Editing Project Proposals (section)

== AM Radio Transmitter ==
You don't need any sort of licensing to broadcast on AM frequencies if your transmitter is 100 milliwatts or less. A transmitter with a basic wire antenna can get 50 to 200 feet of range, however a more substantial outdoor antenna can transmit as far as two miles. I would be interested in setting up an internet radio station and then using multiple transmitters to broadcast that station over AM around Baltimore. The transmitter stations would require enough computing resources to connect to the internet in some way, decode an internet radio stream, and output an audio signal to the AM transmitter. The transmitters themselves can be purchased for about $75-100 dollars, but it's possible we could construct a transmitter from plans for much cheaper. Five to ten well placed transmitters could cover a significant amount Baltimore city. 
* [http://www.sstran.com/index.html Transmitter Information]
* [http://www.fcc.gov/lpfm/ Low Power FM (!) alternative] (My understanding is that the Man is not accepting applications for LPFM stations. [[User:Jonlesser|Jonlesser]] 02:54, 2 July 2009 (UTC))

===== Steps =====

* Setup a stream
* Build an Arduino/xbee that dials into the stream and outputs audio (I'm don't think an Arduino has the processing power to connect to the internet, decode an audio stream, and provide an analog output.  An old laptop or eeepc, which already had network and audio interfaces might be cheap enough to work. [[User:Jonlesser|Jonlesser]] 03:04, 2 July 2009 (UTC))
* Connect audio with AM transmitter
* Build a nice case with antennae(s)
* Replicate and distribute
* Broadcast to the masses

===== Hacker Radio Broadcast topics =====

* Freeculture
* DIY discussions
* Copyright law
* Opensource
* Coverage of local events
* Creative Commons music show?