Equipment Review
Talking House Part 15 Certified AM Transmitter
Broadcast Marketing LLC - Des Plaines, IL., USA
This review is for the original model Talking House AM Transmitter as previously marketed by Broadcast Marketing LLC. This product is now sold by Radio Systems, Inc. of Logan Township, New Jersey as the "basic" version of the Talking House transmitter. The i A.M. Radio transmitter with enhanced audio capability is available exclusively from Radio System as their high-end companion product. Our review of the enhanced i A.M. Radio AM Transmitter is available in the product reviews area.
A popular transmitter marketed with a focus on real estate sales, schools and "other applications", the Talking House Part 15 Certified AM Transmitter is a compact unit that offers ease of use and convenience for those desiring to get on the air with minimal effort.
Our friend Joe from Pelham Communications and Satellite Services had a Talking House III transmitter in stock which he was kind enough to loan to the product evaluation lab here at CampusBroadcaster.net / HobbyBroadcaster.net.
Opening The Box:Pretty simple, the components of the system include the transmitter, the wall transformer type power supply unit, the security lock used for the built-in audio recorder and an external microphone.
The Inside Story:The Talking House transmitter is about the size of a home DVD player and has a LED display to indicate its operating frequency as well as to inform when it is in the calibration process. Four push buttons on the front panel allow the unit to be tuned the output frequency up or down as well invoke a play and record function for the built-in message recorder.
The transmitter is a self-contained unit which includes various connections and controls on the rear of the chassis. These include a connection for the basic antenna which consists of a 3 meter wire lead, a connection for the optional extended range kit, microphone input for message recording line-level audio input, power connection, a volume control as well as a control lock jack to prevent unauthorized frequency and message alteration.
Testing The Transmitter:Using the accompanying manual as a guide, we proceeded to connect the transmitter to the simple 3-meter antenna to test the unit. Once powered up, the transmitter display alternated between 1610 and "CAL" indications. The motorized internal antenna tuning system went through a series of adjustments and finally settled in. For our test we used the frequency that came up.
We then recorded a test message into the built-in solid state message recorder. For those of you who are familiar with solid state audio recording devices, the system samples audio and stores it in electronic memory. Similar to audio recording on your personal computer, the higher the sample rate, the higher the recording fidelity. The Talking House III transmitter uses a relatively low sample rate as the audio recording hardware is adequate for voice recordings but falls short for any music programming. The solid state memory supports message recordings up to 5 minutes in duration.
Next up, we took our handy laptop computer loaded with the StationPlaylist Pro broadcast automation software and played the audio into the line input on the unit. The fidelity was improved, but falls significantly short when compared to units such as the Rangemaster and Procaster. It appears there is no built-in audio processing as it was easy to get audible distortion even prior to reaching maximum modulation (which fell short of 100% according to our Motorola AM modulation monitor).
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