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1-3 of 3 messages
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Researching for a Book
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Reply
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by VNGRD on April 22, 2002
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Greetings to all. First order of business - I am not a licensed ham operator nor do I ever intend to operate an ametuer radio station. I write to solicit assistance for a book I am writing. If you appreciate Tom Clancy's novels as I do, you might agree that one of the things that make his books so compelling is the great technical and practical detail he provides to readers. Whether he is describing the workings of a nuclear submarine, or the clandestine workings of intelligence agencies, Clancy brings the arcane into our common experience through tremendously well researched passages covering a whole host of subjects.
Without going into too much detail, my story depends largely on my ability to describe the actions of a man who is committed to getting his message across to some finite population of radio listeners. As the book progresses, the protagonist will become increasingly disenchanted with a certain nationally syndicated morning radio show. Once he reaches his breaking point, he decides that he is going to try to "step on" the radio signal in a very limitted geographic area (say no more than 6 or 7 square miles) by transmitting his own radio program. Thus, the good people who listen to the radio program in their cars or homes during the morning rush hour, will occasionally hear this character's pirate broadcast.
To avoid the authorities, the transmitter for this system needs to be man portable because the protagonist will transmit briefly (5-10 minutes) from various locations and then pack up and scoot (woods, abandoned structures etc.) so as to not get caught.
With that basic background, I am looking for someone who has the technical/practical expertise who would be willing to correspond with me (either by email, letter, or phone) and who could provide me with detailed information regarding the construction of such a system, and considerations for its employment. If the scenario I have described is not plausible, I would nevertheless appreciate your thoughts as to how I might modify my basic concept so as to capture the basic premise of my plot within the constraints of broadcast realities.
Thanks for taking the time to consider this request. I look forward to making your acquaintance and collaborating with you on this project.
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RE: Researching for a Book
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Reply
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by INITZERO on April 22, 2002
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> very limitted geographic area (say no more than
> 6 or 7 square miles) by transmitting his own radio
> the transmitter for this system needs to be man
> portable because the protagonist will transmit
> briefly (5-10 minutes) from various locations
I see two possibilities.
If you want to keep it low tech, instead of having
his radio transmitter 'man portable', it's going to
have to be vehicle-based.
In order to step on a commercial broadcast signal,
you've got to be more powerful than it for the
targeted area. Even on the edge of a broadcast
coverage area, you're going to need more watts than
a handheld radio could put out. In order to get more
powerful over an area of six or seven square miles,
you're going to need more power than a person could
carry. Give your character a van.
A van could carry a small (under 5,000 or so watts
vs 100,000 watts of a larger commercial station)
transmitter. When transmitting, he could put a
magnetic mount antenna on the roof (while mobile) or
even a push-up style pole while stationary.
On the high tech side, it's not as difficult as you
think to hack into a syndicated radio feed. Someone
such as Rush is uplinked out of a single station then
the other stations pick him up off the satellite. In
smaller markets, it's very automated on the local end.
You may have just one guy in the station making sure
it all goes right. Computers schedule the Ads and make
sure the feed gets on the air. A program director may
schedule an entire weekend on Thursday or Friday and
have the station run automated all weekend. (This is
one of the ways Clear Channel is making its money. It
runs lots of stations with no on-air staff. Their only
local staff exists for advertising and marketing.)
Instead of trying to talk over a 100KW signal, I'd
try to take over that signal myself. I'd pre-record
my statement in advance, hack into the radio station
and then insert my audio clip into their play list.
Instead of rejoining the syndicated feed after an
advertising break, my audio spot would play. By the
time the engineer got into the studio to see what
was happening, my message would have played and then
deleted itself.
Unlike an actual RF signal which can be fairly easily
tracked (especially when it's as strong as you'd need
it to be), someone hacking the signal would be far
more difficult to track.
Do I need to give you my address now or will you
contact me when the book is published and you have
my first royalty check ready?
Matt (k4mls)
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RE: Researching for a Book
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by WB6BYU on April 22, 2002
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It will be simpler to do if the broadcast station is at a distance, so
the folks he wants to reach are basically at the edge of the
broadcast coverage area. This means the signal from the main
transmitter will be weaker, so it won't take as much power for the
break-in transmitter.
I agree that a mobile installation would probably the the most
likely scenario. You need a long antenna for AM broadcasting,
but it probably could be done by tossing a 60' wire (or longer) over
a tree branch. (I just use a weight on the end of a rope, but there
are some more clever ways that might work in the book, such as
a slingshot, bow and error, or attaching the rope to a tennis or golf
ball and using the appropriate implement to loft it into the air.) If
there are no convenient forests in the area where the this is to take
place, then the antenna could be lifted by a kite or balloon.
Another possibility would be to couple the transmitted signal into
the electrical wiring, thus using the local power lines as an
antenna. Just hooking to a local electric outlet probably won't
work well, as the signal won't get far past the transformer on the
power pole. But it would be possible to install a remote transmitter
on the power line while the power was off, then controll it with
another radio signal from the ground. This also has the advantage
that tracking the interfering transmitter does not give away the
location of the person operating it (unless they can find the
frequency of the control link and trace it.) Actually, using the
outside shield of the TV cable as the antenna is probably even
better - this is easily available on many power poles, houses,
and motel rooms, so access is easy, and it doesn't pose the
high voltage danger that the power lines do. There also are no
transformers to limit the radiation of the signal along the lines.
The transmitter could be a small box with a set of connectors for
the TV cable that could be installed in the line anywhere and
preset with a timer and a pre-recorded message.
It may be easier if this were an FM station being interrupted instead
of an AM station, as the "capture effect" of FM means the signal
does not have to be as much stronger than the broadcast signal
to override it. (With AM, you would hear both signals at the same
time, even when one was weaker. With FM, you hear just the
stronger station.)
I'll be glad to discuss your ideas with you. I can also give you
some input on how the signal could be traced using direction-
finding equipment, and some ways to counter that.
- Dale WB6BYU
wb6byu@arrl.net
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