Those are done with the VOAAREA program that is in the bundle. Enter in the information and then click on Run -> Calculate -> Save/Calculate/Screen .. It took me a lot of trial and error to get this working.
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Starting a New SW Station
- Thread starter JHrusky
- Start date
Is anyone actually marketing a solid state HF transmitter 50kW or higher power?
Tube power amplifier with the solid state modulator systems, yes, but the entire TX?
Overlooked this earlier, but Ampegon has solid state SW transmitters ranging between 1.5 and 25kw. Perhaps two of the 25kw units could be run in parallel to achieve 50kw, and each could be a lower power backup should the other have any issues.
I also came across Hanjinetc, a South Korean company. However this may be a zombie website; not sure if still in the SW business. The site did include info about solid state SW transmitters up to 50kw:
http://www.hanjinetc.co.kr/fm-broadcast-transmitter/ (SW transmitters, URL is misleading)
Sparce choices for SW transmitters as the medium continues to die.
Thanks for the Ampegon link.
Through a byzantine number of corporate acquisitions/reorganizations/mergers/divestitures over the decades, Ampegon can claim DNA from all sorts of past SW transmitter manufacturers, including the various permutations of Thomson and Thales, as well as Telefunken, TransRadio, Brown Boveri, ABB and probably a few others that I can’t think of right now.
Ampegon itself went through bankruptcy a few years ago and was purchased by an Italian engineering company. We’ll see if it survives much longer, but we could find the SW transmitter business down to just Continental Electronics out of Dallas, or China’s BBEF.
And what was Ampegon was split up and various divisions were sold off separately following their bankruptcy. I discovered this when I went to their website to research an antenna that Ampegon once marketed, and found that they no longer listed any antennas on their site:
What Exactly Happened to Ampegon? - Radio World
Updates from a company in transition
www.radioworld.com
Thank you for all the commentary. I do appreciate everyone's thoughts and information.
I'll answer some of the questions/statements:
1. I believe our Christian Prepper information will be a bit different. It will NOT be anything illegal or every highly questionable ethically/morally. I doubt it would get banned from YouTube, yet in today's world, who knows? I cannot say much more about it now due to its uniqueness and our plan on making it all available in some fashion, preferably radio but we will see how that plays out.
2. I will look into used equipment for sale, but from what I've surmised thus far is new may be a better option to have less equipment issues immediately down the road. Still working on that one.
3. Yes, I do not have a great knowledge of broadcasting. My expertise is in IT and in business. I've never stated differently. One of the reasons I am here is to get that 30,000 foot view of this business. I came to this discussion board due to the knowledge and I very much appreciate receiving same.
4. The "no wage or salaries" idea is nothing entirely special. There are Christian people of all walks of life and expertise who are willing to help and assist for a specific cause, for a 'calling' as we say it. I firmly believe I am being called to build a specific medium to send out a message. If you are not religious, you may not understand that and that's OK. Now, this does not mean I will be able to contract with an engineer nor a program director with the same beliefs and willingness to help for that cause. If there are financial requirements for specific duties, so be it. God will open doors if this is His calling as I believe it is. That does not scare nor bother me. I have seen such things occur in life, and I am 100% confident they occur and will continue to occur. Again, if you do not believe, that is OK. We all know what we know and if we were all identical life would be boring.
5. I do know the SW is right now antiquated but I believe it is going to come back, at least to some noticeable effect. (I do know the different between analog and digital on a basic level, but that's it which is why I ask some of the questions I have -- asking is my way of learning.) It's much tougher to jam SW and prevent communications than it is to alter routes in tier 1 routers, censor television newscasts and the like is one reason I believe it will come back. Many people are hungry for something more than the gobbledegook they are getting from mainstream news and they are recognizing just how manipulative Google and other "sources" can be. These people are intelligent -- they do not want to be told what to believe. They want to be given information and then to figure it out for themselves. I do not believe there is "no hope of recovery" as one person put it.
6. As to some 'end times' beliefs outside the US, I don't know about central/south America, but I know at least some places in Africa have similar beliefs and interests. I think in some of the nations those that do believe keep very low key. I will continue to study that.
7. You're correct in that I do assume much of the world speaks English as their 2nd language. I've been taught that English and Spanish are the 2 predominant languages out there. English and Spanish are what I envision the programming to be in, at least initially.
8. Actually I do know in the ball park of what it would cost. My initial rough estimate was $1.25M startup (I already own the building and the land) and $250-$450K annual costs (not-for-profit but normal expenses). That could rise some but I'm putting all that together. I also know that a 50kW is a "minnow" but it's a starting point which is why I chose that. If it turns out to be a 100kW, that is ok, too. I also have bothered to listen to other current SW broadcasts which is why I believe our content will be somewhat unique in multiple ways. I do not expect to ensure the entire world can receive our signal steadily nor have I stated such. And this "unlimited funds" statement was NEVER said by me, not even hinted at.
9. "Still, I suggest you crawl, walk and then run. I'd buy time and forge relationships with SW operators, build contacts, friendships and knowledge.". Excellent advice. Yes, I am still considering buying time on some of the established SW stations out there, at least to begin. Thank you for that.
I thank everyone for their responses and will continue to read and learn here.
I'll answer some of the questions/statements:
1. I believe our Christian Prepper information will be a bit different. It will NOT be anything illegal or every highly questionable ethically/morally. I doubt it would get banned from YouTube, yet in today's world, who knows? I cannot say much more about it now due to its uniqueness and our plan on making it all available in some fashion, preferably radio but we will see how that plays out.
2. I will look into used equipment for sale, but from what I've surmised thus far is new may be a better option to have less equipment issues immediately down the road. Still working on that one.
3. Yes, I do not have a great knowledge of broadcasting. My expertise is in IT and in business. I've never stated differently. One of the reasons I am here is to get that 30,000 foot view of this business. I came to this discussion board due to the knowledge and I very much appreciate receiving same.
4. The "no wage or salaries" idea is nothing entirely special. There are Christian people of all walks of life and expertise who are willing to help and assist for a specific cause, for a 'calling' as we say it. I firmly believe I am being called to build a specific medium to send out a message. If you are not religious, you may not understand that and that's OK. Now, this does not mean I will be able to contract with an engineer nor a program director with the same beliefs and willingness to help for that cause. If there are financial requirements for specific duties, so be it. God will open doors if this is His calling as I believe it is. That does not scare nor bother me. I have seen such things occur in life, and I am 100% confident they occur and will continue to occur. Again, if you do not believe, that is OK. We all know what we know and if we were all identical life would be boring.
5. I do know the SW is right now antiquated but I believe it is going to come back, at least to some noticeable effect. (I do know the different between analog and digital on a basic level, but that's it which is why I ask some of the questions I have -- asking is my way of learning.) It's much tougher to jam SW and prevent communications than it is to alter routes in tier 1 routers, censor television newscasts and the like is one reason I believe it will come back. Many people are hungry for something more than the gobbledegook they are getting from mainstream news and they are recognizing just how manipulative Google and other "sources" can be. These people are intelligent -- they do not want to be told what to believe. They want to be given information and then to figure it out for themselves. I do not believe there is "no hope of recovery" as one person put it.
6. As to some 'end times' beliefs outside the US, I don't know about central/south America, but I know at least some places in Africa have similar beliefs and interests. I think in some of the nations those that do believe keep very low key. I will continue to study that.
7. You're correct in that I do assume much of the world speaks English as their 2nd language. I've been taught that English and Spanish are the 2 predominant languages out there. English and Spanish are what I envision the programming to be in, at least initially.
8. Actually I do know in the ball park of what it would cost. My initial rough estimate was $1.25M startup (I already own the building and the land) and $250-$450K annual costs (not-for-profit but normal expenses). That could rise some but I'm putting all that together. I also know that a 50kW is a "minnow" but it's a starting point which is why I chose that. If it turns out to be a 100kW, that is ok, too. I also have bothered to listen to other current SW broadcasts which is why I believe our content will be somewhat unique in multiple ways. I do not expect to ensure the entire world can receive our signal steadily nor have I stated such. And this "unlimited funds" statement was NEVER said by me, not even hinted at.
9. "Still, I suggest you crawl, walk and then run. I'd buy time and forge relationships with SW operators, build contacts, friendships and knowledge.". Excellent advice. Yes, I am still considering buying time on some of the established SW stations out there, at least to begin. Thank you for that.
I thank everyone for their responses and will continue to read and learn here.
Many in this thread have said this far more eloquently and I don't want to repeat the same talking points, but as someone who actually broadcasts a program on shortwave right now (just for the fun of it - I'm realistic about the state of this medium and this is just a fun "may as well enjoy it before it's totally gone" sort of thing) I will implore you to seriously reconsider investing all of this capital into a new station.
To call it a huge mistake is an understatement, in my opinion. All of the costs involved have been discussed by industry professionals who know this medium inside and out and I hope you lend an ear to their advice - it will save you an enormous headache in the future. I just don't want to see you 3 years from now having burned millions of dollars, seeing only 2 listener emails come in after being on the air for 6 hours straight and wondering "where did it all go wrong?"
The amount of endeavours that have optimistically started up on shortwave - only to despondently disappear in under a year are more than I can count. Back in 2014 there was an entity called "Global 24" which generated enormous interest (relatively, at least) amongst the shortwave community. They claimed that they would offer interesting programming (a blend of music and news/talk), revitalize the medium and operate on a 24/7 basis for listeners in North America.
Despite generating so much interest and talk amongst enthusiasts, do you want to guess how long the venture lasted for?
Not even 6 months! And they were just buying airtime from WRMI on a 24/7 basis, now imagine how long they'd have lasted if they actually bought their own transmitter, went through that entire process... I have a feeling they wouldn't even make it on the air - it would fall through the moment the actual costs are realized.
Having your own shortwave station is an extremely bad idea in this day and age - I cannot begin to emphasize how bad of an idea this is. I hope I'm not coming off as rude as I most certainly don't mean to be, but I must stress in the strongest terms that this is a big mistake.
As I've mentioned - I've nothing against the medium of shortwave, I like it, I find the technicalities to be fascinating and of course I'd love it if this medium were more lively... but I have a realistic view of the situation and I see first-hand through my own program where things stand.
In the end it's your life and it's your choice to make - but I'll leave on this note, just something to consider:
Let's say you have $1.25M to invest into your Christian Prepper station... you can either invest everything into a 50 kW transmitter and antenna setup (which is probably going to cost more than $1.25M) which will get a weak signal at best into much of North America, noise interference is so bad these days that 50 kW is often buried in the interference... most listeners can't hear your station, most of those that do are only interested in getting a QSL card or letting you know that the signal exists and nothing more.
Or....
You can take even just $100k and reach out to a station like WWCR or WRMI and purchase airtime from them, they will work with you and likely you'll get a lower rate than is published - especially if you purchase airtime in bulk. They will do all the legwork, they'll transmit your programming with 100 kW of power and it will be heard far more clearly than a 50 kW setup, they don't "mess around" with the programming and they will air whatever you send them, exactly as it is. Aside from a station ID at the top of the hour, the time you buy is yours to do with as you please... the costs will be so much lower and even if you broadcast for many hours on a daily basis - the full $1.25M will keep you going for years and you can focus your time and energy on the programming itself.
When you have one option that's extremely costly and extraordinarily stressful and another option that puts costs at a minimum and leaves you with very little to worry about...
I know I can't speak for you but one choice seems a whole lot better than the other.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your pursuit (regardless of the choice you make) but I just wanted to throw in my two-cents.
To call it a huge mistake is an understatement, in my opinion. All of the costs involved have been discussed by industry professionals who know this medium inside and out and I hope you lend an ear to their advice - it will save you an enormous headache in the future. I just don't want to see you 3 years from now having burned millions of dollars, seeing only 2 listener emails come in after being on the air for 6 hours straight and wondering "where did it all go wrong?"
The amount of endeavours that have optimistically started up on shortwave - only to despondently disappear in under a year are more than I can count. Back in 2014 there was an entity called "Global 24" which generated enormous interest (relatively, at least) amongst the shortwave community. They claimed that they would offer interesting programming (a blend of music and news/talk), revitalize the medium and operate on a 24/7 basis for listeners in North America.
Despite generating so much interest and talk amongst enthusiasts, do you want to guess how long the venture lasted for?
Not even 6 months! And they were just buying airtime from WRMI on a 24/7 basis, now imagine how long they'd have lasted if they actually bought their own transmitter, went through that entire process... I have a feeling they wouldn't even make it on the air - it would fall through the moment the actual costs are realized.
Having your own shortwave station is an extremely bad idea in this day and age - I cannot begin to emphasize how bad of an idea this is. I hope I'm not coming off as rude as I most certainly don't mean to be, but I must stress in the strongest terms that this is a big mistake.
As I've mentioned - I've nothing against the medium of shortwave, I like it, I find the technicalities to be fascinating and of course I'd love it if this medium were more lively... but I have a realistic view of the situation and I see first-hand through my own program where things stand.
In the end it's your life and it's your choice to make - but I'll leave on this note, just something to consider:
Let's say you have $1.25M to invest into your Christian Prepper station... you can either invest everything into a 50 kW transmitter and antenna setup (which is probably going to cost more than $1.25M) which will get a weak signal at best into much of North America, noise interference is so bad these days that 50 kW is often buried in the interference... most listeners can't hear your station, most of those that do are only interested in getting a QSL card or letting you know that the signal exists and nothing more.
Or....
You can take even just $100k and reach out to a station like WWCR or WRMI and purchase airtime from them, they will work with you and likely you'll get a lower rate than is published - especially if you purchase airtime in bulk. They will do all the legwork, they'll transmit your programming with 100 kW of power and it will be heard far more clearly than a 50 kW setup, they don't "mess around" with the programming and they will air whatever you send them, exactly as it is. Aside from a station ID at the top of the hour, the time you buy is yours to do with as you please... the costs will be so much lower and even if you broadcast for many hours on a daily basis - the full $1.25M will keep you going for years and you can focus your time and energy on the programming itself.
When you have one option that's extremely costly and extraordinarily stressful and another option that puts costs at a minimum and leaves you with very little to worry about...
I know I can't speak for you but one choice seems a whole lot better than the other.
I sincerely wish you the best of luck with your pursuit (regardless of the choice you make) but I just wanted to throw in my two-cents.
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Others have detailed the reason why building your own SW station is not cost effective. I'll detail two subjects I think you don't understand well.
There are over 50 countries. They range from the predominantly Muslim Arab nations of Northern Africa where Arabic is the dominant tongue but with a number of regional subsets. Sub-Saharan Africa has over 1200 languages and dialects, with the lingua franca for many being Swahili.
Only a few countries have English as a primary language. In the rest, any English speakers will be the very upper income and social levels. Is that your target?
Example: the person in Puerto Rico who works at a stock broker / investment adviser firm. They have to use English for most investment transactions and paperwork, but will talk to customers in Spanish. And when they get home, they will watch Spanish language TV and speak Spanish to the family. English is "work" and takes effort to use. It is less comfortable.
Similarly, the engineer in Ghana who works with a multi-national natural resource company may deal with co-workers from a variety of nations, but they use English as a common language to do business. But that engineer, who may be from India or Germany or Egypt or Japan or.... is going to go home and watch some videos or talk with their family in their native language, not English.
And none of those people are looking for new and interesting things on shortwave. If they are out to explore and satisfy curiosities, they are on the Internet.
When this subject came up, I asked my daughter in Ecuador to check the electronics stores next time she went to her favorite shopping mall. She could not find a single shortwave radio in any of the three stores she went in to ask. Two did not even know what she was talking about!
What places in Africa?
There are over 50 countries. They range from the predominantly Muslim Arab nations of Northern Africa where Arabic is the dominant tongue but with a number of regional subsets. Sub-Saharan Africa has over 1200 languages and dialects, with the lingua franca for many being Swahili.
Only a few countries have English as a primary language. In the rest, any English speakers will be the very upper income and social levels. Is that your target?
No, only around 20% of the world's population knows some English. Only about 600 million, less than 10%, have it as their first language. Those that know English as a second language in their vast majority don't use it for anything but work and their profession. They don't generally spend a lot of time looking for short wave stations in a language which is not their primary tongue.
Example: the person in Puerto Rico who works at a stock broker / investment adviser firm. They have to use English for most investment transactions and paperwork, but will talk to customers in Spanish. And when they get home, they will watch Spanish language TV and speak Spanish to the family. English is "work" and takes effort to use. It is less comfortable.
Similarly, the engineer in Ghana who works with a multi-national natural resource company may deal with co-workers from a variety of nations, but they use English as a common language to do business. But that engineer, who may be from India or Germany or Egypt or Japan or.... is going to go home and watch some videos or talk with their family in their native language, not English.
And none of those people are looking for new and interesting things on shortwave. If they are out to explore and satisfy curiosities, they are on the Internet.
When this subject came up, I asked my daughter in Ecuador to check the electronics stores next time she went to her favorite shopping mall. She could not find a single shortwave radio in any of the three stores she went in to ask. Two did not even know what she was talking about!
JHrusky, I have worked Christian radio and I get what you are saying.
Here's my cautionary statement: God's Plan is always perfect. It never changes or retools. If your plan has to change, I'd proceed with caution.
As a local pastor used tell me: I could care less what your rate is. If God wants me there, the money will be there. I charged the low end of a fair rate for Ernie and he was with us for years and a one of the nicest people I ever met (and he had to work a fulltime job to support he and his wife). With that said, I understand the faith you have in everything falling together. Instead of you saying, Okay God, do something, you are working toward the goal. That's a good thing. Just keep praying for guidance and to be placed in situations to meet those that can help you.
Here's my cautionary statement: God's Plan is always perfect. It never changes or retools. If your plan has to change, I'd proceed with caution.
As a local pastor used tell me: I could care less what your rate is. If God wants me there, the money will be there. I charged the low end of a fair rate for Ernie and he was with us for years and a one of the nicest people I ever met (and he had to work a fulltime job to support he and his wife). With that said, I understand the faith you have in everything falling together. Instead of you saying, Okay God, do something, you are working toward the goal. That's a good thing. Just keep praying for guidance and to be placed in situations to meet those that can help you.
This thread is fascinating...but I don't understand what "prepper" means and I don't understand what is being censored by the main stream media...
An "outsider" definition is someone who is preparing for the disintegration of society where one is close to the end of the world. "A prepper engages in survivalism, a movement who actively prepare for emergencies, including possible disruptions in social or political order."
Speaking of Africa - the only new shortwave programming I know of that's being prepared or already broadcasting is one the BBC are setting up to broadcast to Sudan in Arabic:
www.bbc.co.uk
And they're only doing it on a short term 3 month basis. So even though they can also afford to possibly lose money on it, they're setting a time limit on that as well.
BBC launches emergency radio service for Sudan - BBC News
The broadcaster says the pop-up service will provide "crucial" information for people in the country.
www.bbc.co.uk
And they're only doing it on a short term 3 month basis. So even though they can also afford to possibly lose money on it, they're setting a time limit on that as well.
And, again, in a language spoken by the general population as their first tongue.Speaking of Africa - the only new shortwave programming I know of that's being prepared or already broadcasting is one the BBC are setting up to broadcast to Sudan in Arabic:
BBC launches emergency radio service for Sudan - BBC News
The broadcaster says the pop-up service will provide "crucial" information for people in the country.
And they're only doing it on a short term 3 month basis. So even though they can also afford to possibly lose money on it, they're setting a time limit on that as well.
Though I thought the "real true Christians" were going to be raptured away from it all so why prep? It's all the rest of us who'll be dodging fire and brimstone rain
While there will be a Rapture, there are pre-Trib, post-Trib and mid-Trib beliefs on when it will occur.
Are Preppers members of a distinct branch of Christianity? I believe you mentioned something about censorship in the mainstream media. Presumably all one would need to know about the Christian faith is to be found in the New Testament, part of the Christian version of the Bible, apparently still the world's biggest selling book. What's being censored here that actually needs it's own broadcast outlet?
No, Preppers are not a distinct branch of Christianity. The censorship I mention is news and world events. The polarization from left ot right is insane. I do not want this to be political here, but there is much information that we do not get from mainstream news any longer, nearly all of it revolving around politics. While some claim that's a conspiracy theory, I know first hand how mainstream news supresses actual fact and reports on it very little. Most preppers know that as well thus the reason we want more information so we can decide for ourselves what is and is not true. I personally don't need CNN telling me what I should believe because I have seen their lies and twists all too many times.
What is the topic you are referring to that mainstream news is not talking about?
Do I understand that to mean that only CNN is lying and twists the truth all too many times, and has a monopoly in that?
What news media outlet would be in the category where that outlet has never lied and has never twisted the truth?