Want to run your own station?

[4dude]

Be heard up to 5 miles and finally be "on the air"

http://www.trutham.com

A couple things to remember when you setup:

1) Always pick a clear frequency,the CLEARER it is,the father you will be heard

2) USE PROFESSIONAL METERS AND MAKE SURE YOUR NOT PUTTING OUT HARMFULL INTERFERENCE!!

3) Dont ever air any illegial Content (Drug talking,swearing,etc (Doesnt sound good and is frowned upon))

 

[RadioMan203]

All good and solid information there. It seems that interest in Part 15 has been on the rise as I keep getting all sorts of newcomers to CampusBroadcaster.net as well as HobbyBroadcaster.net.

I've seen a rise in Part 15 from everything ranging from hobbyists, experimenters, school campuses and those wishing to express political or religious viewpoints not commonly aired by mainstream media. Its use is only limited by your own vision.

 

[rfry]

Be heard up to 5 miles and finally be "on the air" (etc)

Installations and recommendations on the website linked in The Dude's post above show Part 15 AM systems with elevated mountings.

Even though a 100 mW AM transmitter is FCC-certified under Part 15, it still can be installed in a configuration that is functionally non-compliant with Part 15.219, and such setups may be subject to FCC NOUOs even though they use a certified transmitter.

The thread linked below has some discussion and references about the performance of such installations. Of course everyone is free to operate as they wish, but possibly this information will help in making such decisions.

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,121603.0.html

//

 

[trojanrabbit]

I do have a Part 15 transmitter (the SSTRAN specifically), it's primarily for letting me program what I want to my antique radios - so I'm not particularly concerned about maximum range - it might give me 50 feet only using the supplied wire antenna, which is more than enough to cover the condo.

 

[radioman148]

Be heard up to 5 miles and finally be "on the air"

http://www.trutham.com

A couple things to remember when you setup:

1) Always pick a clear frequency,the CLEARER it is,the father you will be heard

2) USE PROFESSIONAL METERS AND MAKE SURE YOUR NOT PUTTING OUT HARMFULL INTERFERENCE!!

3) Dont ever air any illegial Content (Drug talking,swearing,etc (Doesnt sound good and is frowned upon))

Thanks for the info "Dude" very helpful.

 

[Bongwater]

I dunno 'bout this. They do an awful lot of promoting for Alex Jones and Co. and while there's nothing inherently wrong in that, I kinda suspect they would at least, um, really LIKE you to run THEIR programming (after all, they are more than willing to give you all the free promotion tools you will ever need for this "Liberty 1640" format......)

If I were to go AM (and I will soon, once this recession lifts), I would like to play a format that isn't heard at all on AM...or as much as it should be, like modern rock/alternative, indie/local/underground/progressive, something MUSIC...and independent......and DIFFERENT...... But MUSIC still......

 

[RadioMan203]

If I were to go AM (and I will soon, once this recession lifts), I would like to play a format that isn't heard at all on AM...or as much as it should be, like modern rock/alternative, indie/local/underground/progressive, something MUSIC...and independent......and DIFFERENT...... But MUSIC still......

That's the beauty of Part 15 radio - you can format your station with any programming you want. One person may want music, another may want to play talk programming. A recent addition local to me is foreign language religion. The operator is serving a community that is currently under-served by commercial broadcasters.

Stations on school campuses can program whatever their students are interested in airing, thus allowing them to custom taylor the station to their needs and wants.

 

[4dude]

I've seen a rise in Part 15 from everything ranging from hobbyists, experimenters, school campuses and those wishing to express political or religious viewpoints not commonly aired by mainstream media.

Yes and "MAINSTREAM" anything is crap....

 

[Tom Wells]

I dunno 'bout this. They do an awful lot of promoting for Alex Jones and Co. and while there's nothing inherently wrong in that, I kinda suspect they would at least, um, really LIKE you to run THEIR programming (after all, they are more than willing to give you all the free promotion tools you will ever need for this "Liberty 1640" format......)

If I were to go AM (and I will soon, once this recession lifts), I would like to play a format that isn't heard at all on AM...or as much as it should be, like modern rock/alternative, indie/local/underground/progressive, something MUSIC...and independent......and DIFFERENT...... But MUSIC still......

That's what I'm doing: "moremusicmoremusicmoremusicmoremusic". All the fun, faster songs that I liked with only the mellow ones I like.
1925-2009, I don't care what the year...Dance jazz from the 20's, Hot swing from the 30's, ...not much from the 40's, but some, classic country-western, western swing, the best rock from the 50's to now, punk rock, obscurites, novelty songs, old commercials, airchecks of mine, airchecks I've collected from others, bits from movies, train sounds, steel mill sounds, while avoiding most of what's been burned out by the mainstream.
There's always room for more, and I keep adding all the time. If people know what where the limit is, there's no reason to listen anymore.
I'm probably 2000 titles deep now, the Zara automation shows 161 hours now, and I'm still not satisfied.
Just now adding "Let's All Chant", a DISCO tune from 1977 (?) or so by the Michael Zager Band. Not one of my most favorite, but LOTS of people liked it then, and I bought the 12" disco, so on it goes. Next to be added is "Waiting for the Man" by Lou Reed.
Tomorrow, I'll be digging back into the 45's. Last night I added "Amore Mio" by Gene Pitney, among other 45s.
When I find the 7" reel tape from 1975 with "Disco Inferno", I'll add that!
It's a lot of fun to think of neighbors wondering what the heck W-nuthin-nuthin-nuthin AM 1620 is all about.
I've spent a few hundred dollars on this over the course of 15 years.
Most lately on Breakaway Broadcast Processor ($ 199), a dedicated laptop ($100), and an ART Pro VLA compressor ($299), and a 1620 crystal ($50).
I designed and built the part 15 AM tube transmitter in 1993 for next-to-nothing.
Running it costs no more than leaving a light on, and I don't have to deal with an internet service provider to stream.
My dense neighborhood attenuates the signal quickly, but there are still thousands within earshot.
I get to play with the sound and satisfy myself with no one else to call the shots.
Probably a lot more fun than than a "real" station.

 

[landtuna]

"Not much from the 40's"???????????????????????

That was one of the greatest decades insofar as dance music went. How can you not have Swing/Big Band?

 

[Tom Wells]

I just haven't added a lot yet. I have a ton of 78s and lp compilations, I just find a lot of it too mellow.
Even now, what just came up on the air is "By the waters of Minnetonka" by Glenn Miller, but I think thats '37.
Like rock-n-roll, which was "race music" in its infancy, swing was toned-down jazz, also "race music".
In order to make it less threatening, it had to be tamed down to be "commercially successful".
What I do add will be the "killer-dillers".
But then, I play "Three Little Fishies" by Kay Kyser, so go figure.

 

[radioman148]

I dunno 'bout this. They do an awful lot of promoting for Alex Jones and Co. and while there's nothing inherently wrong in that, I kinda suspect they would at least, um, really LIKE you to run THEIR programming (after all, they are more than willing to give you all the free promotion tools you will ever need for this "Liberty 1640" format......)

If I were to go AM (and I will soon, once this recession lifts), I would like to play a format that isn't heard at all on AM...or as much as it should be, like modern rock/alternative, indie/local/underground/progressive, something MUSIC...and independent......and DIFFERENT...... But MUSIC still......

That's what I'm doing: "moremusicmoremusicmoremusicmoremusic". All the fun, faster songs that I liked with only the mellow ones I like.
1925-2009, I don't care what the year...Dance jazz from the 20's, Hot swing from the 30's, ...not much from the 40's, but some, classic country-western, western swing, the best rock from the 50's to now, punk rock, obscurites, novelty songs, old commercials, airchecks of mine, airchecks I've collected from others, bits from movies, train sounds, steel mill sounds, while avoiding most of what's been burned out by the mainstream.
There's always room for more, and I keep adding all the time. If people know what where the limit is, there's no reason to listen anymore.
I'm probably 2000 titles deep now, the Zara automation shows 161 hours now, and I'm still not satisfied.
Just now adding "Let's All Chant", a DISCO tune from 1977 (?) or so by the Michael Zager Band. Not one of my most favorite, but LOTS of people liked it then, and I bought the 12" disco, so on it goes. Next to be added is "Waiting for the Man" by Lou Reed.
Tomorrow, I'll be digging back into the 45's. Last night I added "Amore Mio" by Gene Pitney, among other 45s.
When I find the 7" reel tape from 1975 with "Disco Inferno", I'll add that!
It's a lot of fun to think of neighbors wondering what the heck W-nuthin-nuthin-nuthin AM 1620 is all about.
I've spent a few hundred dollars on this over the course of 15 years.
Most lately on Breakaway Broadcast Processor ($ 199), a dedicated laptop ($100), and an ART Pro VLA compressor ($299), and a 1620 crystal ($50).
I designed and built the part 15 AM tube transmitter in 1993 for next-to-nothing.
Running it costs no more than leaving a light on, and I don't have to deal with an internet service provider to stream.
My dense neighborhood attenuates the signal quickly, but there are still thousands within earshot.
I get to play with the sound and satisfy myself with no one else to call the shots.
Probably a lot more fun than than a "real" station.

Sounds like you're having a real good time with your part 15.

 

[RadioMan203]

If I were to go AM (and I will soon, once this recession lifts), I would like to play a format that isn't heard at all on AM...or as much as it should be, like modern rock/alternative, indie/local/underground/progressive, something MUSIC...and independent......and DIFFERENT...... But MUSIC still......

That's what I'm doing: "moremusicmoremusicmoremusicmoremusic". All the fun, faster songs that I liked with only the mellow ones I like.
1925-2009, I don't care what the year...Dance jazz from the 20's, Hot swing from the 30's, ...not much from the 40's, but some, classic country-western, western swing, the best rock from the 50's to now, punk rock, obscurites, novelty songs, old commercials, airchecks of mine, airchecks I've collected from others, bits from movies, train sounds, steel mill sounds, while avoiding most of what's been burned out by the mainstream.
There's always room for more, and I keep adding all the time. If people know what where the limit is, there's no reason to listen anymore.
I'm probably 2000 titles deep now, the Zara automation shows 161 hours now, and I'm still not satisfied.
Just now adding "Let's All Chant", a DISCO tune from 1977 (?) or so by the Michael Zager Band. Not one of my most favorite, but LOTS of people liked it then, and I bought the 12" disco, so on it goes. Next to be added is "Waiting for the Man" by Lou Reed.
Tomorrow, I'll be digging back into the 45's. Last night I added "Amore Mio" by Gene Pitney, among other 45s.
When I find the 7" reel tape from 1975 with "Disco Inferno", I'll add that!
It's a lot of fun to think of neighbors wondering what the heck W-nuthin-nuthin-nuthin AM 1620 is all about.
I've spent a few hundred dollars on this over the course of 15 years.
Most lately on Breakaway Broadcast Processor ($ 199), a dedicated laptop ($100), and an ART Pro VLA compressor ($299), and a 1620 crystal ($50).
I designed and built the part 15 AM tube transmitter in 1993 for next-to-nothing.
Running it costs no more than leaving a light on, and I don't have to deal with an internet service provider to stream.
My dense neighborhood attenuates the signal quickly, but there are still thousands within earshot.
I get to play with the sound and satisfy myself with no one else to call the shots.
Probably a lot more fun than than a "real" station.[/quote]

Tom,

Have you had any of your neighbors give you any feedback on your programming? I was just curious if you had gotten any indications that people have come across your station strictly "by accident" as I assume you probably don't advertise it.

BTW: If the name wasn't already taken by Buckley, you could probably call you station "The Best of Everything"

 

[Tom Wells]

While out with my daughter selling girl scout cookies in January, there was a couple in a house at the end of the block that I remembered the husband did some kind of recording engineering, so I asked if they had happened across it. They had, and do like it.
They did wonder why it's only heard just right here in hte neighborhood, I explained what pt 15 is to them.
Now playing: " Your Groovy Self" by Nancy Sinatra, from the soundtrack of the Elvis movie, "Speedway" from 1967.
I've always liked Nancy Sinatra.

 

[RadioMan203]

While out with my daughter selling girl scout cookies in January, there was a couple in a house at the end of the block that I remembered the husband did some kind of recording engineering, so I asked if they had happened across it. They had, and do like it.
They did wonder why it's only heard just right here in hte neighborhood, I explained what pt 15 is to them.
Now playing: " Your Groovy Self" by Nancy Sinatra, from the soundtrack of the Elvis movie, "Speedway" from 1967.
I've always liked Nancy Sinatra.

It's great when people actually "get it" when you explain what a Part 15 station is. It's even better when they listen.

Of course I'm still wondering how I screwed up the quoting two messages back ???

 

[radioman148]

While out with my daughter selling girl scout cookies in January, there was a couple in a house at the end of the block that I remembered the husband did some kind of recording engineering, so I asked if they had happened across it. They had, and do like it.
They did wonder why it's only heard just right here in hte neighborhood, I explained what pt 15 is to them.
Now playing: " Your Groovy Self" by Nancy Sinatra, from the soundtrack of the Elvis movie, "Speedway" from 1967.
I've always liked Nancy Sinatra.

It's great when people actually "get it" when you explain what a Part 15 station is. It's even better when they listen.

Of course I'm still wondering how I screwed up the quoting two messages back ???

getting them to listen is great if you can do it.

 

[Bongwater]

My station is tentatively called "The Difference @ 1650". It will play a very eclectic blend of independent, import and local music, supported by local like-minded small businesses. I'm hoping to get a small studio/office space downtown for it. I want the studio to be large enough for local musicians to play acoustic sets live in.

The playlist will consist of mostly Northwest and local music, and as time passes, add more Creative Commons indie music donated by artists around the world.

The Difference will be 100% "Penguin Powered" (All studio/office computers will be Linux.) The goal is to break free from as much mainstream anything as possible and keep it open-sourced. My wife wants the station to also be pro-active environmentally with recycling (NO STYROFOAM CUPS) to fair trade coffee in the office coffee maker down to the cleaning supplies in the station. We are also looking at solar power options and using as little paper as possible. The station will be located downtown, preferably near the salty Puget Sound (so the signal carries further.) The signal will be C-QUAM AM Stereo (NO HD here!), plus a live feed on the web.

It was an idea we came up with yesterday. But there's a lot of work and planning yet to be done to make this happen. The goal is to completely reinvent AM radio from the ground up. But we also want to keep costs as low as possible......

 

[radioman148]

My station is tentatively called "The Difference @ 1650". It will play a very eclectic blend of independent, import and local music, supported by local like-minded small businesses. I'm hoping to get a small studio/office space downtown for it. I want the studio to be large enough for local musicians to play acoustic sets live in.

The playlist will consist of mostly Northwest and local music, and as time passes, add more Creative Commons indie music donated by artists around the world.

The Difference will be 100% "Penguin Powered" (All studio/office computers will be Linux.) The goal is to break free from as much mainstream anything as possible and keep it open-sourced. My wife wants the station to also be pro-active environmentally with recycling (NO STYROFOAM CUPS) to fair trade coffee in the office coffee maker down to the cleaning supplies in the station. We are also looking at solar power options and using as little paper as possible. The station will be located downtown, preferably near the salty Puget Sound (so the signal carries further.) The signal will be C-QUAM AM Stereo (NO HD here!), plus a live feed on the web.

It was an idea we came up with yesterday. But there's a lot of work and planning yet to be done to make this happen. The goal is to completely reinvent AM radio from the ground up. But we also want to keep costs as low as possible......

How far do you think your signal will reach?

 

[Bongwater]

My station is tentatively called "The Difference @ 1650". It will play a very eclectic blend of independent, import and local music, supported by local like-minded small businesses. I'm hoping to get a small studio/office space downtown for it. I want the studio to be large enough for local musicians to play acoustic sets live in.

The playlist will consist of mostly Northwest and local music, and as time passes, add more Creative Commons indie music donated by artists around the world.

The Difference will be 100% "Penguin Powered" (All studio/office computers will be Linux.) The goal is to break free from as much mainstream anything as possible and keep it open-sourced. My wife wants the station to also be pro-active environmentally with recycling (NO STYROFOAM CUPS) to fair trade coffee in the office coffee maker down to the cleaning supplies in the station. We are also looking at solar power options and using as little paper as possible. The station will be located downtown, preferably near the salty Puget Sound (so the signal carries further.) The signal will be C-QUAM AM Stereo (NO HD here!), plus a live feed on the web.

It was an idea we came up with yesterday. But there's a lot of work and planning yet to be done to make this happen. The goal is to completely reinvent AM radio from the ground up. But we also want to keep costs as low as possible......

How far do you think your signal will reach?

Well, that's depending on circumstances beyond my control, but in my layman's (hopeful) prediction, 5-10 miles on Part 15.

 

[radioman148]

My station is tentatively called "The Difference @ 1650". It will play a very eclectic blend of independent, import and local music, supported by local like-minded small businesses. I'm hoping to get a small studio/office space downtown for it. I want the studio to be large enough for local musicians to play acoustic sets live in.

The playlist will consist of mostly Northwest and local music, and as time passes, add more Creative Commons indie music donated by artists around the world.

The Difference will be 100% "Penguin Powered" (All studio/office computers will be Linux.) The goal is to break free from as much mainstream anything as possible and keep it open-sourced. My wife wants the station to also be pro-active environmentally with recycling (NO STYROFOAM CUPS) to fair trade coffee in the office coffee maker down to the cleaning supplies in the station. We are also looking at solar power options and using as little paper as possible. The station will be located downtown, preferably near the salty Puget Sound (so the signal carries further.) The signal will be C-QUAM AM Stereo (NO HD here!), plus a live feed on the web.

It was an idea we came up with yesterday. But there's a lot of work and planning yet to be done to make this happen. The goal is to completely reinvent AM radio from the ground up. But we also want to keep costs as low as possible......

How far do you think your signal will reach?

Well, that's depending on circumstances beyond my control, but in my layman's (hopeful) prediction, 5-10 miles on Part 15.

WOW--how do you expect to get 5 miles, let alone more with part 15?