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I’ve got an idea to solve the problem of folks who may not be educated about micro broadcasting and calling the police or any other law enforcement or haggling you about your FM transmitter that may go a hundread and 50 feet (or more) outside your yard. At the Top of the hour you have a station ID something like this:
Your listening to The Legacy playing Progressive Rock, Classic Rock. We are a part 15 FM station using the Whole House FM Transmitter 3.0 certification ID XXX-XXX-XXXX (fill in the X’s with the real numbers on the back of your certified unit. This Meets part 15.239 rules that states we must not cause harmful interference to licensed stations nor other communications services. If you are receiving interference on any other frequency other than 96.3 (fill in your frequency here) please don’t hesitate to call (fill in your google voice number) yes you should use google voice to forward to your cell phone or real phone. You can also send an Email to (fill in your Email) this way you solve any possibility of your station interfering with something caused by a defective transmitter or maybe your using a frequency too close to someone’s favorite station. Maybe if your transmitter is causing harmonics they’ll tell you what other frequency they heard you on so you can try and correct any issues. At least it lets the public know your willing to play nice on the dial. Just a thought since I use NextKast and its capable of doing this at the TOH just like a real station.
Total posts : 45366Have been doing this for some time. I announce regularly that this station follows all Industry Canada rules and all CRTC guidlines regarding unlicenced broadcasting using a Decade transmitter and any comments are walcomed and I give out my email.
I have a sign advertising the station on the community mailbox down the street so people know it’s there.
Mark
Total posts : 45366In a way this reminds me of folks who park in the fire lane and have their emergency flashers on as if that changes anything except to call attention to what they are doing. The difference is Part 15 operation can be legal.
The public probably won’t have any clue about what you are talking about nor will it care. No harm in trying if you want to.
I have been partfifteening (a new word perhaps) for a long time and never worried about it and never had any problems from anyone. I do my best to follow the rules and keep my signals clean and have been able to relax and enjoy the hobby without worrying about things going bump in the night or how to head them off.
This is too much fun to get wrapped around the axle about what might happen. Follow the rules and carry on.
Neil
Total posts : 45366yeah no. im not about to pander to a bunch of freedom-haters. they can change the channel if they don’t like it. the onus isn’t on me to act like a professional broadcast station when im operating at highly unprofessional power levels. the onus is on them to produce real evidence of a law getting broken without tresspassing or violating our 4th amendment rights. until we are allowed a power increase, GG allin, the murder junkies, and other vulgar and highly offensive bands will remain on the playlist, and i’ll ID myself basically whenever i feel like it
Total posts : 45366I use an FM channel to listen to my editing channel which is used for two purposes.
When I record the Low Power Hour or Blare OnAir I play through each show to make cuts and edits as the programs are assembled. There are many silent periods when I take a lunch break or leave the house.
The FM channel also provides audio for movies and TV shows on HULU, and some video material gets a bit delicate: “Oh baby, that was good. Do that again!”
Neighbors live on the other side of the walls only 30-feet away, and they might happen to tune across my frequency, although the FM dial is one big pileup of signals, so I think it’s unlikely they would listen to my audio.
But if the neighbors did tune in and find something a bit odd, why would they assume it was coming from next door? For all they know it’s coming from New York or Hollywood.
I have never suspected a radio broadcast of coming from a neighbor’s house.
Total posts : 45366The difference between those who park in a fire lane, and those who broadcast adhering to Part 15 rules is that the latter people are legal; the former are not and are trying to get away with doing it anyway. You shouldn’t be afraid to identify yourself and what you are doing if you are operating legally.
But that identification should be as simple as possible, as most people don’t understand Part 15. The fact that you are legal is enough.
Total posts : 45366Following the tragedy of 9-11 a relative said, “We’ve got to put a U.S. flag on the porch or the neighbors will think we are not patriotic.”
Who are these “neighbors” that one must pose for?
I’ll make you a deal: if the neighbors show me certificates of mental health, I’ll start confessing my business to them.
Total posts : 45366I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before. i ID on a regular basis, complete with jingles and liners several times an hour like any “normal” station. You can’t listen long without knowing you’re listening to Iron Range Country, KEBS-AM 1620 in Bovey, Minnesota.
I also have a “about IRC RADIO” announcement tha plays every so often. When I first wen on the air it played probably a dozen times a day, as the months went by I reduced the schedule, now it’s just a couple times a day. I’ve posted the link before, but if you’d like to hear it it’s at: http://www.ironrangecountry.com/aboutirc.mp3 I think this more than covers it without getting all technical.
Remember, you have the right to broadcast as long as you’re legal, but by the same token the public at large has the right to be suspiscious of your operation and ask questions or check with the FCC. They are much more likely to want to do so if you’re bucking the system. To those who play offensive music, are overly critical of the government, and are generally “hell raisers” and do not program like “real” radio, you’re most likely to get someone’s anger up and they’re going to want to stop you, or at least make trouble. It’s a thought to consider, and the battle you take on when you decide to be a rebel. Sure you have the right to do so, but you better make sure your ducks are lined up all nice and pretty and your gear is operating legally and your music is licensed. And if you’re trying to “hide out” and do your broadcasting, the more people will think you’re up to something.
Me? I couldn’t be more obvious. Id’s, jingles, local PSA announcements, paid for advertising, all on the air. a phone number, a web site, a street address with an office on main street with an 8 foot sign above the door and a BRIGHT neon sign with the call letters in the window. We’ve adopted 2 miles of the highway as it comes through town and the state has put our call letters on the sign. We have bumper stickers (free) signs and posters throughout town, and now an ad every week in the local weekly paper. this is promoted better than most area commercial stations!
Tim in Bovey
Total posts : 45366Couldn’t agree more.
Total posts : 45366TITLE 47 — TELECOMMUNICATION
CHAPTER I — FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
PART 73_ RADIO BROADCAST SERVICES
Sec. 73.3550 Requests for new or modified call sign assignments.
(1) 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.
Total posts : 45366Tim your last paragraph for the most part is what I did with our part 15 multi-transmitter setup here in my town. We offered the address, telephone number, station ID and public knowledge that we existed.
We made every effort to operate legally and encouraged participants to operate legally, because they owned and operated the transmitters that carried our studio feed via the Internet.
We are no longer in operations because according to Bill Defelice at Hobbybroadcaster we operated as PIRATES and a complaint was filed by some unknown local radio station.
Not one person made an attempt to contact our studio first to inquire about any interference issues or any transmitters operating above part 15 rules. Instead I found out about it because the subject was brought up at Bill’s site that his buddy and site member RFBURNS was active in tacking a pirate with a supposed Tom Terrel and that tracked the station to my house, by a clear description of the array of UHF and scanner antennas on my house’s chimney. This whole event was done by supposed FOX HUNTING technique using a spectrum analyzer supposedly.
Now I am not sure why anyone would need a spectrum analyzer when our address was publicly known via our facebook page and over the air announcements.
My point here is, no matter how public you are with contact information, someone is still going to play FCC and harass you and then make claims that the FCC will be notified that you operated a PIRATE station just to get you shut down or force you off the air.
Let me make one thing clear here, I never claimed to or operated or owned any transmitters that carried my studio feed, but it was me that was called and labeled a PIRATE by that website membership (listed above) and nothing I said fell upon willing ears.
So there are some people out there, that no matter what you say or do, they will still accuse you. I’m done with this part 15 radio station BS because there is no way you can operate as long as you have licensed stations getting jealous that your operating a low cost radio station while they are paying thousands just to stay on the air.
I know I did nothing against the law, but guess who Bill accuses as the SOLE PIRATE operator….ME! I am totally pissed off about this to.
End of subject.
Bruce.
Total posts : 45366Makes me wonder if some of these sites are informents (Trap Sites) for Radio Broadcasters who want no more than to stop all micro broadcasting. I’ll make a MENTAL note to stay clear of hobby broadcaster.com or if I do visit that site i’ll use a VPN (BT Guard, Cyberghost) to be sure they don’t snag my ip address and start to accuse me of some stuff like this. Its why I wonder if I already done the wrong thing by regestering on any Radio forum. One tries to play nice and some idiot gets jealous of you. If Joe Bob runs a transmitter and he gets out a few football fields and he’s causing your station to lose listeners within the few football fields of signal your doing something wrong and you really don’t care what the listeners want to hear. YOUR station should be shut down. What happened to the days where Radio played something other than Rap, Top40, maybe top 100 at best? Hell Rock (Classic Rock, Progressive Rock) needs to be preserved. I have a friend in Indiana who told me that there is no oldies station where he lives. What??? So maybe the music industry needs to encourage micro broadcasters not work so hard to kill them off.
Internet Radio is going to kill off music on regular Radio anyway its just a matter of time. And the only music you can hope to hear on FM is from a micro broadcaster.
I remember playing with FM Transmitters since I was a kid. Some went far more than 150 feet and no one bitched about it. In fact many older folks got a kick out of me running a micro broadcast station even though they didn’t know what Album Rock was. I got my cab driver who drove me home from school to listen and she thought it was cute I bought the transmitter and ran it. They can’t stop it it this is a great educational hobby and it is the way it is. Old folks 60+ are starting to buy these things and run them. Just watch youtube. In West Verginia there is a station on FM I know goes way more than 1/4 mile no call letters and this guy is got to be over 70 years old. I got a kick out of listening to him.
In short there is strength in numbers. We should fight hard to do what we do and shut the crying bullyboys down for good. We don’t need another Rap station or another wanna be station playing records of someone scratching a turntable back and forth. We want real music on the dial not this polution. What we need is a micro broadcasting party where 100’s and thousands of real people every 1/4 mile apart run these transmitters on unused frequencies and give the ball babies a run for their money. I’m not saying to run a 100 watt station like the guy in West Virginia, but for God’s sake we need to be on one side and not fight amungst each other turning each other in because you think they are a pirate. It reminds me of the Commodore 64 high school days where one computer club faught against the other. so too looks like FM Radio is gonna be the same way. And now they get the Ham Radio operators involved in tracking down a flea powered station down (Fox Hunt). What a joke these low life folks are. I bet they pay these folks off with that Kenwood or Drake rig they otherwise can’t afford because the wife thinks rent and food on the table or maybe knick knacks are more important. So track down a little FM Transmitter and billion dollar Radio station company will buy it for you. Can’t have any fun without someone yelling about it. Time fore a revolution and this is why some folks at the FCC may not want to go after a low power micro broadcaster unless they cause interference. And not that these transmitters are more well known they got a fight they won’t win. It only encourages more micro broadcasters becasue the more its talked about the more copycats will do the same. So if your a Radio Station hunting for more possible operators to shut down I have this to say. Kill one and a 100 more will rise. As John Lennon sang “Power To The People”.
Total posts : 45366There is inherent risk in anything you do.
Even if you run an Internet radio station only, someone could take offense at something you’ve played or said and not only attempt to shut you down, but even sue you. There are lots of wanna-be gods and yahoos out there (and not just on other hobby websites).
I guess everyone in the Part 15 arena has to decide the level of risk they’re willing to accept.
All you can do is to make every attempt to operate legally. Both technically and in terms of content. If the enjoyment that you get (it certainly isn’t the potential money) overwhelms the potential risks, then by all means continue. If not, there are plenty of other hobbies and/or businesses available.
It’s interesting that this discussion has come up, because I’m re-evaluating my involvement with Part 15. I’m definitely going to continue the Internet streaming, as the only thing there I have to worry about is the royalty fees. I have to say that I’m very frustrated with the over-the-air stuff, particularly since I’ve sold my house. Unless you can get a transmitter out in the open with a good ground, and/or operate in a ‘quiet’ (in terms of noise) area, range can be very poor. No matter how experienced you are. And it’s the over-the-air stuff that will likely get you in trouble.
In this day and age, everyone understands streaming via computer, tablet or cell phone (Internet radios still not so much, but then they’re not very common, at least in North America). It’s much different than it was even 10 years ago, when I started. Few understand the issues of over-the-air micro-broadcasting.
I guess I’ll just have to see.
Total posts : 45366I wish I could publish the whole thread they published against me so you can see how amateurs operate and I am not talking ham radio here, I’m talking inexperienced FCC wannabes.
Bill Defelice will sit back saying as long as they talk about us over there at that part15.us website that gets me more members through that free advertising. I WARN EVERYONE STAY AWAY FROM HIS SITE, he is an egotistical ‘engineer’ wannabe jerk.
Although I did buy an FCC part 73 certified FM transmitter at one point, anticipating a CP for an LPFM, which I mentioned in his forum board, I had returned it to the seller who was based in the USA, not China.
I asked there how I could make the transmitter part 15 compliant, by reducing the RF to part 15 levels. Although I was pending a possible CP, I bought the transmitter for two reasons. One was the superior audio circuitry and clean RF output. The transmitter cost me over $3000.00.
Okay long story short, I did not get the CP because another applicant lied and claimed to be an minority owned educational institution and they got the CP. Their music format is all Hip-hop and rap.
Anyway, Bill told me that the transmitter I ordered was not type accepted for part 15 use, the CP I applied for went to another applicant. So, long story short, the day the transmitter arrived via Federal Express, I decided not to open the box and upon the following business
day, I returned the unopened box to the company.Somehow, Bill does not want to accept that, he still thinks I opted to install and operate that part 73 transmitter.
This is a very difficult subject for me to talk about because I have a lot of anger in me over this bullsh*t. I do not take the name PIRATE lightly and I was called such by Bill and his bunch of kindergarten adolescents.
When Bill found out it was my station because I jumped into the forum defending myself, he went wild bringing up all kinds of stuff I spoke about in his forum claiming my intent was to operate above part 15 rules from the start. First because I bought a part 73 transmitter without a CP.
The point is, the very first transmitter I had and still do is a Ramsey FM100 part 15 FM transmitter that was built for use in the USA, no export kit.
I had issues with the FM100 and it’s sound quality and was told, I get what I paid for, because the FM100 is a low quality transmitter built around the BA1404 stereo generator IC chip.
So I wanted a better built, well filtered transmitter and often you have to purchase an FCC certified already built transmitter to get such frequency response and high grade RF filtering circuits that prevent intermod, spurious spikes and interference.
Like I said, I returned that transmitter and kept the Ramsey FM100. The broadcast side of things did not involve my FM100 however. I had decided to replace my FM100 with a computer and feed the audio over the Internet. From there, we had local people participate by buying their own transmitters from Decade. Connecting a computer sound card to the inputs of the Decade transmitter and the computer connected to our IP address provided the stream.
Now we posted images of the studio on our Facebook page, Bill went there and downloaded our images and hosted them on his website without our permission. He used those images and all my posts and said, your equipment you speak about on my forum matches that of the Facebook page’s studio equipment, therefore that means YOU are the PIRATE we’re talking about and YOU came here with the intent of breaking the rules of part 15.
I have his forum saved on my computer for off line viewing, so as much as he banned me from there, I can still see his forum board without physically accessing his web site. Reading through that thread, you can see they were out-right calling me incriminating names, but me merely calling Ray F. Burns (member name RFBURNS) a bully, got Bill all upset and attacked me with all kinds of name calling.
If you have access, the thread is in “Members only” “the Lobby” and titled “Hunting Down A Pirate”
The conversation:
RFBURNS:
Bill will find this one fun. Been tracking down an FM pirate in southeast Connecticut with a engineer from the local area for some time now. Didn’t want to say anything in the main forums.The antenna looks like Comet and there’s the dead giveaway with the other antenna clutter on top of a house chimney. The spectrum analyzer shows a bunch of garbage in the signal. What a mess! I was there for the ride and to snap some pictures and he’ll take care of the rest.
ERMI ROOS: What will happen when you catch him?RFBURNS: Bill and me have been chatting about the two pirates and Tom, the engineer, made a discovery. He had snapped some photos of the house where the signal was with a mess of antennas on top. He had found the station’s Facebook pages where there was a picture of the same antenna mess. Real dumb move on their part! It looks coincidental but their Facebook page looks like it’s hidden now that Bill and I are doing some investigating on some of the general interest forums.Does the fox smell the dogs? I now have a reason to visit the parents and the casino more often now.
BILL DEFELICE:I haven’t found any web page proclaiming the virtues of the local pirate by me, but it seems funny as hell as soon as we start banging the drum the Facebook page for yours goes away. I bet a legal call to Facebook could get that data procured if need be.ERMIE ROOS: BILL DEFELICE SAID “Does the fox smell the dogs?” Apparently yes, as RFB’s mention of the Facebook pages suggests.RFBURNS: The engineer Tom made some good finds so far. He found a phone number given out for calls, pictures of the studio and linked this guy’s radio name with him real name cause of multiple Facebook pages! You can’t be too smart to break the law and tell everybody about it! I think he said the station placed a complaint with the FCC offices.BILL DEFELICE: Why not just take out a billboard then? Can’t be too damn bright to make all sorts of noise about breaking the law and flaunting it in public, too.RFBURNS: Got a picture from Tom who has connections at the Facebook.(RFBURNS POSTED IMAGES OF OUR FACEBOOK PAGE) Phone number? Calling attention to what channel you’re not on? This guy is a piece of work!and thanks Bill, for setting the graphic link for me.
MrBruce:You know, I’ve been watching this thread for sometime myself and have re-framed from replying for obvious reasons, I can’t wait for the finger pointing to begin and the accusations to begin.But you were hoping I’d post sooner or later right?
RFB you need a life, really, you do!
That station shut down and went off the air permanently. Have you or anyone even checked lately? Yet, you still want blood from these people right? It’s not enough someone contacted them and told them they went above what part 15 rules allow and they quickly shut it down, no questions asked. Nothing was hid because no one realized something wasn’t right. But unlike you and your “engineer”, someone in a nice way said this is not setup right. And the station was shut down permanently, before you say ignorance is no excuse, let me tell you education can go a long ways and the real people are the ones who say, we’re sorry we didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
They didn’t even stay on long enough to say goodbye to their dedicated listeners, leaving them guessing. Pirates don’t do that, they stay on the air regardless, because being a pirate is what they choose to be. The Facebook page you speak of wasn’t deleted to hide it was deleted because it was over the station and it’s name were retired.Just so you know, my transmitter at my house was an Ramsey FM100 using an indoor telescopic antenna, the FM100 does not tune below 88.1MHz nor does it transmit above 107.9MHz, so let’s get that part straight. When I was on, it was 107.1MHz Z-107.1 did you get that signal also?
Your rant here kind of pisses me off that you run your mouth off like a school yard bully and continue to poke at wounds that are trying to heal.
The crummy station stole a few listeners big deal! If that really hurt your engineer’s client then I really, really feel sorry for them.
The station had listeners because it did what the other stations refused to do, give what the people wanted without so much as asking for a dime!
Before you rant about them getting a CP or license, don’t make me laugh, I personally applied for a CP by filling out and submitting FCC form 318 and was shot down being told there were NO open frequencies in my area, yet all these new God-Casters keep popping up and over crowding our already over crowded band with stations that carry repeat programming, yet the FCC says there’s no open channels. So there is NO WAY to get a LP license in this state AM or FM, so don’t rant about licenses, because that is a complete joke.
The problem is as I see it, is your engineer’s client was jealous over a few lost listeners who are tired of the same old crap the stations cram down their throats. Their Facebook pages get very few response.
I have to ask you RFB, why is your location a big secret? Not one post you’ve made tells me if you are even in the USA or Poland, But you’ve all but broadcasted someone else’s name, rank and serial number! Grow up already!
Ya know RFB, I see you as a guy who sits there supposedly running a legit part 15 radio station basically stating you’re alright with you being your ONLY listener. BS my friend! A lot of your posts speak about how can you get your signal to go farther, how far can you go before you cross that gray line? Yet someday RFB, your quest may get you an NOUO and perhaps we’ll broadcast your name and phone number, only trouble is you’re too much of a coward to offer it and also not everyone knows as much as you should know being that you claim to be a licensed ham. Now, you want to step on toes, expect yours to be stepped on also, you want to shoot your cannons at the so called PIRATE ship, expect someone to shoot back, specially from someone who took the time to contact those involved and offered advice!
Education is all it takes my friends, not everyone started a station in an attempt to break a law, but for someone with a vary large ego to sit at their computer and spew blind accusations like a bully, makes you look like a total fool in my book.
Look back to about 20 years ago or more, a lot of you all think pirates were rare in the 70’s because transmitters weren’t readily available? Wrong, pirates were rare because licenses were easier to obtain and open channels were available, not anymore, with this ridiculously over crowded God-caster and satellite fed repeat stations mess being carried on 5 different stations all at the same time in my market area is a joke.
Instead of being a bully you should have found out if you could have helped they offered a phone number didn’t they? Then make your judgment after they ignored your help or told you to kiss off. You call your self a Ham operator? I’ve been in communications for over 46 years and before I’d crap on someone, I’d at least see if maybe they needed my help. And all it took was a phone call.
You all should be lobbying the FCC to change the rules to open a broadcast band for some type of Very Low power broadcast service, strength in numbers is what gets things done, if the NAB wants to cry over a few lost listeners, then perhaps they should realize that maybe they are not in the broadcasters best interest.
Why are there Pirate broadcasters? The answer has been stated here in this forum time after time because the only people who get CPs are those that have money. Those that can buy the country’s airwaves, preventing others from having a voice in their own communities and you all know that to be true.
Like I said, you want a change? You want to see pirates go away? Tell the FCC to change the number of stations a company can own in a given market area and how many channels they can tie up with the endless number of translators, before that rule was changed, there was more opportunity for someone new to buy into radio. In my market area there are only 4 station owners and they are:
1: RED WOLF BROADCASTING CORPORATION
2: HALL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
3: TOWN OF MONROE, CONNECTICUT
4: RADIO LICENSE HOLDING CBC, LLCThese 4 companies own the whole south eastern Connecticut radio band, isn’t that just ridiculous!
So like I said, playing Pirate Radio bully is not going to change the number of stations that pop up on the airwaves without a CP, the FCC made a blatant mess of things, go after them and say we need a rule change, station owners have to sell off their stations until they are down to ONE AM, ONE FM and ONE Television station only in a given geographical area. No overlaps!
It is threads like this one that will NEVER change anything! I can’t wait to see how quickly this post gets deleted and doing so only shows that an opposing opinion is not welcomed here.
And RFB, I do understand you have an uncle involved in law, well I fear not, I have Son who is licensed to practice law in Connecticut, so be careful how you reply to me in this thread, my tolerance right now is very low!
Now go play with your toys and go play radio station RFB, because that’s exactly what it is, toys in the land of make believe, welcome to my neighborhood.
I’ll say it again, that radio station is gone, everything is gone, equipment gone, Facebook page gone, the pirates as you call them have changed their pirate flag to a white flag, but you want blood. The more they destroy what they have or had the more you complain! SMH!
So I’ll close now and I’ll save this post as an .mht file on my computer as proof of what I said and didn’t say here.
Before you open your mouth, again my Ramsey FM100 was sold legally in the US and does NOT go below 88.1MHz nor does it have the export kit, so don’t even go there.
If you really want to ban me from here, so be it, before I call anyone a pirate radio operator, I at least ask them, if that really was what they intended to do in the first place, then perhaps, I’ll start the name calling. This station in no way claimed to be a PIRATE radio station, that is why they were out in the open, that is why they didn’t hide, but you all call them STUPID! However, out right PIRATES, who claim to be pirates, do hide because their intentions is to break the law no matter what. And RFB, you nor Tom never even tried to contact them. Guns? Weapons? You could tell by their broadcasts that they weren’t that type of people, they were very open, friendly people. Everybody knew that that did listen to them.
By the way…the house you thought was WXTZ, was dead wrong and I knew that on your second post and that antenna you saw was an old Radio Shack Archer VHF HI-LOW scanner antenna, not a dominator, the length of it would obviously be too short for even 87.9Mhz usage because it was clearly mended back together using electrical tape, so guess again, close but no cigar.
Can’t wait to see the flap I get from stepping up and saying, RFB you are a childish bully and I’m sick of talking to you.
This is a very pissed and displeased Bruce signing off and stepping off my soap box.
If you want to sick the FCC on me, so be it, I do not own anything to fear in any inspection, unless my HDTV and remote controls are illegal that is.
Bruce.
BILL DEFELICE:I can’t believe this is the kind of nonsense I have to put up with in my forums!Wow! Sounds like somebody’s panties are in a bunch (and somebody’s been caught being involved with something illegal).
Well, since nobody ever mentioned your name, Bruce, it appears your own guilt has gotten the best of you. Personally, I have a problem with anybody who knowingly operates grossly beyond Part 15 limits and then masquerades around my forums like they’re 100% by-the-book legal. I take great offense to that.
Personally, I smelled your intent to not comply with the regulations only 3 months after your joined these forums. In your reply in the Audio Processing Basics thread you admitted of your own free will that you chose a 25 watt transmitter and were waiting for your 5/8 wave antenna from Ramsey, which pretty much tells the beginning of the story. This shows there was not one thought of compliance in your mind. Having been on this site for three months you should have been able to ascertain what legal power was necessary to produce the maximum FCC allowed field strength for Part 15 compliant FM, between every available resource on this site, the multiple FM transmitter reviews as well as having numerous opportunities to ask in the forums!
The following post to the thread Attenuating High Power Transmitter for Part 15 Operation you, by your own admission, recite chapter and verse for Part 15.239 in spite of your admission you already acquired your FM transmitter. Why the hell would anybody purchase expensive broadcast equipment without first securing a construction permit? I have-first hand experience with an LPFM I’ve assisted up in New Hampshire and they ended up purchasing even more gear than they budgeted for as they changed transmitter locations TWICE!
It also appears in reading the bottom of reply #7 in this same thread you’ve been caught in your own web of deception – “It is NOT my intent to EVER do anything against the federal or local laws, but to comply with them fully. Nor do I or anyone associated with me agree with anyone who condones such law or rule breaking.”
I know a broadcast engineer out in that area of the state but I wanted to verify things with my own independent research. One reply I got to my query was that this 87.9 operation was received between exits 79 thru 84 on Interstate 395. That’s no Part 15 signal level, that’s for certain! Again, don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining!
Your attack on Ray is unwarranted. Did he break the law? I don’t think so!
I was asked to clarify a piece of technical information on Wikipedia for Ray’s engineer buddy Tom, as he picked up on the station’s Wikipedia pages edits indicating that the station had discontinued operation on March 1st. Tom’s Facebook station page capture shows a March 15 post which strongly implies the station was still in operation after the allegedly going defunct. What do you think the logged and publicly accessible dates and IP addresses say about the edits of these pages?
Bruce, your rant makes me question your entire motive for being here in the first place. I’m a broadcast engineer and I won’t jeopardize my professional reputation or credentials with my engineering peers by having a blatant lawbreaker masquerade as a law abiding Part 15 operator. I have no respect for anybody who tries to pull one over on me or the others in this forum who want to abide by the regulations. Nobody forces anybody to break the regulations – nobody holds somebody at gunpoint commanding them to break the law in this regard! This was a conscious decision one makes on their own.
From your story about applying for an FM license has me wondering if you even employed a qualified engineering and/or consulting firm to begin with. A group with serious goals in mind would have done exploration and perhaps even canvassed the town to fundraise to have a consulting engineering firm come in and explore what possible ways a station could be legally constructed, especially if this was suppose to end up as the focal point for the community! Setting up an illegal signal shows no regard for the law. It’s just like “my neighbor has a Mercedes and I don’t” – well, just steal it then! Maybe it’s “my other neighbor has a big flat screen TV and I don’t” – well, just steal that, too. You can also say “so-and-so has a radio station and I don’t” – does that justify breaking the law? I don’t think so!
If this discussion spirals downward into the cesspool the thread will be locked and other moderations will be implemented, PERIOD!
MRBRUCE: I never engaged in anything above the law, when you told me what you told me in private PM, that the 25 Watt transmitter I had ordered was certified for part 73 and that purchasing that now without even a CP was a bad idea, it changed my mind, yes I was putting my cart ahead of the horse. I wanted a transmitter that was FCC certified and had quality circuitry, you advised against it and I sent the unopened package that the new transmitter was in, back for a full refund the day after it had arrived. You advised against the use of the outdoor 5/8 wave antenna, so I went with the telescopic 3 foot antenna that came with the FM100, it was fed into the cabinet top hole provided and into the circuit board. That was your advice and I followed it.Why am I spewing off in defense? Because, I’ve been around long enough and read a lot on this subject, and fear that I could be subject to a confrontation that perhaps am I aiding and abetting a pirate because I contacted them and advised them and I’m not helping to put them in jail. Believe me, I may have done that if I didn’t know what went wrong or if they said to me we are pirates this is how we want to operate.
Was that signal from WXTZ intended to carry that far past part 15 limits? Not when the transmitter was set up properly. like a lot of FCC certified FM or AM transmitters, the device is capable of going beyond US limits. At first it does not make sense, how does a transmitter suddenly go above the intended power limit for no reason? Then you factor in the transmitter and how it operates inside the case.
This transmitter did not rely on switches to select the frequency or power output, it used a central processor chip with on screen menus for setup and storage of the last configured setup. I live very close to the location and my neighbors as my proof, we often have power glitches here. Supply voltage from the power company dropping to the point all the electric lights glow dimly like a near dead battery is powering them, power glitches that cycle the power on and off several times like someone having a problem connecting two live wires together. This causing all my digital clocks to blink 12:00AM and I have also lost two DVD players to power supply burn out. This very same issue can cause an FM transmitter with a central processor chip to reset back to factory defaults, 87.9 and assuming 2 watts? No one knew anything was wrong when the transmitter came back on line, because the factory default frequency was the one chosen to broadcast on 87.9MHz, no one realized that the RF power output had also reset to a level not legal in the USA. The transmitter is powered by its own built in power supply and the power switch to the mains is hardwired, so when mains power is restored, the transmitter automatically goes back on air. Now that power glitch, not only reset the transmitter back to factory defaults, it also damaged the audio circuits or audio related circuits, which is why RFB said something along the lines that the signal was a mess, or along those lines. The audio circuit or something in the built in power supply was obviously fried. That is why that thing is now a piece of junk, it’s simply not worth fixing it.
You don’t have to believe me, but if you think brownouts can’t damage or affect electronics such as this transmitter, then I don’t know what to tell you.
My post was not posted the way it was because I have a guilty conscious, it’s because I’m old enough and read enough to know what kind of reception I’m going to get when I defend someone who was wrongly accused as being a pirate and you proved me right, you took that stand with me and did the finger pointing and accusations.
YOU told ME how to be and how to stay legal and I listened to you, so no, I never came here to ignore you and go ahead and do what is illegal, my Ramsey FM100 was ran just as you told me to run it.
Now as far as dates on Wikipedia being in conflict with the actual proof that was presented that it was wrong and incorrect, then let me correct that for you, should have said March 16 not March 1.
I only ragged on RFB because of the way he came here accusing someone of something they didn’t know was happening with their equipment and me? I haven’t even been messing with my own station at all or listening to the radio this month because of two reasons, one is I’ve been too busy using my equipment to record records to my computer, two is because 107.1 is no longer usable because a Spanish LPFM station called Boomba just went on air this month on 104.5MHz in Montville, CT and both that LPFM and WCTY 97.7MHz now jam the 107.1MHz frequency because they are just too close to me, I can hear both station’s heterodyne on any FM receiver I own and on any FM receiver anyone else owns on 107.1MHz. So now 107.1 is no longer a usable possibility for me and it was the only channel that was the quietest in my area.
As far as my panties being in a bunch, sure, it’s okay for someone else to have their panties in a bunch, but when I see someone post false accusations and I know differently, then yeah I’m going to jump in and say something because the word pirate to me is the same as accusing someone as being a pedophile who isn’t.
Ya know, it really amazes me that throughout this whole tread, no one ever mentioned what radio station get their panties in a bunch, who is the complainant? The defendant seems to been identified here, so why not include the station’s name that’s got their panties in a bunch? If RFB had approached this thing differently, then I would never have said anything. It’s an all together different result if know both sides of the story and all I seen here was one side being stated with an unfair conclusion.
BILL DEFELICE: Bruce: My observations are as follows:1. Nobody mentioned anything about you specifically and you unleashed an unprovoked attack on a another forum member.
2. The furor for which you attacked both this topic as well as Ray Burns strongly leads me (and perhaps others) to believe you were directly involved with the illegal facility being discussed in this thread.
3. This “station” had its signal verified by multiple people, engineers and others alike, to be grossly over Part 15 regulations.
4. A legal “Part 15” signal traveling 5 exits on a major interstate is about as likely as somebody offering me a million dollars!
5. The rampant disregard you show for adhering to the legal regulations of Part 15 has no place here.
6. Reviewing your past posts it’s easy to see contradictory statements.
7. I can no longer trust anything you have to say.If you claim to have “no involvement” with the illegal operation, yet another thing bothers me. Every piece of equipment you mention in your lifetime of posts here that you represent belonging to you, a Behringer VMX1000 mixer, the DSP9024 and MDX1600 processors, all appear in the picture for this illegal station’s Facebook page. (BILL POSTS IMAGES OF OUR STUDIO FROM OUR FACEBOOK PAGE) I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck and I ain’t buying what you’re selling! I’ve seen enough to know I’m done with this subject.
Bruce, you’ve violated the terms of service for this site by attacking Ray Burns. You’re done here as far as I’m concerned!
RFBURNS:Bill, it’s terrible that a pirate tried to pass as a legal broadcaster. It didn’t do anything to make a good name for Part 15 by any means. I didn’t have any way to tell it was somebody here.Bill, you do more work in radio than me. It looks that Bruce betrayed your trust and is now just trying to cover his tracks. I am so glad you want to run Hobbybroadcaster to keep everybody legal and clean. Your ethics are very honorable.
BILL DEFELICE:
Like I said early, Ray, I’m not going to have a pirate take down my reputation with my peers (I’m quite capable of doing that myself). I hate people playing innocent until they get caught. I have little respect and no tolerance for that nonsense, especially on a site that I fund 100% out of my own pocket. There are places for pirates to play their games and this isn’t one of them.BILL DEFELICE: Thanks, Dale. I want to help everybody have a great time and learn from this site and it serves no purpose to have a pirate sully the waters here. I’ve seen other sites (and people) welcome obvious pirates into their ranks and that’s something I want to even get involved with. I often see government agencies visiting the site, including the FCC, and I don’t want them to ever be under the impression that I either support, condone or encourage illegal operationJ. ROBERT MARTIN: The creeps not been on and didnt read your reply bill. Im glad that Bill keeps a legal place not like someplace else. Thanks you bill.BILL DEFELICE:I have a feeling our “friend” knows he’s less than welcomed at this point. I’ll let him read the response here before sending him into the land of the lost.
Total posts : 45366I am an internet radio broadcaster and I have been paying Royalties through StreamLicensing from day 1. I can tell you that many of us law abiding internet stations have been harassed more so then the Pirates. one case scenario I have good friends who have been using Radioloyalty as there stream host. now Radioloyalty requires listeners to stream through there web player. what is interesting is that even though the broadcasters we’re paying royalties sound exchange was giving them a hassle because they wanted their website to open up stream licensing pop up player when you click listen live. some stations even legal ones were threatened with a lawsuit from B m I. this is an outrage. this is not always technically easy. so many stations had to stop using Radioloyalty and use either and Icecast server or shoutcast server to broadcast. Thank God DJC media an ad insertion solution that is compatible with any prayer. now there seems to be issues with stations being listed on directories such as TuneIn radio. the RIAA cronies want the directory sites to pay royalties on top of the broadcasters for every song played and for each listener listening. this is what’s known as double dipping. they’re getting paid by the broadcaster and for the website listing your station. this might end small web broadcasters in the USA. however there are some of us who are fighting this nonsense and it was what was in the Constitution earlier when Americans where made to pay taxes twice for the same sing. so in short just because you run and Internet station does not mean lower risk. unless you run on a off shore server broadcast to that server with a VPN and hope no one finds you. America is got corruption in government. lobbyists who have millions of dollars wwin the decisions of officials who make the rules. so sometimes when we have a corrupt system we have to risk our lives and overthrow it. because it’s not getting any better. worst com to worse have A Micro Broadcast Transmitter with A bluetooth receiver that transmit and can be hid then you could transmit and if some idiot harasses you well you might lose the Transmitter for is not really at your house. me I’m not going to do that. instead I’m going to operate and try to play nice. bet I’m prepared for craziness if necessary and will take anything I deem necessary to deal with injustice. because enough is enough.
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