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Post by thelegacy on Dec 15, 2019 18:00:43 GMT
I watched a 3 hr FCC video talking about why the NAB was concerned about Hobby Broadcasters and the excuse was Hobby Broadcasters do NOT broadcast emergency information when commercial stations do! Well my Broadcast Engineer friend has the perfect solution to NIP THIS ONE IN THE BUD FAST AND HARD!!1. Purchase the Kenwood Excelon DPX793BH (See Link Below and save over 14 grand on a Sage EAS system!! 2. You may have to buy a Car Radio test kit the same as Walmart uses to play a car Stereo in their store or do it yourself if you know how which with the right wireing harness you should be able to convert this great Stereo into a large Boom Box like system. 2. Remember you want to wire a 1 8th inch hack to the case so your boombox will have an audio out jack to connect to your ASMAX2 or Procaster transmitter. 3. Purchase a Bluetooth transmitter to transmit your Audio to the Bluetooth of the Kenwood Car Stereo. You will NEED THAT FOR THE EAS TO WORK!! 4. A Good CB or Bench power supply is required with ZERO HUM!! 5. Purchase a Steel Car Radio antenna and install it OUTSIDE your home for Best Reception. You will need that for the EAS to work. Check the FM and AM Radio reception. If done correctly your Kenwood car Radio will make any home Radio in your home look like a Fisher Price Toy because you will YANK IN stations your home Radio didn't even show a sign of that signal. 6. Plug your Mixer, Computer to your Bluetooth transmitter and turn on the Kenwood car Stereo and use the Bluetooth option and pair it to the transmitter. Be sure to check to be sure there is not too much audio over driving the Kenwood car Stereo. Now when an amber alert, emergency weather alert comes in for your area the Stereo will interrupt your broadcast just like professional Radio stations do and for less than a grand (after conversion and installation) you should meet the FCC's request for an EAS and show responsibility as an operator serving the PICN. You will deny the NAB's argument and your listeners will love you for it. No need for them to be locked into Top40 and Rap just to receive EAS information on their Radio. I suggest you purchase more than one Kenwood Car Stereo in case yours goes bad you can pop it out and quickly install another keeping your station on top of EAS information. www.ebay.com/itm/Kenwood-Excelon-DPX793BH-CD-receiver/323831005885?epid=168557800&hash=item4b65d502bd:g:xoYAAOSws8Rc~qGY
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Post by sparepart on Dec 15, 2019 22:46:20 GMT
Canada allows software based EAS/CAP solutions, the US does not for commercial stations.
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Post by Boomer on Dec 21, 2019 12:49:43 GMT
Enough stamina for a 3 hour video
Glad you could make it through that FCC video. Going with this solution means you actually earn money by not buying a Sage unit, I can see it!
One thing about my station is right now I don't have a lot of control, where I could mute the main player and have a separate input. Most of my focus has gone into having a simple and direct connection from the player to the transmitter, and I don't have a studio set up in the transmitter room yet. I could add a separate sound card for an extra input, as long as the audio stayed muted at all times unless there was an alert.
I really don't want the EAS rules to apply to me. I think a lot of this EBS business was a relic from the days of the Cold War, at a time when radio and TV enjoyed high listening and viewing numbers. You could assume that most households and cars would be tuned to some kind of legacy broadcast format.
Today there are many more options and listening is scattered. Plus, why should broadcasting have the burden of EAS, when listening on line does not? You could say radio is local, but not as much as it used to be with national networks running most stations, and yet EAS seems to be high importance at the broadcaster level. My logic could be flawed there, but people aren't running to their radios for local information.
For Part-15 micro-broadcasters, the coverage is small, more intimate, more like you're in a room with a few friends, not scattering a signal to an entire county, so it doesn't seem so important to me.
Still, I know some folks are public service minded and could use this. If you're a scanner user and tune into CB and ham networks, as well as weather info on TV or 162 mhz, and want to service your broadcast area, then this might be a great idea for you.
On that note, do National Weather Service stations run all of the EAS alerts and tests? If so, that could be a cheaper way to do it, there are many inexpensive weather radios out there. Even if they just broadcast weather info, that would be some sort of public service.
What about a cell phone, would a de-activated phone still pass EAS alerts?
Boomer
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Post by Admin on Dec 21, 2019 16:15:15 GMT
I had made a few posts at Part15.us regarding this. Although not required for Part 15 broadcasters, there is the hope for a new low power AM service for LPAM and the feeling is that meeting these "broadcast" requirements could help to further that hope.
On the equipment side I had a couple ideas along the lines The Legacy suggested. Instead of a $150 to $200 Kenwood receiver, an inexpensive Alert radio could be used.
To automate it, a couple ideas came to mind. Either a VOX circuit activated by the Alert radio audio used to switch from program to Alert or a compressor/limiter with a sidechain control that would reduce or mute the program audio when Alert radio audio was present.
I'm sure there are other ways short of putting out $3k to $10k for a commercial unit.
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Post by part15engineer on Dec 22, 2019 8:49:43 GMT
i use an old sage 1822 for EAS while not FCC / CAP Certified it still seems to work and these can be had for about $50.00
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Post by thelegacy on Dec 22, 2019 9:52:18 GMT
How does the sage 1822 program do you just turn it to the station's you want and then it monitors or how does it work?
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Post by Boomer on Dec 26, 2019 23:44:14 GMT
Thanks Bob and TheLegacy, I didn't know the backstory of what was going on with an idea for a LPAM service. LPAM could be a good step up for those doing Part-15 already. Maybe you can post some links to some of this, so we can be informed more about what's going on in the LPAM front.
I've thought of that angle too, having an emergency or disaster network on AM will keep it relevant. Instead of TIS (highway travelers) stations going off the air, they could be used as an emergency network.
Phones are the place where people are getting EAS alerts now, I regularly get weather and amber alerts for my area. The big issue would be in times of disaster, if you don't have AC power or another way of charging it, the phone could run out of battery in hours, even if it does have a working FM radio. In contrast, an AM/FM portable radio can run much longer, some even hundreds of hours on a battery set, and the cells can be changed.
I'd believe it has to be something that we can easily get off of the shelf, and a muting circuit shouldn't be too hard to get or do in software.
Boomer
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Post by End80 on Dec 27, 2019 4:55:02 GMT
I'm not at all familiar about any current LPAM considerations, but do know the idea seems to consistently arise about every six or seven years.. thus far it's never actually been given any serious consideration by the FCC.. It's seems kind of awkward to consider it presently in light of all the digital AM push going on.
But I do ponder on if a digital shift could result in actually being of advantage to part 15 broadcasters.. Seems that if all AM stations were go digital (which to be honest, I kind of suspect only a minority of stations will actually switch to digital). But IF per chance, the majority of AM stations did go digital, well, that would leave the analog band practically vacant, in which case what difference would it make if an analog part 15 was elevated 100ft and well grounded? - There would be no licensed stations to interfere with anyway. There would still be billions of analog am radios already in existence to receive are station.., seemly, with no one to interfere with (other than other part15'ers), that would give us free range of the analog airwaves - no?
Or so it seems anyway. I'm just pondering the thought,...
Incidentally, Boomer you mentioned TIS stations; It's interesting that the AAIRO feels that digital am will have little affect on analog TIS, except for in very rare cases.. They talk about this in the December issue of The Source Newsletter:
"All-digital AM is coming – but not to worry.
How will digital broadcasting on AM affect Information (TIS/HAR) Radio Stations?"
www.theradiosource.com/articles/news-2019-dec-outdoor.htm |
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Post by mark on Dec 27, 2019 6:01:46 GMT
Yeah, that's one good thing about allowing digital and a lot of stations abandoning the AM band....more for hobby radio, less clutter at night. But the noise will be there and that I think offsets the benefit of an empty band. This is also a long way off so you will probably be dead when it happens.
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Post by End80 on Dec 28, 2019 1:18:17 GMT
... But the noise will be there and that I think offsets the benefit of an empty band... The above linked article says:
"Increased noise?: The new digital format (which is named “MA3”) that will be employed by broadcasters could affect a few [analog AM] Stations. But like the proverbial slot machine, the cherries would have to line up just right for it to be an issue. The broadcast station would have to be 1) in the immediate area, 2) on the first adjacent frequency, and 3) would have to add digital side-bands – which not all broadcasters will do. Digital sidebands will double the digital station's bandwidth and could cause noise to [AM] Stations on next-door frequencies, if they are really close by."
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Post by End80 on Dec 28, 2019 1:23:51 GMT
"How does the sage 1822 program do you just turn it to the station's you want and then it monitors or how does it work?"
I'm still waiting for part15engineer to reply to the legacy about elaborating details about the Sage unit.
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Post by sparepart on Dec 28, 2019 2:27:41 GMT
Nope, not plug and play - you need a receiver for whatever you are monitoring as the PEP. We are using a Crown Broadcast RFBA-1 (combo triple receiver) that was repaired after a lighting strike. The insurance company scrapped it out, we were there when it went into the dumpster.
We ran an 1822 until we had the Sage 3644 donated, and then had to pay SAGE for the software update! The 1822 went to the local amateur radio club for their repeater,
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