The Blare Blog
Center
of the Bla Bla Galaxy
To be
perfectly honest
December
2020
Wednesday
December 30, 2020 6:52 PM CST -- Google Street View
Here
in the office we had mail that needed to be postmarked by an
approaching deadline in order to avoid fines but the mailman hasn't
been by for several days and I was not looking forward to the mile
drive to a familiar side-of-the road mailbox, so I wondered about a
much closer box I'd not visited since the reconstruction of that nearby
mail point. So I scoped it out via Google Street View and was able to
observe at close hand the required entrance and exit from the postal
box which would have been very confusing had I driven there not
knowing. As a result I was able to reach the destination smoothly and
efficiently in morning rain.
Wednesday December 30, 2020 4:40 PM CST -- Empty Parking Lots
It's been since June that Information Station
Specialists issued a newsletter.
And Parking Lot Radio (dot) Com has had no
development updates since October.
It is highly probable that the onset of winter
has stalled the application of parking lot broadcasting.
As we head for spring perhaps things will pick up.
Sunday December 27, 2020 5:36 PM CST -- Just Exactly Who Are the
Pirates Here?
From Artisan Radio -
All this talk about
piracy, music, video and otherwise, angers
me
immensely. The
companies and politicians that cry piracy the
most are
supposed to understand
the law. They obviously don't.
They call many
legal uses of artistic
works piracy. They themselves use their considerable economic
might to sidestep existing laws and
international
agreements, and yet
expect everyone else to respect the law.
A case in point.
The Berne convention,
which I've written about in my blog,
details
copyright protection for
those countries that have signed the
agreement
(which number well over
100, including the U.S., Canada, most
countries
in Europe, etc.).
There are many works
that are copyrighted in the U.S. (which
has
somewhat draconian laws)
that are not copyrighted in these
other
countries, including
Canada. What that means is that in
those
countries, there are no
restrictions on using these works,
including
streaming (from servers
located in those countries, of
course). It is entirely legal.
In Canada and Europe,
for example, all the early performances of
Elvis
Presley from the 1950s
and early 1960s are in the public
domain. Copyright
in the music
itself is dependent upon the lifespan of
the
creators, so it may or
may not be legal to stream a particular
song
without royalty
payments. Even such works as the early
performances of
the Beatles from 1963
are in the public domain in Canada. The
music is,
of course, not, and
royalties would have to be paid for that.
I understand that much
of the focus in the new streaming piracy
laws is
directed towards
offshore servers hosting content which is
likely
copyrighted (as those
servers are located in a Berne convention
country -
even Tonga, the site
of many of those servers, signed the
Berne
convention), but a lot
of otherwise public domain material is
caught in
the resulting
maelstrom. Just as some Part 15 broadcasters
will be/are
caught in the
over-the-air piracy fight.
Sure, go after those
blatantly breaking the copyright laws.
But respect
the Berne convention and
recognize that other countries, with
other
copyright rules, do
exist.
- Artisan Radio
Sunday December 27, 2020 10:07 AM CST -- The Truth of the Matter
Richard Powers reporting -
Hello
again Carl,
As
I read the articles you link concerning these
new enactment (felonious streaming), my thoughts immediately went back
to a few articles
I read in the last few months an entirely different aspect
concerning this streaming issue. For example..
WHY
ROCK’S BIGGEST STARS ARE SELLING AWAY THEIR
PUBLISHING RIGHTS
Bob
Dylan, David Crosby and Stevie Nicks are
joining the growing ranks of artists who are signing away the
publishing rights to the songs they've written... Modern-era
changes in royalty payments and tax implications involved with
estate planning are likely part of this decision-making
process....
"I
can’t work, and streaming stole my record
money," Crosby said via Twitter. "I have a family and a mortgage
and I have to take care of them, so it’s my only option. I’m sure
the others feel the same."...
The
three big recorded-music companies use their
leverage of owning the song companies to ensure those companies
don’t advocate for songwriters, and they push the economic
improvement we’ve seen with streaming so they, not the artist, get
the lion’s share of the money at the songwriter’s
expense.... -- Rich Powers
No doubt, says Carl in response. They have always exploited the talent
and the inventors.
Saturday December 26, 2020 5:25 PM CST -- RDS University
The
most comprehensive exploration of RDS (Radio Data System)
solutions for low power U.S. Part 15 / Industry Canada is being
compiled by Artisan Radio Blog V2.0, with a question raised as to why
the manufacturers haven't added such capability to their certified
products. My guess is that the cost of developing and re-certifying
their transmitters for such capability would prove too great given the
comparatively small demand for such devices. Another complication might
come from the fact that U.S. has a different system, not RDS, but RBDS
(Radio Broadcast Data System).
Saturday December 26, 2020 4:21 PM CST -- Horrible Dog juice all over
the orange carpet at 180-G
Boomer speaking -
Merry Christmas, you
have to know the band Negativland to get the
title.
When I see this picture
from Brooce, I feel like I'm at the
library, reading the spines of books that were put into the shelves
upside down. You see, they got a temporary assistant librarian for
the holidays who didn't know what he was doing.
I've seen Bruce pictures
sideways before like that before, either
that or this Christmas is a most unusual day.
Have fun listening to
symphonies. I'm glad to see that the Artisan
Blog is going again, it can take a lot of strength to do a
blog. -
Boomer
Saturday December 26, 2020 4:11PM CST -- Piracy and controversial
copyright laws tucked inside COVID relief bill?
Tha Dood reaching out from West Virginia
Seen this in
The HFU posting. Certainly not surprising.
This
package should be for more for Swine Flu
for the amount of Pork Barrel that's in it. +90% of it having
absolutely nothing to do with COVID-19. Geez... Certainly not a
very Merry X-mas to us. This is a plain Merry X-mas, FU, to the
MAX!
Hmmmmmmmmmmm... Do I
dare ask
what else is rammed in there?
-
Tha Dood
Saturday December 26, 2020 7:13 AM CST -- Join Me at the Coffee Table
Good
morning. It looks like we all survived another Christmas, although the
bills will come due in the days ahead, so it's really not over. At KDX
we used the holiday to explore small system errors that linger
following the large computer crash and continue in test mode going into
the weekend. A temperature dip down to 12oF put
us into a
deep slumber where comfort was hoarded underneath quilts and within
dreams for close to 12-hours. Now back in what passes for the real
world everything is turned on, radio programs are streaming, contacts
will be made with consultants as we analyze our operating system and
attempt articulating the bugs. A bunch of technical stuff. Everything
o.k. with you?
Friday December 25, 2020 12:53 NOON -- Ersatz Queen Christmas
Message
Wednesday December 23, 2020 4:50 PM -- Let's Make Up
Just thinking, and I believe I understand a few things about women and
their cosmetics. Try this:
Women
who wear makeup want to win the approval of the man.
Women who skip makeup feel very comfortable
around their man.
- Carl Blare
Wednesday December 23, 2020 3:23 PM CST -- Sometimes You Get a Perfect
Match
It's
raining now. Up until moments ago the day was breezy and unseasonably
warm, somewhere in the upper 50s, but just as SymphonyCast began on KDX
Worldround Radio the daylight became less and less and the just
perceptable sound of rain sprinkling on leaves puts a stop to chirping
birds. Music by Swiss composer Frank Martin fits the scene as
temperatures are descending into a predicted icy range. There won't be
much parking lot radio today unless preachers use screen projection so
they can be safely inside while the parked congregation ramps up their
dashboard heaters. Delivery vehicles keep coming as Christmas waits for
no rain and is one deadline people are never forgiven for missing. For
us lucky enough to have a place to quarantine sending radio programs
out and about is our way of giving to neighbors who use their
radios to listen outward in the urge to stay connected with city life.
Wednesday December 23, 2020 2:29 PM CST -- Update to Bruce Listening
Station
Regarding the table on the right side of the photo: That table is the test bench/ham
station/listening
post, writes curator Bruce. Although that doesn't rule out
the chance that ladies have used it to apply makeup.
Wednesday December 23, 2020 6:15 AM CST -- THE ARTISAN RADIO BLOG
RETURNS
Footnote to
Artisan Blog on Berne Convention:
Berne is a city in Switzerland
Tuesday December 22, 2020 2:45 PM CST -- Christmas
Pursuing
happiness
Driven by guilt
- C. Blare
Tuesday December 22, 2020 10:23 AM -- Bruce Reception Center Carpet
Radio
Listening Station and Ladies Makeup Table
Tuesday December 22, 2020 9:55 AM CST -- Quote of
the Day from TVTechnology Magazine
Simplicity
is the final achievement
- Frederick Chopin
Tuesday December 22, 2020 9:49 AM CST -- Felonious Streaming Bill
Fuller Detail
On
Monday (12/21) our Blog posted first word of a proposed streaming bill
that would make unauthorized streaming a felony, but that report
contained little detail. This second link carries much more information.
Tuesday December 22, 2020 6:02 AM CST -- Starting Up in a New Year
For
us at KDX Worldround Radio a new year begins at the Winter Solstice for
the obvious reason that on that day the world changes course and heads
back toward the sun. Even so we adhere otherwise to the common wall
calendar used by everyone else which we regard as a blatant symbol of
humankind's errancy. Be that as it may the coffee is poured and the day
activated by the turning on of the KDX transmitters and rolling up of
window shades here inside The Blare Blog. The next order of business is
some schedule changing beginning with revised plans for the annual KDX
State of the Station Message originally set for Thanksgiving,
re-scheduled for the Solstice, and now slated for December 31st,
consisting of a special edition Blare OnAir program presenting a
virtual open house and tour of our campus at Home School College. Also
changed are target dates for the forthcoming new cartoon series being
added to The Blog, no longer scheduled for the 13 Days of Christmas,
but not yet given a specific opening date.
Monday December 21, 2020 5:10 PM CST -- End 80 Radio Loud &
Clear
Richard Power (End 80 Radio) gets back to us:
§
15.2 Special Temporary
Authority.
(
a ) A petition for rulemaking requesting an
amendment to permit the operation of an incidental or
restricted radiation device in a manner
inconsistent with this part and not in accordance with the
provisions of some other part of this chapter may be
accompanied by an application for Special Temporary
Authorization to operate the device on a developmental
basis where it can be shown that such temporary
operation would aid in
final determination as to whether
the proposed rule should be adopted, and that such
temporary operation would otherwise be in the public
interest....
VOLUME II • AUGUST 1976 addition
of the rules
and regulations, because I find that particular one interesting
because it's telling you which pages
are to be removed and replaced
with these pages. But anyway, if anyone were to put forth another
petition for amendment of the part 15 rules, I believe 15.2 would
be a key to legitimately make such a proposal. In my opinion the
previous two or three proposal I have read we're rather
ridiculous
and presented no arguments whatsoever. They basically just said we
want 10 watts and eliminate the ground lead so we can serve our
community effectively... Such nonsense.
15.2 suggest that a petition for change of the
rules can be accompanied by a request for temporary authority to
operate and a matter not consistent with the current part 15 rules
in order to demonstrate that doing so will not cause interference.
However such request is not necessary because the last 45 years has
already clearly demonstrated that the use of substantially longer
ground leads than what is permitted has proven itself to be in
the
public interest with its widespread use in at least 48 states. Such
operations number in the many of thousands of installs at national
Parks, advertising billboards, special promotions, restaurants, car
lots, churches, campgrounds, airports, and the like. All of which
operated under
15.219, with none of them being installed at the
ground... None of them... There is absolutely no history of
compliant installs in respect to the three meter rule, with
exception a few hobbyist who have decided transmitters on the
ground ever since Richard F's one man Crusade to show that the
methods used for the half century have all been
non-compliant. There is no denying that Richard
F's
interpretation of 15.219 is accurate. However, just because he's
correct does not equate with him being right. What he did was very
wrong and of no benefit to anyone or anything. It was most
certainly an opposition not only to hobbyist, but to the general
public as well. I don't despise him like I used to, he does on
occasion provide information which is beneficial to our hobby. But
he had no right
to ever stick his nose in it.
But allow me to get back to the
point because
I've gone completely off track..
The point or rather the subject
is what would
constitute a valid petition for rulemaking requesting an amendment
of the part 15 rules, or more specifically 15.219 so as to enable
what's a practical means of installing the equipment... In most
cases it is not practical to install ground
level for obvious
reasons, such as a most certain risk of vandalism, theft,
accidental damage or injury to a unsuspecting passer by since it's
an unnatural ground level obstruction, and also prone to be at risk to
wild animals or even pets, and then there was a matter of
flooding from heavy rains or snow.
What else?.. Well, the whole
objective to the
part 15 rules is to prevent interference. So if we consider 15.4
sub parts b and c which defines what interference is, it's quite
simple to conclude that broadcasting on an unoccupied AM band with
a quality transmitter which doesn't splatter is not a potential of
interference as defined by the rules themselves. Therefore since
there is no potential of interference there is no valid reason not
to allow a reasonable variants to the length of the ground lead for
the purpose of installing the unit at a reasonable
height.
There really is no valid argument
to allow a
power input of greater than the current 100 milli watts for
unlicensed use that has no restrictions on when, how often, or what
material you are permitted to broadcast. The primary objective
should be to enable the user of utilizing his certified equipment
in a manor which does not risk citation.
Well there are a couple
of my rough ideas
toward a valid petition. I think the two or three previous
petitions I have seen in the past are embarrassingly naive.. If
someone wants more power then they would be better petitioning for
a new licensed low-power service of some kind.
Part 15 AM is a beautiful thing
as it is, we just
need to find a way to remedy the damage which Richard F has done
to the part fifteen community. A petition to increase the ground
lead permissions would accomplish that.
Okay that was fun, I hope the
voice to text
software didn't make me sound completely ridiculous. They are my
thoughts on the matter.
Take it with a grain of
salt, - Rich Powers
Monday December 21, 2020 5:08 PM CST -- The Solstice Comes Off On
Schedule
We're
heading home!
Monday December 21, 2020 10:22 AM CST -- Illegal Streaming May Become
Felony
The linked article mentions video and television streaming but we guess
might also apply to audio and radio streaming.
Monday December 21, 2020 7:21 AM CST -- Response and Comment
Richard Powers writes -
Hey
Carl, a couple of times this December your view
concerning the problems with the part 15 forums particularly struck
me.. Admittedly, I have been guilty of brow beating the specifics
of the rules when discussion begins into blatant disregard of
said rules.. So I suppose.. Well,.. It might sound as though I'm
contradicting myself when I say what I'm about to say but the fact
is I completely agree with your viewpoints on the matter, and think
you express them quite eloquently.
Please
excuse me.. I'm trying to gather my thoughts
to present my take on the matter while using voice to text software
because all I have on hand at the moment is a busted up screen
on my Android tablet that leaves me unable to actually type my
comments, and also makes it extremely difficult to edit it when the
software interprets my word as something different than what I
actually said... For example, when it comes out 'nudist letter'
instead of newsletter, or 'water bumper' instead
of what a bummer..
But anyway well let me try to get to the point cuz I'm just
rambling now...
In
one of your more recent comments you
said..
"...
There are really two modes for what we argue:
1.) Plain academic curiosity, or 2.) Criticism of the FCC's slack
in refusing to provide a means to utilize raw natural resources
(blank frequencies) for creative development. We see a strong
justification in favor of civil disobedience in this arena. Except
that The Blog believes that the dissident daring to operate in
excess of sanctioned RF power should only do so in advancement of a
reasonable public cause and not simply as a pointless exercise in
defiance...."
Although
overall I wholeheartedly agree, I I can't
say that point 2 criticizing the FCC for being against creative
development is correct, in fact, I think it's just the opposite.
It's quite clear that the FCC has always been rather encouraging in
utilizing creative use of part 15. This is probably most
evident in the case of a campus broadcasting. Time and time again
colleges and what not has asked for more, and time and time again
has given him whatever they wanted.
It's also evident although not
as clearly that the FCC has permitted the bending of the 15.219
rule to establish creative
use the outdoor whip and master installs by
the Department of the Interior for over 40 years now.
Another
thing to consider is the Talking House.
Between 1985 and 2000 over a half a million talking House
transmitters have been manufactured... I seriously doubt the FCC is
unaware that the unit by design is not compliant with the three meter
rule,
for that matter is the 25-ft transmission line of its external
ATU.
Point
being the FCC is never been an opponent to
part 15 use. The NAB has.
I'm
not happy with this presentation I'm trying to
express; it sounds too much like random rambling.. And I'm
not thinking very clear anyway... It's probably the rum. I'm just
going to conclude this for now. But before I go I just want to
mention concerning RDS that Zara for that although I don't think it
helps Artisan very much for his quest. It's a free download
The Blog very much appreciates your views, Rich, and I
understand the drop-outs caused by voice-to-text software. I carefully
made a few edits to repair some stutters and I'm sure nothing
was
lost by my careful fixes.
In days to come I'd like to circle
back and react to the matter of college radio and possibly other
readers might contribute to the conversation. Also, I'm
already
beginning to re-think what I said in 2.) criticism of the FCC's slack.
Sunday December 20, 2020 6:35 PM CST -- Astronomy News :Breaking
Earlier
at just 4 in the afternoon as the daylight was dimming we
noticed trees were very still with no breeze and yet at the
same
time the earth was moving away from the sun at 66.616 MPH while
spinning at 1,040 MPH. You'd think that would stir up something of a
breeze, but perhaps we have centrifugal force to credit for the calm.
Things will change quite arrestingly tomorrow morning at 10:32 EST when
the earth curves unto the tip of the elliptical path and for a brief
moment make a U-turn heading back toward the sun! The Winter
Solstice is only noticeable by the shortened light distribution framed
by longest nights. Mountains don't get flung free due to the change in
direction and oceans don't pour off into space. The common populace
holds their celebration 4 days later when they're
sure the
world is really returning toward longer days and the Christian Church
takes credit for the event by calling it Christmas and the calendar
people retain until January 1st the declaration of a new
year owing from an ancient calculation error by monks scoping
out
the whole thing from their candlelit drafting table down in the wine
cellar underneath a stone monastery.
Sunday December 20, 2020 5:42 PM CST -- About Astrology
The
aim of astrology is to bring the motions of the celestial bodies into
relation with the wretched ego,
and to establish a connection between a comet in the sky and squabbles
and rascalities on earth.
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Sunday December 20, 2020 9:21 AM CST -- RDS Issues
Well, there are problems
with software RDS.
I managed to get JMPX
working (sort of) but no RDS output.
Turns out
you need a sound card
capable of output sampling at 192K, which
takes it
out of the realm of most
on-board devices, and pretty much to the
high end,
expensive ones.
Such a sound card would
also be required for Stereo Tool.
There are also maybe
some minor issues with JMPX. It takes
the meta
data from a Winamp-like
interface, which I think is included in
the
extended file info of
the audio stream. At least that's as
best I can
tell, without going into
the program. Media Monkey provides
such an
interface (as, of
course, Winamp does). It's unknown if Zara
does, or if
such info is
preserved across audio processing applications such
as VST
(which I use).
I was thinking I might
have to modify the JMPX source (it is open
and I do
have it) to take
input from the currentsong.txt file provided
by
Zara. The
biggest challenge will be to get all the tools and
libraries
necessary to recompile
and make the application on my computer.
Still, for about US$50
more, I can get a PC-controlled
transmitter
(essentially an Software
Defined Transmitter) with RDS
built-in. It can (theoretically at least)
be taken down to below Part 15 power
levels.
Unless I can dig up an
inexpensive sound card, the transmitter
might
ultimately be the way to
go.
I'll keep you informed.
- Artisan Radio
Saturday December 19, 2020 4:52 PM CST -- Progress on the RDS Front
Thanks for the info,
Carl.
I was so focused on
hardware implementations of RDS that I
didn't
consider the possibility
of software.
I found an open source
one - JMPX, that I will be
investigating.
Stereo Tool, in its
latest implementation, seems expensive (at
least for
the version that
contains the FM broadcasting stuff, including
RDS).
If I was doing Artisan
Radio commercially, Stereo Tool would be
no
problem. For
experimentation, not so much. However, I
will give the
trial a try if the open
source alternative doesn't work out. - Artisan Radio
Friday December 18, 2020 8:26 PM CST -- Two Potential RDS Remedies
StereoTool
(software)
is a fully professional audio processor and transmitter input processor
for AM or FM or plain audio recording\streaming authored by Hans Von
Zutphen in
Denmark. By injecting the output from StereoTool into the mono input of
an FM transmitter StereoTool acts as a stereophonic signal generator
and provides an RDS feed to the transmitter. The 75 uS pre-emphasis can
also be produced from StereoTool, in which case the pre-emphasis
capability of the transmitter itself would be turned off.
StereoTool
Documentation
The
EDM-TX-LCD-EP is an outstanding FM transmitter that can be adjusted for
legal field strength with RDS controlled from a computer. Although it
is not certified we take this opportunity to re-evaluate the actual
rule about certification, which I think is often mis-understood, at
least in the U.S.
FCC Rule -Intentional Radiators 15.201 -
(b)Except as otherwise exempted in paragraph (c) of this section and
in § 15.23, all intentional radiators operating under the provisions of
this part shall be certified by the Telecommunication Certification
Bodies pursuant to the procedures in subpart J of part 2 of this
chapter prior to marketing.
Note the last sentence: "Prior to Marketing".
That means that the manufacturer is responsible for obtaining
certification before he can sell a pre-built transmitter. From this
point the matter branches in several directions... kits, which are not
'pre-built' and home-built transmitters are not subject to
certification. Furthermore, putting my considered opinion into the
issue, prebuilt transmitters being subject to certification before
marketing puts no obligation onto the end-user regarding certification.
The end user is only responsible to operate according to 15.239 (in the
U.S.) and the advisory to use certified transmitters anecdotally
recommended by some FCC agents is merely an informal guideline to make
safe operation easy to achieve for the technically challenged hobbyist.
Whether the Canadian rules can be viewed in the same way is not known
by us but the question is worth revisiting. Oh, and you'll notice that
the EDM self-desribes as a "kit", based on the fact that it comes with
an un-installed power connector which the buyer must solder to the
circuit card, and a necessary connection and securing of the two
circuit boards comprising the finished transmitter.
EDM FM
Transmitter with RDS
Friday December 18, 2020 7:18 PM CDT -- Get a
Move On
Impatience
often slows things down more than it speeds them up.
- C. Blare - 6-Minutes ago
Friday December 18, 2020 6:44 PM CST -- RDS / RBDS
RDS
(Radio Data System) is a world standard except for the U.S. which has a
slightly different system called RBDS (Radio Broadcast Data System).
Perhaps Decade and Broadcast Vision, which are certified for both the
U.S. and Canada where Artisan Radio is based, consider the difference
in systems to be an obstacle to implementation.
Friday December 18, 2020 5:45 PM CST -- RDS (Radio Data System)
Artisan Radio in search of Certified FM RDS
I've been looking into
FM broadcasting with RDS.
To put it bluntly, I'm
extremely disappointed with the current
FM
transmitter
manufacturers. There are literally NO
certified
transmitters that
support RDS.
You can purchase a car
transmitter that transmits RDS data for a
few dollars
(it uses the MP3
tags from songs on an SD card). It
might or
might not be either FCC
or IC certified.
You can purchase other
car transmitters that use data from ipods
or iphones
and transmit
RDS. One seller is currently offering 2
for US$19
on e-bay. This
appears to be FCC certified, and is a name
brand.
You can purchase
uncertified, overpowered Chinese transmitters on
e-bay that
are fully PC
controlled and send RDS data for
US$100-US$200.
And yet the Decade or
Broadcastvision, two examples of certified
FM
transmitters, costing
much more, don't have it or anything close to
it.
It's certainly possible
to 'hack' a car transmitter to get more
than a few
meters of range, and
up to full, legal Part 15 specs. There
are plenty
of Youtube videos
that show you how to add an antenna to one
of
these. While
technically not legal as it wouldn't be
certified, as long
as you're not getting
more range than a certified transmitter I
don't see
any
issues. The problem here is no PC control - you're
essentially
running an automated
jukebox.
I suppose you could
write automation software for the iphone that
would
support an RDS
transmitter with the right interface, but that would
be a lot of
work.
There's one Chinese
transmitter on e-bay that costs US$150 with
PC control
software, and is
supposedly variable in power output from 0
to
200mw. That
could be a solution, but again, technically not
legal, even
if running at legal
power levels. There's a huge difference
between a
car transmitter running
at most maybe a few microwatts and one of
these.
I've seen several posts
over at Hobbybroadcaster about a
transmitter
made from a Raspberry
Pi. Subsequent research showed that
this spews
out harmonics and is not
even remotely legal or desirable. I
found a
transmitter board with
RDS that can be used with a Raspberry Pi
and/or
other micro-controllers,
but I'd have the same worries with
it. Most of
these are experiments,
proof of concepts, with little regard for
running
continuously (and
legalities).
All in all,
disappointing. It should be possible to come up
with a
transmitter running Part
15 power levels & RDS/PC Control, given
what I'm
seeing, for under
US$100, and then you would have to add
the
certification
costs. Certainly it should sell for under
$150.
C'mon guys.
There's a market here. A Raspberry Pi with
lots of
filtering and power
control could even work. You don't have
to reinvent
the wheel and come up
with yet another new, low power
transmitter. - Artisan Radio
There may be an answer to the problem... check back to see what I can
turn up. - Carl
Friday December 18, 2020 1:55 PM CST -- Newly Lost
New
ideas that aren't well communicated become lost ideas.
- Carl Blare - 2-Minutes Ago
Friday December 18, 2020 12:33 NOON CST -- Spherical Antennas
researchgate.net
Starting
from questions about the mystery of 'temperature' my musings
led
to wondering about the potential of spherical antennas for radio
transmission. Let me lay it out.
This all results from my
feeling chilly this morning and hugging close to the oil-filled space
heater in the KDX control room. I know where the heat comes from but
often wonder what produces coldness. All I know is that open space
without a heat generator tends to be cold, but is cold a thing in
itself or is it also generated from a cold producing source? No doubt
this line of thinking also stems from the approaching winter
solstice when we'll be farthest from the sun.
The Sun is the
main heat source for our planet and sends out all kinds of radiant
energy across the entire electro-magnetic spectrum. The Sun is a
massive spherical transmitting antenna sending energy in all
directions, our earth luckily receptive of a relatively small beam of
that energy.
By an intellectual leap I switched to curiosity
about the orb shape for terrestrial radio antennae and did a search
which turned up a whole trail of to-be-explored websites, including
this one:
Thursday December 17, 2020 6:46 AM CST -- Keep Out of the Otherside of
the Law Fence
Of
several reasons why I parted company with the prevailing low power
radio forums is their militant forbiddence of any talk they deem to be
'outside the lines', which is to say, which looks beyond the rules, for
example to inquire about "what
would happen if a transmitting antenna
were 15-feet in length instead of 10 as per rule 15.219?"
I think it's
an operator's responsibility to know about what they're not supposed to
do so they know why they're not supposed to do it. Does an extra 5-feet
of
wire increase the range by an inch or a foot or 5-feet? By leaving that
small amount of distance unused is some definable good accomplished,
or,
if the air-space is occupied by an illegal 5-feet of reach does it
become tantamount to 'interference' as defined by the FCC? Interference
to whom? Empty airspace going unused is necessary to conserve in the
empty state for what reason? There are really two modes for what we
argue: 1.) Plain academic curiosity, or 2.) Criticism of the FCC's
slack in refusing to provide a means to utilize raw natural resources
(blank frequencies) for creative development. We see a strong
justification in favor of civil disobedience in this arena. Except that
The Blog believes that the dissident daring to operate in excess of
sanctioned RF power should only do so in advancement of a reasonable
public cause and not simply as a pointless exercise in defiance.
Breaking the rules in itself is not a cause but is only a means toward
some greater end-cause of public interest. Laws are blind and do not
think. Those subject to law are free to have thoughts about the law
which render the law unfit to a situation but when weaponized the law
is rigid and the individual classified as a violator without recourse
to simple reasonable argument. Most citizens are cowed by the citadel
of the law and resort to political correctness as a cheap
brand of
diplomacy which is more of a surrender. By the simple words blogged
here The Blare Blog raises suspicions in the sawed-off view of the
stunted righteous who are apt to reach wrong conclusions about what we
are saying, and as Ray Bradbury wrote in one of his dystopian short
stories, "Anything you say is permanent!"
Thursday December 17, 2020 5:49 AM CST -- Boomer In the Morning
Hi Carlllelogram, who
isn't a square,
Thanks for posting the
link to the EBN newsletters on my site, for
those who might be interested in old hobby radio history. One can
even make their own set of EBN newsletters by printing them out,
and they'll look much the same as what readers got by US mail with
their subscription. I test-printed one page, not bad. One
newsletter has a few pages where the corner areas were stained by
coffee or more likely transformer oil and it scans with a blacked
out area, so I'll have to work on that one more to try to fix
it.
I like EBN's unabashed
take on experimental radio, high power, low
power, Part-15, pirate and commercial, all under one roof. With few
publications about hobby transmitting and home broadcast at the
time, they had to cast a wider line, but I think it shows a free
spirit on the editors' part to report on it all.
The hobby radio
periodicals I remember from then were EBN, ACE
(focusing mostly on shortwave hobby broadcast and listening), and a
late 1990s magazine, Hobby Broadcasting by Andrew Yoder. Anarchist
style publications regularly printed articles about starting your
own small radio station, though the quality of the info ranged from
solid to half baked, like being too specific to one location or
having access to a certain type of equipment that couldn't be found
elsewhere.
I will start to scan,
when I can.
- Boomer
You can when you scan. Blog readers appreciate the contribution.
Wednesday December 16, 2020 9:51 AM CST -- Creative Radio Misuse and
Other Fun Madness
Tuesday December 15, 2020 5:38 PM CST-- New Conspiracy Theory
Artisan Radio on the Tip Line...
I
have found absolute, incontrovertible proof that Donald Trump received
far fewer votes in the 2020 U.S. election than has been
reported. This proof was in the form of a note scribbled on a
napkin that I found on the sidewalk in front of my domicile.
It was written in big letters using a sharpie, so it must be true.
The
note revealed that Trump supporters substituted Trump ballots for Biden
ones across all 50 states. This allowed a potential landslide
victory for Biden to become much closer.
If
you think about it, it's silly to think that the Biden fraud Trump is
trumpeting (pun intended) would have only occurred in the swing states,
and not in any of the states that Trump appeared
to win.
And
let's face it. There's no way that there are 75,000,000
people stupid enough to vote Trump in for a 2nd term. Is
there?
- Artisan Radio
Yes,
and I've thought of a few other things... I think Trump's case of
CoronaVirus that ostensibly sent him to the hospital was a little stage
play, along with members of his family getting the virus at the same
time. None of them has been reported to have any followup symptoms or
treatment the way members of the general public have experienced. For
the Trumps, the disease is over and done with no concerns of a
recurrance. They've forgotten all about it and not carried the act any
further. Furthermore, while Trump's been raving about not getting
re-elected, it seems not to have crossed his mind that the huge number
of covid deaths together with many more laid-up in hospital
may
have all been Trump supporters that would have voted for him had they
been able. There are so many lies that the Trumps forget to fill in the
details that would make their stories more believable. - Carl
Monday December 14, 2020 6:45 AM CST -- Part 15 Thinking
Before
turning it over to Artisan Radio, this reminder that outside
the
U. S. "Part 15" is a euphemism for 'low power radio' and inside the U.
S. it refers to the F.C.C. rules regarding low power radio. Now, from
Canada, Artisan:
Artisan Radio has been
doing legal, low power broadcasting for over 14 years now (we started in
the Summer of 2006). In all that time, I've seen very little
creative thinking surrounding the uniqueness and individuality of Part 15
radio (present company and a few select others excluded).
It seems that virtually
everyone talks about being different, and yet they want to sound like
'professionals' (i.e., the "big boys"). They claim to want to serve
their community and listeners, and yet almost everyone plays the same
music, accompanied by, if they're lucky, the same silly
jingles. Most just play continuous music. Talk
about boring.
And
the reality is that most have just one listener (i.e, themselves) - my BS
meter starts pegging when I hear some talking about
dozens of listeners for
their station.
Country, Top 40 (or 100
or whatever), album rock, oldies - pick a genre and you're going to find
licensed stations, probably in your locale, that do the same.
Complicating the
situation is that most Part 15 stations have one employee, so it's
virtually impossible to have many hosted programs, i.e., chatter between
programming bits. Oh, there are a few that produce weekly or
intermittent one/two hour shows - Tim in Bovey's Oompah Hour, your Low
Power Hour and Blare on Air, and I've even done some with Teenage Dreams
and Surfin' The New Wave. But these are few and far between.
Even voice tracking
presents its challenges if you decide to go that route. The
more expensive, payware automation software can come with Voice Tracking, but you
have to still manually record the song ID's, and that can be time
consuming. It's possible to be creative and use Text To Speech software to
automatically generate voice overs with free
software such as Zara,
as I have, but the results are fair to middling at best. Good
voices are expensive, and difficult to license.
So what to do?
The Part 15 Forums tend to just regurgitate the same old, same old.
How to generate audio to sound like every other radio station. Bring
up the same old, tired, technical arguments about grounding on AM, how far
FM can legally be heard, etc. All the while railing against the very
radio stations that they're attempting to emulate.
I say, let's do
something different. Don't just assume that doing what Hobbybroadcaster says
you should is right for you.
KDX is unique in that
it's virtually the only Part 15 talk station existing today.
I want to make Artisan
Radio the only Opera (and classical vocal)-centric station
out there. I want to add a weekly hosted opera show, and make it
available for over-the-air broadcasting to other stations (it could also
be streamed, depending on where you are located and the copyright laws
there). I'd like to throw in some OTR carefully (I already created a
7x24 OTR radio stream, but wasn't happy with the results. I ran
it for a week and took it down). I'd like to experiment with AM, and look at
using RDS for FM (which is one solution, in addition to automated
voice overs, to identify what is playing -
virtually all new radios
being sold these days have RDS).
If we all became more
creative, and really focused on doing something different than what is
already on the air waves, we might really get more than one listener
as well.
Anyway, just some
thoughts. - Artisan Radio
Monday December 14, 2020 6:37 AM CST -- EB Newsletters
Booming In:
I gained access to a
computer with a superior scanning system and copied more of the EBN
newsletters, adding 6 new ones at the Radio Dog Food page, as they are
in high demand. When I get back to that computer again I'll do more. A
better method was needed, it seemed to take an hour to scan and correct
each one with my ancient system and software.
March 1988 was up
already, but it's been re-scanned. I did not check all the links, if
there's a problem, let me know.
- Boomer
Sunday December 13, 2020 7:46 PM CST -- Coming Soon
As
the year nears its end the Blog will be busy bringing news and special
features including a major announcement from Artisan Radio about the
nearing launch of a new low power radio venture following weeks of
planning and preparation, watch for that between tonight and tomorrow.
Boomer
has added more part 15 radio related publications to his website and
we'll post the link and instructions probably by tomorrow.
One
week from now we'll reach the Winter Solstice, the only significant
event for the Blog this time of year for reasons we'll talk about on
the Blare OnAir 'State of the Station' edition to be produced on the
21st for release thereafter, telling the fortune of KDX Worldround
Radio in the past year and plans for 2021. We'd originally intended
doing this program on Thanksgiving but... excuse me, I forgot.
December
25th will start the new 13-episode cartoon we've had in mind, touted as
"The World's Least Funny Cartoon", and I can tell you that being
intentionally unfunny isn't any easier than managing to be funny. The
subject matter will be fictitious so the people we make fun of can't
claim personal umbrage.
Nothing is planned for 2021 since no one is certain whether it will be
held.
Sunday December 13, 2020 9:57 AM CST -- I Was Just Thinking
Numbers
continue rising regarding COVID cases around the world but what I
haven't heard about are the seemingly many people who continue in
apparantly normal health. Are we to assume they are just lucky, or
might they be impervious to the virus? Examples of such people include
the workers at the grocery store who continue reporting for work as the
months go by and have had no sick time. Many others we know have
managed to escape symptoms and we wonder if their time will come... a
day yet to arrive when fate will catch up.
Sunday December 13, 2020 8:45 AM CST -- Watch In and Watch Out
This
is Carl Blare speaking from the look-out basket high atop the 10-foot
KDX transmission tower where we stand-by to report on whatever comes
next. We have had unconfirmed reports that 'something might happen at
any time and no one knows what it might be', so KDX is here for you
acting as the eyes, ears, mouth and whatever other organs contribute to
pixel accuracy ... hold on! Something is going on just west of here, I
would say... 200-feet down the way where something moved but as we look
closely things are still once more ... I would say TOO still! It's not
natural for things to be that still! One of us should walk down that
way and inspect the area but we don't know the risk ... are you still
hearing us? Hello?
Sunday December 13, 2020 8:39 AM CST -- Loopy Antennas
The following message comes from Blare Blog Correspondent Boomer
I know what you need for
reception at all angles of the radio, a circular antenna.. :)
Here are some ideas, how
about taking a small town or district, and putting a loop of wire
around the whole area, maybe on poles or in the ground, like a lasso
loop. It seems if the radio receiver was inside of the loop, you
wouldn't have nulls, because the signal would come from all directions,
not a single point source antenna.
What about having three
vertical antennas surrounding the town, each broadcasting a
synchronized carrier and audio signal. That would seem to give a more
solid signal.
I'd like broadcasters to
experiment with things like this, but it seems the FCC has never
approved synchronized broadcasting for use by all stations, only for
testing. When you think about the signal loss that nulls cause, if you
could eliminate those nulls, a station would seem to be all powerful. - Boomer
Saturday December 12, 2020 5:13PM CST -- Circular AM
Earlier I mentioned seeing a line about circular polarization of an AM
antenna. It's literally a single line of text...
'It is difficult to arrange for
circular polarization on the AM frequencies for
obvious and lengthy reasons.'
It is literally the last line of an article titled: Mini Lesson-
Horizontal, Vertical & Circular Polarization
Experimental Broadcaster's Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 4 on Boomer's site
linked below by Rich Powers.
Saturday December 12, 2020 2:16 PM CST -- Antenna Search and Research
As
all of us have experienced, radio reception on the AM radio dial
depends on which way the radio is turned/twisted/faced/pointed. By
rotating the radio the received signal reaches a zenith in strength and
then falls off to a null where the signal almost entirely disappears
and background brings in barely perceptabile music and voices from
somewhere far away. What we hope to achieve in our International
Antenna Laboratory Research and Experimental Facility is the discovery
of a medium wave transmission antenna that will be received at maximum
strength at all angles of a twirled radio so that no listener will
unwittingly endure weak reception by not knowing how to change the
azimuth of their tabletop radio so neatly placed on its shelf. But how?
Friday December 11, 2020 9:49 PM CST -- Holiday Mood Getter
Friday December 11, 2020 5:51 PM CST -- Long Night of the Living
As
days dwindle down and darkness comes so early it feels like midnight
already at 5 in the afternoon when covid silence becomes the
undisturbed
groundplane like a deafness. Inner thoughts become actually loud as
they crowd uninvited in the form of persons and incidents long gone,
momentarilly again so real it feels like you are a camera obscura
facing backward in time and could very nearly pick up again where
things left off decades ago. To take back control from the
soundlessness we have electronic reproductions of music and movies that
themselves, though we normally overlook the matter, were originally
rendered by now dead names that inhabit what part of the world we call
our own; ghost stars we know like family. Around us, unseen but told of
in the news, are the dead and dying from the contagion and the engines
passing on streetways are either frantic souls driven mad by isolation
or body trucks enroute to hospital exits. Reaching out into the black
winter air is the nightly 'Disperse Dispatch' from KDX, hours of
so-called
'ambient music' which is not so much music as it is a musician's
concept of how silence would sound if the volume were amplified to the
extreme. All of these things are joined by an evening meal consisting
of numerous life-forms that sacrifice themselves so we may remain for
the time being on the outer side of hospital entrance as if those glass
doors were there waiting for us.
Friday December 11, 2020 12:32 NOON CST -- Man Uncomplicated
The
nature of man consists in this, that his will strives, is satisfied and
strives anew, and so on forever.
Indeed, his happiness and well-being consist
simply in the quick transistion from wish to satisfaction,
and from satisfaction to a new wish.
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Friday December 11, 2020 11:28 AM CST -- Free Graphics Programs
Windows
has a fairly complete availability of open source/free programs in
almost every category, but we've never become aware of a presentable
paint/graphics program, which now we're searching to accomplish.
Friday December 11, 2020 10:51 AM CST -- My Blog and Me
I've
noticed that throughout the day many thoughts and experiences become
small internal conversations I have with myself in which I visualize
telling the Blog about it, i.e., the neighbor receives a never ending
string of package deliveries from USPS, Fedex and UPS; the book I'm
reading gives the most excellent description of a philosophy of music;
Cod is a fish worth knowing about. But I squelch most of such thoughts
never putting them in the Blog partly because the Blog blabs it all to
the world without asking me if so and so can be allowed to know what I
said or thought. The way it works I can never have a
confidential intimate sharing because the Blog is so
loose-lipped.
In that way I become a moderator as if the Blog were a forum in which
everyone needs to be watched as if trolls reside in anyone and trust
can never be an open door, not even for myself. Who knows how
this
present entry made it through.
Friday December 11, 2020 7:13 AM CST -- Official KDX Christmas Song for
2020
Friday December 11, 2020 6:10 AM CST -- Circulations
Loomings of Boomer
A circular AM antenna. I
don't remember the article, could it mean a circularly polarized
antenna? I know those exist on FM, it's what most licensed broadcasters
use. Circular wouldn't really be practical or wise on the AM band as I
see it, the horizontally polarized part of the wave would send the
signal into the sky, wasting it and causing more interference bouncing
down to distant stations. You want to keep the signal out of the sky
and have it reach receivers as a ground wave, and the most current
science says that's best done using a vertical antenna.
Another kind of circular
antenna could be the loop antenna, a closed loop like UHF TV antennas
once were, but larger. They put out a strong near field signal that
dies off quickly, and you can operate the antenna anywhere, the loop is
not affected by objects that much, you can make a wire loop around a
room, and the signal will get out just fine. The loop doesn't need to
be connected to ground to transmit or receive, think of the ferrite bar
antenna inside of a pocket radio, that's a small loop. A carrier
current system is pretty much a series of loop antennas connected to
each other, made up of the wires that go from pole to pole and down
into houses, or from the hot to neutral wires within a building.
It seems like a lot of
Part-15 info needs to be rediscovered by every new generation, and
forums don't really help, they bury the info as old news, so people
have to ask the simplest questions time and again. Maybe that's not a
bad thing, new members can be in wonder about it themselves, and in
their dreaming state, they might come up with some new ideas to advance
the state of the art. There's also the social function of asking
questions of the group.
Panaxis was great for
the pre-web era, a concentration of radio knowledge for home
broadcasters, and kits you could buy. Some people went on from the kits
to become broadcast industry professionals, and they'd write in to talk
about what they were doing, and encourage new entrants. It wasn't just
throwing a diagram on a forum with a ten word answer, you had to write
a letter, stamp it, take it to a mailbox, and then wait for weeks or
months before it was published. To get over those barriers, you'd
probably put some thought into what you wanted to say.
One history I've thought
about a lot and currently seems 'lost' is most of the works of LPB
company and carrier current broadcasting. In business for decades, they
must have had records of the tests they made on their equipment as they
were developing it, the things they did for FCC approval, and every
installation at a school, camp or drive-in theater, and the issues they
ran into, each install being unique, because the lines and couplings
are different in every situation. LPB went out of business, and it
seems none of their techs have appeared on line. I'd think it would be
a good business for the techs to come back and repair the old equipment
for those who still had systems running.
I hope part-15
broadcasting still has some energy in our low energy radio and this is
not the last generation. - Boomer
Jeff Station8 had contact with two former LPB
engineers and obtained copies of several LPB papers which (are?) were
posted at the Old ALPB website with permission. My own copies of some
LPB documents are on my Radio Resources
page.
It's
true that a failing of forums is that information disappears
into
a digital sink hole, but the social aspect remains attractive because
our species of upright beast is crudely social. It would go far if a
perfect forum had an excellent dedicated editor who could collate all
information into an indexed book-like side-branch.
Thursday December 10, 2020 4:08 PM CST -- FCC Votes to Enable Broadcast
Internet Over ATSC 3.0
Thursday December 10, 2020 1:47 PM CST -- SpaceX SN8 and Other Missions
Thursday December 10, 2020 12:05 NOON CST -- The KDX Stream Room
How
did you get in here? The public is never allowed in the Stream Room
Thursday December 10, 2020 10:18 AM CST -- Part 15 Does Not Apply to
Outer Space
We
don't know how high in the sky the FCC Part 15 Rules extend, but there
is a spheric layer, certainly above the atmosphere, where U.S. Federal
Law no longer applies, however there are no doubt international
agreements and treaties governing what can be done in the troposphere,
stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, and for that matter in outer
space itself. Be that as it may there is the matter of getting there,
and experiments in space flight seek ways of lifting micro transmitters
above and beyond earth's gravitational pull.
Thursday December 10, 2020 9:09 AM CST -- Business Hours
KDX
Worldround Radio and The Blare Blog do not have business hours because
we are not a business. KDX is a hobby and hobbies do not provide formal
hobby hours nor a physical location available to the public. Public
relations are not part of the hobby and private relations has no
department, however, if you are determined, there is one undisclosed
path open to you.
Wednesday December 9, 2020 10:53 AM CST -- PSAs from NAB
Radio spots (public service announcements) on COVID-19 and other causes.
Wednesday December 9, 2020 6:45 AM CST -- Boomer Morning Show
Boomer, your mic is on-
Hi Carl Orff,
'Free Power' radios come
and go in the tech press, but I'd never seen one like Rich Powers
found, with dual tuners, one for tuning stations in, one just for
power. Most free power projects pick up a local station and use the
microamps for other experiments. Some use full wave rectification, and
voltage multipliers with a stack of diodes and capacitors. I've seen
newer version that are wide band, they pick up RF energy from many
sources at once, RF and static in the air, we're in a constant ocean of
it. Free power is something interesting on the experimental edges of
the science of electronics.
I like the Build Your
Own Broadcast station too, that's the kind of article that would be so
exciting to me to see in an electronics magazine as a teen. It's all I
wanted to do, be a DJ and broadcast, even throwing a promising career
as a CB radio operator away to be on AM broadcast.
I've seen that station
before, posted as 4 separate pages. I like that it's carrier current
and not just another antenna type like a Knight, and that it uses a
power transformer for full isolation from the line. It must be
milliwatt, low volt radio, using two low power triodes in series and
the small capacitor to feed RF into the power line. Still, that will
work, around the house at least. Tha Dood pointed out that some AM
intercoms use 20 milliwatts into the power line.
As for the Experimental
Broadcasting Newsletters, I have a stack of those in hard copy, and
eventually want to get those posted to the site, it just takes time to
scan and convert them to PDF. They are very interesting historically,
and many of the circuits are still usable today. EBN was a small press
publication put out by Panaxis, a maker of hobbyist broadcasting
equipment, as a way for users to keep in touch and learn about new tech
and products.
If Rich Powers can make
PDFs and has the time for the project, I'd agree to send him the image
files of what I have, if he can send me his e-mail address privately. I
have several dozen scanned but not put into PDF yet, and there are
still more to be scanned. - Boomer
The Blare Blog appreciates the Experimental
Broadcasting Newsletters. In one of them I read something I've long
wondered about: The writer said that building a circular AM antenna
would be very difficult.
It seems to be true that
much part 15 history is now passed and exists in the past.
Panaxis
is an indication of that, since it's history comes to us in small
mentions about products and publications no longer found except for
archivists like Boomer and Rich Powers who provide the life support for
modern low power radio.
Wednesday December 9, 2020 6:10 AM CST -- China Fusion Reactor
Wednesday December 9, 2020 6:08 AM CST -- China Weather Modification
Tuesday December 8, 2020 5:29 PM CST -- Major Science News Out of China
Tonight's
News with Rick Sanchez from RT America brought two
earth-changing
stories out of China. It has been reported that by 2025 China will have
weather changing capability able to literally control weather over an
area the size of India. And directly on the heels of that breathtaking
story comes word that China has thrown the switch on a Nuclear
fusion-reactor power plant that produces energy on the scale of an
actual sun. KDX has made a hasty search for links to these news
developments coming from other sources, but thus far have not found
mention. Of course we will post followup information as it becomes
available.
Tuesday December 8, 2020 4:38 PM CST -- Blog Management
Restoration
of the full Blare Blog is nearing completion, opening holiday reading
opportunities for the quarantined. We began this incarnation of The
Blog in 2018 but suffered a server crash which required deep sea diving
equipment to recover all the contents. Some links and graphics may
still be broken but soon will be fully repaired.
Monday December 7, 2020 8:15 AM CST -- Indoor Gas Stoves Are Dangerous
Sunday December 6, 2020 11:57 AM CST -- Hope for Sitters
Sunday December 6, 2020 11:32 AM CST -- No Golfing On These Links
Rich Powers Sunday Hour. Good morning Rich!
Hey
Carl, sorry I forgot to provide some links. On Boomer's page, besides
the newsletters he's also got a great Procaster review, also a Sonos
processing tutorial... which I'm not familiar with, but the
presentation is clear cut, and of course there is lots of carrier
current stuff, as well as other highlights.
http://boomerthedog.net/radio.html
The other link to the
electronics magazine also has interesting articles, but it's
the free radio project that intrigues me.
- Build Your Own
Broadcast Station pg.. 32
-
Free -Power Radio - pg..,. 78
- Flea -Power Hams: The Davids
In Goliath Land..pg 74
Saturday December 5, 2020 7:29 AM CST -- Smell That Power In the Air
Rich Powers Saturday Hour. Good morning Rich!
The
experimental broadcasters nudists letter on boomers site has all kinds
of cool articles, only three issues, all from the 1980s, so it covers
the topics taking place at that time, changes to the part 15 rules, the
struggles for AM stereo, and something called FM2 which I never heard
of. Also the proposal to expand the AM band to 1705, unfortunately was
going to take a few years for manufacturers to produce radios capable
to receive it. There's a field strength meter you can build for less
than $10, the article also explains the difference between signal
strength meter on your radio and actual field strength. Story of Saint
Elmo's Fire that tells you how to prevent static buildup on your
antenna, and a cute story of some guy getting busted on the AM..
Quote.. so he could listen while driving around
town - any other audience was not a consideration.
But
my favorite is probably the one about WUMS which essentially operated
as the first travelers information station back in the 1930s and also
happened to be a pirate station. Was tried in Federal Court in the
1930s and again the 1940s, both times walking away clean. He continued
to broadcast till the 1980s and is transmitter is now in the
Smithstonian Institute.
A
search online for more issues turned up nothing, evidently the only
issues to exist are found only on Boomer site. Water bummer.
Anyway
I wanted to ask you about this Free -Power business..
Electronics
Illustrated July, 1965 Provides this schematic and parts needed as well
as the instructions to build it and displays some excellent
illustrations and pictures of the completed project on a 4x9 piece of
quarter inch plywood. Here's an excerpt exactly what it is...
Electronics
Illustrated July, 1965 pg 78 through 80
.....Our Free -Power
Radio enables you to combine the past with the present. It actually is
two radios in one. One receiver uses a transistor that can act as a
detector and amplifier at the same time. The other receiver (which
we'll call the power receiver) is of the same design as the first
crystal sets. It snags the signal from a powerful local broadcast
station and converts the power to DC. The DC is applied to the
transistor in the first, or signal, receiver. The transistor then
amplifies the signal from the station you want to listen to. The result
of this is greater earphone volume than would be possible from one of
those early - crystal sets alone..... ...
What I want to know is why not more power receivers.. Maybe 4 or 5 of
them? And then maybe utilize a larger earphone diagram and incorporated
to a horn to further passively amplify the audio like the old
victoria's, only a lot smaller. The point being to be able to set it on
your desk and listen to it without the assistance of the headset. Does
that sound plausible?
Before
I go here's a little trivia that I just noticed, the guy who in 1983
started the company Radio Realty and came out with the very first
talking house, the little gray box that looked like o telephone
answering machine.. Well he got the idea while on vacation, where he
heard the part 15 broadcast in Yellowstone National Park in 1970.
Later - Rich
On
the first matter, the experimental broadcasters nudist letter on
Boomer's site... what is the URL for that site? We have several Boomer
IP addresses, but apparently not that one.
The Free Power Radio
Project clangs a bell in our ancient memory... years ago a conversation
with a radio engineer about the tapping of power from strong nearby
radio stations... he agreed that it would be very possible to do but
that it would literally sap power away from that station's signal
strength and would amount to "theft of power", except that we were
talking about running whole households on that power and the
small-scale project being talked about now would be a "hill of beans"
but if enough of them were built it might add up to some drain on the
station's Wattage...
The Realty Radio idea was a brilliant
brainstorm and I say the idea should be brought back and part 15
transmitters used first to promote housing sales but furthermore the
transmitters should be included in the "perks" to the new home owner...
permanently installed home radio stations! Be sure to give credit for
that part of the idea to me, Carl Blare.
Friday December 4, 2020 2:38 PM CST -- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Picture:
John Hain/Pixabay
What's he doing today?
Thursday December 3, 2020 5:29 PM CST -- It's Not Over Until the Savior
Returns
More
monoliths being replaced by other monoliths. There's more than one
lith. There have been quidroliths, if that's a valid term, and more are
trending.
Wednesday December 2, 2020 2:04 PM CST -- Last Days for Universal Radio
Glenn Hauser delivered word on recent 'World of Radio # 2062' this
message from the Universal Radio website:
Dear Friends Of Universal Radio,
Time waits for no one, and that includes Barbara and myself.
We have decided to retire and our current location in Worthington
will close on November 30, 2020. Even though the store is closing
we will fulfill all existing customer orders and have a large amount
of inventory to close-out. The Universal Radio website will be maintained
for the foreseeable future to sell this remaining stock, publications and
some select products. Unfortunately the lack of a store front showroom
will preclude us from carrying some manufacturers’ products.
I am very fortunate to have been in the radio business for over 50 years,
13 at Radio Shack and 37 at Universal Radio. We have met many wonderful
people along the journey who have supported me personally as well as
Universal Radio. It has been a privilege to have a continuous career in
the fascinating field of radio since 1969.
Please accept our sincere “Thank You” for your support of Universal Radio
for these many years, and for the months to come.
Our new address for correspondence and mail order is below.
This is not a store front.
Universal Radio Inc.
752 N. State St. Unit 222
Westerville, OH 43082
Phone: 614 866-4267
Thank you.
73,
Fred Osterman N8EKU
Barbara Osterman KC8VWI
Wednesday December 2, 2020 8:53 AM CST -- Gunhild Carling On Stage
Wednesday December 2, 2020 8:14 AM CST -- Witness to the Removal
As
reported earlier the mysterious monolith in the Utah desert
disappeared. The following report comes from someone who witnessed the
removal.
Wednesday December 2, 2020 6:19 AM CST -- Temperature Aboard the
International Space Station
Starting
the morning here on earth inside the Internet Building on the campus of
Home School College, home of KDX Worldround Radio, we are naturally
sensitive about the temperature because it's 23oF
outside and
chilly inside because we intentionally operate on lowered overnight
temperatures and now will bring the control room up to around 65o
for the day. Outer rooms like the bathroom are kept about 55o.
But that's us down here on the surface of the planet.
We got to wondering about temperatures aboard the International Space
Station.
Tuesday December 1, 2020 2:06 PM CST -- A Splendid Bit of Music
Composed
and performed by Daniel Lentz this delightful and exceptional work was
first heard by me in the very early hours as part of the 'Disperse
Dispatch' program which fills many KDX overnights and I just thought
maybe you'd enjoy it too.
Tuesday December 1, 2020 9:25 AM CST -- There and Back and There
Zak Podmore took the trip to visit the monolith. When he heard it had
disappeared he went back to see it gone.
Tuesday December 1, 2020 7:41 AM CST -- What I Make of It
In
a post earlier this morning at 7:07 AM Rich Powers raised several
issues from the past and present. First was the question of whether
Wyoming exists and next, discussion of past duplications, obsoletions
and changes to Part 15 FCC rules which are as hard to research as is
proof of Wyoming. Of these matters I wish to comment first on the
Monolith.
When I first laid eyes on
photographs of the monolith it looked to me like stainless steel but
the news item described it as 'chrome'. My knowledge of metallurgy is
of little help in this regard, but I immediately wondered if this was a
3-meter AM radio antenna of very sophisticated design. The fact that it
was located so far from human population would make sense if this was
an experimental laboratory facility designed for measurements well away
from interfering activity. But what of the question of Wyoming's
existence?
