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I’ve been working at trying to come up with a good wording for a statement about being part15 for use on the air a couple times a day, similar to the ones that at least used to be used at sign-on and sign off by licensed stations. I was thinking something along the lines of: “(Station Name), (location) is locally owned and operated. We transmit on a frequency of (frequency) with one tenth of one watt of power as permitted by Part 15 of Title 47 of the Federal Communication Commission’s Code of Federal Regulations. If you have suggestions, comments, or questions, we may be contacted at (phone, email, regular mail, or whatever one uses). Thank you for listening to (Station Name), (location)” For part 15 FM or shortwave, the power would be different, obviously, but I was looking towards the sort of message to use with AM at the moment. Official station identification for part15 seems optional according to 73.3550 which states: “Users of nonlicensed, low-power devices operating under part 15 of this chapter may use whatever identification is currently desired, so long as propriety is observed and no confusion results with a station for which the FCC issues a license.” … but this would be a brief courtesy statement for listeners, both to let any who just happen accross it that the station is local and so they know they haven’t run across a “pirate radio” station of some sort. It would perhaps also help serve to comply with the “no confusion results with a station for which the FCC issues a license” clause of 73.3550 by clearly stating what sort of station it is and under what authorization/regulation it is operating. I also was trying for something to invite listener input (or questions) in a friendly fashion. I was thinking something of this sort might be good at least for signing on and off the air, or repeated a few times daily if running 24/7. Anything else you’d put in? Is it perhaps overly technical? Basically looking for other folks’ thoughts while I think over the wording. Daniel
Total posts : 45366should read…
“Part 15.219b of Title 47 of the Federal Communication Commission’s Code of Federal Regulations”
They need to know that your under 219b when operating part 15 am.
or 15.209 for carrier current or 15.239 for FM.
Thank You,
Rev. Robert P. Chrysafis
Universal Life Ministries
http://www.ulc.orgModerator Hunterdonfree
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hunterdonfree
Total posts : 45366The, no confusion with any licensed station suggests to me that you should not use call letters.
Total posts : 45366I suggest a more general wording as the listening public wont care about which specific rule number is referenced. Here is a copy of what I use…
You are listening to(_Id,freq,ect__),(AM,FM,SW,LW),a privately owned hobby radio station operating under the Part 15 rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This low power service requires no license and may not cause harmful interference to any licensed service or their listeners. You may contact us by(_email,phone,ect__) with any comments or questions. Thanks for listening!
I also agree with not using a fake call letter,rather a unique identifier such as Voice of Columbus or West Side Neighborhood Radio…ect….
Regards,Lee
Total posts : 45366I picked up this idea from a free offering and reworked it for my station. This link plays the MP3:
It’s short and simple, identifying my station as an unlicensed low power station authorized by FCC Part 15 rules and provides a way to contact me.
My call “MRAM” is the acronym for Miles Robert Audio Music.
Total posts : 45366It is very nicely done. I do have one concern about it however. You use the phrase “by authority of the” FCC. I think to the layman that will sound like you have a permit or license from the FCC. I know what you mean, but I think that phrasing would confuse the average person.
I decided to use something more generalized, like this:
(Station Name) is operating under Part 15 of the FCC rules governing low-power, unlicensed transmission. Because of this, our coverage area is very limited.
If you are hearing our broadcast and wish to send us your comments, please email us at (email address). We look forward to hearing from you.
Total posts : 45366A lot of good thoughts and ideas.
Rev. Chrysafis, I liked your thought on adding the 219b (or whichever for different bands’ part 15). It’s maybe a bit more technical than some listeners would care about, but it’s such a brief addition and it clarifies the specifics for anyone who might actually have that sort of interest.
Greg, I would agree that “no confusion with” probably is saying don’t use a set of call letters (at least of a type that the FCC issues or a set that is already issued). But if the intent for that is for the listener to not confuse one station or type of station with another, then a bit of clarification is still in the spirit of avoiding confusion.
Lee, good idea on the “privately owned hobby station”. I’ll have to think about incorporating that into my working.
MRAM, great job and you’ve got an excellent voice! You definitely have that “call our friendly DJ” sort of sound going!
mojoe, also excellent, short, sweet and to the point.
I don’t figure we’ll all agree on exactly what should be in such a statement or even if such a statement is actually needed. I’m starting to think that I might head towards having more than one statement to cover the different points since I’d probably use it at least a few times per day, so one version might focus more on the legal/official/technical aspect, another might focus on it being local and in fact *neighborhood* oriented and inviting comments and ideas. That way they could be kept nice and short, but serve some purpose.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes I’ve been kind of annoyed if I’ve happened across a station that’s new (or new to me, anyway) and maybe liked it, but had to wonder if they *ever* give an ID or say anything about the station. Heck, one of the local LPFM stations, I stayed tuned in for almost 2 days to find out who and where they are. They were mostly just running a looped playlist and I *liked* the music, it certainly was different from what you hear on the regular stations around here.. But I had to listen for quite a while to actually catch an ID and enough talk to know what I was listening to. I was almost sure by that point that they were a pirate. They’ve gotten a lot better about ID and having djs that actually say something and recorded messages that mention who and what they are. I just happened to tune in on them in their first or second day on the air. They also got rid of that hum they had in the first week. I would have called and told them they had some hum, but it was a couple weeks before they thought to give a contact they could be reached through. Understandable though, they were just getting stuff together.
Being small or privately owned aren’t things that ever scared me away as a listener, or my father, for that matter. His favorite station back in the 60s was a little country station that was privately owned. It was WHYP in Northeast, PA. On technical points, it was kind of “unprofessional” at times. Like sometimes they’d forget and leave a record spinning after the song was over and you’d hear “kthunk..ssssssss..kthunk..ssssssss” for several minutes or even an hour. LOL The owner was a very opinionated older gentleman, given to long editorials about what he thought about life or events in the world, and the only ads they ran were for his little ice-cream company. On Sundays, he only played gospel and religious music, the rest of the time it was old country and “cowboy” songs. I still remember one of his talk bits, because it was so different than what one expected and my dad loved it so.. It went something like:
“The opinions expressed on this radio station.. Well, they’re mine. I own this station and I do most everything it takes to keep it running for you. So any opinion you hear on here is pretty much going to be mine. You don’t have to agree with it, this is a free country.”
40 yrs later, I can still remember that station and it’s call letters. LOL
But back to the point, sometimes that a station is local or neighborhood and what sort of station it is can be part of what makes it interesting to tune in to. While perhaps not a legal necessity for part15, I see a little information about the station as a courtesy for the listeners.
Daniel
Total posts : 45366I also grew up to the musings of that old country bumkin and his daughter! He would put an album on and fall asleep and it would run out.WHYP was heard in barns and farms throughout the area. He was sued for slandering city council once,was always highly opinionated and always funny. The station was sold to the big guns and is now Rocket101 playing new and classic rock. Gee,I wonder if we were/are neighbors? I am still microbroadcasting in the Erie area on AM/FM/SW,where are you now Daniel? Regards,Lee
Total posts : 45366Definitely, Lee! I’m just a ways north of you, up over the NY border in Jamestown NY. I run FM currently, but the range is “very near neighbors”. We still do it, though. LOL
Makes me wish I had a shortwave reciever and antenna up these days so I could see if I can pick up your SW signal when the wind is blowing just right.
But yup Lee, hello neighbor!
Daniel
Total posts : 45366Well if you ever get to Erie,I will give you the fifty cent tour if you like. I doubt even the shortwave would make it there,my AM and FM are very local as well,but its a lot of fun! Regards,Lee
Total posts : 45366“This is radio 1400 a part 15 communications station, serving the birds, cats and a occasional rabbit in our backyard. ” (The range is pretty awful..lol)
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