Ken,

You remind me of the last hurricane we had. I saw many (15-25) Progress
Energy (?) trucks headed toward the coast. One of them had an enclosed
trailer behind it and a tower that was laid over horizontally.

It will NOT be cheap to do what you are asking, but if you can get a
grant from the government for the project - who cares? That seems to be
the general consensus on other things.

( After thoughts, inserted last: Oh, Yes, there are "cheap" ways to do
most anything, but check your wallet / bank account and do what you have
to do. Some have had pirate radio stations that were mobile and they
operated straight from their auto. If you want to see how "cheap" you
can do it you might get by for $500 if you operate off battery, just use
a mic, and mount the antenna on your car parked at some elevated
location. However, I'll bet Progress Energy had about $10k in the
trailer and antenna alone. You'll probably want a professional sound -
compressor/limiter, mixer, stereo, etc.)

Get yourself an enclosed trailer that is wide enough to be stable in a
bit of wind. (The heavier the chassis the more stable it will be.) Get
a telescoping tower and a generator. You'll need an FM transmitter,
antenna, etc. You may or may not want a compressor/limiter for the
system, but it would help the sound. You may or may not want stereo.
It will probably sound better, but may not get out quite as far. People
tend to EXPECT stereo with FM. I'd opt for it. What you get will
partially be determined by how long you plan to be at each place. For
example, will you be there long enough to raise a 20' or 30' tower? If
you have gusty winds at the time you'll probably want to guy the tower
rather than depending on the stability of the trailer to keep it
upright. You'll probably want leveling jacks / outriggers on the
trailer / transmit studio.

You'll need for your generator to have a reasonably long cord to keep it
away from the transmitting unit (studio room) or it will need to be very
quiet.

I'm a bit partial to NRG-Kits products (http://nrgkitsfm.com) but only
because I've seen them in operation and they are GREAT. However, the
dollar has fallen so far that it costs a bit to obtain them. They are
priced in Great Britain pounds (? 1.8 +/- times our US dollars) and you
need to keep this in mind when shopping their web site. Very friendly
folks. Very knowledgeable. It will surprise you how quickly things get
here from the UK. Pick up your phone, find out what you want, give them
a card number and watch your mail box or watch for the delivery truck.

I have not tried Progressive-Concepts, but all I've heard has been good.
You may want to contact them at http://progressive-concepts.com/ and
you can probably ask them for suggestions on your whole plan.

Personally, I'd probably use a quarter wave antenna (better saturation
with very slightly less range) as it is a bit more compact and will
transport better. I'm sure some others will say go with a "J" pole
antenna or a dipole. Either of which will probably do what you want
very well.

FCC: You can't do it! Their regs will probably allow you about 250 mw
or ONE QUARTER OF A WATT. However, they require a signal strength
measurement of a tiny size that is measured so many feet from the
antenna. In other words, part 15 might allow you to transmit from the
pulpit to some old ladies in the back of the church with your
"transmitter". You'll probably need close to 4 watts to do what you
want. Some would probably suggest about 10 watts. Don't know if you
could qualify for a LPFM (Low Power FM) license or not. I'm not even
sure they are still issuing them now. It seems they were intended
churches, communities, schools, etc. You may want to check on a special
license if you want all to be perfectly legal. HOWEVER, some are
putting up transmitters and broadcasting without a license. I think the
real key is DO NOT INTERFERE WITH A LICENSED STATION! If the FCC gets a
complaint you will probably be shut down. USUALLY, the first warning is
allegedly pretty gentle. "Cease and desist, NOW." If you decide to
show YOUR authority they can get real nasty the second or third time -
taking ALL gear that is connected to the radio station. Don't know if
that would include your 2005 Excursion you pull it with or not! ;-) It
would include all cd's, players, mics, mixers, and maybe even your
trailer, tower, generator, etc., etc. In other words, if they tell you
to get off the air you should comply!

Hope this helps. Be sure to contact Progressive Concepts, NRG Kits and
possibly look up Progress Energy (? Charlotte, NC) for further
suggestions. CAUTION: There was a legal dispute between two partners
(it's alleged one had the brains and the other had the pocketbook) who
both wanted to use the name NRG Kits. Be SURE you go to NRGkitsFM.com
Note the FM on the end. This is supposed to be the fellow who knows
his stuff. I don't personally know that the other does not. I do know
the web was loaded with nasty stuff about this situation a couple of
years or so back. Check it out in the follow newsgroups.)

You may want to check out some newsgroups:

alt.radio.pirate
alt.pirate.radio
alt.radio.broadcasting
rec.radio.broadcasting

They can provide far more info than we could even consider passing along
here. Also, you just may be talking to the experts there! ;-)

Best of luck with this endeavor. Let us know how it comes out.

Al

=========

Ken wrote:

I am interested in purchasing a portable radio station that will be
used to broadcast music and words of inspiration and encouragement to
victims of natural disasters. The coverag should be about 3 miles
radius. Does anyone know how I can go about doing this and the FCC
guidelines on such activity?
Thanks
Ken