The Blare Blog

Friday April 30, 2021 7:32 PM CDT -- From the Brooce Radio Lab

Hello Uncle Carl!
By the way, and Brooce agrees, these very sensitive FM radios are not only good for far distant stations, but are ideal to receive a low power part 15 station at greater range than ordinary radios.

Friday April 30, 2021 5:13 PM CDT -- Family Too Large Need Birth Control
The daily KDX program schedule has been bloat stuffed for a long time and programs always need culling to make way for newer better shows. Feeling like a mean boss I this week canceled the twice weekly Bob Cesca Show from RELM Net citing frequent S___ and F___ words as justification, which matters because the programs go out on our AM FM channels and might offend delicate ears, leading to an indelicate FCC followup which could result in a $$million-dollar fine. Another cut starts Monday when we'll no longer carry Free Talk Live 7-nights a week even though we'll continue to follow the status of the Crypto6, the individuals arrested for alleged bit coin crime.

Friday April 30, 2021 5:07 PM CDT -- John Kiriakou to CoHost CN Live!
In addition to co-hosting Back Story with Lee Stranahan from Radio Sputnik, daily on KDX, former CIA agent John Kiriakou will co-host CN Live! from consortiumnews.com

Friday April 30, 2021 4:31 PM CDT -- Almost Missed This One
It's the last day of the month and we just uncovered a startling story from the 1st of the month.

Friday April 30, 2021 3:18 PM CDT -- Unexplained Ring-Shaped Radio Structures in Space
This is not something Brooce has on his radio tables down in the basement.

Thursday April 29, 2021 10:09 AM CDT -- Assignment
Watch all of these then return for a discussion.

Thursday April 29, 2021 6:37 AM CDT -- Mass Cello Concert for Cows

Wednesday April 28, 2021 12:55 PM CDT -- Talk Radio Manners
The host says, "we're almost out of time, so we'll take only one question each to take as many calls as possible.. Bill in Milwaukee(?)
Bill says, "Hi Carl, how are you?"
Carl sarcastically answers, "I'm fine. Next caller please?"

Carl, imaginary host of this example of bad caller manners, explains, "Be sure to switch off your speaker-phone and get close to the mike when I take your call... let's see, we have Ron in Dallas."
Ron in Dallas: "Hey Carl, ya, I wanted to explain why my family never wore masks and have never had a vaccine."
[BIG CLICK AS CARL HANGS UP ON RON]

Wednesday April 28, 2021 12:38 NOON CDT -- Making Music
When we were a commercial audio/video/print media producer we composed and generated our own music using fabulous hardware/software comprised of Commodore Amiga Computers and MIDI equipment and software from Blue Ribbon Soundworks, both of which have become defunct. Since migrating to Windows and desktop PCs we also happen to have retired from the recording business and have no need of self-made music, but it is an interesting field.

Wednesday April 28, 2021 10:32 AM CDT -- Sanity Flickers
Maybe it's the rainy day but excursions in and out of sanity sometime become more pronounced perhaps owing to better grounding in wet earth. Alex Smith just asked his evolutionist guest on Radio Ecoshock a big question that I've always wondered... "Why are we (humans, and other life as well) so inclined toward reproducing ourselves?" That's a central philosophical question and it's asked out of our shared ignorance about anything and everything that's going on in our involuntary arrival in the conscious world upon departing our mother's bottom and fiddling time until burial day. One thing I've come to observe is the insane conclusion reached by so many that, unable to explain the life they have, they concoct an extremely other 'supernatural' realm they completely and trustingly visualize as if an unproven and unprovable ludicrous fantasy casts light on their illusory, bizarre and transitory 'real world' experience in what they call 'this' life. Are you woke to what I'm saying?

Wednesday April 28, 2021 9:43 AM CDT -- All Is Not Lost over Aging Wi-Fi Radios
The C.Crane Company knows about the problem of Wi-Fi radios going out of date

Wednesday April 28, 2021 9:14 AM CDT -- Editorial Opinion: The Cable Industry Should Be Regulated by the FCC
The Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) sets rules and regulations governing wireless transmission across the electromagnetic spectrum, yet has no jurisdiction regarding cable services. At the same time cable utilizes RF (radio frequencies) sent over wire and is required to prevent leakage of such frequencies outside of the coaxial wires above radiated levels given by the FCC. In our opinion this simple fact makes cable technology tantamount to carrier current, which comes under full FCC oversight and too is regulated based on leakage from power lines into surrounding space.

Wedenesday April 28, 2021 8:37 AM CDT -- Internet Radio
Upon reading the Brooce Report in the last blog entry, my attention turned away from whatever I was doing and I started thinking about Wi-Fi radio. Believing that Wikipedia might be a good starting point for exploration, I was surprised to find that a search did not find 'Wi-Fi Radio' on Wikipedia, so I went to 'Internet Radio'.
This link generally describes streaming over the internet and makes only passing reference to an actual internet radio wireless receiver with no mention at all about Wi-Fi, which is the method of transponding internet protocol wirelessly in place of interconnected coaxial cables. Any and all detailed discussion of these interlocking technologies form a massive fractal pattern departing in many directions to include the nearly infinite range of products and services enabled by the web superstructure. The Blare Blog faces the challenge of discussing any of it in a useful way without inflating to the size of a gigantic tehnical book constellations above hobby level. Good time for a cheese break.

Wednesday April 28, 2021 7:41 AM CDT -- Part 15 Wi Fi Experiments
The Brooce Report

Hi Uncle Carl! The 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum is absolutely a Part 15 chunk of the FCC ruled airways and has long been of keen interest for ongoing expansion of low power hobby activities. Brooce has increased our general understanding of the possibilities through his various experimental projects. For example Brooce successfully received KDX programming inside a moving car using a cell phone. Whether actual Wi-Fi was involved is not certain, but surely some form of microwave transmission was taking place. At KDX we presently employ two different Wi-Fi audio transmitter/receiver systems for linking our studio to the AM & FM transmitters, and envision providing a Wi-Fi hotspot in our geographic location making our website and radio stream openly linkable to a surrounding area. Naturally Wi-Fi radios are very much part of the overall picture and findings made by Brooce contribute immensely.

Monday April 26, 2021 5:53 PM CDT -- Mood Manipulation
A lovely day weatherwise, workwise, and as far as emotional outlook, so while Rick Sanchez was hyping the afternoon news from his RT America Washington DC studio, I wondered what it would be like to shift the day's tone drastically which I did by plunging into this
Whoa! From the moment the music began the entire day transformed as I stood looking out from the elevation of the porch, renamed the KDX Parade Review Stand. I became aware of every tree across the panoramic scene and was astounded at how large they were and each moving at a different rate in numerous winds that had spontaneously risen. Three ducks above in triangular formation headed straight north-east knowing precisely their destination. The campus of home school college became an airport of bird species gliding in and out of local trees and shrubbery. The bamboo forest moved like a massive paintbrush with such strength that for a moment it looked like it was departing to follow the ducks. Eyes teared up as I beheld such overwhelming evidence of ancient and renewed life rocking between earth and sky. The music subsided and "No Agenda" came storming across the air and for me it was time to log into the Blog and mention the whole thing. For dinner it'll be spaghetti and tasty additives.

Monday April 26, 2021 1:17 PM CDT -- The Best of Part 15 dot Org
This thread from 2017 remains particularly informative.

Monday April 26, 2021 10:56 AM CDT -- Worth Hearing
The current edition of the Ralph Nader Radio Hour contains the best 'arguement in the round' we've ever heard in a single radio program, involving legendary lawyer Ralph Nader; journalist, author and president of Harpers John R. "Rick" McCarther; and Ralph's two co-hosts Steve Skrovan & David Feldman.

Sunday April 25, 2021 2:27 PM CDT -- Drinking Anthems
As we recall it was Tim in Bovey who mentioned back in 2016 that the U.S. National Anthem was based on a British drinking song, and when he posted the original song we carried forward by doing a Blare OnAir show around the subject.

Sunday April 25, 2021 8:49 AM CDT -- Music for You
No music budget is necessary at the

Sunday April 25, 2021 7:39 AM CDT -- Give Yourself Credit
Hello and welcome to Steeple of Saints Church. I am Father Carl Blare, your Officiante this morning, with a message for the weak end. Thank you. Thank everyone of you. You should be appreciated for what you do. And above all, we must appreciate ourselves. We all underestimate our true worth. Like this morning for example, while I was setting the radio programs here at KDX. I wondered what to do with Harry Schearer. His program, LeShow, was aired earlier in the week, but I wasn't able to listen because of distractions, and I want to hear every one of Harry's shows because they're always good and the whole reason we carry them in the first place is so I can hear them. But the schedule here at the station is crowded with many good programs, so when, exactly, could I possibly find time to hear it before it's too late? That's when an idea came to me, out of the blue. I remembered that the live streaming program that comes to us at 12-noon every Sunday, the Hour of Extinction with Reverend Billy, has had technical problems the last two weeks and might possibly have them again today. It occurred to me that if this happens, if the Billy show runs aground again today, we could fill the time with a re-airing of LeShow and we'd have our much desired reward. Proud that I'd have such a good idea, I thanked myself. This made me feel appreciated around here, and I just had to take the pulpit to remind everyone... thank yourself. You deserve it.

Saturday April 24, 2021 1:28 PM CDT -- Friendly Recluse vs. Popularity
The distinction between antisocial and nonsocial is important. One group is against society the other just prefers separation from it, but there's even more to consider when the friendly recluse becomes popular and beset by social invitations, having either to endure unwanted mingling with the public or risk hurt feelings through stand-offishness. There's no right advice for these social dilemmas so I'd don't see why I'd even bring it up.

Saturday April 24, 2021 1:15 PM CDT -- Needle Pokes
There's always a lingering question about the vaccinations that no one's addressed and so Blare OnBlog attempts to come from behind the blindside in anticipation such as take for example the human arm. Look in medical anatomy books and you'll see that arms consist of much more than just meat and bones. Arms have input and output blood vessels, arteries and veins, bundled with muscles and nerves plus fatty tissues which means when the needle goes in it's not apt to hit the same place in each arm as thousands upon thousands of innoculations take place. Perhaps the reason different individuals experience different outcomes from the vax is precisely because needle penetration is imprecise. No one's thought of that until right here. Fore warned is four armed at a minimum.

Saturday April 24, 2021 9:15 AM CDT -- Hey By the Way
Boomer, you mentioned 'Guerilla Drivein Movies' (Apr. 17 - 'Meat Links') (oh, and uh, NOT Guerilla Driven Movies, see the diff?) and I'm curious... of course we understand that low power radio is employed to send audio to car dashboards but what are the other physical specs of these driveins?  They would need a parking area with some amount of capacity, a projection system and screen... how is it done? Sounds like a whole hobby in itself. Maybe there's something on YooToobe.

Saturday April 24, 2021 8:33 AM CDT --
Driveby Boomer

Thanks for posting that picture of Krypto The Superdog, what I've thought of as the dogs' version of Superman, with updated stories. There's probably more to it, but I'd have to watch again. When I hear of crypto currency, I think of the cartoon dog.

I've known of that time compression for talk radio, and first heard of it used on the sly by stations airing the Rush Limbaugh show, to get extra advertising into Rush's hot time slot. I think the Rush Compressor would speed up his voice and nip out bits of silence between sentences, that's what I read in the 1990s when Rush was Superman of the airwaves. The idea, space age at the time, was to build up an extra 30 seconds or a minute per Rush-hour for an extra ad or two to be inserted. I think it would be up to the individual stations whether to add delay or not, not at the national level, and probably happened mostly on big city stations is my guess.

Interesting dreams about your workplaces. I don't have dreams of specific job sites, but I've been on the job in some way in dreams, where I know I'm some part of a department. Surprisingly I don't dream of radio stations and broadcasting, even though radio is on my mind a lot during waking hours.

- Boomer

In reply, let me say that the reason (theorized) that I dream mostly of work places is because most of my life was spent at radio and television stations so much that I probably didn't need a home. Here's a bonus work dream from a few years ago... While awake I'd applied for a job at a third TV station, already being the holiday and vacation replacement at two of them, one of the rare jobs I never got which is probably why I dreamed about it... in the dream I got the call to do a weekend shift at station 3, job description 'booth announcer'. So I showed up on Saturday and with the office staff off for the weekend I couldn't find anybody to show me where the announcing booth was. I roamed hallways on several floors and felt like I'd be counted as late for work because I didn't know where the microphone was. Kind of a nightmare, I guess.

Saturday April 24, 2021 8:15 AM CDT -- A Rough Half Hour
Everything was running smoothly. What a great setup for a catastrophe. Pleasantly cool spring morning with steady rain expected to continue all day. KDX programming on time and very interesting to hear. Then 'piff', off goes the power. 10-seconds later I realized that the abrupt silence and the loss of indoor lighting was a power outage. The electric service in this area has been remarkably consistent for a very long time so it seemed incredible to be without it on such a peaceful morning. 20-seconds later 'donk' the power was back. Trouble is so many things had come unset that it took a half-hour to get KDX back up and programming restored. The quickest part was putting the kdxradio.com website back online. The most confusing part was remembering that our Wi-Fi studio-to-transmitter audio link needs to be "re-paired" (not repaired). The most difficult step was getting the goddamn C.Crane Radio Plus to turn on. Its 'ON' button is always unresponsive for the first 102 attempts and then suddenly works. Anyway, it's all back and it's still today and the stupid pandemic is still going on and my mood is shot to hell.

Friday April 23, 2021 8:20 AM CDT -- An App Made Me Do It
The daily dial scan happened upon AM 1010, a 50,000 Watt station which often carries very fast talking right-wing show hosts. My trained ear tells me that the station is using some sort of app to speed-up the rate of speech without changing the pitch of a voice, obviously to gain one or more extra commercial minutes per hour. Winamp was able to do the same thing back when it served as the playlist for KDX by way of a DSP PlugIn which was free but buggy because it occasionally crashed, but we used it to cram more programs into a day. Now we use Zara, which for its many fine features, does not have a time stretch/shrink app unless there's something we don't know about. Long story long - we want it. KDX wants to play with time and that's why we come to you and ask... do you have any knowledge? Look, we know that Audacity the free audio editing program can manipulate the time of an audiofile, but we want it to happen in real time as programs are airing from Zara. If you have inside information you will become a permanent friend of the family and we'll cut you a key to the front door.

Thursday April 22, 2021 12:58 NOON CDT -- Road Journeys of a Radio Man

Uh...  Hi Uncle Carl!
Thursday April 22, 2021 8:13 AM CDT -- Blare OnAir "The Big Bud"
Another of the TeamSpeak Open Room series done in conjunction with the ALPB before the hostile takeover.

Thursday April 22, 2021 7:09 AM CDT -- Krypto the Superdog (the name of an actual cartoon)

Boomer Blogger

I have to guess that the government wouldn't like crypto and other currencies that would undermine the dollar, if people are spending in those rather than bucks. I don't understand crypto though, it seems like every other fad or multi-level marketing scheme where someone is going to be left holding the bag. To me, the 'Blockchain' is like a chain letter.

I always figured that the record fade-out was something to do with the time that was allowed on a record side. It is good for mixing smoothness on the radio too, where you can hear the fade and start the next record and if done right they will blend nicely.

I have a phone that uses Android, and I disagree with it because of the amount of tracking that's supposed to be happening with those devices, sending much of what you do back to central servers for profiling. A friend of mine is getting a Linux phone which is supposed to be more private and secure, and I'll have to ask how it's doing.

Glad that you liked the radio links, those sites seem to be open to a wide range of thought about radio, not as narrow and restricted as our Part-15 sites have become, and I think that's helped them to attain a critical mass of users and flourish.

- Boomer

Thursday April 22, 2021 6:04 AM CDT -- Reception
Around 3 AM in a brief visit to the bathroom I was still recalling scenes from a very active dream that had been going on at the TV station where all kinds of staff and coworkers milled about the labyrinthine building with all its studios, dressing rooms, prop rooms, offices, hallways, coffee rooms and reception areas. Marge was standing at the door by her room when I approached to return her light blue hat, she let me in and the single table piled high with crumpled light blue clothes seemed like the best place to set her cap, she continuing to stand outside in the hall. I was being escorted around by Marge, a different Marge, I'm calling all the women in the dream Marge because I don't know their actual names, and this Marge fondled me in a friendly way but I didn't respond because there were so many other people all around but I was motivated to say the obvious, "It's hard not to respond to that," to which Marge smiled because that's what she liked about it. Then a sales guy in a suit came over in something of a rush and asked the name of the person who'd told me that great story that apparently I'd passed along and I was stumped because I couldn't remember the story although there very well could have been a story that I'd simply forgotten. It was about that time when, still in the bathroom, I decided that I wanted to call management and request a very important change to my terms of employment with the TV station, but it was the middle of the night and management didn't come to work until around daybreak, so I had to wait, also considering the fact that since I'd worked at the station several decades have gone by, the personnel have turned over completely, and the station moved to an unknown part of town. But I could still try.

That got me to remembering how great it was when the station had receptionists. The receptionist was a woman with a desk in the lobby just at the front door that no one could pass without being authorized by her. She also manned the switchboard and controlled incoming telephone calls on station business. I'm absolutely convinced that I got the TV job because the receptionist liked me. The boss no doubt checked with her to make sure I was suitable. But then world companies dumped receptionists and installed voice mail by which no one could get an appointment to apply for work and stations installed computer automation and eliminated humans. A week later business opened impersonal websites and the human touch disappeared further. So it's time to bring back the receptionist and here's the way we plan to do it. At KDX we will hire a friendly woman to sit at the desk facing a large webcam where she can be called day or night and will invite callers to have a seat while she connects with big brass on their cell phones at the club during late lunch. Being the first to introduce web receptionists, KDX will hold the patent, copyright, and trade mark, charging licensing fees of anyone who copies the idea. Moreover, anyone wanting a job in radio or TV can obtain the job if they invest enough upfront money to cover their own salaries plus a friendliness stipend for the receptionist.

Wednesday April 21, 2021 12:09 NOON -- ExoPlayer
One of our KDX listeners uses ExoPlayer to tune in our streaming radio station, and here's what we know about it...
ExoPlayer is a free player for receiving and playing audio and/or video on Android, which we believe is a model of cellular telephone whose own player is not as versatile.

Monday April 19, 2021 6:38 PM CDT -- Fade Me Down
Why do so many songs fade out at the end of the record rather than reaching an actual ending?

Monday April 19, 2021 6:21 PM CDT -- StartUp
Found a video series that reminds very much of the ordeal experienced by the Crypto6, the members of the Free Talk Live radio program swat raided by the FBI for alleged crypto currency crime. This Crackle Series follows the exploits of partners who launch a bit coin (type) startup that is tracked closely by, you guessed it, an FBI agent.

Saturday April 17, 2021 11:04 AM CDT -- Sayings Getting Said

Saturday April 17, 2021 12:52 AM MIDNIGHT -- Meat Links for Carl Blare
Boomer has returned with various links to low power radio related sites.

Antique Radio Forums Index

https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/index.php

Homebrew Radios and Equipment here, includes receivers and P-15 transmitter builds:

https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=12

Ads are not permitted.

There's more radio magic seen on just the opening page than our groups have seen for years.

Radio Museum, with plenty of info, and a more international oriented site:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_forum_folder.cfm?folder_id=1

Again, more electron agitation in its pinkie finger than our boards combined. Poke through it with the search function for your topic interests. I learned a lot about AM stereo here, articles by Robert Weaver.

There are numerous smaller forums for Christmas lights displays and small back yard and guerilla drive-in movie theaters. The links I have are all old, but they discuss many of the same things that would come up in our Part-15 forums in the past.

Vinylthon is happening on Saturday the 17th of this month, don't forget to play records on your radio stations!

- Boomer

Thank you Boomer. These are great links! Keep us busy all weekend.

Friday April 16, 2021 8:15 AM CDT -- What Would Make Us Happy
What do we look for as we make the rounds visiting the paltry part 15 low power radio hobby sites Boomer talked about? We'd like to know how safe we are from government overreach now that war has been declared against radio piracy. We keep saying it, but it will never be perfectly clear that our hobby is legal according to FCC rules, but easily mistaken for illegal because both forms are unlicensed which makes the very word 'unlicensed' a dangerous word. While thinking of the FCC it would be nice to read some fine morning that the commissioners have become generous and given us more access to the airways through power increases or perhaps giving us our own section of certain bands. And there's the equipment that makes it all possible... transmitters and antennas. We can read about the technology all day and still go browsing for more. For us at KDX we watch for the day when some genius figures out how to reach full resonance in just 3-meters of physical space, a feat declared impossible by the disposable diaper oldtimers. Programming matters to some of us, ranging from favorite pop music to informational news & opinions with always the self-appointed thought-police ready to crush ideas that differ from what little they know. This hobby needs salvation. Maybe God the Father will consider sending a second son... a radio lord geek! Even cooler would be a radio geekress!

Thursday April 15, 2020 6:44 PM CDT -- Building a Windows Audio PC
As it turns out, a good gaming computer is not a good audio computer. What are the differences? Craig Anderton provides useful guidance.

Thursday April 15, 2021 5:55 PM CDT -- Shut That Website Down!
Boomer take down notice and general appraisal

I too run Blare OnAir programs and have heard one that has an interview with the Chairman. Things are different now, but I wouldn't want to 'cancel' history on my station, it does exist, and actually is a good interview that could incite someone into trying their own small radio station.

I don't think hobby radio is going away, just changing. We're past the kid broadcaster who wants to be a rock and roll DJ on a Knight Kit. In articles and memoirs, it seems many broadcasters got started on a Knight, but in reality how many junior broadcasters were filling up neighborhoods, even back then? I don't think it was one on every block.

Kids were motivated by the marriage of science and rock and roll, but now that everyone is a communicator and broadcaster of tweets and blogs, and many participate in radio shows on line, it's natural to want to expand reach, and some will find low power radio and add a broadcast to a neighborhood.

I've been wondering what happened over at Part-15 org and why it seems so vacant, like a dead mall with the lights turned off. That site used to be a lot more active, and I'd been thinking something was wrong with it. There are a few posters who get through, maybe everything else is moderated out. I'll agree that the air is stale on both forums, over-reaching moderation and the 'how dare you' armchair engineers and their followers.

There are what seem to be bots, like the one sentence post about LPB at Part15 org. Maybe I'm judging him wrong, but did someone sign up just to say that? There are alleged seed posters who waste members' time answering prop questions. I think that site should be shut down, then we could move on with our lives! The only thing I'd miss would be Tim's Oompah Hour shows, which I've been running on my station.

There are two very active antique radio forums with postings every day about new and old radios, and they're always building equipment, including Part-15 transmitters. There are home drive-in movie and Christmas lights forums that have sections about transmitters, in much the same format as used to be on our own groups.

My conclusion on our forums is that we lack good leadership. The groups have become like zombie stations without program directors, shuffling around in tattered and decayed clothing, they are the living dead, rusting antenna towers ready to keel over at any moment.

I thought we had a great leader in Jim Henry, he was the best of my time at least, charismatic and motivational on both groups, fair and balanced, doing and documenting fun things that could be done with Part-15, and increasing the ratio of insightful posts compared to trolls and the de-motivational types.

- Boomer

Many right thoughts, Boomer. Perhaps the leadership of the part 15 movement of the future is you! Your observations about the radio scene are always well thought about and hit the bullseye in the middle of the target where bull's eyes belong. The idea that history exists is open to argument, it sometimes depends on whose history, but I might be too fuddy duddy by worrying about past guests who've fallen out of favor. Sometimes in life we end up being the only one keeping score. Anyway, the old Blare OnAir Shows are in the archive for whatever they're worth. As far as the age level of part 15 radio hobbyists, what I've seen in our times are old timers in retirement either reliving happy times in a radio career or experiencing radio they wished had been part of their professional life. Jim Henry was in cable management but lucked upon part 15 as a retirement hobby. I've enjoyed all ends of the experience, having been a goofy kid fiddling with kits, passed through a long career at many licensed stations, and today own and operate more part 15 stations than I have. Wondering why part 15 dot u.s. is quiet as a zombie tombstone exhibit goes unanswered. Tim in Bovey is always welcome to post comments and the Oompah Polka Hour here on the Blare Blog, I should contact him. Oh, and please post the web addresses of the antique and other radio sites here so we can spread the best of our radio hobby!

Thursday April 15, 2021 10:36 AM CDT -- The Crypto 6
The six individuals arrested by the FBI in connection with the swat raid on the Free Talk Live studio building can be followed on this Shire Society Main Forum Thread. The term "crypto" relates to so-called crypto currency which includes bit coin. KDX is not informed to an extent that we can comment knowledgably on the alleged crime driving this case, but as a journalistic enterprise KDX maintains an "eyes wide open" policy in observing the unfolding case against one of our oldest radio program sources.

Wednesday April 14, 2021 4:31 PM CDT -- We've Lost the Network!
That was our panic response at 9:45 (CDT) this morning when Lee Stranahan and John Kiriaku had their RT America live stream vanish into silence. Technicians were on top of it and fairly soon filled the ear with generic wallpaper music and minutes later with other RT canned programming. The first place my mind goes when the unexpected happens is straight to paranoia and I began harboring thoughts of the two hosts being shuttled away in handcuffs like the hosts of Free Talk Live whose studios were raided by the FBI several weeks ago. But this morning's interruption turned out to be a power failure at RT America's Washington DC studios, as eventually explained by Lee and John.

Wednesday April 14, 2021 9:24 AM CDT -- The Hub of the Low Power Radio Wheel
License free legal hobby radio is not actually past its prime, but no doubt has gone through stages of evolution as far as online web presence goes. In the most part the more recent efforts at equipment and forum-gathering sites have been polluted and discouraged by trolls who've predaceously cast shade by taking hold of moderatorships wherewith to scold and disallow innocent and honest exchange among interested parties, making exaggerated reports to the FCC tenaciously enough to dissuade some transmitter suppliers from the already niche market, and deleting comments by outspoken defenders of open dialogue. Those same trolls continue a grip on the few remaining forums, classic transmitter kits have been extincted, and to appearances the radio hobby is an arcane relic of its romantic past. But one website manages to remain as an amazing tasters paradise where the hobby and its past remain on vivid display.

Tuesday April 13, 2021 8:39 AM CDT -- Bobby Pins and Paper Clips
This Blog Moment is inspired by this article about
Two favorite take-aways for us (from the article) are using a bobby pin to hold a nail and the trick for unlocking a tie-wrap. Other uses may come up in day to day station maintenance.

Another handy item for us has been the common paper clip; normal size and jumbo. In fact once a church pastor told me of a long-time hum problem with the church PA system and asked if I'd take a look, which involved a 70-mile drive. Once on site I spotted the problem at once; a three-wire to two-wire balanced to unbalanced audio line lacked a simple ground connection, but I didn't have any wire at hand because my business didn't ordinarilly involve field technical work, so I asked the pastor for a paper clip which instantly eliminated the hum. He thought I was a genius and I didn't correct him on that point.

Monday April 12, 2021 8:32 AM CDT -- History Not Worth Revision
Sufficient time having passed since Blare OnAir programs were first produced we are scheduling them again Sundays at 2 (CDT) where they seem fresh again after having time to age. Yesterday, however, brought a different lesson about the past. Picked at random, yesterday's show was one of many originated from the TeamSpeak Open Room as a promotion for the old ALPB (Association for Low Power Broadcasters), an effort broken by failures of a despotic ex-chairman who, by chance, signed in to participate in this particular edition of the program. It was unpleasant to hear my sincere hosting of this guest who was soon to reveal himself as destructive of the democratic efforts of a dedicated membership. Unwilling to listen further, I canceled yesterday's show and signed off the air for the hour. Next week we'll more carefully filter what gets heard.

Monday April 12, 2021 8:03 AM CDT -- Foremost

Monday April 12, 2021 7:33 AM CDT -- A Name Heard Somewhere Before
Maria Gilardin and TUC Radio continue the Legacy.

Monday April 12, 2021 7:14 AM CDT -- Knowing John Trudell
A pirate radio voice with natural license.

Sunday April 11, 2021 12:31 NOON CDT -- Understood
The last (major) works of composer Jean Sibelius are a very unlike pair of orchestral pieces following which he stopped writing music for the remaining 30-years of his life. Our Blog has already written several times about the epic Symphony Number 7 concentrated into a single outpouring masterpiece of 22-minutes burning with human passion. Almost the same length is the tone poem Tapiola depicting the forest god Tapio, casting a spell chillingly aloof from human experience. In a particular instant yesterday I believe I've come to realize what unites these two works and that is precisely their opposite polarities in relation to human being; the Seventh portrays the internal human viewpoint and Tapiola the external world devoid of humanity. These musical expressions are so perfect it might be that Sibelius realized he could never produce anything again equal or superior and so abandoned his occupation.

Sunday April 11, 2021 11:57 AM CDT -- Radio Pranks
If you're like me you've never pulled a prank while working professionally in radio... that's odd, my nose just got longer. Anyway, Kirk Harnac hosts a guest panel of engineers, managers and air talent regarding pranks on air.

Sunday April 11, 2021 8:31 AM CDT -- Pandemic Lovers a Recognized Class
We've said it, haven't we? We'll miss the peaceful calm of the pandemic. Boomer signaled his understanding of the sentiment, and now we are part of a recognized class.

Saturday April 10, 2021 2:07 PM CDT -- This Explains It
We've seen evidence of this in the forums.

Saturday April 10, 2021 8:49 AM CDT -- Newsy News and Art 15 Radio
Boomer by air -

Maybe that dog thought the microphone was bone, a microbone, bap! Maybe the dogs there have learned to steal sandwiches from workers.

Radio World author engineer's method of frequency measurement seems complicated for Part-15, I wonder if there's a way to use the same method, but with more common equipment?

I check my station frequency in multiple ways. Frequency counter is one. Shortwave receiver with a BFO, and I tune to one of the frequencies of WWV, the time and frequency standard station on a PLL receiver, and zero beat the BFO to WWV's carrier, so it's real close. I then tune to my AM transmitter and adjust it to zero beat with the BFO. Last check is listening to my signal at a distance at night to hear any beat with other stations. The other station could be off frequency too, but stations are usually pretty good about staying in tolerance.

I'm sure the FCC would never call that professional, they'd trust the frequency monitoring service over the methods of a layman, but I believe my frequency tolerance is as good as commercial stations. My transmitter's crystal is a big old one too, an FT-243 from 1944, and I'm confident it never drifts more than a few hertz off frequency.

As for having newsy networks, I liked the format heard when I got an FM radio, 2 minutes of news at the top of the hour, subdued delivery, no trumpet fanfares or teletypes. If there were soundbites from a newsmaker, it was rare. I think it was even called something to do with FM, like FM Network news, and indeed, it was different than what you heard on AM, and seemed less one sided than anything you'd hear today, more middle of the road.

What has happened to Artisan Radio, I haven't seen him on the air lately. Why do all the lone wolves, the refugees from Part-15 groups, take their sites and go home all the time, I demand 24 hour service, like the rest of the sites out there. You don't want to be like Biden in his basement, with Major German Shepherd on his second biting incident.

Boomer

Carl gets on the line and says:  I'll take this call. Artisan Radio will be glad you asked... he reads The Blog... and has sent word that other business sometimes takes him away from radio but his venture is very much active albeit moving slowly into a glorious future. In answer to the question "What is your frequency", the answer is "not that often".

Friday April 9, 2021 7:59 AM CDT -- Talk World Radio
For several years KDX has scheduled David Swanson's Talk Nation Radio which recently became Talk World Radio.

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk World Radio. He is a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

Swanson was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation.

Swanson is on the advisory boards of: Nobel Peace Prize Watch, Veterans For Peace, Assange Defense, BPUR, and Military Families Speak Out. He is an associate of the Transnational Foundation.

This morning we finally got around to contacting Talk World Radio so they'd know KDX was a loyal affiliate, joining a long list of stations. Within 5-minutes KDX was already added to the official list!
Talk World Radio is syndicated by Pacifica Network and is free to any station or website.  Please ask your local stations to air it. Talk World Radio airs on WTJU, Charlottesville, VA; WCSX-Detroit, MI; KGHI, Westport, WA; WHUS, Storrs, CT; WPRR, Grand Rapids, MI; KRFP-LP, Moscow, ID; KZGM, Cabool, MO; KMUD, Garberville, CA; WAZU, Peoria, IL; WXRD, Crown Point, IN; Geneva Radio, Geneva, NY; KKRN, Round Mountain, CA; KSKQ-LP, Ashland, OR; WUOW-LP, Oneonta, NY; No Lies Radio, Pinole, CA; WYAP-LP, Clay, WV; The Detour, Johnson City, TN; WZRD, Chicago, IL; WEFT, Champaign, IL; WXPI, Pittsburgh, PA; WDRT, Viroqua, WI; Veracity Now, online; Liberty and Justice Radio, Shirley, MA; Ithaca Community Radio, Ithaca, NY; WMCB, Greenfield, MA; PRX.org; KAOS 89.3fm, Olympia, WA; WUSB 90.1 FM, Stony Brook, NY; WOOL-FM, Bellow Falls, Vermont; WSLR-LP 96.5 in Sarasota, Florida; Activate Radio in Boston, MA; Grateful Dread Public Radio in Nashville, TN; KWRK-LP 90.9 FM, Fairbanks Open Radio; WIDE-LP 99.1 FM Madison WI; WEJP-LP, Wheeling, WV; WJVA-LPFM 106.5. Portsmouth, VA; KDNK – 88.1 FM Glenwood Springs, CO; WZBC, Newton MA; WGRN 94.1 Columbus, Ohio; WFTE Scranton, PA; KPIP, in Fayette, Missouri; KRJF in Santa Rosa, CA. KDX Worldround Radio streams on the internet and broadcasts on part 15 transmitters from St. Louis MO, scheduling Talk World Radio Friday mornings.

Friday April 9, 2021 7:51 AM CDT -- Stable Storms is an Oxymoron
The Blog reported "stable storm conditions" on Wednesday as a line of thunderstorms maintained a steady course safely away from the KDX campus, but then came the drift as the storms leaned into our western back yard sending us into shut-down mode. The weather is as stable as a biting German shepherd dog in the White House.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 4:39 PM CDT -- Golden Watts at the End of the Rainbow
Articles about the rise of T.I.S. (Traffic Information Stations) and Part 15 low power radio as a means of communicating to nearby listeners while maintaining safe social distance have opened a tremendous opportunity to go forth and multiply -- on the sales and installation trail to offer turnkey service to get hopeful clients on the air. This kind of custom service is provided  by I.S.S. (Information Station Specialists) and the part 15 part of the opportunity could be you or me by signing on as representatives of proper transmitter systems and making the rounds of active parking lots and we might bring back real estate radio which is still a great idea. A current edition of the Radio Survivor radio program delves into it. In my own fantasy I'd launch a business called Masked Radio. Even protest groups might make use of legal low power radio. We're now in the sales business.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 4:25 PM CDT -- Storm Watch
Possible storm conditions have remained fairly stable all day, with a range of thunderstorms moving between northwest and southeast across several states and 150-miles west from KDX in the central Mississippi Valley. There's a 30% chance of becoming involved acording to the National Weather Service. We remain on duty on the air monitoring LIGHTNING MAPS to see exactly where the lightning strikes are happening. We're prepared to leave the air and disconnect from outside antennas in the event conditions intensify.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 3:36 PM CDT -- Important Grounding Information for Rocky Poor Ground
This scientifically informative article addresses RF and power grounding.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 2:35 PM CDT -- Unique Method to Measure AM Frequency
This clever procedure could likely apply to a part 15 low power AM station.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 10:17 AM CDT -- Dog Steals TV Reporter's Microphone
It was only a matter of time for dogs to start grabbing mics.

Wednesday April 7, 2021 10:10 AM CDT -- Newsy News
A new OTA (Over The Air) news network launching in October. While NEWSY is to be a TV network, part 15 low power radio stations will have a new opportunity to seek permission to carry the audio portion.

Sunday April 4, 2021 7:41 AM CDT -- Special Characters
No one would disagree that low power radio stations are the province of special characters, in addition to which we sometimes wonder how to type special characters on the Windows keyboard.

Thursday April 1, 2021 11:19 AM CDT -- FCC April Open Meeting
The April Agenda has been announced, including spectrum use by wireless mics & other non-licensed devices.

Thursday April 1, 2021 7:20 AM CDT -- Search and Research in Dream Physics

During a dream one encounters a woman of his acquaintance who, in waking life, is another man's wife and not properly a candidate for intimate consideration. Thing is, in the dream she approaches with touchy contact and frisky overture. As an aside, what a great name for a classical piece - the Frisky Overture. Anyway, given such dream scenario, one perhaps wonders if the real and physical woman possibly had a parallel and coincident dream in which she experienced the same extra-personal exchange? It would be necessary to know her somewhat well before bringing it up, however once out in the open it would always rate as an intrusion into her privacy and is not recommended as a research opportunity by The Blare Blog.

Thursday April 1, 2021 7:06 AM CDT -- I Taught I Taw a Puddy Tat

Listening very closely and repeatedly to a lengthy and detailed rant by Thom Hartmann about why it is important to obtain a COVID vaccination, I've been left to think there is contradiction embedded in what he said. It seemed he was saying that in addition to protecting one's self against infection, one has a responsibility to protect others by having the vax. That would suggest that vaccine removes the risk of being a possible spreader of COVID. That idea alone is subject to question but he went on to say that even though vaccinated, it is important to continue wearing a mask so as not to spread the virus even though protected one's self. At least one, perhaps two contradictions can be found in that reasoning.