What kind of cost is involved in setting up a broadcasting rig like this?
I presume because of the short range, no special antennas are required.. correct?
As for sound quality.... how well does the transmitter preserve the fidelity of the original source material? I realize that the quality of the receiver is an omportant factor, but I am curious how much audio quality is lost at the transmitter??
Well Rich is right ... the little transmitters do sound dang good .. but its like any other hobby .... the more money or stuff you throw at it or put in the signal chain, the better it will sound .... For the most part I convert my cd's to and some records to mp3's ... some people use ogg vorbis .. still others use .shn for compression ... that is mostly up to your ears or your preference. You can also just go direct from a cd player.
The reason I do this is, I Can have a bigger data base of music than say a 5 or even a 100 disc changer, on my computer.
Fm is somewhat finicky about its inputs as the multiplex or pilot signal is dang near in the audio range so just as most commercial stations do you will have to roll off the high end a bit so as to not interfere with the 19khz signal generated internally by the transmitter. This will cause splatter or s'es to be distorted.
That being said ... it is all what you do with it . Some guys go all out and try to be the neighborhood radio station ... which can be fun .. Me I just want it running for my own satisfaction.
But as far as money goes ... I built mine from Ramsey .. back then it was $120.00 then I added their transmitter companion and a 1 watt amp ... when it was all said and done I have 250 to 350 dollars into it for just transmitting . Then I added a 15 band eq ... and a couple of mono over easy DBX compressors that I had hanging around ... the result is that I sound everybit as good as the big local station ... and on some things better. However this is not a $10,000. Gentner fm exciter ... but for the money you pay it is dang good.
As far as an antenna goes ... a standard Fm T dipole will work ... I run 50 ohm cable to a j pole that I got from Ramsey ... called the TM100 ..I mount it on my roof. It will increase your range .. The kit comes with a telescoping antenna , but your range will be reduced and you have to be careful about getting humm from rf getting back into the wall wart that Ramsey will give you for a pwr supply.
It is a fun hobby ! Makes owning a tuner worth while ...
Steve
but have since went back to the legal output. :yes: 
