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It’s been posted here and elsewhere that two versions of the Decade CM-10 were produced; one that was Part 15 certified and sent to U.S. addresses, and one that was RSS-210/BETS certified and sent to Canada.
I am currently using the CM-10, but not getting anywhere near the range that I obtained with my MS-100. I postulated that I have a Part 15 certified one, and recently e-mailed Decade, asking for the modifications to make it conform to Canadian rules. I was prepared to send it back to Decade if need be.
I just received an e-mail back, in which it was stated that only one model of the CM-10 was ever produced – a Part 15 one, which, while not taking full advantage of the Canadian rules, is still RSS-210/BETS certified. I was told that, unlike the MS-100, the CM-10’s output power cannot and is not modified.
Well, that was a kick in the head. I’ve e-mailed back asking for clarification, as Decade supposedly had stated otherwise in the past.
It does make some sense. If the CM-10 cannot be internally tuned, then each one sold to Canada would have to have hardware modifications, which would be time consuming and expensive for a consumer-level device. It would take away a lot of the cost savings of mass producing them in China (based on the CZH-05B, even the board on mine is marked as such).
Tim in Bovey, in his testing of the CM-10, found that its field strength exceeded the limits of Part 15. My range testing shows that that field strength is less than Canadian limits (comparing it to an MS-100). So perhaps they took the one size fits all approach, tuning the production (obviously not the laboratory testing) units to be somewhere in the middle. Not too overly powerful that the FCC will take umbrage, and close enough to Canadian limits that range is not overly compromised.
Anyway, that’s speculation, and I’ll post back here once I get the response from Decade.
OK, I got an answer back quickly from Decade.
They did indeed only sell one version of the CM-10, since output was already weak, and fit within Part 15 specs.
They also verified my observations that output is much higher at the lower frequencies, and decreases rapidly at the upper ones.
They didn’t answer if the CM-10 was Part 15 only. I suspect that if you use the transmitter at the lower end of the FM band, you may get more output than Part 15 (and closer to Canadian specs), but certainly at the middle and upper ends you’re getting less – I can barely get across a room at the far upper end.
Unfortunately, this does me no good, as the only really open frequency available is 103.9 (103.7 & 104.1 is also empty). There are no open frequencies under 100 Mhz.
I’m seriously thinking of following my fellow Canadian Mark onto the AM band and just reacquiring a ProCaster. I’m also continuing conversations with Bill Baker of ISS on the possibility of certifying the Talking House for Canada under RSS-210. They likely wouldn’t be able to certify it with the Range Extender (the Talking Sign folks attempted to bring out one and couldn’t get it past Industry Canada). But there’s a huge market for low power transmitters these days, and in Canada, nothing that could be called inexpensive or even middling expensive. The lower end of the market is wide open.
It was me who had understood that the CM-10 had a Canadian version and a part 15 version as I remember being told, or so I thought that a component was added or removed when sent to a Canadian location. I had one and I found it had not to good range either and wondered if that was true. That one I had conked out as a shock was given to the antenna and I didn’t know about the coils for protection back then.
I think the switch to AM is a good consideration and the Procaster can be used indoors also with the 3 meter wire clipped with an alligator clip to the top lug on the outside of cabinet. You don’t have to get the outdoor antenna with it and the added cost.
By the way I am *considering* selling the MS-100S I have which is the older one in the Hammond plastic case but haven’t made that decision yet. I purchased a Schlockwood AM processor….https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Multiband-Audio-Processor-for-AM-Broadcasting-SW200/184308108635?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649…. and it wasn’t cheap so selling the Decade and the Sean Cuthbert compressor/limiter/EQ would pay for a good part of the Schlockwood. I will have to see how it works first when I get it.
As far as the future goes I can’t see going back to FM anytime soon as now in Toronto there’s really nowhere to go. I am not as much wanting to get listeners as I was in the past as it’s harder to get AM listeners. But the added range, lots of dial space, safer, outweighs the negatives. And with adjusting EQ right it can sound quite good.
Good luck with getting the Talking House certified! That would be nice if can be used here. I would put my name as a potential customer if it’s certified here.
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