Soon after he made a post about his new station on his Facebook Antique Radio page:
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| "A small part of my Zenith Transoceanic collection" |
The transmitter is built, up and running , HBR-Radio 1610 AM!. The antenna is up and ground-mounted (as per FCC Part15.219).
I installed (20) 30ft. long radials in a star matrix going back to the 6ft. diameter copper ground ring at the base of the antenna, to which each radial is soldered.. However performance and range increased so significantly when I went from (10) to (20) radials that I have decided to add at least 10 more radials if my back holds out ;-) .
For those who are unaware, AM Broadcast mainly propagates its signal through the ground, not the air which is why these radials are so critical to the station's performance. Currently the station's programming consists of OTR (Old Tyme Radio), multiple PSAs (Public Service Announcements) requested and provided by our local township, and one talk/interview program called LPH, which is the Low Power Hour and is all about the phenomenon of legal, unlicensed , low-power radio broadcasting.
The programming is automated and running on Zara. As things mature the programming will have much more variety once I have the technical side nailed down. One such program will be an interview program where I will interview the "experts' in the field of repairing/restoring antique radio. In addition there are MANY programs that have been offered to the Low Power Broadcasting community royalty-free. SO, technically I am still in the midst of station tweaks! Most likely the final step will be to add Internet Streaming so the station's reach will be world-wide. Thank you everyone for your patience!"
As promising as his Facebook posting sounded, his postings in at the ALPB wasn't as enthusiastic, he expressed that the transmitter install wasn't really going as well as he hoped. Although he had a lot of experience with electronics, due in part to his avid love of restoring numerous vintage radios, he just couldn't get the AMT5000 to perform to expectations. Even with an extensive install of numerous ground radials the range was proving unsatisfactory. He finally decided the transmitter just wasn't going to be sufficient for his objectives. So after further discussions and considerations about upgrading to a Rangemaster or a Procaster, he decided to go with the Procaster, presumably due to it's on-board processing, though I don't really know.
His Procaster didn't take long to arrive, and on June 1, 2017 he took down the SStran and installed the Procaster:
"...I had not even tuned it yet but it sounded great all over my 5 acres of property. I then took a test drive and I could at least hear the signal at several locations a mile away, and the range of good coverage was about 50% more than the best I did with the AMT-5000..."
Thus forth he continued to update the forum with progress reports and details of the install. The procaster was installed at about 12 feet high on a fiberglass mast and employed the ground radial system which he had previously installed. Per someones suggestion he also added an additional radial from the ground rod under the Procaster and attached it to his well pipe which ran "300 - 400 feet deep", resulting in "a 5-10% improvement to the Procaster's reach"
"..Anyway the coverage is good. I am extremely pleased with the Procaster and wonder why I could not get such results with the AMT-5000."
However, he also expressed dissapointment that his range seemed to all but dissapear every night after about 6pm. I guess he didn't realize that's almost always the case with any part 15 AM install.
I felt that he was making a mistake with the location of his transmitter, and expressed that he should move the transmitter closer to the desired coverage area and then feed the audio via internet since his property was almost a mile away from the area he wanted to cover, but understandably he wished it to be on his own property, so that's where it remained, and perhaps due in part to the wide open surroundings; it proved to be a success..
He posted this video on youtube of a drone filmed fly over of his location and install which I find a little awkward to watch, but here are a few screen grabs (click them to enlarge) from the video that show his install and also the area in the distance it was intended to serve:
"This is the Procaster with the ground radial system visible. The audio cable is lashed to the strand which is attached to a sturdy Oak tree behind the transmitter, and the second floor studio. And yes, those distant communities visible, we reach them just fine!"
"..Being out in the boonies, I find it very hard to imagine a visit from the FCC, unless someone filed a complaint, which is even harder to imagine since there are no other stations I could possibly interfere with. My setup is legal based on my understanding of the rules, but if the FCC came out and told me I had to change something, I'd change it."
Radio: HBR radio, 1610 am, provides announcements and other items of local interest.
However there were still some areas of the city which the signal was not reaching, so he had lunch with the city Chairman of the board on July 13, 2017 plans were discussed to install a second Procaster at the citys expense and provide internet stream to feed it. - Other than for that purpose, Jim really didn't have any particular interest in streaming. At one point, when someone in the forum had advised him he should expand his footprint with a streaming station he replied:
"Why?... ..in fact am not interested in tailoring my programming to seek a world wide audience. If anything I'd like to make it even more local, providing local weather, farm reports, crop prices, etc..".
He didn't air any music, his wasn't that kind of station. He had specific objectives which he expressed quite cleary in another post:
"I started my Part 15 station for reasons similar to why I started a BBS in the early 80s, to make available to the world information that I felt was important to everyone. The BBS expanded to multiple BBS nets beyond FidoNet, to multiple phone lines, and soon had an international audience. Later I made it telnet accessible. That part did not go so well. My subscribers paid me $65/year in the 80s and 90s and felt they were getting value, but when the Internet folks came in via Telnet all
I heard was "Information should be free!" Well tell that to the AP, Reuters, and UPI among others who I paid for daily news feeds. Those services and others were not willing to work for free and I don't blame them. That was the beginning of the end for my BBS.
Now I am embarking on a similar path with the radio station. I have a select group of programming which I believe is important to get heard, but I am approaching the point of doing interview programming myself. With this I hope to expand the effort."
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Just of note, he was also a guest announcer on one of the Stuph Files episodes (as too as a few other part 15 broadcasters had been, myself included).
Stuph Files #0412:
This week’s opening slate is presented by, Jim Henry, owner of a Part-15 radio station, HBR Radio 1610, in Honey Brook Township, Pennsylvania, which is also a new home for The Stuph File Program.
www.peteranthonyholder.com/index.php/2017/07/10/0412-the-stuph-file-program/
I'm not sure if the planned additional Procaster install ever occurred, it was around then that I had kind of disappeared from the internet for a few months (a common occurrence with me) so I kind of lost track of what happened next. But the other night while trying to backtrack, I didn't find it while quickly browsing through his over 1,000 post there, but was surprised to find that in my absence a change of structure had occurred and Jim had been elected as the new Chairman of ALPB early in May of this year... His last post was as Chairman was on August 31, then he inexplicably disappeared..
No one knew what he happened or where able to get in contact with him.. Until last week when it was discovered he had died on October 10th.
The city of Honey Brook website posted the following announcement:
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Condolences to the Family of James “Jim” Henry
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So what's so special about this guy? What makes this part 15 broadcaster of particular note that I should post about him? Because he died?.. Well, No that's not it, at least not in itself. Personally, I only vaguely knew the guy, but I had followed his progress from the start, conversed some in the forum with him, and gradually began to envy him a little...
He actually did something notable with his part 15 station, which is more than I can say for my own and some of the other part 15 stations I know of.. I don't really mean that in a negative way, Part 15 is an enjoyable hobby in itself, and I speculate that the majority of us hobbyist really do it more for our own satisfaction, not really in the sense of a community service. Public broadcasting requires an audience of more than just one or a few to be any kind of real community service, and Jim accomplished all that. His part 15 station served his community and lasted 15 months, until he took it with him when he left. (actually it was a few months longer, his last post as a regular member was May 4, which is how I had calculated the 15 months)
In a way I think his ALPB avatar shows where he's at now..
Username: jimhenry2000
Last Online: May 4, 2018 at 2:32pm
Latest Status: I'm awake! for now
Birthday: August 5
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,060
Date Registered: Dec 20, 2016 at 10:59pm
He accomplished more in the 15 months of being a part 15 broadcastera than I have in 15 years.
RIP Jim Henry. November 1, 1952-October 10th, 2018
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I also wish to mention another part 15 broadcaster who I admired that had passed several years ago, but we only discovered it last week from information provided by Bill DeFelice in this HobbyBroadcaster post: Remembering Ermi Roos
My forum response to hearing this news was as follows:
I'm sorry to hear that.. always enjoyed his views and expertise. I noticed that he had disappeared from the forums and inquired about it here in the What became of Ermi Roos thread December before last. I kind of already suspected that he had passed.
It was actually his research into the history of part 15 that was the primary catalyst which influenced me to pick up where he left off, I would have loved to have heard his views concerning those part 15 events of the early 1970s. I've already missed his participations here and elsewhere for awhile now. He was very knowledgeable and had a way of discussing technical matters in a way that anybody could instantly comprehend subjects which might otherwise be over their head.
Hi there. We will celebrate 20 years on the air this year. Any idea if Radio Sausalito is the longest running Part 15 AM station? What station would take that honor?
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