FCC: Legal Low-Power FM Broadcasting Coming Soon 206
Arctic Fox writes "In an article (login needed) in today's NY Times, it is announced that the FCC will be allowing individuals and groups the ability to run low powered FM (yes, FM) radio stations.
It seems that many would-be DJs will get 100-watt stations with 7 mile operating radii, but the large markets - NY, Chicago, LA - will only be allowed to use 10-watt (4 mile) stations."
Coolness (Score:1)
Why not just do webcasts? (Score:2)
Outstanding! (Score:1)
internet audio feed!
Anybody ever listen to Micro Kind?
fcc (Score:1)
The FCC shut down a lot of the little stations at colleges/high school etc.
It would be great though. I used to DJ.. it was fun. the school had a 10 Watt mono FM station. The music was better than what everyone else was playing IMHO.
Now you can listen to good music whithout streaming MP3.
/A
Not for Large Groups - For industry and others (Score:4)
They are doing this because radio is becoming one big conglomerate - no diversity. The FCC also is amming this at private orgranizations like churches and hobby groups.
However if you wish to reach a large group of people - a webcast is far better, but remember in many areas of the world - people still have a standard 28.8 and cannot hear your broadcast (if this was not so, AOL wouldn't exist).
I think that this will be very helpful for several reasons.
1. It will get people interested in radio more - attract more people to the business.
2. It will create more stations and make some non-licensed broadcasters settle down because a fair amount will be content with a range of a couple miles.
3. It will force the industry to become more competitive and that will means more money put into research equaling more new tech.
I'm glad the FCC is finally trying something like this.
500 foot radio station (Score:3)
What to do with your own station. (Score:3)
If there's another radio operator within that radius, can you use that as a relay?
This could be used as a way of finding new uses for the remaining airwaves
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
Good idea (Score:1)
Wheres the internet signup page?
~DJ-Pyro
MPE
107.3 Mosh Pit Entertainment
sounds interesting. (Score:1)
but questions arise as to how they will possibly be able to monitor all of these new stations for appropriate content, and whether they will cause interference with "legitimate" stations and other electronic devices like telephone lines.
As a "free radio" guy (Score:2)
This decision seems to be a GOOD-THING. (Besides, the FCC can be a bunch of a**holes at times.) This will theoretically allow more people to get their message out, and allow for more freedom of speech. It should be noted (as someone asked earlier) that FM modulators and transmitters are fairly expensive, they go from ~$1000 up to $10k+, so it's not really chump change for non-commercial stations.
The only drawback I can really see is that there will be more stations. Neighboring stations on the dial will tend to step on each others signal more, which is just not good (and rude besides). Also, I bet that there are a lot of stupid people out there who would broadcast crap. (I'm talking hate-mongers and what not. If more poeple braodcast crappy music, then more people will listen to the "good stations")
Any how, that's my take on it. Your opinions may vary, but as someone who is involved in a legitimate noncommercial station, I kind of have an insiders view.
A wealthy eccentric who marches to the beat of a different drum. But you may call me "Noodle Noggin."
Congress (Score:2)
Now THIS is cool. (Score:2)
My car's MP3 Collection and the drive to and from work should be a bit more interesting for some folks now
DMB RULES!
They are a threat to free speech and must be silenced! - Andrea Chen
Re:bad (Score:1)
Criticizing the government is a very good thing. Given a choice between a country where you can criticize gubmint, and one where you aren't allowed to, there would be no choice.
besides, if you want to see people criticizing the government on TV or the radio, just watch some campaign ads.
Old news (Score:2)
Now we just need a tower to mount an antenna on. Anyone got a few thousand bucks so we can rent space?
-Chris
Re:500 foot radio station (Score:1)
http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/ [ramseyelectronics.com]
Frequency Squatting.... (Score:2)
I can already see ads like 99.9 for sale only $1,000,000
Apart from that this is a great idea. Although I am not the US of A so it hardly applies to me.
Individuals? (Score:3)
"Moving to open the radio airwaves to hundreds of small broadcasters, the federal government is planning to approve rules to allow educational, religious and community groups to run inexpensive low-power FM radio stations."
I can't tell if the application would require some sort of verification of the "group's status" or not. It would be fairly easy to check the status of educational or religious groups, but a fair and consistent definition of "community group" may be hard to come by. However, I didn't see anywhere in the article a mention that individuals could apply for such a license. I guess my 24 hour a day polka station is out
Eric
Building communities- (Score:3)
But, if your goal *isn't* a world wide, or even a city-wide audience, there's alot that can be done.
If used as "neighborhood" radio stations, we might actually *have* neighborhoods again - there'd be something connecting people within the listening area, something tailored to that area. Even if we didn't get to know our neighbors, we'd certainly know what was going on with them - a whole new meaning of 'local' news.
Wow. I get all bouncy just thinking about it.
-Noiz,
Who'd like to teach the world to sing, apparently. Shoot.
---------
Re:Good idea (Score:1)
It's a cycle (Score:5)
(Do I support public broadcasting? Hell no; they have no interest in serving the community, as is supposed to be their charter...)
The FM band has so few frequencies and so much demand that almost no stations on the commercial part of it are not corporately owned. In the last two decades there has been an incredible change in how these stations are owned and operated. They have gone from business to big business. FCC changes in ownership rules allowed corporations to own more stations; the buying spree that followed had stations selling for much more than their worth, especially considering how broadband to the home, wireless 'net, and satellite broadcasting could make traditional radio stations into dinosaurs. All they do is transmit audio, fer chrissakes.
This in turn has led to a yet-greater reduction in the risk-taking that radio is likely to do. If it doesn't have a shot at a four share, it won't get on the air. While the rest of the society was diversifying from wanting 3-5 TV channels to wanting 50 to 200 and more, radio was in effect clamping down on diversity.
This in turn led to a large increase in pirate radio, the operators of which were ready to risk breaking federal law for the love of broadcasting and the love of serving the community through it.
Now that radio is on the edge of being irrelevant, the FCC is once again politically able to permit small broadcasters on the air. But the lesson, the moral of all this, is that government acts politically, not in the interests of the public; and even non-governmental organizations set up to serve the public act politically and work to preserve their own power.
I welcome the diversity of views, sounds, and ideas that will come about through this ruling. It's a little late now that the Internet has supplanted it.
Don't get too excited kids (Score:1)
About 2/3 down into the article, it says:
"F.C.C. officials will award licenses based on a group's ties to the local community the station would serve."
The church down the block, and the library will have a voice. Unless you have "ties" to your "community", you're still out.
The world is still safe from punk and dance.
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
And what makes you think they'll be illegal? I can perfectly well rip my CDs and broadcast them (provided I get no commercial gain), cannot I?
Kaa
Rockets (Score:1)
I build high power rockets and I've been searching for something to transmit video signals from the rockets in flight back to the ground. I currently use an 8mm camcorder, but this calls for the rockets to be large, thus limiting my altitude. Maybe I should just lurn a little more about radio first.
This is so cool (Score:2)
It will cost you more than a few grand to setup a station. At least to do it right. You will nead All sorts of audio equipment and not the cheap stuff from Radio shack. But about 10 grand should do it, assuming that you don't have to pay for office space. Which is posible if you are being hosted by a University or other group.
Keeping a radio station going is a lot of work. At WBRS they run 24x7 on all volenteer labor. It can be a lot of fun but it can also be a major pain.
Small stations can do cool things. WBRS used to have live music from local bands on every week. And the only show in Yiddish in New England (They may still have them for all I know). And had a lot of other neet stuff.
The most important thing to get a microstation on the air is a group of very dedicated people. Because there is alot of work there. But good luck to all the folks who are going to try! I look forward to hearing the results on the radio.
Re:Good idea (Score:1)
I thought that applied only if you are commercial. If you can show that you get no monetary gain, you can broadcast all you like. Am I wrong about this?
Kaa
Large markets, small stations, and pirate radio. (Score:2)
Oh well. Large markets also have DSL, so they don't need this IMO.
Don't they have market-ownership laws that are supposed to remedy that exact problem?
The nation's largest broadcasters have fought to block the rules... asserting that [this] could create interference for established stations in the form of static or distorted signals./i>
Sniffle. It's these same largest broadcasters who constantly increase their wattage, infringing (illegally) on other (usually smaller) stations' broadcast radii. And the FCC has approved these increases in most cases without a smidge of regard for the lower-power stations, who get rejected for their own power increase petitions, being drowned out.
The supporters of the F.C.C.'s move... included... the United States Catholic Conference and the United Church of Christ.
Between christian college radio stations (which always seem to be school-run as opposed to student-run) and AM radio, I'm not glad to hear that churches want to use this. I'm much more interested in the Stephen Dunifer [ibslaw.com] (Free Radio Berkeley) types getting on.
I have to say in the realm of radio and maybe even TV, the FCC seems to mean well. But they normally have no teeth whatsoever when it comes to large-power stations.
7 mile radius is better than nothing but.... (Score:1)
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
WMAL (Score:3)
*Screeeee*
Crash.
"Ok, Boys and Girls. Looks like we got us a nasty 4 car pile-up in the first row..."
Nipok Nek
But will they let us do KISS. (Score:1)
The packets could be encrypted if you the security conscious type.
100watt != 7 mile && 10watt != 4 mile (Score:2)
> It seems that many would-be DJs will get
> 100-watt stations with 7 mile operating radii,
> but the large markets - NY, Chicago, LA - will
> only be allowed to use 10-watt (4 mile) stations."
I'm afraid this is misleading. It is incorrect to make this kind of relationship between transmitting power and the broadcasting range. Range is a function of many more things than power; probably the most important aspect of transmitting on FM is the type of antenna used, and of course, how it is used. Proper use of antennas are by far the most effective way to increase (or decrease) broadcasting range.
Re:A good boost for record stores (Score:1)
say a music store pays $X.00 to build their own station. The station only brings in say 10 people who weren't going to be come anyway. That's 10 new potential customers. Those odds sound better than any banner campaign on the web.
Networks within networks? (Score:1)
As far as I can tell, the US radio stations basically make or break artists - this would be a great way of breaking some of the really bad ones and making some of the ones that really deserve it.
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
Re:sounds interesting. (Score:2)
They'll do this the same way they do it now. They'll make you SWEAR to be good, and sign an "I-SWORE-To-Be-Good J-42" form. Then if someone complains that you aren't being good, they'll nail you.
Nipok Nek
Re:Individuals? - No, groups (Score:2)
One thing that I don't know about-- at the proposed rulemaking announcement, one of the commissioners made a statement [fcc.gov]:
My second concern relates to the impact that creation of low power service may have on potential conversion to terrestrial digital radio service. I understand that there have been promising advances of late that can enable current radio operations to convert to digital transmission technology "in band on channel." Converting to digital transmission technology could improve the quality of radio service and potentially increase spectral efficiency. These are very real benefits and I would be concerned if authorizing some or all of these low power radio services would make in band on channel conversion to digital radio unworkable for existing terrestrial services.
The player that's always mentioned in this is USA Digital Radio, LLC [ibocradio.com]. I didn't find any statements on their web site about the low-power FM stuff, so maybe it's not such a big deal.
Does anyone here know anything more about this technology?
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
You can only broadcast content that you own or that you have licensed for radio distribution.
Cry of foul? I think not (Score:2)
brethren, the RIAA, the Motion Picture Association, and their DVD licensing group.
What the FCC proposes opens up the market to smalltime broadcasting, thus potentially stealing
audience share for big stations, and breaking the "tradional channels of distribution" that generate
revenue. This is the root of the cries of the aforementioned groups, although they'd never admit it openly. I'm surprised they aren't claiming a potential for copyright infringement (maybe they are, I just haven't read/heard anything at this point).
Kudos to the FCC for some forethought, and thinking of the small person over corporate greed.
-
Re:Networks within networks? (Score:1)
Re:sounds interesting. (Score:2)
Re:Coolness (Score:3)
========
Re:Good idea (Score:1)
Now, the owner could include a term that you can broadlast noncommercially, but that is a rare exception.
Reminds me of the net (Score:1)
but time heals all wounds and now: the id10ts are still out there but noone pays attention anymore, there is signifigantly better stuff available now (though the crap didn't disappear yet)... ans all it took was some time and a lot of people and even more money
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
You need to be licensed and you must pay royalties to broadcast anything which you do not own the Performance Rights to (note this is NOT the same as copyright).
Re:Now THIS is cool. (Score:3)
If you are broadcasting music your don't own then the authorities could triangulate your signal and come knocking on your door.
This is the third time I've said it in this article, but I'll say it again:
You can't distribute copyrighted material without express permission from the author. That includes broadcasting on the radio, even noncommercial radio.
Now, if you want to broadcast some Open mp3s (Ie., ones that permit distribution) or your own, then that would be fine.
Re:Rockets (Score:2)
great for rural areas (Score:1)
This kind of thing would be great for rural areas that aren't serviced by a good variety of radio programming. Instead of putting up one huge high-power tower that broadcasts to mostly empty space (though you have to pay the same for it), you can set up these micro-stations in the small towns to rebroadcast a webcast or something. A 1-mile radius could cover towns like that, and you'd still be reaching over 50% of the people in the area.
Hmm, sorta wants me want to rebroadcast KZZQ [kzzq.com] that way. :)
Re:But will they let us do KISS. (Score:2)
Re:What to do with your own station. (Score:2)
I'm sure you could probably chain them together as long as you coordinate your frequencies carefully -- just be sure you don't pirate a licensed station's broadcast for legal reasons that have nothing to do with the FCC, and remember you have to transmit on a different frequency from what you're receiving for purely technical reasons.
Need I mention that having an amateur radio license would give you a lot more information and opportunities to experiment? Remember, folks, it gets a hell of a lot easier in April..
Re:Individuals? (Score:1)
Looked to me like individuals are included, and I'm not sure they're talking about licensing
then again, I've been wrong before
anyone see advertisers taking advantage of this? (Score:1)
Pirate radio- (Score:1)
Could somone point me to some pirate radio station information? I mean real radio, not web cast. And yes, I saw the article on
Back in the '80s at Georgia Tech some guys put together a "small" bradcast in Techwood dorm. Supposedly people from all over the city could listen in. They tried to get a real license, but apparently the FCC requires detailed schematics of the equipment, and these guys had hacked it all together so the project died.
Eventually we'll get broadband wireless web, but 'til then we wait.
ed
Re:Anticorporate Broadcasting (Score:2)
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
Fair use would probalby apply.
Personally, I've always wanted that sort of thing, just so I could listen to my stuff anywhere, with just a little (power-conserving) radio. Shower radios exist too, after all
No, false communities (Score:1)
The argument will be made that these groups are currently underserved by the current radio market. The fact is that the current urban radio market is dominated by corporations that generate playlists or present nationally syndicated "talk" shows designed solely to get good ratings books and make ad revenue.
And I resent the implication that current radio represents me at all. I can't stand any music stations, and the talk stations are either dominated by brash, right-wing demogogues like Rush (on AM) or the quiet, left-wing propoganda of NPR.
Low-power FM would be an excellent way for REAL communities (like neighborhoods) to get together, exchange ideas and actually strenthen themselves. Instead, the vast majority will *still* not be represented on the air since the stations will go into the hands of bogus communities.
Money and small radio stations (Score:2)
To run a radio station costs money. You need space for the studio and to store Records or CD's. You need to pay the electric bill etc. These stations will not be selling adds. Which meens that you will need to find some organazation to underwrite you. For example a school or university, or maybe a community center or church type group. But you probably can look to drop 30-40K per year. And that is assuming all the people running the station are doing it without a paycheck.
On the other hand I would guess that if you have a group that wants to run a station finding the people may not be that hard.
Wireless Networking (Score:1)
Re:Not for Large Groups - For industry and others (Score:2)
if you want to reach a large group of white people, then a webcast is certainly the way to go -- but remember that most people aren't connected to the internet.
Re:Congress (Score:2)
QST - 100 Years Of Amateur Radio (Score:2)
"The article left me with one question: First, could they network?"
"supporters all over the US set up thousands of relay stations"
"Wouldn't it be cool if people started using these bandwidths for small WANs using KISS or some other protocol? "
Finally Anonymous Coward wrote -- "This has already been going on for many many years. Get your ham radio licence and get into packet radio."
Ham Radio (Amateur Radio) has been going on for over 100 years! We have relay stations across the USA with (Gasp!) "repeater's", Digital Networks "Packet Relay", Satalite E-mail, AM/FM Voice and a slew of other toys. We erect huge antenna arrays allowing us to talk to the world, We bounce signals off the moon, and occasionally chat with the Shuttle Astonauts.
In the US a good source to get you started in FM radio is the "Amateur Radio Relay League" at
http://www.arrl.org/
Re:Why not just do webcasts? (Score:1)
Basically, it points out that besides micro-radio's prediliction for locality, many of its listeners are the "poor and disenfranchised".
Personally, I applaude this action by the FCC (about time). This is an important outlet for individuals to speak out to their LOCAL communities. Forget the "global village", I say. When you're talking to your friends and neighbors it actually matters what you say. To cross reference the Katz thing - you don't hear micro-radio operators flaming the fuck out of each other all day long. They take responsibility for what they say because their community is non-virtual, i.e. it isn't an illusion.
Not to say that slashdot isn't a "real" community - it is, in a year 2000, brave new world typ of way. But
Re:Individuals? (Score:1)
What qualifies as a groups is very interesting to me. I've long been tempted to set up a pirate radio station playing a mix of music (mostly goth, electronica, industrial, and trance) and commentary...maybe even drama or readings. Now, I've gotten input from a mailing list of local people (most of us work within about 15 - 20 mile radius and the rest aren't much further out). I wonder if we would qualify as a community group.
On a related note, I wonder if this will be increased or decreased pressure on pirate FM stations. Most have a short radius and some are quite good. An excellent example is the Anime Music Network [tripod.com].
Herb
Re:Congress (Score:2)
Radio Edit (Score:1)
Although, you can get arrested for public obscenity if you play songs with nasty words too loud on your stereo--the same rule applies to radio--hence the "radio edit" versions of songs.
Re:Individuals? (Score:2)
This is a direct quote from the /. post, and we all know how accurate those are ;) Read the article on NYT (or just the first paragraph I quoted before) and notice that included are educational, religious and community groups. No mention at all of individuals.
Chrs
Eric
Competing on equal ground (Score:2)
The best analogy I can come up with is driving a tiny Honda with a double tractor trailer tailgating you.
Re:Networks within networks? - already happening (Score:1)
Ahh, Nostalgia (Score:1)
Took them long enough.... (Score:1)
This is important! (Re:Congress) (Score:5)
Yep, congress acting to protect you from dangerous new ideas.
Can't believe moderators are ignoring this!
-Isaac
Comercial Radio Stations and Low Power Stations (Score:2)
Small 'pirate' stations are the targets of the large media holdings that control the radio market. These small stations don't have comercial breaks, don't play what the record labels say, and generally upset the system of money flow.
Take the story of beatradio (www.beatradio.com -- They even have pictures of the FCC hauling away the radio).
The jist of the story is they were playing music and upsetting the local radio stations. Most of the minneapolis market is either owned by ABC or Chanceler Communications.
So they had the FCC go and shake things up. Well, first it was operating a station with out a license. Okay, sounds like a legitimate complaint. Well, beat did something a little different. They tried to get one.
Enter a world of regulations that are designed to keep small start-up off the airwaves. Add to it the ability of local stations to object. All of this ammounted to the big boys have the ability to keep the other kids out of the pool.
My bet is that small community groups will probally be able to have a station. Religious talk, and Paul Harvey for all! But, as soon a station gets popular enough to cut into a top 40 stations listenership you can bet that they will object. I can already see it. Are they really a community group? What public service are they providing? In the end the little guy is always going to get the shaft.
Re:Individuals? (Score:1)
Actually, you'd be surprised... The two polka shows on our station, WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland [slashdot.org], have a tremendous community following. If you're in an area with any interest in polkas, you'd definitely be serving the community. And in truth, if you're playing practically anything that doesn't get mainstream radio exposure, you're serving the public good by turning people on to music or programming that they might not otherwise be able to hear.
Only through hard work and perseverence can one truly suffer.
Re:Why not just do webcasts? (Score:1)
I camp with 10000 people in western PA every August. The site is a few square miles. Two of the people I camped with a few years ago brought a small 35 watt transmitter and covered the entire site. Granted, this was for their own amusement, but the transmitter could be put to good use.
Another time where this would be useful: The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in upstate NY runs for 3 days and has an annual attendance of about 10000. A low power transmitter run on site could provide news to those camping at the event.
Imagine a city arts festival taking place in the streets and galleries of Berkeley. The target audience of such a broadcast would be mobile - those in their cars and on foot going to such events.
How about a legal radio station for Burning Man?
BTW, this has been legal in the UK for years. Local groups can buy a time limited low power license from the government for very little money.
Re:Good idea (Score:2)
Yes. Talk to ASCAP or BMI. The rates for non-commercial stations are cheaper, but you still have to pay. The rates for non-commercial stations are set by the U.S. Copyright Office.
W--- what? Re:WMAL (Score:1)
This gives me the occasion to ask something I've been wondering about a long time - How come all american radio stations have these funny four-letter names? I mean, KXYZ doesn't mean a thing. Over here, they are usually called something along the lines of "Megapol", or "Radio Kristianstad", or something with the frequency in the name, like "City 107" or "Gold 105". I find that a wee bit easier to remember than "something with four letters, beginning with a K, and, oh yes, there was a W in there somewhere"...
Not intended as any kind of flamebait, I'm just curious about these strange letters.
Re:Coolness (Score:1)
Low Power Radio Coalition (Score:1)
JediLuke
Low power FM (Score:1)
Stupid, stupid Jedi (Score:1)
Only through hard work and perseverence can one truly suffer.
I think that's a BAD idea. (Score:1)
If you have ever been to Italy, you have seen the consequences of having many small radio stations all over the place. It maybe okay if the weather is always perfect and you don't ever move away from where you are.
But many people like me like listening to the radio while driving. Imagine that you are driving along, and your receiver hops to one station after another, because you constantly leave one broadcasting range and enter another. I remember when driving in Italy, I actually pulled over when there was a great song on the radio, because I would have left the broadcast range before the song had ended.
Even when walking, this can happen. Once when I was walking on the beach (with my portable FM receiver), I could hear one station when I turned my body to the East, and a different station when I turned to the West!
Even for stationary receiving, this could be a problem. Imaging you happen to live at the border of one station's broadcasting range. On a good day (or at night), you will be able to listen to the radio. On a bad day (rainy or foggy), you won't. Just great.
Re:Coolness (Score:2)
Actually, according to the Digital Millennium copyright act, you may broadcast anything you like but you must follow a few rules:
1. Never play the same song more than once within a 3 hour period.
2. Never play requests within an hour of their requestment (is that a word?).
3. Do not publish a schedule in a advance allowing people to know what your going to play and when.
Thats basically it. There are other rules but they cover finer points.
Wrong! (Score:1)
Re:Now THIS is cool. (Score:1)
That's not entirely true. Please refer to my response to a previous post nearer to the top of the page. It pertains to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Re:W--- what? Re:WMAL (Score:1)
Re:Building communities- (Score:1)
I'm looking forward to this. It should be interesting.
Josh
FM Radio Information (Score:1)
Re:WMAL is actually... (Score:1)
630 AM and you can hear Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and (I think) Art Bell on that station when in the land that common sense forgot.
Radio still matters -- this is a good thing (Score:3)
1. In a car.
2. In the morning when I'm waking up.
3. When I want continuous, high-quality audio.
4. When I want up-to-the minute information (in emergencies).
Which of these do the 'Net and the Web supplant? None. (The thought of turning on my PC at 7AM and sitting in front of it in my bathrobe is so depressing I can't even picture it.)
Furthermore, you can't expect me to believe that there are nearly as many households out there with a good 'Net connection, a PC, and audio-playing software as there are with an old beat-up FM radio. Radio has survived TV, and it will survive the Internet, and the thing after the Internet too.
The opening up of the FM band to low-wattage stations is potentially revolutionary--more so than putting some streaming audio up on Shoutcast and hoping 50 people will tune in for some choppy, jumping, artifact-filled audio. In a community like mine in Brooklyn, NY, you could reach a million listeners with just a 4-mile radius. You better believe more of us have radios than a good 'Net connection (Thanks for nothing, Bell Atlantic).
Radio still matters, and this is a bright day for people who think that the media should belong to the people, not to a few people.
Re:I think that's a BAD idea. (Score:2)
Imagine wandering around the city, catching some quirky-sounding DJ spinning a block party. Imagine going to visit another town just to hear the radio station. It's local color restored. It's a break in the corporate stranglehold of preprocessed nonsense. It's community bonding.
You say you have a distaste for the inconsistent availability of such short-range broadcasts. But it is the prefab stuff that is fed to you through a tube. The real gems must be sought out. The weather isn't beautiful every day, because if it were, that would be boring. You take the good with the bad. You listen to the ambient sound and take what you can get. You shouldn't expect wisdom delivered-on-demand - that is the domain of foolishness.
You may argue that the Internet makes this irrelevant, but I argue that every stronghold of the corporate fatcats should be disassembled. Unfortunately, that HR3439 bill [loc.gov] introduced may not permit it.
Re:Coolness (Score:3)
Kaa dun said:
Unfortunately, the record companies will still have you by the balls. Playing music (even MP3s) counts as a "public performance" of music, and generally when you do public performances of music you get to pay the nice happy protection^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H licensing fee to the two main music publishers, ASCAP and BMI.
Yes, even folks who operate jukeboxes in pizza places have to pay the licensing fees, and ASCAP and BMI are just as high on the bastardy scale as the RIAA is--they literally tried to sue the Girl Scouts for the Scouts singing campfire songs in Girl Scout books--which just happened to have the rights owned by ASCAP and BMI :P (If memory serves, they were also responsible for having a lyrics archive taken down.)
Radio stations and music-video outlets have to pay licensing fees to ASCAP and BMI, because they too get caught in the bind...so do many professional DJ's, who have to have the licenses from BMI and ASCAP.
If memory serves, they've even attempted to hit Shoutcast/Icecast/RealAudio streamers for licensing fees, too...sometimes on top of fees already paid (for example, radio stations which ALREADY have to pay the BMI/ASCAP tax which have been hit up AGAIN because they happen to do RealAudio streams).
About the only way you could get out of the licensing fees is to play artists which have NOT published via ASCAP or BMI--which is even harder than finding an artist who has not had to whore themselves to the RIAA cartel (ASCAP and BMI are the Big Two music publishers--literally almost anyone who publishes music through an agency goes through one of those two agencies eventually--the only ones who don't are EXTREMELY indy artists, garage bands, and the like--probably most of mp3.com's material, even, would be affected by this).
(Yes, I've investigated it, and was saddened to find out that info--I'd actually hoped to take advantage of the LPFM authorisation, till I found out how much licensing fees would be :P I still hope the local college station [right now broadcasting via common-carrier on AM on U of L's campus to avoid FCC regulation--the school will not fund them to become a broadcast station because they already pay for one of the three public radio outlets in Louisville] can make some use of it, though...)
Re:Coolness (Score:2)
You know, I've been wondering why the major "alternative" rock station here in Los Angeles (KROQ) played the same 16-20 songs over and over...armed with this the above information, I did some math, and came up with this:
There are 60 minutes in an hour...there are about 10 minutes of commercials at the end of an hour, and about 10 minutes of other DJ chatter, promos, etc. That leaves about 40 minutes for music. Let's assume the average "alterna-pop" song is about 2.5 minutes long...40/2.5=16! Allow them to play the occasional "flashback" song, and there you have the approx. 16-20 songs on the playlist.
Wow...I can't believe I actually used long division in real life...I guess they were telling the truth in High School..now I wish I'd paid attention to the other stuff too.
Re:Coolness (Score:2)
Jedi@radio dun said:
Unfortunately, this may not be entirely true (depending on which licensing agency you're dealing with). ASCAP and BMI both have a reputation of major bastardy regarding "public performances", which HAS on occasion targeted non-profit groups.
Possibly the most infamous example of this is when ASCAP and BMI attempted to hit up the Girl Scouts of America for licensing fees--for every time ASCAP or BMI-published songs were sang around campfires (according to them, campfire singalongs constituted public performances). Eventually they backed off after a LOT of public criticism, but this proves they'll even go after nonprofits (the GSA is a non-profit organisation in most states).
Re:Wrong! (Score:2)
Some anonymous coward dun said:
Then, Xerxes dun said:
Erm, Mr. Anonymous Coward, I fear Xerxes may have you just a bit trumped.
First off, Drake SW8s are NOT "$1 radios". They are widely regarded by most as one of the best damn communications receivers available outside the military market, period. They are also by NO means cheap--try starting price of around a thousand dollars or so new, around five hundred dollars and up used. (It would not be exaggeration to term the Drake SW8 the Ferrari of radios, both in terms of price AND performance. It is also one of the few radios I can truthfully say I'd give my eyeteeth for ;)
Also, I'm assuming he's one of the "old Extras" (the FCC recently reclassified ham radio licenses to three classes, and some hams are being grandfathered as a result into higher classes). Extra Class ham radio requirements, at least the old ones, aren't to sneeze at: you have to take a test of radio knowledge and theory that is approximately equal to that required of FCC-licensed technicians for "big" radio stations (yes, you have to know a HELL of a lot of theory and operation knowledge :), plus [till April 1, anyways] one has to pass a Morse code test of reading CW (Morse) at 20 WPM (which also is nothing to sneeze at--I'm doing good to learn at Farnsworth 5/12 WPM (the letters sent at 12 WPM so you get the sounds, the WORDS sent at 5 WPM) which is the new standard which General class licenses will be tested at :).
Extra Class licensees are rarer nowadays in ham radio, precisely because the requirements ARE so tough. I dare say that if one passes an Extra class license one could build a radio, with little "overbleed", blindfolded. :)
Needless to say, I think he probably knows what he's talking about when he's talking of the FM station bleeding all over the place (Drake SW8s are known for selectivity, and one of the things you learn on the way to becoming an Extra Class licensee is what overmodulation and bleedover are and how to correct them). ;)
Re:QST - 100 Years Of Amateur Radio (Score:2)
BhodiLi dun said:
Yes, ham radio is very cool (and with the FCC restructuring, even easier to get into now)...
I think what they're driving at, though, with some of the convos is possibly multiple LPFM stations in a network (getting feed from one source and relaying it) or possibly multiple LPFM stations acting as translator stations (basically simulcasting another station at low power, because it can't be received well at that location).
WANs and such are POSSIBLY doable, but would be far better suited to packet radio or possibly SCA (Sub-Carrier Audio); digital paging services already exist on SCA, and packet radio already has Internet/packet gateways (no, I'm not joking). I'd be rather surprised if the FCC approved digital on LPFM, or SCA on LPFM at all...prolly, it'll be voice-only.
However, I do see translators/networks for voice communication as completely doable. In fact, a "pirate radio" network already exists (Zoom Black Magic, the only unlicensed network in America) so it's been proven it can work in theory. (I'd also think Zoom Black Magic would be in line with what a lot of folks on Slashdot would like to do with LPFM--specifically, "non-corporate" news, views and music. ZBM has also done a lot of work fighting censorship in general, which makes them Good Guys in my book)
Re:Why not just do webcasts? (Score:2)
...phil
Re:W--- what? Re:WMAL (Score:2)
Take a look here [ipass.net] for a complete history of the broadcast call signs in the U.S.
...phil
Re:Building communities- (Score:2)
What's a typical citie size these days? Also, if three or four stations were set up around the perimeter then you could get overlap coverage. Finally, the 4 - 7 mile radius, is that the radius at which the signal is 50%? what is the actual radius of a usuable signal? (assume fairly ideal conditions...)
Linux advocacy to the airwaves!
LetterRip
Re:It's a cycle (Score:2)
Far from it. The Internet is nowhere near supplanting radio. The vast majority of people in the country do not have access to anything like what would be required (computers, bandwidth, etc.) for the Internet to supplant radio.
...phil
Re:Coolness (Score:2)
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