PCS-Electronics

Hi,

I'm one of those excited newbies with a bunch of questions so please bare with me...

I am thinking about buying the Cyber Max FM 15W kit to start a low power brodcast from Brooklyn, New York. I wouldn't be broadcasting 24/7, probably more like 2 hrs/day max. Am I crazy to think that I could get away with a 10-15W broadcast in such a populated area?

If it is doable, am I essentially good to go with the items included in the kit? More specifically, is the Low Pass Filter that is built in to the unit enough?
Is the power supply included or do I need to buy a different one?
I would be mounting the included Antenna on the roof which is about a 100 ft. cable run from where the Cyber Max FM unit would be. Is the BNC cable good enough for this distance and what grade cable should I purchase?
Finally, my signal chain would look like this:

DJ mixer output ---> Firewire audio interface ---> Audio Sequencer ---> Compressor/Limiter PLUGINS ---> Cyber Max FM 15W ---> Antenna.

Is that an acceptable path?

Thanks for your patience and help with my questions. I am really looking forward to getting this up and running!!!!

Can anyone help with some of my questions?

Thanks!

That sounds like a decent setup. Everything should be fine, most of the time people get into trouble and get shut down when they broadcast indecent material or interfere with other stations.

As far as cable, BNC is the name for a type of connector. I think I use RG-213 and for a 100' run I think my loss and SWR are incredibly low. RG-58 is more standard, yet has more loss. I like the list here for types of cable. You can also likely find cable from a ham type radio store. That's how I got mine, I had to order it, but it came in the length I wanted with the connectors already installed.

Whether or not you can get away with broadcasting that much power in a populated area can depend on a lot of things. If you interfere with any commercial stations, you will get caught. With more power, your signal gets out farther so if you are broadcasting on an open frequency, you need to make sure that frequency is open at the fringes of your reception area as well. You'll also want to make sure your antenna is tuned well and that your neighbors aren't getting any blanketing interference.

I'm not sure which Low pass filter you are talking about, the one for the audio or the one for the RF? Both are adequate enough for me.

There is a power supply listed for the Cybermax in the purchasing box below the different versions of the cybermax on the web page. Any 13.8V 3.5 Amp power supply would probably work though (13.8V supplys are often used by hams).

If you use something like RG58 coax, it will work but you'll lose a lot of power before it gets to the antenna and you might cause more interference to your neighbors. You'd be better off with something like RG8 coax which is thicker and harder to work with but you'll lose less power. I bought RG8 locally and it cost me about $0.80 /foot so expect to spend some money on it. Of course you can get the good stuff from PCS Electronics!

It looks like you have the right idea about the audio chain. Are you planning on buying the Complete set up with the transmitter, antenna, and power supply included or just the cybermax transmitter by itself?

Thanks for the replies! Very helpful!

Anon, I was planning on buying the complete setup that you linked into your message. I'm starting from scratch so I need everything. The Complete setup seems like a good place to start!

Thanks again!