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Is It Legal?

A

ac175

I've got an online country station. My garage is about 250' from my house and the animal barns are about 300'. I live in a dead spot for service without wifi, so I thought about buying one of these below. Would plug into the computer and broadcast my station to which ever frequency I set so all the radios out by the animals in the barn and my garage can play my station. Would I be violating any laws?They do also have a lower powered transmitter but I'm afraid it may not reach all the way to the back barn. Thanks!

 
No, this is definitely not legal for unlicensed use.

The listing includes an FCC ID number. I looked up the ID to see under what part they approved it. It is a part 73 (licensed FM broadcast) transmitter. Specifically, it is approved for licensed Class D operation. Class D FM is only authorized in Alaska as I recall, and for a few grandfathered stations in the lower 48.
 
I know some churches or parks use transmitters like those, but not sure they get a licence for it or under some special thing. Remember a few years ago a relative could pick up a drive-thru holiday light display at his house and he was probably 1500 feet away.
 
Negin said:
I know some churches or parks use transmitters like those, but not sure they get a licence for it or under some special thing.
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They probably are just using them illegally. People assume it must be OK if you can buy it from a "reputable" dealer like Amazon.
 
I'm not sure the FCC cares anymore unless there's a complaint about interference with a licensed station.
 
After a little more research, seems 200' is the limit from the FCC. The transmitter I posted claims with the included antenna and low power 1 watt setting, 250' is around the limit depending where the transmitter is placed.
 
ac175 said:
After a little more research, seems 200' is the limit from the FCC. The transmitter I posted claims with the included antenna and low power 1 watt setting, 250' is around the limit depending where the transmitter is placed.
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That comes from FCC Engineering Bulletin OET63. The rule is 250 uV/m at 3 meters, which calculates to 11 nW (that's .011 microwatts) into a dipole. It's possible to get away with a bit more, as long as you're on an unused frequency.


Removing the antenna and installing a 50 ohm dummy load in its place will probably get you legal with that sort of transmitter. Make sure that the dummy load can handle the power from the transmitter. Whether the transmitter is clean or not is another story. Many, if not most of those Made-in-China boxes are dirty as hell, spreading garbage everywhere from the VHF TV frequencies into the aircraft band. The latter is an absolute no-no.
 
ac175 said:
After a little more research, seems 200' is the limit from the FCC. The transmitter I posted claims with the included antenna and low power 1 watt setting, 250' is around the limit depending where the transmitter is placed.
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A 1 watt transmitter with a 1/4 wavelength (26-31 inches, depending on frequency) antenna will cover several miles. Most of those Amazon transmitters will run a maximum of 6 or 7 watts into the built-in antenna. That is blatantly illegal without an LPFM license.
 
I live in a rural area without reliable cell phone service. My house wi-fi doesn't reach back to the barns. I've tried a few different wifi bosters and extenders but haven't had much luck. This seemed like a cheaper option than a real high dollar booster.
 
ac175 said:
I live in a rural area without reliable cell phone service. My house wi-fi doesn't reach back to the barns. I've tried a few different wifi bosters and extenders but haven't had much luck. This seemed like a cheaper option than a real high dollar booster.
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Have you tried Ethernet over AC:


They should work on every thing on the customer side of the power company meter. UPS and some surge protectors can stop the data but if the units are plugged directly the wall outlet they usually work. Pug a WIFI unit hooked up to one of these in the barn you should be good.
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
They probably are just using them illegally. People assume it must be OK if you can buy it from a "reputable" dealer like Amazon.
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What's funny after I posted, my niece works in an amusement park and I asked if they use any transmitters. She said there was one for a theme radio station that covers the park. She said she saw a licence or something posted where it's located from the FCC. I told her to take a pic as I'm curious what kind it is.
 
Realistically, if your signal didn’t extend 100-300 ft beyond your property line, I don’t think the FCC would care. They’d have to trespass to get actual field strength reading. That said, watch for any harmonics in the aircraft band. Those Chinese transmitters on Amazon have been known to spit a lot of spurs.
 
Get one or more Wifi extenders. They're cheap and you can daisy-chain them to cover your entire property. Mine from Netgear just plugs into an available outlet and provides a 2Ghz and 5Ghz separate connection points in one little brick. I have one on the middle floor that extends from the upstairs office to one in the basement and the backyard. I have a second one in a detached garage that extends the one on the middle floor to the garage and yard.
 
EDwalker said:
Realistically, if your signal didn’t extend 100-300 ft beyond your property line, I don’t think the FCC would care. They’d have to trespass to get actual field strength reading. That said, watch for any harmonics in the aircraft band. Those Chinese transmitters on Amazon have been known to spit a lot of spurs.
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If you really want to use something from eBay or Amazon, google low pass FM filters. Not that hard to build. You can also go to a broadcast supply and buy a good filter. At least you won't endanger aircraft.
 
If an FM transmitter is putting a signal on the aircraft band just above the FM band that's called a spur. Harmonics of FM are in the upper VHF TV channels. The next harmonic is in the military aircraft band. I've used pieces of coax to get rid of these harmonics. A half wave of coax shorted with the velocity factor taken into consideration into a splitter will kill harmonics. I've had to do this a few times when my High powered FM transmitter was struck by lightening. I threw the exciter on and it didn't have a low pass filter.

Part 15 FM's are not legal if they have an antenna jack.

So best to take Kelly's advice and use WIFI..
 
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