Call letters are just a gimmick, they're not official. We traveled bout a mile and could barely hear it, but the effective range is probably more like 1000 feet or so.
The range is low partly because of poor ground conductivity. I'm not trying to put anyone down . Installing these low power transmitters directly to a metal fence isn't a good idea, it tends to weaken the signal. High power AM stations rf energy is totally shielded from the Earth . The towers sit on ceramic insulators ,including all feed lines such as audio . The best way to mount low power transmitters is on PVC pipe or non conducting pipe . If the feed wires go underground , then place them in PVC pipe that are glued together to prevent water intrusion . Braid two wires two wires together , one wire can be used for the Earth ground lightning protection and the other can be hooked to a small radial system , maybe an inch below the surface . The Earth ground wire should have a surge protector . The fence does provide a good counterpoise but the antenna by what I can tell in the video is only an inch from the antenna ,. The RF will couple with the fence and weaken the signal . The Rangemaster box appears to be metal , that too will connect with the metal fence and weaken the signal. The transmitter doesn't have to be located really high above the fence , maybe a foot . Part 15 am transmitters can generate a very sold signal and cover many miles but it really takes a massive effort to accomplish it . People underestimate part 15 transmitters because of such low power .
You may want to see my other vid of the talking house transmitter. I get a decent range with that.. th-cam.com/video/szFhFyimdTQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=a4oWudzcKJUPS2z-
@@bob4analog I already saw the video. Talking House can have a decent range but the problem with them is they used what ever parts that were available when manufacturing them. Some of them can sound decent yet others of the same model sound horrible. Some can have a range more than six miles as mine yet others can have a very poor range . I have several of these transmitters , didn't pay much for any of them . A good example , two of them are 4.6 versions , one of them sounds decent and the other sounds absolutely horrible . Looking inside of them they have different resistors and capacitors .
@@patuxenthistory6410 - You are correct. These trannys were kind of disappointing. Then again, they were originally made for voice grade service only. Still, it made me curious if they could be made to be real broadcast quality, whilst keeping it part 15 compliant. I'm a broadcast engineer and a ham, so naturally, i have an interest in this. There's a growing interest in hobby broadcasting now, altho the price range is extremely high to get even a simple transmitter for doing it. That's why i wanted to do this, it's quite simple and it really shouldn't cost that much to have a transmitter that will perform like the real thing. It's not rocket science. So, After studying the TH schematic, i figured out how to modify it without effecting the part 15 compliancy. So, I made this retrofit modification for the TH that works well... th-cam.com/video/7mSZn5cPX5E/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FF8Te8QNJrQ2IDB9
I ran about 40 25 ft extension cords out from a 4 ft square base of sheet aluminum and could sometimes get as far as 4 miles when the ground was snow covered. I usually got about 1/4 to 1/2 mile though with my SStran unit, no longer made. I made my antenna lentth adjustable by using 1/2 copper tubing with a repair sleeve about 1 foot long in between two halves, you have to adjust it regularly,, as the sun goes overhead AM signals dont travel well. a fence like you are using seems great but might work better with more radials perpendicular to it. antenna ground is everything with this set up I found.
That’s cool! I have radials on the transmitter side of the fence but I can’t put down radials on the other side of the fence as it is a public park! In the video, I had the antenna going up into the tree branches which did attenuate the signal somewhat but Since I have moved it away from the branches, the range did improve a good deal! Now I plan to raise the transmitter up by 6 ft. and see if that helps the signal any!
Former radio station owner here. I had an FM and 2 AMs; real stations, not part 15. Yeah, I'd be careful using made up call signs. I've dealt personally with the FCC, and they don't play neither do they smile!
Altho it is interesting that the fcc does not regulate the content of transmission. For it is written, "Content of the broadcasts are not restricted by the FCC regulation." wnaram.com/2021/04/part-15/ 😉
Former commercial station owner here. I had an FM and 2 AMs. Please be careful using made up call signs. Ive dealt personally with the FCC. They dont play around, and you dont want to get on their bad side! Just make up another name, like "K-Rock" or "Bob-FM" and go with that. Good luck.
Looks like a well set up station. What distance did you end up getting?
About a mile out, we could barely hear it, but the effective range is more like 1000 feet or so. It did pretty good for Part 15.
Hooked one up to one side of the telephone wire when I was a teen, got out about a mile!😁😁
If it's Part 15, why are there call letters? What is the actual distance you are getting from this transmitter?
Call letters are just a gimmick, they're not official. We traveled bout a mile and could barely hear it, but the effective range is probably more like 1000 feet or so.
The range is low partly because of poor ground conductivity. I'm not trying to put anyone down . Installing these low power transmitters directly to a metal fence isn't a good idea, it tends to weaken the signal. High power AM stations rf energy is totally shielded from the Earth . The towers sit on ceramic insulators ,including all feed lines such as audio . The best way to mount low power transmitters is on PVC pipe or non conducting pipe . If the feed wires go underground , then place them in PVC pipe that are glued together to prevent water intrusion . Braid two wires two wires together , one wire can be used for the Earth ground lightning protection and the other can be hooked to a small radial system , maybe an inch below the surface . The Earth ground wire should have a surge protector . The fence does provide a good counterpoise but the antenna by what I can tell in the video is only an inch from the antenna ,. The RF will couple with the fence and weaken the signal . The Rangemaster box appears to be metal , that too will connect with the metal fence and weaken the signal. The transmitter doesn't have to be located really high above the fence , maybe a foot . Part 15 am transmitters can generate a very sold signal and cover many miles but it really takes a massive effort to accomplish it . People underestimate part 15 transmitters because of such low power .
You may want to see my other vid of the talking house transmitter. I get a decent range with that.. th-cam.com/video/szFhFyimdTQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=a4oWudzcKJUPS2z-
@@bob4analog I already saw the video. Talking House can have a decent range but the problem with them is they used what ever parts that were available when manufacturing them. Some of them can sound decent yet others of the same model sound horrible. Some can have a range more than six miles as mine yet others can have a very poor range . I have several of these transmitters , didn't pay much for any of them . A good example , two of them are 4.6 versions , one of them sounds decent and the other sounds absolutely horrible . Looking inside of them they have different resistors and capacitors .
@@patuxenthistory6410 - You are correct. These trannys were kind of disappointing. Then again, they were originally made for voice grade service only. Still, it made me curious if they could be made to be real broadcast quality, whilst keeping it part 15 compliant.
I'm a broadcast engineer and a ham, so naturally, i have an interest in this. There's a growing interest in hobby broadcasting now, altho the price range is extremely high to get even a simple transmitter for doing it. That's why i wanted to do this, it's quite simple and it really shouldn't cost that much to have a transmitter that will perform like the real thing. It's not rocket science. So, After studying the TH schematic, i figured out how to modify it without effecting the part 15 compliancy. So, I made this retrofit modification for the TH that works well...
th-cam.com/video/7mSZn5cPX5E/w-d-xo.htmlsi=FF8Te8QNJrQ2IDB9
I ran about 40 25 ft extension cords out from a 4 ft square base of sheet aluminum and could sometimes get as far as 4 miles when the ground was snow covered. I usually got about 1/4 to 1/2 mile though with my SStran unit, no longer made. I made my antenna lentth adjustable by using 1/2 copper tubing with a repair sleeve about 1 foot long in between two halves, you have to adjust it regularly,, as the sun goes overhead AM signals dont travel well. a fence like you are using seems great but might work better with more radials perpendicular to it. antenna ground is everything with this set up I found.
That’s cool! I have radials on the transmitter side of the fence but I can’t put down radials on the other side of the fence as it is a public park!
In the video, I had the antenna going up into the tree branches which did attenuate the signal somewhat but Since I have moved it away from the branches, the range did improve a good deal! Now I plan to raise the transmitter up by 6 ft. and see if that helps the signal any!
I'm trying to do coughcough 100 watts down around 6975. I might have to pick up one of those optimods to get started.
Part 15 requires no FCC license, there should not be a call sign, that could get you in trouble.
Relax, Frank.. take a chill pill!
@@bob4analogI'm all out, however, I'm getting ready to look over my part 15 setup, look at better antenna options.
Rogers on that 😃👍 th-cam.com/video/szFhFyimdTQ/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hrfLBW9-VxYmpKdw
Former radio station owner here. I had an FM and 2 AMs; real stations, not part 15.
Yeah, I'd be careful using made up call signs. I've dealt personally with the FCC, and they don't play neither do they smile!
Altho it is interesting that the fcc does not regulate the content of transmission. For it is written, "Content of the broadcasts are not restricted by the FCC regulation." wnaram.com/2021/04/part-15/ 😉
Former commercial station owner here. I had an FM and 2 AMs. Please be careful using made up call signs. Ive dealt personally with the FCC. They dont play around, and you dont want to get on their bad side!
Just make up another name, like "K-Rock" or "Bob-FM" and go with that. Good luck.
It's not my station, i just made the vid of it. But thanks for the advice just the same. 👍