ChezRadio Procaster - A review from the non-tech

First, thanks to ChezRadio for allowing me the opportunity to review this new entry into the FCC Certified Part15 AM Transmitter market (whew.. mouthful).

I am really hoping that what I got was typical of the TX package. Out of the box it included mounting hardware, enough Cat3 to get me going, and oh yeah - a surprisingly sturdy and easy to tune antenna.

In all seriousness, it took me a whopping hour to go from opening the box to listening to some tunes over the air.

The installation was very basic: The tx was nailed to my lanai in the back yard, the ground lug was fastened to a metal plate that holds the joists together, which was, in turn, grounded to a 8' ground rod. Nothing special.

I picked 1700 because it was temporarily open (daytime in San Jose - at night, forget it..), I stuck a little Sansa MP3 player on the mod box, and made it loop for testing. For music, I used some classic Tommy Dorsey, a shot of Led Zeppelin, some DJ Magic Mike, a Little Dead Kennedys, a spoken word concery bit from Henry Rollins, and a bit of Zeromancer. I figured that should cover most of the spectrum.

1/4 mile from the house, I was hearing everything like it was a commercial station. At .5 mile, it was still strong. It sort of dipped out a little at .75 miles because of the fact that I live on a hill, and I think it skipped a touch (no idea.. just seemed like a logical answer to me). At 1 mile, everything was still strong and listenable, but it would phase out to a little hiss every now and again. at 1 and 1/8 mile, it just quit.

I'm thinking if I really tuned this thing, it would probably push 1.5 miles pretty good in my area.

All in all, I give this little tx pretty high marks.

On a 1-5 scale:

Ease of Installation: 4 (it would have been 5 if it leaped from the box and installed itself:) )
Sound Quality: 4/5 - the bass was a little muddy in places - could have been my install.
Communication with Vendor: 5 (This guys is mega nice.. answers all questions)

Pics would be here, but seriously - all the stuff you need is at his site: www.chezradio.com

Procaster review on radio-info.com

April 13, 2008 - from XRQFM posted at www.radio-info.com

Mounting the Procaster in the attic was too easy! I suspended the antenna & transmitter using hooks screwed into the beam, grounding was easy using the conduit and J-box in the attic. The house ground terminates into a 10 foot copper stake by the power box. The builder of the house provided an electrical outlet & light in the attic, this is a single story house.  I know range would be improved if I had a two-story house; my ½ mile coverage was rock solid with zero static and fading on a Jensen aftermarket radio, and a portable radio inside the van.
 In this situation the Procaster has the advantage in that it's easier to tune up with a simple screwdriver adjustment, and the fact the antenna collapses makes it a breeze to bring it up through a tight crawl space.  This is the third house I have had where the attic door is in a place that is hard to get up into, I know I could not have brought a 102” whip though the opening without sharply bending and damaging it.

Steve
www.radiobrandy.com/Part15AM1620.html 

Procaster review on HobbyBroadcaster.net

May 23, 2008 - posted at hobbybroadcaster.net

ChezRadio is no stranger to the low power AM transmitter market. Their TS100 Talking Sign transmitter with built-in messaging is widely used in realtor and other talking billboard applications. Their latest product, the Procaster, marks the company's official entry into the high-end Part 15 broadcast grade transmitter market. Read more here.