PIRATE RADIO SURVIVAL GUIDE

Note: this chapter is from the book "Pirate Radio Survival Guide" written
by; Nemesis of
Radio Doomsday, and Captain Eddy of The Radio Airplane. If you like this book and
would
like to support their efforts, you may send a donation of your choice to either
Nemesis or
Capt. Eddy at PO Box 452, Wellsville NY 14895.

Please note that some chapters refer to illistrations or drawings, these could not
be included in
this BBS version of the book. If you would like the illistrations or have other
questions you
may inquire at the above adddress.

"FEEDING" THE TRANSMITTER

Feeding your program audio into your transmitter properly can be a difficult and
frustrating
challenge! To start with, a Microphone level signal is High in impedance,
typically, and quite
"small" electrically. This is what the input circuits of your transmitter are
expecting to "see" when
you operate it in a voice mode. Now, the typical output level of a tape deck is
Medium in
impedance and electrically much higher than a microphone signal. This is where the
trouble starts.

Ways to tell if you are experiencing problems is that your transmitted signal
will be "Under
Modulated" meaning you are not supplying a large enough signal ;or the reverse will
be true, your
transmitted signal will be "Over Modulated" meaning it will sound distorted, will
be wide, and
generally, unlistenable. Take heart that both can be cured and all you need is a
little knowledge!
What you need is a matching network , more commonly known as a PAD, between your
program audio and Mic Input of your transmitter. I present you a simple circuit
that should work
about 99% of the time - Chauncy's Magik Matcher. See Figure 1.

Before we jump into the circuit and talk about it's uses, I need to lay down a
little ground work
first. You should be aware that you have a "Mic Gain" or sometimes called "Audio
Gain" control
on your transmitter somewhere. What you would like to end up with is a Program
Audio Level
that will sound correct at about 3/4 of this controls range. This will ensure that
you are supplying
enough audio without Over or Under Modulating your transmitter. Another recommended
item is
a way to control the output level of your tape deck. If you are going to purchase a
tape deck, it
will help if you get one that has a output level control on it. If the one you use
does not, you can
use the audio part of a Radio Shack Video Processor box to control the line level
audio up OR
down. These are quite available and are typically $20.
 For those sharper readers, You may have noticed I haven't mentioned anything
about mixing
boards! Well, since this manual is geared to the neophyte, live broadcasting can
bring on all sorts
of problems with RF Feedback into equipment that the beginner doesn't need to deal
with. Not
that I am opposed to live broadcasting; it's just much easier to produce programs
on cassette and
then feed the transmitter with a tape deck. You still might experience RF Feedback
problems with
simpler setups but the cure will be much easier and less overwhelming to deal with.
There is
another chapter to this manual that discusses RF Feedback and how to cure it.

OK, now that we have gotten that information out of the way, let's talk about our
matching
network or Pad. A Pad simply is a "buffer" that will bridge the impedance mismatch
between two
pieces of equipment. The circuit we are presenting does this, and also will "Knock
Down" the
signal level to an acceptable level your transmitter will like and will also "Roll
Off" the Low Audio
Frequencies that your transmitters audio section won't transmit anyway.

You might have noticed there are no values given for the components. This has
been done for a
reason as it would be impossible to determine the correct values for every type of
installation.
What I am going to do is give you a "Starting Value" and then it's up to you to
experiment with
the values by increasing or decreasing them until you find the proper ones. R1
should start out at
around 10,000 Ohms or 10K. R2 is a variable resistor with a value of 20K. C1 should
start out
around .05 uF and can be Ceramic Disc or Mylar. When you use this circuit to pad
your
transmitter, you can plug the components into a solderless breadboard. While
transmitting, listen
to yourself "Off the Air" and adjust the values of the components until you find
the ones that
sound the best to you.

R3 is optional to better match the impedance of the transmitter. A possible

starting value of
around 20K would be a good place to start.

Once you have determined the best values, You can solder the mess up and wrap it
with
electrical tape right into the cable feeding your transmitter! Or if you want to
get fancy, you could
mount everything into a box. Either way is fine and not critical.