Truemors
This is a Sound Technology ST1000A FM alignment generator and an ST1100A signal conditioner. What it was designed to do was provide a complete testing environment for high fidelity FM radio receivers. In order to perform that function, it has to be able to produce a high fidelity FM signal to feed said equipment, and be able to measure the fidelity of that same signal in order to verify that the FM receiver is functioning as designed. One consequence of these requirements is a very flexible very low to low power FM broadcast signal generator of a quality that would be the envy of most radio stations.
Together, these two units comprise a high accuracy, very high fidelity low power FM transmission setup; all you need besides this gear is some wire and cables, and the knowledge of how to use it all together. All of which I do have. The 1100A does Dolby encoding and manages some minor issues (like stereo balance); the 1000A creates an actual FM signal and can measure the fidelity of that signal very accurately.
The only other equipment you should have is a frequency counter, so that you can set the transmission to the precise on-channel frequency the FCC requires (and modern gear needs because most receivers today cannot be tuned off of precisely defined center channels.) Older equipment like my Marantz units use linear tuning designs that are not subject to this limitation.
You can find these Sound Technology units on EBay from time to time, and you'd be unlikely to pay as much as $400 for the pair of them. I checked today, and the last two ST1000A's that sold went for under $200 each; the ST1100A is likely to be expensive, even though it is a very simple device, essentially because they aren't that easy to come across.
Not only is this equipment capable of transmitting a signal better than the FCC's regulations require in terms of quality, stability, and and compatibility, it can also broadcast Dolby-encoded FM, which is how I use it at home.
I feed it from a CD changer when I'm in the mood for the highest possible quality audio, or from my Sirius satellite radio when I want background music, or I just want to hear something new and different.
The output is fed via 75-ohm coaxial cable to my various FM receivers (I collect Marantz stereo gear, so there is at least one high quality audio system in every room of the house.)
This makes for a whole-house system that relieves me of having to listen to our one and only local FM station, which is apparently run by the same huge clan of monkeys that have been trying to get that Shakespeare script out the door for a while now.
You can find a full resolution and non-clipped version of this here in my flickr account.
