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Yes, legal community radio is possible by broadcasting to your local community at 100 watts on LPFM. An FCC license is required but, that is why MonsterFM.com / Broadcast Technical Services is here. As your full service LPFM broadcast engineering firm, we help you get your LPFM license and get on the air as fast as possible and in the most cost effective way possible.

From the allocation study (frequency search) to the FCC application for a construction permit to the actual construction of your LPFM station to the application for your final FCC LPFM license to broadcast legally to your community and from 5 up to 15 miles beyond we are here to help you navigate your way through all of the technical and political red-tape. We are here to serve as your full service LPFM broadcast engineer. Need an LPFM engineer? You've found the right place!

The Low Power FM (LPFM) radio service is a non-commercial, community FM broadcast service which was created by the Federal Communications Commission in January 2000.

LPFM stations are authorized for noncommercial, educational broadcasting only (no commercial operation) and are licensed to operate with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 watts (0.1 kilowatts) or less which is considered by most to be true "low power broadcasting". This resolves to maximum facilities of 100 watts ERP at 30 meters (100 feet) antenna height above average terrain (HAAT).

The approximate "interference-free" service range of a 100 watt LPFM station is 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles radius) however, some degree of reception is usually possible to distances of 10 to 15 miles, depending on terrain and the degree of interference received from other stations. LPFM stations are not protected from interference that may be received from other classes of FM stations.

A construction permit is required before an LPFM station can be constructed or operated.

A low power fm station must protect authorized radio broadcast stations on the same channel or frequency (co-channel), as well as broadcast stations on first, second, or third-adjacent channels above or below the LPFM station's frequency. This protection is accomplished through the use of minimum distance separation requirements, which are set forth in 47 CFR 73.807.

Click here for current LPFM news.

LPFM stations are available to noncommercial educational entities and public safety and transportation organizations. They are not available to individuals or for commercial operations. Current broadcast licensees with interests in other media (broadcast or newspapers) are not eligible to obtain LPFM stations.

In other words, you (as an individual) may not apply for a construction permit to build an LPFM station. But, your neighborhood "radio club" (or some other recognized "group" that you can form, if you get started soon enough) can prepare the appropriate engineering studies, consisting of an allocation study - commonly referred to as a "frequency study" - and prepare an application for construction permit for filing with the FCC during the appropriate filing window with little or no problem. Of course, this is all assuming that you have access to the required technical information and know how to use it!

Alternatively, you can hire an outside engineering firm - which is why MonsterFM.com / Broadcast Technical Services is here - to prepare the application on your behalf and minimize the chances of your LPFM application being dismissed over some simple detail that was overlooked that could be as small as a a misplaced decimal point or a misspelling.

Once a construction permit is granted, you can build your LPFM station and apply for the actual license that gives you the right to broadcast on your own radio station in the LPFM radio service.

Application & Technical Insurance

In addition to providing Broadcast Technical Services to review or prepare an application, we will also show how you can increase your chances of obtaining a license in the event of competing applications.

We can also file petitions to deny against competing applicants if requested by you and if the facts and law warrant such a petition.

If a programming time-share agreement with competing applicants is required by the FCC, we will negotiate and put together an agreement for you and obtain FCC approval. Fees for post-filing services, will be at reasonable hourly rates and in addition to those quoted in our "regular rates".

Reasonable Rates

MonsterFM.com exists to provide affordable, reliable and technically accurate broadcast technical & consulting services. You'll find our fees to be among the most competitive in the industry.

Do I Really Require The services of An Engineer?

Many prospective clients have asked us why they would require the services of a professional technical consultant in filing an application with the FCC when there are so many "free online help centers". The answer to this question is simple to understand for anyone who is familiar with the filing process. But, the answer can be quite confusing to those who have never dealt with preparing and submitting an FCC application before:

• The FCC imposes very strict technical requirements on applicants and imposes very strict requirements as to who is eligible to apply. Because of these requirements, if your application is not in strict compliance with FCC rules and "letter perfect," with all of the required documentation and technical exhibits complete, it will be dismissed without a chance to file again!

• If your exact location does not have any frequencies available, an engineer may be able to work with you to find a means of making your location work in some other way or may be able to help you find another nearby location that will work.

• If you have a choice between several potential frequencies, an engineer could tell you which one would be best -- while it is physically impossible under these rules for LPFMs to cause significant interference, some of the new channels allocated may receive quite a bit of interference.

• The key reason that you may want an engineer, even if you are able to find a frequency for yourself, is that the FCC engineering database is usually very inaccurate. This means that there are many stations listed there that are not operating, and some are listed that have been approved but have not yet made it into the system.

• An engineer can check the FCC channel finder results against their (very expensive and very up-to-date) software. An engineer pays a lot of money to keep very accurate records of station allocations, and that is why the engineer must, in turn, pass a portion of that cost on to you in the form of fees.

• If you apply for a frequency, as based on the FCC database, and that frequency turns out to be occupied because the FCC Channel Finder was not up-to date, it's tough luck for you. On the other hand, it is entirely possible that you may pay several hundred dollars just to confirm what you already knew from the FCC.

• An engineer can also help in resolving conflicting applications by finding other alternatives. There are many strategies for "shoehorning" a station allocation that are not permitted under LPFM, but a consulting engineer could (for a fee, perhaps a considerable fee, depending upon the complexities of the situation) make a very strong argument for an exemption. An engineers report would need to be attached to your form when you turn it in.

• An engineer can also check on the status of applications, construction permits and stations that show up in the FCC database as blocking your application. Then, with a little investigation, he may be able to help you broker a deal with those "blockers". For example, there may be an approved construction permit that was never built, and will not ever be built. An engineer should be able to have it removed from the FCC database so that your application will be accepted.

 In the end, only YOU can make the decision: Do you just want to "play around" and hope that what you think will work out is acceptable? Or, would you rather take every possible step at insuring that your application information is as accurate as possible in order to maximize your chances at getting that FCC broadcast license granted so that you can own your own LPFM radio station?

Contact Information

We pride ourselves in being "always available" to discuss practically anything with both our technical services clients, our advertisers and our listeners.

Telephone

806.256.1221

FAX

806.256.1223

Postal address

6700 US Hwy 83

          Shamrock, Texas 79079

Electronic mail

General Information: monsterfm@monsterfm.com
Sales: sales@monsterfm.com
Customer Support: support@monsterfm.com
Webmaster: webmaster@monsterfm.com

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Last modified: 04/22/08