Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2005 09:58:18 -0400
Reply-To: Hans Achter <hansachter@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Hans Achter <hansachter@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Short range FM transmitters
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I use the cheap kits here http://www.dckits.com/stcast.htm to broadcast at my parents' farm in the
country. Actually I broadcast two signals. One is a local broadcast NPR station that I capture
with a roof antenna and rebroadcast locally so that little radios can pick it up. The other is a
station I get on the satellite dish that I broadcast locally.
Just using a little hunk of stripped coaxial cable maybe 30 inches long to broadcast the signal:
- at a hundred feet you can keep the antenna folded on a portable radio.
- you can easily pick it up at a couple hundred feet on a portable radio
- A car radio can pick it up easily at a 1/4 mile, probably even 1/2 mile but I haven't formally
tested it.
The kits sold at that site above need to be put together, but I did it successfully with no
experience at all soldering electronics.
Too bad I have a schedule conflict for Buses of the Corn.
-Hans
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Elliott" <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, June 04, 2005 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: Short range FM transmitters
>I don't know what kind of effective coverage you can expect from one of
> the over-the-counter flea-power FM modulators (transmitters). The FCC
> has rules about output power for unlicensed radio transmissions and the
> manufacturers of these devices need to comply with them. 100 milliwatts
> is the limit, I think.
>
> You can hang a larger antenna to get more coverage. Within limits. There
> is a maximum "field strength" limit, too.
>
> Broadcasting with more power or greater field strength, or causing
> interference with any licensed broadcaster is illegal.
>
> But your guess is a good as mine whether or not the FCC would notice
> illegal transmissions during a bus get-together. Unless someone
> complains then it's unlikely there would be a problem; the FCC does not
> have the budget to have people driving around looking for illegal
> transmissions. Pick a quiet part of the band where there are no other
> signals otherwise interference would be a problem because a complaint
> from someone in a house nearby to their favorite radio station that they
> are picking up odd signals and can't hear the station's Clear
> Channel-mandated programming would bring the FCC right quick.
>
> Here's a good read of the relevant rules:
>
> http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/resource/default.asp?page=fcc
>
> That said, here are some resources I Googled that might help if someone
> wanted to get into hobby FM broadcasting:
>
> http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/hk/default.asp?page=amfm
> http://www.northcountryradio.com/Kitpages/mpx2000.htm
> http://www.panaxis.com/
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 83.5 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> KG6RCR
>
>
>
> On 6/3/2005 7:51 PM Greg Potts wrote:
>
>> Hi Volks,
>>
>> I was riding in my Dad's vanagon today and it has TERRIBLE radio
>> reception. The poor audio quality got me thinking about those
>> wireless connectors to feed the signal from a CD walkman or an ipod
>> into the FM radio. That then led me to wonder.... what's the range on
>> one of those things? Would it be possible to increase the range out
>> to 200 yards or so? With that much range I could create a wireless PA
>> system for the campground at Buses Of The Corn; and use it as our own
>> camp-out radio station. That way we could all listen to the same
>> tunes at once...
>>
>> If anyone knows a cheap and easy way to do this please let me know by
>> p-mail.
>>
>>
>> Happy trails,
>>
>> Greg Potts
>> Toronto, Ontario, Canada
>>
>> 1973/74/79 Westfakia Conversion **Bob the Tomato** LY3H
>> 1977 Sunroof Automatic L63H/L90D
>> 1988 Vanagon GL 8-passenger Automatic
>> http://www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
>> http://www.busesofthecorn.com
>>
>
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