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FM Transmitter and the FCC

navykidd02

By navykidd02
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navykidd02 Member

navykidd02

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I do not want to break any laws so I need help. How are you guys getting by the law that you have to register with the FCC. I dont wanna use the Whole House FM Transmitter Gold Edition I have yet to hear anything good about it. It is late and I still need a Transmitter. But I need to abide by the law since I live in military housing. UP SIDE: Free Electricity!!! LOL

I was looking at the

Whole House FM Transmitter Gold Edition

Mobile Blackbox V6000 House Fm Transmitter

WHOLE HOUSE STEREO 500 mW RANGESTAR FM TRANSMITTER

All are on Ebay. But I dont know if I have enough time or money for the ramsey transmitters.

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bisquit476 Member

bisquit476

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Here is the website for the Code of Federal Regulations for transmitters, not sure about regs in Guam. According to the MBB website, that transmitter is power user adjustable, so it may work for your application.

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_08/47cfr15_08.html

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PaulXmas Member

PaulXmas

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I use Whole House FM Transmitter Gold Edition and am very happy with it.

It broadcasts on 107.X so if there is a radio station that is close to that frequency then it may not work.

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rjnitto Member

rjnitto

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I bought the Mobile Black Box V4000 and am very happy with it. The 6000 model does not broadcast in stereo, only mono which is why I went with the 4000. The MBB can broadcast on any free frequency but I'm fairly sure the Whole House is very limited on frequencies you can use.

You can't adjust the power-out on the 4000 which is unfortunate. So, I bought both the telescoping antenna and the rubber ducky to play with distance, and the rubber ducky sends the signal plenty far enough into the neighborhood for me. The telescoping antenna fully extended gets the signal out about a third mile which is not necessary in my situation.

Richard

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navykidd02 Member

navykidd02

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bisquit476 wrote:

Here is the website for the Code of Federal Regulations for transmitters, not sure about regs in Guam. According to the MBB website, that transmitter is power user adjustable, so it may work for your application.

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_08/47cfr15_08.html


The laws are exactly the same as the US. Guam is a US Territory so we follow all the same rules. I am just trying to figure out whice one follows the law. As I stated I live in military housing so I MUST floow them.
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DavidPeterson Member

DavidPeterson

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When I got my transmitter, I got a Ramsay from christmasincruces.com, he sells 25Bs (the lowest end Ramsay model I'd recommend) for $150, that's completely assembled. Has a wide frequency range, and unlike the 10c has a frequency lock. You should not have any trouble with FCC regulations if you don't modify it.

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Alan C Member

Alan C

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There is a thread on here somewhere that said that at least some of the Mobile Black Box transmitters are not FCC compliant. Their output power is too high for them to fit the "licence exempt" category.

Edit: The comment was at the bottom of page 2 on this thread: http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/forum80/19901-2.html

Also from mobileblackbox.com:


Regulatory compliance:


  • MobileBlackBox.com does not advertise its products as FCC approved.


Regards,

Alan.
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navykidd02 Member

navykidd02

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Ok so my best bet is to buy the Whole House FM Transmitter Gold Edition. It is being advertised as FCC Compliant. Does anyone else know of another BETTER Transmitter that is FCC Compliant. This is proving to become very difficult. I may just cannex the Transmitter until next years show when I dont have to follow the rules by the book.

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bisquit476 Member

bisquit476

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Because of the recommendations of others on this forum and planet christmas, I personally bought an EDM transmitter. It is one of many that are output adjustable, and with proper use can be FCC compliant. Others have used the Ramsey units with success. Which ever one you buy, make sure it is output adjustable so that you may make it FCC compliant. You are ultimately responsible for compliance with the law, not the manufacturer. Buying a unit that is output adjustable makes it easier to reduce power if needed. Remember, if your transmission causes ANY interference (even a jerk neighbor who just wants to cause trouble by calling and complaining), you must stop transmitting immediately or risk a big fine from the FCC. You can limit that by having an adjustable output. Read the rules at the website I mentioned and make your system compliant by purchasing a unit that has an adjustable power output, you will be glad you did. Again, you are responsible for compliance. On a side note, the EDM transmitter I bought has a switch which increases the power quite a bit, making it fall into noncompliance with the FCC rules. So any transmitter can be in or out of compliance depending on the power output.

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Alan C Member

Alan C

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The operation of low power transmitters in the USA is covered by Part 15 of the FCC regulations, which limit the range to about 200 feet. There is more information on the FCC website here: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/lowpwr.html#PART and also OET Bulletin No.63 here: http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Documents/bulletins/oet63/oet63rev.pdf

Regards,

Alan.

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Max-Paul Member

Max-Paul

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Navykiddo2,

Ok, why was I not thinking of this. I was USAF, radio tech. So, here is what you do. You get your butt down to the radio shop and talk to some of the techs. See if one of them will help you with this. So, you get what ever radio. And with the regs you show the tech your radio specs and the regs about power limits. See if he will help you build a series attenuator with the proper connectors on each end. So, lets say that you buy a transmitter that has a 100 mW output. And I actually have forgotten the reg. but lets say you can only legally transmit up to 10mW. So you need a attenuator that will lower the power applied to the antenna by 10db. Tell them what you are doing. I am sure that one or two of them will jump on it to help you out. At least that is how it was when I was in the good old A.F.

BTW what if I may ask is your job. In english son. I have no idea what a numbered job title is in the A.F. any more, and surely not in a different branch of service.

Hope this will help you out..

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navykidd02 Member

navykidd02

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Max-Paul wrote:

what if I may ask is your job. In english son. I have no idea what a numbered job title is in the A.F. any more, and surely not in a different branch of service.

Hope this will help you out..


I am going to just buy the Whole House Gold Edition. Since it is advertised as legal. When I move to the states I am going to buy a new and better transmitter.

As for the Navy. I am a Mineman, I test, build and disassemble Underwater Explosives. I am here in Guam as a part of my shore duty. I will be moving to San Diego in July. Maybe when I get there this will be soooo much easier. I have had to redesign my whole display at least 3 times. I have the display put up but I cant turn it one yet as I am waiting for a responce from the housing director that I am not breaking any rules. WHICH I AM NOT. But we will see I should hear somthing today. Hopefully the show can go live this weekend. I wanna finish Wizards in Winter and The Hippo Song before I go Live and will add a song or two a week.
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Max-Paul Member

Max-Paul

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Interesting job for sure.

Yes good old military rules. Just hope you are not near any part of the base that would be considered sensitive. Otherwise I hope that they grant you permission to light up your display.

Good luck. As for the WIW, I am just to much of a chicken to take that on in my first year. Want more lights before attempting to do that one. Best of luck with the results. I am sure your fellow swabbies and dependents will have a blast seeing your display. Dang, might have the fleet put into port to see your show. Would be a real moral booster. Might use that as part of the justification if you have not done so. Remember, in order to get somethings signed off you need to use power point statements like "Moral Booster" and what not.. Been there done that in my days. I was also our Comm Grp training manager for the Capt. of Maintenance at one time. Learned all about that flowery talk / writing.



Again best of luck.

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Steven Member

Steven

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The FCC rules are difficult to read and understand, but here are some brief facts about unlicensed (part 15) transmitters:

  1. The FCC does not limit the transmit power. Instead, it limits the signal that comes from your system (transmitter + antenna) at a certain distance. That means that even if you turn your output power down very low, say 10mW, if you have a really good antenna, you will still be breaking the rules.
  2. The FCC will not license (for sale) an FM transmitter that will violate the previous rule. Thus, because they must inspect the system (transmitter + antenna) to license (regisister) it, a registered system will have a built-in, or non-changeable, antenna.
  3. It is not legal to sell a non-registered, ready-to-use FM broadcast transmitter. That's why the transmitters you can buy, including the Ramsey and EDM units, are sold as kits. (In my opinion, calling the EDM unit, with it's 1 (one) soldered connection and 1 IC that you must install, a kit is a stretch, but it does seem to get them around the regulations.) Some transmitters you can buy on eBay, that come from China, are probably not legal to sell in the US, but the FCC doesn't have a big budget for that type of enforcement.
  4. Even if you use a registered transmitter, you still must stop using it if it interferes with someone who wants to listen to a licensed (commercial broadcast) station. Since there are commercial broadcast stations on every frequency (albeit some are too far away to hear), it is always possible that someone could complain, and then you must shut down. For this reason, it is important that you don't get your neighbors angry. It's a good idea to turn your transmitter off after your show ends for the night.

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mike in tulsa New Forum User

mike in tulsa

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All,



I bought the C Crane transmitter and could not get a strong enough signal from 25'. In short is sucks. I had to watch the weather forecast to make sure there was no chance of rain and basically place it on the curb in order to get a strong enough signal.

I just received my MBB V6000 and will need to play with the transmit/power settings to maximize power for the shortest possible distance, but an initial test at 75mW was very impressive. The product manual from MBB states the legal disclaimer, but recommends if you are unsure of the laws and regulations to set it at 5mW.

I will update you after tonights show where I end up on the setting.

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mike in tulsa New Forum User

mike in tulsa

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Follow up with the MBB V6000. I have set it to 1mW, and am still getting a strong enough signal that I can receive the broadcast down the street.

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  • 3 weeks later...
rgardner518 Member

rgardner518

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I have a FM Transmitter from eBay. If some of you smart ones out there can view it on eBay and read its spec's, and tell me, if you think it would be style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"FCC Compliant/Approved? This is one of these China/Hong Kong ones.

Thanks Ray

http://cgi.ebay.com/0-5w-Fm-transmitter-PLL-87-108Mhz-radio-Broadcast-kit_W0QQitemZ220528568359QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item335886e827

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