Review of the Hamilton
Rangemaster AM1000 Transmitter
I have been using my
Hamilton Rangemaster for more than three months now, and although it costs more
than the “hobby”
kits that are available, I have come to the conclusion that it
is well worth it if you are really serious about “micro broadcasting”.
First of all, the audio
quality is stunning! Whatever you send to the transmitter will be faithfully
reproduced over the air, with
no distortion. My programming is classical music,
and the sound quality as monitored on a GE Superadio III is absolutely
amazing!
It sounds more like an FM station than AM. If you want to program heavy metal,
the Rangemaster can handle that,
too! As far as I am concerned, there aren’t any
commercial stations left on the air that can hold a candle to the audio quality
of the Rangemaster (especially now that many of the big “clears” have turned on
their hiss-generating and low-fi audio IBOC systems).
Also, I’ve had no hum
problems whatsoever with the Rangemaster, due at least in part to the fact that
it has a high quality balanced
audio input. I am driving mine with a Shure M267
mixer.
It appears to be oblivious to the
weather, be it hot or cold. The Rangemaster has a trimmer capacitor that allows
you to zero-beat its
frequency to a weak interfering station or to another unit
(if you are synchronizing more than one for additional range).
This is very
important for achieving maximum performance. I found that once I set my
transmitter on frequency,
it has remained consistently within 1-2 Hz of the
frequency of the distant commercial station on my channel, even on the coldest
winter days!
The Rangemaster is
extremely simple to set up and adjust. All you really need is a small
screwdriver and a multimeter or DMM.
If you follow the instructions or watch the
online tuning video, you really cannot go wrong, even if you are just a novice
hobbyist.
The range will far exceed that of a kit using an indoor wire antenna,
but getting the maximum possible coverage requires careful planning.
So if this
is your goal, you might want to find someone who is experienced to assist you.
Most users, however, will be very pleased with the results,
even with a
sub-optimal installation. Just don’t expect the coverage of this (or any) Part
15 transmitter to compare with even the smallest licensed station—it can’t, and
won’t.
The power requirements for
the Rangemaster are very modest, so you don’t have to worry about it running up
your electric bill.
As a mater of fact, this transmitter would be ideal for
emergency operation, as it could run for a very long time from a typical car
battery.
During operation, nothing gets hot inside the unit. Everything about
the design is very conservatively rated,
including the RF output stage, which
uses three transistors! It appears to be quite “bulletproof”.
Finally, the Rangemaster
is one of the few Part 15 AM transmitters that is FCC Certified. If you are
going to actively promote your station,
sooner or later someone is probably
going to bring it to the attention of the FCC. Unless you are familiar with
technical matters
and are comfortable dealing with FCC agents, you are probably
better off with a certified unit like the Rangemaster.
Do follow the
instructions carefully, however, because deliberately going beyond the
recommended installation
parameters can still get you in trouble, even if your
transmitter is certified.