*insert cliche newbie forum post subject*

[easynoooow]

How's it going people its your main man: MC Nursultan Tulyakbay

Jokes aside, I'm interested in this community. I want to start off but I need to make a list of what I need so that I can find the money I need to start off. I live in Northern Ireland so it's not like London from what I heard the basic equipment you need in London is even more complex as it's the noisy capital and lots of pirates and stuff. SO, because I live in a quiet little country I'm thinking I won't need fancy, expensive things but I would prefer if my hardware didn't came in contact with the military or some plane and I made it crash.

Okay lads to cut it short:

-FM Transmitter (8km strength is fine, covers my city)
-Antenna (I heard I should get a "dipole" one)
-Any other stuff I need you guys tell me to get. For example, stuff I need to put on music or put on my sound etc. etc. (Of course tell me if there is a free way )

[BriansBrain]

OK...

I would start your project with getting the source of your your station content sorted

If your just going to play music it's easy, there are plenty of free radio station software programs out there for the PC

There are also plenty of ways you can collect your music selection

If you want to communicate with your listeners one way or another (humans of computer generated) then that is going to be a little more difficult

Then you will need some sort of Audio Processor to control and limit the level going to you transmission system

To keep the cost down... again there are some free ones out there for the PC.

[Albert H]

There are a few things to consider:

You're NOT going to broadcast from home - that's just silly! Can you find a few secure, high places to install equipment to broadcast from?

Are you prepared to throw gear away (because the "authorities" will always take a dim view of unlicenced broadcasting and try to curtail your fun)?

Can you get a few friends with similar interests to you that you can really trust to share the work and the expenses with you?

Can you handle rudimentary electronic assembly work, like making up leads and so on?

Is there a "market" for the kind of things that you're going to broadcast? There's no point in transmitting to a couple of mates and the livestock in the fields around your town!

You're going to want to separate your transmission site from your studio site. This necessitates some kind of "link". Link systems range from the trivial (a piece of wire running up the side of a building from the studio in a flat to the transmitter on the rooftop) to the complex (digital spread-spectrum encrypted microwave). There are lots of ways of doing this, including using the internet.

A dipole aerial might be simple to calibrate and use, but might not be your best option: if you're transmitting from the edge of town, an "H" aerial might be better, sending your signal in a hemisphere into town, and not covering the livestock in the countryside. A directional aerial also gives you "gain" because your signal is concentrated in one direction - an "H" gives you twice as much bang for your buck - your 40 Watts becomes a directional 80 Watts at little extra expense!

You say that your target "range" is about 8km. Are there any high locations that give you a nice clear view of this 8km? VHF signals go (effectively) to where you can see - the higher your aerial, the better.

Those are a few basic considerations. Give them some thought, and get out around town, and see if you can find somewhere to transmit from.

Remember - don't tell people what you're up to. Anonymity is a good policy. Consider starting a station on line. You can trivially add FM to your system once you have the programmes sorted out.