Designing an FM Broadcasting Radio Station

1. NEGROS ORIENTAL STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Engineering and Architecture
Electronics Engineering Department
Dumaguete City
Title: Designing An FM Broadcasting Radio Station
Objectives:
• Be able to appropriately design a radio station for FM broadcasting.
• To be able to specify the desired design equipment .
• Be able to effectively reach the required target coverage area through appropriate
design and proper project implementation.
Background:
Radio is a form of sound communication that uses radio waves to transmit music, news,
and other programming from a single broadcast station to a large number of people who
have radio receivers. Broadcast radio has astonished and pleased the public since its
inception in the early twentieth century by offering news and entertainment with a speed
and immediacy never previously imagined. Between 1920 and 1945, radio became the
first electronic mass medium, monopolizing "the airwaves" and defining an entire age of
mass culture alongside newspapers, magazines, and motion pictures.
It is a highly personal medium, based on the human voice, inviting the listener's
imagination to fill in mental imagery around the broadcast sounds. Radio can calm
listeners with pleasant talk or background music more easily and widely than any other
medium, or it may jolt them back into reality with polemics and breaking news. To engage
and fascinate listeners, radio can use an infinite number of sound and music effects.
Commercial broadcasters and government agencies have made deliberate use of this
medium's unique characteristics to develop programs that grab and hold listeners'
attention since its inception.
Radio is very crucial in our life. When other forms of communication fail in an emergency,
it remains accessible.
According to a Kantar Media poll conducted in 2018, 62 percent of Filipino respondents
said they have accessed media via radio or audio in the previous 12 months. And FM is
one of the most effective radio broadcasting transmission methods in the Philippines.

2. PROJECT CHECKLIST
Experience Level: Advanced
Required Submission: 7 days
Supplies:
 Laptop or PC that is connected in the internet.
Activity Procedure:
Step 1. In CAD, create your personalized template containing the following:
- Your professional logo.
- Your professional details.
- Professional note.
- Name and location of the project.
- Owner’s details.
- Sheet content details.
- Sheet number

3. Step 2. Design the broadcast studio lay-out.

4. Step 3. Design and draw the equipment diagram from the broadcast studio until to the
transmission components.
Step 4. Design and draw the recording and production studios lay-out.

5. Step 5. Design and draw the studio and production equipment diagram.

6. Step 6. Draw the tower location coordinateand its guying details.
Step 7. Design and draw the elevation of the tower and details of the tower lights and
grounding connection system.

7. Step 8. Do the signal propagation prediction and insert the result in the plan.
Step 9. Draw and specify the antenna that will be use.

8. Step 9. Detail the support and base structure.
For civil and structural work, consult a Structural Civil Engineer.
Step 10. Design and detail the tower and grounding system.
Step 11. Completely detail and put the technical notes in the plans.

9. Step 12. Do the materials, equipment and instrument technical specification and estimate.
On-Air Control Room (Radio)
QTY DESCRIPTION PRICE
1 Analog or digital audio console
1 Audio network router w/logic interface and input/output modules
2 Speakers
1 Monitor amplifier
1 Audio hard disc storage system, system cost
2 Microphones with booms
2 Broadcast quality CD players
2 Direct-drive turntables
2 Stereo turntable preamps
2 Turntable arms
2 Stereo cartridges for turntables
2 On Air Computers with broadcast Quality Sound Cards
1 Ups System
1 Custom cabinet for audio console and turntables
4 6' equipment racks, plus one set of side panels
4 Jack panels/wired, with jack cords
2 Headphones
6 Distribution amplifiers
1 lot Miscellaneous wire, ground strap, and installation materials
1 lot Labor for installation of On-Air control room
Production Control Room and Associated Studio (Radio)
QTY DESCRIPTION PRICE
1 Analog or digital audio console
2 Production Computer With Broadcast Quality Sound Cards
1 Non-linear editing system
4 Speakers
2 Monitor amplifiers
2 Audio limiters
6 Microphones with stands
2 Broadcast quality CD players
2 Direct-drive turntables
2 Stereo turntable preamps
2 Turntable arms
2 Stereo cartridges for turntables
1 Custom cabinet for audio console and turntables
1 6' equipment rack with side panels
4 Jack panels w/cords
2 Headphones

10. 1 lot Miscellaneous wire, ground strap, and installation materials
1 lot Labor for installation of production control room
News Control Room (Radio)
QTY DESCRIPTION PRICE
1 Audio console with monitor amplifier
2 Speakers
1 lot Flash card recorder
4 Microphones
4 Microphone stands
2 Microphones for use with portables
2 Headphones
1 lot Laptop computer w/flash card reader
Radio Test Equipment
QTY DESCRIPTION STUDIO XMTR
1 Digital audio test set; includes laptop
1 Frequency counter
1 Oscilloscope
1 Multimeter
Radio Transmission Systems
QTY DESCRIPTION
CLASS
A
CLASS
B/B1
ALL
CLASS
C's
Transmitter size:
Antenna:
Tower and Line:
1 Analog FM Transmitter ( Philippine Standard Transmission
Compliant)
1 Circularlypolarized antenna (no radomes or heaters)
1
lot
Heliax transmission line and hangers
1 Transmission tower
1 Tower foundation cost
1 Tower installation (including mounting antenna and line)
1 FM Radio Processor
1 Dummyload
1 STL system (transmitter and receiver).Price includes two 6'
dishes and feedline of200'with hot standby
1 STL tower (100' high with STL antenna,line and monitoring
receive antenna installed atstudio site)
1 Transmitter remote control system

11. 1 6' equipmentrack with side panels
1 Frequency and modulation monitor system for stereo and
SCA. SCA required for telemetry monitoring.
1 Amplifier (audio) for off-air monitoring,including speakers
(system fed from monitoring equipment)
1 EAS/CAP receiver and decoder/encoder
1 Transmission line dehydrator
1 Equipmentshelter w/concrete pad
1 lot Transmitter AC power installation (assuming power atsite
location)
1 lot Transmitter ventilation
1 lot Transmitter installation costincluding miscellaneous
materials
Standby power generator and UPS - Cost dependent upon transmitter power and air conditioning need -
Example:
Based on a radio station building lay-out below, design an FM Radio Station in your locality. Do
the design plans containing all the components including the predicted signal propagation. Also
do the equipment, instruments and materials estimatewith its technical and specification
details.