Ohm, Ohm, On The Range  – Bill Balsley, Gen.Mgr. KVLP-LP Visalia

(For presentation at the Low Power Radio Round-Up, Oct.8, 2005, Davis, CA)

In 1999, while the FCC pondered the Low Power FM issue in Washington DC, I allowed doubt to visit me during my quiet moments in Central California’s dairy headquarters.  Would I find the technical knowledge and be able to apply it appropriately?  Would I be able to afford to construct and operate a radio station?  And, would the community embrace the vision of LPFM? 

Ham radio wasn’t exactly the same as broadcasting, but I decided to study hard, and became an amateur radio operator (KG6AIR) in February 2000.  I learned a lot about radio, and the greatest surprise turned out to be the wealth and variety of technical knowledge and resources that the local hams were so very willing to share.

Another important element in our community is business, and the local Chamber of Commerce is healthy and active. Their 10-week Micro-Enterprise class, co-sponsored by the Small Business Development Center, helped me to prepare a business plan for the station and forced me to answer more of those doubting questions that still seemed to linger.  Armed with those answers, I attended the Chamber’s monthly business mixers, as I handed out homemade business cards and recited my newly honed non-commercial radio mantra.

                I scoured the web for equipment guides, since there weren’t any stores in our town that sold radio stations, either fully assembled or in kit form.  I stared at webpages, I ordered catalogs, I went to yard sales and flea markets, all to erase that fiscal doubt about appropriate technology and affordability.  Oh, and I began ‘acquiring’, comparing the Wishbook offerings to what I was able to find.  It is important to remember to ‘just ask’, since much of this equipment was donated. 

I must admit that some of what’s been acquired  is not used at this time, and some of it may never become an integral part of KVLP.  However, the overall expense was nowhere near my original estimate. 

                Here are some Wishbook categories, along with KVLP’s list of equipment:       

STUDIO LOCATION

TRANSMITTER LOCATION

FIELD OPERATIONS

Really, What Are You USING ???

                KVLP’s transmitter is three miles from the production site (home).  This wasn’t the plan, but became necessary when Congress forced changes to the LPFM regulations.  Viable (read, inexpensive) solutions didn’t seem workable, until (om, or is it ‘ohm’) hidden obstacles were removed and doorways were opened.

                An unattended audio player that was reliable (didn’t crash), readily available (most drugstores and electronics outlets), and reasonably priced (obtaining underwriting is still a lower priority in the scheme of things) was riding up the trail to save the day!  A thirty-dollar DVD player, set to ‘repeat all’, with 11 to 15 hours of mp3s on each of dozens of ordinary CD-Rs was connected at the transmitter site.  I call it “Broadcasting Poor With Style”, after one of my favorite books from the ‘70s (Living Poor With Style, by Ernest Callenbach).   Sneaker-net moves the CDs between the two locations.

                The details of how each CD-R full of mp3 files is created and maintained will have to be the subject of a future article.  From the analog world to digital, and back again, here is a table of the unique elements:

BROADCASTING POOR WITH STYLE

KVLP “VISALIA LOCAL POWER”

                        selected resources from Bill Balsley, KVLP-LP General Manager

www.fsrn.org/guidelines.html                            simply the best, from FSRN

www.prometheusradio.org/compressors2.shtml                     about audio processing

www.prometheusradio.org/hang_em_high.shtml         about antennas, masts, towers

www.prometheusradio.org/studio_transmitter_link.shtml about studio-transmitter links

www.allelectronics.com                                               parts, supplies, components, catalog

www.bswusa.com                                                       pro audio, catalog

www.bhproaudio.com                                                  pro audio, catalog

www.fullcompass.com                                                  pro audio, catalog

www.progressive-concepts.com                                       broadcast electronics, catalog

www.comprehensiveinc.com                                       multimedia, catalog

www.advedge.com                                                      hats, shirts, promo-swag, catalog

www.beradio.com                                                       free Radio periodical

www.rwonline.com                                                      free Radio World periodical

www.riptopia.com                                                       convert CD library to MP3s

audacity.sourceforge.net                                               open source free sound editor

www.discountfence.com/chainlink2/tubing.htm             galvanized 21-ft mast material

www.x10.com/automation/tr16a_s.html                        dial-up DTMF device controller

www.visradio.com                                                       CFM-95SL tuneable ground plane vertical antenna

www.stageriggingonline.com                            aircraft cable and accessories for antenna guying

www.geeks.com                                                         computers, pc components, CD-R

                                                        burners and media, removable IDE and USB drives