Slashdot Mirror
FCC: Legal Low-Power FM Broadcasting Coming Soon
Arctic Fox writes "In an article (login needed) in today's NY Times, it is announced that the FCC will be allowing individuals and groups the ability to run low powered FM (yes, FM) radio stations.
It seems that many would-be DJs will get 100-watt stations with 7 mile operating radii, but the large markets - NY, Chicago, LA - will only be allowed to use 10-watt (4 mile) stations."
I've been waiting for something like this for a long time. How much would the transmitting hardware cost? I'd love to hook up my PC to one of these and start a radio station using mp3s that I have. Probably too expensive for a poor high school student though.
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
Assuming you already have a PC and a relatively high speed Internet connection, you can hit a worldwide audience doing webcasts. You might not be able to get the people in their cars, but you won't get too many of them anyway with a 4 to 7 mile range.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I can rebroadcast William Cooper from his
internet audio feed!
Anybody ever listen to Micro Kind?
everything on the radio is crap. maybe some decent stuff will be played now.
I';ll beleive this when I see it..
The FCC shut down a lot of the little stations at colleges/high school etc.
It would be great though. I used to DJ.. it was fun. the school had a 10 Watt mono FM station. The music was better than what everyone else was playing IMHO.
Now you can listen to good music whithout streaming MP3.
/A
this is a bad idea because then people could criticize the government on the radio and that would be bad
Why not just do webcasts? On MPI (Minnesota Public Radio) this morning they were discussing that issue. The FCC is trying to make the radio arena more diverse. One thing that they hope is that these small stations may someday go to the stars.
They are doing this because radio is becoming one big conglomerate - no diversity. The FCC also is amming this at private orgranizations like churches and hobby groups.
However if you wish to reach a large group of people - a webcast is far better, but remember in many areas of the world - people still have a standard 28.8 and cannot hear your broadcast (if this was not so, AOL wouldn't exist).
I think that this will be very helpful for several reasons.
1. It will get people interested in radio more - attract more people to the business.
2. It will create more stations and make some non-licensed broadcasters settle down because a fair amount will be content with a range of a couple miles.
3. It will force the industry to become more competitive and that will means more money put into research equaling more new tech.
I'm glad the FCC is finally trying something like this.
Is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork?
I was building 500 foot FM radio stations back when slashdotters were all in elementary school. The first one was an $8 microtransmitter from Radio Shack. The second one was a $25 stereo transmitter from Ramsey. They both ran between 89 and 100Mhz. Back then we didn't have very cheap sound cards, so you could either rebroadcast the radio or play a CD in a loop. You know you're getting old when the chairman of the FCC is younger than you.
This could be a good boost for businesses which sell music or music-related products in their stores. They could get a low-wattage radio station setup to play what they're playing in store or a seperate player playing all the time, with their jingle and location, so that people who can catch it on their radios could find it relatively easy, since they're in the neighbourhood.
But for those who usually don't change stations on their radios by seeking, I doubt this would matter. (: Still, an idea.
What are the limitations? Does it have to be voice? Can you set up a radio computer network?
If there's another radio operator within that radius, can you use that as a relay?
This could be used as a way of finding new uses for the remaining airwaves
I am a 16 year old DJ from brookfield, WI and I LOVE this idea! For a long time I have looked into internet broadcasting but I couldnt afford the bandwidth. Now for a 1 time fee of 1g for the equipment..i mean..thats not bad.
:)
Wheres the internet signup page?
~DJ-Pyro
MPE
107.3 Mosh Pit Entertainment
but questions arise as to how they will possibly be able to monitor all of these new stations for appropriate content, and whether they will cause interference with "legitimate" stations and other electronic devices like telephone lines.
As a radio-freedom type kind of guy, I am heavily involved with our campus radio station, which stresses doing things that would NEVER be done on commercial radio, because commercial radio SUCKS!
This decision seems to be a GOOD-THING. (Besides, the FCC can be a bunch of a**holes at times.) This will theoretically allow more people to get their message out, and allow for more freedom of speech. It should be noted (as someone asked earlier) that FM modulators and transmitters are fairly expensive, they go from ~$1000 up to $10k+, so it's not really chump change for non-commercial stations.
The only drawback I can really see is that there will be more stations. Neighboring stations on the dial will tend to step on each others signal more, which is just not good (and rude besides). Also, I bet that there are a lot of stupid people out there who would broadcast crap. (I'm talking hate-mongers and what not. If more poeple braodcast crappy music, then more people will listen to the "good stations")
Any how, that's my take on it. Your opinions may vary, but as someone who is involved in a legitimate noncommercial station, I kind of have an insiders view.
A wealthy eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drum. But you may call me "Noodle Noggin."
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
I've heard that Congress is looking to pass a law nullifying the FCC decision.
It's time to install that transmitter i've had hidden away in the attic back into the trunk of my car again ;)
:)
My car's MP3 Collection and the drive to and from work should be a bit more interesting for some folks now
DMB RULES!
They are a threat to free speech and must be silenced! - Andrea Chen
Fish! LipHo
They've been arguing about this for over a year now. I'm a technical director for WHSR, the student radio station at Johns Hopkins University. We've been broadcasting over carrier current for about five years now (ever since the school gave their real broadcast license to NPR and company), and have been investigating the low power FM options since they were initially introduced for public analysis and comment. This was supposed to be approved by the FCC sometime last summer, but never quite happened. We're glad because it means we can broadcast to the entire community instead of just the dorms, and we can't wait.
:)
Now we just need a tower to mount an antenna on. Anyone got a few thousand bucks so we can rent space?
-Chris
I can already see ads like 99.9 for sale only $1,000,000
Apart from that this is a great idea. Although I am not the US of A so it hardly applies to me.
I'm not sure this will allow just anyone to get a licence for a 10/100 W station. The lead paragraph of the NYT article states
:)
"Moving to open the radio airwaves to hundreds of small broadcasters, the federal government is planning to approve rules to allow educational, religious and community groups to run inexpensive low-power FM radio stations."
I can't tell if the application would require some sort of verification of the "group's status" or not. It would be fairly easy to check the status of educational or religious groups, but a fair and consistent definition of "community group" may be hard to come by. However, I didn't see anywhere in the article a mention that individuals could apply for such a license. I guess my 24 hour a day polka station is out
Eric
Initially, I didn't think it made much sense- 4-7 miles isn't much of an audience-
But, if your goal *isn't* a world wide, or even a city-wide audience, there's alot that can be done.
If used as "neighborhood" radio stations, we might actually *have* neighborhoods again - there'd be something connecting people within the listening area, something tailored to that area. Even if we didn't get to know our neighbors, we'd certainly know what was going on with them - a whole new meaning of 'local' news.
Wow. I get all bouncy just thinking about it.
-Noiz,
Who'd like to teach the world to sing, apparently. Shoot.
---------
---------
I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
My high school had a ten watt FM station for about three years. I thought it was a great experience, both for fun and for learning. I forsee lots of schools and churches getting them. The transmitter, with todays solid state transmitters, I would guess would be under a grand, the biggest obstacle most would face is finding a decent antenna site that they can afford. A church steeple seems ready made, and already has power and shelter from the weather, unlike most hilltops.
(Do I support public broadcasting? Hell no; they have no interest in serving the community, as is supposed to be their charter...)
The FM band has so few frequencies and so much demand that almost no stations on the commercial part of it are not corporately owned. In the last two decades there has been an incredible change in how these stations are owned and operated. They have gone from business to big business. FCC changes in ownership rules allowed corporations to own more stations; the buying spree that followed had stations selling for much more than their worth, especially considering how broadband to the home, wireless 'net, and satellite broadcasting could make traditional radio stations into dinosaurs. All they do is transmit audio, fer chrissakes.
This in turn has led to a yet-greater reduction in the risk-taking that radio is likely to do. If it doesn't have a shot at a four share, it won't get on the air. While the rest of the society was diversifying from wanting 3-5 TV channels to wanting 50 to 200 and more, radio was in effect clamping down on diversity.
This in turn led to a large increase in pirate radio, the operators of which were ready to risk breaking federal law for the love of broadcasting and the love of serving the community through it.
Now that radio is on the edge of being irrelevant, the FCC is once again politically able to permit small broadcasters on the air. But the lesson, the moral of all this, is that government acts politically, not in the interests of the public; and even non-governmental organizations set up to serve the public act politically and work to preserve their own power.
I welcome the diversity of views, sounds, and ideas that will come about through this ruling. It's a little late now that the Internet has supplanted it.
About 2/3 down into the article, it says:
"F.C.C. officials will award licenses based on a group's ties to the local community the station would serve."
The church down the block, and the library will have a voice. Unless you have "ties" to your "community", you're still out.
The world is still safe from punk and dance.
Does anyone know how small the transmitters are and weather they could tranmit video signals?
I build high power rockets and I've been searching for something to transmit video signals from the rockets in flight back to the ground. I currently use an 8mm camcorder, but this calls for the rockets to be large, thus limiting my altitude. Maybe I should just lurn a little more about radio first.
When I was an undergrad I used to DJ for WBRS in Waltham Ma (http://www.wbrs.org) and we had a blast. But a few things to clear up.
It will cost you more than a few grand to setup a station. At least to do it right. You will nead All sorts of audio equipment and not the cheap stuff from Radio shack. But about 10 grand should do it, assuming that you don't have to pay for office space. Which is posible if you are being hosted by a University or other group.
Keeping a radio station going is a lot of work. At WBRS they run 24x7 on all volenteer labor. It can be a lot of fun but it can also be a major pain.
Small stations can do cool things. WBRS used to have live music from local bands on every week. And the only show in Yiddish in New England (They may still have them for all I know). And had a lot of other neet stuff.
The most important thing to get a microstation on the air is a group of very dedicated people. Because there is alot of work there. But good luck to all the folks who are going to try! I look forward to hearing the results on the radio.
Erlang Developer and podcaster
As if the world wasn't noisy enough. Now just about everyone who "wants to" will add to the random noise that saturates the airwaves. Special interest groups will be able to draw more and more attention to themselves (right, wrong, or, indifferent). What's the matter with quiet?
The fact that these are large i.e. congested markets we're talking about, your range for 10 watts isn't going to get you 4 miles. In Boston, with 10W you're lucky if you can get as far as five city blocks.
...[T]he radio business has consolidated in very dramatic fashion...
Oh well. Large markets also have DSL, so they don't need this IMO.
Don't they have market-ownership laws that are supposed to remedy that exact problem?
The nation's largest broadcasters have fought to block the rules... asserting that [this] could create interference for established stations in the form of static or distorted signals./i>
Sniffle. It's these same largest broadcasters who constantly increase their wattage, infringing (illegally) on other (usually smaller) stations' broadcast radii. And the FCC has approved these increases in most cases without a smidge of regard for the lower-power stations, who get rejected for their own power increase petitions, being drowned out.
The supporters of the F.C.C.'s move... included... the United States Catholic Conference and the United Church of Christ.
Between christian college radio stations (which always seem to be school-run as opposed to student-run) and AM radio, I'm not glad to hear that churches want to use this. I'm much more interested in the Stephen Dunifer (Free Radio Berkeley) types getting on.
I have to say in the realm of radio and maybe even TV, the FCC seems to mean well. But they normally have no teeth whatsoever when it comes to large-power stations.
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
The idea of allowing local organizations to broadcast on the FM dial with a seven mile radius is without a doubt a great thing. However, there really wasn't to much information in the article and I am sure it isn't as easy as yeah I want one too. Internet broadcast are much easier and can reach far more listeners. It might work if you want to broadcast to a couple of neighbors but I think this is too little too late. FM radio is done. How many actually listen to FM radio now these days anyways except for maybe talk radio. With the advent of CDradio.com and soon to be affordable Mp3 in the car I am more impressed with the "in your face" effort put forth by the FCC to the lobbyist for the commercial radio stations. Don't think those lobbyist didn't try to bribe them up and down or threaten. I think there is a bit more to this decision then what is on the surface. But for now another small win for the everyday american even if the win was by default of something bigger.
If you aren't making mistakes, you aren't working hard enough.
*Screeeee*
Crash.
"Ok, Boys and Girls. Looks like we got us a nasty 4 car pile-up in the first row..."
Nipok Nek
Why choose white shoes?
Wouldn't it be cool if people started using these bandwidths for small WANs using KISS or some other protocol? I wonder how the FCC would feel about that use. Sure you would be able to listen in on the radio, but if you like the sound of bandwidth, more power to ya.
The packets could be encrypted if you the security conscious type.
In response to:
> It seems that many would-be DJs will get
> 100-watt stations with 7 mile operating radii,
> but the large markets - NY, Chicago, LA - will
> only be allowed to use 10-watt (4 mile) stations."
I'm afraid this is misleading. It is incorrect to make this kind of relationship between transmitting power and the broadcasting range. Range is a function of many more things than power; probably the most important aspect of transmitting on FM is the type of antenna used, and of course, how it is used. Proper use of antennas are by far the most effective way to increase (or decrease) broadcasting range.
How about if someone set up an internet station, and then with friends and supporters all over the US set up thousands of relay stations broadcasting the station on FM to everybody - I am pretty sure it would be relatively to be able to cover at least the major cities - and anyone with the time to set up a radio transmitter could start relaying.
As far as I can tell, the US radio stations basically make or break artists - this would be a great way of breaking some of the really bad ones and making some of the ones that really deserve it.
Joel "Super Plant" Lewis
One thing that I don't know about-- at the proposed rulemaking announcement, one of the commissioners made a statement:
My second concern relates to the impact that creation of low power service may have on potential conversion to terrestrial digital radio service. I understand that there have been promising advances of late that can enable current radio operations to convert to digital transmission technology "in band on channel." Converting to digital transmission technology could improve the quality of radio service and potentially increase spectral efficiency. These are very real benefits and I would be concerned if authorizing some or all of these low power radio services would make in band on channel conversion to digital radio unworkable for existing terrestrial services.
The player that's always mentioned in this is USA Digital Radio, LLC. I didn't find any statements on their web site about the low-power FM stuff, so maybe it's not such a big deal.
Does anyone here know anything more about this technology?
I find it humourous in that the large broadcast corporations are crying foul, not unlike their
brethren, the RIAA, the Motion Picture Association, and their DVD licensing group.
What the FCC proposes opens up the market to smalltime broadcasting, thus potentially stealing
audience share for big stations, and breaking the "tradional channels of distribution" that generate
revenue. This is the root of the cries of the aforementioned groups, although they'd never admit it openly. I'm surprised they aren't claiming a potential for copyright infringement (maybe they are, I just haven't read/heard anything at this point).
Kudos to the FCC for some forethought, and thinking of the small person over corporate greed.
-
The article left me with one question: First, could they network? Could the zydeco fans in New Orleans band together to simulcast over a number of these small stations to reach a larger audience?
But the real question in my mind is digital radio. If I understand it properly, modern spread spectrum techniques could greatly expand the badnwidth of the airwaves (not to mention the improvement in signal quality). Is this the real reason that corporate broadcasters are dragging their feet over this new broadcasting technology?
Man, you guys are silly. It doesn't matter if it's MP3 or from CD, you still can't rebroadcast with without a license from the record company.
Besides that, this doesn't mean that anyone with the money to buy the equipment will be able to do it. You'll have to be a valid, well established community group with a purpose and a plan. The FCC isn't going to hand out these licences out to anyone.
In the early days of the 'net (now im getting old)... there were very few induhviduals online, and computers were _really_ expensive. Then it all exploded (mostly web)... the id10ts we're lways in the news as spreading their message... all sites were basically redundant crap...
but time heals all wounds and now: the id10ts are still out there but noone pays attention anymore, there is signifigantly better stuff available now (though the crap didn't disappear yet)... ans all it took was some time and a lot of people and even more money
Devil Ducky
MY peers would get out of jury duty.
Ooooh, look at me, I am posting a negative comment about Roblimo...
What, I got moderated down? Darn, well you know, I am sorry Roblimo. Really...I guess I'll just never ever ever post a comment again, mmmkay? Really, not another one ever...
..sniff...sniff...
Why doesn't anyone like me!
Because you are a freaking wuss Roblimo who can't handle all the lamer flamers out here and you have to go crying about it to everyone, dragging this site down b/c your feelings were hurt by people you don't even know. Sheeesh.
Sounds like you should get your ham radio license. Then you can do amature television. It's cool.
This kind of thing would be great for rural areas that aren't serviced by a good variety of radio programming. Instead of putting up one huge high-power tower that broadcasts to mostly empty space (though you have to pay the same for it), you can set up these micro-stations in the small towns to rebroadcast a webcast or something. A 1-mile radius could cover towns like that, and you'd still be reaching over 50% of the people in the area.
Hmm, sorta wants me want to rebroadcast KZZQ that way. :)
Constitutionally Correct
This has already been going on for many many years. Get your ham radio licence and get into packet radio.
As an amateur radio operator, let me assure you, that 100 watts will get you much farther than 7 miles, even with an omnidirectional antenna, unless of course, you're a moron and you have WFUK transmitting 200KC (that's kilocycles) above/below you. Strap a yagi (that's a directional antenna) on that 100-watt-little-engine-that-could and you'll go a good 40-50 miles. And don't worry about the license restrictions. It's the FCC. Any moron (and I mean it!) can get a ham license. If you can get a ham license then you can get a community license even easier, with all the fears of pissing off minority groups that the overzealous feddie's have.
Can anyone see advertisers taking advantage of this? Just think, you like 103.9 it's your station. But 103.7 is the Coca Cola station, and 104.1 is the Microsoft station. I just hope that the FCC (how ever much I think it's censorship sucks) makes some decent regulations. Or maybe the company stations will be there, just no one will listen to them, that's if they have a digital tuner.
Could somone point me to some pirate radio station information? I mean real radio, not web cast. And yes, I saw the article on
Back in the '80s at Georgia Tech some guys put together a "small" bradcast in Techwood dorm. Supposedly people from all over the city could listen in. They tried to get a real license, but apparently the FCC requires detailed schematics of the equipment, and these guys had hacked it all together so the project died.
Eventually we'll get broadband wireless web, but 'til then we wait.
ed
Group Status, in any urban area, probably means membership in any of the current protected-class false communities: gays, non-whites, immigrants, or other left-wing sanctioned groups. You can just about forget doing it if you're not in one of those groups, unless you live in a rural area, and then who's going to hear your signal?
The argument will be made that these groups are currently underserved by the current radio market. The fact is that the current urban radio market is dominated by corporations that generate playlists or present nationally syndicated "talk" shows designed solely to get good ratings books and make ad revenue.
And I resent the implication that current radio represents me at all. I can't stand any music stations, and the talk stations are either dominated by brash, right-wing demogogues like Rush (on AM) or the quiet, left-wing propoganda of NPR.
Low-power FM would be an excellent way for REAL communities (like neighborhoods) to get together, exchange ideas and actually strenthen themselves. Instead, the vast majority will *still* not be represented on the air since the stations will go into the hands of bogus communities.
There is an issue here that no one has noticed.
To run a radio station costs money. You need space for the studio and to store Records or CD's. You need to pay the electric bill etc. These stations will not be selling adds. Which meens that you will need to find some organazation to underwrite you. For example a school or university, or maybe a community center or church type group. But you probably can look to drop 30-40K per year. And that is assuming all the people running the station are doing it without a paycheck.
On the other hand I would guess that if you have a group that wants to run a station finding the people may not be that hard.
Erlang Developer and podcaster
I'd be interested to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about, how using the fm spectrem in wireless networking could communications.
-- Don't overthrow the government, just think about it.
How is this offtopic? There is
a post above that says nothing about
fm broadcasts, it got a 2!
Moderators like to downgrade because it gives
them a feeling of power.
Several Porple wrote --
"The article left me with one question: First, could they network?"
"supporters all over the US set up thousands of relay stations"
"Wouldn't it be cool if people started using these bandwidths for small WANs using KISS or some other protocol? "
Finally Anonymous Coward wrote -- "This has already been going on for many many years. Get your ham radio licence and get into packet radio."
Ham Radio (Amateur Radio) has been going on for over 100 years! We have relay stations across the USA with (Gasp!) "repeater's", Digital Networks "Packet Relay", Satalite E-mail, AM/FM Voice and a slew of other toys. We erect huge antenna arrays allowing us to talk to the world, We bounce signals off the moon, and occasionally chat with the Shuttle Astonauts.
In the US a good source to get you started in FM radio is the "Amateur Radio Relay League" at
http://www.arrl.org/
------------ DR Watson - " Your Program Performed an Illegal Procedure.."
Many of you think it would be cool to run your own little radio station. But once your neighbor decides to run one that interferes with your favorite station, you'll have second thoughts. I live in the DC area, but list to stations up to 100 miles away. Doubt I'd get anything close to that if a bunch of people started their own stations and intefered with the real ones.
That's really the gist of this folks. Those who really want to do this, and are truly dedicated to doing it and doing it right will find no problems in it. However, all of you 13-year-olds out there can forget about Radio You[TM]... which probably isn't a bad thing.
You see the same phenomenon with Shoutcast and other webcast stations. The really good non-commercial ones -- the ones that most people flock to and actually are around for more than a month or two-- are all run by people who are competent with what they're doing, know how to program, and know how to keep listeners coming back. They're so engrossed and dedicated to it they're willing to put the effort into it to make it work and even make it good. Meanwhile, the others eventually die off because the dedication and know-how just isn't there. Broadcasting Darwinism -- it's a good thing.
You'll see people who actually know what they're doing and are Radio People[TM] at heart be the ones who come out with the licenses. Not some kid who just wants to play Nirvana 24/7 (thank god).
And more than anything that's what the FCC really wants I think -- competent and capable individuals and groups doing it. And it looks like they might get just that.
Although, you can get arrested for public obscenity if you play songs with nasty words too loud on your stereo--the same rule applies to radio--hence the "radio edit" versions of songs.
"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
I wonder even if the FCC does open up the FM frequency for microbroadcasts, how does the guy in the garage fare against the mega media machine?
The best analogy I can come up with is driving a tiny Honda with a double tractor trailer tailgating you.
But the point about my idea is that ANYONE with an FM radio can pick it up - not just ham operators.
Joel "Super Plant" Lewis
This one really takes me back. We used to run a pirate hacked together FM station (KKAL, no relation to the legit Berkeley station) at a glorious 1 watt out of a broom closet in Page House at Caltech back in the mid 70's. We had live music (sometimes pretty good but sometimes as lame as me on the tenor recorder with a mike on a long cord to the basement tunnels). We wrote our own soap opera (Maggie's Farm), and had outrageous commentary on all sorts of things we didn't have enough sense not to say. At 7 AM during finals week we would broadcast the official theme song of finals, "The Ride of the Valkyries", and the EE majors would try to one up one another with enormous homebuilt speakers throughout the campus. On a good night, with a good antenna, you could pick up KKAL throughout much of the surrounding ritzy San Marino neighborhood. When I went back to Tech a few years ago (not -gasp- looking like somebody's parent), the old KKAL closet was gone and replaced with a bank of terminals where people were playing computer games. Sic Transit Gloria Emmcee, I guess. Any recent techers know what happened to KKAL?
Well, it took them long enough, but at least they're making an effort to return the airwaves to the people.
Yep, congress acting to protect you from dangerous new ideas.
Can't believe moderators are ignoring this!
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
People in my generation remember the movie Pump Up the Volume. However, it doesn't take bad language or a kids suicide to get the FCC out after you.
Small 'pirate' stations are the targets of the large media holdings that control the radio market. These small stations don't have comercial breaks, don't play what the record labels say, and generally upset the system of money flow.
Take the story of beatradio (www.beatradio.com -- They even have pictures of the FCC hauling away the radio).
The jist of the story is they were playing music and upsetting the local radio stations. Most of the minneapolis market is either owned by ABC or Chanceler Communications.
So they had the FCC go and shake things up. Well, first it was operating a station with out a license. Okay, sounds like a legitimate complaint. Well, beat did something a little different. They tried to get one.
Enter a world of regulations that are designed to keep small start-up off the airwaves. Add to it the ability of local stations to object. All of this ammounted to the big boys have the ability to keep the other kids out of the pool.
My bet is that small community groups will probally be able to have a station. Religious talk, and Paul Harvey for all! But, as soon a station gets popular enough to cut into a top 40 stations listenership you can bet that they will object. I can already see it. Are they really a community group? What public service are they providing? In the end the little guy is always going to get the shaft.
This gives me the occasion to ask something I've been wondering about a long time - How come all american radio stations have these funny four-letter names? I mean, KXYZ doesn't mean a thing. Over here, they are usually called something along the lines of "Megapol", or "Radio Kristianstad", or something with the frequency in the name, like "City 107" or "Gold 105". I find that a wee bit easier to remember than "something with four letters, beginning with a K, and, oh yes, there was a W in there somewhere"...
Not intended as any kind of flamebait, I'm just curious about these strange letters.
test
Michael Bracy of the Low Power Radio Coalition is one of the guys in Washington who has been prodding this legislation through. This allows communities and universities to use the lower wattages for radio broadcasting. I run a campus station and i hope he gets this through because its quite invaluble for someone in the LA area where there are hardly any frequencies avail.
JediLuke
JediLuke
-Do or Do Not, There is no Try
You could start off with the following rig http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart. exe/scstore/hprod/fm100.htm?L+scstore+jn de6478+948403017 And later add on an amp for 100 watts or so.
Only through hard work and perseverence can one truly suffer.
If you have ever been to Italy, you have seen the consequences of having many small radio stations all over the place. It maybe okay if the weather is always perfect and you don't ever move away from where you are.
But many people like me like listening to the radio while driving. Imagine that you are driving along, and your receiver hops to one station after another, because you constantly leave one broadcasting range and enter another. I remember when driving in Italy, I actually pulled over when there was a great song on the radio, because I would have left the broadcast range before the song had ended.
Even when walking, this can happen. Once when I was walking on the beach (with my portable FM receiver), I could hear one station when I turned my body to the East, and a different station when I turned to the West!
Even for stationary receiving, this could be a problem. Imaging you happen to live at the border of one station's broadcasting range. On a good day (or at night), you will be able to listen to the radio. On a bad day (rainy or foggy), you won't. Just great.
Yes, you are right there. -- Another glass of champagne?
10 or 100 watt radio stations with decent tuned antennas simply will not interfere with other radio stations. Here in Minnesota, we have a terrible classic rock station that puts out 50,000 watts and bleeds all over the dial. No one but me seems to be bothered by this broadcasting blowtorch. (But first hint of any pirate radio station in the area, and the FCC gets "dozens" of interferance complaint calls. I suspect most are from 'rival' PR, or goliath stations feeling threatened but the unlicensed david.) They are running a business catering to regular people who generally know nothing about antenna theory; they want the listeners to be able to pick up the station on a paper clip. A dedicated listener could be expected to have an antenna, even if it's a radio shack wire antenna hanging down behind the tuner. But most big station listeners are fickle, and will change the station at the slightest hint of static- hence the "need" for 50 KWatts. This station is one of the several in the local ABC radio juggernaut that commands a third of the FM dial. I believe this is what the FCC is (finally) addressing. I think they should go one step further and limit output to a maximum of 20 KWatts. This would clear up the dial for more stations, especially micro and low powered non commercial stations. I love radio, but hate the business. I have thought of starting a pirate radio station, but found the penaltys too steep. Maybe this will provide me with an oppurtunity to get on the air.
I don't want 16bit telephone quality music. Plus you need a fast connection and a computer. A radio you can put in your pocket and take anywhere.
Here's an article from the Chicago Tribune about this. They claim there will be 1000 spots for low-power FM radio stations...
So put up a lot of small stations, each relaying those within their "hearing range". Hack el cheapo receiver/transmitters and use those as the transport layer of TCP/IP. Connect to the Real Internet somewhere, maybe buying some bandwidth collectively. Grass-roots networking without bullshit power-tripping companies and other bogosities.
Last time I checked, packet radio seemed to be very restrictive, especially the slow speeds and the thou-shalt-not-transmit-this-and-that mentality. I haven't stayed too much up-to-date so the situation hopefully has changed.
WMAL is a Washington, DC area AM talk radio station and ABC Radio affiliate.
630 AM and you can hear Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and (I think) Art Bell on that station when in the land that common sense forgot.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
So what you might say. Well, yeah, I guess if you want to broadcast, 160-190 kHz is pretty useless. You can't do much in the way of voice down there (a decent quality full carrier double sideband AM signal takes up about 10 kHz at least) and forget about FM. There's also a lot of interference down there from natural electrical phenomena. There are some people running beacons down there, and the range can be phenominal.
On to the second band, that's the AM broadcast band like I said before. While 1/10 watt is just a trickle of power, people have reported distances of over 300 miles. Radio wave propagation can do wonders. At night, if you use a silent frequency set aside for local broadcasts, you could easily get a decent coverage area, especially with a decently designed antenna.
Anyway, this obviously isn't as lucrative as broadcasting way up in the FM broadcast band with tons of power (relatively), but for those who have that desire for experimentation and learning, this is a great opportunity.
For more info on this stuff, check out: this link.
Enjoy!
A few years back Rohm used to sell the ba1404 chip. This little beast was a single chip fm stereo xmitter, with a few tweeks you could get 100 or more watts. A super chip! May be Rohm will drag the chip die out and put it back into production. gtp
I have absolutly _NO_ idea what I'm talking about in the following post:
Is FM too high in the spectrum for packetized radio? And wouldn't it be cool if a slick piece of code and a dipole attenae type 'kit', all encompased in a nice Linux HOW-TO, would create a kind of open, user contributed, robust cellular packet radio 'umbrellae'. Especially in closed in area's, like a college campus, or a city.
Then again, what are you going to do, plug the dipole into the serial port?? I don't think the UART's are made for that...
-Cadaver
Before I part with'em: two pennies weigh ~4.996+/-0.014g, have a zinc core, and the face of Lincoln. You can keep 'em.
anyone with an FM radio can listen in to packet radio; you don't have to be a ham.
changing the frequency of packet radio isn't going to change its speed at all.
And the "thou shall not transmit this and that" (porn, obscenities, commericals) would still apply here.
l.
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't
When do I listen to radio?
1. In a car.
2. In the morning when I'm waking up.
3. When I want continuous, high-quality audio.
4. When I want up-to-the minute information (in emergencies).
Which of these do the 'Net and the Web supplant? None. (The thought of turning on my PC at 7AM and sitting in front of it in my bathrobe is so depressing I can't even picture it.)
Furthermore, you can't expect me to believe that there are nearly as many households out there with a good 'Net connection, a PC, and audio-playing software as there are with an old beat-up FM radio. Radio has survived TV, and it will survive the Internet, and the thing after the Internet too.
The opening up of the FM band to low-wattage stations is potentially revolutionary--more so than putting some streaming audio up on Shoutcast and hoping 50 people will tune in for some choppy, jumping, artifact-filled audio. In a community like mine in Brooklyn, NY, you could reach a million listeners with just a 4-mile radius. You better believe more of us have radios than a good 'Net connection (Thanks for nothing, Bell Atlantic).
Radio still matters, and this is a bright day for people who think that the media should belong to the people, not to a few people.
While normally a formidable lobbying force, the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents the nation's largest broadcast networks and station groups, was beaten at the commission by a grass-roots coalition of churches, schools, musicians, municipalities and "pirate" radio stations that billed itself as a kind of civil rights movement intending to democratize the airwaves.
....
The agency has received tens of thousands of letters seeking low-power radio rules, including ones from the New School in New York, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III of the Abyssinian Church of Harlem, students from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Kevin McGaughey, the principal of Brookland High School in Brookland, Ark., a town of 1,100.
Write those letters on patent reform, DVD issues and anything else. Looks like they work for some things....
If this spectrum is useful for these applications (which admittedly, is purely speculative on my part), could we see here the development of an open information exchange? I believe there is a development effort along these lines on 2600's site, but don't quote me on that.
"We apologize for the inconvenience."
I thought about using Ham, but didn't give it much more than a passing thought. Maybe I should look into it more seriously. Thanks for the info.
Man, I've been waiting for this for a LONG time. I DJed a couple of times for a friend who had a 30 watt pir8 station in my little town. She was SO scared that she would get caught, that I could hardly do anything on air. I wanted to make fun of all the big commercial stations in the area, but couldn't. And it always upset me that the FCC has the system rigged so only the rich and powerful who are in the beds of the record companies could broadcast, where you DO hear the same song more than once in a 3 hour period.
:)
*This* is the kind of thing that gives us real free speach, since freedom of the press is limited to those who own a printing press (or in this case a radio station registered by the FCC and approved by bought-off record co's). This and other new media (MP3s, internet broadcasting, etc.) is what will change the music industry. It will allow the up and coming unsigned bands to get air play for once, without having to sell their souls.
I wish I didn't have to post this anonymously, but I just admitted I did something illegal
The FCC failed miserable to shut down pirate stations. So now they've flip-flopped and will allow it, and a nice piece of license-fee booty won' hurt either, right?
Low power FM radio is already, and always has been, legal. The FCC does not have local jurisdiction unless you are broadcasting across state lines:
http://rfv965.hypermart.net/enter.htm
My second concern relates to the impact that creation of low power service may have on potential conversion to terrestrial digital radio service.
As opposed to extra-terrestrial digital radio? Is Steven Spielberg now working for the FCC and he's creating subtle loopholes or something?
Most radio stations pump out the same jingly billboard stuff. Commercials are way too numerous. I tend to listen to college stations or listen supported stations. Perhaps there will be more of them now.
Wansu, th' chinese sailor
This is great news for local bands trying to be heard. If local bands got together and started up smaller stations they could get the exposure needed to generate an audience, completely forgoing record company's. Not only would you be heard in your own town, but if networks of these smaller stations popped up across the country, totally dedicated to playing unsinged talent, you could be heard across the country. If this took off, could it possibly mean the end of Brittany Spears and pop radio? I can only hope so.
Radio stations are licensed (probably by the RIAA or a similar group) to play CDs on the air. It's very difficult, if not impossible, for a single person to get such a license.
The best you can do is play material from small, local bands that you or they have recorded themselves. If a band has a CD produced by some production company, then the band doesn't have the right to authorize you to play those CD's (yes, it's the band's music, but the production company owns that particular recording). You'll need to get an original recording of the band, and in many cases, the band has signed an agreement with the label which prevents them from recording their songs for someone else, so you're back to square one.
Yeah, it's screwy, but there's a reason for it. All of these restrictions are intended to prevent a band from releasing their songs with two different labels.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
Rep. Michael G. Oxley - R-OH
Rep. Barbara Cubin - R-WY
Rep. Cliff Stearns - R-FL
Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. - D-NJ
Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. R-MD
Give 'em hell!
Michael Bracy of the Low Power Radio Coalition is one of the guys in Washington who has been prodding this legislation through. This allows communities and universities to use the lower wattages for radio broadcasting. I run a campus station and i hope he gets this through because its quite invaluble for someone in the LA area where there are hardly any frequencies avail. We are the music makers, we are the dreamer of dreams
JediLuke
JediLuke
-Do or Do Not, There is no Try
I'm interested in resources (print, online,
organization, whatever) that can teach me how
to engineer a station starting from Ohm's Law
(OK, I also have a Math Degree and a soldering
iron). Any recommendations?
Tweet, tweet.
There is a text version of the FCC news release available. Unfortunately, the hyper-links at http://www.fcc.gov for the commissioner's comments point to Word documents. (Arrrgh! Why didn't they save them as HTML?) Hint to Linux users in a hurry: try "strings foo.doc|less" to read them.
a ses/2000/nrmm0001.txt
2 000/stwek008.txt
9 99/fcc99006.txt
The news release:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/News_Rele
Chairperson Kennard's statement:
http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Kennard/Statements/
Instead of speculating about what the new rules are, read the proposal at:
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Notices/1
IMHO, the threads about using FM broadcast spectrum for data communications is totally off-topic. There are other parts of the spectrum that are available for data communications and wireless networking.
Let's not forget that not everyone has 24-hour access to a streaming-audio-compatible computer and a broadband connection. But most people have a radio. My dream station would be a 24-hour LPFM station with local musicians playing live and a supporting Web site...
Here are the clearances you have to play music on the radio:
Music Copyright. This covers the composer's ownership of the songs played. In the US, the principal agents for administering these clearances are ASCAP and BMI, although some songs (example: Mannheim Steamroller's music) are handled by SESAC. These folks aren't connected with the record companies or the artists... they're only interested in the songs. Most radio stations buy a blanket license for unlimited use of music, although you can pay on a per-performance basis. (BTW, ASCAP operates under an antitrust settlement going back a number of years, so what they do is subject to monitoring by the court.) You need this license unless: (1) You're not broadcasting ANY music (DOH!) or (2a) ALL the music you broadcast is public domain (major genre: Classical) or (2b) you (or someone else) have made arrangements directly with the copyright holder (You don't need a license for jingles if you pay the jingle company directly, and commercial advertisers are supposed to take care of rights issues themselves. You also don't need any license if the music is 100% your own work.).
Performance Copyright. Yeah, performances are copyright, too (that's the (P) mark you see on CD boxes). Performance copyright is relatively new in the US... IIRC, it started sometime in the 80s. Also note that you can copyright a performance even if the music performed is public domain. AFAIK, there's no performance clearance requirement in the US (although I've not studied the latest copyright revisions). If this is still the case, you don't have to pay anyone if commercial recordings are involved: Artists (and record companies) are supposed to make their money from the increased record sales that resulted from the stations playing their music. But there's one important exception: Live performances. If you want to broadcast a concert (or just a set from the local jazz club), be prepared to pay your friends at the Musician's Union for the privelege of doing so. [Warning to performers: Your local may still want its cut, even if you'd like to do a performance-in-exchange-for-exposure. Check with your business manager before making any deals!]
Grand Dramatic Rights. The only reason to worry about this is if you're going to broadcast a musical (also applies to operas and plays) in its entirety. Individual songs are covered by the music copyright rules above, but beware if you want to play the 3CD complete recording of Les Miz all at once. This is a real gray area, and the law has been unclear as to just where grand rights kick in... if you're thinking of doing this, consult a good IP lawyer first. Grand rights clearances are usually negotiated directly with the publisher/producer/holding company that controls the particular show.
Other comments: If you're a licensed radio station, you should have no trouble whatever getting an ASCAP or BMI license. (In fact, they should be glad to talk to you.) Unless the law has changed significantly, that's all you need to do the kind of broadcasting most people on this thread are talking about. Billboard publications has a good reference that explains all of this: This Business of Music. Most libraries have a copy.
Disclaimer: IANAL, and (at the moment) NOT in the radio business, so don't consider this as gospel! The penalties for copyright violation are severe, and the law is complex (with special provisions for not-for-profit or educational organizations, for example), so don't sign anything or do any broadcasting without the advice of a good intellectual property lawyer.
All fur, all the time!
Man that is nasty, but I found it to funny to ignore.
I submtted this as an article, but it hasn't surfaced yet, so here's the dirt: The FCC has legalized micro-broadcasting for stations with maximum power levels of 10 watts and 100 watts. The 10 watt stations would reach an area with a radius of between one and two miles, the 100 watt stations would reach an area with a radius of approximately three and a half miles. For the first couple of years the licenses will go exclusively to locals. And they'll never go to commercial entities. They say they'll begin taking applications in the next couple of months. The official FCC statement is up at The FCC website.
________________________________
________________________________
poetry is a drive-by on the mind
If data is allowed, then this could be a great service for "community webcasting". I suspect, though, that the FCC will want to restrict these stations to using plain-ol' analog audio.
And they will require at least three frequency intervals on the radio dial between a low-power station and another station, rather than the two intervals initially suggested.
.1 intervals of 104.4, 104.5, and 104.6 between 104.3 and 104.7) or 105.1 (three .2 intervals of 104.5, 104.7, and 104.9 between 104.3 and 105.1).
How much is three intervals? Assuming an FM station broadcasting at 104.3, what does "three intervals" for these stations mean?
My guess is either 104.7 (three
Steven E. Ehrbar
I'm looking forward to this (if it happens), 'cause the FM dial in the Denver metro area is owned by three (count 'em) corporate giants who firmly believe in wedging as much commercial and self-promotion time as they can between the five song playlist for each of their different "formats".
Ironically, the only decent station in town now is the year old KVCU, an AM college station run by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The irony is that the only reason that they're available to the public is because the FCC decided that Jacor was over their limit and had to throw one back, so they (Jacor) donated the least marketable station to CU.
That's enough ranting for now; time to switch to decaf.
"I'm a scientist! I don't think, I observe!" - Dr. Clayton Forrester
did you transmit live coverage of suicides from people at cal-tech who tried to have feelings?
I'd want to know how far the listener is from the "bleeding" FM station before I made that call.
It's hard to believe an FM engineer at a higher-powered station would let his gear get that far out of whack when his paycheck depends on the station NOT getting a big fat fine from the FCC.
If there was really a problem with out-of-band signals, the engineers at the stations being stepped on would be first in line to call the offending station, ask for it to be repaired or even help do the work.
And I wouldn't be surprised if the engineer has signal generators and a spec analyzer that cost more than a stack of Drake receivers too.
My metamoderation cancels your moderation