter will be a bit more stable. But I guess it's a good example of upselling once you make the decision to purchase, keeping the base model price low(er). Unless you absolutely positively don't have the money, most would go for the flexibility of changing frequencies.
I can't comment on the quality of components. I did have an issue with one ProCaster, but I purchased it used, and who knows what was done to it beforehand. I've never had any issues with almost all the other transmitters I've owned, except the Talking House (not the Talking Sign, which went for years). Even then, I found the Talking House transmitters either worked and kept working, or didn't work at all from the get go. No in between. And that may speak more to manufacturing quality control than component quality.
Well I think the Talking Houses are the only mass-produced transmitters around - or rather I presume they are.. in that they're assembly lines produced in China or somewhere --- At least they used to be, I dont know about now. But they're the cheapest built transmitter and been around the longest which is why you can buy a brand new unit for $100 or so. It's certified and an ideal budget transmitter. At that price you could cover at least 5 or six separate areas for less than the cost of a single Procaster or Rangemaster.
I've never had a Talking House, but if multiple target areas are involved then for the cost savings alone, the BEST transmitter might just be the Talking House.
Buts that not really what we're talking about is it.
@richpowers It's about like comparing a Cadillac to a Ford. I'll take the Ford any day.
I've never had a Talking House, but if multiple target areas are involved then for the cost savings alone, the BEST transmitter might just be the Talking House.
Buts that not really what we're talking about is it.
If the target areas are completely separate areas, which I believe is what you're talking about Rich, then multiple TH's in each area would be an affordable option, for sure. If the target areas overlap though, multiple Rangemasters will allow for a seamless transition between the coverage areas of the different transmitters. Radio Sausalito (in, of all places, Sausalito, CA!) covers the main street through town for over a mile with multiple Rangemasters. I have walked through town with a radio, and although the signal wasn't a barn-burner, it was listenable, and signal strength was fairly even along the just over mile length of town that I walked. I couldn't tell where the signal from one transmitter dropped out and another one came in.
@Rugster Radio Sausilito indicates their coverage to be more than a mile down main street.He says "with a good AM radio, the station can be heard well beyond the range indicated below"
You also stated "Rangemasters will allow for a seamless transition between the coverage areas of the different transmitters.
True, however, I believe that's only if its using crystals, the seamless transition capability is lost when using frequency agile units (correct me if I'm wrong.
@richpowers - you may be right about the loss of seamless transition with the frequency agile units. The newer Rangemasters use frequency modules instead of crystals. They are said to be very stable - more so than the frequency agile units. They look like 4 legged DIP chips. I'm thinking that with those modules, carrier syncing is still possible.
I plan to go back to Sausalito again one day and walk the entire length of the coverage area. It's pretty impressive coverage - at least, it was when I visited, which was probably close to 10 years ago at this point. Incidentally, the California Historical Radio Society are now simulcasting Radio Sausalito, on AM 1570, from their radio museum in Alameda, CA. I haven't been there to verity this yet, although it's only a 30-40 minute bus ride from my place. Will do so soon. I saw the news on their FB page.
By the way, it was the use of multiple transmitters along the San Fransico freeway back in 1972-73 that really broke the camel's back and almost caused the compleate abolishment of manufactured 15.219 devices.
There had already been a couple years of pushback from the NAB about the use of individual units at rest stops and parks, but when they installed 30 miles of multiple linked transmitters along three sections of the main freeway, giving traffic and weather advisories, the NAB completely blew their top.
At the time, traffic and weather information was big business for licences radio stations, they had helicopters to monitor and report on traffic, and they also considered weather information to be their bread and butter. So when those unlice part 15 stations began invading their territory, they fought back, and that's when the FCC decided to allow only manufacture of 15.209.
Ultimately, 15.219vdid survive, which is another story.