THE BLARE
BLOG Summer
2019
Center of the Bla Bla Galaxy
JULY
Wednesday July 31, 2019
8:58 AM CDT -- Survival of Mismanagement
According
to an in-house study we have determined how mismanagement is apt to
persist for generations within an organization as it has here at KDX
Worldround Radio. As the Specific Manager (opposite of general
manager), I've traced the history of mismanagement and attribute it to
failure of the prevailing management to do anything about it. Every
summer I change roles and serve as consultant to management, and again
this year, for the 12th year in a row, I'm recommending that KDX clean
house and make changes, something I will take under advisement once I
return to work as manager.
Tuesday July 30th, 2019 7:46 PM CDT -- Quick Turnaround
Report from Broooooootz:
I
just talked to Dan about an hour ago.
He
replaced 4 tubes, including the 5U4 rectifier, and THAT'S
unusual. But the rectifier was way low in voltage output.
He
replaced some resistors, including one that had turned GREEN with
age. He did some work where the line cord enters the back of
the radio. It was loose, but it's tight and very safe
now. He also replaced some caps.
He
wondered how the radio could work at all, considering the incorrect
voltages and the messed up parts. That's a real tribute to
great design work by Hammarlund.
I'm
thrilled, to say the least. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow.
I'll
let you know how it operates.
Best
Wishes
Broooooootz
Thanks
Broooooootz! That's one really large radio! It looks big enough to
serve as a hiding place for such things as money, Playboys, and a
bottle.
Tuesday July 30, 2019 6:58 PM CDT -- Intellectual Programs
The
master plan for KDX Worldround Radio included a lot more intellectual
programs than we carry now but being so busy we never get around to it.
There are loads of classic audiobooks in the public domain from
librivox.org and it would be sublime to air hours of it through the
night hours, but I'd miss most of it owing to a previous appointment to
dream, so the great readings would rush by like light from a dormant
star. I got thinking this way after scrolling through books available
from Amazon and coming to realize that R. Buckminster Fuller wrote many
more volumes than I knew including "Architecture in a Time of Radio",
which has got to be displayed on the main shelf. My reason for looking
at his work in particular is that our paperback copy of "Utopia or
Oblivion: The Prospects for Humanity" has started coming unglued and it
would be dandy to have a hardcover edition. I've been working on the
shopping list for several years and also need some Eneloop
rechargeables, a modern lantern for power failures, socks, and I'm
thinking about suspenders. At least the water's back on.
Sunday there was a note on the door telling that the water
would
be off for 12-hours while work was done, possibly related to the
massive water main break that turned a major intersection into a lake
last week. Our survival plan included a huge stockpile of succulent
fruit including tomatoes, pears, peaches and cherries which nicely kept
us hydrated. The can of tomato juice was somewhat daring, with so much
salt content it's like drinking sea water, but it gives a false sense
of quenching if you drink the whole can.
Tuesday July 30, 2019 8:24 AM CDT --
When god has a mean streak
he is indistinquishable from the devil.
Acts of god, in their violence,
probably suggest he's been alone too long.
-- Carl Blare, June 1, 2006
Monday July 29, 2019 6:37 PM CDT -- Turntables for the Vinyl Crowd
Monday July 29, 2019 4:11 PM CDT -- Off the Main Path
Bruce
knows where to go when he wants to get it done. Danny's Radio &
TV
is way in back of the farther-most backstreets and I recognize that
garage door. In the 1990s that exact garage door was removed from here
at the
Internet Building and has been put to re-use at Danny's. Friends of The
Blare Blog are being taken on a tour and we'll have pictures from
inside Danny's if you sit here in The Waiting Room, provided by KDX
Worldround Radio, complete with out-of date magazines on the tables.
Undisclosed Location
HQ-140XA On the Bench
Back Logged
Monday July 29, 2019 1:19 PM CDT -- Wi-Fi STLs - Part 2 (Continued from
7/25)
The
day the "Wireless Stereo Audio Kit" failed, we immediately set to work
looking for another device so we'd again be able to send audio from the
Helm out to the AM FM transmitters. We also gave the failed device a
careful going over and discovered that pressing the "pairing" button it
began working again! Still, a backup device was certainly needed and we
searched "Wi-Fi audio" and found YouTube videos about some available
choices. The one that stood out for us is the TP-Wireless TP-WT02 which
transmits to any number of receivers, so we placed an order and
watched for the delivery van. - To be continued
Sunday July 28, 2019 6:38 PM CDT -- Have a Witness In the Room
Because
KDX Worldround Radio is a news station we have applicants for
journalism positions and are very pleased to bring in talent to man
(and woman) the desks, pads of paper, pencils, and microphones to get
the news reported.
But what we've found is that virtually all
the applicants have a different motive which only becomes clear after
they've been made part of the team. That's when they ask about pay and
benefits. This still perplexes us because it is made clear up front
that we are about journalism and not those whole other personal issues
such as earnings and health care.
We've even been asked about
"pregnancy leave" and must stand ground by reminding that KDX is not a
breeding farm for future members of the human species.
After several years of this we have yet to build a viable staff of
committed professionals dedicated to actually doing the job.
Sunday July 28, 2019 6:14 PM CDT -- Just Laying It Out
If
a person can't hear how beautiful certain classical music is, they
should see an ear specialist. There couldn't possibly be anything wrong
with we music aficionados.
Sunday July 28, 2019 6:00 PM CDT -- Soiled Adult Diapers Normal for
Elders
Therefore
it's not something for which the President of the United States can be
faulted, but his low life slurs against professional members of
Congress based on their race, ethnicity, or place of ancestry are
another kind of pissy shit. Nancy Pelosi has a different reason for
having disparaged "the squad", that being common female jealousy for
outsider women taking limelight away from the National Gentry Queen
of Garden Club Socialites. Seems like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
excels at the job, so Nancy wants to mark her own territory before it
slips the way slopes tend to do. This highly powerful link from Mother
Jones News.
Sunday July 28, 2019 5:31 PM CDT -- Tired of Waiting
When,
oh when, are we going to find out what's "supreme" about white
supremists. They always come across as being mentally deficient and
frankly stupid. But there is one thing they seem to get done... based
on what we've seen they get the eyeholes neatly cut into their sheets;
even on both sides. Of course we don't know how many sheets they shred
before getting it right.
Sunday July 28, 2019 4:36 PM CDT -- It Is What You Say It Is Unless
Carl Blare Says Otherwise
You can have the last word, but Carl Blare gets the final
word.
Sunday July 28, 2019 2:00 PM CDT -- 100 Watts and a Wire
Good program by a broadcaster HAM about broadcasting and
HAMming
Sunday July 28, 2019 1:10 PM CDT -- The Committee to Get Bruce His Name
Back
Time
was when Brooce was Bruce. Then along came Mister Bruce, another guy,
and as a gesture of courtesy the original Bruce changed his name to
Brooce to avoid any confusion. But it's been a long time since Mister
Bruce has been around, so let's give Brooce back his original name. Are
you with us on this?
Sunday July 28, 2019 1:05 PM CDT -- We've Solved Baltimore's Rodent
Infestation
Sunday July 28, 2019 1:00 PM CDT -- The Last Time History Repeated
Itself
Saturday July 27, 2019 4:28 PM CDT -- As the Day Rolls By
We
lugged the Sangean U1 Construction Site Radio into the botanical park
outside the door and trimmed greenery while enjoying KDX talk. When the
mosquito bites totalled about 10 we evacuated until the next outing,
and returned to what we've nominally called the "control desk" here
inside the Internet Building. After noticing a yacht in last
night's free YouTube movie it came to mind that perhaps we should name
this our "helm", the name for a sea vessel's control room.
It's time now for the Boomer Report:
I see the
blog up there, with new postings, stream links, and it looks good. It's
been showing up since you mentioned it should.
I know, I was
subscribed to Steve Gibson for a while, it was a long time ago, and I'm
glad he's still doing his security work on the web. I got a computer
cleaner program from him, and access to a port scanner, to see which
ports might be open on my connection and inviting to hackers. That's
long ago, like early 2000s, and he and Kim Komando kept me safe on the
web at the time.
Google was the main
pusher of HTTPS, and I looked into it, to find it's not something you
need for personal websites. I don't know if it was marketing, or
less-than-informed authors that seemed to give the impression that
sites were no longer safe for the reader without HTTPS, but sites are
the same as they've always been. The good news is for HTTPS certificate
providers, they may be helping the economy through sales cert sales
thanks to Google herding the sheep towards them.
Glad that you seemed to
like the Sonic Blog, I took out all of the Google garbage, remote fonts
and scripts from other places, so the blog then uses its defaults
instead. That way it's like a regular, in-house web page.
Funny to get a call
from Brooce in Hartford from a supermarket, I haven't communicated with
him directly, but have seen his gently nostalgic replies to the forums.
What initially got me to pay attention was that I believe he ran 'Dog
Radio' which was close in name to some of my own projects. Good to see
Artisan Radio's posts too, and how the change from radio to newer media
is dumbing us down. He's keeping the groups held up.
As for boosters and
seeders on forums, I think it would be less controversial if it was
just out in the open what their role was. I was in another forum about
internet technology, and they had one or two boosters who were
knowledgeable about the forum's topic and posted articles related to
it, like a new, faster router or the impact that smart speakers could
have. They'd copy a bite from the article, and add a sentence or
paragraph of their own, usually a question about what we thought.
P-15 groups could do
it, getting articles from Radio World, Radio Insight, Radio Ink and
other places, there are stories every week. For info and gossip on
pressing radio topics, mine Facebook for topic ideas. I'm not a member
of Face, so I can't see some of the radio groups there. If people don't
use the resource of Part-15 forums, we're going to lose them eventually.
Boomer
The Boomer Report is a regular ongoing feature from The Blare Blog and
its email estuaries.
Saturday July 27, 2019 12:49 NOON CDT -- The Part 15 Lab
"End
80" refers to at least 3 things: The location where U.S. Highway 80
ends
at Tybee Island, Georgia, its fabled radio station "End 80
Radio",
not actually on the air but never done, and the highway engineer that
constructed all of it, Richard Powers.
Saturday July 27, 2019 8:51 AM CDT -- These Shoes Are Too Large
We
talk in this Blog about low power radio broadcasting and the people
involved in doing it. Many low power enthusiasts, legally allowed to
microtransmit per FCC Rules Part 15, want more. They want to reach more
than 200-feet. By their talk it seems that a few miles might satiate
their desires. All to be done from a transmitter sitting on the kitchen
table with an antenna dangling out the window. Their main reason being
transmission of one overall radio program, typically "favorite
recordings from cherished grade school memories", under the assumption
that one's own taste is what strangers need and want but otherwise lack
access. The FCC has to deal with this.
Saturday July 27, 2019 7:55 AM CDT -- The Undecided Future of AM Radio
In the U.S.
Linked here is a letter published in a recent edition of
Radio World and shared with us by Boomer:
We
of The Blare Blog agree with the viewpoint that the high powered
stations play a necessary role in communicating important information
over vast areas and become vital during times of distress, but we
disagree that smaller stations should be obolished simply for
mismanagement. The smaller stations have a steeper challenge
for staying in business and many go silent despite efforts to
survive. As they are already established and subject to the fortunes of
the marketplace there is no reason to call for their demise.
What
I find perhaps silly is the talk of an LPAM (Low Power AM) category
other than that which already exists. What are "smaller stations" but
low power stations already extant, and many of them having trouble
surviving. The FCC rules as they are allow licensing stations
for
250 Watts, the lowest legal daytime power, which in many areas could be
licensed and built but serious business people aren't rushing to do it
because it would probably be doomed to failure regardless of how much
the owners "loved radio".
For hobbyists wanting to expand the
part 15 (Unlicensed Devices) service the place to look is the T.I.S.
(Traffic Information Station) rules Part 90.242. Here is what you want;
stations up to 10 Watts for very local reach, right now confined as to
who can qualify and what can be broadcast, but by revising these rules
to meet your particulars it's ready made; nothing "new" is necessary.
Friday July 26, 2019 1:42 PM CDT --
Donald Trump is not the
head of the snake
but the rattler.
-- said by Jefferson Smith, fill-in host for
The Thom Hartmann Program
Friday July 26, 2019
11:36 AM CDT -- Staying To Do Her Job
Representative
Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass, plans to introduce a bill to abolish the
federal death penalty. This is the kind of work members of Congress are
elected to do, and KDX Worldround Radio agrees with the action and has
long spoken against the death penalty, torture and other crimes of
state.
Friday
July 26, 2019 9:50 AM CDT -- Mindfulness Means Sticking Your Head in a
Pile of Bullshit and Thinking About What It Feels Like
Friday July 25, 2019 9:15 AM CDT -- Swimming Lessons for the Head
When
local organizers get together and form a non-commercial so-called
"community" radio station a history of disgruntlement can expand like
fierce climate change vines entangling everything.
Friday July 26, 2019 9:03 AM CDT -- Promoting One's Self
When
you do a show on the radio your friends and neighbors might not invite
themselves to listen, so we need to convince them that you are more
interesting on the air than you are in person. Here are examples on how
I've done it.
Thursday July 25, 2019 6:26 PM CDT -- Sample Table Set Up
We have two choices on today's Sample Table.
If neither Sample Choice
works at this time it could mean your electro-static energy is low, or,
the KDX stream is not on.
Thursday July 25, 2019 5:24 PM CDT -- Wi-Fi STLs (not sexually
transmitted lip syndrome) - Part 1
Coming
up right now is a full summary of findings and discoveries from the
past month regarding the Wi-Fi Band Studio-Transmitter-Links employed
here at KDX Worldround Radio for transporting our program audio from
the control desk out to the AM & FM transmitters.
Several
years back we installed a "Wireless Audio Kit" obtained from MCM
Electronics, which as we understand it has been absorbed by another
electronics firm, either Mouser or Newark. The so-called "kit" consists
of a USB Dongle, actually a Wi-Fi Transmitter, and a black-box
receiver, rated for CD quality 16-bit/44.1 kHz stereo. Specifications put
it at a frequency of 2400 MHz-2483MHz (Wi-Fi Band) on Channel Number 38. We
have yet to understand where the "38" channel number comes from, as
Wi-Fi has 11-channels and the only "38" we know of is on the 5GHz Wi-Fi
location, a different band.
Never mind.
The
performance of the "kit" has been excellent but we tried adding a 2nd
receiver and found, as verified by an MCM technician, that
this
device only pairs with its own single receiver. Furthermore, after
we'd returned the 2nd kit for a refund MCM discontinued the device.
Years
went by until one day, documented in earlier blog entries, our unit
failed! We were desperate because there was no backup system and we
were cut-off from using the AM & FM transmitters.
To Be Continued
Thursday July 25, 2019 4:38 PM CDT -- Other Things Today
Steve
Gibson, speaking over KDX Worldround Radio from TWIT.tv on his weekly
"Security Now" show just happened to say that HTTP websites are
increasingly rare. This is a HTTP website, so he's talking about us. As
I heard that I'd already been thinking about something else, namely the
fact that I'm not inclined to leave programs streaming on KDX-OGG when
I'm not personally tuned in and listening. Perhaps this marks a human
limitation of not wanting to maintain a world presence while absent
from the world. For example, perhaps the reason many of us don't bother
with a Last Will and Testament is because we can't be too concerned
about what happens after us.
Earlier we heard from Boomer who typed these words: Yes, I got to the BlareBlog fine
this time, it looks like all is well, and I got caught up on postings.
I'm glad that you pulled all of the wires, gears, and strings to make
it work again. It looks good and it appears on my screen fast.
I wanted to show you a
blog I set up for a friend using free software, minimal and fast with
my modifications, but looks like a blog, and uses PHP, and an example
of a flat file blog (does not draw entries from a database).
http://www.radio.boomerthedog.net/sonicblog/
On my web space hosted
at Ipower.
Boomer
Boomer's
blog example looks solid and contributes to our exploration of the
subject of means and methods for connecting readers and
websites.
Another
thing that happened today was the water company did something without
my knowing about it which had the water turned off for an unknown
period of time since I only discovered a dead faucet following a
pleasant nap soon upon which the water was restored. Men were observed
wearing orange and aqua vests with white hardhats trying to blend in
with the human neighborhood, but I suspect they were from outer space.
Now I view the water ascance.
No, no, don't go yet, I made some measurements involving our Wi-Fi
band studio-transmitter links but perhaps we should hold that
information for another visit.
Thursday July 25, 2019 4:28 PM CDT -- Soy Milk
Just finished
a call with Brooce from a grocery store somewhere in Hartford,
Connecticut about the poor audio quality and low modulation level of
his Talking House AM Transmitter. I said that I had never seen a
schematic of the otherwise fabled Talking House, and wondered. Brooce
thinks the proprietary integrated circuit chips are what makes the
Talking House difficult to reverse engineer. That seems plausible to me
and the other useful cultural information he had to share was mention
of the rythym & blues group "NRBQ" which can be found on
YouTube. The
call came in on this DECT 6.0 vtech cordless phone, on a frequency
range of 1921.536-1928.448 MHz.
Thursday July 25, 2019 12:04 NOON CDT -- Randy Rainbow Makes His Blare
Blog Debut
Thursday July 25, 2019 7:27 AM CDT -- The Dumbing of Communication
A very compelling commentary by Artisan Radio
Wednesday
July 24, 2019 8:09 PM CDT -- On the Death of Reed Farrell
Possibly
Reed Farrell is the only local radio personality that I never met,
however I certainly knew who he was and admired the way he came across
on the air from several local stations, both radio and TV. As part of
the linked article you'll find a video of the time Reed Farrell
attracted national attention by smashing rock and roll recordings on
the air to signal a format change.
Wednesday July 24, 2019 6:55 PM CDT -- Imagine a Christian Nationalist
America
Wednesday July 24, 2019 6:42 PM CDT --
The world is run by
ignoramuses, wackos and psychotics.
- Seymour Hersh,
Investigative Reporter
Wednesday July 24, 2019 6:10 PM CDT -- 10 Things That Go Without Saying
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)
10.)
Wednesday July 24, 2019 2:36 PM CDT -- Security Sweeping and Dust Pan
Scooper
Our
"trouble" turned into a security panic switching us into full paranoid
while we called for an Air Force flyover and sent Navy Seals down under
the building to search for hackers. We were told the Space Force is not
yet ready and only last week placed their order for office furniture,
although the offices in space may not be ready. Ever.
After being unconscious for over 24-hours kdxradio.com is
back online under close observation.
Monday July 22, 2019 7:40 PM CDT -- Trouble On the Main Line
Reports
have been dripping in that kdxradio.com does not seem to be online
today. According to our major control panel facility located in the
Internet Building we turned it on this morning at about 6:45 AM CDT and
all systems appear to be normal. One guess suggests that since we've
been offline so much because of the heat alert that DNS servers have
dropped us and up to 24-hours may be needed for us to re-propogate,
except of course we'll be offline overnight so connections might be
missed and we may already be doomed to an eternity lost in cyberspace.
Tell any survivors I love them even though I didn't show it.
Monday July 22, 2019 1:25 PM CDT -- MAD Magazine's Alfred E. Neuman
Sings
Monday July 22, 2019 10:09 AM CDT -- Renewed Interest
You
may know that KDX is a radio station run by its listener. During the
recent heatwave we are reminded that a listener's mood influences his
enjoyment of programs, hand-selected to please, and mood deteriorates
as temperatures rise. The upper 90s triggers a general apathy which
very much explains why we opted so often to close the station rather
than endure more chitter-chatter about news, science, whatever. After
all, at 123-degrees bacteria dies, and probably humans along with them.
In a near-death cooker interest in life begins to flicker. Contrast
that to now when temperature is a luxurious 66-degrees under an easy
rain, and we've loaded the day with excellent programming and find
every bit of it absolutely absorbing. Aren't we delicate.
Sunday July 21, 2019 6:51 PM CDT -- More Remarks About Boosters and
Seeders
We've
defined these terms as describing fictitious forum postings by
artificial people in the quest to spark thread activity. It's
a
controversial practice because it's deceptive, but on the other hand
serves to awaken an otherwise inactive forum. Be that as it may, my
objection to the seeding observed at part15.org
is its limited scope.
In every case it's someone who claims to be at the beginner's
stage of envisioning a radio station and wonders how to go about doing
it. Invariably a few helpful contributors give the usual advice but
then the thread wanes because the supposed beginner never speaks again.
If done well seeding could inject life into a forum with certain
objectives in mind. Naturally promoting the hobby itself is at the top
of the list, but what comes after the initial thrill of "finding" low
power radio? Programming would normally be the ultimate purpose of a
radio station, be it music or talk. A few legitimate contributors have
linked and brought attention to various program sources, but
a
strong white nationalist Fox News stance determines what gets accepted
and allowed to remain in print. It came to my attention that a bulk of
my contributions were silently deleted because of a perceived
"progressive" nature of what I brought.
The
back-handed unspoken way in which I was silenced gave me the same
feeling as a Jew in 30s Germany or a black person in the southern U.S.
In
response, I have gone back to where I came from.
Sunday July 21, 2019 6:43 PM CDT -- Last of the Hot
An
official end to our part of the heatwave will be reached in about 1hr
15m. We already see evidence of falling temperatures... it was
90-degrees at 4:13 PM, now at 6:41 we've dropped a degree and left the
90s. The week ahead looks very tolerable and we look forward to
resuming normal living and broadcasting.
Sunday July 21, 2019 11:27 AM CDT -- Night Heat
Sunday July 21, 2019 9:06 AM CDT -- How the Day is Shaping Up
The
heat situation here in the midwaste is loosening its grip with high
today expected about 92-F and high tomorrow down to 81. It means that
we'll keep the website server at kdxradio.com up and running through
today, with standard shutdown overnight. Streaming station KDX-OGG is
following the normal Sunday schedule, programming in the morning and
evening and off the air for maintenance during the afternoon. If
extinction comes a little at a time it won't be so bad as it would
happening all at once.
Saturday July 20, 2019 4:34 PM CDT -- Home Heating
It may be the wrong time to be discussing the economics of
home heating but in only a few months it will take on much interest.
Saturday July 20, 2019 2:48 PM CDT -- Boosters and Seeders
Mentioned
earlier was the "seeding" done by the webmaster at one of the low power
radio forums to keep it active, and I just detected the same thing at
another forum site, noticed also by Correspondent Boomer: I just made the rounds at Part
15 ORG, and notice some of those one hit wonders you'd mentioned
before, and I'd wondered if they were booster posters, intended as a
device to stimulate conversation. I know that forums have made use of
boosters, but usually they're part of the forum's regular membership,
and have an established role to boost. Within
2-hours of one another two "newbies" wondered how to start from square
1: "David" asked about a "strong legal transmitter" and "Bryan"
wondered if perhaps the Procaster would be a good learner-transmitter.
The
same pattern has been used many times before, and matches the ideal
expressed by a moderator whose discovery of radio ar age 12 was a high
point in life. These newcomers typically trigger a string of helpful
beginner tips from the membership, but are never heard from again which
suggests to me that they don't exist. Starting two iterations of the
same conversation might be heat related. Part15.org's list of
Recently Active Members shows a "Bryan", but does not show "David",
perhaps a clue that it was authored from the inside and never entered
as an actual member.
Saturday July 20, 2019 2:05 PM CDT -- Pressing Forword
Programming
from KDX-OGG did not stop as previously planned, the playlist moved
onward into "No Agenda" with Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak, a 3-hour
show, which puts our next possible close-down time to 4:32 PM later
this afternoon.
2:11 PM 94-degrees.
The weather forecast has been revised to predict a high
today of 96-degrees (no longer 99-degrees).
They say that the brain begins to change its mind randomly as cooking
progresses.
Saturday July 20, 2019 12:27 NOON CDT -- Cooked Alive
On its way to a predicted high of 98 (F) here are the
temperatures so far today:
6:59 AM 81-degrees
8:58 AM 86-degrees
10:08 AM 89-degrees
11:27 AM 90-degrees
12:26 NOON 92-degrees
About
1:45 PM CDT we will sign off KDX-OGG following "The Thinking Atheist",
and shortly thereafter this website will close until early Sunday.
Saturday July 20, 2019 9:56 AM CDT -- List of Lies
Saturday July 20, 2019 9:28 AM CDT -- Extinction Dead Ahead
There
has never been a greater news story than that of humans facing full
extinction, and yet extinction is rarely mentioned on the evening news,
cable channels, or on the front pages of blogs and newspapers.
Saturday July 20, 2019 8:06 AM CDT -- Outstanding Podcast Free for Radio
The
IRL Podcast from Firefox is a new find for KDX, and we are totally
enjoying this morning's "trial" broadcast, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi,
co-founder of Stable Genius Productions. This week's topic explores the
carbon footprint of streaming music on the internet. The IRL Podcast
presents real stories about life online and real talk about the future
of the web.
Saturday July 20, 2019 7:18 AM CDT -- The Heat is Still Hot
KDX
has been offline for most of the past few days and the situation is
expected to peak today with an expected high of 99-degrees F. Slightly
better tomorrow with 95-degrees predicted, as storms enter the scene.
Next week will bring more livable weather and longer hours of operation
for the radio station and its voices, including this Blog.
Thursday July 18, 2019 2:24 PM CDT -- Heat Declaration
95-degrees
and rising at this hour according to the National Weather Service,
tomorrow predicted to top 100-degrees. During the hours of
peak
heat this Blog and the KDX Website will go offline so as to contribute
our 600+ Server-Watts to the running of regional air conditioners. This
afternoon's scheduled performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto # 3
will be held over for Sunday evening at 7 PM.
Thursday July 18, 2018 1:46 PM CDT -- The Floor is Open
Boomer
sent this in early June, and it very much fits the discussion of the
moment about opening The Blare Blog for greater reader participation:
I wonder if
you'd be interested in a blogging software that might make it easier to
post blogs to your site? I don't mean Wordpress, but there are many
toned down styles of editors, and they allow you to just log in and
type, with a simple edit bar, somewhat like forums, but even simpler.
The advantage would be automatically formatting the post to appear at
the top of the page, keeping a number of posts on the front page, then
making pages for older posts. Some allow comments, but most should be
able to turn that off or restrict it.
If interested in
experimenting, the thing you can search for is 'flat file blog'. I've
also tried the HTML editor method of doing a blog (Which
is what we do presently at The Blare Blog), but I was lazy enough that
after awhile even formatting would put me off from doing it. I found
that I couldn't get from the 'inspired' stage to the point where it was
'habit' to write in my blog, it was that middle ground that always
tripped me up before I got there. Making it super easy allowed more
longevity.
Thursday July 18, 2018 12:33 NOON CDT -- Input Arriving
This comment from a Correspondent in response to the
speculations about opening a forum:
The Part 15 'market' is
already saturated with forums. I don't believe we need
another. In fact, I don't believe that we need any more than
one, given the participation level I'm seeing. Nothing on the
former ALPB site, virtually nothing on Part 15, and really only the
webmaster on Hobbybroadcaster (without him seeding his Forum, I don't
think there'd be much).
When I was looking at
blogging software, there were some packages that allowed readers to
directly enter comments to blog entries (which ones, I can't
remember). You could set things up so that they didn't appear
'in print' until approved by the blog owner, and you, as the blog
owner, had your e-mail address hidden.
I think your blog is
working perfectly for what you intended - your views on a number of
subjects directly or indirectly related to radio. People can
choose to read it, or not.
Forums, unfortunately,
allow a lot of crap in with the good stuff, and a lot of topics that
don't belong (or that you, in particular, aren't interested in) and
trolls. The other side of the coin is, of course, restricting
content such as Part 15 and Hobbybroadcaster do by Moderators with an
agenda.
Intent is everything.
Thursday July 18, 2019
7:34 AM CDT -- To Inform or Disinform
It's
tiresome to be continuously pressured to confine the discussion to the
mechanics of running a radio station when the whole purpose of having a
radio station is to inform or disinform the listener. We discuss the
mechanical elements from antennas and transmitters right down to
grounding for lightning protection, but this Blog also considers the
content carried by stations across a vast gamut of lies, truths and
entertainments. There is nothing outside of legitimate areas for
discussion in the broadcast universe.
Wednesday July 17, 2019 5:46 PM CDT -- Forum Speculations
As
mentioned, two of our regular participants have put forth the idea of a
KDX Forum, which would have its own Menu Button up above the page and
be open for members to type directly into it. I seem to recall that
free forum softwares were mentioned in an email which I'll try to
locate. The other evening I wanted to look around to see active forum
sites but only dredged up software offers making our fact-finding
effort thus far slow and clumsy. We'll keep this inquiry open-ended
without a
specific deadline. Let's call this Phase One: Spinning Our Wheels.
Wednesday July 17, 2019 4:18 PM CDT -- Listen for Distant FM Signals
But
first a question: is there any chance of hearing distant FM stations
amid the dial cramming in towns like ours? Now the story...
Wednesday July 17, 2019 2:58 PM CDT -- Reflections On Composer's Block
Recent
blog links and references about Shostakovitch and his vivid musical
portrayal of the facist U.S.S.R. bring to mind the abandoned 5th
Symphony by myself, which would have been a portrait of the United
States of America in the mid 1990s. Without saying too much about how I
happened to be writing symphonies I'll stick to the point: I wanted to
express a "tone" or a "feel" that would accurately depict the police
state undergirding what was usually expressed as the majestic plains of
John Wayne and Aaron Copeland or the victorious military heroism of
General Patton and Richard Rogers. In a word I wanted to render
hypocrisy but could not imagine what it sounds like. An intellectual
dead end.
Wednesday July 17, 2019 12:10 NOON CDT -- America: Love It and Stay To
Complain About It
Wednesday July 17, 2019 10:41 AM CDT -- Wi-Fi 6 is On the Way
Wednesday July 17 2019 9:02 AM CDT -- Reviews and Previews
Today
will be the hottest day of the year for the 2nd time this year, under
peacetime conditions in the immediate neighborhood. KDX Worldround
Radio is streaming globally over KDX-OGG from the Icecast Server,
kdxradio.com the website is online including this Blare Blog being
written to by me while hearing Radio Sputnik's Loud and Clear
across KDX-FM, my having just eaten a banana while draining a 3rd cup
of coffee. We're anticipating further reports from Florida about John
Mouw's field tests with the Range Extender 2.5 Antenna Tuning Unit,
right now the top news of 2019 about new developments in FCC Part 15
Certified transmission equipment. Also up for discussion is a proposal
endorsed by two of our correspondents to expand our own media offerings
by adding a New Low Power Radio Forum here at kdxradio.com., something
much needed but for my part I've been hoping that some very dedicated
person would come along to launch such an enterprise as we're very
short-staffed at KDX and already tightly scheduled with existing
operations. Um,
let me get back
to the Range Extender. Its maker, I.S.S. (Information Station
Specialists), engineered the device in response to a cry for "more
range" from low power operators, but KDX, in our first very practical
reaction to the opportunity, is not seeking more range for any of our
over the air stations. But, as with any creative thinker, we've
envisioned a second application for the Extender. Nighttime. Right, at
night the AM dial crowds up with skywave signals which suppress nearby
transmissions and we suppose that the Range Extender would compensate
for this inequity, for which reason KDX might sign on as an early
adopter of the new technology to give our night signal better footing. O.k.,
so we have work to do, but one more thing... Michelle Bradley at
rec.net... amazing! Not just because she's the rare woman we've ever
run across in this low power radio pursuit, but her accomplishments in
pursuing causes before the FCC are equivalent to a Wall Street lobbying
firm plus she's the writer and presenter that we all need as a mentor! Let's take a
cheese break.
Wednesday July 17, 2019 8:30 AM CDT -- This Living Document
Unlike
the Bible, which falsely claims to be a "living document", the Blare
Blog is truly "alive" in the fact that the ink never dries as
we
frequently review and revise what's been printed here. Our readers
discover not only freshly published information today and
tomorrow, but revisit past entries for the latest revisions,
corrections, and new additions. Yes, revisionist history in action!
Wednesday July 17, 2019 7:44 AM CDT -- Return to Sender
Tuesday July 16, 2019 8:17 PM CDT -- Paavo Jarvi Frankfurt
Tuesday July 16, 2019 6:17 PM CDT -- Camps Then and Now
Pence's Pride Parade
Tuesday July 16, 2019 4:10 PM CDT -- You Peopel
Tuesday July 16, 2019
2:48 PM CDT -- Ground Veggie Meat
Using
the expression "President Stupid" in a previous blog entry continues to
circulate in our thoughts not because it's untrue but because it might
incline right wingers to smash an SUV into the entrance of this
Internet Building, home of KDX Worldround Radio. How can they afford to
spare so many SUV's? Those parting words of Bob Trumpalike,
writing anonymously to our email box, come to mind: "You
must respect the president."
But we don't respect him nor does he respect most of us and he is
certifiably stupid, or we could call him President Lunk, speaking
cryptologically, gaining moments through confusement. The good thing is
that free thinkers are able to ponder their words whereas dogmatists on
the right recite their slogans ignoring critical review or further
thought,
protected of course by Freedom of Religion which establishes the Right
to be Ignorant. They use intimidation; we hurl words by the sling-shot
of speech. Not to diminish the plea from a past member of a defunct
radio club: "Stop
the infighting and get back to low power technology."
Monday July 15, 2019 1:19
PM CDT -- When They Come for You
Stern
knock on the door!! DHS Agents (Department of Homeland Security) to
warn
James Schwab, former Spokesman for I.C.E. (U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement), to say nothing about his resignation for being asked to
help smear Oakland (California) Mayor Libby Scaaf for alerting
residents of planned raids on immigrants and refugees at the same
moment Mr. Schwab was being interviewed by CBS.
Monday July 15, 2019
11:15 AM -- Just Like Now
People
have been likening our time to 1940s Germany with regard to numerous
similarities, not limited to concentration camps, persecution of
certain ethnicities, surveillance of ordinary people, assault on
journalism and glorified pagentry. But by no means does Germany hold an
inventor's patent on totalitarianism. I was reminded of this by a
YouTube movie found over the weekend, "Testimony", based on the Memoirs
of Dimitri Shostakovitch, starring Ben Kingsley. The story puts us in
the time of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, communist dictator of the
U.S.S.R., who took a special dislike to artists, poets, journalists and
composers, for expressing views contrary to the party line. Over
1-million imprisoned and around 700,000 executed. Dimitri
Shostakovitch, his wife and daughter, often heard heavy
footseteps
as soldiers arrived in the middle of night to remove neighbors without
prior notice, never to be seen again. The Shostakovich's never knew
when their turn might come, and Dimitri once remarked, "They all go
quietly. No one screams or speaks defiantly, they just go quietly like
sheep". The film, following a chronological time-line, employs the
composer's music shuffled out-of-order, but most viewers won't know
that. The London Philharmonic Orchestra lead by David Nolan performs
specially emphasized fragments of the music, which so vividly portray
everything about the tension, terror, and severity of the communist
state, filled also with an undertow of personal fear and dread
coming straight from the composer's own emotion. During the funeral
ceremony the composer's voice narrates as though attending his own
memorial; he says: "I am dead. How else should I be smiling?"
Monday July 15, 2019 8:55
AM CDR -- Popular Ambitions
Many people believe that
driving the open road and walking on the moon are exciting things to do.
Be my guest. Be sure to write.
Monday July 13, 2019 5:53
AM CDT -- Keeping It Down
Friday July 12, 2019 8:49
PM CDT -- Then There's Bluetooth
The
2.4 GHz band is the most publicly busy unlicensed and licensed space
anywhere on the radio bands. We've been watching it for several
days on the RF Explorer Spectrum Analyzer, and we observe
Wi-Fi
internet access points in use, believe there are nearby cordless
phones, know it's also Amateur Radio and Part 15 (low power devices)
territory. And we just started thinking about Bluetooth, which also
shares
the space under the designation "I.S.M.", for "Industrial, Scientific
and Medical" band
Friday July 12, 2019 7:20
PM CDT -- Have a Nut Break
Friday July 12, 2019 2:07
PM CDT -- Self Conscious About Writing
Probably
because of experience prior to the arrival of the internet, back when
public libraries, news stands and telephone calls were the sources of
information, I developed an interest in writing. The fact that I didn't
have anything to say was no barrier and many words poured into a
growing collection of notebooks. Reading excellent literature by
reknowned authors made the skill of writing appear easy, and so it was
puzzling when I'd look over my past work and wonder what I'd tried to
say which got me to thinking about other readers and what they might
think if they read me. Would they know what I was saying? What if they
just weren't very smart and didn't have the polish to understand my
sophistication? It's true that I became stilted about my own literary
style even when it was a private affair, and it's much worse now that
writing is done before the world audience across the internet. One
improvement that's taken place is that I've become more interesting as
a person than I may have been in the old days, but I don't think people
today are very erudite in which case my message is probably lost on
them. We stocked up big time on peaches, my favorite fruit, and have
been enjoying one of them every 20-minutes. What I did here was revert
to non sequitur, something that happens a lot in modern media.
Friday July 12, 2019 2:06
PM CDT -- Cordless Telephone
Thursday July 11, 2019 8:04 PM
CDT -- Moment of the Day
Even
the richest and most gifted among us find it necessary to extend a
reach to
the grocery store for sustenance, and we at KDX are no different. Today
it was my turn, as it always is, to saunter out on the streets,
avenues, boulevards, drives, and highways to the local stock-up store.
On leaving the store I
encountered a woman seated on some kind of low-profile
mechanism,
whether store-provided or personal wheel chair, who asked if I'd lost
my car. So, I asked her if she knew where my car was, to which she
admitted, "no I don't", and I retorted "then I can't ask you about it"
following
which she pleaded that she hadn't eaten today and wondered if I'd
improve the situation with either a food donation or some change. Down
alongside was her bag of accrued foodstuffs she'd apparently obtained
earlier. She then bolstered her dilemma by mentioning that
she needed to feed her children. I employed a Christian tone
in
advising her to continue seeking what she sought as I went on and found
my car. Our
public service in support of society is done through broadcasting, bird
feeding, and the vasectomy. KDX frequently reports on the
social
harm caused by religion, which more than anything else, forces global
overpopulation in total ignorance of resulting environmental
destruction and side-effect famine. It should be the religious fanatics
out there in the parking lots providing food for the hungry who could
have been prevented if planned parenthood was taught in schools.
Thursday July 11, 2019
5:32 PM CDT -- Incomplete Existence
Most
of my thoughts are book length, which is not commensurate with
bloglength, typically brief. Blogs are internet driven
and no different than email or forums or comment bites which are always
abrupt. Everything online is truncated, thoughts are intentionally
redacted to avoid overly lengthy diatribes. Only part of us gets sent
and the rest collapses in packet loss. Have I made myself unclear?
Thursday July 11, 2019
12:55 NOON CDT -- Cordless Phones Wi-Fi Interference
This is what I thought.
Thursday July 11, 2019
11:08 AM CDT -The Bunny Trail and the Rabbit Hole
For
me alone the past days of chasing Wi-Fi technical questions have been a
bizarre summer cruise with no destination on the horizon. Were my wife
able to be here for the journey she would much rather be in Great
Britain. Unexpectedly I am now thinking about cordless phones outfitted
to operate in the 2.4 GHz band. Might such a phone be responsible for
the periodic attacks against my point-to-point audio sender/receiver?
What happens to Wi-Fi in the near proximity if several users happen to
use cordless phones at the same time? There are printers and other
wireless commodities being added continually to this small patch of
spectrum. For internet accessers the result is a slowdown, but the
constant nature of an audio signal has no way of slowing down, unless
going blank is equivalent to slowing. The price of admission is still
being paid but it won't get us a selfy with Big Ben.
Thursday July 11, 2019
9:22 AM CDT -- Boomer Reports from the Field
I saw a post with Range
Extender ATU test results on Part 15's site today. It looks nice there
on that fence, and the range more than doubled on a Sony portable. I'd
like to know how it compares in a car, since car radios seem to work
better with antenna transmitters than portables with loopsticks, at
least that's my impression from experiments here. - Boomer
Thursday July 11, 2019
7:55 AM CDT -- Best Days of the Summer
Until
yesterday we have maneuvered through the summer heat with a personal
cylindrical tower fan with its cooling range of three feet, but under
the sweltering debilitation of 97-degrees (F) we finally confronted the
"temporary" storage so neatly stacked in front of the sole air
conditioning unit in the control room window. It took hours because of
our casual approach of moving one item at a time after carefully
undergoing an in-depth study as to where it should be relocated. It was
late in the evening sometime when we finally started the cooling which
took several hours to become noticeable, then sometime around midnight
we declared the air "noticeably cooler". Today's forecast, by
comparison, calls for a very comfortable day with low humidity around
85-degrees. Given the better circumstances the middle of the night,
around 2 AM, was spent in deep concentration following detailed
instructions for updating the firmware of the new RF Explorer Spectrum
Analyzer, which already has fulfilled its planned mission of mapping
the frequencies of the TP-WIRELESS TP-WT02 Wi-Fi Audio Sender. An added
benefit is the ability to observe Wi-Fi traffic in the area so as to
best plan our own frequency placement.
Wednesday July 10, 2019
7:39 AM CDT -- Heat Alert
The
National Weather Service warns that today will be the hottest day of
the year thus far, and KDX Worldround Radio will close our servers at
12 NOON Central Time to protect sensitive equipment. The KDX Website
and Streaming KDX-OGG will resume operation Thursday at 7 AM Local Time.
Monday July 8, 2019 7 PM
CDT -- Lie Pollution
Monday July 8, 2019 5:36
PM CDT -- Trouble for the Voices of the Homeland
Monday July 8, 2019 11:24
AM CDT -- Matchbox Microphone
Make a microphone out of a matchbox and pencil.
Monday July 8, 2019 10:58
AM CDT -- Protection Against Robots
We are very well defended against other human beings, but have you
considered what robots could do?
Monday July 8, 2019 10:39
AM CDT -- EMF Detectors
Electro
Magnetic Fields (EMF) are of interest in this century because we live
in electro-magnetic smog and some health concerns remain unsettled, for
which reason EMF meters and detectors are of use to many.
Sunday July 7, 2019 5:37
PM CDT -- Beer Saving Time
There is no beer but
if there were it wouldn't last very long and we'd end up right where we
started. Think of all the time and effort saved by not bothering with
it.
Sunday July 7, 2019 5:08
PM CDT -- Radio Programs Lose Their Appeal in Proportion to the Summer
heat
Lucky
that Sunday is a "down day" for KDX, meaning that we close our
broadcasting activity between noon and 8. Maybe silence is cool,
because it seems easier to endure under the blaze. At intervals we
rolled the Brill lawnmower over sections of the campus not because the
grass matters to us but out of empathy for stereotypical neighbors who
look around and expect to see short grass. The poor saps. In between
outside chores it's been more studies into Wi-Fi softwares and
hardwares, one item catching our interest was "CommView for Wi-Fi""
which takes over the USB Adapter and essentially turns it into a SDR
(Software-Defined-Radio) able to reveal everything happening on the
band, except that the first version we installed was only good for
5-minutes per session with the full version costing $500. Then we
chanced upon a "free version" but AVG Maleware Preventer quarantied it
sensing a malicious virus. Another thing that only functions at
half-power under the sun is the thinking brain which ... very ...
nearly ... comes ... to ... a ... halt. Anyway, here's the next thing
we'll be working on.
Saturday July 6, 2019
8:55 AM CDT -- --REDACTED---The
US revolutionary army of 1775 “took over airports” from the British--REDACTED---
Friday July 5, 2019 3:54
PM CDT -- --REDACTED---It's
Not Just Me Saying Things About the Guy--REDACTED---
---REDACTED--They are my tanks and
I want them! --REDACTED---
Friday July 5, 2019 3:37
PM CDT -- --REDACTED---Respecting
President Stupid--REDACTED---
--REDACTED---A past chairman of a
small radio club posted a rule: "We
must respect the president"
following which the group disbanded and the former chairman declared
himself "chairman for life and owner of the memberless club". Then
along comes all of yesterday's fluff over President Stupid's Grand
Self-Celebration with military war equipment sales demonstrations
whereas if it was to be a hardware fete we think American farm machines
would have been more appropriate. Little was Education Secretary Betsy
DeVoid able to inform Stupid that July 4th isn't a military holiday,
how would she know?--REDACTED---
Friday July 5, 2019 2:37
PM CDT -- Decision Made We Move On
An order is placed for this
Radio
Explorer Model 2.4G is a spectrum analyzer expressly for the Wi-Fi band
from 2.4 - 2.483 GHz.
Friday July 5, 2019 2:14
PM CDT -- Bridge Maintenance
Within
the community of low power broadcasters each one of us seems to stay on
our side of the bridge. My side is mostly the creative side that deals
in artistry and experimentation while another side belongs to
authoritarian sticklers who try to dictate to the rest by staunch rule
based on the laws of physics, God's plan and an intolerance for play.
The bridge of
course is the common metaphorical ground of broadcasting itself, in
which we're all
invested in one way or the other. We notice also a certain amount of
anti-intellectualism which is probably a universal human condition but
likely with its particular triggers when it comes to setting policy,
standards and practices within radio culture. Bridge burnings are part
of the territory leaving a veritable moat between people that decide
not to get along with those over on the other side. I don't know if I'm
making sense, summer heat and all, but that would really be a matter of
whether the reader comprehends the message, so it might be your fault
for limited apprehension skills but with the bridges all out of service
I don't know how you'll get back over to your side.
Friday July 5, 2019 12:35
NOON CDT -- Peaceful Rain as We Narrow Down the Search for a Solution
2:30
in the middle of the night we got busy viewing more YouTube videos
about spectrum analysis in the Wi-Fi spectrum and here is where the
trail is leading as of now.
Thursday July 4, 2019
2:05 PM CDT -- Giggle 'Till it Hurts and GigaHertz
More
hours spent compiling data at the intersection of SDRs
(Software-Defined Radios) and Wi-Fi (the spectrum of the I.O.T.
(Internet of Things) as we've come to realize that what we want is an
inexpensive spectrum analyzer that will detect, show, and report data
about RF signals in the Wi-Fi band so we can know their frequency and
strength. Professional gear for this purpose costs around $4,000, but
for hobby purposes it is possible to accomplish with an SDR, except
that typical SDRs top off at 1.7 GHz and do not detect the Wi-Fi band.
Yesterday our Wi-Fi audio was interupted several times by what sounded
like telephone signals and there are cordless phones utilizing the 2.4
GHz band. We changed channels, but the same kind of interference
happened again today, we're sure somebody nearby decided to make a
phone call. We're changing frequencies each time it happens, but it
would be more scientific to A.) know the actual frequencies of our
channels, and B.) observe the signal from the cordless phone so we can
move outside of its envelope. Oh, and we're under a 40% liklihood of a
storm.
Wednesday July 3, 2019
5:57 PM CDT -- Off Again Off Again
It
seems everyday KDX closes operations to avoid risks from passing
storms. Today's closure persisted for over 2-hours and although we've
returned to operation lightning still flirts around the northwestern
boundary of our vicinity. Meanwhile, this link gives an idea how we've
been approaching lanscaping since around 1990.
Wednesday July 3, 2019
10:19 AM CDT -- Cellar Monitoring
Key
experts like Brooce in Hartford are listening to the radio waves around
the clock from many different locations, including this well equipped
cellar station.
Signals keep coming in.
Wednesday July 3, 2019
8:51 AM CDT -- Communication Cramming
Hours
spent watching YouTube videos about SDRs (Software-Defined-Radios),
spectrum analyzers, and other ways of measuring, viewing and analyzing
the microwave spectrum in and around the Wi-Fi band 2.4 to
2.483
GHz, and mention was made that some cordless phones also use this band.
Well not ours, no, this phone operates on 1921.536 - 1928.448 MHz, but
is that legal? Took awhile to find, but according to FCC Rules Part 15
Subpart D our phone is an "unlicensed communications service device"
and (15.323) operates in the band 1920 - 1930 MHz. Our cordless phone
is legal! We can talk guiltlessly!
Wednesday July 3, 2019
8:22 AM CDT -- Explosion Celebrated in the U.S. Only
Many
humans in the world today shelter in terror when explosions
are
delivered by drones, helicoptors, airplanes, offshore warships or
suicide bombers, but in "The Homeland" (formerly the United States of
America) an explosion means celebration; means July 4th. So it was
confusing yesterday on July 2nd in late afternoon with the summer sun
blazing in the sky to be startled by a massive POW!!!
coming from just west of our radio campus. Our first thought was that
somebody's propane tank blew up in the midst of grilling
dead-meat-patties, and perhaps a victim might require medical services.
However it was simply the Mutant, out of jail again, and visiting his
mother. A fellow self-entertained by exploding things in advance of the
holiday and before nightfall, suggesting that the visual firework
aspect is secondary in his list of preferences. Two more booms
followed. Most people I've talked to about it are unaware that firework
displays are replications of warfare, which is an odd deviance of mind
since it is a truce or end of war that would have initially been
cause for celebration, but here we are with fond remembrance of war
itself.
Tuesday July 2, 2019
11:13 AM CDT -- The Other Intelligent Hobby
Monday July 1, 2019 4:24
PM CDT -- Wi-Fi Channels and Frequencies
Monday July 1, 2019 3:47 PM CDT -- Wi-Fi in the Rules
According
to this link we went to the right place to look for FCC rules regarding
Wi-Fi, it's just that the FCC failed to use the expression "Wi-Fi".
Monday July 1, 2019 12:30
NOON -- Traffic in the Airwaves
In
the U.S. only 11-channels (internet access points) are legal to use in
the 2.4 to 2.483 Wi-Fi
band, whereas 14-channels exist for certain other countries. The
question arises, what is happening above Channel 11 that requires that
we forfeit 3 extra channels? We went looking at the Frequency Chart.
The
first thing to notice is that the Chart says nothing about Wi-Fi and
allocates 2.4 - 2.450 GHz to Amateur Radio, with the slice above 2.417
sharing space with "Radio Location". So far as we know "radio location"
refers to the magnetic device clamped to the underbody of your car by
law enforcement to track your beer shopping. Looking elsewhere
the Part 15 rules for low power devices gives parts 15.247 and 15.249
by which the former defines "frequency hopping systems" and the latter
talks about "point-to-point" with some confusing restrictions, and
again no mention of "Wi-Fi". Our attempt to learn perchance to
understand these microwaves at the top of the UHF band seems to have
drifted toward diminishing returns although some of that has to do with
today's 95-degree Fahrenheit temperature out there in Average Terrain
Park.
