Need some advice

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deimos
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Need some advice

Post by deimos »

Right, so im planning to set up a radio station at my uni as the one we already have is .. well.. crap. I have a laptop so the pci card wont work, looking for the next cheapest thing, doesnt need to be in a case, and i see one of the products doesnt need a power supply which confuses me.

I was planning to get the max pro 3, an attena and shove that on the roof and see how it goes (i read that the attena can also be placed in an attic, but how will that affect the signal?), besides a cable what else would i need, and the coverage doesnt need to be large just above 4k. id like to total up the cost and start saving, so a list of all eq needed would be nice.
- Even cheaper are our FM exciter boards (mono and with no enclosure). They are assembled or in a KIT form. They can be upgraded to stereo with any of our stereo encoders.
does this mean that the sound will not be in stero unless i upgrade? the next question is what is the cheapest solution?

I already have SAM, so thats one thing i can check off the list. And im slightly confused about tuning. how can i check that the signal i put out is far enough from other broadcasts/will not interfer with things (is there a way to check the frequencies)? and how is the broadcast freqency determined- by the arial?

Thanks for reading all of this.

I have done some electonics as part of my computer science course and some of the terms here seem vaguly familier, i dont mind soldering things togther, but is the kit complicated to set up? as i dont want to mess anything up.

I looked into applying for a lincence in my area, but they arn't even acceping applications :-? so as the station will be a pirate one, i want to be really sure i dont interfer with things.
antcrowdie
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Re: Need some advice

Post by antcrowdie »

deimos wrote:Right, so im planning to set up a radio station at my uni as the one we already have is .. well.. crap. I have a laptop so the pci card wont work, looking for the next cheapest thing, doesnt need to be in a case, and i see one of the products doesnt need a power supply which confuses me.

I was planning to get the max pro 3, an attena and shove that on the roof and see how it goes (i read that the attena can also be placed in an attic, but how will that affect the signal?), besides a cable what else would i need, and the coverage doesnt need to be large just above 4k. id like to total up the cost and start saving, so a list of all eq needed would be nice.
- Even cheaper are our FM exciter boards (mono and with no enclosure). They are assembled or in a KIT form. They can be upgraded to stereo with any of our stereo encoders.
does this mean that the sound will not be in stero unless i upgrade? the next question is what is the cheapest solution?

I already have SAM, so thats one thing i can check off the list. And im slightly confused about tuning. how can i check that the signal i put out is far enough from other broadcasts/will not interfer with things (is there a way to check the frequencies)? and how is the broadcast freqency determined- by the arial?

Thanks for reading all of this.

I have done some electonics as part of my computer science course and some of the terms here seem vaguly familier, i dont mind soldering things togther, but is the kit complicated to set up? as i dont want to mess anything up.

I looked into applying for a lincence in my area, but they arn't even acceping applications :-? so as the station will be a pirate one, i want to be really sure i dont interfer with things.
Ok - As I'm aware of the laws etc in the UK, I'll try to help you.

For a university station, you'll need to get an LRSL LPFM license - Long-Term Restricted Service License Low Power FM - along with licensed from BOTH MCPS/PRS ALLIANCE AND THE PPL.

If you apply to Ofcom First (YOU choose where you broadcast an LPFM station, they don't advertise the licenses for this type of station. But, before you continue, see http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radio/ifi/rl/rs ... idance.pdf for guidance. There's a map at the bottom - SEE IT - you're only allowed LPFM LRSLS in the green area.

If you're able to apply for an Ofcom license - and can get the funding - do it. If that's granted, you'll need licenses from the Performing Rights Society AND the PPL.

Licensing for the first year ALONE will cost around £2182.89 overall. It will go down for the second year.

My advice is, if you can't get an LPFM license, go for an LPAM one. DON'T do pirate - your university will suffer.

If you want any more info, let me know.
deimos
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Post by deimos »

Ouch, i'll look into the LPAM licence, i'll prorbably email/phone ofcom becuase their website wasnt very useful at all..

Wait it looks like the LPFM licence is cheaper.. hrm.. the music licenses would come up to, £625 (for the academic year) plus the licence from ofcom.. hrm..
Last edited by deimos on Wed Sep 28, 2005 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
antcrowdie
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Post by antcrowdie »

Yep, LPFM is cheaper.

The Ofcom site has ALL the info you need - it's all in pdf format though.
deimos
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Post by deimos »

antcrowdie wrote:Yep, LPFM is cheaper.

The Ofcom site has ALL the info you need - it's all in pdf format though.
PDF?! why? arh, well time to troll through them i guess.
deimos
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Post by deimos »

You know if this is going to cost too much im just going to look into online broadcasting (gets his calculator out to do the licence calculations again)

! For the love of pete, the map doesnt even have citys marked! geese, well by the looks fo things there is a convienient gap between the green areas right where york and leeds should be (by my poor estimation anyway), that sucks.
deimos
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Post by deimos »

Well looking at the map i noticed id porbably only need a 2k range, *prays that the power required would meen that i dont need a licence form ofcom - unlikly tho.

On a side note i wonder why they dont offer it there.. too many stations maybe, well i know thats not true, but if they are saving a whole bunch of waves for comercial stations thats a bit annoying.
Last edited by deimos on Wed Sep 28, 2005 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
antcrowdie
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Post by antcrowdie »

You need a license from Ofcom regardless of the power, I'm afraid.
deimos
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Post by deimos »

antcrowdie wrote:You need a license from Ofcom regardless of the power, I'm afraid.
are you sure, there are excemptions to the licence http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/ ... on#content
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Post by antcrowdie »

Don't get your hopes up about that, but, by all means, try your luck.
deimos
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Post by deimos »

The £400+ fine and 2 years in jail(max) for running a pirate radio station is a bit off putting.
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