I hope the group doesn't mind a non-ham question since we're all trying to help our communities in this difficult time.
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've been asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Interested in commercial products only; thanks but not something I want to build & be responsible for maintaining.
Thanks very much a good wishes to all.
-Scott, K4KDR
Hi Scott,
This one may be what you're looking for: https://www.amazon.com/Retekess-Portable-Transmitter-Broadcast-Translation/d...
72/73... Larry AC8YE
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 2:28 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
I hope the group doesn't mind a non-ham question since we're all trying to help our communities in this difficult time.
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've been asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Interested in commercial products only; thanks but not something I want to build & be responsible for maintaining.
Thanks very much a good wishes to all.
-Scott, K4KDR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I've also used this one before too, Rolls makes nice pro-level stuff that won't drain the purse. https://www.probroadcastsupply.com/rolls-hr70-fm-digital-transmitter-hr70/
Also the link that Larry sent looks good too. (good catch Larry AC8YE!)
Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 1:57 PM Larry Howell via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Hi Scott,
This one may be what you're looking for:
https://www.amazon.com/Retekess-Portable-Transmitter-Broadcast-Translation/d...
72/73... Larry AC8YE
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 2:28 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
I hope the group doesn't mind a non-ham question since we're all trying to help our communities in this difficult time.
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've
been
asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Interested in commercial products only; thanks but not something I want
to
build & be responsible for maintaining.
Thanks very much a good wishes to all.
-Scott, K4KDR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions
expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
There has been lots of talk about this on several of the broadcast forums too (such as Christian Radio Tech "CR-TECH"). Most are looking for ways to meet Part 15 requirements, such as running into "leaky" coax with a dummy load. As far as supply, there might be some engineers in the CR-Tech forum that can help source equipment from Christian broadcasters. You can find them at http://crtech.org/ or at groups.io.
None of the radio stations that I'm engineering for currently have any spare transmitters, And anything we'd have would be a bit on the hefty side with no way to practically ship them very far.
Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 1:29 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
I hope the group doesn't mind a non-ham question since we're all trying to help our communities in this difficult time.
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've been asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Interested in commercial products only; thanks but not something I want to build & be responsible for maintaining.
Thanks very much a good wishes to all.
-Scott, K4KDR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
A fair question. I've been considering something like that for my wife's church (outdoor seating very widely spaced)...
But then we realized it went against another of our goals... that is, saving emissions. I have helped our church install solar for all its energy and installed 5 EV charging stations in the parking lot and now at least 1/4 of our members drive plugins.
The problem is that the emissions from 60 people driving to services on Sunday is much more than the entire energy of the church itself! So the consensus was to stay put and use on-line meeting.
In earlier times we had plotted where all the members live and it turns out that there are 3 major groupings (due to rivers and bays). Were we to "broadcast" as suggested, one could set up three such short range transmtters in those three clusters and then people would only have to drive to a home in their local cluster instead of across the bridge and all to the same place.
Just thinking out loud.
bob
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 2:27 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
I hope the group doesn't mind a non-ham question since we're all trying to help our communities in this difficult time.
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've been asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Interested in commercial products only; thanks but not something I want to build & be responsible for maintaining.
Thanks very much a good wishes to all.
-Scott, K4KDR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Generically LPFM could mean something like a part 15 transmitter that would work for cars in a parking lot, but the term is also a specific FCC license class up to 100 watts ERP.
For the FCC's LPFM there is not a filing window to get a license/construction permit and the last one was in 2013.
But maybe we can get Congress to get the FCC to create a new one due to this crisis.
https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/lpfm#WINDOWS
73, John Brier KG4AKV
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020, 15:20 Robert Bruninga via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
A fair question. I've been considering something like that for my wife's church (outdoor seating very widely spaced)...
But then we realized it went against another of our goals... that is, saving emissions. I have helped our church install solar for all its energy and installed 5 EV charging stations in the parking lot and now at least 1/4 of our members drive plugins.
The problem is that the emissions from 60 people driving to services on Sunday is much more than the entire energy of the church itself! So the consensus was to stay put and use on-line meeting.
In earlier times we had plotted where all the members live and it turns out that there are 3 major groupings (due to rivers and bays). Were we to "broadcast" as suggested, one could set up three such short range transmtters in those three clusters and then people would only have to drive to a home in their local cluster instead of across the bridge and all to the same place.
Just thinking out loud.
bob
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 2:27 PM Scott via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
I hope the group doesn't mind a non-ham question since we're all trying to help our communities in this difficult time.
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've
been
asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Interested in commercial products only; thanks but not something I want
to
build & be responsible for maintaining.
Thanks very much a good wishes to all.
-Scott, K4KDR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
Opinions
expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite
program!
Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 04/02/2020 11:27, Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've been asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Getting a LPFM license is not as easy and fast as you think. As for Part 15 transmitters, there are lots of them out there. There are also many available that are claiming to be license free, but not really meeting the Part 15 limits (especially if you put a "real" antenna on them). One of my other addictions is running a music synchronized Christmas light show. Almost every person running a music synchronized light show is running their music over an FM transmitter - sometimes in addition to outdoor speakers. There are several very commonly used transmitters. Search Amazon for CZE-05b and you will find lots of hits - that's what I'm using. In my case, I have a homebuilt "real" antenna, but I put a in line attenuator between the radio and the antenna to keep at least close to Part 15 limits.
As for the drive-in theaters, my assumption is that they are supposedly operating under Part 15, but I would be willing to bet that a lot are exceeding the field strength limits of Part 15 by at least a bit - directional antennas come to mind. I do know that the last time I did a FCC license search for the FM band, the nearest drive in theater (with their four screens) did not show up in a licensed listing.
One of the guys on the other group I belong to brought up how some of the drive-in theaters he worked with operated their system. They had a transmitter that they hooked up a long run of "leaky" coax to with a 50 ohm resistor at the far end. The coax was buried under the field where the cars parked and radiated along it's entire length. No one place exceeded Part 15 limits but the whole area had enough signal to be picked up on all but the worst car stereos. Matthew Chambers, CBT, NR0Q Owner/Engineer *M Chambers Communications Engineering LLC* PO BOX 855, Moberly, MO 65270 Mobile (660)415-5620 www.mchambersradio.com
On Thu, Apr 2, 2020 at 3:54 PM Jim Walls via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
On 04/02/2020 11:27, Scott via AMSAT-BB wrote:
Can anyone recommend a low-power transmitter for broadcast on the
commercial FM radio band? An LPFM license can be acquired asap, but the first order of business is finding some hardware.
As you can imagine, church gatherings are out of the question so I've
been asked to see if I can locate a "drive-in theater" type transmitter for short-range broadcasting to car radios.
Getting a LPFM license is not as easy and fast as you think. As for Part 15 transmitters, there are lots of them out there. There are also many available that are claiming to be license free, but not really meeting the Part 15 limits (especially if you put a "real" antenna on them). One of my other addictions is running a music synchronized Christmas light show. Almost every person running a music synchronized light show is running their music over an FM transmitter - sometimes in addition to outdoor speakers. There are several very commonly used transmitters. Search Amazon for CZE-05b and you will find lots of hits
- that's what I'm using. In my case, I have a homebuilt "real" antenna,
but I put a in line attenuator between the radio and the antenna to keep at least close to Part 15 limits.
As for the drive-in theaters, my assumption is that they are supposedly operating under Part 15, but I would be willing to bet that a lot are exceeding the field strength limits of Part 15 by at least a bit - directional antennas come to mind. I do know that the last time I did a FCC license search for the FM band, the nearest drive in theater (with their four screens) did not show up in a licensed listing.
-- 73
Jim Walls - K6CCC jim@k6ccc.org Ofc: 818-548-4804 http://members.dslextreme.com/users/k6ccc/ AMSAT Member 32537 - WSWSS Member 395
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On 04/02/2020 14:59, Matthew Chambers via AMSAT-BB wrote:
One of the guys on the other group I belong to brought up how some of the drive-in theaters he worked with operated their system. They had a transmitter that they hooked up a long run of "leaky" coax to with a 50 ohm resistor at the far end. The coax was buried under the field where the cars parked and radiated along it's entire length. No one place exceeded Part 15 limits but the whole area had enough signal to be picked up on all but the worst car stereos.
That makes a lot of sense, and it makes it far easier to keep the signal inside the fence so outsiders can't watch and listen for free.
participants (6)
-
Jim Walls -
John Brier -
Larry Howell -
Matthew Chambers -
Robert Bruninga -
Scott