On Mon, 7 Jan 2019 14:55:43 -0600, Fox's Mercantile <
jda...@att.net>
wrote:
>On 1/7/19 1:33 PM,
tub...@myshop.com wrote:
>> Is it possible to use a Signal Generator for an "In Home" radio
>> transmitter?
>
>Yeah, but it'll sound like crap.
>Because most of those old generators will only do about
>30% modulation. And they're not exactly set up for any
>kind of modulation bandwidth.
>
>There's the SSTRAN 3000 which I use.
><
http://www.sstran.com/>
I watched a youtube video about this transmitter (actually SSTRAN 5000).
I thought this was a good option. I clicked on the URL you posted and it
appears they are OUT OF BUSINESS. Their website says something to the
extent "No new orders after November xx 2017, and new customers who
already paid, will be issued a refund.......
>Another option is the Talking House transmitter.
><
https://www.ebay.com/itm/223314565635>
This one is being considered........
Obtaining the inductors (coils) is that hard part for ANY transmitters.
I recall haveing a tough time getting them in the late 1960s. I'm sure
it's 1000 times harder now. I did get the coils and did build what was
called a "Phono Transmitter" in the late 60's. It worked well. Then I
took it one step further. I replaced the tube with the horizontal output
tube from a TV, and upped the high voltage to around 800V. (The power
supply was on a separate chassis).
At that time, I was living in a big city. Using a car radio antenna
mounted about 30 ft up on a tree, I put this thing on the air. I never
expected the results I got. Several neighbors said their AM radios could
not get any stations, except mine. A friend who lives in the suburbs
about 15 miles away, said he got my station, clear as a bell.
I got carried away and had it running about 12 hours a day. Had friends
act as disk jockeys and we played a lot of the songs that were banned on
the regular radio stations. We got a regular studio sound mixer and
connected 3 turntables, an 8track and a reel to reel tape player, plus a
few microphones. A lot of people loved the station, and wanted to know
the location. But we never told that to anyone, knowing this was a
pirate station and not legal.
One day a fancy car with all kinds of weird antennas on it began
circling my block. I shut off the transmitter immediately. I am very
sure it was the FCC, but that tree antenna was well hidden. I planned to
move it to another friend's house, but we never did go back on the air.
I wish I still had that transmitter. If I did, I'd down power it back to
the original design.....
By the way, that thing taught me to respect electricity. I was probably
17 years old. I was tweaking the transmitter when I grabbed the plastic
knob on the tuning cap, but my knuckle touched the cap itself, which was
live 800VDC. I had a grounded microphone in my other hand. I was sitting
on a heavy oak chair. Both myself and the chair were thrown about 12
feet away. The guy who was with me, said I walked around in a daze for a
half hour and kept drinking water every few seconds. All I recall, is
what looked like a bolt of lightning, when it hit me, and laying on the
floor 12 ft from my bench. He said the microphone hit him in the head
when I "launched". I sort of recall shutting off the switch that powered
my whole bench, right after. That was one scary shock. The worse I ever
got.
I did encapsule that tuning cap in a box after that, and modified that
cap as well, because I used to get arcing between the plates. The
original one was a common 365pf AM radio tuning cap. I remember buying a
costly ceramic cap to replace it. Then building a shield around it to
avoid any chance of touching it.
When I look back, that whole thing was a lot of fun, aside from that
shock. A lot of people were saddened when we went off the air.