Old Vastelec Transmitter doesn't go far

M

m.spline

New member
Hello,

It has been about 10 years since I used my FM Transmitter, It is not an FM01 or FM02, it's just an old one (see attached photo). Back then, I could get a signal about a half mile with this. Today, it's about 100 feet. It's a great signal for that 100 feet, but it just drops off. Now my son had messed with the little knobby things, I'm assuming there's some sort of gain dial or something that could affect the signal strength? Anyone know? Thanks in advance!

My setup for FM Transmit:
  • HinksPix Pro running on standalone mode
  • 10' Aux cable to FM transmitter
  • Regulated 12v power supply
  • FM transmitter on channel 91.1
  • 3' coax from transmitter to dipole antenna
  • Dipole leg length 2.5'
  • Dipole mounted on top of Megatree


91.1 is free and clear and all static, no overlapping transmission
 

Attachments

  • Vastelec-01.jpg
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Without getting too far into the rabbit hole;

"Now my son had messed with the little knobby things" Those knobby thing fine tune the radio, you may need a scope to bring them back into tune.

-Coax, is it 50 Ohm or 75 Ohm? 50 for Transmitters, 75 for cable TV
-Power supply should a good quality filtered variety. in some cases higher voltage results in increased range.
-di-pole tuned to your frequency, many online resources will give you the dipole measurements for your chosen frequency
 
Aurbo99 said:
Without getting too far into the rabbit hole;

"Now my son had messed with the little knobby things" Those knobby thing fine tune the radio, you may need a scope to bring them back into tune.

-Coax, is it 50 Ohm or 75 Ohm? 50 for Transmitters, 75 for cable TV
-Power supply should a good quality filtered variety. in some cases higher voltage results in increased range.
-di-pole tuned to your frequency, many online resources will give you the dipole measurements for your chosen frequency
Click to expand...

I swear I replied to this the other day! I must have messed up...

- Coax is probably 75, as I used an old cable that was removed from the house for cable TV, me going cheap. In fact I did not buy a single things to make the antenna.
- I bought the power supply when I bought the Vastelec years ago. I'm assuming at this point it is a regulated power supply. I don;t know now though as the case is gone. I jsut have the circuit board with the electronics attached to it.
- I actually used that exact calculator to build my dipole to my frequency!
 
MikeKrebs said:
Does the hinks have a volume adjustment? What is it set at?

As a test, plug it into your PC and set the line out at 50%. What does that sound like and how far does it go? Try 70%.
Click to expand...

It does not have a volume adjustment for the output jack. It has a volume adjustment for a "speaker" which is set to 50%. But I think I have a never software version and an older controller wihtout a speaker.

I will however, try your suggestion, thank you.
 
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