May 20th, 2010 
joel Erie hip-hop impresario Marshall Jones is determined to give voice to his favorite music on local airwaves.
His first attempt with a 50-watt FM transmitter was eventually met with a Notice of Unlicensed Operation from the FCC in February. Instead of quitting, Jones did the research on legal low-power options which has led to his powering up The Movement on AM 1700 in two locations in the City of Erie.
In Erica Erwin’s piece in the Wednesday Erie Times-News, Jones was quoted as saying he purchased “two AM transmitters from a distributor in Cary, NC for $1,675.” Cary is the home of the Hamilton Rangemaster AM1000, a manufacturer of transmitters for the Part 15 radio information service, which allows for 100 milliwatts into a three meter long transmission configuration.
Hamilton Rangemaster AM1000
While you might posit that 100 mw AM station can’t get past the back yard, think again. With proper grounding and placement of the antenna, the Rangemaster can cover 1 ½ miles in all directions. With a few of these stations strategically placed throughout the city, Jones can possibly exceed the listening base of his pirate station with little AM 1700’s that are totally legal and legit. Right now he is live in the heart of the Little Italy neighborhood and was adding the other transmitter at 21st & Parade.
The Part 15 radio strategy is being used more and more by alternative talk outlets in addition to the typical “Talking House” and construction zone utilizations.
The big question that is still out there is while The Movement may have come up with a solution that passes FCC muster, what about the real tough-guys: the performing rights organizations of ASCAP, BMI and SESAC? They are quite known for generating blood-dripping turnips through their aggressive auditing, logging and billing actions. He may have to get a Part 15 performance license, which in the case of BMI is $227 a year, and covers up to $10,000 in station revenue.
That said it will be quite interesting how The Movement does climbing the highest hurdle; getting young people to listen to music on AM radio. If Marshall Jones can accomplish that to any significant degree, then everyone should take notice.
Posted in 
Tags: 
Loading ...
Deep Background for February 21-27, 2010
Ask any blogger that gets even marginal readership; you are bound to get called some names or just deal with some weird stuff. Come to think of it, weirdness is attracted to all media like metal shavings to that bald guy’s head in that old 5 & 10 game we used to have when we were kids.
One pirate radio listserv dude called P&T “FCC-loving” and “bootlicking.” That’s too funny! FCC obeying, yes. Loving? Not even a slight attraction.
Like most bloggers, I use a program to block comment spam (I’ve received over 12,000 spam comments since the beginning). Sometimes the creativity used to try to get past the spam filter is quite cute. Favorite of the week: “Gday thanks regarding your page. I truly adore your web page. Its really informative.” I know I might be adorable, but adoring the P&T…really?
Leave your adorable comments in the space below (no spam please) or through e-mail or tweet @pressandtower.
By the way, if you think you been following me for several months now, make sure you still are following @pressandtower for media tweets. I run two Twitter feeds now, changing my old account to @JoelNatalie for all around professional and personal tweets, and creating a new @pressandtower just for the media stuff. Sorry about any confusion.
Embrace the chaos!