Last night while walking the dog in Tulsa, OK I was tuning my Sony Walkman
SRF-49 and heard a weak station playing Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee
Lewis. It was fading in and out but I persisted because I like the song.
After I got home I found the station was on 102.9 using my Sony 2010 but it
got swamped by more powerful nearby stations so 102.9 was not always
listenable on the 2010, poor selectivity.. I was able to find the station
on my GE Superradio and it came in much better. Then I tried my Yatch Boy
400, Sangean ATS 606A and Sony ICF-SW7600. The Yatch Boy was the best and
the GE Super as good but its not as easy to find the exact frequency on its
poor analog dial scale. The selectivity of the 7600 was so poor that I
couldn't hear the station. While doing this I was waiting for the station
to identify itself but it never did, however once the DJ mentioned
Brookside, time and a phone number which I missed. (Brookside is a growing
entertainment area in the suburbs of Tulsa), So I continued to listen while
comparing all the radios concluding that the Yatch Boy was the best and the
GE as good if you like analog. I never tried the Walkman but I should have
and maybe I will later. After about 2 hours just before going to sleep he
mentioned the phone number again and I called.
I got a Hello and nothing else so I said, "I'm listening to your radio
station and would like to know the call letters"? He responded with,
"Brookside" I asked if he was a pirate and he said no. He was just playing
music from his house with a 1/2 watt transmitter which he said was legal. He
mentioned the cross streets and I'm about 1.5 miles away but he also said
he's had reports from about 4.5 miles. He claimed to be unemployed DJ and
mentioned lots of stations and DJs that I didn't know. He said he did this
to play music that he likes because very few stations do and I agree,
commercial free is good but he only played a few pieces that I liked, the
rest were just like everyone else and that's why I tune around during my
walks. I asked where he got his transmitter and all he would say is that it
was built from a New York mail order kit. When I asked about 102.9, he
said it was the only clear freq he could find and prior to this operated at
90 something but got blown away. I asked if had many xtals and he said he
was digital and had stereo. He had a ham help him set up and that had to be
before 1993 as the ham, whom I knew was killed in a tornado that year.
Excuse me if I'm rambling but I wanted to find out if what this guy was
doing is legal? Two, I thought I'd point out the differences in the FM
capabilities of a few radios and still have a couple more to check.


73
Hank WD5JFR

Henry Kolesnik wrote:

He was just playing music from his house with a 1/2 watt transmitter which he said was legal.He mentioned the cross streets and I'm about 1.5 miles away but he also said he's had reports from about 4.5 miles.

Sounds like a pirate. You're allowed to run 1/10th of a watt (100 mW)
without a license and with certain antenna restrictions under Part 15
of the FCC rules.

I'm not sure of the status of the Micro FM stations these days. The
idea was to license very low power stations to serve local communities.
But the "real" broadcasters never liked the idea.

There was a pirate in my area in the '80s who ran 35 watts and a 50-ft
high single bay antenna. His range was about 5-6 miles.

See:
http://www.nationalassociationofmicr...tisfmradio.htm

Art H.

On 10 Nov 2005 07:29:21 -0800, "Art Harris" wrote:

Henry Kolesnik wrote:

He was just playing music from his house with a 1/2 watt transmitter which he said was legal.He mentioned the cross streets and I'm about 1.5 miles away but he also said he's had reports from about 4.5 miles.

Sounds like a pirate. You're allowed to run 1/10th of a watt (100 mW)
without a license and with certain antenna restrictions under Part 15
of the FCC rules.

I'm not sure of the status of the Micro FM stations these days. The
idea was to license very low power stations to serve local communities.
But the "real" broadcasters never liked the idea.

There was a pirate in my area in the '80s who ran 35 watts and a 50-ft
high single bay antenna. His range was about 5-6 miles.

See:
http://www.nationalassociationofmicr...tisfmradio.htm

Art H.

35 Watts at 50 feet is good for at least 20 miles.

Half a watt and a mile or two of range won't get him into much trouble, but
he's a fool giving out his phone number and location.

"Henry Kolesnik" wrote in message
m...

Last night while walking the dog in Tulsa, OK I was tuning my Sony Walkman
SRF-49 and heard a weak station playing Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee
Lewis.

David wrote:

35 Watts at 50 feet is good for at least 20 miles.

You can't say that without knowing the surrounding terrain. The pirate
was somewhat below the altitude of the surrounding area. And I was
giving the range for a typical listener, not neccessarily one with a
good receiver and antenna.

Art H.

On 10 Nov 2005 09:45:48 -0800, "Art Harris" wrote:

David wrote:

35 Watts at 50 feet is good for at least 20 miles.

You can't say that without knowing the surrounding terrain. The pirate
was somewhat below the altitude of the surrounding area. And I was
giving the range for a typical listener, not neccessarily one with a
good receiver and antenna.

Art H.
When one says 50' ''high'', I take it they mean ''above'' the average
surroundings. The typical listener has excellent equipment as long as
they have a car radio.

In article ,
Henry Kolesnik wrote:
Excuse me if I'm rambling but I wanted to find out if what this guy was
doing is legal?

Alas, no. The FM liscense free regs (47 CFR 15.239) limit the field
strength (250 uV/m @ 3 m) so the signal can only get 100 feet or so.
Feeding into the antenna equations, it comes out to something like
30 nanowatts.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

David wrote:

When one says 50' ''high'', I take it they mean ''above'' the average surroundings.

You assume too much. Most times when someone describes their antenna
height as "35 feet above ground" they mean 35 feet above the ground in
their back yard.

How high is your antenna? Have you calculated it's height above average
terrain (HAAT)?

The typical listener has excellent equipment as long as they have a car radio.

Not with the typical car antenna a few feet above ground, and alongside
an 18 wheeler.

Art H.

"Art Harris" wrote in message
oups.com...
Henry Kolesnik wrote:

He was just playing music from his house with a 1/2 watt transmitter
which he said was legal.He mentioned the cross streets and I'm about 1.5
miles away but he also said he's had reports from about 4.5 miles.

Sounds like a pirate. You're allowed to run 1/10th of a watt (100 mW)
without a license and with certain antenna restrictions under Part 15
of the FCC rules.


On the FM band the FCC allows only 250 microvolts/meter at 3 meters. This
works out to about 10 microwatts. The 100mW figure is assumed by most
because that is what the old Part 15 walkie-talkies, and AM transmitters
were/are allowed. Part 15 allows different power levels on different bands
of frequencies... I believe up to a watt or two at lowfer frequencies.

On 10 Nov 2005 11:43:30 -0800, "Art Harris" wrote:

David wrote:

When one says 50' ''high'', I take it they mean ''above'' the average surroundings.

You assume too much. Most times when someone describes their antenna
height as "35 feet above ground" they mean 35 feet above the ground in
their back yard.

How high is your antenna? Have you calculated it's height above average
terrain (HAAT)?

The typical listener has excellent equipment as long as they have a car radio.

Not with the typical car antenna a few feet above ground, and alongside
an 18 wheeler.

Art H.

I'm 1,800' above Sea Level on the side of a 2,000' ridge. I can hear
Class A FMs in San Diego, over 120 miles away. I use a Tivoli Model
One and a Radio Shack directional FM antenna aimed South. Thanks for
asking.