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Done. The FCC has some information about the E911 system that carriers like Verizon and Sprint are already rolling out. Basically, it gives the 911 operator your GPS location. This could easily be expanded to other things as well, but many of the higher end and newer cell phones come with it built in. E911 is currently being tested in select areas, but eventually it should become nationwide.

Done. The FCC has some information about the E911 system that carriers like Verizon and Sprint are already rolling out. Basically, it gives the 911 operator your GPS location. This could easily be expanded to other things as well, but many of the higher end and newer cell phones come with it built in. E911 is currently being tested in select areas, but eventually it should become nationwide.

I never thought I'd say this, but apparently I now live in "the sticks". My wife and I bought a new house over the summer, in a smaller village, away from the city where we work ( about 20 miles ).

I gave up my road runner internet access to do this. Fortunately ( so I thought ) the local phone company "out there" is Verizon.... I smell DSL!!!

Wrong.

Largest DSL provider in the Milky Way??? Sure. Only... just not where I moved to. Now, understand - it's NOT because I'm too far from the station. I can see it ( through the trees ).

Next call to the local cable company - does the local cable company offer anything? Abso-friggin-lootly not. Nothing. Nada. "Broadband? Sir, we offer our new VHF package with one HBO channel. Broadband? Internet - Never heard of it."

I have Dish Network for my television service ( must watch college football - Go Blue!
Nonetheless, I've been relegated to my dial-up connection, that connects, believe it or not, at 53k.

Now... what I REALLY want to know is why I hear SO MUCH HYPE about making broadband available to EVERYONE but it's all just TALK.

You see, there's a fundamental flaw here. For example, Earthlink offers high-speed cable access to their customers..... in Time-Warner serviced areas. Huh? Wait a minute. Time-Warner customers already HAVE access. Time-Warner owns Road Runner. So, what they're saying is, I can get Earthlink internet access over my Road Runner line? HELLO - WHAT ABOUT ME??? Why is Earthlink competing with Time-Warner for their own lines when there are poor saps like me stuck "in the boonies" with a local cable company but no cable internet access??? They could corner the friggin' market if they'd tap that. Instead, they'd rather offer access where there's already access. Earthlink isn't the only bone-headed provider. There are others but for the sake of brevity, I'll leave it at just them. I just don't get it.

My Nextel bills have a "number portability fee" every month. I assumed that the reason for that was that the mobile numbers were now portable to other carriers. I'm pretty sure that I'd read something about a new law requiring such a thing. Then, I could be confused...

According to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/numbport.html , cell providers shouldn't charge that fee unless all carriers in the area support portability, so apperently central IL has that service (or Nextel is screwing me)... :) Check with your provider, it's possible that your number is portable.

First off, the name of the original act is called the "Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act", and was passed in 1992 - it is more commonly called the "1992 Cable Act".

Here is the FCC FAQ regarding the act...

The actual provision is on page 280.

Both of those links are PDF.

The actual provision is on page 280.

Both of those links are PDF.

Loads more info straight from the Horse's mouth.

Incidentally, these websites are extraordinarily helpful. Now that the government has effectively scared serious criminals away from using the phone, we're free to spend much more time spying on political "agitators" and minor drug dealers :)

How do the FCC and CRTC deal with this now in Canada-US border areas?

Yes, there is recourse for you.

What they are doing is against federal law. You should gather a certain ammount of information about them, then file a complaint with the FCC and/or sue them... they are likely liable to you for $1500 or more.

For more detailed information see the Telephone Consumer Protection Act

If you want to know who is making some piece of hardware you can check out their FCC filing .

Often if several companies sell the same thing with different branding they
will share the same fcc id number

This report from the fcc has some hard facts. It's detailed and authoritative. The presentation of the data is slanted towards documenting rates of adoption. More fcc resources are here and here.

Digital Divide has some easy to read charts from the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau. Again, the data are not up-to-the-moment current, but they are reliable. And interesting. For example, you might be surprised at how many high income earners use dialup, or how many not-so-wealthy people use broadband.

A variety of U.S governent reports can be found here.

*****

This +1 informative post brought to you courtesy of Google and the 56K modem : )

This report from the fcc has some hard facts. It's detailed and authoritative. The presentation of the data is slanted towards documenting rates of adoption. More fcc resources are here and here.

Digital Divide has some easy to read charts from the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau. Again, the data are not up-to-the-moment current, but they are reliable. And interesting. For example, you might be surprised at how many high income earners use dialup, or how many not-so-wealthy people use broadband.

A variety of U.S governent reports can be found here.

*****

This +1 informative post brought to you courtesy of Google and the 56K modem : )

This report from the fcc has some hard facts. It's detailed and authoritative. The presentation of the data is slanted towards documenting rates of adoption. More fcc resources are here and here.

Digital Divide has some easy to read charts from the Commerce Department and the Census Bureau. Again, the data are not up-to-the-moment current, but they are reliable. And interesting. For example, you might be surprised at how many high income earners use dialup, or how many not-so-wealthy people use broadband.

A variety of U.S governent reports can be found here.

*****

This +1 informative post brought to you courtesy of Google and the 56K modem : )

JUst for your info, fcc has no oversight on cable. FTC does. FCC is airwaves, FTC is trade.

Have you been living in a cave?

[from http://www.fcc.gov/mb/]
"The Media Bureau develops, recommends and administers the policy and licensing programs relating to electronic media, including cable television, broadcast television, and radio in the United States and its territories. The Media Bureau also handles post-licensing matters regarding Direct Broadcast Satellite service."

The FCC just announce standards for Digital Radio: fcc.gov

If "clear signal" is one of the key benefits of satelite radio, I would call this a major killer of the industry. Can you say "I-R-I-D-I-U-M"? I plan to be operating XM Radio in 6 months after I pick it up on EBay for $50.

I'm not sure what radio modems they are using. But, it actually sounds a little archaic if you ask me. I mean you have to work with what you have when you're on a budget (or worse ... don't have one). But, it seems that this could be setup a lot better with some equipment donotions. HAMs (amatuer radio operators) are generally relatively generous people. And, all they would need is a couple HF radios since they have the computers already.

AX.25 is natively supported in Linux, and could easily be leveraged to make this whole thing a lot better. With some donated HF radios, they could have routable RF network up all the time in no time. They might even be able to use APRS instead of AX.25. But, AX.25 is a more proven protocol for this type of thing. See the AX.25 Linux HOWTO for details. Information about the protocol can be found at TAPR's website. They might even be able to get a little bit more speed, though not much, by using 10 Meter (28 MHz) FM. Though 10M can be probmatic sometimes, so I'm not sure I'd recommend that. 20M (14 MHz) and down are much better frequencies if you want something reliable. A DSP based noise filter would certainly help things in regards to speed, but they cost a bit of money.

As far as the modem goes... You can use a sound card and a small "control" box. All the box does is operate the PTT (push to talk) circuit. So, you might be able to do with out that if you wire things up just so. But, I have not played with that as of yet. You can also use a Terminal Node Controller (TNC) to get the signal to the radio. Some of the newer TNCs have a DSP filter built in, so that could be an advantage there. But, the best you can hope for on HF is about 2400 bps at half duplex, and 2400 is pushing it. There's just too much noise on Upper/Lower Side Band, and I'm not sure if you would want to use AM (though that might be an option).

There are a number of sites to check out if anyone is interested in digital commincations over amatuer radio. TAPR is a very good one, as is RATS. RATS works with a protocol known as ROSE. There is another one called NETROM, but I don't have a link readily available for that. TCP/IP is by far the best for this type of thing though. You can also check out the ARRL's site, and the FCC's amatuer radio page, for more information on amatuer radio in general here in the United States. BTW, you don't need to know morse code anymore to get on VHF/UHF. And, to get on HF you only need 5 wpm on the code, which is not all that hard.

Ok, I admit that last paragraph was a sales pitch. But, amatuer radio seems to be a dying hobby; at least here in the US. So, anything that can be done to increase interest is a good thing. :)

I'll step down off my soap box now.

I'm not sure what radio modems they are using. But, it actually sounds a little archaic if you ask me. I mean you have to work with what you have when you're on a budget (or worse ... don't have one). But, it seems that this could be setup a lot better with some equipment donotions. HAMs (amatuer radio operators) are generally relatively generous people. And, all they would need is a couple HF radios since they have the computers already.

AX.25 is natively supported in Linux, and could easily be leveraged to make this whole thing a lot better. With some donated HF radios, they could have routable RF network up all the time in no time. They might even be able to use APRS instead of AX.25. But, AX.25 is a more proven protocol for this type of thing. See the AX.25 Linux HOWTO for details. Information about the protocol can be found at TAPR's website. They might even be able to get a little bit more speed, though not much, by using 10 Meter (28 MHz) FM. Though 10M can be probmatic sometimes, so I'm not sure I'd recommend that. 20M (14 MHz) and down are much better frequencies if you want something reliable. A DSP based noise filter would certainly help things in regards to speed, but they cost a bit of money.

As far as the modem goes... You can use a sound card and a small "control" box. All the box does is operate the PTT (push to talk) circuit. So, you might be able to do with out that if you wire things up just so. But, I have not played with that as of yet. You can also use a Terminal Node Controller (TNC) to get the signal to the radio. Some of the newer TNCs have a DSP filter built in, so that could be an advantage there. But, the best you can hope for on HF is about 2400 bps at half duplex, and 2400 is pushing it. There's just too much noise on Upper/Lower Side Band, and I'm not sure if you would want to use AM (though that might be an option).

There are a number of sites to check out if anyone is interested in digital commincations over amatuer radio. TAPR is a very good one, as is RATS. RATS works with a protocol known as ROSE. There is another one called NETROM, but I don't have a link readily available for that. TCP/IP is by far the best for this type of thing though. You can also check out the ARRL's site, and the FCC's amatuer radio page, for more information on amatuer radio in general here in the United States. BTW, you don't need to know morse code anymore to get on VHF/UHF. And, to get on HF you only need 5 wpm on the code, which is not all that hard.

Ok, I admit that last paragraph was a sales pitch. But, amatuer radio seems to be a dying hobby; at least here in the US. So, anything that can be done to increase interest is a good thing. :)

I'll step down off my soap box now.

This is all happening as part of the new Enhanced 911 service infrastructure. Make a 911 call and they can find you without you giving them crappy directions.

In fact, there are companies lined up to take advantage of these so-called "location" services. Location-based services will merge with things like instant messaging to provide enhanced presence and applications.

If all this scares you, cancel your cell phone plan.

No, they don't. It is more efficent than current television.

I think you are a troll.

No, they don't. It is more efficent than current television.

I think you are a troll.

Michael K. Powell
Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Michael J. Copps
Kevin J. Martin
Additional Information

Michael K. Powell
Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Michael J. Copps
Kevin J. Martin
Additional Information

Michael K. Powell
Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Michael J. Copps
Kevin J. Martin
Additional Information

Michael K. Powell
Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Michael J. Copps
Kevin J. Martin
Additional Information

Michael K. Powell
Kathleen Q. Abernathy
Michael J. Copps
Kevin J. Martin
Additional Information

Autodialers produce, store and dial telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator. Autodialers are usually used to place artificial (computerized) or prerecorded voice calls. Except for emergency calls or calls made with the prior express consent of the person being called, autodialers and any artificial or prerecorded voice messages may not be used to contact numbers assigned to:

• any emergency telephone line;
• the telephone line of any guest or patient room at a hospital, health care facility, home for the elderly, or similar establishment;
• a paging service, cellular telephone service, or other radio common carrier service, if the person being called would be charged for the call; or
• any other service for which the person being called would be charged for the call.

As others have pointed, yes Virginia, there is a law. 47 U.S.C. 227. and the implementing regulations at 47 C.F.R. 64.1200.

And you get to play federal enforcement officer. Under the statute, any telemarketer that violates the regs, you get to drag them into your local small claims court and fry them for $500 to 1500 per violation. I've done it fir the last 5 years, and have collected (yup... cashed the checks and got the money) over $100,000.

Now the interesting part. The FCC is holding a rulemaking proceeding and asking for public comments on 1) what problems consumers are currently experiencing with telemarketing and junk faxing, and 2) asking for comments on what changes there should be to the 47 C.F.R. 64.1200 regulations.

File your comments!!! You can file comments via a web form or e-mail at the FCC web site (Docket 102-278).

A consumer has a simplified CGI form with instruction and sample comments here.

I used to work as a telemarketer in the past (Don't mod me down because I needed a job...) and I've learned a few tricks to beat telemarketers.

Do Not Call Lists: All telemarketing centers have a Do Not Call list. Two of them in fact. The first is required by law for the center to remove you from their calling list if you say the words "Put me on your do not call list" This information is entered by the telemarketer into the system and your name is then removed from the system for that Company.

In many cases, A center will have multiple Companies that they do calling for. Requesting to be placed on the "Coperate Do Not Call List" will not only remove you from the list the telemarketer is calling for, but also any other company that the center does any telemarketing for at that time and in the future. That will help in making sure that the center does not call again in the future (Next time, try asking the telemarketer who they actually work for, usually it's not the one they're calling on behalf of.)

As Well, in the United States, you as a consumer are protected by the "Telephone Consumer's Protection Act" (TCPA), which requires the telemarketer to give you the company name and telephone number where you can reach them. If they fail to do so at the end of the call (IE, if they think you hang up, and just don't say it even to dead air), then you have the right to sue the company for up to $10,000. Not all states fall under the same rules, so check out here for more info on it

Some states also have what's call a no rebutal law, which should prevent the telemarketer from rebuting you (ie. saying "I understand your hesitation but..."), when you say "No" they have to end the call there. Check out your state laws to find out if you fall in this category as well.

The FCC would seem to disagree.

Actually ANY cell phone with or without service will allow 911 calls (so I've read here). The programming required is to change the originating number to 123-456-7890 so the 911 operator knows it is a 911 only phone and can not get call backs.

Remember that your contract is only 1 year. If by the time my year is up, this is still the best deal around, I'll stick with it, but if not, hey, there's competition. Now if only the FCC will get in gear w/ Telephone Number Portability

The RIAA and music distributors can save (or make more) money if they only have to pimp for a few artists. That is why we appear to have premade molded megastars like Britney Spears, a couple boy bands and a few rappers. This is all they can realistically promote and push along without saturating their business process and not have to compete with themselves. By allowing more bands through, or allowing uncontrolled distribution outside of their control will cut into this business plan. IMHO this is why they must maintain control of the music. Piracy, although probably not near the problem they make it out to be, is more a front for this agenda. The media conglomerates fought tooth and nail to prevent small lower powered "local" radio stations for this same reason, to maintain control of the consumers and limit your choice to their choice.

Let me get you started in the right direction:

You don't need to "buy the rights to rebroadcast the songs from the record companies, song writers, and publishers". You merely need to pay royalties for the public performances of copyrighted compositions to ASCAP, BMI and possibly SESAC. The total of all these will be around 5-6% of your stations gross revenue.

Copyright law specifically exempts FCC-licensed radio stations from any fees for public performance of the "Sound Recording" (that is, the copyrights owned by the record companies).

As for the power you will need to cover a decent sized metro area - you sure don't need 50-100,000 watts. The FCC breaks the license classes down into 3 main groups, Class A, B and C. Class A are typically around 5kw, Class B, 50kw, and Class C, 100kw. But an important distinction here is that these amounts are not transmitter power, but ERP (effective radiated power). Also, depending upon your transmitter's HAAT (Height above average terrain), you may be authorized for a lower power than the class of license's maximum.

You would be surprised how well 1000 watts ERP on a hill into a good circular-polarized antenna system will cover a metro area. In fact, in Los Angeles, one station transmits a mere 600 watts from Mt. Wilson and covers all of the greater Los Angeles metro area. In their case, it's the height that gives them the coverage, not so much the power.

You can learn more about station coverage contours, power and classes from the FCC.

But before you get into all that, you should read the FCC's Broadcast Station Application Process. Did I forget to mention that you need to either buy an existing license or apply for a new one? And before you can even apply for a new license, you'll need to prove that you have the financial resources to complete the station and do a technical feasibility study - usually a spacing study for commercial FM (to make sure you can fit your station into the band without causing interference to existing stations) or a Interference study for noncommercial/educational stations (in the 88.1-91.9 part of the band. You can't do these yourself, you'll need to hire a company who specializes in this and has access to the FCCs databases. Dataworld is a company that has been doing this for over 25 years.

Before you get started on this, you should do a lot of background reading. An FCC licensed station is not a toy o hobby and there is a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with it. Fortunately, the FCC has a How to Apply for a Broadcast Station section of their site. Unfortunately, it starts off like this:

Potential applicants for radio and television services should be aware that frequencies for these services are always in heavy demand. For example, the Commission received approximately 30,000 inquiries from persons seeking to start radio broadcast stations last year. Where broadcast frequencies remain available, competing applications are routinely received. Thus, you are cautioned at the outset that the filing of an application does not guarantee that you will receive a broadcast station construction permit. You should also be aware that in many areas of the country, no frequencies may be available on which a new station could commence operating without causing interference to existing stations, which would violate FCC rules.

There are so many other things you're going to have to think about before you apply for a license as well.

• Is the transmitter going to be at the same location as the studio? If not, how are you going to get the signal to the transmitter? (A STL, microwave band studio transmitter link, is a popular way - but you'll need a license for this too...
• If your studio is going to be co-located with your transmitter, you have to pay a lot of concern to keeping RF interference from your transmiter out of your audio signals. This means 600 ohm balanced audio feeds, not the typical RCA or miniplug consumer unbalanced audio lines.
• The minimum hardware you'll need is a transmitter/exciter, audio processor/stereo generator, antenna system, tower, Emergency alert system hardware, etc.
• You may be required to provide the FCC with a "Proof of Performance" - going out with a GPS and signal strenght meter, and proving that your transmitter and antenna system are operating as planned.
• You'll also need some monitoring instruments to make sure that your station isn't putting out too much power, or transmitting with too high of deviation (overmodulation).
• Last you'll need a way to feed audio. A Linux box playing MP3s probably won't cut it. At a minimum, you need to schedule the "legal IDs" at the top of the hour. There are commercial broadcast automation packages out there that cost under $2000, alas they all run under Windoze. There is no reason you couldn't write one for Linux.
• And I think you need at least a small mixer and a microphone so that when you need to, you can address the audience. (And aternatively play music when you're doing upgrades to the automation system.)

I suggest you subscribe or read online Radio Shopper, a radio tech centric newsletter that also covers things that small operators need to do to fufill their oblications to the FCC and the community. And of corse, it's a great place to find used transmitters and antenna systems.

Some places to get a feel for the prices of this equipment are Broadcast Supply Worldwide and Harris Broadcast. If you are on a budget and need used equipment, Mooretronix is a great place to start.

Here's a great pictorial of the installation of a new FM antenna system and 60kw transmitter for KPFK in Los Angeles. Just to give you an idea of what is required. KPFK is a non-profit.

I also suggest reading Bob Gonsett's CGC Communicator, a really great technical newsletter for broadcasters in the Southern California area. There are hundreds of his past newsletters online, and you can read about the saga of new stations in SoCal, as well as issues with construction permits (station upgrades). Lots of good info here.

I hope this has helped give you some good background on what all is involved in starting a radio station. I've worked at a couple small commercial broadcast stations in the past. I assisted in some upgrades to the transmitters and antenna systems, so I got to see all that was involved with just the construction permit with the FCC. I even got to assist in a proof of performance once, back in the days before GPS. We had to do it all using topo and street maps.

So don't give up hope - you CAN start your own radio station. But it's really hard to do with just one person. And it will take a bunch of money. Get a critical mass of people together in your town, form a non-profit, there is a really good chance that it you're not in one of the top 100 radio markets that you can get a license and start a station.

I encourage you to try!

--rusty

Let me get you started in the right direction:

You don't need to "buy the rights to rebroadcast the songs from the record companies, song writers, and publishers". You merely need to pay royalties for the public performances of copyrighted compositions to ASCAP, BMI and possibly SESAC. The total of all these will be around 5-6% of your stations gross revenue.

Copyright law specifically exempts FCC-licensed radio stations from any fees for public performance of the "Sound Recording" (that is, the copyrights owned by the record companies).

As for the power you will need to cover a decent sized metro area - you sure don't need 50-100,000 watts. The FCC breaks the license classes down into 3 main groups, Class A, B and C. Class A are typically around 5kw, Class B, 50kw, and Class C, 100kw. But an important distinction here is that these amounts are not transmitter power, but ERP (effective radiated power). Also, depending upon your transmitter's HAAT (Height above average terrain), you may be authorized for a lower power than the class of license's maximum.

You would be surprised how well 1000 watts ERP on a hill into a good circular-polarized antenna system will cover a metro area. In fact, in Los Angeles, one station transmits a mere 600 watts from Mt. Wilson and covers all of the greater Los Angeles metro area. In their case, it's the height that gives them the coverage, not so much the power.

You can learn more about station coverage contours, power and classes from the FCC.

But before you get into all that, you should read the FCC's Broadcast Station Application Process. Did I forget to mention that you need to either buy an existing license or apply for a new one? And before you can even apply for a new license, you'll need to prove that you have the financial resources to complete the station and do a technical feasibility study - usually a spacing study for commercial FM (to make sure you can fit your station into the band without causing interference to existing stations) or a Interference study for noncommercial/educational stations (in the 88.1-91.9 part of the band. You can't do these yourself, you'll need to hire a company who specializes in this and has access to the FCCs databases. Dataworld is a company that has been doing this for over 25 years.

Before you get started on this, you should do a lot of background reading. An FCC licensed station is not a toy o hobby and there is a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with it. Fortunately, the FCC has a How to Apply for a Broadcast Station section of their site. Unfortunately, it starts off like this:

Potential applicants for radio and television services should be aware that frequencies for these services are always in heavy demand. For example, the Commission received approximately 30,000 inquiries from persons seeking to start radio broadcast stations last year. Where broadcast frequencies remain available, competing applications are routinely received. Thus, you are cautioned at the outset that the filing of an application does not guarantee that you will receive a broadcast station construction permit. You should also be aware that in many areas of the country, no frequencies may be available on which a new station could commence operating without causing interference to existing stations, which would violate FCC rules.

There are so many other things you're going to have to think about before you apply for a license as well.

• Is the transmitter going to be at the same location as the studio? If not, how are you going to get the signal to the transmitter? (A STL, microwave band studio transmitter link, is a popular way - but you'll need a license for this too...
• If your studio is going to be co-located with your transmitter, you have to pay a lot of concern to keeping RF interference from your transmiter out of your audio signals. This means 600 ohm balanced audio feeds, not the typical RCA or miniplug consumer unbalanced audio lines.
• The minimum hardware you'll need is a transmitter/exciter, audio processor/stereo generator, antenna system, tower, Emergency alert system hardware, etc.
• You may be required to provide the FCC with a "Proof of Performance" - going out with a GPS and signal strenght meter, and proving that your transmitter and antenna system are operating as planned.
• You'll also need some monitoring instruments to make sure that your station isn't putting out too much power, or transmitting with too high of deviation (overmodulation).
• Last you'll need a way to feed audio. A Linux box playing MP3s probably won't cut it. At a minimum, you need to schedule the "legal IDs" at the top of the hour. There are commercial broadcast automation packages out there that cost under $2000, alas they all run under Windoze. There is no reason you couldn't write one for Linux.
• And I think you need at least a small mixer and a microphone so that when you need to, you can address the audience. (And aternatively play music when you're doing upgrades to the automation system.)

I suggest you subscribe or read online Radio Shopper, a radio tech centric newsletter that also covers things that small operators need to do to fufill their oblications to the FCC and the community. And of corse, it's a great place to find used transmitters and antenna systems.

Some places to get a feel for the prices of this equipment are Broadcast Supply Worldwide and Harris Broadcast. If you are on a budget and need used equipment, Mooretronix is a great place to start.

Here's a great pictorial of the installation of a new FM antenna system and 60kw transmitter for KPFK in Los Angeles. Just to give you an idea of what is required. KPFK is a non-profit.

I also suggest reading Bob Gonsett's CGC Communicator, a really great technical newsletter for broadcasters in the Southern California area. There are hundreds of his past newsletters online, and you can read about the saga of new stations in SoCal, as well as issues with construction permits (station upgrades). Lots of good info here.

I hope this has helped give you some good background on what all is involved in starting a radio station. I've worked at a couple small commercial broadcast stations in the past. I assisted in some upgrades to the transmitters and antenna systems, so I got to see all that was involved with just the construction permit with the FCC. I even got to assist in a proof of performance once, back in the days before GPS. We had to do it all using topo and street maps.

So don't give up hope - you CAN start your own radio station. But it's really hard to do with just one person. And it will take a bunch of money. Get a critical mass of people together in your town, form a non-profit, there is a really good chance that it you're not in one of the top 100 radio markets that you can get a license and start a station.

I encourage you to try!

--rusty

Let me get you started in the right direction:

You don't need to "buy the rights to rebroadcast the songs from the record companies, song writers, and publishers". You merely need to pay royalties for the public performances of copyrighted compositions to ASCAP, BMI and possibly SESAC. The total of all these will be around 5-6% of your stations gross revenue.

Copyright law specifically exempts FCC-licensed radio stations from any fees for public performance of the "Sound Recording" (that is, the copyrights owned by the record companies).

As for the power you will need to cover a decent sized metro area - you sure don't need 50-100,000 watts. The FCC breaks the license classes down into 3 main groups, Class A, B and C. Class A are typically around 5kw, Class B, 50kw, and Class C, 100kw. But an important distinction here is that these amounts are not transmitter power, but ERP (effective radiated power). Also, depending upon your transmitter's HAAT (Height above average terrain), you may be authorized for a lower power than the class of license's maximum.

You would be surprised how well 1000 watts ERP on a hill into a good circular-polarized antenna system will cover a metro area. In fact, in Los Angeles, one station transmits a mere 600 watts from Mt. Wilson and covers all of the greater Los Angeles metro area. In their case, it's the height that gives them the coverage, not so much the power.

You can learn more about station coverage contours, power and classes from the FCC.

But before you get into all that, you should read the FCC's Broadcast Station Application Process. Did I forget to mention that you need to either buy an existing license or apply for a new one? And before you can even apply for a new license, you'll need to prove that you have the financial resources to complete the station and do a technical feasibility study - usually a spacing study for commercial FM (to make sure you can fit your station into the band without causing interference to existing stations) or a Interference study for noncommercial/educational stations (in the 88.1-91.9 part of the band. You can't do these yourself, you'll need to hire a company who specializes in this and has access to the FCCs databases. Dataworld is a company that has been doing this for over 25 years.

Before you get started on this, you should do a lot of background reading. An FCC licensed station is not a toy o hobby and there is a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with it. Fortunately, the FCC has a How to Apply for a Broadcast Station section of their site. Unfortunately, it starts off like this:

Potential applicants for radio and television services should be aware that frequencies for these services are always in heavy demand. For example, the Commission received approximately 30,000 inquiries from persons seeking to start radio broadcast stations last year. Where broadcast frequencies remain available, competing applications are routinely received. Thus, you are cautioned at the outset that the filing of an application does not guarantee that you will receive a broadcast station construction permit. You should also be aware that in many areas of the country, no frequencies may be available on which a new station could commence operating without causing interference to existing stations, which would violate FCC rules.

There are so many other things you're going to have to think about before you apply for a license as well.

• Is the transmitter going to be at the same location as the studio? If not, how are you going to get the signal to the transmitter? (A STL, microwave band studio transmitter link, is a popular way - but you'll need a license for this too...
• If your studio is going to be co-located with your transmitter, you have to pay a lot of concern to keeping RF interference from your transmiter out of your audio signals. This means 600 ohm balanced audio feeds, not the typical RCA or miniplug consumer unbalanced audio lines.
• The minimum hardware you'll need is a transmitter/exciter, audio processor/stereo generator, antenna system, tower, Emergency alert system hardware, etc.
• You may be required to provide the FCC with a "Proof of Performance" - going out with a GPS and signal strenght meter, and proving that your transmitter and antenna system are operating as planned.
• You'll also need some monitoring instruments to make sure that your station isn't putting out too much power, or transmitting with too high of deviation (overmodulation).
• Last you'll need a way to feed audio. A Linux box playing MP3s probably won't cut it. At a minimum, you need to schedule the "legal IDs" at the top of the hour. There are commercial broadcast automation packages out there that cost under $2000, alas they all run under Windoze. There is no reason you couldn't write one for Linux.
• And I think you need at least a small mixer and a microphone so that when you need to, you can address the audience. (And aternatively play music when you're doing upgrades to the automation system.)

I suggest you subscribe or read online Radio Shopper, a radio tech centric newsletter that also covers things that small operators need to do to fufill their oblications to the FCC and the community. And of corse, it's a great place to find used transmitters and antenna systems.

Some places to get a feel for the prices of this equipment are Broadcast Supply Worldwide and Harris Broadcast. If you are on a budget and need used equipment, Mooretronix is a great place to start.

Here's a great pictorial of the installation of a new FM antenna system and 60kw transmitter for KPFK in Los Angeles. Just to give you an idea of what is required. KPFK is a non-profit.

I also suggest reading Bob Gonsett's CGC Communicator, a really great technical newsletter for broadcasters in the Southern California area. There are hundreds of his past newsletters online, and you can read about the saga of new stations in SoCal, as well as issues with construction permits (station upgrades). Lots of good info here.

I hope this has helped give you some good background on what all is involved in starting a radio station. I've worked at a couple small commercial broadcast stations in the past. I assisted in some upgrades to the transmitters and antenna systems, so I got to see all that was involved with just the construction permit with the FCC. I even got to assist in a proof of performance once, back in the days before GPS. We had to do it all using topo and street maps.

So don't give up hope - you CAN start your own radio station. But it's really hard to do with just one person. And it will take a bunch of money. Get a critical mass of people together in your town, form a non-profit, there is a really good chance that it you're not in one of the top 100 radio markets that you can get a license and start a station.

I encourage you to try!

--rusty

Let me get you started in the right direction:

You don't need to "buy the rights to rebroadcast the songs from the record companies, song writers, and publishers". You merely need to pay royalties for the public performances of copyrighted compositions to ASCAP, BMI and possibly SESAC. The total of all these will be around 5-6% of your stations gross revenue.

Copyright law specifically exempts FCC-licensed radio stations from any fees for public performance of the "Sound Recording" (that is, the copyrights owned by the record companies).

As for the power you will need to cover a decent sized metro area - you sure don't need 50-100,000 watts. The FCC breaks the license classes down into 3 main groups, Class A, B and C. Class A are typically around 5kw, Class B, 50kw, and Class C, 100kw. But an important distinction here is that these amounts are not transmitter power, but ERP (effective radiated power). Also, depending upon your transmitter's HAAT (Height above average terrain), you may be authorized for a lower power than the class of license's maximum.

You would be surprised how well 1000 watts ERP on a hill into a good circular-polarized antenna system will cover a metro area. In fact, in Los Angeles, one station transmits a mere 600 watts from Mt. Wilson and covers all of the greater Los Angeles metro area. In their case, it's the height that gives them the coverage, not so much the power.

You can learn more about station coverage contours, power and classes from the FCC.

But before you get into all that, you should read the FCC's Broadcast Station Application Process. Did I forget to mention that you need to either buy an existing license or apply for a new one? And before you can even apply for a new license, you'll need to prove that you have the financial resources to complete the station and do a technical feasibility study - usually a spacing study for commercial FM (to make sure you can fit your station into the band without causing interference to existing stations) or a Interference study for noncommercial/educational stations (in the 88.1-91.9 part of the band. You can't do these yourself, you'll need to hire a company who specializes in this and has access to the FCCs databases. Dataworld is a company that has been doing this for over 25 years.

Before you get started on this, you should do a lot of background reading. An FCC licensed station is not a toy o hobby and there is a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with it. Fortunately, the FCC has a How to Apply for a Broadcast Station section of their site. Unfortunately, it starts off like this:

Potential applicants for radio and television services should be aware that frequencies for these services are always in heavy demand. For example, the Commission received approximately 30,000 inquiries from persons seeking to start radio broadcast stations last year. Where broadcast frequencies remain available, competing applications are routinely received. Thus, you are cautioned at the outset that the filing of an application does not guarantee that you will receive a broadcast station construction permit. You should also be aware that in many areas of the country, no frequencies may be available on which a new station could commence operating without causing interference to existing stations, which would violate FCC rules.

There are so many other things you're going to have to think about before you apply for a license as well.

• Is the transmitter going to be at the same location as the studio? If not, how are you going to get the signal to the transmitter? (A STL, microwave band studio transmitter link, is a popular way - but you'll need a license for this too...
• If your studio is going to be co-located with your transmitter, you have to pay a lot of concern to keeping RF interference from your transmiter out of your audio signals. This means 600 ohm balanced audio feeds, not the typical RCA or miniplug consumer unbalanced audio lines.
• The minimum hardware you'll need is a transmitter/exciter, audio processor/stereo generator, antenna system, tower, Emergency alert system hardware, etc.
• You may be required to provide the FCC with a "Proof of Performance" - going out with a GPS and signal strenght meter, and proving that your transmitter and antenna system are operating as planned.
• You'll also need some monitoring instruments to make sure that your station isn't putting out too much power, or transmitting with too high of deviation (overmodulation).
• Last you'll need a way to feed audio. A Linux box playing MP3s probably won't cut it. At a minimum, you need to schedule the "legal IDs" at the top of the hour. There are commercial broadcast automation packages out there that cost under $2000, alas they all run under Windoze. There is no reason you couldn't write one for Linux.
• And I think you need at least a small mixer and a microphone so that when you need to, you can address the audience. (And aternatively play music when you're doing upgrades to the automation system.)

I suggest you subscribe or read online Radio Shopper, a radio tech centric newsletter that also covers things that small operators need to do to fufill their oblications to the FCC and the community. And of corse, it's a great place to find used transmitters and antenna systems.

Some places to get a feel for the prices of this equipment are Broadcast Supply Worldwide and Harris Broadcast. If you are on a budget and need used equipment, Mooretronix is a great place to start.

Here's a great pictorial of the installation of a new FM antenna system and 60kw transmitter for KPFK in Los Angeles. Just to give you an idea of what is required. KPFK is a non-profit.

I also suggest reading Bob Gonsett's CGC Communicator, a really great technical newsletter for broadcasters in the Southern California area. There are hundreds of his past newsletters online, and you can read about the saga of new stations in SoCal, as well as issues with construction permits (station upgrades). Lots of good info here.

I hope this has helped give you some good background on what all is involved in starting a radio station. I've worked at a couple small commercial broadcast stations in the past. I assisted in some upgrades to the transmitters and antenna systems, so I got to see all that was involved with just the construction permit with the FCC. I even got to assist in a proof of performance once, back in the days before GPS. We had to do it all using topo and street maps.

So don't give up hope - you CAN start your own radio station. But it's really hard to do with just one person. And it will take a bunch of money. Get a critical mass of people together in your town, form a non-profit, there is a really good chance that it you're not in one of the top 100 radio markets that you can get a license and start a station.

I encourage you to try!

--rusty

UPDATE: here's the application

Also take a look at this page. If you are a school, you don't have to pay for a licence. If you can, start the radio station through your school.

UPDATE: here's the application

Also take a look at this page. If you are a school, you don't have to pay for a licence. If you can, start the radio station through your school.

Go to the FCC website and look around. They have a 'How To' right on their website. Kind of hidden, but it's there.

This story peaked my interest and I headed over to Ebay to see what kind of radio stations might be for sale... you never know.

What I found instead was a Ramsey FM Transmitter (model number FM-100) that was currently at $349. Turns out that's way overpriced, considering Ramsey sells it for $224.95, unless this is the high-power version that Ramsey isn't supposed to sell inside the US -- in which case that might be an excellent opportunity for somebody in the US to get this one from a "third party" -- I'm not saying you SHOULD, just that you COULD.

Anyway, I thought this was really neat. Is it going to give you miles and miles of coverage? Heck no. But it's an all-in-one FM transmitter, and replaces a bunch of hefty equipment that I remember from my days in FM radio as a kid. Especially if this is the "overseas version", you could get enough coverage for you and your friends.... then you can head over to the FCC's site about LPFM (Low Power FM) to see if, through your school or something, you could get a LPFM license. Apparently they're pretty straightfoward.

I would highly recommend you take a look at ham radio and maybe Monitoring Times and Popular Communications magazines. Sounds like you might be a good cadidate for a radio hobbyist. Good luck!

The first step in the process is to find out the rules that apply. That takes some research. Speaking with an attorney that specializes in communications is one way of doing the research. Alternatively, you can get copies of the rule books. You're looking for CFR Title 47 as well as the relevant FAA regulations if you're going to have a tower structure. These are available from the Government Printing Office Web Site They're also available at many libraries.

Here's a link to the FCC website regarding low power FM radio stations for noncommercial and educational entities - http://www.fcc.gov/mb/policy/lpfm/

A friend of mine and I actually ran a pirate station out his house for a week over spring break about 10 years ago. Despite what some people are saying on the list, you do not neet 50 to 100kW to cover a good area. In fact we covered most of our town on 25W and a j-pole antenna mounted at about 35ft on our antenna tower.

There's only one place I can think of off the top of my head to go for decent quality broadcast transmitters. That's Progressive Concepts (http://www.progressive-concepts.com). They have a decent selection of transmitters, stereo generators, amps, and a whole buch of other useful stuff for the FM broadcast band. It's been a while since I looked at their catalog but I vaguely remember that most of their equipment is for export only if you do not have a license. The hardest part of the whole process will be getting the license, not the equipment.

Good luck!

You need toi obtain a Radio Broadcast License before you even consider broadcasting on either the AM or FM bands. Go to How to Apply for a Broadcast Station - Audio Division (FCC) USA for a start.

If you don't want to go through all of the licensing requirements, I believe you can legally broadcast anytime you want, if you keep the station output power below 100 mW. That might be enough to cover a few square blocks, on a cold, clear night.

I looked into this last year, but dropped the idea once I put a cd player in my truck. You aren't going to be able to just start up a regular radio station, but the FCC did come up with some rules for low watt non-comercial radio broadcasting. The fees were fairly reasonable. Only somewhere in the neighboorhood of $90 per year, but you were limited to about 1w of power.FCC Just enough to go a mile or so. Equipment was pretty cheap. There are some all in one rigs that were only about $350. Just plug in your mp3 box and go. Check out this website.Pirate Radio They have some good info on equipment. The only thing that might hold you back would be the greedy music companies that want royalties everytime someone even thinks about one of their songs, much less plays them. A little legal advice or at bare minimum, legal mp3 copies (you actually own the cd's) of the music you're going to play is a must.

Are you in Rexburg?

I think to be on the air you need at least a Class 3 commercial radio liscence from the FCC. I'm not sure but it may be easier if it is a lower power station.

To get a frequency, you'll also need to talk to the FCC, but if there are that few a stations there then it shouldn't be difficult.

You can start pretty small, 25 watts could cover the campus (if you are in Rexburg) but getting a sender centrally located would be hard. But the equipment could be had for under $10,000 I'm guessing with land leasing for (if rexburg) under $1000 a year.

Perhaps you can do shortwave?

You don't have to be a Kreskin to see that *LPFM is dying. In the United States, applications for new low-power FM radio stations must be filed electronically within a five-day filing window. The FCC hasn't released any new filing window dates in 17 months. For all practical purposes, *LPFM is dead.

Here's the first place to look, its the e-filing page for the FCC, sign up for your call sign, register your antenna and so on...

Check and see if the coop board is following the FCC's rules on dishes. FCC Fact Sheet on Placement of Antennas

Or, if you have a window that faces the right way, set up the dish inside, in the window. (An apartment I used to live near was setup like this.)