Using a powerful high-frequency modulated infrared source (eg, a bank of LEDs) located on a highly visible place, it couldbe possible to facilitate local community broadcasts, effectively sidestepping all FCC regulations.
Better to ignore low power regs and challenge the FCC to demonstrate for each and every such station that their signal measurably interferes at receivers in another state with another station. Interference at receivers within the same state as the low power transmitters is not a valid constitutional basis for FCC regulation.
Regarding LED broadcasts, you should consider RF modulated mid-UV lamps. There is a wide swath of spectrum from 230 to 280 nanometers
created by the ozone layer. Little sun light in this frequency range, the only significant natural illumination source, reaches most parts of the earth. A detector that is only sensitive to this spectral region has the capability to operate in the daylight, even while pointing at the sun, and pick up little background radiation. A detector operating in this wavelength region need not be directional and will have an increased performance by orders of magnitude because of the reduction of the background noise. Furthermore, precise alignment of the transmitter and receiver is dispensed with since a detector does not have to operate in the line-of-sight but can function in a wide field-of-view mode to sense radiation scattered by the modulated UV signal.
Multi-watt transmitters can be constructed from inexpensive, commercially available, Ar-Hg discharge lamps. Data rates can easily exceed 100s kbps (megabit data rates have been reported). By selection of different Hg isotopes in the lamps multiple channel operation is possible. Reception using inexpensive, solid-state, sensors is assumed.
See U.S. Patent 4,493,114.
steve
