I have a serious question for the engineering veterans who understand “remote controlled transmitters,” which refers to the method of turning a transmitter off and on from a distant location.
I have a serious question for the engineering veterans who understand “remote controlled transmitters,” which refers to the method of turning a transmitter off and on from a distant location.
I have part 15 transmitters in several different locations within the same property, and would like to design a way of turning them off and on from a central location next to the computer. I prefer a home-brew system NOT integrated with computer control.
One objective is to avoid running 120VAC lines all over the place, like are used for switching lamps off/on. A low voltage system is sought, which will not draw current except when the button is pressed. If a plain relay is used, the relay coil draws current when it is in its “ON” mode.
Looking forward to your ideas.
Try a multiple squelch circuit…
I would suggest a multiple transmitter squelch circuit. That means all but the main studio transmitter are controlled (on or off) by receiving a signal over the air to remain on the air. If the main transmitter goes off the air, the rest of the transmitters go off. The reverse would be true for turning the network of transmitters on. You can home brew a squelch circuit. Commercial repeaters and translators use a similar system.
Award Winner
Marshall Johnson, Sr., I love your suggestion. It is very unlike anything I had in mind. It is super clever.
I have a STL (Studio Transmitter Link) that feeds some of the AM transmitters from a C.Crane FM. So those AMs would go down if the FM were closed.
And the engineering of the rest of the system makes it interesting for future thought.
Many thanks.
CTCSS
This is workable,but these are called sub-audible tones for 2 way radio,67 to 250 hz,however they are fully audible on a broadcast channel. 2 Way filters cut off all audio below 250hz to filter out the tone. Your station wont sound very good with that type of cutoff. There will also be mixing of the subaudible tone with the program audio which will muddy it up pretty bad. Who needs that?
Been there,done that,got the lousy t-shirt!!!
I would use a one shot type of control,such as DTMF(touch tones),although audible for a few milliseconds it has no other bad side effects and the equipment costs about the same. You can control virtually anything in this manner,each transmitter individually or in groups. The encoding tones can be wave files on your pc,you can even schedule them in automation. Real broadcasters use it all the time.
Do a Google search for DTMF decoders
Sounds Good
Thank you Lee, WILCOM LABS
The tone approach sounds like it will be very interesting to work with. Home School College is going into summer session.
DTMF
I’ve heard of DTMF tones being used to shut off translators before.
1 tone for each or 1 tone for all 🙂