It's pretty cool to see a licensed, authorized LPFM station being set up by hobbyists!
Prior to the PIRATE act of 2020, running a pirate FM station was effectively legal until the second time you were busted. Prior to 2020, if you shut the station down after getting your NOUO, there wasn't any real penalty. Teenage me loved this, and my buddies and I had a little irregularly-broadcasting pirate radio station, using a cheap CZH-7C transmitter purchased on eBay. One time we went on air from our high school's cafeteria during a study hall, and surprisingly, nobody questioned anything! We did have Microsoft Sam narrate our broadcast so that we weren't making a ton of noise.
We never did get our NOUO; instead, we ran into the much bigger reality, which was that none of us had anything of interest to say. After the novelty of hearing our voices on the radio wore off, the transmitter ended up in a closet, where it probably still sits today. Good times!
We have one of these in my town, Denton TX.
KUZU FM. I think it was one of the first.
It was originally a pirate radio station, that went legit with LPFM.
If this is completely non-commercial and you have an amateur license you could probably use AREDN as a backhaul instead of HaLow. We've gotten wifi going from a panel in Elysian up to Wilson on AREDN.
100w from the Verdugos should be pretty substantial. I regularly make 70cm FM contacts on 446.500 from Elysian Park down to San Diego at 5w.
I would be really surprised if we are allowed to use AREDN.
We need a studio to be able to do live radio shows. Currently our hosts have to pre-record and submit through an online dashboard. The goal is to have a live studio in Shadow Hills where hosts can do their shows, bring on guests, take calls, etc.
There are many examples of Internet radio/livestreams that do all the live studio work virtually. It would be so much cheaper and more flexible as guests just need a microphone and Internet connection. Getting good audio is not terribly difficult even with a laptop or phone's built in microphones. Positioning and some isolation do wonders for voice quality.
I think the suggestion is to use AREDN for our backhaul from the station to the transmit site instead of 802.11ah. So it wouldn't be for broadcast per se, but I am still skeptical that is an allowed use for AREDN.
Clandestine radio stations would make for a nice counter culture. Judging by the website style I think I receive an appreciation for keeping it simple. In that spirit I'd say ditch the internet stream. Stick to FM.
I'm probably looking at this a little naive, no doubt. It's just that (in my fantasy) a pure good ole radio could be a great medium for enthusiasts and odd balls (#cyberpunk). But as soon as there is an internet stream then the actual radio is going to be a gimmick. The whole experience changes if you actually _have_ to use a radio to listen. Of course, your audience is limited by design ... so, realistically there just might not be a sustainable audience in your FM radius. Anyway, cool project!
I agree that there is a strong allure to being strictly terrestrial. I actually started such a station 15 years ago under the Part 15 rules for unregulated broadcast band transmission: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KCHUNG_Radio
Almost immediately (like within the first week or so) everyone involved demanded an internet stream and now that station has two internet streams lol.
I've been thinking about setting up another part 15 station at my house as a personal project but for something like KPBJ the goal is to be a community resource. Terrestrial broadcast is super important to me and helps cement the station's place in our local community but we also want to be accessible to those who are not in this immediate area or who don't know how to use a radio (yes in 2026 that is an issue!).
Thats awesome. I'm a huge fan of KEXP and WFMU. I love radio stations like this. I just signed up for your newsletter. I have it on my listen list and will stay tuned here on the East Coast.
WFMU is fantastic. That was where you heard all the fun weird stuff and WSOU was right next to it playing (back in the day at least) the latest hard core, punk, and metal.
Fun fact, the Go Gopher drawn by Renee French was originally drawn for a WFMU tee shirt given out at a fun raiser they hosted.
You essentially have to be in the right place at the right time. The FCC releases LPFM channels every year all over over the country. If you have a 501c3 non-profit within the designated broadcast area you can apply for the channel. They tend to award the channels to more established non-profits. There are no filing fees.
In our case we created the non-profit in anticipation of applying for this license. We got really lucky and no one else applied for the license and it was awarded to us.
KPBJ should have co-channel interference from KAIA and KCAQ, but the first adjacents are pretty clear. an LPFM has no protected contour. How is the local signal?
For terrestrial broadcast or online? You go through a handful of music industry organizations such as ASCAP and BMI. For terrestrial broadcast the costs are scaled to approximate listenership.
They just pay into ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. The royalty groups disburse on estimated airplay. Non-coms pay a reduced rate. I can go mch deeper if you want. I used to work in that field.
At the moment we are only airing a few new shows per day and filling the rest of our airtime with content from archive.org and other free sources (chosen by all our hosts), but over time more of the schedule will fill with original content.
Prior to the PIRATE act of 2020, running a pirate FM station was effectively legal until the second time you were busted. Prior to 2020, if you shut the station down after getting your NOUO, there wasn't any real penalty. Teenage me loved this, and my buddies and I had a little irregularly-broadcasting pirate radio station, using a cheap CZH-7C transmitter purchased on eBay. One time we went on air from our high school's cafeteria during a study hall, and surprisingly, nobody questioned anything! We did have Microsoft Sam narrate our broadcast so that we weren't making a ton of noise.
We never did get our NOUO; instead, we ran into the much bigger reality, which was that none of us had anything of interest to say. After the novelty of hearing our voices on the radio wore off, the transmitter ended up in a closet, where it probably still sits today. Good times!
If this is completely non-commercial and you have an amateur license you could probably use AREDN as a backhaul instead of HaLow. We've gotten wifi going from a panel in Elysian up to Wilson on AREDN.
100w from the Verdugos should be pretty substantial. I regularly make 70cm FM contacts on 446.500 from Elysian Park down to San Diego at 5w.
We need a studio to be able to do live radio shows. Currently our hosts have to pre-record and submit through an online dashboard. The goal is to have a live studio in Shadow Hills where hosts can do their shows, bring on guests, take calls, etc.
Also I am /much/ more interested in terrestrial radio but the reality is that the vast majority of listeners are online and not using a radio. : (
Almost immediately (like within the first week or so) everyone involved demanded an internet stream and now that station has two internet streams lol.
I've been thinking about setting up another part 15 station at my house as a personal project but for something like KPBJ the goal is to be a community resource. Terrestrial broadcast is super important to me and helps cement the station's place in our local community but we also want to be accessible to those who are not in this immediate area or who don't know how to use a radio (yes in 2026 that is an issue!).
Fun fact, the Go Gopher drawn by Renee French was originally drawn for a WFMU tee shirt given out at a fun raiser they hosted.
The technical side, while interesting, is relatively clear to me. The legal side, including cost, is something I have no idea about.
In our case we created the non-profit in anticipation of applying for this license. We got really lucky and no one else applied for the license and it was awarded to us.
At the moment we are only airing a few new shows per day and filling the rest of our airtime with content from archive.org and other free sources (chosen by all our hosts), but over time more of the schedule will fill with original content.