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Part of a Trend?

D

dbdigital

Guest
I don't know if this is happening in your area but it appears that Honda has gotten the Part-15 AM bug.

In this case they're trying to drum up interest in their Element mini SUV by attaching a Part-15 transmitter to a billboard and asking passing motorists to tune in and hear all about their car. In my area, they've set up two transmitters at opposite ends of the city with one of them being near my house. Unfortunately their TX's are set to 1610 which is the frequency I was planning to use for my station. The range is about 1/4 mile for a good signal and about 1 1/4 miles fringe coverage.

So is this a trend for Honda and/or other car manufacturers or just a one-off ad stunt? I hope it is the latter.

db
 
Cadillac did that a few years ago in South Florida, but their billboard Part 15 AM stations ultimately went off the air when that ad campaign ended.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what kind of Part 15 AM transmitters Honda is using on the billboards? -- Jason

> I don't know if this is happening in your area but it
> appears that Honda has gotten the Part-15 AM bug.
>
> In this case they're trying to drum up interest in their
> Element mini SUV by attaching a Part-15 transmitter to a
> billboard and asking passing motorists to tune in and hear
> all about their car. In my area, they've set up two
> transmitters at opposite ends of the city with one of them
> being near my house. Unfortunately their TX's are set to
> 1610 which is the frequency I was planning to use for my
> station. The range is about 1/4 mile for a good signal and
> about 1 1/4 miles fringe coverage.
>
> So is this a trend for Honda and/or other car manufacturers
> or just a one-off ad stunt? I hope it is the latter.
>
> db
>
 
***Actually I prefer this idea to that of VW. VW is planning to install Satellite ONLY radios in their cars starting in the next model year. From what I read there won't be ANY AM or FM radios as standard equipment.

At least Honda will keep the AM band alive. Guess that's why I've owned six of them.:)


> Cadillac did that a few years ago in South Florida, but
> their billboard Part 15 AM stations ultimately went off the
> air when that ad campaign ended.
>
> Just out of curiosity, do you know what kind of Part 15 AM
> transmitters Honda is using on the billboards? -- Jason
>
> > I don't know if this is happening in your area but it
> > appears that Honda has gotten the Part-15 AM bug.
> >
> > In this case they're trying to drum up interest in their
> > Element mini SUV by attaching a Part-15 transmitter to a
> > billboard and asking passing motorists to tune in and hear
>
> > all about their car. In my area, they've set up two
> > transmitters at opposite ends of the city with one of them
>
> > being near my house. Unfortunately their TX's are set to
> > 1610 which is the frequency I was planning to use for my
> > station. The range is about 1/4 mile for a good signal
> and
> > about 1 1/4 miles fringe coverage.
> >
> > So is this a trend for Honda and/or other car
> manufacturers
> > or just a one-off ad stunt? I hope it is the latter.
> >
> > db
> >
>
 
> I've seen several billboards here in the Atlanta area that have the part 15
transmitter set up. Darn it, I just want to have a am station of my own.
But My fm is complete.<P ID="signature">______________
"Part 15 radio is better than whats on the air now"</P>
 
> Cadillac did that a few years ago in South Florida, but
> their billboard Part 15 AM stations ultimately went off the
> air when that ad campaign ended.
>
> Just out of curiosity, do you know what kind of Part 15 AM
> transmitters Honda is using on the billboards? -- Jason
>
> > I don't know if this is happening in your area but it
> > appears that Honda has gotten the Part-15 AM bug.
> >
> > In this case they're trying to drum up interest in their
> > Element mini SUV by attaching a Part-15 transmitter to a
> > billboard and asking passing motorists to tune in and hear
>
> > all about their car. In my area, they've set up two
> > transmitters at opposite ends of the city with one of them
>
> > being near my house. Unfortunately their TX's are set to
> > 1610 which is the frequency I was planning to use for my
> > station. The range is about 1/4 mile for a good signal
> and
> > about 1 1/4 miles fringe coverage.
> >
> > So is this a trend for Honda and/or other car
> manufacturers
> > or just a one-off ad stunt? I hope it is the latter.
> >
> > db
> >
>

I can't really tell the manufacturer of the transmitters because the billboards are on top of multi-storied buildings.

But it could be a Rangemaster or Rangemaster-type design because, from what I can see, the transmitter is in a moisture-proof box with a whip antenna attached.

db
 
> I can't really tell the manufacturer of the transmitters
> because the billboards are on top of multi-storied
> buildings.
>
> But it could be a Rangemaster or Rangemaster-type design
> because, from what I can see, the transmitter is in a
> moisture-proof box with a whip antenna attached.

If it's a tiny (hand-size) black or gray box with a whip antenna on top, then it's a Talking House or TalkingSign ATU and the actual transmitter is located somewhere below in a weather-proof enclosure.

If the box is larger and has rounded corners, it's a Rangemaster. If it's an LPB (aka Ultra Sensors) Trans-AM transmitter, the box will be rather flat and have sharp (not rounded) corners. The Trans-AM has been out of production for some time, so it's probably a Rangemaster. -- Jason
 
> > I can't really tell the manufacturer of the transmitters
> > because the billboards are on top of multi-storied
> > buildings.
> >
> > But it could be a Rangemaster or Rangemaster-type design
> > because, from what I can see, the transmitter is in a
> > moisture-proof box with a whip antenna attached.
>
> If it's a tiny (hand-size) black or gray box with a whip
> antenna on top, then it's a Talking House or TalkingSign ATU
> and the actual transmitter is located somewhere below in a
> weather-proof enclosure.
>
> If the box is larger and has rounded corners, it's a
> Rangemaster. If it's an LPB (aka Ultra Sensors) Trans-AM
> transmitter, the box will be rather flat and have sharp (not
> rounded) corners. The Trans-AM has been out of production
> for some time, so it's probably a Rangemaster. -- Jason
>

The box is grey and square, no rounded corners. It seems larger than a Rangemaster and may also contain whatever equipment is being used to play the 2 minute loop the TX is putting out.

db
 
Where are these billboards and what do they advertise? I live in the Atlanta area but have not noticed one of these. My daily commute is the 400, so I don't see too many billboards... And the speeds at which one has to drive to avoid being run over on that road, it's not wise to try to notice the billboards. Haha!


> > I've seen several billboards here in the Atlanta area that
> have the part 15
> transmitter set up. Darn it, I just want to have a am
> station of my own.
> But My fm is complete.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Consolidated Corporate Radio S U C K S !!!!!!</P>
 
> Where are these billboards and what do they advertise? I
> live in the Atlanta area but have not noticed one of these.
> My daily commute is the 400, so I don't see too many
> billboards... And the speeds at which one has to drive to
> avoid being run over on that road, it's not wise to try to
> notice the billboards. Haha!
>
>
> > > I've seen several billboards here in the Atlanta area
> that
> > have the part 15
> > transmitter set up. Darn it, I just want to have a am
> > station of my own.
> > But My fm is complete.
> >
>
These billboards are in Long Beach, CA. and are for the Honda Element.

As a follow up to this discussion, I was driving down the 405 Freeway to LAX and happen to see the SAME billboard in the city of Carson. In this case, it was asking motorists to tune to 1680 for info on the Honda Element.

So if these billboards are springing up all over Los Angeles County, then there has been some serious thought as to interference. Most of the cities within L.A. County have their own TIS stations on the X-band. That coupled with KFOX broadcasting its 1Kw signal throughout the L.A. basin on 1650 and becomes obvious that Honda hired an engineer to coordinate all of this. It highlights one of the problems that we all know can happen with Part-15 broadcasting - someone stepping on your signal and you being helpless to stop it.

I just hope it ends soon.

db
 
> > Where are these billboards and what do they advertise? I
> > live in the Atlanta area but have not noticed one of
> these.
> > My daily commute is the 400, so I don't see too many
> > billboards... And the speeds at which one has to drive to
>
> > avoid being run over on that road, it's not wise to try to
>
> > notice the billboards. Haha!
> >
> >
> > > > I've seen several billboards here in the Atlanta area
> > that
> > > have the part 15
> > > transmitter set up. Darn it, I just want to have a am
> > > station of my own.
> > > But My fm is complete.
> > >
> >
> These billboards are in Long Beach, CA. and are for the
> Honda Element.
>
> As a follow up to this discussion, I was driving down the
> 405 Freeway to LAX and happen to see the SAME billboard in
> the city of Carson. In this case, it was asking motorists
> to tune to 1680 for info on the Honda Element.
>
> So if these billboards are springing up all over Los Angeles
> County, then there has been some serious thought as to
> interference. Most of the cities within L.A. County have
> their own TIS stations on the X-band. That coupled with KFOX
> broadcasting its 1Kw signal throughout the L.A. basin on
> 1650 and becomes obvious that Honda hired an engineer to
> coordinate all of this. It highlights one of the problems
> that we all know can happen with Part-15 broadcasting -
> someone stepping on your signal and you being helpless to
> stop it.
>
> I just hope it ends soon.
>
> db
>


If you get a chance, could you snap a picture and post it here?
 
Does it look like this? (Re: Part of a Trend?)

> The box is grey and square, no rounded corners. It seems
> larger than a Rangemaster and may also contain whatever
> equipment is being used to play the 2 minute loop the TX is
> putting out.

Does it look like this 1610 kHz one www.netfeed.com/~jhill/1610.htm ? The E. R. Vine and Sons "Gascard Total Fuel Management" billboard (the third picture down from the top of the screen page) has a large box on its upper right corner mounted between the billboard faces, with a whip antenna on top of the box. -- Jason
 
Re: Does it look like this? (Re: Part of a Trend?)

> > The box is grey and square, no rounded corners. It seems
> > larger than a Rangemaster and may also contain whatever
> > equipment is being used to play the 2 minute loop the TX
> is
> > putting out.
>
> Does it look like this 1610 kHz one
> www.netfeed.com/~jhill/1610.htm ? The E. R. Vine and Sons
> "Gascard Total Fuel Management" billboard (the third picture
> down from the top of the screen page) has a large box on its
> upper right corner mounted between the billboard faces, with
> a whip antenna on top of the box. -- Jason
>
I took a couple of pictures of the TX but I haven't been successful in uploading them to this page.

If someone has an e-mail address and knows how to upload the pictures, I'll be glad to send them.

db
 
Re: Does it look like this? (Re: Part of a Trend?)

If you could e-mail them to me at [email protected] , I'll try posting them. If that doesn't work I could put them on my web space and post a link to this thread. -- Jason

> > > The box is grey and square, no rounded corners. It
> seems
> > > larger than a Rangemaster and may also contain whatever
> > > equipment is being used to play the 2 minute loop the TX
>
> > is
> > > putting out.
> >
> > Does it look like this 1610 kHz one
> > www.netfeed.com/~jhill/1610.htm ? The E. R. Vine and Sons
>
> > "Gascard Total Fuel Management" billboard (the third
> picture
> > down from the top of the screen page) has a large box on
> its
> > upper right corner mounted between the billboard faces,
> with
> > a whip antenna on top of the box. -- Jason
> >
> I took a couple of pictures of the TX but I haven't been
> successful in uploading them to this page.
>
> If someone has an e-mail address and knows how to upload the
> pictures, I'll be glad to send them.
>
> db
>
 
Billboard Part 15 AM transmitter pictures

Hello All,

Here are links to two pictures that dbdigital took of one of the "Talking Billboards" in his area:

http://home.gci.net/~gida/hondatx1.JPG
http://home.gci.net/~gida/hondatx2.JPG

This Part 15 AM transmitter-equipped billboard is one of two in his area, broadcasting at 1610 kHz, that are advertising the Honda Element mini-SUV.

I first thought that it might be a Talking House transmitter (called the "InfoMAX" by Information Station Specialists www.theradiosource.com ), who offer it in a weatherproof cabinet for outdoor applications, but their cabinet is wider and flatter than the one in the pictures above. -- Jason
 
> Cadillac did that a few years ago in South Florida, but
> their billboard Part 15 AM stations ultimately went off the
> air when that ad campaign ended.
>

I remember a "Radio Cadillac" billboard in the western San Fernando
Valley about 8 years ago, it broadcast around 1620 (I think)
 
Billboard Part 15 AM transmitter...identified!

Hello All,

I just indentified the box-mounted Part 15 AM transmitters that dbdigital recently saw on advertising billboards in his community.

They are Talking House transmitters, which Information Station Specialists market under the name of "InfoMAX."

On this ISS web page www.theradiosource.com/articles-news-jackson.htm (about halfway down the page) you can see the rather flat outdoor enclosure box that houses the InfoMAX (a.k.a. Talking House) Antenna Tuning Unit (ATU).

The transmitters themselves are apparently mounted somewhere below in other weatherproof enclosures (ISS has transmitter enclosures as well). The black plastic ATU housing is weatherproof all by itself, so I wonder if the larger ATU enclosure, which appears metallic, may be intended to provide a good non-wired (bolted) RF ground connection to the metal billboard? -- Jason
 
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