Document text
NATIONAL ' ASSOCIATION
OF EDUCATIONAL BRQMDCnSTHaU
Service Report
Jane, 1947
SETTING UP THU PM S T A T .1 0 N
By Ulmer G. Sulzer
The University of Kentucky
THU m PICTURE FOR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS :
Right now, educational institutionshave an opportunity to get into
radio and own their own stations, that may never oe duplicated again.
With the standard "broadcasting "band "bursting at the seams, Frequency
Modulation is the college J s hope. Twenty channels, ranging from 88,100
kilocycles to 91,900 kilocycles, with a two hundred kilocycle separation,
are reserved for the exclusive use of non-commercial educational agencies.
Rules and requirements for such agencies are much less exacting than those
required "by the Federal Communications Commission of commercial Broadcasters.
Furthermore, these educational "bands are not crowded just now. There is
the danger, however, that unless more interest is shown in these frequencies
in the future, some may he taken away from educators and allotted to
commercial interests, which are applying in great numbers for construction
permits on the other portions of the FM hand,
WHERE TO PLACE THU STATION
For truly efficient operation, the studios, transmitter, and antenna
should he located at the same point. The studios and transmitter should he
located in the same layout (a) to avoid the maintenance of two sets of
engineers and the occupancy of two sets of real estate, and (h) because the
conventional telephone circuits used to transmit AM programs from studios
to transmitter are inadequate for FM, and specially engineered circuits that
will retain the FM frequency range would he prohibitive in cost for the
usual educational organization.
The antenna must he placed very close to the transmitter because there
is a high loss in the co-axial cables used to convey the high frequencies
between transmitter and antenna. While the losses vary according to power,
size of cable, etc,, it can be safely assumed that if the antenna is as
much as 500 feet away from the transmitter, half the power of the latter will
be lost by the time it reaches the antenna. Since the co-axial cable must be
long enough to reach the antenna on the top of its tower, it stands to reason
that a transmitter and studio location at the base of the tower is ideal.
If your campus is located on a hill or even a hump, consider the use of the
highest building, or rather the highest floor, on the campus for your purpose.
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MINIMUM STUDIO REQU I HEMINTS
Por strictly "broadcasting purposes you will require a control room at
least 20 feet square; a studio the same size adjoining the control room;
and an announcer "booth 5 feet "by 10 feet also adjoining the control room.
Your offices will not require the high space if it is not readily available.
The control room, studio, and announcer "booth must have separate corridor
entrances, and large double or triple glass windows (with the panes set non¬
parallel) should give visibility from the control room to the other two units.
It is best for the announcer’s booth and studio to abut the control room on
two adjoining, and not two opposite walls. Entrance to the booth and studio
should be made by small corridors so that two sound-proof doors, constituting
an efficient sound-lock, may be set up. Your own building or maintenance
department can no doubt construct these doors, as well as double the walls
surrounding the studio .and announcer booth.
■Ar far as accoustical treatment of these units is concerned, don’t let
it worry you. Secure some accoustical celotex in the usual foot square blocks.
Have this applied solidly to the ceiling and over three-fourths of the wall
space, using care not to leave uncovered areas directly opposite. The un¬
covered areas, plus the doors and windows, will give the studio enough "bounce”
but you will still have adequate absorption. For the floors, use any type of
tile linoleum, -feccoustical experts may writhe at the simplicity of the accous-
tioal problem as I have solved it, but it will work well for most small and
medium sized units. Your control roon should also have some accoustical treat¬
ment. Apply the accoustical celotex to the ceiling and the top half of each
wall first. If that doesn’t give you enough absorption;, additonal blocks of
accoustical tile can be quickly glued on.
Now back to the location again. If your college is unfortunately located
in a depression, you’d better look for a location on the top floor of the
highest building in your town and ignore the campus. After all, your space
requirements are not excessive, and the rent of the necessary room should not
be too high. However, if a location at or near a high point in your community
is impossible, give up your EM ideas.
As long as your station is at or near the highest point in your vicinity
the location doesn’t have to be much higher than the surrounding land. If
your topography is gently rolling and you can see out a mile or so from the
roof of the building you select to house the station, the chances are that
the visibility will be extended several miles from the top of the tower itself.
Since the radio waves will easily cross two or more gentle horizons, your
station, if operating on low power, will likely give service to all the area it
supposed to.
EQUIPMENT WD COSTS
If you are going into PM for the first time, I ’A recommend that your
transmitter be a 25(1 or 1,000 watt job—no higher. Most PM transmitters are
so constructed that additional power units may be added to the basic unit, so
you'd do well to start v/ith a lower power and see just what coverage you'll
get. Perhaps your lower-powered transmitter will do all you want.
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Eurthermore (and EM transmitter manufacturers are not going to like this) the
EM transmitter design isn’t too well stabilized as yet, and a heavy investment
now may prove unwise if the transmitter becomes obsolete in a year or two.
Think seriously of having your own Engineering College build the transmitter
if you have a faculty member or advanced student sufficiently talented and
ambitious. It has been done, and to the institution’s complete satisfaction;
but in case you want a factory job, a 250 watt EM transmitter will cost around
$5,500.
With the transmitter you’ll need a combination frequency and modulation
moniter. This is required by the ECC, and you’ll not find anyone in your
institution that will want to build one. The cost of a good one will be
around $850.
For speech input equipment and microphones, I strongly recommend getting
good, standard items. The use of hgine-made equipment or attempts to adapt
public-address system amplifiers and microphones are serious mistakes. Don’t
do it! The desirable equipment to control one studio, one announcer booth,
remotes, and recordings, with prices, is as follows:
1 multi-studio console, including line
amplifier, monitor amplifier, seven
pre-amplifiers $1,150.00
3 high quality microphones, stands
and cords 320.00
2 medium quality microphones, stands
find cords 100,00
Plugs and outlet sockets for microphones 25.00
1 remote outfit 275.00
2 turntables, dual speed, lateral and
verticle, complete 800,00
1 program rack 100.00
1 line equalizer 60.00
2 double jack panels 120,00
4 loudspeakers 250.00
Jack cords 30.00
1 monitor amplifier 100.00
Total cost of basic speech-input
equipment $3,330.00
The above equipment will adequately take care of usual needs. Later it
might be desirable to add such equipment as an extra remote outfit, additional
microphones, sound effects (filter) panel, and recording units,
Your antenna and antenna tower pose a problem when it comes to general¬
ization. Although the higher the latter the better, there must be a limit as
to what can be spent, and this wi^l limit the tower’s height. Suppose you are
able to locate your studio on the topographical hump mentioned earlier in this
article, and you can see out at least a mile from your roof. Let’s be
conservative, at least for a while, and let your maintenance department fabri¬
cate for you a 50-foot section of four-inch pipe, to be mounted on the roof
directly over your transmitter and to be guyed to three points. Cost of tower
and erection combined should not exceed $100,
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Now for the type of antenna, let’s appeal again to that faculty
engineer or graduate student. Can he not figure out the dimensions of a
four-rhay turn-s;tyle antenna and “build it himself? If not, try one of the
engineers on your local radio station who’d like to make some extra money.
Have him purchase some seven-eights inch copper refrigerator pipe with
proper turn fittings. You ought to get the four-hay job done for $400
($300 for labor and $100 for materials). In current radio magazines you 11
see advertisements for more kinds of I'M antenna system than you can dream
up. Probably, all of them are serviceable, but the fact that they vary
so widely in design is adequate proof that no one type is best, and for
general purposes I believes that tbs four-bay turn-style, engineered to the
proper dimensions,, will give complete satisfaction.
Now the transmission line, the gadget that connects the transmitter with
the antenna, remains. Ibr any powered PM .transmitter up and including 3,000
watts, simply buy some more seven-eights inch hard copper tubing, some one-,
fourth inch flexible copper tubing, and some lava insulators. The electricians
in your maintenance department can assemble this co-axial line as they put
it up. Total cost of 100 feet, including materials and labor, should not
exceed $100^
To recapitulate, the total cost, then, of setting up your PM station,
excluding remodeling of building and accoustical treatment, would be as
follows;
Trasmitter, 250 watts
Combination frequency and modulation moniter
Speeoh-input e quipment
Antenna and tower
Transmission line
$5,500.00
850.00
3,300.00
500.00
100,00
Total
$10,000.00
Of course, if you already have radio studios, you can skip the speech-
input item. Now, if these items haven’t given you too much of a jolt, you
can read on.
LICBNSE PROCHOURS
Your next step is to send to the Pederal Communications Commission,
Y/ashington, D.C., for three copies of Porm 340, which is your application for
a station construction permit. You must submit two copies and you'll want to
keep one.
Let’s study this form a little. Here are the questions that might
trouble you;
1. Remember, the applicant is your institution, not yon.
2. Here’s where you put your name.
3. (c) This is for the name of your president. He’s your executive
officer.
You will note at the bottom of page 3 that your board of trustees or
regents have to specifically authorize the application ior a station.
Be careful to execute either Part II or Part III (whichever applies),
but not both.
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Be sure to answer ’’yes" to 18 (c)
Relative to 22 (a), request the RCC to assign you a channel before you
apply.
If you are contemplating a transmitter built by a standard manufacturer,
simply give the make and model number under 24, and answer the rest of these
questions with the phrase "On Rile with the RCQ." That goes for 25.
Questions 26 and 27 can be answered by whomever you purchase the frequency
and modulation monitor from. Whoever builds your antenna can help you with 28.
t have virtually answered 29. Your civil engineering department and bureau of
business research can combine forces on 30 and 31, and you can do the rest.
On page 20, the line under the date must be the name of your institution.
Your president, as executive officer, should sign on the line after "by".
Indicate in answer 34 that your station will be completed within six months
(keep your fingers crossed).
When you submit the application for the construction permit (Rom 340) be
an optimist and request three copies of the Application for License Rorm.
You'll need this when your station is about ready to go on the air. Before
that time you'll also want to purchase from the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, at the cost of 10 cents each, copies of parts 2, 3 and 4 of the
rules of the Commission, to avoid transgressing the RCC mandates.
After submitting your construction permit application, some time may
elapse before you get your grant, if it is in proper form, it will come
through eventually. As soon as it does, write to the Civil Aeronautics
Administration, Washington, for copies of their Rorm ACA 117, You should
file this at once so you can be promptly informed as to how your antenna tower
must be lighted and painted if its height requires that,
PROGRAMMING- PLANS
You will be very wise if you start operations of your RM station with a
modest schedule-one that you can maintain after the novelty for your talent
has worn off. Here are some ideas for programs, other than those you locally
produce, that you can obtain without charge;
Transcriptions-—-Adventures in Science---supplied weekly by Westinghouse
Transcriptions—American Medical Association
Transcriptions-"This is Puerto Rico" from the U.S. Office of Education
Transcriptions—-"Alcoholics Anonymous" from WJR, Detroit
Transcriptions-—Army enlistment office-features movie stars
Transcriptions—-"The Treasury Salute"—U, S, Treasury Department
Transcriptions-Virtually all college AM stations have literally hundreds
of transcriptions they will be glad to lend.
Rebroadcasts—Most AM radio stations willingly give permission to non¬
commercial EM stations to rebroadcast all of their non-network, sustaining
programs. Write for such permission to all AM stations within good hearing of
the projected RM station. Copies of the letters of permission must be filed
with the RCC.
Rebroadcasts-—t"Write to the British Broadcasting Company in New York for
similar permission to rebroadcast the BBC overseas service. You'll need a good
short-wave receiver to handle these programs.
(Reproduced by the National Association of Educational Broadcasters from
COLLEGE PUBLIC RELATIONS by permission of the editor and author),
Scanned from the National Association of Educational Broadcasters Records
at the Wisconsin Historical Society as part of
"Unlocking the Airwaves: Revitalizing an Early Public and Educational Radio Collection."
'oiTu> c KTwe
\\KWAVEs
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