A New Opertunity - High Profile Micro Radio

[Kuerno]

Having been around the Micro Movement for years and years. I am going to 'repost' a recent letter to some of the folks from the now off-the-air Liberty 1640 during some recent correspondence.  That station was being harassed over the ground conductor length of a measly 100mW Part 15 station.

Anyway this is an idea I have had floating around for quite some time.

You want to know what I think would work well, especially in larger cities?

An 802.11 WIFI style station.

Picture this, a MAX power Router or array including extended Routers or Access Points. I would need to double check but I think you are allowed upto 1 watt.

Then have NO gateway to the Internet and no connectivity to your personal machines.

Have the DNS given out at DHCP resolve ALL addresses to a single Server for YOUR Web-Page where you have YOUR favorite video Documentaries and Exposés hosted. You could also stream live local shows.

The benefits are cheap price, More exposure to younger folks than AM radio, no need for people to run a channel scan for TV. Also as of yet I have heard of NO FCC busts of WIFI stations even for excessive power.

Also by watching the MAC addresses you can get an idea of how many people are connecting to your server. That is cool because you could start very small with a router in your attic and test the concept.

Imagine, you would just always be there in the WIFI lists on Laptops, PCs and many new multi-media portable devices.

You could also "re-stream" radio shows or re-stream the entire radio networks like Oracle, RBN, Liberty News Radio or even GCN- When Alex isn't on...lol

Drawback?
The only thing I can think of is that people "may" be able to exploit the system to interconnect their gaming machines or transfer explicit files but I doubt anymore than they do with open hot-spots and networks already . I really doubt that would be a problem but you could always attach a linux firewall for cheap.

Think about it. A few well placed WIFI Router Antennas that would cover a city for not much more than a couple Rangemasters. If you know a decent webmaster to help you with a cool multimedia page to serve up the videos and audio streams to the public, you have it made.

Anyway I have had that Idea for a while but since I am so rural I have never pursued it. However I do see WIFI networks from over 3 miles away at my house and I'll bet those routers are sitting on someone's desk in their office

Just think when you put the router in your attic with about 20 feet of LMR-400 to a hygain antenna 15 feet above your roof (2-way linear amp optional) hehe.

 

[RFBurns]

It is a good idea. However the current Wi-Fi systems are operating under the infamous Part 15 dark cloud umbrella. The reason why a 1 watt power level is allowed is because of the frequencies used and would not be useful at all at lower levels.

Then of course there is the issues of cordless phones and other devices that utilize the same piece of spectrum as the Wi-Fi routers do. Even with the implementation of the higher frequencies those too are filling up fast.

I think that although its a good idea, it will end up being shut down because someone's cordless phone or alarm system or baby monitor or wireless router will be interfered with.

And we all know that the good ol Federal Communications Controllers will not allocate a piece of the massive and ever expanding upward spectrum to dedicated Wi-Fi setups such as this. However if there was a way to tax and fee every connect and charge a utilization rate in the same fashion as a gas pump runs the price meter with amount fueled, they might actually do it.


RFB