Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

"What I really know" is radio. It has been my life, my career, and my passion my entire life. You say this is for "professionals". I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A PAYCHECK NOT RELATED TO RADIO, IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I think that should qualify me as a "professional"...someone who has spent his entire adult, and much of his adolescent life working with REAL radio stations...those who measure their output in thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of watts, not hundreds or dozens of milliwatts.

The FCC a few months ago, at the urging of a particularly powerful member of congress, ignored it's own rules and not only allowed a pirate to continue operating, but...again in opposition to it's own rules...allowed him to apply for LEGAL status as an LPFM operator, despite the fact that no "window" was open. Just because the FCC, or a representative thereof, does it, doesn't make it right. The institutions of government are only as legitimate and honest as those in power who choose them.

Mike,

The pirate in question you're talking about was operating on the FM dial with 100 watts more or less and since the Part15 rules did not apply to their circumstances they were granted an STA... nothing new here go read it in the FCC rules... which is why the FCC approved them... but that's neither here nor there... the FCC decides the rules not you or I.

Now, I buy liners, sweepers etc. from professionals and sometimes the commercials and ads are done professionally and sent to me no different than any regular station of 10,000 watts or more... my radio studio while modest is no different than any modest radio studio... the only difference is the wattage of the transmitters... namely 100 milliwatts... but that has no bearing on who is listening... everyone gets my signal on the island more or less but it doesn't need any more power than 100 milliwatts, unless you've tried it don't knock it!

Try the below site... believe it or not it's Part 15 complaint and doesn't it look like any other REAL radio station Read the caption at the bottom...

http://wzfb.com/surfside/station.htm

Quote:

Surfside 1640 AM operates under part 15.219 of the FCC rules & is transmitted via multiple FCC certified 100mw AM transmitters synchronized into a local area AM broadcast network serving the South Strand. As our station grows, more coverage is anticipated.


Now my station is no different, I just don't have my website up yet, waiting for the Web streaming mess to settle...

Here is a typical radio setup of a licensed station:

http://www.wtzq.com/about/offices_ss7.php

And my studio:

http://home.earthlink.net/~nrios/nikon/studio1.jpg

So you see there is not much difference except what one pays for equipment and the power being transmitted... as I said it's just a modest studio serving my community!

Radiopilot

 

[Tom Wells]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

If your signal "goes out to the other islands"...here's a news flash. You're not a "Part 15" operator, you're what we radio professionals refer to as, er, what's that word? Oh yeah...a PIRATE! Part 15 stations can LEGALLY go perhaps (optimistically) a mile with the wind at their back. Usually they go FAR less.

I didn't think this was the topic of discussion and doing so might once again derail this topic to the TIO board... So in essence this topic was only for radio professionals? Suffice it to say that I'll say my ground conductance is top notch, my elevation is great and the FCC Field Agent in Atlanta has already approved my setup, so what else is there to tell you? EasyPeezy did a good job of trying to do the same... Seems like this is all some of you are capable of... Tom Wells and others know exactly what a well engineered Part 15 transmitter can do... Here care to read this topic:

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=70238.0

Sorry Mike... but stick to what you really know...

Radiopilot

Indeed, milliwatts are enough to go worldwide in some wavelengths;
if efficiencies everywhere in the chain are good, low power can do very well, as efficiency MULTIPLIES.


If we improve each of the following 2%, our radius does not increase 2%, but 2 to the power of how many such efficiency increases we effect.
Grounding
Antenna tuning
antenna coupling
modulation enhancement
feedline
losses in connections
location

and there are more...this last one kills my part 15 before I "get" anywhere, as so much steel and brick surround me.
Radiopilot has the AM location to die for, efficiency wise. I do not doubt his particular situation favors MW in the same way
I beleive Mike Walker's location works well with FM -HD as he lives at a higher elevation than most of the stations, and even with huge
multipath, most of the signals are bouncing "up and out" of the hollers. Each situation favors different methods.

Gosh I wanted to be in Radio, and went to the oldest radio engineering school in the hemisphere, had the opening, the backers, and the degree, but followed the wisdom of OLD, old radio guys, in their 50's and 60's 25 years ago, who told us if we really liked radio,
that we were too late and would be disappointed, and best keep radio as a hobby.

And so it is true. I would not enjoy the sterile digital application everywhere in the radio business and would not enjoy engineering radio
as it exists today.
My part 15 AM designed and built inthe 80's is pure 1940's tech.

I work for a very large Japanese press manufacturer, Komori. They use combinations of analog, digital, and distributed I/O
to run these presses. I have no problem with this combination. It is interesting that analog feedback has been retained for so
many actuators even as others have gone digital. I find "less of a problem" with digital being applied inplaces where it serves well,
is "dependable", and not something I care so much about as radio, which I see as a mode excluding "digital" because of
the nature of waves, square waves, modulation byproducts, data rates, and Maxwell's Equations.

My instructors used to joke about amplifiers that were flat from DC to light, but that's what you'd need to do HD properly.
Square waves make hash. There can be no debate on this issue. Go read and learn.
Slew rate and distortion from free space to antenna velocities would still limit greatly effectiveness.
In a new band the mode is workable for "AM". But why bother? The FM's not such a onerous beast.

I'd like to propose some way to come to a truce. Let's somehow let HD work on FM, where it largely does, and give up on the AM,
where every angle presents another problem. The RESOLUTION is just not there to do this at 1Mhz!
For the very same reason AM IF frequencies went from "audible" 3 khz in "auotdynes" then 20khz to 455Khz to 10.7 in superhets.
For the same reason computers get faster and faster.

How can Ibiquity dump the horrific AM, keep the FM, and save face?

 

[R.F. Burns]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

"What I really know" is radio. It has been my life, my career, and my passion my entire life. You say this is for "professionals". I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A PAYCHECK NOT RELATED TO RADIO, IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I think that should qualify me as a "professional"...someone who has spent his entire adult, and much of his adolescent life working with REAL radio stations...those who measure their output in thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of watts, not hundreds or dozens of milliwatts.

The FCC a few months ago, at the urging of a particularly powerful member of congress, ignored it's own rules and not only allowed a pirate to continue operating, but...again in opposition to it's own rules...allowed him to apply for LEGAL status as an LPFM operator, despite the fact that no "window" was open. Just because the FCC, or a representative thereof, does it, doesn't make it right. The institutions of government are only as legitimate and honest as those in power who choose them.

Mike,

The pirate in question you're talking about was operating on the FM dial with 100 watts more or less and since the Part15 rules did not apply to their circumstances they were granted an STA... nothing new here go read it in the FCC rules... which is why the FCC approved them... but that's neither here nor there... the FCC decides the rules not you or I.

Now, I buy liners, sweepers etc. from professionals and sometimes the commercials and ads are done professionally and sent to me no different than any regular station of 10,000 watts or more... my radio studio while modest is no different than any modest radio studio... the only difference is the wattage of the transmitters... namely 100 milliwatts... but that has no bearing on who is listening... everyone gets my signal on the island more or less but it doesn't need any more power than 100 milliwatts, unless you've tried it don't knock it!

Try the below site... believe it or not it's Part 15 complaint and doesn't it look like any other REAL radio station Read the caption at the bottom...

http://wzfb.com/surfside/station.htm

Quote:

Surfside 1640 AM operates under part 15.219 of the FCC rules & is transmitted via multiple FCC certified 100mw AM transmitters synchronized into a local area AM broadcast network serving the South Strand. As our station grows, more coverage is anticipated.


Now my station is no different, I just don't have my website up yet, waiting for the Web streaming mess to settle...

Here is a typical radio setup of a licensed station:

http://www.wtzq.com/about/offices_ss7.php

And my studio:

http://home.earthlink.net/~nrios/nikon/studio1.jpg

So you see there is not much difference except what one pays for equipment and the power being transmitted... as I said it's just a modest studio serving my community!

Radiopilot

Is that an MFJ transmatch I see on your desk? There are antenna restrictions for part 15 stations. Check out page 87 of this document;

http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/rules/part15/part15-2-16-06.pdf

It states, that 100 MW is the max input to the final stage (not output) The total transmission line must not exceed 3 meters, RF field must not exceed 2400 Micro Volts at a distance of 30 meters. The site you linked to above talked about antenna systems which were much larger than what is legally alllowed. Part 15 is very limited and I doubt even with spectacular conductivity your coverage is all that great with 100 MV at the input.

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

If your signal "goes out to the other islands"...here's a news flash. You're not a "Part 15" operator, you're what we radio professionals refer to as, er, what's that word? Oh yeah...a PIRATE! Part 15 stations can LEGALLY go perhaps (optimistically) a mile with the wind at their back. Usually they go FAR less.

I didn't think this was the topic of discussion and doing so might once again derail this topic to the TIO board... So in essence this topic was only for radio professionals? Suffice it to say that I'll say my ground conductance is top notch, my elevation is great and the FCC Field Agent in Atlanta has already approved my setup, so what else is there to tell you? EasyPeezy did a good job of trying to do the same... Seems like this is all some of you are capable of... Tom Wells and others know exactly what a well engineered Part 15 transmitter can do... Here care to read this topic:

http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=70238.0

Sorry Mike... but stick to what you really know...

Radiopilot

Indeed, milliwatts are enough to go worldwide in some wavelengths;
if efficiencies everywhere in the chain are good, low power can do very well, as efficiency MULTIPLIES.


If we improve each of the following 2%, our radius does not increase 2%, but 2 to the power of how many such efficiency increases we effect.
Grounding
Antenna tuning
antenna coupling
modulation enhancement
feedline
losses in connections
location

and there are more...this last one kills my part 15 before I "get" anywhere, as so much steel and brick surround me.
Radiopilot has the AM location to die for, efficiency wise. I do not doubt his particular situation favors MW in the same way
I beleive Mike Walker's location works well with FM -HD as he lives at a higher elevation than most of the stations, and even with huge
multipath, most of the signals are bouncing "up and out" of the hollers. Each situation favors different methods.

Gosh I wanted to be in Radio, and went to the oldest radio engineering school in the hemisphere, had the opening, the backers, and the degree, but followed the wisdom of OLD, old radio guys, in their 50's and 60's 25 years ago, who told us if we really liked radio,
that we were too late and would be disappointed, and best keep radio as a hobby.

And so it is true. I would not enjoy the sterile digital application everywhere in the radio business and would not enjoy engineering radio
as it exists today.
My part 15 AM designed and built inthe 80's is pure 1940's tech.

I work for a very large Japanese press manufacturer, Komori. They use combinations of analog, digital, and distributed I/O
to run these presses. I have no problem with this combination. It is interesting that analog feedback has been retained for so
many actuators even as others have gone digital. I find "less of a problem" with digital being applied inplaces where it serves well,
is "dependable", and not something I care so much about as radio, which I see as a mode excluding "digital" because of
the nature of waves, square waves, modulation byproducts, data rates, and Maxwell's Equations.

My instructors used to joke about amplifiers that were flat from DC to light, but that's what you'd need to do HD properly.
Square waves make hash. There can be no debate on this issue. Go read and learn.
Slew rate and distortion from free space to antenna velocities would still limit greatly effectiveness.
In a new band the mode is workable for "AM". But why bother? The FM's not such a onerous beast.

I'd like to propose some way to come to a truce. Let's somehow let HD work on FM, where it largely does, and give up on the AM,
where every angle presents another problem. The RESOLUTION is just not there to do this at 1Mhz!
For the very same reason AM IF frequencies went from "audible" 3 khz in "auotdynes" then 20khz to 455Khz to 10.7 in superhets.
For the same reason computers get faster and faster.

How can Ibiquity dump the horrific AM, keep the FM, and save face?

Tom,

I too thought about radio as a career but as it didn't make any money for me in my earlier years it just didn't stick. Actually I was a pre-med student back in 1972, but switched to electrical engineering when the computer revolution took hold, I even built some Z80 based computers along with friends at Pratt & Whitney we played around with building all sorts of equipment for telemetry radio based... I remember we designed an FM based telemetry unit for one of the jet engines we tested and it worked so good United Technologies Company (UTC) parent company of Pratt & Whitney filed for a patent...

Don't you dabble in the Part15 broadcasting still?

My island setting and the ground is practically in saltwater.. we know what type of conductance is that.. isn't seawater at 5,000 millimhos per meter...

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/m3/index.html

The seawater table is more or less a couple of inches at my location where the ground radials are... lucky for me I placed 12 gauge copper wire, eventually over time I'll have to replace them, but by then a hurricane will have done that for me, this explains why the signal goes out so far for only 100 mw...

The signal is processed and it actually sounds cleaner and louder than the recordings I posted earlier, although after say 1.5 to 3 miles the signal might not be as clean but that's ok as my island is actually 2.5 by 4 miles wide and the lobes of the signal are placed exactly where I need it and most is marshland where homes can't be built, so the actual homes are within the 1.5-3 miles radius... there are no tall structures over 3 stories so the signal just travels....

The required engineering as you said is top notch to the best of my skills in electrical engineering, so other than increasing the power (no way) it's doing great... not much more improvement.

My listeners have no problem whatsoever getting my signal....



Rasdiopilot

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

"What I really know" is radio. It has been my life, my career, and my passion my entire life. You say this is for "professionals". I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED A PAYCHECK NOT RELATED TO RADIO, IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I think that should qualify me as a "professional"...someone who has spent his entire adult, and much of his adolescent life working with REAL radio stations...those who measure their output in thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of watts, not hundreds or dozens of milliwatts.

The FCC a few months ago, at the urging of a particularly powerful member of congress, ignored it's own rules and not only allowed a pirate to continue operating, but...again in opposition to it's own rules...allowed him to apply for LEGAL status as an LPFM operator, despite the fact that no "window" was open. Just because the FCC, or a representative thereof, does it, doesn't make it right. The institutions of government are only as legitimate and honest as those in power who choose them.

Mike,

The pirate in question you're talking about was operating on the FM dial with 100 watts more or less and since the Part15 rules did not apply to their circumstances they were granted an STA... nothing new here go read it in the FCC rules... which is why the FCC approved them... but that's neither here nor there... the FCC decides the rules not you or I.

Now, I buy liners, sweepers etc. from professionals and sometimes the commercials and ads are done professionally and sent to me no different than any regular station of 10,000 watts or more... my radio studio while modest is no different than any modest radio studio... the only difference is the wattage of the transmitters... namely 100 milliwatts... but that has no bearing on who is listening... everyone gets my signal on the island more or less but it doesn't need any more power than 100 milliwatts, unless you've tried it don't knock it!

Try the below site... believe it or not it's Part 15 complaint and doesn't it look like any other REAL radio station Read the caption at the bottom...

http://wzfb.com/surfside/station.htm

Quote:

Surfside 1640 AM operates under part 15.219 of the FCC rules & is transmitted via multiple FCC certified 100mw AM transmitters synchronized into a local area AM broadcast network serving the South Strand. As our station grows, more coverage is anticipated.


Now my station is no different, I just don't have my website up yet, waiting for the Web streaming mess to settle...

Here is a typical radio setup of a licensed station:

http://www.wtzq.com/about/offices_ss7.php

And my studio:

http://home.earthlink.net/~nrios/nikon/studio1.jpg

So you see there is not much difference except what one pays for equipment and the power being transmitted... as I said it's just a modest studio serving my community!

Radiopilot

Is that an MFJ transmatch I see on your desk? There are antenna restrictions for part 15 stations. Check out page 87 of this document;

http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/rules/part15/part15-2-16-06.pdf

It states, that 100 MW is the max input to the final stage (not output) The total transmission line must not exceed 3 meters, RF field must not exceed 2400 Micro Volts at a distance of 30 meters. The site you linked to above talked about antenna systems which were much larger than what is legally alllowed. Part 15 is very limited and I doubt even with spectacular conductivity your coverage is all that great with 100 MV at the input.

Yes that would be a MJF meter, but it's not used for anything other than sitting on my desk, 'don't you love it', I also have field strength meters too, though not in the picture... boo hoo.

That FCC document? I have the entire document printed and in the folder with the transmitter spec, antenna, ground, etc. and reviewed by the FCC agent at the time he came out... Oh and by the way I called them to come out... imagine that!

All that was needed was the BIG FCC APPROVAL STAMP on the folder, but alas the the FCC has no such stamp for part15... darn it would have been nice to scan and flash on this site!

I built my 3 meter copper antenna, one that by the way is being used at this moment by hundreds of part15 users as we speak... nothing new here and like I said the FCC saw and scrutinized my site, so hashing words again mean nothing to me except the blessing of the FCC agent.

RFBurns, seems you're a little envious or something? What is your beef... did I not say the transmitter is 100 mw... or is your reading faulty? Read the post again...

2400 Micro Volts at a distance of 30 meters that's for Part 15.209 doesn't apply to me as stated by the FCC agent, only Part 15.219.

So for someone in New York City... my signal must be that strong that it interferes with those huge 50kw staions.... WOW is my engineering skills THAT good?

Radiopilot

 

[davideduardo]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

The seawater table is more or less a couple of inches at my location where the ground radials are... lucky for me I placed 12 gauge copper wire, eventually over time I'll have to replace them, but by then a hurricane will have done that for me, this explains why the signal goes out so far for only 100 mw...

The conductivity of a salt marsh or a brackish groundwater table is not the same as that of free saltwater. As Mr. Burns says, there is a limit in the rules on field strength at a specified distance, and just like "real" radio stations if your system, including ground condutivity, exceeds the strength, the power into the antenna has to be reduced to make the system compliant. This is the same as, for example a (former) class IV station with a highly efficient radiator will be forced to reduce power below 1000 watts until the field strenth complies with conforming limits.

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

The seawater table is more or less a couple of inches at my location where the ground radials are... lucky for me I placed 12 gauge copper wire, eventually over time I'll have to replace them, but by then a hurricane will have done that for me, this explains why the signal goes out so far for only 100 mw...

The conductivity of a salt marsh or a brackish groundwater table is not the same as that of free saltwater. As Mr. Burns says, there is a limit in the rules on field strength at a specified distance, and just like "real" radio stations if your system, including ground condutivity, exceeds the strength, the power into the antenna has to be reduced to make the system compliant. This is the same as, for example a (former) class IV station with a highly efficient radiator will be forced to reduce power below 1000 watts until the field strenth complies with conforming limits.

Wrong again... this rule applies to carrier current systems, read paragraphs (1) and (2):

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/...ccess.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/47cfr15.221.htm

Now read:

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/...ccess.gpo.gov/cfr_2006/octqtr/47cfr15.219.htm

And prove to me it states Part 15.209 anywhere in that rule? This question was posed to the FCC agent and the 2 gents themselves said it doesn't apply to me but to carrier current systems.

Why are we hashing this out here except for trying to derail the discussion about people in broadcasting, their start or radio careers and those not in radio?

These discussions were done earlier in Part15.us and elsewhere... it's a moot point!

Radiopilot

 

[davideduardo]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

And prove to me it states Part 15.209 anywhere in that rule? This question was posed to the FCC agent and the 2 gents themselves said it doesn't apply to me but to carrier current systems.

Well, you started posting links to pictures of your little studio...

Section 15.219 restricts the length of the antenna, connecting cable and ground lead to 3 meters.Watch out for filings with elevated installation mounting that require running a ground connection down to a ground plane.It is the ground, which now is well over 3 m itself andbecomes the major radiator.

You were discussing the ground system with #12 copper, which makes one think that you probably have more than 3 m of it. That would of itself make the installation illegal.

 

[clouseau]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

Well let me tell you my experience with AM-PT 15.

I own (In a box in the garage) a USI transmitter. I have used it from time to time. Here's my observations and opinions I have heard.

I too live within site of the water at my house. Brackish water table at about 1-2 feet below ground level. When set up properly and set in a milk crate about 10 feet in the air on top of an old RV (Which was made of aluminum thus, I'm sure, creating a type of ground plane) I got the following distances.

400 Yards- I was the strongest station on the dial.

1 mile - A usable signal outside on a car radio. Nice and clean. No noise. Not all that strong.

2 Miles. - LIstenable for me in the car. But quickly turning into a DX.

6 Miles - I was able to detect the song playing (Through the hash) and identify it was my signal. Signal was Totally unusable. Note the use of the term "Detect"

Now I will tell you other things I regard as truths.

1) A rangemaster transmitter works much better than a USI.
2) I had limited compression on the signal. It could have been better which means modulation could have been higher.
3) In the real world, a "Ground lead" connects to a ground as far as the FCC seems to be concerned. I think you would be hard pressed to call a ground radial an antenna.

In other words, I totally believe Radiopilot when he claims "Usable" 1.5-3 mile coverage for MOTIVATED LISTENERS on legal PT 15. I think there is a perception difference in terms of what "Usable Coverage" is to different people. I had a person listening to my test station from 2.2 miles away with a decent radio in a window with line of sight on the second floor. Is it listenable? Yes. Is it what many pros would call usable? Real Shaky. Would it be "Protected Coverage" No way.

We hear stories on here all the time of people listening to stations WAY outside of where they are protected. The WGTO thread comes to mind.

I have no doubt Radiopilot's setup could be producing the results claimed and be totally legal. None whatsoever. Not that he or anyone else needs my blessing, that's just my opinion.

Clouseau

 

[davideduardo]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

I have no doubt Radiopilot's setup could be producing the results claimed and be totally legal. None whatsoever. Not that he or anyone else needs my blessing, that's just my opinion.

Then I stand corrected... your experience seems totally valid. Radiopilot has posted so much gibberish in the past that I simply doubt 100% of his postings.

 

[clouseau]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

There actually is a whole subculture of PT15 and they can do some pretty amazing things based on he way the code is written and the way it is interpreted. It has a pretty good presence on the Community Radio board on this site.

I particularly like the "get a few transmitters and synch them up via a common timing circuit and then phase them and increase your coverage". Priceless, but it CAN be done.

I guess in theory you could do this in conventional directional AMs with seperate transmitters for each tower as well.

A chicken in every pot and a transmitter in every doghouse.

Gotta love it.

Clouseau

 

[Tom Wells]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

Well let me tell you my experience with AM-PT 15.

I own (In a box in the garage) a USI transmitter. I have used it from time to time. Here's my observations and opinions I have heard.

I too live within site of the water at my house. Brackish water table at about 1-2 feet below ground level. When set up properly and set in a milk crate about 10 feet in the air on top of an old RV (Which was made of aluminum thus, I'm sure, creating a type of ground plane) I got the following distances.

400 Yards- I was the strongest station on the dial.

1 mile - A usable signal outside on a car radio. Nice and clean. No noise. Not all that strong.

2 Miles. - LIstenable for me in the car. But quickly turning into a DX.

6 Miles - I was able to detect the song playing (Through the hash) and identify it was my signal. Signal was Totally unusable. Note the use of the term "Detect"

Now I will tell you other things I regard as truths.

1) A rangemaster transmitter works much better than a USI.
2) I had limited compression on the signal. It could have been better which means modulation could have been higher.
3) In the real world, a "Ground lead" connects to a ground as far as the FCC seems to be concerned. I think you would be hard pressed to call a ground radial an antenna.

In other words, I totally believe Radiopilot when he claims "Usable" 1.5-3 mile coverage for MOTIVATED LISTENERS on legal PT 15. I think there is a perception difference in terms of what "Usable Coverage" is to different people. I had a person listening to my test station from 2.2 miles away with a decent radio in a window with line of sight on the second floor. Is it listenable? Yes. Is it what many pros would call usable? Real Shaky. Would it be "Protected Coverage" No way.

We hear stories on here all the time of people listening to stations WAY outside of where they are protected. The WGTO thread comes to mind.

I have no doubt Radiopilot's setup could be producing the results claimed and be totally legal. None whatsoever. Not that he or anyone else needs my blessing, that's just my opinion.

Clouseau

I would think you live in pretty clear country, to get those distances. The farthest I've ever heard a shred of my signal was one quarter mile
a straight shot up the river I live along, once with cautious 25% "overfeed".

Perhaps I should move the whole thing to the roof. But the whole "studio" is basement, with transmitter at ground level.
City neighborhoods, while absolutely sucking pt 15 AM MW signals to nothing in a few hundred feet, may still serve thousands in dense
ares, such as where I live.

Mr Eduardo, I wish the last time I had responded to a post of yours had not gotten hijacked to TIO because I found myself in most hearty
agreement with you. I wish I could remember what it was about. Anyway, your regard for smaller stations I find as most callous,
but understandable from your perspective. Consider that others live in worlds and situations we can not know, and value things in
ways immeasurable and irrelevant to commerce or rating. Therein lies the magic of radio, which defies metrics.
But y'know what else I learned about the "magic" of radio,

It's all an accident. It can't be measured. Sometimes it gets recorded. And it's shy. When whipped it balks.
Caged, it sulks.
Defined, it squirms.
Good stations still do it every day, despite "caging" the magic beast. At every size.

Please lose the word viable, because not everyone even wants to be in competition.
Maybe they only compete with themselves to do better every day. That's my kind of competition.

 

[clouseau]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

I would think you live in pretty clear country, to get those distances. The farthest I've ever heard a shred of my signal was one quarter mile
a straight shot up the river I live along, once with cautious 25% "overfeed".

I plead guilty. I have salt water 2 feet below my sand(not Soil) And that is the same situation over the entire service area near my house.

Your solid rock ground conductivity "WILL" vary.

(So much for the legal disclaimer). Based on where Radiopilot seems to be.... He's got the same WONDERFUL PT15 Conditions.

But y'know what else I learned about the "magic" of radio,

It's all an accident. It can't be measured. Sometimes it gets recorded. And it's shy. When whipped it balks.
Caged, it sulks.
Defined, it squirms.
Good stations still do it every day, despite "caging" the magic beast. At every size.

I like that

Please lose the word viable, because not everyone even wants to be in competition.
Maybe they only compete with themselves to do better every day. That's my kind of competition.

If only that were the case most of the time...

Clouseau

 

[Mike Walker]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

Well I could, in fact, owe PocketRadio an apology (words I don't speak very often!) Being in commercial radio, I immediately jump to the "pirate" conclusion when I hear claims of such extreme reach for a Part 15.

I stand by what I've said about the FCC, however. Talk about relativism...if a powerful politician leans on them just a little, the rules go out the window. If rules are that easily bent, then there are no rules! Why the hell shouldn't everyone with an interest just crank up a pirate station? One would actually be nice in my community...there's a lot I'd like to hear that NO commercial station will ever touch!

 

[Mike Walker]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

You guys are right about radio really sucking as a career. I've never gotten rich financially. I do own my own home free and clear (after 20 years of mortgage payments), live comfortably, have health insurance, a savings account, and even some investments for the future. But I'm far from rich, and knew I would likely never be when I got into radio. The sad truth is that I LOVE radio. It's in my blood. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I've told my wife to bury me with a microphone and a very long cable, because I might remember something else I forgot to say. Like most who really love this, my "dirty little secret" is that they didn't really need to pay me. I'd still be in radio if i had to pay them! THAT'S how much I love it!

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

I have no doubt Radiopilot's setup could be producing the results claimed and be totally legal.  None whatsoever.  Not that he or anyone else needs my blessing,  that's just my opinion.
   

Then I stand corrected... your experience seems totally valid. Radiopilot has posted so much gibberish in the past that I simply doubt 100% of his postings.

Right... to you I'm just a another Puerto Rican that lies... Funny the managers and engineers that signed my going away party poster of the V22 helicoptor you see in the studio picture didn't think so... Sounds like you're ebvious and the only way to show that is to say 100% of my postings is jibberish... that's the sign of jealousy...

You can't even comment nicely... like 'Hey, nice studio of Part15'...

Radiopilot

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

Well let me tell you my experience with AM-PT 15.

I own (In a box in the garage) a USI transmitter.  I have used it from time to time.  Here's my observations and opinions I have heard.

I too live within site of the water at my house.   Brackish water table at about 1-2 feet below ground level.  When set up properly and set in a milk crate about 10 feet in the air on top of an old RV (Which was made of aluminum thus, I'm sure, creating a type of ground plane) I got the following distances.

400 Yards- I was the strongest station on the dial. 

1 mile - A usable signal outside on a car radio.  Nice and clean.  No noise. Not all that strong.

2 Miles. - LIstenable for me in the car.  But quickly turning into a DX.

6 Miles - I was able to detect the song playing (Through the hash) and identify it was my signal.  Signal was Totally unusable.  Note the use of the term "Detect"

Now I will tell you other things I regard as truths. 

1) A rangemaster transmitter works much better than a USI.
2) I had limited compression on the signal.  It could have been better which means modulation could have been higher.
3) In the real world,  a "Ground lead" connects to a ground as far as the FCC seems to be concerned.  I think you would be hard pressed to call a ground radial an antenna.

In other words,  I totally believe Radiopilot when he claims "Usable" 1.5-3 mile coverage for MOTIVATED LISTENERS on legal PT 15.  I think there is a perception difference in terms of what "Usable Coverage" is to different people.  I had a person listening to my test station from 2.2 miles away with a decent radio in a window with line of sight on the second floor.  Is it listenable?   Yes.  Is it what many pros would call usable?  Real Shaky.  Would it be "Protected Coverage"  No way. 

We hear stories on here all the time of people listening to stations WAY outside of where they are protected.  The WGTO thread comes to mind.     

I have no doubt Radiopilot's setup could be producing the results claimed and be totally legal.  None whatsoever.  Not that he or anyone else needs my blessing,  that's just my opinion.

Clouseau 

   

Clouseau,

We may have hashed words in the past, but I'm glad you've had a part15 setup and can relate to what I'm talking about without the words 'pirate' or 'illegal' as the only words people can conjure up because they feel somehow threaten. 

Living in the coastal areas are part15 heavens, everyone I've spoken to wishes they had my conductivity... I can't help where I live, I think if I placed the transmitter on a boat with the 3 meter antenna and a couple of sacraficial anodes in the seawater... I'd get my signal out for more than 10-20 miles maybe more since nothing's there to stop that signal until it hits another spot of land, not bad for 100 mw of power..

Regards....

Radiopilot

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

And prove to me it states Part 15.209 anywhere in that rule? This question was posed to the FCC agent and the 2 gents themselves said it doesn't apply to me but to carrier current systems.

Well, you started posting links to pictures of your little studio...

Section 15.219 restricts the length of the antenna, connecting cable and ground lead to 3 meters.Watch out for filings with elevated installation mounting that require running a ground connection down to a ground plane.It is the ground, which now is well over 3 m itself andbecomes the major radiator.

You were discussing the ground system with #12 copper, which makes one think that you probably have more than 3 m of it. That would of itself make the installation illegal.

Well it must be that the FCC agents didn't look for that... GOOD because I have the antenna 10,000 feet in the air on a 10 ft diameter metal pole with #1 conductor running down, and the FCC agents looked at the 50kw Continental transmitter he said is that your part15 transmitter? LOL

Yeah... I fooled the FCC agents...

Radiopilot

 

[radiopilot]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

You guys are right about radio really sucking as a career. I've never gotten rich financially. I do own my own home free and clear (after 20 years of mortgage payments), live comfortably, have health insurance, a savings account, and even some investments for the future. But I'm far from rich, and knew I would likely never be when I got into radio. The sad truth is that I LOVE radio. It's in my blood. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I've told my wife to bury me with a microphone and a very long cable, because I might remember something else I forgot to say. Like most who really love this, my "dirty little secret" is that they didn't really need to pay me. I'd still be in radio if i had to pay them! THAT'S how much I love it!

Mike,

For a year and a half my little station was in the red according to my wife's accounting of the costs running the station, until people wanted a local outlet for the kids sports, church annoucements, etc. they heard about my radio station from friends in the school, church, etc. and came forward with annoncements and I was eager to do them free of charge of course, once the word was out, professional services and then small businesses came to see me and wanted 'on the air', soon I had to make rate cards and sheets, mind you I don't bill like a larger station but it's very good and I don't even care if I make a profit... I only air 2 commercials (less than 1 minute) after the news and weather at the top of the hour, two at the bottom (less than 30 seconds) and that's it... I rotate the commercials and annoucements so there is no fatigue to the listener, as opposed to regular radio that have 10 minutes of commercials per hour sometimes more.

I like radio but I don't need it for financial stability, as I had my home built in 1995 on the island and owe no one a cent since 1995... it's a wonderful thing being mortgage free and I commend you for that Mike! It allows me to persue other things in life, much more precious... my two children.

Radiopilot

 

[Mike Walker]

Re: Do any of the posters here actually work in Radio?

Here's to what's important in life, RadioPilot. Family, and radio. In that order. I'd love to hear your station!