TX Ariel

[piratefm]

Just out of interest, has anyone ever placed an FM Broadcast TX Ariel in their loft to broadcast? Was just thinking about how ofcom trace a signal. Do they triangulate and then look for the aerial, in other words would they be able to tell what house it was coming from ?

[McDonalds]

Surprised this gave me an OK SWR

Was also in my loft but the signal was really directional I had it vertical to.
I used 20 watts

[McDonalds]

amazon.co.uk/ANTIFERENCE-Aerial-1083-Element-Boxed/dp/B00BDIVBNS

[McDonalds]

and my radio has a signal read out on there.
I have traced 3 stations with it
www.amazon.co.uk/Tecsun-PL380-Stereo-Di ... B008XHIR8O
its quite easy to do.
if I do find new ones pop up I no longer post here as then ofcom know.
another thing also is it makes things like speakers hum it does not do this in the garden.
when the signal gets to 65db with aerial down your very close.

[piratefm]

Cheers man , interesting. I have all the equipment but want to just test Broadcast on low power. Are ofcom able to see exactly where the signal is coming from.?? I always thought they triangulate and then look for the TX site. I’m in a massive row of house so thought putting Ariel in loft out of site they won’t find me??

[McDonalds]

would be easy to find the road a little harder which house but they would knock.
low power should be OK if not interfering with peoples TVs or radio 2 or 3 stations.

[stevemay]

They would find it easy if they was looking although a 20w in a loft in margate might not be a priority anytime soon!

[nrgkits.nz]

If they wanted to find it they would, there's no stopping them no matter how well its hidden. Firstly is triangulation using a network of receivers placed at different points. the ofcom equivalent, RSM here in NZ use the same thing, the radio inspector can sit in the comfort of his office while triangulating a rouge signal as the receivers are all internet connected, and they're quite accurate! Next its a site visit to the target area within 100m and its out with a handheld device to do a walk around - the door with the highest reading of dB's gets a knock. If the owner denies having anything transmitting and refuses to let the radio inspector inside, its back to the office to file paperwork for a search warrant.

[OldskoolPirate]

You will just swamp your whole house with RF. it will set off smoke alarms and make electrical items go mental. Also knock out everyone’s tv and radio around you.

[Albert H]

It's a waste of expensive RF energy. You'll waste about 90% of your signal just warming the roof, and the losses will be even worse when it's raining!

Get your aerial as high and clear of the building as possible! If you're concerned about it looking obvious, don't use a dipole. It's easy to make a vertical look like a CB aerial!