Hey all! I am brand new to Part15.us, but not new to part 15 in general. I built my first FM kit when I was 12 and (accidentally, I swear) covered the whole town. What did I care, I was 12!
I've worked in commercial radio for nearly 10 years and have gotten the part 15 bug again.
Hey all! I am brand new to Part15.us, but not new to part 15 in general. I built my first FM kit when I was 12 and (accidentally, I swear) covered the whole town. What did I care, I was 12!
I've worked in commercial radio for nearly 10 years and have gotten the part 15 bug again.
My question is, has anyone successfully used part 15 CERTIFIED FM transmitters? I live in a coastal tourist town and everytime I drive by those 12 story hotels I think, "That would be an awesome location for a transmitter!" Or would it?
Would the signal even make it off the roof or would it cause me to go over the field strength requirement? I know AM has more power, but would it make a difference that high up with a mediocre ground?
Thanks for your help!
Jeff
I have a supposedly legal FM system from Ramsey, and their supposedly high performance (but still legal) antenna to use with it. I have to say, don't bother. Coverage on your average cheap receiver is about 200 feet, more with a good receiver but not enough to really do the job. So it probably wouldn't do much more than make it to the ground. I haven't tried ours from the roof yet because the weather has gotten cold and wet. I'll try in the spring (just for fun), but I have a feeling that my distance will be even less since the signal needs to make it down to the receiver.
My initial testing was done with the center of the antenna about 8-10 feet off the ground strapped to PVC pipe. Equipment was an old Ramsey FM25 and their TM-100 antenna. The FM25 requires a power reduction to be legal, but notice that they probably still do not tell you how much reduction is needed. When I tested ours, I did so before making the power reduction, so I wouldn't expect too much from the modified transmitter. The newer FM25B has more output power, and requires a larger reduction.