Back in the 70s a friend who operated a TV repair shop gave me a homemade FM transmitter with three stages, each tunable by a slug coil. I put an FM antenna in the attic and tuned it up for peak output, probably 1-watt, and a couple I knew tuned in every Friday night for the latest comedy recordings together with my banter, then they’d call on the telephone and we’d laugh ourselves silly. Meanwhile, in between, the other households had no idea this was going on. No victims, no interference to licensed stations, no homeland insecurity.
scwis says
Those were the days
Back when radio stations had local ownership and most were managed like any other local business – as a part of the community.
Years ago a local radio station might even donate old equipment to a young person experimenting with radio.
(Oh no, here comes a “when I was a kid” story)
In my old home town the local station reacted to a so-called pirate with “aw, isn’ that cute” rather than screaming for the FCC to come and shut them down.
The industry really has decended into a nightmare. Lawsuits, some syndicated crap taking another local market, deaths and firings are about all you see on Radio & Records any more.
Sad.
rock95seven says
1-watt fm
1 watt into a grounplane 22 ft on top of a chimney.
I didnt think I was going to cover much ground with my station considering all the hills around me here in Kentucky.
At the time I was working at a commercial station where i lost my overnight dj shift to satelite programming and digilink software.
I was left feeling kind of empty without that show, it was fun even if I was getting requests from the local prison and the cops in the next town.
Thats when i decided to roll my own station. Channel Z, taken from the B-52’s song ” getting nothin’ but static, static in my attic from Channel Z”.
I covered more land than i ever imagined, if you parked on a hill 2 miles from my house the signal was sweet. At one point i had a ramsey am-1 hooked to a 80 ft dipole but it was almost legal covering only a 1/4 mile in all directions.
All music all the time! A mixing board from rad shack, and a vcr with music recorded on stereo vhs tapes. Ahh so much fun.
RADIOBRANDY says
My first was a Graymark
My first station, was powered by a Graymark 505 tube transmitter. The transmitter fed a long wire antenna that stretched from the house to a telephone pole in back, and then onto another power pole.
The normal coverage was only a few blocks but for some reason the signal followed the power poles on Moorpark Rd. in Thousand Oaks from Wilbur to Olson Rd a distance of about 3 miles and the poles that ran behind the house for 3 miles. As long as you were near the power lines the signal was very strong. I also found if I fed audio into the transformer that was suppose to be connected to a speaker that coverage and loudness improved tremendously .
The studios were located in an addition behind the garage, where as a 15 year old I would spin records for hours. My mother thought the station only covered a house or two and I wasting my time until I invited people over for a studio tour on the air. Within a short time the studios and neighborhood were packed with teenagers and college students; Boy was my mother shocked! Just like that, my little radio station became the new hangout on Friday nights, even more kids would pack the Park Oaks shopping center parking lot.
You can read more along with pictures here:
http://www.radiobrandy.com/KKTO.html
To get an ideal of our coverage area and location, type this address into Google or MSN Maps:
699 Old Farm Rd. Thousand Oaks Ca. 91360, you can zoom in pretty close to see the add on in the back of the house. zoom out and you will see we were close to two schools and P.O. shopping center where KNJO radio use to be.
Adding 5 watts to the AM and FM with 40 watts ERP only caused the parties to grow, along with the audience. I think it’s fair to say the radio bug bit me real good! While I have dropped the power, the studios continue to grow, to what is now overflowing into the living room.
I will be posting pictures of the new living room studios on Radio Brandy soon.
Steve
Radio Brandy
jem777 says
Uhmmmm. Indeed very
Uhmmmm. Indeed very interesting. I never thought this happened a long time ago. Most people have their techniques in doing this in their household.
WILCOM LABS says
not a good idea
Remember that the FCC will deny a license to anyone with a past history of illegal operation. Its not a good idea to reveal this info in this public forum. You will never be able to get a LPFM,full power or any other broadcast license. (They DO read these posts,FYI).