Low power FM broadcasting in Australia

[gareth41]

Whats the story with LPFM in Australia? I think I read somewhere it costs about $9k for a licence to broadcast on the FM band at 1watt eirp and theres no protection from interference. In NZ anyone can broadcast licence free at 1watt providing they broadcast contact details every hour and stick to the rules. Is there anyone on these forums whos into this sort of thing?

[Uncle Fester]

For 9k a watt I doubt it.

Like everything else in this country, it is all about money grabs.

10 watts on a hill maybe.
Unless you are in a prime elevated location 1 watt might give you 500m radius before the SNR gets
unbearable for wide band FM.

How many are running 'pirate' stations with all the ultra cheap and powerful FM transmitters available
on Ebay would be interesting to know, but will probably be left unanswered.

[MrRadio]

I have, in the past, with MasterRadio, owned and operated several LPON (Low Power Open Narrowcast)licences, back when they were free and issued directly upon application. There were stringent restrictions on broadcast content, advertising and antenna height. Those days have gone and now if you identify a need for a low power licence such as Tourist Information Radio you will need to notify the broadcasting authority who will schedule an auction. You will find the highest bidders are usually nearby commercial outfits who will purchase the licence for outrageous amounts simply to stop cheap competition. MasterRadio and I have, back then, sold several licences to commercials for a tidy sum just so they could get us off air.This situation has abated somewhat since the ACBA introduced a use it or lose it policy. So the commercial outfits simply put the 1 watter on air with a niche broadcast content such as American Country and let it sit there running on auto day in day out. These licences are also popular in remote country areas with the TAB and the like. Local councils operate many of them for tourist info too.
If you want one these days you will need deep pockets.

9k isn't in the ballpark these days, perhaps ten times that or more

[gareth41]

thanks for the info, I can say its definately all free over here in NZ and there are lots of people breaking the rules. I would say Auckland has the most LPFM stations than anywhere else at the moment, just driving along the road in South Auckland flicking through the low lpfm band from 87.6 - 88.3 there is a station on every frequency in that range, sidebands, overmodulation and mush everywhere.

[Uncle Fester]

thanks for the info, I can say its definately all free over here in NZ and there are lots of people breaking the rules. I would say Auckland has the most LPFM stations than anywhere else at the moment, just driving along the road in South Auckland flicking through the low lpfm band from 87.6 - 88.3 there is a station on every frequency in that range, sidebands, overmodulation and mush everywhere.

Sounds like a free happy country over there that supports creative people

I wonder what made Australia so uptight in the last 20 years...

[networkD]

What would stop anyone from setting up a low powered station from the cheap equipment available on ebay? Is it easy to be caught? How is it monitored these days?

[Learjet]

Sounds like a free happy country over there that supports creative people

I wonder what made Australia so uptight in the last 20 years...

I don't think the authorities want the FM band turning into another CB band, although I don't think they can stop it.

In Indonesia they do what they want. Their CB band is DC to daylight and they get into everything including satellite uplinks, emergency services, you name it.

We often hear them singing to a beer when the OSCAR satellites pass over the top end.

[gareth41]

What would stop anyone from setting up a low powered station from the cheap equipment available on ebay? Is it easy to be caught? How is it monitored these days?

I dont know about Australia, but in NZ from what im aware of they go on complaints due to interference, random checks are very rarely carried out, and if they are they are only carried out in the cities (correct me if im wrong). If someone is causing interference to a licenced frequency then it is delt with straight away and a fine issued along with equipment sometimes being confiscated. If the interference is affecting another LPFM station then they dont bother to do anything unless someone is out of regulations, ie using too much power.

The regulations are here:


In regard to "Is it easy to get caught?"
If your in NZ then stick to the regulations you will be fine. If out of NZ and unlicenced, I would say eventualy you will get caught in all circumstances, not a matter of if. I dont condone broadcasting unlicenced but if your going to then make sure you use good quality gear thats pll locked with a limiter, dont use cheap chinese junk from ebay. If you cause interference then thats it.

[MrRadio]

What would stop anyone from setting up a low powered station from the cheap equipment available on ebay? Is it easy to be caught? How is it monitored these days?

In Australia it is also monitored by the complaint process. And again the nearby commercials will be the first to complain, even if your are licenced and doing the right thing. They have some sort of belief that they are entitled to ALL revenue available from any sort of broadcasting. (Perhaps it's because their licences cost millions) It stems back to the early days when a glut of low power operators were offering $1 ads which did make a huge dent in their revenue and caused advertisers to question the commercials high rates. It is fair to say that the commercials now have very little tolerance for independant LPON operators.

[Paul Adams]

In Australia it is also monitored by the complaint process. And again the nearby commercials will be the first to complain, even if your are licenced and doing the right thing. They have some sort of belief that they are entitled to ALL revenue available from any sort of broadcasting. (Perhaps it's because their licences cost millions) It stems back to the early days when a glut of low power operators were offering $1 ads which did make a huge dent in their revenue and caused advertisers to question the commercials high rates. It is fair to say that the commercials now have very little tolerance for independant LPON operators.

Hi forum - my first post to this forum, so please be forgiving of any inadequacies. I am a bit of a "finger in every pie" type of person, I treat nothing as "not of interest". However, my main emphasis, and field of knowledge, is technology.

I encountered this thread while looking for information about low power FM transmission - the type of transmission that drive-ins used to provide audio to the cars, without requiring you to hang a speaker off the inside of your wind-down window.

I am the main technical consultant for a small church in Midland, Western Australia. With the restrictions caused by the propagation of COVID-19, the church wanted to know if something like what was done in some locations in the U.S. was possible. There, they used an abandoned drive-in theatre to hold church services, while completely obeying social distancing rules - the people in each car stayed in their car, and tuned in to a low power FM transmission of the church service.

Having found out about the newer rules (newer than the ones I grew up knowing) managed by the ACMA, I determined that legally, this was not possible. However, I am very interested whether the ACMA will allow extremely intermittent (about 2 hours per week, only on Sundays) very low power (likely, 250mW would be adequate), non-commercial (purely the narrowcast of the church service content) for this purpose - and only during this period of required social distancing.

However, I guess that their deliberations on this idea will take about 2 to 3 years...

[mtv]

Hi Paul,

You do realise this thread is 9 years old?

Firstly, you need to ask the question directly of ACMA, however, I would expect the answer would be no.

If your church is suggesting following the American example you gave of meeting in cars somewhere, the current WA State Of Emergency rules would prevent that.

If you are looking for a way for people to listen in their homes, then 250mW would probably be insufficient.

There are some churches in Australia currently streaming their services via the internet. Just a minister, priest, etc and a camera and operator in the church.

Some stream audio only

Streaming is the way to go.

[hinekadon]

Question to Paul since when has a church been a nonprofit organisation they all make money from their services the most successful being the Vatican where do you think the money for broadcasting comes from ???? radio for example ????? most are really tight arsed when it comes to paying their bills but they always have shitloads to throw at another church being built !!!! being a tech in this field I see a lot of god bothers they all want the most and dont want to pay I have to tell them money or see Satan and they are hard to work for as well , as soon as you start they are all experts , I normally pick up my gear and start to leave they soon see the error of their ways and want to borrow your gear like hell growing roses ???

[Uncle Fester]

Very simple to set up live streaming on Youtube:



The steam will also be archived as is under 12hours, so it can be watched at a later time too.