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900 MHz Radio?

C

clouseau

http://www.customtronics.com/available_airtime.htm

I have seen this guy advertising this "900 MHZ Radio Stations" here and there for a while. I also see he now has the whole business for sale through a broker...

http://www.radio4sale.com/forsale.php ...and he's calling it "Fm Subscription Radio." (towards the bottom of the page.)

Does anyone know what system or rules he's massaging to even be able to claim this, or is this just an out and out lie?

Clouseau
 
Hmm..this is strange. I've heard of "sub-carrier" stations...where the main signal is modulated less in order to fit another signal in the stations bandwidth...WCBS-FM in New York City does that..they lease it out to some Chinese Non-profit. But as far as 900Mhz, nope can't say I've heard of it. What would be used as a tuner? Isin't 900Mhz used for cell phones? If people were able to put up 900Mhz stations un-restricted in the U.S., I would think that would become quite popular, especially with the specialty programming end of radio...
 
A portion of the 900 MHz band is unlicensed, so these could be part 15 services.
 
Well there's a thousand reasons why this is a BS idea, but does anyone even know what it is?

900 MHz addressable radios? ANyone know how this works?

Clouseau
 
The FCC website shows several auctions for the 900 MHz band and the broker's ad indicates that this is licensed spectrum. So it wouldn't be part 15.

While at one time the band was primarily used for dispatch-type 2-way communication and other mobile data services, I did notice this statement from the FCC:

"We believe that our new proposed framework for flexible spectrum access in this (900 MHz) band will facilitate the provision of telecommunications services to consumers by eliminating unnecessary regulatory restrictions, and thereby provide greater flexibility in deploying the spectrum to respond to evolving market demands."

Apparently there was a R&O in 2005 to open this band up for other "Entrepreneurs" (to quote the FCC) uses, like a subscription radio service.

Since this is a subscription service these radios would be addressable and only receive a broadcast if the listener is truly a subscriber. How these radios would be set up and where the company providing the service would get them... or who would subscribe... is another part of the mystery.

C5
 
Carmine5 said:
The FCC website shows several auctions for the 900 MHz band and the broker's ad indicates that this is licensed spectrum. So it wouldn't be part 15.

While at one time the band was primarily used for dispatch-type 2-way communication and other mobile data services, I did notice this statement from the FCC:

"We believe that our new proposed framework for flexible spectrum access in this (900 MHz) band will facilitate the provision of telecommunications services to consumers by eliminating unnecessary regulatory restrictions, and thereby provide greater flexibility in deploying the spectrum to respond to evolving market demands."

Apparently there was a R&O in 2005 to open this band up for other "Entrepreneurs" (to quote the FCC) uses, like a subscription radio service.

Since this is a subscription service these radios would be addressable and only receive a broadcast if the listener is truly a subscriber. How these radios would be set up and where the company providing the service would get them... or who would subscribe... is another part of the mystery.

C5
Click to expand...

Indeed it is. I've seen a few references to this at the FCC, but nothing that I even latched onto as something that could be "Subscription broadcasting" even by a stretch. What got my attention was the listing at the broker. A total crook needs to have big ones to list a total scam for $3 mil. And the brokers name wasn't Madoff. :)

I'm guessing these folks are trying to morph a 900 MHz channel into some type of audio version of "Wireless cable TV".

The $20 a month would cover the cost of receivers and all, but what a pain in the #$% for a single audio channel. Talk about the need for compelling programming. I'd love to know the details of this.

Clouseau
 
The 902 to 928 mHz ISM radio band was popular back in the 1990s for cordless telephones-however most phones now operate in the 1.8 gHz, 2.4 gHz or 5.8 Ghz bands-so these frequencies have largely become unused. The FCc allows unlicensed operation with up to 1 watt transmitter power output in this band-and you can also run a directional (beam) antenna to go even further. I used this band for running my remote control systems to my FM transmitters in Tucson-one link mountaintop to mountaintop was over 30 miles. It worked flawlessly using only small 5 element beam antennas.
Moseley also puts their Starlink on this band I believe. I think this company must be using this band for some kind of subscription radio service.
The transmitters would easily be picked up by a police scanner (which are readily available), and one transmitter high enough up could cover quite a large area.
 
Where do you get a commercial grade transmitter on that frequency that can run 24/7?
 
 
clouseau said:
Carmine5 said:
The FCC website shows several auctions for the 900 MHz band and the broker's ad indicates that this is licensed spectrum. So it wouldn't be part 15.

While at one time the band was primarily used for dispatch-type 2-way communication and other mobile data services, I did notice this statement from the FCC:

"We believe that our new proposed framework for flexible spectrum access in this (900 MHz) band will facilitate the provision of telecommunications services to consumers by eliminating unnecessary regulatory restrictions, and thereby provide greater flexibility in deploying the spectrum to respond to evolving market demands."

Apparently there was a R&O in 2005 to open this band up for other "Entrepreneurs" (to quote the FCC) uses, like a subscription radio service.

Since this is a subscription service these radios would be addressable and only receive a broadcast if the listener is truly a subscriber. How these radios would be set up and where the company providing the service would get them... or who would subscribe... is another part of the mystery.

C5
Click to expand...

And the brokers name wasn't Madoff. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, it does have a kind of Ponzi Scheme feel to it. And Customtronic's website doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

I suppose another question would be whether this service is being used in any other part of the country or if Northern California is to be ground zero for it. Despite a Google Search, I can't find a similar service in use anywhere else.

Given that there are so many other technologies emerging, e.g. conditional access for HD, broadband on 700 MHz, etc., you have to wonder about the long term viability of this idea.

C5
 
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