RF_Enthusiast

I often rent cars, and drive north of where Burning Man is. The only option for any inbound communication to my vehicle is AM radio (except sometimes there is the barker channel for satellite radio in some cars).

The mistake they made with these stations was to put them only on VHF around 160-170 MHz, which leaves massive gaps in coverage.

This is kind of a big deal. The biggest obstacle for most AM radio stations isn't the low fidelity or increased interference. It's the land required to install an AM antenna.

It’s 100,000 watts ERP with a 6 bay antenna. The higher gain antenna means the transmitter output power would be much less (about 35 kw), although at still extremely dangerous levels to mess with.

WBCQ in Monticello, ME (USA) says it broadcasts to outer space via a modulated laser.

From <http://www.wbcq.com/>: WBCQ’s laser broadcasting service is available to beam your program into outer space via our high-powered, modulated, laser system. So in addition to broadcasting worldwide over shortwave radio, you can transmit into space over our high-powered lasers. It’s a lot of fun. The cost for this service is $50 an hour.

Not all moms are good people. People with good moms often have trouble understanding or respecting that.

Maybe Friendster has the right idea.

Just a thought: you could incorporate a non-profit to run the site, like Wikipedia or public radio/media, and be the president of that organization. For me, donating to a non-profit is much easier than a voluntary subscription to a for-profit corporation.

Love the app, I’ve already had some photos shared with me!

I think this might be as simple as a QR Code I can show to my friends!

Many years ago, someone created an unauthorized app for a public radio station I worked at. We were overwhelmed with work, and we didn’t have time to build our own, and we didn’t have time to take it down. So we nervously let it stay up.

It turned out they were hijacking our donations. People thought they were donating to the station, but the app developer was pocketing the money. They may have made off with thousands. IIRC, someone needed a receipt for their taxes, and that’s how we found out.

I would consider removing the Spotify link. You’re sending listeners to their chief competitor.

Cool! I recommend setting up RadioDNS first. DTS Autostage will pull your initial info from there, so all their data will be from what you put in the .si file.

Even with a smaller pool of listeners compared to 10 years ago, there are still a lot of people listening to FM.

Within your coverage area, you’re one of maybe 60 stations. That’s far better than being one out of 150,000 discoverable internet radio stations.

When you get on the air, be sure to set up RadioDNS and DTS Autostage, with service following, and Amazon Radio Skills Kit. They are great tools for converting on-air listeners into “captured” online listeners.

I get a weak signal of it over the air, but that’s what turned me on to them originally.

Thank you, I love this reply! I will do this!!

I’m at a loss of what to watch as far as television goes in the US, between the government threatening to intervene in content, corporations that own television networks with little regard for journalistic integrity, and PBS downsizing. I’m pretty much exclusively watching NHK from Japan through a Roku app.

Clarification: it was CPB funding that was cut, headline is a little off.

Update: back up now!

This could turn into a telecommunications infrastructure-disrupting story if it continues for long.

I've actually been trying to figure out where this station was coming from for a few years, thinking it was a pirate radio station setting up camp in the Nevada desert during the 'off season' from Burning Man. Turns out, this guy triangulated it and found the signal was coming from 'Area 51/52,' a/k/a the Tonopah Test Range, and is run by what appears to be the military for exercise purposes.

They’re using the terms “subchannel” and “subcarrier” interchangeably, which is not entirely accurate.

In broadcasting, subchannels refer to the digital subchannels used in digital audio and television broadcasting. In the U.S., subchannels on the FM band are commonly referred to as the “HD-2” or “HD-3” channels. [1]

Conversely, subcarrier channels are not receivable with a consumer-grade radio. [2]

[1] FCC referencing subchannels: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-367361A1.pdf [2] FCC Broadcast Radio Subcarriers or Subsidiary Communications Authority: https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/subcarriers-sca

Yeah, it doesn’t stand for anything. It’s just a bunch of Highly Advanced Messaging.

That's generally not true. US cable and satellite operators are only required to carry the "primary" video feed [1], which is usually the xx.1 channel. In most markets, home shopping channels typically air on subchannels (xx.2, etc.). The exception, of course, would be if the TV station designates the home shopping channel as their primary channel.

Home shopping is usually used to monetize excess bandwidth.

[1] - https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-C...

At the end of the article is a link to the author's autologger. You can see what his radios are picking up by capturing the PI code on RDS. As I write this, he's receiving FM stations as far as 916 miles away (KASU).

I’m early into the ownership journey, but in my situation, the station serves a tourist resort area, so the station is trying to capture listeners coming in on the highways into town. The advertiser base I’m developing is primarily made up of tourist-based businesses.

My market is too small to be measured by Nielsen’s media ratings, so there’s no great way to measure it at the moment.

I’ve been thinking about documenting the journey online, likely in the form of a blog. I know I would have been interested in reading about someone who took this step before I did. So, the answer right now is "no," but hopefully, when I get a chance, that will change.

The issue is that the federal government requires broadcast stations (and local authorities) to use a certified EAS box. Currently, there's only one available option, and software solutions are not permitted. A lot is riding on these boxes.

Without them, stations will be required to go off the air if the equipment becomes inoperable. They're not allowed to operate without a certified EAS box. Also, no new stations can be established.

The 'AM in all vehicles' argument may become moot, since emergency alerting is the primary rationale.

I own a licensed FM radio station in the U.S. The only way I see to make it work is as a one-person operation, as there's no way to afford a staff.

I wrote a lot of scripts to make it happen.

This person was working behind the scenes at KGGF in Coffeyville, KS, when the network feed went out during the Royals game. Instead of putting in filler, he took the mic, opened the game app, and called the game live on air!

KGGF at fccdata.org: https://fccdata.org/?lang=en&facid=34462

Edit: I usually prefer the old.reddit page (which HN must default to), but it leaves out his comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/1g0jnor/got_to_ca...

If the real motivation for people wanting AM radio gone is due to conservative talk, people are likely overestimating the ratings these stations bring in. It’s the exception, rather than the rule, for one of these stations to perform well. Most conservative talk stations barely attract local advertising, except in a few limited categories like “guns.” I know of more conservative talk stations that are struggling to stay afloat than those that are not.

Shortwave doesn’t work well as a mobile, moving medium. It is weak-signal reception (by design) and is likely to be compromised every time your car turns in a different direction.