Haven't posted much on this board lately, or any others for that matter, as I had been without internet access for quite awhile until about two months ago.
Anyway, I used to operate a Part 15 AM on 1610 khz at my previous location in Houston, TX, simply by using a Wild Planet Radio DJ (which I read about on this board a few years back). Back then, the station only got out about half a block in one direction and about halfway to the other side of the apartment complex in another. I lived on a first floor apartment at the time. My coverage area wasn't all that much, but I was relatively satisfied with what I was able to pull off.
This past weekend, I decided to test my equipment here at my new location in Rockford, IL. I now live on a third floor apartment, and thought this would help expand my coverage area a little more. Man, was I mistaken.
My "station" sounded great inside my apartment, of course. (Hell, on my stereo system, I could hear my signal all the way from 1570 to 1640; hope that's simply due to my receiver's limitations!) When I went out to the truck to field test it, the results were rather disappointing. The station was semi-listenable if I was directly in front of the building, as well as over by the pool (which is at the opposite end of the building from where my apartment is), but as soon as I pulled out of the "shadow" of the building, my station immediately got clobbered by adjacent-channel splatter from WMCW 1600 out of Harvard. (I knew WMCW would be a limiting factor going in, but was kind of hoping that being on a higher floor would buy me a little more coverage area than it did.)
I tested the signal again around sunset and after dark, after WMCW powered down for the night, but still no improvement in coverage area. The mish-mash of AM signals heard on virtually every unused frequency at night, 1610 included, as well as what I assume was electrical interference, clobbered my station's signal as soon as I moved away from the building.
I even cruised around the area within a block or two of my building, thinking that my station's signal might "skip" and be audible at just the right spot a certain distance away; no such luck.
So, looks like it's going to be a little longer than planned before I return to the air. Since I live in an apartment complex, I can't use anything that would require an antenna to be placed outside the building, as well as the fact that I don't quite have the techincal "know-how" to assemble any such equipment. One option I am considering is saving up for a Talking Sign transmitter (http://www.talkingsign.com ), which, for one thing, wouldn't require batteries, like the equipment I currently have, and would also allow me to move to a clearer frequency, and hopefully get me just a little more coverage area than I currently have. (If I can at least be heard all over the apartment complex- the complex I live at now is not nearly as big as the one I lived at in Houston- and maybe on the stretch of East State Street that runs by the complex, I'll be satisfied. Obviously, I want to stay legal!)
Unfortunately, for the time being, the Talking Sign is just a little bit more than what I can afford, so another option I am considering (at least on a temporary basis) is this: the Whole House FM Transmitter Gold Edition (http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com ), and maybe operate an AM/FM simulcast (still using the WPRDJ for the AM side, of course.) If any of you reading this board are familiar with this particular transmitter, would you think my using one is a good idea? A couple of things that lead me to have some doubts about this one:
~Their website makes no mention whatsoever of whether or not this transmitter is Part 15 compliant. Will I be able to use this and stay legal? Any way to limit the signal strength if I have reason to believe it may be working a little "too" well?
~Limited choices in frequency; the Whole House only uses the frequencies from 106.7 through 107.9. If I do decide to go this route, I assume I would be better off to stay at least three channels away from a local licensed station. 106.9 is the frequency I'm thinking of using, as it is the clearest in the area of the frequencies this particluar device uses, and it's three channels away from local WYRB 106.3. Would semi-local and listenable WSJY out of Ft. Atkinson, WI on 107.3 (2nd adjacent) be a problem? I certainly wouldn't want to slop over onto any station someone might want to listen to, even if it's not technically a local station.
If I do decide to go the Whole House route, I think I'll still only broadcast on weekends, as was my original intention with the WPRDJ. If/when I am able to afford the Talking Sign, maybe then I'll go to 24/7 operation. Thought I would throw it out there and see if the Whole House is a good idea before I actually go through with it or not. Don't want to get myself into trouble with the FCC, but, man, I want to start broadcasting again! Sitting in front of the TV or computer every Friday and Saturday night is starting to get a little old, but that's a whole other matter altogether.
Anyway, I used to operate a Part 15 AM on 1610 khz at my previous location in Houston, TX, simply by using a Wild Planet Radio DJ (which I read about on this board a few years back). Back then, the station only got out about half a block in one direction and about halfway to the other side of the apartment complex in another. I lived on a first floor apartment at the time. My coverage area wasn't all that much, but I was relatively satisfied with what I was able to pull off.
This past weekend, I decided to test my equipment here at my new location in Rockford, IL. I now live on a third floor apartment, and thought this would help expand my coverage area a little more. Man, was I mistaken.
My "station" sounded great inside my apartment, of course. (Hell, on my stereo system, I could hear my signal all the way from 1570 to 1640; hope that's simply due to my receiver's limitations!) When I went out to the truck to field test it, the results were rather disappointing. The station was semi-listenable if I was directly in front of the building, as well as over by the pool (which is at the opposite end of the building from where my apartment is), but as soon as I pulled out of the "shadow" of the building, my station immediately got clobbered by adjacent-channel splatter from WMCW 1600 out of Harvard. (I knew WMCW would be a limiting factor going in, but was kind of hoping that being on a higher floor would buy me a little more coverage area than it did.)
I tested the signal again around sunset and after dark, after WMCW powered down for the night, but still no improvement in coverage area. The mish-mash of AM signals heard on virtually every unused frequency at night, 1610 included, as well as what I assume was electrical interference, clobbered my station's signal as soon as I moved away from the building.
I even cruised around the area within a block or two of my building, thinking that my station's signal might "skip" and be audible at just the right spot a certain distance away; no such luck.
So, looks like it's going to be a little longer than planned before I return to the air. Since I live in an apartment complex, I can't use anything that would require an antenna to be placed outside the building, as well as the fact that I don't quite have the techincal "know-how" to assemble any such equipment. One option I am considering is saving up for a Talking Sign transmitter (http://www.talkingsign.com ), which, for one thing, wouldn't require batteries, like the equipment I currently have, and would also allow me to move to a clearer frequency, and hopefully get me just a little more coverage area than I currently have. (If I can at least be heard all over the apartment complex- the complex I live at now is not nearly as big as the one I lived at in Houston- and maybe on the stretch of East State Street that runs by the complex, I'll be satisfied. Obviously, I want to stay legal!)
Unfortunately, for the time being, the Talking Sign is just a little bit more than what I can afford, so another option I am considering (at least on a temporary basis) is this: the Whole House FM Transmitter Gold Edition (http://www.wholehousefmtransmitter.com ), and maybe operate an AM/FM simulcast (still using the WPRDJ for the AM side, of course.) If any of you reading this board are familiar with this particular transmitter, would you think my using one is a good idea? A couple of things that lead me to have some doubts about this one:
~Their website makes no mention whatsoever of whether or not this transmitter is Part 15 compliant. Will I be able to use this and stay legal? Any way to limit the signal strength if I have reason to believe it may be working a little "too" well?
~Limited choices in frequency; the Whole House only uses the frequencies from 106.7 through 107.9. If I do decide to go this route, I assume I would be better off to stay at least three channels away from a local licensed station. 106.9 is the frequency I'm thinking of using, as it is the clearest in the area of the frequencies this particluar device uses, and it's three channels away from local WYRB 106.3. Would semi-local and listenable WSJY out of Ft. Atkinson, WI on 107.3 (2nd adjacent) be a problem? I certainly wouldn't want to slop over onto any station someone might want to listen to, even if it's not technically a local station.
If I do decide to go the Whole House route, I think I'll still only broadcast on weekends, as was my original intention with the WPRDJ. If/when I am able to afford the Talking Sign, maybe then I'll go to 24/7 operation. Thought I would throw it out there and see if the Whole House is a good idea before I actually go through with it or not. Don't want to get myself into trouble with the FCC, but, man, I want to start broadcasting again! Sitting in front of the TV or computer every Friday and Saturday night is starting to get a little old, but that's a whole other matter altogether.