How To Set Up Your Own FM Radio

Station - Licensing And Start Up Issues

By Mary Mark
Article Word Count: 557 [View Summary] Comments (0)
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There are several ways to set up your own radio station. It depends on how serious you are about
it. The single most important thing you should know before you get started is why would you
need to start your own radio station?

Maybe, it's because you are a DJ or you have a band and want to reach an audience with your
songs. Maybe, you have a huge collection of rock music and want to share it with the world.
Maybe you are a member of club and want to make money by broadcasting a certain type of
music along with commercials. Maybe you are a candidate and want to spread the word about
your nomination and your speeches. Or maybe you are just person who is passionate about radio
stations and always wanted to start your own FM radio station. Whatever the case, you need to
know what you are doing.

Here are the basics of setting up a new radio station in a nutshell.

First you have to make decisions on two issues. You must choose the right place where your
studio will be located. Also you must decide whether your radio transmitter will be placed at
your studio or in a remote location.

Next, it's time to obtain a FM radio station license that will allow you to legally broadcast your
signal.

There are three types of FM radio station license:

- The low power FM (Local)

- The full power FM (Commercial)

- License for Internet radio (Streaming Media)

You can start broadcasting your new radio station by obtaining at least one of the licenses
mentioned. If you are serious about this then your goal should be to first acquire a low power FM
license and then move on to the full power license. There's also the option to set up a radio
station that streams sound on the internet which is the easiest way to go with, if you have no
previous experience in FM radio stations.

Here are some issues you must consider after applying for the radio station license:

- How much money are you willing to spend for start up and ongoing costs?
- What type of equipment will you need? For example transmission equipment or a radio
automation system etc. Do you know how to choose the best transmitter for your radio station?

- What is the process of getting in the air? Do you know how to use your equipment and go live?
For example, do you know how many watts your broadcast equipment can handle?

- How will you deal with music licensing, royalties and copyright issues? Do you know that you
actually have to pay for that too?

- How well informed are you on the subject of frequencies? Acquiring a license is one thing and
obtaining a frequency for your radio station is a different thing. You have to fill and submit an
application to request a new frequency.

- Do you know what kind of personnel you need? Do you have a plan to find the right people for
the job?

The idea of broadcasting your messages to others through a radio station becomes more and
more popular. These days, we are so empowered with communication possibilities than ever
before. For very little money anyone can broadcast their messages to the world.

If you are seriously investigating setting up a FM radio station, you will need professional
assistance to help make this a reality. The free information featured in this Radio Station Start
Up Guide can alone help save hundreds of dollars on equipment.
Mary Mark is a webmaster of Digital Star Products Directory of Digital Products

Ever thought about streaming media (audio/video) over the internet so that your friends can
listen to your favorite music playlists? Well, few months before I talked about streaming audio
and video over the LAN/Intranet but today I am going to discuss about setting up a Radio
Station so that any one can stream audio over the internet. (You can use this technique for
streaming videos or your webcam outputs as well)

Basic Requirements

1.) Window Media Encoder 9 – Get it from here.

2.) Music Source – You can use your CD player output or simply few audio files stored on your
computer. Music source can be generated by many other means as well like MP3 player or other
similar audio devices.

3.) Selected Port Forwarding by Router – This is most important. Not many of us know how
to configure Router to forward the selected port. But don’t worry, I’ll provide you the detailed
guide to this problem. First, you should know about your Router manufacturer name. After
that, visit this page for step-by-step guides on how to setup port forwarding. (Scroll down to that
page and you will see list of all possible routers. Select the name of your router and it will take
you to the next page. Find the “Default Guide” link on that new page and click on it to get the
detailed information.)

Initially, even I was not aware of how to forward ports but thanks to Madhur who helped me in
doing this. Later on, I found the above mentioned site for learning to forward ports on all types
of Routers.

Now when you are done with all basic requirements, let’s move to actually configuring our
system so that we can able to successfully set up our own radio station.

Configurations

1.) Choose any Port number of your choice and program your router to forward your selected
port to your main computer. I chose 2300 at my port number.

2.) Open Windows Media Encoder

3.) Select “Broadcast a live event“.

4.) Uncheck the “Video” checkbox and enable “Audio” checkbox. Now from the drop down list
choose your Sound Card and click on “Next“.

5.) Select “Pull from the encoder“.

6.) Enter the Port Number you selected before. In my case its 2300 and I have programmed my
router to forward the same port number. (Don’t forget this. It’s very important)

7.) Now comes another important part- “How you want to encode your audio?”

Let’s understand first what does it actually mean. The higher the bit rate, the better will be the
quality of the streaming audio. But there is always a certain limit. Suppose you have a
Broadband connection of 256 Kbps and you choose 135 Kbps as your desired Bit Rate. If you
get 2 listeners who connect at the same time, they will occupy 270kb and your bandwidth
maximum limit gets exceeded. You certainly don’t want to do that. Right?

So, its better you choose “Multiple bit rates audio (CBR)” that gives you option at the time of
streaming, to select from multiple bit rates (9, 11, 13, 15 and so on) depending upon the users
connected or willing to connect to your radio station.
8.) DO NOT select “Archive”. Leave it as it is and click on “Next”.

9.) Enter a Title, Author and other information for your Radio Station.

10.) Finally, click “Finish“.

11.) Now if you are using a CD player as an audio source, plug the output of CD player to AUX
input of the streaming server computer (the BLUE jack) and start playing your music in the
player.

OR, if you want the audio files from your server computer to be streamed then carry on with the
following steps:-
 In the Media Encoder select View -> Source Panel.
 A small window of “Sources” should appear inside it. Click the down arrow and select
“Properties…”
 Under “Source from:” option select “File“, and then browse to the actual location of
your audio file.
 Under “At end:” option select from the drop down list “Roll over to next source“.
 Add another source and do the same. You can add as many as you want. Just don’t forget
to choose the correct “At end:” option.
 Finally, click on “Apply”
12.) Click the “Start Encoding” button.

Your computer will now be acting as a server of streaming Radio Station.

How to Listen to your Radio Station?

Go to http://www.whatismyip.com and you will get your External IP address from there.
Now, ask you friend who want to connect to your Radio station to do the following:-

 Open Windows Media Player.

 Press Ctrl+U or go to File -> Open URL…
 Enter the URL mms://<yourIP>:<port>/

Example: - Suppose your IP is 192.166.217.134 (this should be the same IP which you get from
whatsmyip.com website) and the port number you selected earlier is 2300. So the complete URL
should be mms://192.166.217.134:2300/

That’s it you are done. Hope you like the tutorial. If you encounter any problem during the whole
process just share it with us through comments section and I’ll try to solve those as soon as
possible.

How to Apply for a Radio Station License

By an eHow Contributor

You want to start a radio station but you need a license. Finding out how to go about it can be an
intimidating process. The government is known for the awesome amount of bureaucracy that can
stand in the way of even a simple civic procedure, let alone one with potential commercial
impact. Read on to learn how to apply for a radio station license.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 1

Log onto the FCC website to access an online application. Click on the "Log In" button if
you want to apply for a brand new license.

2. 2

Register with the FCC website if you are a new user. Click on the "Register" button.
Complete the necessary prompts to register for a new FRN, a 10-digit number that will be
assigned specifically to you. You will need to have your social security number or your
employer identification number handy.

3. 3

Choose the "Apply for a New License" button on the left-hand of the screen in the
sidebar. This will take you to a drop-down menu including many choices for the type of
license you want.
 4. 4

Fill out the form completely. Give the FCC all the information they want in order for you
to apply for your radio station license. By thoroughly filling out the form and not missing
any blanks, you can improve your chances for quick approval. The less information the
FCC has to ask from you after you fill out the application, the more quickly your
application will be processed.

5. 5

Submit any additional materials to the FCC, if it is requested. The FCC application you
fill out may ask for copies of your personal documents. Send them this material in a
timely manner. Pay the radio station application fee.

Read more: How to Apply for a Radio Station License | eHow.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_2385967_apply-radio-station-license.html#ixzz1A8MRuIvv