Free Radio Berkeley 2012 Workshop Schedule
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LPFM Summer Radio Camps
0 to 10 Watts in 4 Days
A four day DIY workshop session covering all of the aspects of LPFM broadcasting: technical and engineering; legal; equipment requirements; organizational; and the application process itself. In addition, in you will build a 10 watt transmitter and learn how to set up a low power community radio station capable of covering a broadcast radius up to 12 miles (the potental range of a 100 watt LPFM broadcast station), depending on terrain and antenna height.
With an emphasis on direct, hands-on learning, you will learn how to solder, identify electronic components, build and tune an antenna, properly setup and test broadcast equipment and much more. Further, you will be given an overview of basic electronics and broadcast engineering. A workshop fee of $250 is charged. At the end of the radio camp session you may purchase the 10 watt transmitter for $250, the cost of the kit, power supply and enclosure.
All Radio Camp sessions are held at Free Radio Berkeley's shop in Emeryville (new location), CA. FRB's Micropower Broadcasting Primer, see link below, is used as one of the primary documents used for the sessions. Anyone interested in attending should download this document which is in pdf format.
Workshop fee -$250,
Session are from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.,
Friday through Monday.
To register, please send your name and contact information to Free Radio Berkeley via email or regular mail. You may register by phone as well. Indicate which session you would like to attend. An information packet is available in PDF format.
2012 Summer Radio Camp Dates:
May 25 - 28
June 30 - July 3
August 3 - 6
August 31- September 3
Donate A Transmitter
If you would like to have the experience of building a 10 or 40 watt transmitter but do not wish to engage in broadcasting, please consider assembling a transmitter at one of our camps and donating it to a community in Latin America or somewhere else in the world where people need a voice.
Click here to download the Radio Camp Flyer, (PDF document)
Click here to download Micropower Broadcasting - A Technical Primer, (a 25-page, 629K, PDF document).
En Espanol - click.
The primer is used as one of the primary documents for the Radio Camp sessions.
The Revolution Will Be Televised
From Free Radio to Free TV Broadcasting
It is now time to “Turn on, tune in and take over”. Finally, guerilla media activists will be able to say: “There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure.” (Outer Limits intro circa 1963)
Free Radio Berkeley’s engineering staff have designed and developed low power VHF and UHF transmitters by the creative use of off-the-shelf technology. So far, design engineering efforts have yielded TV transmitters capable of reaching a distance of 4-5 miles. Estimated cost for a VHF transmitter and antenna system with an effective radiated power of 75 watts is about $500 (cost of kits & modulator), $700 to $800 for a system with an effective radiated power of 400 watts. For a UHF system, add about $300 to the above amounts. Coverage pattern is 220 degrees, not fully omni-directional. Further work is continuing on the development of antenna systems.
TV Broadcasting kits are now available, check the store catalog for kits. Any composite video source with an audio out signal can be used by the TV transmitters. Click here for a typical TV broadcast configuration diagam. Typically, most folks will most likely use a multiple disk DVD player or a computer with video files on a large capacity hard drive. Live broadcasts are certainly a possibility. This would require several video cameras and a video switcher/mixer.
A 200-disk DVD juke box style player would be able contain almost two weeks worth of material, assuming two hours per DVD. Considering the quantity of video material available, most of which will never be seen on either broadcast TV or cable/satellite feeds, there should not be any problem providing audiences with an exciting and compelling selection of material.
No doubt, the FCC, the National Association of Broadcasters and other entrenched interests will most strenuously object to Micropower or Free TV Broadcasting. What better way to respond to the total propaganda environment that has been created with television media.
Contact Free Radio Berkeley for further information:
510-625-0314 /
/
www.freeradio.org
Mailing address: 1442A Walnut St., Suite 406, Berkeley, CA 94709
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