A Short guide to Radio Broadcasting
By: Sooch
On this article I will describe:
1) How do I start my own radio station?
2) What will I need?
3) How will I set it up?
4) How shall I broadcast
1) GETTING STARTED
So your an aispiring radio producer are you. You want to start your own station thats yours! Well its not that easy, First off if your going to do this legaly then I suggest you talk with the FCC (Federal Communications Commision) With these guys help you will be able to score some stuff, Possibly a Antenna if your lucky. If your going against the law like an unlawful person then that will also be stated. So get ready to get started in the great world of Radio Broadcasting.
2) Now the most common thing people ask is what will I need for my station. First off your going to need the one thing that makes radio broadcast possible a Transmitter. Ramsey Electronics has a great deal of them.
I suggest you start off with something like the [url=http://www.rams eyelectron ics.com/cgi-bin/comm erce.exe?p readd=action&key=FM25B]FM25B[/url] from Ramsey. Its a great cheap way to start in the radio buissness, its affordable, really for transmitters it is, and it has a good starter range.
The thing with this though is with a good antenna your only going to get so far so I suggest you also buy a power amplifier like the [url=http://www.ramseyelectron ics.com/cgi-bin/comm erce.exe?p readd=action&key=FMBA1C]FMBA1C[/url] its a good price for an amplifier or you can build your own out of one from a stero.
You'll also need an antenna like this one from Ramsey TM100 Antenna This is a good antenna since it has a long side piece you can put it on a pole or tree top and use that to broadcast from.
Also you'll need the following equiptment that you should be able to find at your local music/stero shop: A Micriphone, Mixer, Head Phones, some sort of device to play music(that is if you want to play music), and Alot of Coax Cable, and a power supply like a car battery or some other form of power.
3) Some people are not as engineericaly(or some other word) smart as others. You may need some instruction on that so here it goes. First off make sure there is not electricity running through any of the things your running your station with. Then take your assembled transmitter and hook up some cables to the stationary antenna jack on the transmitter to the power amplifier. After that take everything you want running through the mixer and hook it in the mixer. Hook the mixers out line to the in line on the transmitter and the transmitters out line to the in line on the mixer. After that hook up your antenna to an area where it will clear over the trees.
Basicly you will be able to transmit as far as your see plus however much power is running through your transmitter to your antenna. So lets say you can see 5 miles around your house abouve tree tops. Your transmitter power is 1 watt plus the amplifers 2 watts, you'll be transmitting about 6 or 7 miles.
4) Now what shall we do with broadcasting? Simple, turn on your transmitter and start to talk. Get someone in a car set it to your frequency. Oh Quick thing on frequency set it to a clear frequency with clear channels abouve and below it, other wise you and the following channels will get crossed and your could get in troble. BUT ANYWAYS... Have a friend drive around in a car set at your frequency, have him talk to you via a cell phone and play music on the station. Tell him to tell you were the area where the music stops. That is about how far your going to get in a miles radius.
So there you have it. A little guide on how to broadcast on the radio band. Now dont forget about AM radio as well. Its simpler to start on and its most likley cheaper. If you have a liscence from the FCC then you could probably get a short 10 mile range without hassel. It'll cost you depending on how far you go. Also you will have to comply with censorship laws. If your going gurellia, build a small fort out of something in the middle of the woods near your broadcasting area. Set the Antenna in the tree and you'll be set. Also Try driving around in a car, it'll be harder for "them or they" or whatever you want to call them to track you.
SO go out there in the and broadcast to the world!
edit: Some of the links might work so jsut go to the first one. It has all of the things you need to look up on Ramsey Here it is once again
Ramsey Electronics
[This message has been edited by Sooch (edited 07-01-2005).]
