crazycoasterider Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 (edited) I'm semi-new to Light-O-Rama (this is my third year) and I'm looking to get a better one than the Whole House FM Transmitter that I'm currently using. I've read a quite a few user reviews on various FM transmitter but many times they end up living in less populated areas where the air waves are much more open. Are there any LA people here who have found any transmitters that work well? The brands I've been looking at are Hilly, Ramsey, Mobile Black Box, and EDM. I included the links to them below.Thanks!http://www.hllyelect...html?cPath=1_50http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM10Chttp://www.mobilebla...ent/view/40/75/http://www.edmdesign.com/orders.html Edited December 18, 2012 by crazycoasterider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forddieseldean Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 i have this one that i use in low power....it is awesome i have had it for three years no problems...USE LOW POWER it is very strong in highhttp://www.amazon.com/0-5-Fail-Safe-Long-Range-Transmitter/dp/B003FO4UHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355835830&sr=8-1&keywords=fm+transmitter+czh-05b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 My votes would be for an EDM LCD or a Ramsey FM100B from a sound quality standpoint. An external antenna is also a must in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Hvasta Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 CZH-05B, but NOT from Amazon, you'll pay $30+ more from there than you will from eBay. For a lot less cost than the EDM (but it's first choice) search eBay for the CZH-05B.. comes from China most times, takes 10days to two weeks, abt $45 shipped. You can find the same one on Amazon, usually in the US for abt $75.. so if you cant pop the cash for the EDM, or the extra $30-ish for the CZH-05B from Amazon, order one early in the year (or now) from eBay. It is ridiculously easy to set up and use. After you find a clear frequency after listening for a couple days both daytime and evenings in your area, find a freq that has at least three (if possible) clear channels between stations, ie: 99.1,station.. 99.3 clear, 99.5, clear, 99.7, clear, 99.9, station.. use the 99.5 if you can.. you will prob have to spend several days searching for a clear freq. Attach the antenna (FIRST!), push/hold the power button as you plug in the wallwart, set the power to L(ow), run the audio line from the audio jack on the computer, set the volume on Media Player to 50%-75% (no higher), set the input level on the transmitter to no higher than 50%-60%, anything higher can cause distortion, Thats it, no soldering, the power is set at 100milliwatts (.10 watt) so it should keep you from getting visited by guys in dark suits, wearing sunglasses, having no sense of humor, driving dark panel vans with Gov't plates..I've been using the CZH-5B for three + years, no problems.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Use these to start with to find an open station.http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacant'>http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacanthttp://radio-locator.com/Then listen to make sure they are truly open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I wanted to revisit this and ask questions. This was my first year and almost ready to shut her down for the season. I'm using the EDM-RDS transmitter which worked perfectly. I changed the power switch from .1 to 10 milliwatts and the range increased only a 100 feet or so. I'm using the supplied antenna, mounted vertically per the enclosed instructions. Even in the high power setting, it will only transmitt about 400 feet or so. That's fine for here in front of the house and it worked for this year. Next year though, I've gotten a request to link another house which is about 1000 feet away, therefore people there need to be able to hear the audio. No need to have the guys in black suits come to visit me therefore I need to increase the power to the level people at this other house can hear or somehow supply an audio signal down there so they can re-broadcast. Thoughts, ideas or suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 The EDM should not be used at 100mw using the supplied wire. You need to get an external antenna like the one below. You can set the EDM back down to 10mw or less. You will get the range you want and better coverage without static. Along with this get a good cable to feed it. The antenna shows its out of stock but he get them in regularly.http://www.fmdxantenna.com/proddetail.php?prod=14tun#.UN8oSXewbNY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viennaxmas Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 The EDM should not be used at 100mw using the supplied wire. You need to get an external antenna like the one below. You can set the EDM back down to 10mw or less. You will get the range you want and better coverage without static. Along with this get a good cable to feed it. The antenna shows its out of stock but he get them in regularly.http://www.fmdxantenna.com/proddetail.php?prod=14tun#.UN8oSXewbNYThumbs up for this antenna - just be careful, I had to add additional attenuators to lower the emitted signal after getting this antenna hooked up :-) I used to get about 150 ft with the antenna part of my old TX - hooked this one up and lost signal after 1.7 miles.... Now with changed power and attenuators I am down to about 200 ft of clear signal. This antenna is really great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I used to get about 3/4 mile. Then I had to switch frequencies to one that has a stronger signal 75 miles away and I now only get about 4-5 city blocks. How high you mount the antenna will make a huge difference in distance as well as if the trees have leaves and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewbscott Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I'm a first-year LOR user too - started with that WHFM crap and ditched it for the CZH-05B, same as TJ Hvasta - no complaints at all - great unit in low power:I bought mine through Amazon, but go the eBay route to save a few $$...http://www.amazon.com/0-5-Fail-Safe-Long-Range-Transmitter/dp/B003FO4UHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355835830&sr=8-1&keywords=fm+transmitter+czh-05b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 What Jeffl is doing is illegal and opens himself up for a visit. To the op who whats to be able to cover two houses that are about 1000' separated. Legally I dont see any answer other having a means to transport the audio to a second transmitter via say fiber optics. Though more than likely this will induce a small time delay in the 2nd transmitter audio. Again this is not what I would expect to be legal but closer to it would be to use a beam antenna to beam it over to the second location. What is different than the antenna Jeffl shows is this. His choice of antenna is called an omni directional. Means that the signal is like a round doughnut with the antenna poking up from the hole. A beam or yagi antenna creates a pattern that would be like a ballon squeezed between two book but with the knot at one side. That knot is where the antenna is and the other side is where the other house would be. The idea is to minimize people from the sides and the rear to hear you signal. And the signal would reach out just far enough that the signal could be heard at the other house and just a few in the area between the two houses, yours and his. So, we minimize the number of houses that could be effected by your signal, other than the targeted area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 (edited) Hmmm, So another thought would be, is it possible to transmit our audio feed via TCPIP to another computer then have that person re-transmit the audio on another fm transmitter? I know we can send data to another computer via which is how the internet works but analog audio? Anyone here ever done this and if so, how? What software? Using fiber isn't possible in this case and it would have to cross a street and run thought numerous people's yards. Edited December 30, 2012 by dgrant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 What Jeffl is doing is illegal and opens himself up for a visit.Unfortunately 99% of the people who run these shows are "technically" illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viennaxmas Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 There are a few commercial products I know off an have used in the past:Telos being the widest used: http://telos-systems.com/zip-one/Other ones:Stl-ip.comTieline.comI am sure there is also some freeware out which can be used to transport audio over IP...Latency might be the catch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Unfortunately 99% of the people who run these shows are "technically" illegal.I see that the lesson that your mother tried to teach you didnt work. So, if everyone else jumps off of a bridge are you going to do it too? Does it make it legal if 99% of the other people are not legal that you wont get a visit. Hell you might be the one that stands out like a sore thumb and you will be the one that they make an example out of. Yes, I am sure that everyone that is not using one of those Whole House Transmitters are not legal. But the reason I singled you out in this thread is that you have added an external antenna and are ok with still broadcasting for 4 or 5 blocks instead of couple hundred feet at most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 This thread has all the information necessary for the intended question. Nothing good will come of it from hear on out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Paul Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Do you hear what I hear. Or do you mean "right here and now" Jeffl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Please gentlemen, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. We don't have to agree. This forum is a place where we are here to "share" our ideas, thoughts and hobby. I was simply asking about the range on my EDM or other options, without violating the law. I've personally seen a street a few years ago where the entire street of homes was linked and the ELL's will do that for up to 1000 feet away. The only issue with the linking is having enough signal strength of the fm broadcast to cover the distance. I suppose a simple idea would be to use a receiver, feed a constant level output to another fm transmitter and re-send with the understanding that it would degrade a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMC Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 (edited) sorry for the latency on my reply, you can "network" as many low power FM transmitters as you like (no FCC rules on that) I did a business this year and they had a road that's a 1/2 mile long so I daisy chained 4 Part 15 low power FM transmitters at 600ft spacings, they wanted to broadcast upcoming events, and the easiest way to send the audio is by doing the ole' Muzak Audio Distribution System for buildings which used 70v audio transformers, you can send audio 1000's of feet through a single pair cable, and the DC power for the transmitters through another cable, and you don't need to worry to much about impedance loss, the only downside is the audio is in mono Edited January 7, 2013 by PMC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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