Thought I’d use the blog function here to post about my ongoing effort to get a Talking House V AM transmitter optimized and on the air.
First, the background:
Web radio is wonderful, but rather tedious to tune into. Requires internet access, requires a device with working sound and requires a way to find the programming. There are other needs and cost therein which make the net experience not so optimal and rather expensive, especially in light of what cellular phone companies charge for data plans and inability for most to afford to radio over such.
Traditional radio, especially AM is widely available. Probably every house in the United States has an AM radio be it on a clock radio, on a boombox or in their car. Most households have several AM capable receivers.
AM radio is true, tried and tested. Listenership is there still. People refer to AM broadcasts for news and talk radio in most markets. Still most areas are totally underserved, lacking a local AM station and lacking local content. Too much of the AM band is filled (like FM) with the same programs syndicated on hundreds of stations clogging up the radio dial. This is especially true of the 50,000 watt blow torch stations people can hear for hundreds of miles away and in some case 38 of the 50 states.
Beyond the repetitive left vs. right rehash, there isn’t much on the AM dial. Music? Hardly any. Thought provoking content, none.
As the economy globally continues to sputter and dim, citizens will have less access to fewer resources (i.e. cable television, satellite radio, internet, etc.) to access news and information.
All of that led me to an old familiar do-it-yourself movement of microbroadcasting and the discovery of Part15 as a legal means to accomplish such.
In the past I’ve been one of those rogue characters with a transmitter wired and stored for emergency broadcasting and occasional transmissions to test the equipment. My range perhaps 2-3 miles point to point and collectively maybe 6-9 square miles. This is on the FM band and not a very optimized setup with all gear and antenna indoors. A true novice setup with little knowledge of how to do things “properly”. 5 watts of output.
So, in the past month, I’ve decided it was time for my neighborhood and ideally the surrounding city and adjacent towns to get a listenable alternative to the noise on the dial.
Carl Blare says
What Comes Next
I am following your transmitter developments and have commented a few times, and now I’m wondering what you (Censoredship) plan in the way of programming on your station.
You are very correct about web radio being a problematic way to broadcast. There are so many web stations, it’s like being a minnow in the Pacific Ocean.
AM radio is the best place for part 15 operation, a point you have made very nicely.
censoredship says
I can’t thank you enough Carl
I can’t thank you enough Carl for your tireless handouts in my journey and the volumes of posts you have made on here. Very much a kindred spirit with a similar broadcast attempt process (similar gear interest, similar experimentation, etc.)
I have a very tentative radio schedule partially filled out. Need to complete that, they automate the methods to retrieve for replay later or live path the content before I hard commit to any of it.
Very fond of programming I can record via their stream or even better those that have the content for download soon after the show airs (i.e. following hour).
Wanting to run something truly eclectic. Some music even though AM fidelity is ho-hum… World music, jazz and some down to earth Americana. Main programming will be talk format, but not the same rehash out there. Trying to give the best of what is truly worth hearing while avoiding stepping into the right vs. left political banter.
Looking for some shows that are very educational but entertaining to put in the mix and thinking about OTH, Old Time Radio shows for overnight.
ArtisanRadio says
I strongly believe that Part
I strongly believe that Part 15 stations need to stream their programming over the Internet. But ONLY after people find you, know you’re there, and decide to listen. And they listen over the Internet because Part 15 range is so limited.
It’s difficult to find a specific Internet station on the search websites; the chances of someone finding YOU there are pretty remote. I picked up a few listeners that way, but only because they accidently stumbled onto me.
The best way to get listeners is directed advertising. Social media is great for that. When we had our Cliff Richard weekend, we got the Cliff Richard fan club on board, and informed interested people through e-mail and Facebook. If you have local programming, get the local papers and business informed and involved.
And once you get listeners, the 2nd best way to increase the number of listeners is word of mouth.
censoredship says
Totally agree @ArtisianRadio
Totally agree @ArtisianRadio with the local outreach to reach listeners.
We are on a big corner lot in a residential area, but a busy neighborhood street runs along one side. So putting a simple, but effective sign people see is totally possible. Was thinking a sign that has the radio frequency and band and says something like “Listen to: 1700 AM” and create the sign out of LEDs ๐
Local paper here is in tatters and owned by out of town monster consolidator too. It’s barely the size of a high school paper and mostly syndicated garbage, so not too useful there. But a consideration ๐