Pacific Northwest a good place for Part 15

[Carmine5]

According to this letter from an anonymous FCC field agent, the Commission has decimated the field offices in Portland and Seattle.

According to the letter:

"There is only one agent in Portland, and the District Office in Seattle has only the District Director, a non-engineer, and no field agents at all, for a grand total of two people in the Pacific Northwest."

http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Letters/FCC_Field_Offices.htm

So it looks as if this area would be good for part 15...or something stronger.

C5

 

[WCWalker]

Any place is good for a Part 15 station.

I would not be surprised to see that other FCC Field Offices start feeling the axe as well what with the budget issues in DC.

 

[radioman148]

Any place is good for a Part 15 station.

I would not be surprised to see that other FCC Field Offices start feeling the axe as well what with the budget issues in DC.

Part 15 as long as it's compliant is good anywhere.
Maybe the Pacific Northwest will become home for pirates now.

 

[XRQKFM]

Any place is good for a Part 15 station.

Walport, Oregon's www.waldport.org/ KORC just went silent on the first. Walport, is just the right size town for a part 15 AM; you could expand operations my adding a transmitter in Florence and Newport, Oregon.

KORC 820AM 1KW days, 15 watts nights; was on the market for $129,000 with no takers. The $129,000, might sound like a good price; until consider the fact you could build a nice part 15 operation, for under $30,000 and not have to deal with the larger electric bill and all the other hassles one encounters running a full power station.

Walport, Oregon, is on the coast, west of Eugene, and south of Newport.
www.city-data.com/city/Waldport-Oregon.html
Small town on the coast with a city pop of 2,000


Steve
www.radiobrandy.com

 

[DJ Alan]

I GOTTA chime in here...

That is sad news- really! The bad economy (and the many bad business decisions that got us all to this point) has cost too many jobs. All of us on this board have to be aware of the fact that FCC employees love the 'broadcast' industry as much as all of us in the programming and engineering end of the radio biz. Right now my broadcast is 'pirate', but I do my best to assure my signal isn't interfering with anyone, is still very low power, and I 'keep it clean' and for the most part 'family friendly'.

I sure hope that this does not mean that a bunch of problems start to crop up with pirates that do not care about interference issues, or those that go on the air without a purpose to actually serve the community. That could lead to more enforcement in the PNW, and possible problems for stations like mine- that try to be a good neighbor on the dial, and to actually serve the local community. Yes I plan on getting legal, right now I'm getting 'all of my ducks in a row' to assure that once I do get approved/licensed that everything will be in place for a swift kick into high gear for my station and more importantly, kicked into high gear for the community's sake. And I have to say that I am HAVING A FREAKIN' BLAST DOING IT TOO! Picking great music, finding local issues and resources that are important to the community (live read PSA's coming very soon to The WHORE)... hearing back from listeners (that have had to really hunt me down) about how much they love the station... A BLAST! In fact I am having as much fun doing radio right now as I did in commercial radio before the big companies came along and F*CKED IT ALL UP FOR EVERYONE! [Yes, big biz bean counters, I'll bet when you screwed your employees you didn't think you would be screwing the listeners so bad that they would soon be leaving in droves! Then again, you are BEAN COUNTERS and should only count beans and not try to pretend that you know how to do anything other than count beans!]. SHEEEESH- I could go on about the morons who thought they were radio professionals that ruined the industry and killed any reason for listeners to tune in- but that would be preaching to the choir. Instead, I'll get back to work on my end- making radio fun again, for me, for those that I may hire in the future, and most importantly- MAKING IT FUN AGAIN (and USEFUL) for THE LISTENERS!

BTW: Thanks to all you on the board that have listened in and contacted me. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to hear that you love the station so much and that gives me even more motivation to keep going. THANKS AGAIN!

Have a GREAT DAY!
DJ Alan

 

[rfry]

Walport, Oregon's KORC just went silent on the first. Walport, is just the right size town for a part 15 AM; you could expand operations my adding a transmitter in Florence and Newport, Oregon.

KORC 820AM 1KW days, 15 watts nights; was on the market for $129,000 with no takers. The $129,000, might sound like a good price; until consider the fact you could build a nice part 15 operation, for under $30,000 and not have to deal with the larger electric bill and all the other hassles one encounters running a full power station.

I guess you meant to write "Waldport," the location of KORC per the FCC database.

But the day/night, interference-free coverage areas of KORC were many times greater than possible when using a single 100 mW Part 15 AM setup -- even if it was mounted on an elevated structure and used a long, radiating "ground" conductor.

Wouldn't the addition of more such 100 mW "Part 15 AM" setups in outlying areas as needed to provide equal or greater, interference-free day/night signals to those produced by KORC multiply your ~$30,000 estimate to a point where the $129K that you wrote was asked for KORC to be considered reasonable, even neglecting the cost of distributing the program audio from the studio to those remote sites, and their remote control and monitoring?

//

 

[radioboy]

One of the places I considered trying Part 15 AM was a small coastal town with a population
of about 500. We ended up not moving there, however, so my station serves east Leon County near
Tallahassee. I'm outside the city limits, however.

There is a pending deal for KORC.

 

[radiopilot]

DJ Alan,

Hey great to hear from the folks up in Seattle, lived in Mill Creek just south of Everett for quite some time when I did 6 years at Boeing, it was the most fun time I had, the music was great and often thought of setting up the Part 15 there as the community station for the city, but working and tending to family matters never got me motivated but the blood was pumping, as soon as I move to the island I live now in Savannah all that changed, my station is doing just as you put it... playing what I want, when I want, and having a blast doing it without as you say the bean counters to screw things up along with the busy bodies and we all know who they are...

You keep broadcasting what the people want to listen and you'll take those listeners from the 'packaged crap' they now play on regular licensed stations, they've lost touch with their listeners and get angry when you put up something better than they have with a Part 15...LOL

Kudos to you!!!

Radiopilot

 

[radioman148]

I GOTTA chime in here...

That is sad news- really! The bad economy (and the many bad business decisions that got us all to this point) has cost too many jobs. All of us on this board have to be aware of the fact that FCC employees love the 'broadcast' industry as much as all of us in the programming and engineering end of the radio biz. Right now my broadcast is 'pirate', but I do my best to assure my signal isn't interfering with anyone, is still very low power, and I 'keep it clean' and for the most part 'family friendly'.

I sure hope that this does not mean that a bunch of problems start to crop up with pirates that do not care about interference issues, or those that go on the air without a purpose to actually serve the community. That could lead to more enforcement in the PNW, and possible problems for stations like mine- that try to be a good neighbor on the dial, and to actually serve the local community. Yes I plan on getting legal, right now I'm getting 'all of my ducks in a row' to assure that once I do get approved/licensed that everything will be in place for a swift kick into high gear for my station and more importantly, kicked into high gear for the community's sake. And I have to say that I am HAVING A FREAKIN' BLAST DOING IT TOO! Picking great music, finding local issues and resources that are important to the community (live read PSA's coming very soon to The WHORE)... hearing back from listeners (that have had to really hunt me down) about how much they love the station... A BLAST! In fact I am having as much fun doing radio right now as I did in commercial radio before the big companies came along and F*CKED IT ALL UP FOR EVERYONE! [Yes, big biz bean counters, I'll bet when you screwed your employees you didn't think you would be screwing the listeners so bad that they would soon be leaving in droves! Then again, you are BEAN COUNTERS and should only count beans and not try to pretend that you know how to do anything other than count beans!]. SHEEEESH- I could go on about the morons who thought they were radio professionals that ruined the industry and killed any reason for listeners to tune in- but that would be preaching to the choir. Instead, I'll get back to work on my end- making radio fun again, for me, for those that I may hire in the future, and most importantly- MAKING IT FUN AGAIN (and USEFUL) for THE LISTENERS!

BTW: Thanks to all you on the board that have listened in and contacted me. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to hear that you love the station so much and that gives me even more motivation to keep going. THANKS AGAIN!

Have a GREAT DAY!
DJ Alan

About how much coverage do you get mileage wise?

 

[XRQKFM]

I guess you meant to write "Waldport," the location of KORC per the FCC database.

But the day/night, interference-free coverage areas of KORC were many times greater than possible when using a single 100 mW Part 15 AM setup -- even if it was mounted on an elevated structure and used a long, radiating "ground" conductor.

Wouldn't the addition of more such 100 mW "Part 15 AM" setups in outlying areas as needed to provide equal or greater, interference-free day/night signals to those produced by KORC multiply your ~$30,000 estimate to a point where the $129K that you wrote was asked for KORC to be considered reasonable, even neglecting the cost of distributing the program audio from the studio to those remote sites, and their remote control and monitoring?

This is a case of knowing the market and community layout; The city of Waldport, is fairly small, as is Florence; the majority of both communities could be covered with single transmitters. One would not need to activate all of the transmitters at once, and networking could easily be done via broadband. I have set up a few more part 15 AM networks, than you have; I know what has been done with allot less than 30K. A good part of the 820 signal went out to sea and open forest; $129k is a pretty big nut for the market; considering it's an economically depressed area; with no sign of a turnaround, and then there are Oregon's high taxes which are enough to wipe out any struggling business, not to mention all the regulations a Oregon based business has to deal with; much of which a part 15 would be immune from, a full power also has to deal with the Feds too.

Like William, said in another post; His friend ended up making more money with a part 15 AM, than the full power. The fact is operating cost is substantially lower than a full power station.

I sure hope that this does not mean that a bunch of problems start to crop up with pirates that do not care about interference issues, or those that go on the air without a purpose to actually serve the community.

I don't think you have to worry about that! Like you said; most micro broadcasters are responsible with their facilities; both with programming and technically. It is also self policing, who is going to allow some yahoo screw it up for the rest of us?

I almost forgot! The salt water that surrounds Waldport, would make for above average ground conductivity.


Steve
www.radiooutlaw.com

 

[DJ Alan]

To radioman148 ...
From Capitol Hill's west side, my signal is heard on the East side of Queen Anne Hill, Wallingford, parts of the U district, Ballard- and down south covering the north end of Beacon hill, Montlake, SODO with a good car radio. Of course rooftop FM antennas are best for home listening at these fringes mentioned above. It may go out to parts of West Seattle Alki area as well with a good receiving antenna. As for coverage in the city center area; The top West side of Capitol Hill all the way to just before the drop off below the Seattle Center is very clear. Downtown is touch and go but fairly good as one gets closer to I-5. The signal is very clear on good car radios all along I-5 from the Tully's Coffee plant down south all the way to the U District up north. Parts of the Mountlake Cut report good reception on the East side of Capitol Hill though most of Madison Valley probably misses out. The signal also reaches into the CD as it travels down south to cover Montlake (above the I-90 bridge tunnel).

So... With a decent car radio: up to around 6 miles is possible (would probably be GREAT reception with a good rooftop antenna pointed correctly)... but the best reception is on the west side of cap hill, along I-5, Cascade neighborhood, lower and South East Queen Anne Hill.

And ya... I run what I somewhat jokingly call a 'Part 14. something... almost Part 15 station'. I have 1.5 watts at the transmitter going into a 5/4 wave dipole, amounting to around 6 watts ERP. Consider though that it is just a single dipole element (due to having to be stealthy into a tree outside of my apartment building), and I do have a few tall buildings nearby that are taller than the building I broadcast from. It is not the best place on the hill to be transmitting from- due to the tall buildings it is probably one of the worst actually, so my what power I do have is limited in what it can accomplish... Though I must say that I do cover an area that is a lot larger than I thought I would with what I got. I could have chose to get a 6 watt power amp for roughly the same price I paid for my 1.5 watt, but I chose not to be greedy- and a total a-hole, etc... heck I know I haven't got a license and really only planned to cover the hill. More power would be good for better building penetration... AND WHAT WHORE COULDN'T USE A LITTLE MORE PE---- never mind. Back to the subject I think it would be in my and the stations best interests to wait to boost power when I am given proper authority to use the space in the first place.

.....hmmmm, 6 wouldn't hurt to bad now, would it?
DJ Alan
;D

 

[radioman148]

To radioman148 ...
From Capitol Hill's west side, my signal is heard on the East side of Queen Anne Hill, Wallingford, parts of the U district, Ballard- and down south covering the north end of Beacon hill, Montlake, SODO with a good car radio. Of course rooftop FM antennas are best for home listening at these fringes mentioned above. It may go out to parts of West Seattle Alki area as well with a good receiving antenna. As for coverage in the city center area; The top West side of Capitol Hill all the way to just before the drop off below the Seattle Center is very clear. Downtown is touch and go but fairly good as one gets closer to I-5. The signal is very clear on good car radios all along I-5 from the Tully's Coffee plant down south all the way to the U District up north. Parts of the Mountlake Cut report good reception on the East side of Capitol Hill though most of Madison Valley probably misses out. The signal also reaches into the CD as it travels down south to cover Montlake (above the I-90 bridge tunnel).

So... With a decent car radio: up to around 6 miles is possible (would probably be GREAT reception with a good rooftop antenna pointed correctly)... but the best reception is on the west side of cap hill, along I-5, Cascade neighborhood, lower and South East Queen Anne Hill.

And ya... I run what I somewhat jokingly call a 'Part 14. something... almost Part 15 station'. I have 1.5 watts at the transmitter going into a 5/4 wave dipole, amounting to around 6 watts ERP. Consider though that it is just a single dipole element (due to having to be stealthy into a tree outside of my apartment building), and I do have a few tall buildings nearby that are taller than the building I broadcast from. It is not the best place on the hill to be transmitting from- due to the tall buildings it is probably one of the worst actually, so my what power I do have is limited in what it can accomplish... Though I must say that I do cover an area that is a lot larger than I thought I would with what I got. I could have chose to get a 6 watt power amp for roughly the same price I paid for my 1.5 watt, but I chose not to be greedy- and a total a-hole, etc... heck I know I haven't got a license and really only planned to cover the hill. More power would be good for better building penetration... AND WHAT WHORE COULDN'T USE A LITTLE MORE PE---- never mind. Back to the subject I think it would be in my and the stations best interests to wait to boost power when I am given proper authority to use the space in the first place.

.....hmmmm, 6 wouldn't hurt to bad now, would it?
DJ Alan
;D

How high is your antenna off the ground?

 

[DJ Alan]

32' off the ground... 4th floor.

 

[radioman148]

32' off the ground... 4th floor.

You're getting good coverage.

 

[Bongwater]

Bellingham and Olympia WA have been Pirate Central for DECADES.......

As long as you're not bothering the Seattle stations in their immediate ADI, knock yourself out......

 

[radioman148]

Bellingham and Olympia WA have been Pirate Central for DECADES.......

As long as you're not bothering the Seattle stations in their immediate ADI, knock yourself out......

In some places such as NYC, it doesn't appear to matter if you interfere with the locals.