DrJoe wrote:
Hello all,

I am new to the group but have a specific reason for joining. The
primary reason I joined, like many of you I am sure, is to get
information about short wave radio. My situation: I have the
appropriate parcel of land (110) acres that is free from any legal
impediments to building a short wave radio tower. The land is located
in West Central Alabama, in rural Fayette County.I also have the
necessary funding to build a short wave radio tower and transmitter.
The site has been evaluated as a perfect location that is virtually
free from any potential liability and from the perspective of reaching
millions of people in Mexico and Central America.


Questions for the group:


1. What are the potential financial rewards for owning and operating a
short wave radio transmitter/tower?


2. How does an owner go about establishing a revenue stream from
potential purchasers of air time.


3. Who would the primary customer base be?


Comments or suggestions?


Thank you,


DrJoe (newbie)

Well, this is a radio _amateur_ group, but there may be some pros
lurking around. Here are some uninformed opinions to keep you going,
however:

1. One of the best quotes I ever heard about hobby businesses was "the
way to make a small fortune in model airplane motors is to start out
with a large one". I don't know if that applies here. Potentially I
expect that a single transmitter/tower would net you no more than a
decent full-time job as a station manager. It would only buy the fleet
of BMWs if it was the seed for a great many more.

2. Identify potential advertisers and sell air time. I have _no idea_
of how that works in shortwave, but I imagine you'd be traveling in
South America a lot.

3. People who sell stuff to the shortwave listening public.

Questions to ask a

* What are the regulations surrounding what you're trying to do, both in
the US and in any countries you may wish to travel to and remain unarrested.

* What effective radiated power will you be allowed, and what's the most
cost effective antenna/transmitter combination to get you there?

* If you plan on starting small but want to upgrade later is it best to
start with a dinky antenna and big transmitter, big antenna and dinky
transmitter, medium-dinky on both?

* Who would listen to this stuff?

* What do they buy?

* Who sells advertising for that stuff?

* Do they believe that advertising on short wave would work?

* Will they believe that advertising on _your_ station would work?

* How can you contact them?

* Can you work out the financial details cross-border so that you won't
get cheated, and your customers won't have to worry either?

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

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