Now THIS is creative thinking!
(and it's a post that doesn't mention Tony Williams)
Legal AM running without license in GA
"Radio Sandy Springs" 1620 AM in suburban Atlanta (Sandy Springs, GA)
is running without a license, yet it is not a pirate station. It's a
network of low-power AM transmitters fed simultaneously that covers
the entire town and beyond. The station's programming is
professionally done and centered around community affairs. It even
airs the Sandy Springs City Council meeting, brought to you by a
local
Mercedes-Benz dealership. It airs plenty of local spots from local
businesses. It also streams here. RBR spoke with owner/GM David
Moxley, first assuming he was a pirate operator: "I'm not a pirate
station. We're an LP AM station and don't have to be licensed,
according to Part 15 of the FCC regs. which allows for AMs to
broadcast at one-tenth of a watt. They don't offer a license for
this.
Each transmitter is its own station of sorts. One transmitter covers
between seven tenths and one mile radius. We can, within reason, hold
our signal into one spot. Our transmitters are FCC-certified, but at
the same token, it says nothing in the rules about where each
transmitter gets a signal from, just as long as I stay below a tenth
of a watt. Nowhere in the code does it state where each transmitter
should get their audio. My transmitter, my antenna and my ground
lead,
if used, is not any more than 3 meters. My attorney and I have read
the regs up one side and down the other and I'm not breaking any law.
We pay BMI, we pay ASCAP.
RBR observation: Moxley, when asked, said he couldn't afford to buy a
regular, licensed station and that his station does for the community
what higher-power Atlanta stations can't. If this is allowed to
stand,
a whole new crop of AMs-equivalent to a 500-watt licensed AM
coverage-may proliferate across the nation, super-serving
communities.
Also, the FCC's failure to rapidly process and grant licenses leaves
holes for service that needs to be provided. So people are just
setting up shop to what needs to be done for their communities. It's
not always about X-rated Rap lyrics and on-air cussing-this time it's
established citizens interfacing with the local government and
community as a real licensed station would operate.
Eye note: Sure, this couldn't work in a huge area like DFW, but perhaps there's a place for mini-community radio like LAKEWOOD RADIO, HIGHLAND PARK RADIO, etc.
Eye Lipson
PS...
Did you know that this year both Groundhog Day and the State of the
Union Address fall on the same day? It is an ironic juxtaposition: one
involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to an awkward creature of
little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a
groundhog.
(and it's a post that doesn't mention Tony Williams)
Legal AM running without license in GA
"Radio Sandy Springs" 1620 AM in suburban Atlanta (Sandy Springs, GA)
is running without a license, yet it is not a pirate station. It's a
network of low-power AM transmitters fed simultaneously that covers
the entire town and beyond. The station's programming is
professionally done and centered around community affairs. It even
airs the Sandy Springs City Council meeting, brought to you by a
local
Mercedes-Benz dealership. It airs plenty of local spots from local
businesses. It also streams here. RBR spoke with owner/GM David
Moxley, first assuming he was a pirate operator: "I'm not a pirate
station. We're an LP AM station and don't have to be licensed,
according to Part 15 of the FCC regs. which allows for AMs to
broadcast at one-tenth of a watt. They don't offer a license for
this.
Each transmitter is its own station of sorts. One transmitter covers
between seven tenths and one mile radius. We can, within reason, hold
our signal into one spot. Our transmitters are FCC-certified, but at
the same token, it says nothing in the rules about where each
transmitter gets a signal from, just as long as I stay below a tenth
of a watt. Nowhere in the code does it state where each transmitter
should get their audio. My transmitter, my antenna and my ground
lead,
if used, is not any more than 3 meters. My attorney and I have read
the regs up one side and down the other and I'm not breaking any law.
We pay BMI, we pay ASCAP.
RBR observation: Moxley, when asked, said he couldn't afford to buy a
regular, licensed station and that his station does for the community
what higher-power Atlanta stations can't. If this is allowed to
stand,
a whole new crop of AMs-equivalent to a 500-watt licensed AM
coverage-may proliferate across the nation, super-serving
communities.
Also, the FCC's failure to rapidly process and grant licenses leaves
holes for service that needs to be provided. So people are just
setting up shop to what needs to be done for their communities. It's
not always about X-rated Rap lyrics and on-air cussing-this time it's
established citizens interfacing with the local government and
community as a real licensed station would operate.
Eye note: Sure, this couldn't work in a huge area like DFW, but perhaps there's a place for mini-community radio like LAKEWOOD RADIO, HIGHLAND PARK RADIO, etc.
Eye Lipson
PS...
Did you know that this year both Groundhog Day and the State of the
Union Address fall on the same day? It is an ironic juxtaposition: one
involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to an awkward creature of
little intelligence for prognostication, and the other involves a
groundhog.