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Author Topic: Thoughts on broadcasting at 87.9MHz?  (Read 148 times)

Kage

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Thoughts on broadcasting at 87.9MHz?
« on: October 11, 2026, 2347 UTC »
I am considering using the frequency for holiday broadcasting, especially this upcoming Halloween
with a few watts of clean power to cover a mile or two.

I use to stick to a few channels around 96MHz back in my heyday with a lot more power and height but even there
the free spots have adjacent stations with wideband digital signals that cause a lot of hash out on the clear spots
and my old frequency of choice there was recently licensed to a low power translator station ::)
To make matters worse there is a local station not far down the dial from my old spot only 1/4 mile from me that
completely drowns out a good chunk of the dial for anyone with cheaper radios that lack selectivity.

There are two major problems I see with using 87.7-88.1 and that is for one a pirate will stick out like a sore thumb
for being at the end of the dial where no stations normally broadcast, and two these days everyone using those
FM cigarette lighter modulators in their car would definitely notice the moment they lose reception of it and suddenly
hear a weird broadcast that isn't from their own vehicle.

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on this?
Also wondering how many others have gave up on those bottom of the dial channels for these reasons, or possibly
even prefer them?
I'm not saying aliens are in the radio, but aliens definitely are in the radio.
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ThaDood

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Re: Thoughts on broadcasting at 87.9MHz? How about AM?
« Reply #1 on: Today at 16:30 »
Well, if FM might be too much of a P.I.T.A. where you are, do you have any free FREQ´s in the AM Broadcast Band, from like 1600kHz - 1710kHz? Passing contemplation... Back to FM side, most car stereos have decent selectivity. That said, today´s dinky antennas on new vehicles, for the most part, just suck for anything, but the strongest stations around, FM, or AM. I still like having the 30 inch rod antenna on a vehicle, making for 1/4-wave for FM RX´ing, and fairly decent for AM still, where the body of the vehicle is a good counter poise. So, good luck...
The best two statements of advice that I've ever gotten are from my brother-in-law in the early 1990's. 1st one, when I bought a used '89 Olds Cutless, my bro-in-law said, "Congratulations!!! You've just bought a deficit!". The other, was on a work environment, " No matter where you go, it's going to be f***'ed -up!". No truer words have been spoken.