new format for AM730??

[skyvalleyradio]

Maybe Bore-Us should just turn AM730 over to the kids...

http://wkid967fm.com/

From the "St Petersburg Times":

'12-year-old DJs take to airwaves'

At night and on the weekend, their station broadcasts an eclectic mix.

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published May 27, 2007

Lots of people have a radio in the bedroom, but one Clearwater boy has his own radio station.

On a recent weekend afternoon, a dozen boys and girls, all around 12, gathered in Adam Baker's stuffy bedroom, a single ceiling fan whirring above them. Two kids swiveled on chairs. The others talked into the microphone.

All the radio gear -- a mixer, a microphone, a few radios and other electronics -- was balanced on a desk underneath Adam Baker's bunk bed. Outside, there was a 30-foot metal antenna.

Most of the kids attend Largo Middle School, but despite their age, they have an uncanny appreciation for the cadence of radio. They simulate the small talk of on-air personalities, albeit with more sincerity and less profanity. Even the weather is read with vigor.

"We're probably the only kid radio station," Kade Ballogg said with pride.

For this distinction, the kids can thank Adam's dad, 40-year-old Rodger Baker.

Three decades ago, Baker wanted his own station, but the best he could do was an AM radio kit that barely broadcast beyond the living room.

Two Christmases ago, Baker, a communications maintenance technician for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, decided to surprise his two sons by assembling a low-power station in the house. The overall start-up cost was $2,500.

Unofficially dubbed 96.7 WKIDS, the station's signal has a mile radius, carrying along S Highland Avenue as far north as Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard in Clearwater and as far south as Rosery Road in Largo.

The station broadcasts an eclectic mix from classical and hip-hop to country western and "Weird Al" Yankovic. During the school day it's silent. But weeknights and all through the weekend, as many as a dozen kids from the neighborhood take turns as disc jockeys.

The scene at the Baker house is both cutting-edge and quaint. Baker's radio station is part of the vaunted democratization of the airwaves, but it is also a throwback to an era before iTunes, myspace.com and the blogosphere -- a time when radio was king of entertainment.

The programming is sometimes a work in progress. Minneapolis becomes "monopoly" in one news story. Shouting and giggles break out in the room. A cell phone goes off. "Oh. Hi, mom." One kid slaps another. Still, the overall scene is impressive.

"It inspires other kids that they can take action and do whatever they want," said Summer West.

Many of the kids come over just to hang out with friends, but others say they want to go into radio as a profession. Adam badly wants a license from the Federal Communications Commission so that the station can turn up the juice on its broadcasts. But that will have to wait.

The power level is a source of constant concern for Rodger Baker. His nightmare, he said, is accidentally going over the legal limit and getting busted. But if he wanted to -- and this would involve breaking the law -- he could turn up the power on his 30-foot antenna and broadcast throughout Pinellas County.

Baker has buzz-cut brown hair and a slight sunburn. He used to run a DJ company that played birthdays, graduations and school dances, but he was always too shy to do the actual disc jockeying, so he just handled the technical side of the show.

He hopes the station will teach the kids to overcome their shyness and, in the process, improve their reading. Reading into the ether is scarier than reading in front of a classroom: Anyone could be listening, everyone could be listening -- unless, of course, no one is listening, which is always a possibility with this small station.

Even as the kids depend on Rodger Baker's guidance, they are already pushing him to learn more. The pint-sized DJs want to stream online. They want their show to go worldwide.

"That would be something I'd love to do," Baker said. "I just can't find anybody who knows how to do it and teach the kids."

By the numbers:
30 feet Height of the antenna the kids use to broadcast
1 mile Radius the station reaches from the south Clearwater home.
96.7-FM Where you can tune in if you're in the neighborhood

© 2007 - All Rights Reserved - St. Petersburg Times

[PMC]

Anyone interested in doing the same can check out these FM transmitter cards for your pc. There is one that has a 15 watt output.

http://www.pcs-electronics.com/pc-trans ... -c-64.html

[Mike Cleaver]

That's all well and good if you want to run afoul of the CRTC and Communications Canada.
AFAIK, you can run unlicensed on AM with 100 milliwatts of power into a maximum ten foot antenna.
It's similar for FM, very very low power, as in those devices to connect to your Ipod to transmit to your radio.
Anything that can be picked up for more than a block is asking for trouble, unless you have the piece of paper from the government.

[jon]

On top of that, last year, some of the FM transmitters sold for satellite radio and MP3 players (so you could hear them on your car's FM receiver) were found to be overpowered and the FCC was demanding their recall. From what I recall, it was mostly the older ones that came out when satellite radio first hit the streets in the U.S.

By the way, on the site that PMC pointed at, I noticed a 1000 euros item that would boost their 1 watt transmitter to 300 watts. Given that FM stations in smaller Canadian communities are licensed for much less than that (I've seen licensed powers as low as half a watt for repeaters), it would sure cut their costs down, but I suspect they don't have the frequency stability required by the Department of Communications.