Moss Media - The RSL and Community radio pages.

We realise that operating an RSL or becoming involved with community radio can be daunting - especially if you know what you want, but you've never done anything like it before. Whether you're taking the plunge for the first time or you've done it several times before, you're always welcome to call us for advice, and we don't mind a bit if the questions seem pretty basic. We can help wherever you get stuck: in filling out your licence application form, pointing you in the right direction for equipment rental, deciding on the best location for studios and aerials, or offering a few tips on choosing programming elements, music and structures to suit what you have in mind. And, since there are people here who've done this before - help on presenting programmes that wont sound quite as nervous as you feel whilst doing them!

What we can't do is put all that information on this website. Instead, here are just some of the more important things you need to know to get started...

AM considerations
In most circumstances during daylight, AM goes further than FM. However, the quality's nothing like as good. AM's fine for mainly speech RSLs, sporting events, the transmission of lots of information, programming that doesn't rely heavily on modern music... Think about who will be listening, for how long, and on what sort of radio. If you're planning to broadcast well into the night, be warned, incoming interference on AM channels can very severely restrict an RSL area measured in miles in the daylight. In general, on AM, licence costs will be lower, transmitter rental higher than for FM.

FM considerations
FM often doesn't go as far as AM, but the audible quality's much better. Night-time won't affect it much. Use FM if you plan lots of music based programmes, trial broadcasts for a 'real' licence, festival type broadcasts and so on. Again think about who's likely to be listening, on what sort of receiver, at what time of day and for how long. For FM, ask yourself realistically what sort of an area you really want or need to cover. Never expect miracles in terms of range, FM is funny stuff. If in doubt, always choose FM unless there are really convincing reasons (nearly all speech, specialist event, specialist audience, short duration listening, predominantly information led, little night-time coverage needed) why AM can be trusted...

How much Power?
Simply, as much as you can afford. On FM, remember that one watt is not a lot. If all you want is to broadcast in the immediate vicinity of a county show or a music festival covering a few fields, one FM watt could be enough. If your ambitions are much higher, theres no real alternative but to find the money and go for the maximum power you're allowed. Though its certainly not a lot in absolute terms a 25 watt RSL with a professional signal processor driving it and the right aerial location can usually more or less cover a medium sized town - so long as you select the transmission site with care. A lot of people don't! On AM even low power signals seem to go for miles in daytime - select the power level you can afford and anticipate rather better range than expected.

Where should the transmitter/studio be located?
FM: On the highest point for miles around is the short answer - but unfortunately many hilltops don't have an electricity supply or any sort of building into which you can fit your temporary studio. If you want to keep costs down and things as simple as possible (the two golden rules for RSL's), your transmitter and studio should be co-located, and as close together as possible, ideally in the same building. You need a tallish but secure building with a flat roof as near to 20 metres above ground level as possible, with somewhere to securely attach an aerial (looking similar to a typical FM receiving aerial) built on top of the highest point you can find in the area you wish to cover, with a room for the studio thats not in an international airport flight path or near a high speed railway line, motorway or main road, including a reliable mains power supply - and all on the floor immediately below the roof. Also, ensure theres easy (preferably free) parking. Not a lot to ask is it?

AM: For the average AM RSL operation aerial location is not so tricky. It needs to be away from possible public contact, and though it'll help, it doesn't have to follow the criteria shown above for FM quite so closely. In favourable conditions you might get several miles daytime range with typical AM RSL power levels - simply by siting the aerial wherever theres room to put it adjacent to your studio. No need to be on top of a hill, but it will help. A good earth connection to the transmitter/aerial equipment will also help enormously. Studio location as above, and still, very preferably, on the same site, co-located. Take advice from the equipment supplier.

AM or FM: Make absolutely sure that the studio, aerial and transmitter are as vandal and theft proof as humanly possible, particularly if you're not proposing a 24 hour service staffed around the clock. Don't hesitate to take advice on security - it really is a big issue. Take every precaution possible to secure access to your studio and transmission equipment whenever no-one's around. Remember that if equipment is hired, its entirely your responsibility whilst its on rental, so arrange full-value replacement insurance. You will be liable for the full cost of anything that goes missing, and some of this equipment costs thousands. Many equipment rental suppliers nowadays insist on insurance, but even if your supplier doesn't, arrange insurance anyway. Even full time stations have been known to have transmitting equipment stolen. Remember the motto: if its not securely nailed down, it could walk!

What if I have to put the transmitter somewhere separate from the studio?
Try very hard not to. Once you get outside the same building (or site) you're into a world of either leased lines (expensive, with long contractual periods) or radio links (also expensive, prone to problems, and, more often than not, a pain that RSLs can do without) Most RSL's that can't operate studio and transmitter on the same site tend to rent a radio link transmitter and receiver - which involves an additional licence, for which you will have to pay - together with its appropriate aerials and feeder cables. The signal from the studio is then sent to the link transmitter, and broadcast on a locally unique frequency to the link receiver, which in turn is fed into the FM or AM RSL transmitter. Don't be over-ambitious: such links can be fraught with problems if there is no direct 'line of sight' between transmitter and receiver. They involve additional, often fiddly installation time, and have limited range, often being subject to a plethora of hisses, pops and crackles (and sometimes interference) which are added to your intended signal before the result is then broadcast. Explore all possible alternatives and think very hard before going down this route. Don't hesitate to take (and act on) specialist advice from suppliers of the equipment.

Why do I need processing? its very expensive...
It is, but the station will sound a whole lot better if its there - always assuming its properly set up. Ask the supplier to set it up for you. It's an insurance policy against the waywardness of people who've not worked in broadcasting before and don't yet understand the finer points of things like level control, meters, faders, distortion and overmodulation. A good processor, properly set up, can make your station sound just as good as those permanent stations along the dial, despite having the oddest selection of people feeding it the most bizarre collection of signals. If you want to sound professional, get a transmitter processor... The next best thing is a "compressor limiter," which is a lot cheaper and certainly can help - again if its properly set up. If you're using a separate link between studio and transmitter, to avoid distortion or other problems on the link, you might want to include a limiter/compressor in circuit before the link transmitter. AM or FM we wouldn't recommend running your RSL without either a processor or at least a compressor limiter in circuit before your studio output reaches the transmitter....

Studio equipment
Everything you need can be rented - at a price. A lot of domestic equipment will do RSL jobs as long as you're not expecting a £79.99 CD player to provide faultless 24 hour service for an entire month when it is subject to over-enthusiastic would-be disc jokeys hitting its buttons and disc tray repeatedly with great force. And they will... We suggest renting or buying a professional standard mixing desk, a good microphone, a computer playback system and two professional CD players at the very least - together with some studio output logging equipment - which is very important, even if many operators don't seem to regard it as such.

Logging your station's output - a vital but necessary evil.
Though there are now hard disk recorders around which will do this job, a low speed video recorder is probably still the cheapest solution for the short-term RSL task - as long as you remember to source enough tapes, and change them at the requisite intervals. Remember you are required to record all your live output, and retain tapes for a minimum of 6 weeks after transmissions cease. If you are "live" 24 hours a day, this means you will need to record a maximum of 672 hours of material. Theoretically this needs 2, maybe 3, video recorders to avoid breaks. At low speed each can record an average maximum of 8 hours material on an E240 tape, requiring a minimum supply of 84 such tapes for the purpose. We would recommend you obtain rather more than this, since tapes and video recorders do fail from time to time, and you are after all placing quite a demand on a domestic video recorder by asking it to record 8 hours one day and 16 hours the next, non-stop for 28 days. Not even the most ardent couch potato is that keen! .

Copyright...
You'll have to pay fees for the use of and broadcasting of copyright music, which means most, but not quite all, of the music on sale on the shops or appearing in the charts in the last 50 years and found on CD or vinyl (or as an MP3 file if you must!) There are licensing requirements involved in storing all your music on a playout computer. Make enquiries with the copyright authorities if you're in doubt.

Some speech material may also be under copyright - check before its broadcast if you're thinking of broadcasting book readings, plays or anything similar ... There are also various (not well known) copyright issues associated with material found on advertisements which already exist, and have been played on other stations. Don't assume because a client has already got an ad which has been used before that you can simply play it as often as you like. Check the status of its copyright before you play it... Don't try and avoid copyright issues, you could get found out... make sure your budget will run to paying the appropriate copyright fees, and make sure also you fill out the forms correctly. If in doubt - ask!