low powered FM/ AM in need of some helpful advice

[tylerburns]

Hi guys, Glad to join these forums they look pretty in-depth. Well, some friends and I have decided that we wish to start a local radio station that will pertain to community, personal interest and debates of our own. So, we are planning to do either Low power FM or AM broadcast. Low powered enough that we wouldn’t have to deal with FCC Policy.
I have a couple vital questions if you all would be willing to help me:
1. Can other people broadcast our signal from another part of town so we can cover more area?
2. If we stay under the FCC’s threshold are we free from copyright laws as well? If not would it be something to worry about?
3. Would it be a good Idea to contact the FCC and maybe even have them come out and ensure everything’s at a legal level or not.
4. What would you say would be better to go with FM or AM?

 

[RadioMan203]

Hi guys, Glad to join these forums they look pretty in-depth. Well, some friends and I have decided that we wish to start a local radio station that will pertain to community, personal interest and debates of our own. So, we are planning to do either Low power FM or AM broadcast. Low powered enough that we wouldn’t have to deal with FCC Policy.
I have a couple vital questions if you all would be willing to help me:
1. Can other people broadcast our signal from another part of town so we can cover more area?
2. If we stay under the FCC’s threshold are we free from copyright laws as well? If not would it be something to worry about?
3. Would it be a good Idea to contact the FCC and maybe even have them come out and ensure everything’s at a legal level or not.
4. What would you say would be better to go FM or AM?

Let's chip away at your list one at a time:

1. I'll answer this at the end

2. I heard that RIAA/SoundExchange as well as ASCAP/BMI/SESAC will go after Part 15's if they catch wind of your operation. Staying under the FCC radar is not an automatic free pass.

3. The FCC doesn't want to know about your operation if it's Part 15 - unless you're not abiding by the law. If I were you, I would make certain you get a transmitter that is FCC certified for Part 15 if you dare to tread water in low power broadcasting ... unless you plan on filing for a license, which is a costly venture with engineering and lawyers even assuming you can squeak a channel in.

4. If you want to go legal and have some amount of coverage area I would go AM. There are a couple of Part 15 certified AM transmitters, the Rangemaster and the Procaster. The Hamilton rig has been around for awhile and has a proven track record. The Procaster is new and I know of nobody who has it. I picked up the Rangemaster for a radio project for a school district I'm doing as I need to be able to prove to the "higher-ups" that it's legal.

As for your question #1, with the Hamilton you can syncronize multiple transmitters and place them a distance away from each other to extend your range. I don't believe the Procaster has such an option.

Hope that helps

 

[Dr_Johnnie_Fever]

Before contacting the RIAA/BMI/ASCAP, ask yourself some things...

1) is your operation run from a commercial loation, such as a public resturant, bar, retail store, etc?

2) are you running it as a business from your home? (meaning running paid advertising either for your home based business or for others)

3) is this attached to a internet radio station that streams via the internet?

4) are you running multiple transmitter locations? (theoreticly this can be considered running it as a business ie: not on your property)

5) are you running the station from a college or school, or other educational campus?

if you answer no to all of these then leave these people alone. the more people unecessarily contact these organizations the harder it will make it on the cash poor hobbyists and kids who don't have the financing to pay $200.00 + /year to EACH of these organizations and if you don't thing the others will jump on the band wagon your fooling yourself, just give it time.

They have no right to make new copyright law. running the station under part 15 as a hobby is considered fair use. the more we contact them or bow to their requests for money the more we lend creedence to their efforts. do you really want the RIAA knocking on your door because your little johnny or jane decided to play radio with his Mr. Microphone? i know i don't.

There are already laws on the books for this stuff. mainly what is stated above. don't help these jerk wads strip away even more of our fair use rights. tell then no and don't contact them in the first place.

IANAL: When in doubt seek legal advice from a competent copyright attorney.

 

[radioboy]

Tyler,

I've been doing the Part 15 AM radio thing for a number of years. I recommend AM
for a little better range.

I use the Rangemaster transmitter. I only use a single unit, but you can add more units
and sync them together.

As far as RIAA/SoundExtortion..I think they are a bunch of con artists..since I know
of artists who have never received a dime from them. I do pay royalties as I also have
a streaming station. 1610 makes no money and is running in the red. There's no $ there.

It can be a lot of fun to operate a Part 15 station, though. Just be responsible and
professional in your programming. You might be pleasantly surprised at the listeners
you get.

 

[XRQKFM]

A brand new low power FM transmitter is about to hit the market place, Febuary is the target date. I will post a review as soon as I'm done testing it.
Take Dr Johnnie Fever's advice! Put a lid on it! Don't tell anybody about your project that does not need to to know. My best advice is for you to keep a low profile, when you go on the air you sjould just blend in if you will, keep programming Radio Clean, and go easy on the politics, you never know who you are going to tick off. Trust me I know about this.
Technically you could have another transmitter picking up your signal and repeating it, your second or third transmitter would be come a translator. Many stations do this legally to take over the airways and keep little guys like us off the radio dial, as is in the case of the FCC with the NAB's blessing to allow AM stations to have FM translators.
If you live in the totalitarian states of Florida or New Jersey, the above advice does not apply

Radio's Rebel
Steve
www.radiooutlaw.com

 

[tylerburns]

hey I was just wanting to thank you guys (a lot) for providing me all the wonderful replies. ;D I feel like I have a lot more direction now as to where I need to go, and it's only been posted for 12 hours. In response to Dr_Johnnie_Fever's post. I was planning on targeting a college campus soon after we get the production skills and quality down. Also, the range I was hoping to get would involve multiple transmitter sites. I wasn't thinking that authority figures could consider this running a business because the people hosting the transmitter sites could claim they independently made the decision to repeat my signal from their home. also, to get to some of these transmitter sites i was going to set up a stream over the internet, but not link the stream to the public and password protect it.
It might be a little tough but I think if it comes down to it I'll be able to produce a station with no copywrited music being played because the station pioneers and I can produce a lot of content, and I feel as though a number of local musicians that I have contacts with would jump at the chance to record a set for repeated play on the radio. Although, I would really be a blessing to have CD's playing when I want.
I wasn't planning on advertising businesses for money, however I want to emphasize plugging local events and causes that could use some help. This way we could be a sort of public service.

thanks again everyone.

 

[XRQKFM]

If you are targeting a college campus with dorms, you could place a few FM transmitters within the dorms. The FM advantage would be that the signal would penatrate the wall better, and antenna would allot smaller. even with only 200 feet of coverage you would cover far more than a part 15 AM, besides college age students are more likely listen to a static free FM station than AM station that would be filled with noise from all the computers and other EMI generating devices. The transmitters could be fed via the internet, four FM transmitters would cost less than a single AM transmitter. even a Rmasey FM 25b would provide better results in a Dorm type setting, but before you spend allot of money on the Ramsey, the new FM transmitter coming to market soon will kick Ramsey transmitters butt to the moon in terms of performance for about the same cost. The Ramsey's 25b would be good for testing placement around the campus.
If I was going to set up on a college campus I would go with FM, you could always use the AM to fill in the outer areas of the campus.


Steve
Radio Rebel
www.radiobrandy.com