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Believe me, if I had the money, I’d apply for a broadcast license station. But since I don’t, I thought it might be fun to start a “microbroadcasting” or part 15 station. Being a former broadcaster myself, this could a really fun and rewarding challenge!
Here’s what I want to do. My community doesn’t have many radio stations. There is only one FM station licensed to our town here in Upstate New York. It’s a good station, but it doesn’t leave us with a whole lot of variety. The closest big city to us is Albany, NY. You can forget about receiving a FM station. AM stations, however, are marginal depending upon what part of town you’re in. If you’re like me, you have a slinky antenna or outdoor dipole to receive AM stations There are other FM stations we can pick up in the area, but most of them are at least an hour away and really aren’t “local.” A few of those stations are NPR as I live close to the New York/Vermont border.
I want to provide a radio station for our community, mainly for the 12-25 demographic. This, of course would involve music. Yes, I’m looking into licensing with BMI. The main portion of town (including several stores, a state highway and residential areas) is rectangular in nature. It runs just under two miles north/south, and just over a mile east/west. Obviously, I can’t legally reach the entire town with one part 15 transmitter. It just isn’t going to happen. It should also be noted that the community as a whole, is in a valley.
My questions are:
1). To MAXIMIZE my RF energy (NOT increase or amplify it), would I achieve a better signal with an outdoor antenna, or should I just put the transmitter with the whip antenna in the highest point in the house? I know that Ramsey Electronics sells a kit that you can assemble which has an optional external antenna. I do understand that I’d have to adhere to the power density rule as set forth by the FCC.2). If I get two Part 15 FM transmitters, could I put one at the studio location, and another one within range (using a high gain antenna to grab the signal) and retransmit it on the same frequency? Have any of you done that?
It may be possible that I am overlooking something, so if you have any other tips, suggestions or questions, let me know. Thanks in advance for your help!
-Andre
Total posts : 45366“If I get two Part 15 FM transmitters, could I put one at the studio location, and another one within range (using a high gain antenna to grab the signal) and retransmit it on the same frequency? Have any of you done that?”
You would have to grab the signal with something other than a FM radio on the same frequency as you are transmitting. If you used a FM then you have to re-transmit on another frequency.
Total posts : 45366Hello radioinmyblood
Your description of “the valley” reminds me of two part 15 stations.
kpah.com is over 100-feet up on the side of a hill overlooking Pahrump, Nevada, and has its 1700kHz antenna on a 60-foot tower, so I’m guessing they have a fair signal down below.
My station, kdxradio.com, is in a “bowl” because it’s uphill all around me. My signal refuses to go uphill no matter what kind of antenna I use, but most of the people down here in the bowl can hear it at 1680kHz.
Total posts : 45366Having two frequencies didn’t occur to me until after I posted. I could do that, and I would guess it would save me a lot of headaches in making sure the two signals didn’t interfere or cancel each other out.
Broadcasting on the AM band is definitely something I’ll do as well. However, as we all know, my target audience would probably roll their eyes if they had to tune their radios onto the AM band! I was one of the few geeks in my high school who actually enjoyed listening to AM … especially in the evenings.
-Andre
Total posts : 45366FM legally has a range of about 300ft for the best part 15 fm transmitters less for cheapo ones.
place them 600 ft apart and sync them and link them up with part 15 uW and you wont have a problem.
this was the theory behind the old maxnet system from many years ago.
Total posts : 45366I have a part 15 FM, the useful range is about 300-500 feet in a car.
I wouldn’t worry too much about BMI unless you stream online, its pretty rare for them to go after part 15 stations.12-25, probably not the best Demo for AM, but it could work.
I certainly support doing both bands.I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Ramsey as I’ve heard they easily go out of the legal limits. I would get a C Crane for FM, you can do a few things to it to make it get the most out of the legal range limit.
For AM The SSTran is pretty darned good, its a kit just like Ramsey but has built in audio processing and sounds pretty good, all alone its $100. but with the external antenna you can get for it it will be around $400-500 total, half the price of a rangemaster with coverage about the same.
There’s also the Procaster for $600 fully built with built in audio processing as well, gets slightly less range than the Rangemaster but still good.
Total posts : 45366I’ve thought about the C. Crane FM transmitter. Come to think of it, that’s not the first time I’ve looked at that transmitter.
I did read a review of the C. Crane transmitter that was done by hobbybroadcaster. It seemed to have a glowing review. Obviously, a certified transmitter is the way to go as you don’t have to worry about assembling it or worrying too much about whether or not it’s “legal.”
As for BMI: I did see on their site that they do have licenses specific to part 15 stations. How much it costs to obtain that license is a different story. Although, I can’t imagine that they would go after a part 15 station … unless they had a very good reason to do so.
I don’t plan on streaming the content … at least not yet. I do want to have local and possibly national/International news on the station.
I completely understand from other posts and from doing my own research that my range isn’t going to be very far. I just wanted to see what other part 15 broadcasters have done legally to enhance their signal, or make the most of it.
Thanks so much for the replies and input. I do appreciate it!
-Andre
Total posts : 45366The way to get blood from a turnip on FM is with height.
Imagine a 5-watt light bulb raised way up 500′ in the sky. It would be seen for many miles.
In 1959 the engineers at 93.7mHz where I worked as an announcer-board operator, while upgrading from 21.5kW to 70kW, experimented by connecting the 10-Watt exciter to the 600′ high antenna, and it could be heard all across the city on sensitive radios.
Although weaker than either of my examples, a Part 15 FM will still do its best if raised as high as possible.
Total posts : 45366Hi Andre,
“The main portion of town (including several stores, a state highway and residential areas) is rectangular in nature. It runs just under two miles north/south, and just over a mile east/west. Obviously, I can’t legally reach the entire town with one part 15 transmitter. It just isn’t going to happen. It should also be noted that the community as a whole, is in a valley.”
I hate to discourage you, but OK, so let’s call that about 10,000 ft. x 5000 ft. Part 15 FM transmitters are strictly limited: Unlicensed broadcasts on the FM broadcast band (88 to 108 MHz) are limited to a field strength of 250 µV/m at a distance of 3 meters from the antenna. That equates to something between 200-300 ft. max. per station, which in your case figures out to be a grid of about 140 synchronized stations!!!
Trying to reach your town using Part 15 FM will either be totally impractical and/or totally illegal. I recommend you consider a much smaller constellation of a few Rangemaster AM radio stations.
… or get with the folks at Prometheus: http://www.prometheusradio.org/ … and get the process of constructing a LPFM Community Radio Station underway … will take about 2 years from the next application window. You’ll need to gather support and volunteer board members to start the engineering and writing it all up ASAP so you’ll have your ducks in a row whenever the FCC opens that window. LPFM stations must be owned by a legal NPO, an individual cannot own one. Most are IRS tax exempt 501(c)(3) NPO’s and operate under the Education umbrella.
You will indeed need BMI licensing for playing music that is not in the public domain, if you reach a large enough potential audience, else, as in my case, I play only music that I believe to be in the public domain or local indie music for which I have permission from the artists. All of either LPFM or successful Part 15 AM stations I know also operate on Internet radio, so that means paying BMI. E.g., KLOI LPFM: http://www.kloi.org/ … on nearby Lopez Island pays $500/year for limited play time.
Total posts : 45366Thanks for your reply Ken! It is appreciated. I didn’t really think of the subject line until you said “Don’t Use Feedback.” Just you saying that makes me cringe now, too!
I do understand the very limited range of a part 15 AM or FM broadcast station as set forth by the FCC. I had not thought about the fact that I would have to put up as many as 140 synchronized stations placed around town to make it work. Illegal, I’m not going to say either which way there. Impractical: ABSOLUTELY! I just did the math. It’s not pretty.
I did look at the RangeMaster transmitter, which looks promising for AM. I certainly wouldn’t MIND AM, as I acquired my first broadcasting job at a local AM station. It would bring back many good memories! My fear is that my target audience wouldn’t tune in to the AM band, but one just never knows until you try, right?
I may also have one or two FM transmitters synchronized within the town, too, just for the added exposure.
As for BMI: I think I’ll go for it anyway. Yes, $500 is a lot of money for a station that doesn’t plan on having any sort of income (except my own), but it would be good insurance in case something should ever come up. I don’t plan on streaming my content. If I do, it would be for the purposes of synching the transmitters ONLY.
I have heard of other sites helping communities or organizations establish LPFM stations, but I haven’t run across the site you mentioned. I’ll peruse it and bookmark it, just so that I have it for future reference.
My first thought about a year or so ago when I wanted to start a radio station was that I would apply for a LPFM station. Then, once I started reading the FCC rules/requirements, that quickly dashed that option! I’m not quite sure how I stumbled onto the part 15 aspect. Google search, I guess.
Thanks again, Ken for your reply! You aren’t discouraging me. You’re just helping me to think about different ways of approaching my goal, which is awesome!
-Andre
Total posts : 45366I’ve experimented with the Rangemaster and the sound quality of the broadcast signal is actually quite good (with a decent audio chain). Depending on your source material, AM can even be preferred – we play a lot of old 20’s/30’s Jazz, Old Time Radio, obscure Doo-Wop from marginal sources, and it can sound better on poor old AM – the lack of high frequencies gets rid of a lot of noise in the recordings.
That being said, unlicensed FM is useable up here in Canada, as we’re allowed 4 times the field strength of the U.S.
Total posts : 45366In legal parlance a “Non Profit Organization” is not the same as a “Not-For-Profit Corporation,” but I think either type can legally apply for LPFM. Back when, in the past, I founded a Not-For Profit with IRS 501-C3 status, which meant that contributors could take a tax deduction. We were not LPFM. We contracted with a 12.5kW public FM station to provide 40-hours-per-week of free programming with volunteers, I was the nominal “manager” of the org.
There were two problems that are classic with Not-For-Profits of all kinds. Since no one owns the organization but the Board is in charge, the board membership must be very carefully vetted.
On our board the treasurer decided he could take it over by competing to have the contract switched over to a college where he was a big-wheel and he would be in charge. I was stuck with a traitor on my board, but to fire him I needed a Board vote, which gets sticky.
The volunteers can be unexpectedly troublesome. They steal things, damage things, believe not-being-paid is a license to say and do ANYTHING under their idea of “free speech,” and they can be vindictive.
DON’T DO IT unless you are an ex-Marine.
Total posts : 45366There is no such thing as either a NPO or an NFP from a Federal perspective. The IRS calls all of these “Exempt Organizations” and the status, nature, mission and deductible nature of contributions are identified on two levels.
First is whether the EO is a public charity or private foundation, determined by where operating capital comes from. If most of the incoming funds are from contributions from the general public then the IRS recognizes the EO as a public charity, otherwise it’s a private foundation.
The next level of designation is in the suffix soup that follows the EO designation.
For example:
501 (c)1 is a Federally chartered institution like a Federal credit union
501 (c)3 is a EO formed for charitable, religious or educational purposes, with deductible contributions
501 (c)4 is a EO that performs a social service, raises its funds through grants or exempt businesses like thrift shops, without deductible contributions
527 is a political organization
The whole story can be found in IRS Publication 557, located at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p557.pdf. Pub 557 is the gospel on all EOs and a great read if you are really, really interested in doing something in this arena.
The NFP, NPO and other designations are from state corporation regulations usually handled by either the Secretary of State’s office, the Division Financial and Incorporated Institutions or whatever office your particular state might have.
An EO must register with the state in which it is principally located and it is that process that carries the NPO, NFP and myriad of other designations that arise from state administrative codes.
As it’s related to LPFM, the FCC states:
“LPFM stations are available to noncommercial educational entities and public safety and transportation organizations, but are not available to individuals or for commercial operations.”
In my experience and opinion, there are huge opportunities in partnering with an existing EO and getting that group excited about LPFM – much easier than starting a new EO. In a previous job I researched the number and range of EOs in a medium sized city. This city had over 500 EOs over and above churches, local chapters of national groups and similar types of EOs. Of those 500, 250 were general enough in purpose to apply for an LPFM.
Carl is absolutely right about the day-to-day nightmares of operating an EO. Much has been written about the perils of managing volunteers. Dealing with boards has great potential to lead a person to life-threatening levels of substance abuse!
Total posts : 45366The last two posts only reinforce my decision and lack of desire to apply for a LPFM station!
I don’t want to get into the politics of getting a board together. Sometimes you can get a good group of people together, but often times it never works that way … especially after what I like to call “The Honeymoon Phase.”
I’ve dealt with — and know people who have dealt with — stations that have been run by boards. It’s not pretty. Often times, you’re having to deal with people who want to “take charge” (which is not necessarily a bad thing to have go-getters) and get their feathers ruffled if you don’t do things THEIR way. It really doesn’t matter if it’s a station run by a university, or a non-profit station run by a religious organization. I’ve experienced both scenarios.
I’ll stick with the part 15 route. Yes, it’s a sacrifice in power and the range of your signal, but I’d trade that for the hell I’d have to go through when putting together a board of trustees for a LPFM station.
But if only I could have just a wee bit more power! Oh, well. This will be a more interesting, fun and challenging endeavor!
-Andre
Total posts : 45366As a fellow of the “radioinmyblood” condition, I have been considering sort of a “reverse board” where you work out arrangements with people along a geographic path, such as down a main street, and enlist them to become “relay stations” for your station. They couldn’t “take charge” because they would be happy beneficiaries of a home radio station that you “installed and owned.”
Once each person agreed, you would do what SCWIS talked about in another thread… pay a few bucks to have a spare IP address assigned to the person’s internet service, you would install a Baris Exstreamer to receive your private online stream, you would install an outdoor transmitter and antenna with the homeowner’s permission, and bingo. They would inherit a good station on their radio dial, and you could “hear yourself” everytime you drove by their house. Every once in awhile you could have them over for a bar-b-q at “network headquarters.”
I have yet another idea, but I’ll wait until it’s my turn again.
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