Sources For CHEAP Station Buildup Accessories !

[HighMountainRadio]

Greetings To All !

     I thought it might be a good idea to share with all of you, especially the beginners, my 'secret' sources of many valuable sources of very useful station building accessories.

ANTENNA BUILDING PARTS:   Check your local scrap metal and salvage yards (known in this area as scrapyards) where you can very often find useful lengths of ideal size aluminum tubing with which to build antenna projects. In my area I am very fortunate to find quite sizeable lengths of brand new cutoff aluminum tubing of varying small sizes, perfect for assembling telescoping antenna elements which are ideal for lengthening or shortening your antenna project for minimum reflected power (VSWR) back to the transmitter ! Another excellent aspect of buying tubing at the scrapyard is the fact that you pay only for whatever the current day's price is for scrap aluminum 'spot price', VERY cheap ! As you likely already know, FM broadcast antennas, even the Chinese cheap ones on EBay are anything but cheap and many of them are not even the highest quality either !

RFI (Radio Frequency Interference):   During the construction of your new station, you may likely run into issues with stray RF getting into interconnect cabling, especially audio cables ! First, I HIGHLY recommend using the BEST quality audio interconnect cables that you can afford ! I cannot even remember how many very high quality audio cables I have scored for $0.99 at the local Thrift Stores ! I have more very pricey 'Monster' audio cables than I can even recall presently, all purchased for $0.99 or LESS ! Never underestimate what people donate to thrift stores, it is amazing ! Check your local thrift stores FREQUENTLY, educate yourself with when they put out their latest items for sale, ask one of the associates who work there, or you can often figure it out by simple observation during frequent visits. I usually go to all four of the area ones here every other day, kind of a ritual. I have scored some very amazing items there for dirt cheap ! Every thrift store I have visited always have a large 'Tupperware' bin full of all kinds of cables and power supplies, which are also available dirt cheap and quite useful for building up a radio station on a very limited budget ! ***SPECIAL NOTE*** Observe the cables in the bin very carefully, many of them have 'snap-on' ferrite chokes which can easily be removed and reused on your audio cabling to keep stray RF from getting into your audio chain ! They also work quite well to 'choke' stray RF from your phone lines as well. If you experience hearing your broadcasted music when you pick up any landline phone, it is your transmitted RF signal being rectified (audio rectification) by many of the components in cheaper landline phones. By simply snapping a ferrite choke onto the phone line, this type of RFI can easily be eliminated, or my inserting a 'Common Mode Filter' inline with your telephone line. I have posted the method for making these 'common mode filters' yourself by repurposing surplus 'DSL Filters' used by internet service providers on 'ADSL' lines on each landline telephone or answering machine in your home in another thread if you are interested in making this type yourself.

AUDIO GEAR:   Once again, by simply visiting your local thrift stores you can easily score some very decent CD Players, Cassette Decks, Audio Amplifiers (Used As Studio Monitors) and other interesting gear for mere pennies on the dollar ! Of course, check them out thoroughly before purchasing them to be sure the item works properly. I always have a test CD, DVD, Cassette and VHS, Hi-8 and VHS-C Tapes in my travel bag for testing various units before purchase. Many times I have purchased equipment with nothing at all wrong with them, some in like brand new to brand new condition ! Optionally, you can usually find a CD or DVD or VHS tape that is for sale in the store to test each type of unit. I have never visited any thrift store that was opposed to this and actually even encourage you to test each item before final purchase is made, as all sales are final usually. Amazingly enough, if you find out that you have an issue within 24 hours you may even return the item for a refund with the receipt ! I highly recommend visiting the Thrift Shops on a very regular basis, you will be pleasantly amazed and rewarded kindly for your efforts, and the icing on the cake is the fact that the revenue they take in goes to help those in need, and keeps the treasures out of the landfill too ! It really is a win-win situation ! I have included a picture of the 'snap-on' ferrite RFI filters I mentioned above.

Above all, use your imagination and Have Fun !

73...   Spooky...
'High Mountain Radio' "Broadcasting From Somewhere High In The Remote Appalachian Mountains"
Format: Blues, Jazz, Motown, Soul, Reggae and Old School Rock & Roll

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[slqwilly]

I dont know if this is a known thing in the pirate radio community but in the 'im a broke college electrical engineering student' community we do it all the time. Most large electronic parts companies, that sell capacitors, resistors, ICs etc, will send you samples for free. If your looking to build your own transmitter or other equipment or if you have commercially bought equipment you wanna fix

Also a lot of HAM guys and swap meets will sell 'aspiring HAMs' equipment dirt cheap or even free. A kid in high school got an oscilliscope for free at a HAM meetup because he kept asking guys if theyd sell a broke school kid one for cheap, which he actually was so that helped. One of my teachers who was a HAM got a kid an entire setup for like $100 so the kid could start out. 

[HighMountainRadio]

Jan 15, 2018 22:58:53 GMT -6 slqwilly said:

I dont know if this is a known thing in the pirate radio community but in the 'im a broke college electrical engineering student' community we do it all the time. Most large electronic parts companies, that sell capacitors, resistors, ICs etc, will send you samples for free. If your looking to build your own transmitter or other equipment or if you have commercially bought equipment you wanna fix

Also a lot of HAM guys and swap meets will sell 'aspiring HAMs' equipment dirt cheap or even free. A kid in high school got an oscilliscope for free at a HAM meetup because he kept asking guys if theyd sell a broke school kid one for cheap, which he actually was so that helped. One of my teachers who was a HAM got a kid an entire setup for like $100 so the kid could start out. 

Greetings !  You offer some good advice  and you are absolutely right ! Also, hams by nature tend to be cheap but the majority are more than willing to help others for free and find beginners good gear for cheap when they are just starting out, especially young people !

73 !   Spooky...