Sunday January 30, 2022 11:00 AM CST -- As If Nothing Happened --
After several days off the air, today local AM 770 is back with the voice of Brother Stair. According to the Guesswork Division of the KDX News Department, perhaps the Stair Estate has Instructions to Carry On.

Sunday January 30, 2022 7:52 AM CST -- The Definition of Excellent
Excellent is a former cellent.

Sunday January 30, 2022 2:31 AM CST -- Station I.D. (not valid for voting purposes) --
Worldround Radio Stations KDX and KHZ broadcast from transmitters atop Mount Point in North America - the United States of America and web stream from a shared server service serving from Olivette, Missouri, USA. Say it fast two times to pass our announcer audition. We are also recruiting for the announcing pool at Announce Temps, the go to source for tonsils at a moments notice. Why do your own podcast when you could afford a professional sounding voice?

Saturday January 29, 2022 1:39 PM CST --


Saturday January 29, 2022 11:41 AM CST -- The Stair Case --
We've been tracking the daily Brother Stair total time buyout of local AM 770 but the past few days no Stair no station. Nothing. Blank frequency. Off the air. What are we to think? One of the last things he was heard to say was a warning that the world was about to end. Maybe it did end, but only for him.

Friday January 28, 2022 1:58 PM CST -- Audioengine B-Fi --
Currently under installation as a Studio-Transmitter-Link (STL) between KDX Control Desk and Procaster AM and CCrane FM2 Transmitters. We will be blogging as we go.

Friday January 28, 2022 12:34 NOON CST -- Race As a Qualifier --
It seems to me obvious that race cannot be considered a legitimate qualification for any job, certainly not for radio host or supreme court judge. Legitimate qualifications for such positions should also be clearly obvious, including the aptitudes and skills essential to the jobs. As a matter of fair play in the selection process for premier positions in public or commercial service all candidates in possession of vital abilities should rise as finalists without regard to race. It shouldn't have to be said that neither should 'looks' be a criteria for appointment to prominent positions, but so often American media treats physical attractiveness as an asset for the receptionist's desk or the anchor desk. And in a conspicuous way race is a matter of looks as much as a pretty face. How things play out in the hiring arena puts those with decisional authority under scrutiny whether it be a manager/voter or a president. The trouble with managers is that they can make self-seductive choices based on biology and the trouble with presidents is that they are politicians.

Friday January 28, 2022 9:30 AM CST -- DXing the Wi-Fi Band
It is possible to DX (look for distant signals) on the Wi-Fi frequency spectrum, but notice that I didn't say 'listen'. That's an important difference when compared to classic DXing in the medium, shortwave and VHF bands where listening is key to identifying signals. And, since Wi-Fi consists of low power signals close at hand, far away reception is limited within 500-feet and comprised of neighborhood routers in homes and businesses, which list themselves by name through viewing the window of your computer's USB Wi-Fi Adapter and observing the power densities on a range of 5-bars. More esoteric signals such as spread-spectrum may not appear at all by this means. To detect traces of all activity a spectrum analyzer views more kinds of transmission, and for us we employ an RF Explorer handheld analyzer which enables us to see the carrier of our TP Wireless Wi-Fi Transmitter at 2.477 GHz. To actually listen to our transmitter we have a matching TP-Wireless Wi-Fi Receiver, otherwise hearing the audio might not be likely for nearby public to accomplish. The health risk of being exposed to microwaves exists already before any of our equipment is added to the mix, because every nearby neighbor is running one or more Wi-Fi routers and other devices including cordless phones. As well an enormous amount of microwave energy floods the environment on adjacent radio bands from many terrestrial and satellite sources. It is notable that our equipment's safety guidelines advise maintaining at least 8-inch proximity to the transmitting antenna to avoid harmful thermal damage to body cells.

Friday January 28, 2022 9:27 AM CST -- Study Shows Red Wine Reduces COVID Infection Rates --

Thursday January 27, 2022 10 AM CST -- Old Radio Broadcast Equipment --

Thursday January 27, 2022 8:39 AM CST -- Part 15 Here and There --
It was just yesterday when we posted the commentary "Part 15 Then and Now" and already response and feedback is coming from part15.org where Moderator Mark has re-printed and commented on our words:

My thoughts. Putting aside the harm of micro-waves in the 2.4 to 5 gigs wifi and bluetooth bands this is really not part 15 radio anymore. It’s not the same. Radio is free, no one can track/hack you and setting up a wi-fi over the air station, if it can be done, what would someone listen on? Radio is wireless, why is moving up to microwaves better? We are supposed to be the ones making radio “great” again.
The part 15 hobby was based on transmitting in the AM and FM bands and having a mini unlicensed station allowed by Canada and USA governments. What is the advantage of figuring out how to transmit a station in bluetooth? I don’t get it. In my mind we are supposed to be about “old fashion” radio and if, as Carl’s blog stated, “we” are moving away from that, we are the ones taking radio away from the people when we are supposed to be bringing it back. - Mark.

It depends what we mean by 'part 15'. As Mark uses the expression it refers to the low power radio hobby centered around the rules pertaining to AM and FM broadcast, while the fuller formal definition identifies a section of FCC rules applying to any frequency band, and the microwaves have crept into it while we were focussed on our chunk of pie. Mark had more to say:

Bluetooth could have it’s positives as a way to get your signal to your Procaster in a remote location from your studio but consider this….if you need a cable to get it power why not just use 4 conductor cable to get the audio there also. Even streaming is getting away from the whole idea of the hobby of radio broadcsting. If Carl is right it’s a sad thing that radio is dying along with part 15. -Mark

The diminishing of the radio hobby as we've known it is indeed sad, and I think we all feel that radio in general may be on a sort of death bed, but the 'Bluetooth' example is exactly how some of us have opened our eyes to what's happening in the millimeter waves under 15.245, 15.247, 15.249 & 15.250, where Part15 Engineer and I have both started utilizing Wi-Fi transmitter/receiver combinations to move our signals wirelessly from the studio to the traditional AM and FM transmitter locations. True, we could have simply laid some wire, but the full-power stations have STL's (Studio Transmitter Links) operating in the upper spectrum so what we do is a scale model taken from their example. Now back to Mark:

I will now go on a rant about microwaves. This is bad for you! It’s a fact and even the companies know this and even tell you in a special place in your phone all the warnings and advice that no one reads or listens to. Have you ever looked it up to see? It’s there in every phone!
Why does wi-fi and bluetooth use the 2.4-2.5 gig part of the spectrum? Because it’s free. That part of the spectrum is not regulated. The companies don’t have to have an expensive license to operate there. It’s money. Not what is good or bad for you. There is much credible scientific evidence as Carl and I know about the harm of micro-waves. The companies know it also and quietly have the warnings in every smartphone made.
Regular radio waves in the commercial AM and FM bands are harmless. Never has, in 100 years have you ever heard that they hurt you in any way.
Why does everything have to be wireless? Why can’t the phone be at home corded? Cell phones have their uses….for emergencies. And it’s off the rest of the time. Why does your internet connection have to be wireless when the computer is in one place in the room? Why does a mouse have to be wireless? Why do you need a bluetooth thing stuck in your ear frying your head with bad micro-waves so you can walk around blabbing with your phone in your pocket? Why do you need wireless speakers? Pairing with a phone to a speaker? I don’t understand this wireless obsession.
I sure don’t need it. This is the same radiation as your micro-wave oven which is shielded for leakage. The only pairing I do is my Procaster to my radio.
Why do I have to have a smartphone?…..because I have to be modern….everyone else does? If everyone jumps off a cliff do I have to do it too?
In conclusion If radio has been taken away from the people….the people have taken it away from themselves. We, the part 15ers should be bringing it back….keeping it alive..making it great again! I love the past. I will never be moving up to micro-waves. I’ll stick with medium waves. - Mark

Wednesday January 26, 2022 6:23 AM CST -- Part 15 Then and Now --
A dwindling number of radio hobbyists carry on with the 'original' form of part 15 hobbying, operating micro-power AM or FM radio stations receivable by a very small audience of neighbors on ordinary radios. The government (FCC) can do little more than physically track down and meddle with these small operations, which happens rarely based on complaints, which are few. Meanwhile, without fanfare, Part 15 (no license required) technology has moved upwards into the microwaves particularly the Wi-Fi bands at 2.4 and 5 GHz where most of the population scopes the world from home computer work stations little realizing they are 'broadcasting' on accessible airwaves that can be spied on from passing cars and hacked. Government agents and other bad actors possess the means to plant spyware or criminal 'evidence' via the ubiquitous Wi-Fi route. Part 15 is now inward and no longer outward. Rather than reaching a small public from a private studio our privacy has become electronically public.

Tuesday January 24, 2022 8:07 AM CST -- Slogans that Hurt the Head --
The short lived ALPB (Association for Low Power Broadcasters) during the reign of Chairman "sniper" Bob came up with the slogan "Bringing Radio Back to the People". Although I voted against this slogan the majority of four others gave it their thumbs up. The slogan begs so many questions. One wonders, was radio taken away from 'the people'? Who are the people in question? Do the people want radio back? In what way did the ALPB intend to bring it back? How can low power radio stations with only 1/10th of a watt return radio to millions of people while the signals only reach about five households? Since all the stations do nothing more than present high school music which is readily available from many other sources how can this have any measurable impact on whether radio is 'back'? Do any people actually know that this is going on? The whole thing becomes moot since now ex-chairman Bob took the ALPB away from its membership and is now its only member. Somebody should bring back the ALPB to the people.

Monday January 24, 2022 8:27 AM CST -- MICROWAVE EXPOSURE AND HEALTH --
This week's edition of the weekly "Law and Disorder" looks in depth at the detrimental affects of exposure to millimeter waves, especially as they become stronger in the wake of 5G cellphone technology.

Sunday January 23, 2022 9:48 AM CST -- Memories of Carrier Currents Flowing By --
Two memories won't go away, starting many years ago at a major Jesuit university where a guy engineered for their carrier current campus station, giving me a tour of the one room studio with clunky grey transcription turntables, Magnecord tape recorder and a big plate glass window in the wall. The lights were out in the adjacent room so only reflections could be seen in the glass. Copper wires connected to LPB transmitters in the basements of three dorms. It was KBIL (Billikens Basketball) AM 590. Soon after that visit the station closed and the engineer went on to a lifelong career as chief for AM 1600.

A few years later while on staff with a newly founded FM station our chief engineer had come from a Veterans Hospital carrier current station. Period. I mean, I know nothing more than that so it doesn't make much of an anecdote.

Sunday January 23, 2022 8:53 AM CST -- As Thoughts Flop Around --
Under the category "brainless things people say" two come to mind:
On a day when a neighbor lady stopped by to inquire about my wife's health, it turned out the visitor was here to promote a line of ultra pure bottled water she was franchised to sell, and gave my wife a sample bottle saying, "It's so good it may actually cause a headache."

On another occasion the Jehovahs Witnesses were at the door to tell us with some alarm, "Not even Jesus knows when the end will come!" To this I asked, "When will he know?"

Sunday January 23, 2022 6:51 AM CST -- Magical Incantation --
The most powerful incantation I remember announcing was a religious radio station's main hook slogan "On the Air through the Prayers and Gifts of our many Friends". There are so many power points in this one liner. The expression "On the Air" carries all the wattage of a full strength carrier bringing deep authoritative voices into the home. "Prayers" is of course the emblematic trademark of the mystical psuedo-science of religious spirituality connoting a well attended switchboard in the sky ready at all times to process incoming messages and requests. "Gifts" obviously is the euphimism for money, the bottom line of the entire appeal, and "Friends" opens to listeners the vision of a synthetic social life outside the confines of being a lonely forgotten shut-in. Makes a person feel generous.

Sunday January 23, 2022 6:47 AM CST -- If This Won't Do It Nothing Will --
Correspondent Artisan Radio made us aware of this virtual audio device that seemingly will do everything and anything involving complex audio routing between two PCs over ethernet.

Sunday January 23, 2022 6:26 AM CST -- On Being a Winner --


Saturday January 22, 2022 3:29 PM CST -- A Newsworthy Newscast for Radio --


Saturday January 22, 2022 5:31 AM CST -- Your Time --
Back then on a newly started radio station we called the morning show "The Morning Show" and this went on for awhile until we decided to get fancy and started discussing ideas for a better name, a more slick program description. Other stations had their daybreak morning zoo drive-time monikers and we wanted to do one better, but "The Morning Show" expired under the old original name. Now it's about a hundred years later and I just thought of it: "Early Radio". It's perfect. Simple. Sharp. To the point. But no good now because the internet has made radio global and earliness is counter-global; It's only early here but not everywhere.

This all reminds us of a riff by radio artist Ken Nordine who talked of a guy who wondered what time it was, not just here, but everywhere in the universe. This guy would lie awake nights wondering what time it was in far away galaxies. Although, you know, maybe that's the beauty of "Early Radio" because radio is only 100 or so years old and that's only a drop in time's bucket, so it is early for radio. We're probably a genius for thinking of a name so simple yet universal, but it's too early to tell. We'll have to wait for our legacy.

Friday January 21, 2022 10:32 AM CST -- PUBLIC NOTICE --


Friday January 21, 2022 9:33 AM CST -- Messing in the 2.4 GHz Patch --
Getting back to our ongoing exploration of Part 15 action in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band, we have discovered something that might be generally useful for everyone who uses wireless Wi-Fi routers for their connection to the internet, which is of course almost everyone. While we have read that locating the router higher in the room will better reach all the computers throughout the house, it seems that keeping the USB Wi-Fi Adapter plugged into a port at the computer is the norm, typically at 30" desk-level above the floor. While using the free software Wi-Fi Analytics Tools to view the Wi-Fi channel activity in our area as received by our USB adapter, and by adding a 10-foot USB extention cable and hanging the adapter up near the ceiling, the number of hotspots received increased to over double, showing a flood of active internet users surrounding our location. No doubt this move would improve in-house reception between router and adapter. In our case we don't use Wi-Fi and prefer direct ethernet cable connection for it's better privacy and optimimized performance, but we are experimenting with Wi-Fi for audio transmission within our facility.

Friday January 21, 2022 7:35 AM CST -- Lonely Engineer Pin-Up Processors --
Word from Boomer this cold morning (6^oF at the Internet Building Campus):

It is nice to find more active stations using Part-15, and carrier current, it seems so rare today. KROCKS Radio One pushed it hard on part15 US, talking about his coverage and trying to get other stations 'on the wire' and try it.

As of now, Carrier is my favorite form of Part-15 broadcasting, something I wanted to do since I heard it at the drive-in theater, used for the movie sound. Later I found out what they were doing and thought it was a most unique way to broadcast, and wanted to be a drive-in DJ before the movies. The signal spilled out of the drive-in for a few blocks around, so I thought of people listening in homes also. It was many years until I finally got my own carrier-current station on the air, and it's been on for nearly 8 years at very low cost and high educational value.

The Thimeo audio processor from Stereo Tool's author looks nice in the rack. I'm sure engineers have pictures of it pinned up in their lockers. It would be nice to try out, but I couldn't see using it on a station. I think we're at a point now where audio processing is at a high level, it's a mature art and has been for years.

To me this high end gear appeals to engineering elites in high-end playgrounds, and I can't see how it's justified when the audio quality of most radio stations is subjectively low, when they add Neilsen ratings encoding and the ringing it causes, and the heavily clipped low quality feeds to transmitters. The Thimeo is vastly overqualified for Brother Stair, do you think it could improve his feed quality at all? Stair's feed is dog food already.

You might say, ah, but fine arts stations. Wouldn't it be that for those, less is more, for cleaner, more dynamic voices and classical music? For that you wouldn't need that much processing and something relatively simple would do, if your goal is fidelity, if we agree that fidelity means flat, wide audio response, low noise and distortion, sound that is faithful to the source. In that case, everything else is probably more important than what processor is used, like good microphones, good audio amps and preamps, lossless feeds, the best quality recordings in the station's library, a short audio chain, and hey, corrected for jitter!

Thanks for all of your blog.

- Boomer

Thanks for writing, Boomer, this is Carl with my reply... you are right in depicting the several kinds of persnickety audio engineers with attitudes about more or less processing to raise or flatten the sound coming out of the transmitter. I ridicule the absolute purists who seek to preserve the absolute dynamic range of human hearing which, and this is the ridicule, works best if the listener rents a concert hall and plays their radio from the stage. The reality is that out in the world their are ambient noises, i.e., traffic, snow blowers, video games, dogs barking, and even air conditioning which competes for dB space. My rule is to compress and limit to raise the station audio up above all the clammor. The computer software version of Hans Van Zutphen's Stereo Tool is not expensive and creates a virtual rack-worthy result.

Only yesterday I tuned local 770 AM to see if the Stair man was keeping the spinning plate in the air with his pinky finger, and there he was, I guess. Somebody was preaching noticably off-mic in cassette quality from a 6th generation dub  with dirty tape heads.

Speaking of good microphones, I heard a podcast the other day that had the very best microphone quality I have ever heard from a digital audiofile over a computer. I will link it here later today as an example, keep watching this space for that link. Maybe if I contact the producer we can find out what brand or model was used.

Your inspirational praise of carrier current radio prompts me to repair and return to service our 970 kHz LPB system, awaiting a recap. And thanks to you for visiting the Blog.

Thursday January 20, 2022 12:06 NOON CST -- Boomer Wrote a Note --
Blare Blog correspondent Boomer wrote a note to Tha Dood about a Radio World article:
Guy Builds Part 15 Carrier Current Station in the Living Room:

Found this newsletter on Radio World, retired broadcaster sets up a studio in his living room, with a carrier-current station. It's the top section.

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/workbench/workbench-retirement-starts-in-your-living-room

I don't hear about others who have carrier current stations any more. - Boomer

Tha Dood replied:

Hey... My stations take-up space in the bedroom closet, under a basement bench, and that transmitter rack in the garage. So, if this guy can set-up a station in just one room, why not?





Wednesday January 19, 2022 6:02 AM CST -- The Newest and Greatest Hardware Audio Processor for AM & FM --
Most low power radio station builders are aware of Hans Van Zutphen's excellent Stereo Tools Software Audio Processor. Fewer are aware  that Mr. Zutphen's excellent software is incorporated in some of the leading physical hardware audio processors available on the market. Now Van Zutphen has taken the final step.. introducing his own

Wednesday January 19, 2022 6:18 AM CST -- Jitter Bug --
A problem highly unwelcome when audio 10 Hz and above shimmers, shakes, vibrates, flutters, warbles or wobbles.
This problem occurs in digital audio equipment and often in Windows computer audio because of shortcuts taken in the manufacture of PCs. Power supply imperfections can be a cause in addition to clock circuit interferences.

When frequencies below 10 Hz go wobbly it's called wander.

Jitter can happen in the human brain due to emotional disturbances. Consider Sniper Bob's hostile slaughter of the ALPB.


Tuesday January 18, 2022 7:38 PM CST -- ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!

PLEASE DO NOT PANIC!!  TRY NOT TO GAG OR CHOKE ON FOOD!!

THIS IS A FALSE ALARM!!

I REPEAT, THIS IS A FALSE ALARM!!

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU AND OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD UNDERSTAND WHAT WE ARE TELLING YOU!!

THIS IS NOT A REAL ALARM!!

YOU DO NOT NEED TO TAKE SHELTER IN A SAFE PLACE!!

YOU CAN STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND CONTINUE WITH WHAT YOU WERE DOING!!

THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT GIVE WARNINGS OR HAZARD ALERTS!!

IF YOU WANT TO BE NOTIFIED OF CALAMATIES OR DISASTERS PLEASE GO TO A WEBSITE THAT PROVIDES THAT KIND OF INFORMATION!!

YOU ARE ADVISED TO CALM DOWN AND LET THE NEIGHBORS KNOW THAT ALL IS WELL!!

IF YOU DID NOT HEAR THIS MESSAGE STAY ON LINE AND READ IT FROM THE TOP SEVERAL TIMES IF NECESSARY FOR IT TO SINK IN THAT NOTHING IS WRONG!!


Tuesday January 18, 2022 6:15 AM CST -- Grammar Are Fun --
Our gaze happened to land upon the bright white-on-blue lettering printed on the empty box from our Ramsey FM30B Transmitter Kit which says: "Electronics is FUN!" This didn't seem like the right grammar so we first considered that maybe "electronics are fun" might be an improvement, but we weren't finished thinking about it and decided to try a few comparative examples, starting with "technologies is fun", but given the vast range of technological possibilities we weren't sure they'd all be fun and too, going back to the matter of electronics we reason that we are not talking about a plurality so much as we are naming a class. Another class might be "birds" except maybe not, as I think perhaps they're a genus or general class whereas a particular bird, say a golden finch, is a species. This is going well, don't you think? I'm really into it, anyway, and we'll move to "human" as a possible class, although perhaps humans are a genus belonging to the class "mammal" or would it be "primate"(?) Um, come to think of it the latest thinking is that human is a species under which various races can be found of which it could be said "races is fun." No. I wonder if my first grade teacher is listed in the phone book. First grade was a class and she was classy. I recall finding her very pretty, prettiness is fun, and this overall topic would be a great conversation starter, but that was several decades ago and decades become less fun after a while especially when they become a singular plurality.

Monday January 17, 2022 11:29 AM CST --


Saturday January 15, 2021 8:33 PM CST -- KDX is Streaming --
At the moment FREE TALK LIVE is streaming live from Keene, New Hampshire, hosted by Ian Freeman and Captain Kickass. There were some interesting phone calls from military veterans living off the grid out in the wilderness, able to listen on portable radios. The show is carried on just under 200 radio stations and many online streamcasters.

A few white patches dot the campus landscape as we've been just outside a band of heavy winter activity and no jeopardous conditions are forecast in the week ahead.

The daily visit to part15.org brings a report from Moderator Mark about adding a simple artificial ground to a Procaster Transmitter to achieve improved signal strength. The whole subject of virtual grounds is very informative and hasn't been written about recently. We plan to try a few experiments in that area and will share what we discover. It's a practice familiar to HAM operators who find themselves unable to plant actual grounding into the earth because of home association restrictions.

You'll have to excuse me now while I check snack options in the Upper Management Lounge.

Tuesday January 11, 2021 4:18 PM CST -- Critical Part 15 Theory --
A chronic mistake of moderators at the Part 15 low power radio forums has been to lump criticism in the same class as an attack, thus repelling and canceling criticism and narrowing the range of discussion to allow only those points of view held by the moderators. The field of criticism, however, is a time-honored practice of judging the merits and faults of something.
Some of the most prestigeous publications in journalism provide critical reviews of other news papers and magazines and every profession has its critics including music, literature, software, consumer products, and anything else. The denial of criticism as a legitimate platform for expression is not only authoritarian but is also a symptom of ignorance and educational lacking.

Monday January 10, 2022 2:53 PM CST -- The First Grackle of Spring --
There was a big fat bold healthy purple grackle on the birdbath this morning grumbling at the frozen pool of water. As a lifelong birder I realize that grackles only stop here long enough to raise a brood of young in the springtime and then are off to pastureland where they sit on the rear hips of cows enjoying swarms of snack flys. The days are getting longer and we're in for an early spring.

Monday January 10, 2022 2:46 PM CST -- Federal Connectivity Program --

Monday January 10, 2022 2:43 PM CST -- Let the S___ Fly --
We have sampled the first edition of the new 'Radio Daze' podcast and absolutely enjoyed it. But watch out. It's loaded with S___ words. The program ran 7-minutes and is worth hearing but perhaps not putting on the public airways.

Monday January 10, 2022 5:25 AM CST -- Radio Daze --