Prometheus Background

Prometheus Frequently Asked Questions

Our crackerjack team of technical types share the most frequently asked questions and answers.

Here's the beginning list
Expect more soon.

Prometheus Primer

So You Want to Apply for a Low-power FM License

Our how-to guide to the first steps in filing an application for a Low Power FM license. It was originally written to get groups started while they were waiting for PRP to get to their town and do a workshop, but it can be useful to anyone who is interested in LPFM. Doing this stuff will put you on the road to applying for a license for your own radio station. The first round of license applications has been long over, but as Prometheus and our allies around the country work to get another window open, taking care of these preparatons will make you an excellent candidate for a station.

Prometheus News

The Fantastic New
Engineering Powers of Prometheus

Prometheus has developed software that has given us fantastic new powers to search a metropolitan area for sites that have available frequencies. this software will be able to look at previously unscrutinized nooks and crannies of your town. Our new searching capabilities will not be on par with those of a broadcast engineer, but they are much better than just using the FCC channel finder.

First try the procedure that we describe in http://oldsite.prometheusradio.org/fcc_coordinated.shtml If you don't find anything, contact us to pore over your neck of the woods if you can't find a channel for yourself.

The FM Dial Made Simple

Adjacents? Co-channels? Aye Carumba!

Lets use the example of 89.1. The FCC uses the poetically titled "Minimum Distance Spacing Methodology for allocating FM radio licenses. If there is a 6000 watt station on 89.1 (referred to as co-channel), you can not set up a low power FM station within 67 kilometers of existing station. If you want to set up a lpfm on 89.3 or 88.9 (known as the first adjacent channels, because they are the next channel in either direction), you can not put a LPFM closer than 56 kilometers. More

Electronic Filing

How to complete the FCC's Electronic Filing Form

Cheryl Leanza of the Media Access Project has provided a more complete set of instructions for the FCC's electronic form.

Prometheus Fact Sheet

Appropriate Channels

Alternatives to Low Power FM

With the change in regulations for LPFM limiting available frequencies at this time, we thought it might be helpful to look at various alternatives to Low Power FM.

Prometheus presents a range of alternatives and options to LPFM. It is our judgement at Prometheus that none of these are as generally promising as fighting for a reinstatement and expansion of the original LPFM service. While none of them are as good as the promise that LPFM holds, one of them might be appropriate for your group to pursue.

Prometheus Fact Sheet

Some Facts About Low Power FM:

Having trouble convincing the powers that be that micropower fm is the best thing to happen to democracy since the butterfly ballot? The staff of the Prometheus Radio Project have happily assembled this arsenal of facts for the lpfm debate.

First Steps in Understanding Radio

Our New Low Down

To prepare for operating your community radio station, someone in your group should start learning a bit about just what radio is and how it all works. We were going to prepare our own guide but thought it'd be better to assemble the resources of the web and make them available to you.

Prometheus List of Radio Engineers

There are a some situations where a trained professional might come in handy. Here's a look at some of the engineering issues that might come up as well as contact information for several engineers that could help you with your radio station.

New Prometheus Article On Digital Radio

Radio stands at the threshold of a new frontier. Digital technology has the capacity to dramatically increase the amount of information transmitted over our airwaves, improve signal clarity, and make more efficient use of the AM and FM bandwidths than ever before. Theoretically, the move to digital could expand opportunities for new stations to broadcast content rarely heard on commercial stations. In practice, however, the wish for a democratic use of the airwaves is more likely to languish unfulfilled as incumbent stations snatch up the unused space for profit-driven gimmickry.

Technical Requirements
and Engineering Specifications

[This is the nitty gritty guide on setting up your studio, antenna, and transmitter]

The FCC hopes that LPFM stations will have relatively simple operations, nonetheless the Commission is requiring LPFM stations to meet most of the same legal and technical requirements as educational, noncommercial FM stations. It's all here, prepared by our good friend Nan Rubin of Community Media Services.