I Wanna Upgrade On A Budget

[Flash 105 FM]

Hey, I recently set up my own pirate. It's a very basic set up and I am now interseted in upgrading the gear. I currently run a 5W TX through a 30W Amp to a single dipole. I would be seriously interested in getting a more powerful Amp, a Beringher Compressor and an X-Band kit to set up a mountain site. The Hitch.... I'm VERY Poor! Could anyone please help or advise me on this, I'm sick of my weak signal. The station is well run and is popular but is not reaching its full potential. Thanks.

[Mike]

Having been in the same boat for many years I feel your pain my friend

All I can say is take it one step at a time. I would question the need for an X-band link though. Theyre hardly a low cost solution
nrgkits do VHF (Band 1 and 3) link systems and PCS in Slovenia do a UHF link (although If you go for UHF stay well clear of the 430-440 Amateur band. they get pretty p1$$ed off when pirates invade their frequencies and some of them have good friends in the ODTR)

In the immediate future Id look into a better aerial system. Consider a slim jim, pls1 or 5/8 wave groundplane.

If your listenership is mostly in one direction (e.g. if your based outside or on the edge of a large town) go for a yagi

[Mosfet]

Have to agree with Mike,X-band link is good but will eat up your money,B.W are now selling a 2.4Ghz link system for reasonable money,however stay clear of the Hams,WLANs and MMDS tv.
Simga in Finglas have SDH100 folded dipole for about €70,should last you a lifetime ,use them myself.
Also if you are using a P.C get the MBL4 Compressor software works well.(cheap and cheerful);)

[Flash 105 FM]

Mike, thanks for your reply, my listenership is mainly from one directional, but i dont want a uni-directional antenna because i think with more power and better equipment i could attract a larger audience from all directions. Also just that you said about staying away from television frequencies i want to ask if anyone would know why my station has caused the total lose of Network 2 in my home. Next door is fine and all our other stations are fine, including our cable despite the closeness of my antenna to the ariel.

[Mike]

Its probably your TV (especially if you have an amplifier/booster on the aerial) you need a filter in your TV aerial lead but dont just go for any old "TVI filter" (most of these are designed for ham radio or CB interference) Check if the interferenceaffects all the TV's in the house and does it affect Video''s as well (Tune the video to RTE2 and sput your TV to the video channel)

Try a UHF bandpass filter from Maplin or Taylor and fit it to your TV. If you have a booster you probably need one each side of the booster as well (If you put one on the output of the booster make sure its one that can pass DC current)

[Transmitters 'R' Us]

A couple of inexpensive upgrade options which have not been mentioned:

Can you increase the height of your antenna at your present location?

What grade and how old is the antenna feeder cable?

Never scrimp on cable or connectors.

Good luck.

[Flash 105 FM]

I'm using ten meters of very low quality co-ax (I can't remember the grade off the top of my head). If I had more slack on the co-axial I could raise the antenna maybe five feet, maximum, but i dont wanna extend the cable as I think that an extension to co-ax of such low quality will really affect the quality of the audio.

[Mike]

The quality of the AUDIO wont be affected but you do loose power with low grade coax
RG58U is only suitable for CB radio you really need something better at FM frequencies
High quality coax is money well spent
Remember if youve 10m of coax and even if the loss is only 0.3 dB/m @100MHz thats a tolal loss of at least 3dB or HALF YOUR POWER