What is Digg?Sponsored by Gilt Man
It's a Gilt Man's world view!
giltman.com - Get gear and gadgets at up to 70% off. Shop like a guy, dress like a man. You're invited.
57 Comments
- serra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Did anyone else think of the movie "Pump up the volume" when they read the headline and synopsis? Or is there a young crowd in here tonight that hasn't heard of it?
-------------------------------------------------
http://fuh-q.com - TadCook, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3tj9991 asked:
"So let's say I buy this and hook it up, and start running my own home based radio station
Somehow a complaint is received by the FCC, and they track me down
What kind of penalties am I looking at?"
It depends. Violation of FCC regulations is potentially very serious, but the first-time offender, depending on attitude and some other factors, can often avoid being cited with an apology.
The transmitters are VERY easy to track down. (I've even done it myself with the FM radio in my old Nissan Sentra...drive around Seattle's hilly terrain listening to the pirate, notice which hills I am behind when the signal fades, eventually make some educated guesses as to where it is, drive there and notice low power signal is really strong, disconnect my FM radio antenna, which makes my receiver very insensitive, drive back and forth, and when the signal is REALLY loud, I'm there.)
The FCC has far better tools though. Here in Seattle they've used a specially equipped vehicle that allows them to drive right to the site. But when they get there, sometimes the just make a friendly visit, explain the situation, and ask the operator to turn it off and not do it anymore. They don't always confiscate the gear.
There aren't a lot of FCC field offices, so for a pirate in North Central Washington a few years ago, they had to drive over to Eastern Washington. They guy was very belligerent, I think he tried to run down an FCC engineer with his vehicle, claimed they didn't have any jurisdiction because he was a "sovereign citizen", etc.
In a few cases like the Party Pirate down in Florida a few years ago, there were some serious penalties, because he kept on doing it and rubbed their nose in it. Also, Florida has an interesting new law. Don't know how this will play in the courts, since the feds have exclusive jurisdiction, but in that state local cops can now track them down and make the arrest.
Interesting aspect to this....if you hold an FCC license of any kind, like you are a ham, for instance, it can be more serious on the first offense because they can take your license away and won't let you apply for another one. - bcrockett, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Too bad for U.S. residents- the item is only for export.
Legally, even 1 watt requires a license from the FCC. And for an easy way to boost the wattage, try plugging it into a Comrex Matrix. - wolphcry, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You can build a FM 15w for far less. $300 for a 15w amp seems kinda $$. Cool idea though.
- fan0616, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My friends and I have been running a 30 watt station for about 2 years now...the FCC has not found us yes, guess no one complained. And for the iPOD and Sirius transmitters, they only put out a few milliwatts.
- BGFeltenink, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Is there any way to avoid being detected? Could you cycle through different transmitters or create a couple roaming transmitters (a van?) and be too hard to catch?
I'm really not planning on running a station, I just don't have the persona for it, but the idea of anonymous, free (as the energy/equip anyway), and uncensored radio is a striking one. Sorry to corporate radio lovers but it sickens me that in my area there are only two radio stations (the sticks) and yet it would be illegal for me to have some good old talk radio on my own dime. Both the stations are owned by the same prudish ***** company too. Some DJ got in trouble for saying "damn it" I mean come the ***** on now.
So... since a signal gets stronger as you approach it, would you not be able to monitor the signal for unusually high reception? Could one say, "Heyyyy there's a really strong connection with someone and it's getting stronger" and thusly terminate the signal and drive somewhere else? - tj9991, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2So let's say I buy this and hook it up, and start running my own home based radio station
Somehow a complaint is received by the FCC, and they track me down
What kind of penalties am I looking at? - CorDawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1the general rule is if noone complains about it then it wont get investigated. people wont complain unless they accedently tune into your station and your swearing your mouth off or something. i remember this from when howard stern was on leno or something the other night.
- spafbnerf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is it supported under Linux? :o
- weirdone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've heard stories of there being many underground radio stations running out of chicago and LA for years now. The FCC only moves if they get a complaint from someone else about the station, so if ou're not treading on the licensed stations' ground I suppose you would be ok.
oh and no digg because its for export only, not available in the US from them :( - Computer_Kid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i wonder if you can transmit data with it and have a long range personal hotspot
- leobaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Any idea what the actual legal wattage limit is? Say you're broadcasting NPR (National Public Radio) podcasts on an open frequency? Will anyone really care?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This seems really cool. But wouldn't the fact that it is connected to a computer add tons of background noise?
- richardtallent, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The rules are set forth in Part 15 of the FCC regulations, 47 CFR 15. There are limits for non-interference, maximum transmitter power, and effective radiated power (ERP, determined by the total power and the efficiency of the antenna). The limits are higher for some educational purposes.
- spafbnerf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1To answer my own question, yes, it seems that it works under Linux. :)
- tavisjohn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you want to stream FM radio, you can connect a radio to a PC via your soundcard's line in. Then you use ShoutCast to take the Line In and stream it over the net, or your LAN. (IE you want to hear your tunes in the basement, and get horrid reception)
- mrkoje, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes you can stream FM radio, meaning its entirely possible. You will have to read up on streaming though. I'm not sure why you would want to stream FM, there are so many internet radio stations out there.
- azygousguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1VHF FM transmissions in the 100MHz range are absorbed particularly well by the human body. You are really breaking rules when you transmit music. 15W is way too much power for a simple fm link to your home stereo. 15W with the right propagation can make it to the other side of the city. The card should really have better sheilding. The concept is cool though.
- subgenius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1leobaby wrote:
Any idea what the actual legal wattage limit is?
-----------------
FCC Part 15 regulations do not identify the actual wattage, but instead use a field-strength
measurement. If you run 100 watts into a dummy load and it doesn't radiate, no foul. If you run
30 miliwatts into a really nice antenna, the field strength can easily be enough to get you busted. THe thing to remember is that as a Part 15 user, you have NO RIGHTS to the frequency. If ANYONE asks you to stop transmitting (anyone....), you must.
This is pretty serious stuff folks. FInes range from $7,500 to well over $10,000 if you are caught. (so don't get caught).
http://www.arrl.org/news/enforcement_logs/
and for part 15 fans:
Unlicensed operation on the AM and FM radio broadcast bands is permitted for some extremely low powered devices covered under Part 15 of the FCC's rules. On FM frequencies, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Section 15.239, and the July 24, 1991 Public Notice. On the AM broadcast band, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR Sections 15.207, 15.209, 15.219, and 15.221. These devices must accept any interference caused by any other operation, which may further limit the effective service range. For more information on Part 15 devices, please see OET Bulletin No. 63 ("Understanding the FCC Regulations for Low-Power, Non-Licensed Transmitters"). Questions not answered by this Bulletin can be directed to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, Customer Service Branch, at the Columbia, Maryland office, phone (301) - 362 - 3000, e-mail LabHelp@fcc.gov. - Quaitemp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+115W should be enough for everybody! :P The two voyager probs currently in interstellar space only have 23watts to communicate back home... :P Okay, radio waves travels better trough vacuum, but 15watts should carry your signals quite far.
(my English is better than your Norwegian ;) so ignore my grammar, please) - pogo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I have something that transmits pretty far, not 5 miles, but 150-200 ft. Far enough to go across your house. You can buy them on ebay for $30, then just connect it to your line out on your computer. It works pretty well.:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Linex-Wireless-FM-transmitter-PDA-MP3-CD-MD-iPod-iRiver_W0QQitemZ5853255617QQcategoryZ86541QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem - SuperCujo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0+digg
Just because it isn't US only for once :) - aran86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0dang, i was hoping it would cost less.
- olibird, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Is there anyway you can do the opposite? Such as stream FM radio.
- rolypolyman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0How can we boost this baby up to 150 watts? Or 1500?
- sparkmonkeyz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0im gonna hook this up right now, im retaking over 106.5 for all of you near sac town california
- kyote, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@serra (0)
Yep, this old fogey (31 yrs old) remembers it. didn't see it in the theater, but did see it on VHS. - awfulshot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wish i knew about this when I was in HS, I lived less than a mile away and could have broadcasted music to the school.
- in3pt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0From the mfgr website: ``HOT TIP: Save 5-10% off product price by promoting our website. Here's how.''
wtg on the free hardware dude =] - Coronaboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I was thinking of Pump Up the Volume as well, great movie!
- EmoryM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Flamingo radio anyone?
- tecmec, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1^ death sentence
- mrkoje, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've heard of people transmitting data via HAM radio, though not very efficiently, but not via FM radio. Anyone have any links to either?
- saysaknow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0***** awesome dude. If you have your own podcast, you can broadcast them for your neighborhood.
- RadioduDE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0would running a station for my neighborhood be illegal it covers only half of my neighborhood about 3 or four houses down each direction.
- tallin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0zeromanners, LPFM licenses are next to impossible to get. If you live near a major market don't even think about it. I was interested in LPFM, until I started doing some research and found out that would never happen where I live. So me and a friend started a 20-watt FM station illegally. Then we upgraded to 100-watts. It was a lot of fun, and we'll probably start it back up sometime soon once we get new cable to run from the transmitter to the antenna.
FYI, we ran that station 24/7 for well over a year and were never caught. The FCC only acts on too much profanity, too much anti-government talk, or multiple complaints from legitimate radio stations with major corporate ties. - milomind, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Buy it from an eBay reseller. Or just build your own mobile transmitter. There are tons of radio kits out there, and they are like any other kits: you can buy practically anything you want disassembled, legal or not. Besides, it doesen't take much thinking to figure out running a pirate station from your house is a bad idea. You can run away in the woods on some hill. In your house...
- cdreiling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i think you can have 15 milliwatts.
- dillamilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i stumbled across your post and i was wondering, what componets did you use to setup ur first 20 watt station, how much did it cost? how much fun was it? haha
- Mike89, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Probably not. The legal is less than 1 watt, I believe. Most personal ones are a matter of milliwatts.
- Zeromanners, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It doesn't look that hard to get a license. If you wanted to run your station legally!
http://www.fcc.gov/Forms/Form319/319Fill.pdf - DangerMouse9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Actually, there is some law that says something about during a time of war you can run your own media. Aparently, there's a group in CA that's using this to defend their station. Let's hope they win. :)
- phildog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0cool product, but I'll save my digg for the article that compares this product to the $40 RocketFM:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/rocketfm/index.php
Is it really worth $200 more? - n4cr2k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This reminds me of the episode of SeaLab where captain Murphy runs a pirated radio station.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Just drive around with 25 watts FM pumping from your trunk.
This reminds me does anyone have a cell phone jammer that works and where did you get it... - SubZ3r0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You could always stop acting so smart get the card and when the FCC knocks at your door act completely retarded about electronics say you bought it online and that you didn't know much about it other then be able to transmit threw your house on an FM station. Personally I dint see a problem with this card unless your using boosters. I have made a small FM mic setup awhile back that transmitted threw my house with a little mic hooked up and a 1.5v AA battery will have to digg a FM transmitter mod :)
- weirdone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0if 1W is too much, all the FM transmitters used by an iPod and sirius/xm no?
- Zonkzor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I would like to see a little discussion from people who are experienced like Ham radio operators. How powerful can you make an FM transmitter go before the FCC comes and kills you? What about a small town? You could probably get away with it for awhile if you just keep it low key.
=-----
How to be a http://CollegeCheapskate.com
----------= - cdreiling, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0But wait there is more, you can also have the FCC confiscate your computer as well as the transmitter.
-
Show 51 - 58 of 58 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is