FW: [NCARC] Request for help for a High School project

[Steve Henry]

Steve and All,

He's probably talking about something called LPFM (Low Power FM) broadcasting. It has been growing in popularity since the FCC made it easier to license a little while ago. As I recall, LPFMs are allowed something like 100 watts and they aren't subject to many of the rules of commercial stations. The idea is to give a community voice to groups that feel underserved by commercial broadcasters.

Commercial FM broadcasters don't like LPFM much, and for good reason. LPFMs broadcast on channels found in between commercial channels in a given area. Presumably, the LPFMs don't interfere with existing stations because they run such low power. But given the poor front ends of many user FM radios (car radios, boomboxes, portables, tabletops, etc.), there's a good chance that a close-by LPFM will capture a radio tuned to a commercial station, thus triggering a complaint to the commercial station. For that reason, some broadcasters feel that LPFMs are an reincarnation of pirate stations that exist here and there.

And speaking of capture, did you know that there's a serioius problem developing with folks using those little FM converters in their cars? The converters are actually little transmitters that broadcast your MP3 player or Sirius tuner into your car's FM radio, and many of them are poorly engineered and transmit excessive power. If you pull up next to a car thus equipped at a stoplight, his transmitter can capture your FM receiver and you'll be listening to Howard Stern for the time it takes the light to change.

That's all I know about LPFM, but there's a magazine called Radio World that serves the broadcast industry, and LPFMs have been discussed there. The website is www.rwonline.com. I'm sure a web search of LPFM will locate a zillion sites.

73,
Bob, WA9FBO

In a message dated 4/1/2007 9:55:25 AM Mountain Daylight Time, steveh291 at comcast.net writes:
Hi NCARC---

I received an email from a local high school student, Jake Wood, asking for
help with the application process for a local FM radio station.  He is
looking for some guidance in the technical part of the application.  This
involves doing some frequency analysis (see Jake's email to me below).

If you are interested and can help in any capacity, please contact Jake
directly at jake at woodfamily.homeip.net or call him (phone number below).

'73

-Steve Henry
NCARC President

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Henry [mailto:steveh291 at comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2007 9:47 AM
To: jake at woodfamily.homeip.net
Subject: RE: FM Broadcast


Hi Jake-

Thanks very much for your email.  I'd be happy to put out a request to our
membership to see if anyone might be able to assist you in the application.
However, I don't know what experience we have in our members-- our focus is
primarily on amateur radio and I don' t believe we have very many members
with a background in broadcast engineering.  However a few of the members
have some expertise in radio installation and may have an interest in
helping out.

I'm personally not familiar with the application process and didn't know
what a contour protection was-- and so I did a quick search out on the FCC
database and found this link (which I imagine you probably already have):

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/howtoapply.html

I'll send out an email today.

Sincerely,

Steve Henry
NCARC President
-----Original Message-----
From: Jake Wood [mailto:jake at woodfamily.homeip.net]
Sent: Friday, March 30, 2007 6:38 PM
To: n7gn at arrl.net
Subject: FM Broadcast


Dear Mr. Henry,

My name is Jake Wood; I知 a sophomore at Poudre High School in Fort Collins.
As a Capstone Project for next year, I知 hoping to start an FM station for
the high school population of Fort Collins.  That being said, there are some
things I知 wondering if the NCARC will be able to help me with.  I need
someone to help me do a frequency search, contour protection workings, all
the worksheets on the permit; and some other tech help with the FCC
construction permit.

If you know of anyone in the area who you think would be willing to help,
please let me know.  If you壇 like, you can call me at home, my number is
221-3182.

Thanks,
Jake Wood


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