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THE BLARE BLOG Autumn 2019

Center of the Bla Bla Galaxy

Being a good writer doesn't matter much if you're writing for bad readers. That's why Carl Blare writes badly.
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NOVEMBER

Saturday November 30, 2019 10:42 AM CST -- For Example
To illustrate the fact that FCC Part 15 Regulations do not cover all legalities regarding low power radio operation one must consider traffic law: it is illegal to locate a radio station in the center lane of an interstate highway despite the fact that Part 15 says nothing about it.

Saturday November 30, 2019 10:37 AM CST -- Beauty Across the Media
Cold stormy weather does not stop beautiful sound from coming through the air.
A Performance Not to Miss
Wise Word: YouTube may desecrate this sacred music with blaring commercials. Give them the finger.

Saturday November 30, 2019 8:48 PM CST -- I'm Not An Attorney But
How often do we hear or say it? It gets said all over the place and recently one of our esteemed colleagues on another social website made the claim that because FCC Rules Part 15 don't expressly forbid using the IBOC MA1/MA3 Digital format for AM radio it is therefore allowable to do so for low power stations. The fellow seemed not aware that other areas of law apply also and that Part 15 is not a comprehensive and exclusive set of laws governing such stations. Therefore taking legal advice from the "not an attorney but" kind of people is not advisable, or, in any case, a second opinion is best sought from an actual attorney. Only in this way can one discover that not all attorneys know the law either, but.

Saturday November 30, 2019 9:07 AM CST -- Rumors In the News
Not all rumors are true.
Everything is a rumor.
- Carl Blare, 2-minutes ago

Saturday November 30, 2019 8:41 AM CST -- Second Life
Sure, I was late for work this morning, signing the radio station on a half-hour later than scheduled, but it's in my contract: I am allowed to oversleep or skip work altogether, and it's important that I do it occasionally so as to evoke that part of the deal. So we arrived, got everything started, and then began hearing large objects falling from space which turned out to be a flash electrical storm putting us in a scurry to shut it all down for safety, and by the time we did the banging stopped and total silence enveloped the morning. Leaving a margin for safety we gave it 15-minutes then brought it all back to life returning to both internet and dial to present our award seeking programs. What's for breakfast?

Friday November 29, 2019 7:36 PM CST -- Atlas Shrugged
All evil needs for it to win
Is the consent of good people.
- John Galt

Friday November 29, 2019 7:20 AM CST -- Friday Services
Based on a mention from Artisan Radio we took our KDX name badge to a worship service by Reverend Billy C. Wirtz and became instant converts!
Stand Sit or Kneel

Friday November 29, 2019 6:45 AM CST -- The Billys

Thank you for introducing me to Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.  At first, I thought he might have been another Reverend Billy that I've played on my station - the Reverend Billy C. Wirtz - but soon realized that he wasn't nearly as whimsical (your Reverend Billy actually has a message).

Wirtz created, as described in Wikipedia, a church "known as The First House Of Polyester Worship and Horizontal Throbbing Teenage Desire, and Our Lady Of The White Go-Go Boot, Lord Of The 40-Watt Undulating Bubbling Lava Lamp Apocalyptic, No Pizza Take-Out After Twelve, Shrine Of The Rick Flair ‘WOOOO’, Rasslin' Jeezus."

His first album was titled Salvation Through Polyester, and he released a number of subsequent albums and singles.  I highly recommend him.

Thank you for introducing me to Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.  At first, I thought he might have been another Reverend Billy that I've played on my station - the Reverend Billy C. Wirtz - but soon realized that he wasn't nearly as whimsical (your Reverend Billy actually has a message).

Wirtz created, as described in Wikipedia, a church "known as The First House Of Polyester Worship and Horizontal Throbbing Teenage Desire, and Our Lady Of The White Go-Go Boot, Lord Of The 40-Watt Undulating Bubbling Lava Lamp Apocalyptic, No Pizza Take-Out After Twelve, Shrine Of The Rick Flair ‘WOOOO’, Rasslin' Jeezus."

His first album was titled Salvation Through Polyester, and he released a number of subsequent albums and singles.  I highly recommend him. -- Artisan Radio

Aprreciate the introduction to Reverend Billy C. Wirtz, Artisan! Our part-time search for eternal salvation certainly impels us to check him out.

Thursday November 28, 2019 3:28 PM CST -- Groping Hands in Prayer
The Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping
Earth Riot

Thursday November 28, 2019 1:24 PM CST -- Kingdoms of Belief
The large so-called "organized" religions also benefit along with secular corporations from the gross misjudgement of the high court bestowing "personhood" on corporations and yes, religious institutions are incorporated. Posing as "persons" these mammoth "belief" mills enjoy First Amendment rights while enjoying tax-free status per courtesy granted them by the state. Built upon donations from guilt-driven church membership these Theocratic entities are accumulating radio stations in collusion with "conservative" secular enterprises as part of a spreading conspiracy to dumb-down the populace and lure them away from Democracy as overseen by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVout. The evil plot is secretely named "Operation Goliath" and the only "David", living on the fringes and subject to involuntary frisk, are the low power radio stations which in most part squander their holy calling by programming Hit Music from the High School Years. One lone exception struggling to warn humanity of impending oblivian is The Blare Blog and KDX Worldround Radio, ignored more than ever on this Eve of Black Friday when the deals on Amazon take front and center ahead of survival under coming Climate Collapse. That's all I can say for now because some delicious snacks are being served in the Upper Management Lounge.

Thursday November 28, 2019 12:21 NOON CST -- Thinking in Depth
If I knew more about what I am doing I would be smarter.

Thursday November 28, 2019 9:57 AM CST -- Carl's Annual No Thank You Memory
People in the other 399 countries of the world hear "Americans" (people in the U.S.) talk about "Thanksgiving", and wonder what we're going on about. Allow me to speak on the subject. Along with other U.S. holidays, Thanksgiving isn't true. It is said to be about a celebratory dinner held early in this country's history between Early American Colonial Settlers and the evicted Indians to enjoy the bounty of shared cranberry recipes and mixed marriages with beautiful Indian maidens. In reality the pale-faced white men held a barbecue to gloat on their efficient massacre of the indigenous people and declare the territory "red man free". The Federal Government declared Thanksgiving as a "secular" holiday, making it religion-neutral, but this obscured the question of whom was being thanked, since thanking God would have no place in a secular holiday. In fact it is a day to thank the government and get ready to pay property tax under the threat of being raided by the Treasury Militia. The turkey was chosen as the center-piece of the Thanksgiving table because it is the fattest fowl and best symbolizes gluttony, the Christian sin of overeating. Our most memorable Thanksgiving at KDX was the year we had no food left over and discovered too late that all the stores were closed but had an unopened jar of mayonnaise which we ate with our best spoon. Every year when we're asked, "Are you ready for Thanksgiving?," we reply, "We're not thankful."

Wednesday November 27, 2019 2:42 PM CSR -- When and Why BMI Added a Part 15 License
BMI and Part 15
This information taken from a posting by Richard Powers at part15.org

Wednesday November 27, 2019 12:22 NOON CST -- Lists of U.S. Radio Stations
Radio Station Lists

Wednesday November 27, 2019 10:54 AM CST -- Blowing Wind
The KDX Blog, Website & Radio Servers spent the night and most of the morning offline because of a windstorm, our share of turbulent weather sweeping much of the U.S.
Blustery winds are forecast until 3 PM CST but a decision was made to sign on to bring the Thom Hartmann Show Live. Following a walk of our campus here at the internet Building in the Center of North America we noted that no tree branches had been blow down and the worst we saw was paper and plastic bags breezing around. In the surrounding metropolitan area about 20,000 customers are without power.

Sunday November 24, 2019 10:51 AM CST -- The Artisan Report Leonard Tuxkin

Good on you for calling out the Moderators with fascist tendencies.  One
doesn't want anyone (but himself) to pee over the Forum.  The other
deems anything that he isn't personally interested in to be off topic.

I also read about your potential foray into the world of Linux. I don't
know what's prompted that, but recently I've seen posters on various
radio Forums gushing on the advantages of Linux over Windows.  To put it
bluntly, they really don't know what they're talking about.

Here's the real scoop from someone who's been involved professionally
(as opposed to being a user, power or otherwise) in the computer world,
and more specifically, in software development, project management and
consulting for over 40 years.

Linux is based on Unix.  Unix has been around for a long time, and it's
always had security issues.  I suspect that the reason you don't hear
about these potential security issues (as all operating systems have) is
its small presence in the market (tending to be hobbyists).

There is no one Linux, as is popularized - there are dozens of variants,
each with its own sets of shortcomings and issues.  It's also open
source, which is a double edge sword - do you really want every tom,
dick and bob to be playing around with the foundation software of your
computer?  Do you trust these unnamed individuals?  And what about
support?  By that, I don't mean the developers, but general support and
guidance from the Internet community.  With any sort of problem I hit
with Windows (or even Mac OS), I can be absolutely guaranteed to find
someone else who has had the same problem and potential fix, since there
are so many users.  With Linux, you need not only to hopefully find a
Linux user with the same problem on the same variant and the same release.

For any particular application class that you may wish to consider,
there are probably hundreds of apps for Windows (and even tens of apps
for Mac OS) as opposed to on Linux.  So you're really limited there.

Any Linux variant absolutely doesn't have the hardware support that
Windows has (since Mac OS and the Apple hardware it runs on is a closed
system, this is a non issue).  Mainstream boards, sure.  Others, not so
much.

The one place that a Linux system may have an advantage is the
potentially lightweight (and even that is not guaranteed, based on the
variant) footprint, and the ability to run on outdated (read slow) hardware.

To me, it's not worth the effort, other than playing (during which you
learn, which is never wasted).  But to count on something like it.  Never.

Again, I don't know the reasons you're considering moving away from
Windows, but I'd look at Mac OS first, way before looking at Linux.  I
was able to put together a reasonable radio system with an old Power PC
Mac and an old version of OSX (Lion) just a little while ago.  The
disadvantage there is that a lot of Mac software is payware.

Keep up the great work on the blog.  -- Artisan Radio

So much for Linux, Artisan, and The Blog appreciates your guidance. My reaction against Microsoft Windows was instigated by Steve Gibson, computer security expert, by his expressed disgruntlement on "Security Now" from TWiT.tv as heard on KDX. During the coming week I'll isolate those words and post a link somewhere, probably here. Well, definitely here because I'm not welcome anywhere else.

Sunday November 24, 2019 10:43 AM CST -- Them Down Low Bow Wow Blues
And other songs by the Randy Schwartz Project
Bow Wow Blues
It's Time for Trump

Saturday November 23, 2019 5:53 PM CST -- Radio Stories: Fictional Radio Stations
Radio stations that only exist in fiction.
Partial List

Saturday November 23, 2019 1:05 PM CST -- Boomer Makes the News (again)
Boomer at Fox News because foxes are like small dogs

Saturday November 23, 2019 10:32 AM CST -- Randy Rainbow's Impeachment Hearing
Dear Readers of The Blare Blog - It is with deep honor, towering excitement and tremendous delight that we introduce Randy Rainbow!
He's just a GURL WHO'LL QUID PRO QUO
The GIULIANI Song
CRUELLA DEVOS

Friday November 22, 2019 7:58 AM CST -- Collusion of Moderators
The potentially most sophisticated adult hobby in the world has been systematically stifled by antagonists working the fringes. That hobby, low power radio broadcasting, benefits from healthy publicity through member forums but what few forums remain are bled by "moderation" that works to close discussion when it starts to rise above the level of a school child. Consequently many attempts at participation by the thinking community are rebuffed early-on resulting in short-lived relationships. Case in point the recent threads re: digital radio which opened on two forums at the same time becoming a popular topic attracting  many contributors until being brusquely cut short when the moderators locked the threads, preventing further input, offering no explanation of what violations may have brought censure. It's no coincidence that two forums took the same action at the same time. Their moderators are interlocked and of like mind continuing a long siege of censorship without reason.

Friday November 22, 2019 7:07 AM CST -- Radio Stories: Stories About Radio

Today the story of KGRE in Greeley, Coloradio.
KGRE 1450 AM

Friday November 22, 2019 6:37 AM CST -- Final Decision on Digital Radio
Digital dirt has been stirred since "TheLeg" published his claim that IBOC (MA1/MA3) the proprietary digital radio system foisted in the U.S. is actually a rip-off of AAC, a different proprietary format in popular use for internet streaming, and is therefore up for grabs. But no one has been able to verify TheLeg's claim which of course would be wide-spread media news if true. But even if IBOC is a conterfeit of AAC it wouldn't default to the public domain because a patent license is required for all manufacturers or developers of AAC codecs. For this reason, free and open source software implementations such as FFmpeg and FAAC may be distributed in source form only, in order to avoid patent infringement. The AAC patent holders include Bell Labs, Dolby, Fraunhofer, LG Electronics, NEC, NTT Docomo, Panasonic, Sony Corporation, ETRI, JVC Kenwood, Philips, Microsoft, and NTT.

It is important to specify that our discussion here and now regarding digital radio does not have anything to do with wideband FM where MA1 has also been established, which is to say that our only focus today concerns the medium wave AM band where shortcomings (i.e., static, limited audio response) might be salved through digital modulation.

Enter the open source digital format DRM - Digital Radio Mondiale - already in use by international shortwave stations and according to some a preferred method for American AM because it would do away with the royalty payments due for using IBOC. When KDX dabbles with digital it will certainly be DRM.

Thursday November 21, 2019 5:06 PM CST -- A Decision Has Been Handed Down A Decision Has Been Handed Up A Decision Has Been Handed from the Left Hand to the Right
The Windows OS (Operating System) will be escorted out of the building and KDX will switch to Linux, but this will be delayed because we don't know what we are doing. The plan is to obtain a non-Windows computer, install free Linux, and try to build a replicate of our broadcasting system until we know if it's going to succeed. It would be reckless to close the functional Windows installation before knowing whether Linux will cut the mustard because that might put us out of business for seven years while we struggle to recover. Comments are welcome.

The point here is that Microsoft's monopolistic Windows has been given ample time to earn a place as a serious operating system for interface with the web but the company's bungling tactics have by now become old and their OS just gets in the way.

Thursday November 21, 2019 4:44 PM CST -- One Person's Mistaken Beliefs Pollute Everybody's Knowledge Pool

When there's no evidence be skeptical.
Consider This

Thursday November 21, 2019 1:40 PM CST -- Boomer Inputs On Digital AM

Hi Head Figure,

I saw the article on MA3 mode HD digital radio. (is MA just standing for AM in reverse?)

I don't think it would be as much of a problem for the home user to implement, since it seems that most of the issues getting it going on a commercial station environment are due to the antenna tuning and retrofitting old transmitters to take the digital signal and not distort it.

Something similar happened when AM stereo started in the early, mid-1980s, and it was the same thing, stations having to re-tune antennas for flat SWR, and transmitters had to deal with the changes when adding stereo to circuits with tubes and audio transformers of the day.

With AM stereo, it's pretty easy to do on the hobbyist's desktop, no retrofits and the circuit can be built as a system for stereo.

I suspect it's the same with HD, that you have a transmitter with interface built for it and software on a PC, or firmware on a chipset to start broadcasting digital. It won't be too hard to do, because the techniques of I/Q modulation and ODFM are known throughout the whole wi-fi, cell phone and wireless world we have today.

It's all the same, there's nothing really special at the heart of it, which is why I feel that TheLeg wasn't being too over the top with his hacking HD speculations to the Part-15 groups that some were afraid of.

In my opinion, Motorola did the same thing with C-QUAM, obscuring circuit details and trying to make it seem proprietary, when really it's just a variation of Armstrong's phase modulator - from the 1930s.

Boomer

Editor's Note: Boomer's reference to "TheLeg" points to a a forum member at part15.orgy who expects to obtain software for IBOC MA1/MA3 Digital for use on his own radio station in Deltaville.

Thursday November 21, 2019 11:02 AM CST -- Saving the World  with a Plastic Plan
Hearing about the islands and heaps of waste plastic smothering the planet it has been my notion to use compression technology to convert discarded plastic into construction materials which might still be possible, but while I'm day dreaming someone else has put a similar idea to work!
Great Plastic Repurposing Project!

Thursday November 21, 2019 10:23 AM CST -- It's All About Me, You, and Us
I take World Philosophy Day (11/21) extra seriously because of my position as Resident Philosopher for KDX Worldround Radio. To define "philosophy" we look back to a prominent philosophy professor of our acquaintance once asked, "What is philosophy?" His reply - "I don't know." So, looking elsewhere, some other person defined it as "love of knowledge." Ya. What I'd say on the subject is that philosophy is a field which strives to explain existence in more realistic terms than religionists who make ludicrous claims scarcely fit for second-rate comic books. And certainly The Blare Blog goes a long way in its explanation of existence together with colleagues Arthur Schopenhauer, Frederick Nietzsche, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Eric Hoffer, R. Buckminster Fuller, Richard Dawkins, Bruce, Boomer, Tha Dood and Marianne Williamson. In short it all amounts to this: existence is an illusion, albeit a persistent one (attributed to Albert Einstein), the universe is gaudy and over-stated (self attribution), nothingness occupies the bulk of experience (loosely attributed to J.P. Sartre), life is absurd but so is death (A. Camus), pain and failure are what's normal in life with pleasure and success being rare and brief (Schopenhauer), telling lies is noble when it's for the greater good (Plato). It's a big enough question to keep philosophers in work.

Thursday November 21, 2019 7:49 AM CST -- MA3 the All Digital AM Scheme
Because of declining interest in AM radio there have been efforts afoot to "revitalize" the legacy band to bring back the audience, who've become scattered by the superiority of wideband FM, satellite and streaming  radio services. The kludgey attempt at hybrid digital AM, also known as MA1, has been a costly failure for participating stations with many others avoiding the expense. Now we are hearing about an all-digital approach called MA3 and a voluntary closing of analog transmissions. All these things have been going on in the larger arena of full powered licensed AM, while the unlicensed low power campers have not ventured beyond classic analog. Lately some small-time discussions have opened about the notion of using software to put MA3 all-digital into our toy-sized low power transmitters. Is that all there is to it? Try reading this and be glad for analog.
THIS

Wednesday November 20, 2019 5:52 PM CST -- Transgender Day of Rememberance
There's a pitiful tendency for those not directly touched by senseless violence to be indifferent about it but if you want to continue as a radio station owner-operator it's important to develop sensitivity to society and the people in it. We learn that in 2019 over 22 transgender people in the U.S. have been murdered simply for their legal and harmless preference. It would be like killing radiots (people who love radio). There's no justification for it. I am against the death penalty, but in the case of these murderers it would be nice if they disappeared and we could be indifferent about what happened to them.
Story Behind This Day of Rememberance

Wednesday November 20, 2019 3:16 PM CST -- Health and Homelessness
Being homeless might be somewhat manageable for the healthy, but it doesn't work that way in real life. A very significant number of America's homeless lost their living accomodations precisely because of career-ending health problems that drained their finances. A surprising number of homeless thought they were in control while they were employed, housed, and managing to pay huge premiums for medical insurance that in the end didn't cover the larger share of medical charges that came in a flood of unexpected bills accompanied by aggressive collection agents.

After giving it a lot of thought KDX may have the solution to this crisis. Yes, it is our recommendation that every family attend medical school so they can operate medical clinics as a home hobby therefore no longer depending on insurance racketeers or land-pirate hospitals.

Wednesday November 20, 2019 8:26 AM CST -- Boomer Honored in New Yorker Cartoon
You've done good, Boomer!
Boomer is OK

Wednesday November 20, 2019 5:40 AM CST -- Railroad Days
Dates for Hinton WV Railroad Days vary each year, but KDX will manage to Celebrate with Open House at The Blare Blog.
We Take You Now to Hinton

Tuesday November 19, 2019 11:19 AM CST -- MARIANNE
Marianne
Marianne

Tuesday November 19, 2019 7:06 AM CST -- November 19th is World Toilet Day
The United Nations has declared.
Toilet Day Declaration

Monday November 18, 2019 3:56 PM CST -- Radio Portal at Wikipedia
Radio Portal

Monday November 18, 2019 1:51 PM CDT -- New Categories & Holidays
Starting this week the Blog Cover Contents page will bring two new Offshoot Categories: Micro Grids and Radio Resources. Also, Nathan B. Stubblefield Day has been added for November 22 and George Washington Carver Day will soon be added, pending determination of  an appropriate date. It seems that Carter's birthday is unknown. February 7th is Peanut Butter Day for its inventor Mercellus Gilmore Edson a Canadian chemist. Over the years I'd always heard that G. W. Carver invented peanut butter but our research led to what we present here. July 10th is Nikola Tesla Day. We also want to add a day to commemorate Edwin H. Armstrong's invention of Wideband FM.
Nathan B. Stubblefield
George Washington Carver
Peanut Butter
Marcellus Gilmore Edson
Nikola Tesla

Sunday November 17, 2019 11:44 AM CST -- Unseen Worlds
The Blare Blog falls into the category of unseen words except for our readership of under ten of the the smartest people in the seen world. Unseen worlds are another thing altogether with so many otherwise fine individuals coming to the wrong interpretation of what they experience, read, are told and believe. Only this morning on the Stuph File with Peter Anthony Holder his guest erroneously claimed there's a spiritual world apart from religion whereas we know with absolute certainty that spirits and spirituality are the very definition of religion, a realm existing only as an imaginary projection of persons badly misinformed and a by product of anti-intellectual stubborn ignorance.

Given the foregoing it would be perfectly reasonable to recognize that there are many unseen things in the world which do not rank as worlds themselves, such as air, and who could be more qualified to speak on the subject of air than a broadcaster who transmits on the air. We know full well that air has never been seen and yet it encompasses us entirely and makes a massive exploding sound when crashing back together whenever parted by a lightning bolt, topples trees and buildings when stirred to violence in a wind storm, and supports life when drawn into lungs. With all its features air might be viewed as more of a "god" then more common myths about a fatherly creator in absencia.

Sunday November 17, 2019 9:32 AM CST -- Some Reactions to the Conservative Republican Rightwing Hate Crowd
Because a 50 kW station in our town has changed hands and is going through conversion from decades of Jesus to being another rightwing hate station we have been tuning in to follow their progress and have a few take-aways about the adolescent style of this pock on radio history.

Since the incessant trashing of everything on the left-progressive leaves nothing untrampled, coupled with the do-no-wrong defensive apologetic for their right sided position, they scream open and obvious admission as propagandists by trodding on any granular gradation in their strict one-sidedness.

With that their naked nationalism and the whiteness for which it stands is a form of flat-earthing because if you take away everything beyond the borders the earth ceases to be round.

Their only achievement by conservative talkers deserving of recognition makes note of the uphill and energy depleting task of talking so much with so few talking points, sort of what is also done in 24/7 sports radio. Credit must also be given for accomplishing their idiotic task while not detectably drunk.

Saturday November 16, 2019 3:04 PM CST -- Unwitnessable Modulation Levels
We've previously talked about the Wi-Fi audio transmitter/receivers installed to shuttle our radio programs around the campus to our various AM FM transmitters (TP WIRELESS TP-WT02), and they have been excellent in their performance. There's only one issue that we have been analyzing and that is the a lack of a modulation indicator resulting in not knowing if we are under or over-modulating the microwave transmitter. The system utilizes GFSK modulation, for what it's worth to know. Setting the input level (0-30) all the way up to "30" the audio sounds possibly distorted, but that's only a subjective observation judged by human ears. Our RF Explorer Spectrum Analyzer shows the frequency rising out of the Wi-Fi activity in the 2.4 GHz band but reveals nothing about the modulation. So here's what we did: we backed its input level (arbitrarily) to "21" and the audio no longer seems distorted. Of course we went around re-setting the modulation levels of the AM FM transmitters at the receiving end, and this is how we're handling the situation.

Friday November 15, 2019 6:11 PM CST -- Genres, Categories, Formats and the Like
We have spoken frequently regarding the Genre Generator sent out by sub-carrier along with the KDX-OGG online digital radio stream, ours describing KDX as "Talk, News". We have today imagined a possibly more accurate description of what KDX is about and that is: World Affairs. Watch for it.

Friday November 15, 2019 12:55 NOON CST -- Impoochment Proceedings

Karl DX,

Thanks for access to the Executive Hallway and lounge, I had still been looking at a past page. There are about a dozen things I'd want to comment on from that, but I don't think I'll make it unless I do Twitter size responses.

I've been working on my C-QUAM AM stereo solution for my carrier current station, getting excited that there's a new Lady And The Tramp live action movie out, which put a spring in my step and propelled me toward the finish line on the stereo exciter. I love that movie, the original has been in my personal top-10 movies for years.

I took time with stereo and it works well, and it seems like a hate crime that the stereo format for AM was not used more, lots of bad decisions along the years, and unnecessary delays led to stereo not being established on AM. It works well to get the sound quality of the AM system increased. I think AM stereo should have been developed when FM stereo was.

As it is for me, C-QUAM, as a hi-fi enthusiast, is a fun hobby and technical test bed for learning mostly,

The same could be said of digital AM and FM, that if this is what stations and listeners want, it should have been been started earlier. I saw the writings of TheLeg on the Part-15 groups, and I'm not surprised that people are hacking HD Radio, the tools and knowledge are out there, and the techniques they use are common in every wireless industry that uses digital.

I see TheLeg got his thread closed, good job, an achievement, putting forth something so advanced that people can't stand it. It would be nice, though, if the man with the gavel could be proactive and cause the posting of more articles, not one that stays awake for two weeks and remains in focus at the top of the charts.

Funny joke that it's not bestiality if one is married to one's animal. I wonder what Christian churches would say to that one? Likely, 'Well, you got half of it right.' Maybe you'd score only a third right if the animal partner was the same sex as the human one.

Great stuff on your success with SDRs, I've been thinking about a KiwiSDR myself, though right now it wouldn't be so much fun to install antennas with the hard freeze.

How have things been doing with your SSTRAN transmitter, any ideas what the problem could be? You might have to do some troubleshooting, checking voltages, audio tracing. Maybe you had a lightning strike nearby?

I almost ordered an SSTRAN a few years back, but kit builders on line were saying there was a delay in getting theirs and they had to pressure the company to get it sent, so I decided to wait but he closed right after that.

Maybe the I-AM radio would be good for you, it claims to be better, and you do voice, so perfect flat audio bandwidth might not be needed.

There are also a couple of kits for small AM transmitters currently available on Ebay, when you look up "AM Transmitter" and there's the Spitfire 100 mw, which might still be available, and it's fully built, not a kit. - Boomer

Hello Boomer! we were just talking about animals. The past Blogs you'd like to respond to can be done any month even though they may date from previous months... just refer to the date and/or title of them and carry on. No need to be Twitter brief.

Your fondness for AM C-QUAM stereo is well understood and I concur that it should have become standard.

The back-and-forths about the hacking of digital radio on the two smallish forums had my attention and were very interesting, but it worried me that the patent & copyright holders take their proprietary status very seriously and might be prone to file a claim against the jolly pirates and treat them to a prison cell. We notice how slow the moderator was to catch on.

Your fractions are about right as to the effectiveness of varying combinations of bestiality, and as far as the Christians are concerned they certainly look the other way when it comes to God and the girl.

Based on YouTube videos we've seen the KiwiSDR is an excellent choice and you should start with an indoor antenna until the weather bureau gets its act together.

If only you'd managed to acquire an SSTran transmitter, they are so excellent, which reminds me of an important message I need to post... wait right here and let me get this out of the way:

IMPORTANT MESSAGE !!

THE SSTRAN TRANSMITTER KITS WERE DISCONTINUED WITHOUT A STATED REASON AND KDX SEEKS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!
THE INVENTOR OF THE AMT3000 & AMT5000 POSTED FREQUENTLY AS PhilB AT PART15.ORGY AND ALSO VANISHED FROM CONTACT.
THERE WERE SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS CONDUCTING A SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST KITS IN GENERAL AND SSTRAN IN PARTICULAR ALONG WITH PERSONAL ATTACKS AGAINST PhilB AND WE WONDER HOW CULPABLE THEY ARE IN CAUSING THE CLOSURE.
IF YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED PLEASE CONTACT FIGUREHEAD@CHARTER.NET WITH THE STORY.

The SSTran AMT5000 is working well after jiggling the input level control. We suspect that strong RF was feeding back into it from the nearby Wintenna.

The iAM Transmitter has received positive comments from several of our trusted radiots and is being strongly considered. The smaller transmitters seen on eBay have not gained our confidence.

Friday November 15, 2019 12:05 NOON CST -- Winter Fat
Animals in the wild realize that putting extra weight around themselves will help preserve body heat when the worst cold arrives, and at KDX we promote excess eating with frequent cheese & snack breaks as well as double triple main meals throughout the day. Thinking back, I recall that women of appetite made the most pleasing dinner partners because they'd be warm to be around during the holidays. Stick figure women, near starvation, seem to believe that they'll be somehow more attractive in their skeletal appearance and my only response is that supposedly attractive women should be easily available to those they attract otherwise what's the point? Brushing aside my fair criticism the stick-figure girls pose a challenge getting them to clean their plates and discover the joy of feeling toasty and blizzard-proof. Chattering teeth and shiver-shaking wrecks the spell.

Friday November 15, 2019 11:53 AM CST -- In Memory of a Newscaster in Exile
During his last days Travus T. Hipp, a fixture in the development and growth of free-form non-commercial radio, produced newscasts from his cottage in the High Desert of Nevada, heard locally on KPIG, Freedom, California, and internationally by way of the Internet Archive. KDX was part of his network and looked forward every weekday to his commentary on world events, then he died. Only weeks prior to that I recall telling Mr. Hipp that his voice would be a prime choice for readings of Mark Twain for librivox.org and he expressed his flattery at the thought. This afternoon our weekly Blare OnAir will present "A Travus Farewell" marking his passing back in May 2012, scheduled at 2 PM CST on KDX-OGG.

Friday November 15, 2019 9:01 AM CST -- Veterans' Week
The recent week began with Veterans Day and our respect for military veterans is well reflected in this link:
Veterans Link

Friday November 15, 2019 7:29 PM CST -- A Complete Guide to Impeachment Podcasts
We realize most low power radio stations only bring hit music as if the world was young and had a future, but in an alternate universe a mythical radio station might want to bring the listeners an actual glimpse of the adult world.
Impeachment Podcasts

Thursday November 14, 2019 10:18 AM CST -- House That Talks

Made the national network news.
NBC Report

Wednesday November 13, 2019 4:15 PM CST -- The Contradiction in the Room
According to authoritative sources the "forums" that once served specialized interests have become passe but not all forums realize how arcane they are, including the 4-member part15.orgy forum where a gentleman nicknamed "TheLeg" reports that the Ibiquity (IBOC) Digital Radio format is a complete failure. Because of it he intends to acquire the code so he can transmit in low power IBOC.  We believe it is noble to align with failure.

Wednesday November 13, 2019 4:02 PM CST -- Comfort Station Out of Service
The Blare Blog closes for days at a time but we wonder if possibly we should keep the light on during Climate Emergencies such as the Arctic freeze presently gripping much of North America. The Blog might be a warm place to spend sheltered hours while waiting for normal days to return. While it would be better to spend cloistered time reading books, nobodys going to do that. Perhaps The Blog is as close as most browsers will ever come to reading a book, and we do share little tiddy-bits from our book collection. Think your opinion over to us via the telepathic corridors and we'll be perceptual through remote viewing.
Deadly Cold

Wednesday November 13, 2019 11:03 AM CST -- Required Behavior
People should be peaceful.
If people are not peaceful they should be beaten, humiliated, and shot.
- C. Blare

Wednesday November 13, 2019 10:57 AM CST -- All Indications Point to a Brief Power Outage
Following a marvelous night aboard dream pillow we arrived at the KDX work station to find a blank screen. "Well, that's odd," we said, thinking back to last midnight when the computers were left running for the 1o of heat they contribute and their continuous streaming of KDX-OGG for overnight visitors. Puzzled, we explored further and realized both machines were completely turned off indicating only one thing: there must have been a power outage during the night.

Tuesday November 12, 2019 4:10 PM CST -- Call It Luck
Knowing that the forecast called for abrupt temperature drop and possible snow by 5 PM I arranged for an 11 AM errand tour to stock up on supplies. But the Arctic front arrived early and I faced snow-rain so intense that car windows were covered within seconds of being cleared and once backing out of 1 Wireless Way we noted a severe lack of visibility with windows steaming up both inside and out, so we moved cautiously. Once on the road we took maximum care to observe the road ahead and behind and by sheer chance encountered virtually no other traffic. It was noted that the few moving cars we passed hadn't the sense to light their lights and became nearly invisible in the gray. The 1-mile trip was accomplished and we dilly dallied in the food market as though on a cruise ship miles from dock. The return trip was different in that it was clearer but colder and the ground was still sloshy but in 20-minutes would turn to ice. That all happened yesterday, by the way, and today the frozen world is almost at the bottom of the thermometer. In reading about yesterday's other traffic, there were hundreds of sliding accidents and normally short trips lengthened to more than two hours. It's good to be the lucky one.

Tuesday November 12, 2019 2:45 PM CST -- Monument to Beautiful Grotesquery
At an early age a particular piano concerto captured my fascination and I adopted it as an all-time favorite, the Piano Concerto # 2 by Sergei Prokofiev. It is sarcastic, unruly, disfigured, misshapen, crotchety and malcontent. Like a clear mirror of the human soul. It is performed on this week's SymphonyCast, available free to noncommercial stations.
This Link May Expire After This Week

Tuesday November 12, 2019 8:31 AM CST -- Self Imposed Competition
It's always a matter of time before I once again bring Arthur Schopenhauer into it, but his precept on the world as will and idea is often proven in ordinary daily experience. Take coffee for example. And addiction, which is certainly a contest of will in which the individual simultaneously wants to do and not to do; the idea being to have that cup and decline it. Who cares? Oh, that depends on social intersections in process at the time, such as, uh, ok, an important meeting on essential business. Perhaps at the morning table with the wife in discussion over holiday shopping plans. Understand me, I don't have a table or a wife for that matter, so, ok, let's make it the boss at work over the question of a pay raise. Well again, I don't have a boss or a job, but maybe you get the drift. In the middle of something important you abruptly walk off leaving the conversation unsettled and when you return it's only a few minutes before you're up again and gone for another 5-minutes. Your will is being overtaken by the will to pee, brought on by the coffee, a known diuretic, which you decided to drink because of giving in to your will for a slug of java. A better idea would have been to abstain, but how many abstinences should one person endure? There's the matter of the secretary sitting out there where she could be invited to lunch when both of you know it's not about lunch at all.

Tuesday November 12, 2019 8:10 AM CST -- The Process of Younging
Fellow humans have always sought a way of becoming younger and going back in time. While those are really two different things they are intertwined as observed in the newly discovered technique of time/age regression by turning counter-clockwise while standing in place. However, so far the law of diminishing returns has kept this method of reverse aging from achieving useful results. For example if one were to spin herself counter-clockwise continuously for, let's say, a week, she would become 2-seconds younger, except that regular time would continue advancing around her and the 2-seconds would become spread over the total number of days spent spinning which would give a net age reduction of the smallest fraction of a second and be scarcely noticeable in terms of facial wrinkles or other age indicators, not to mention the setbacks brought about by skipping school or work for time spent spinning at home. There is more to be said about all this, but it's difficult writing while engaged in the act of turning.

Tuesday November 12, 2019 6:34 AM CST -- The Wrong Room
"The Wrong Room" is a new feature of The Blare Blog describing ink space where we rant about things that are wrong with the world, the radio industry, and individuals we run across and observe. In practice "The Wrong Room" is no different than The Blog was already, it's just that I like the sound of saying "The Wrong Room".

Monday November 11, 2019 4:52 PM CST -- The Difference Between Studios and Pods
For the first 100 years radio programs were produced in studios, which consist of acoustically treated rooms with microphones, tables, chairs, and plate glass walls for visual contact with the control room. Radio programs were not called "studio-casts", they were "programs" and made up the contents for ongoing "broadcasts", referring to a continuous string of programs sent over the air. The internet age has brought some changes as the production of programs has done away with old school lingo and settled on the compact term "podcast" to describe in one simple word where the program is produced, the fact that it is a program, and the intention of "casting" that program by whichever medium, be it online or over the air. So, what is a pod? The word originates in regard to the containers for legumes such as peas and beans but has taken on a number of other meanings such as: 1.) A small section of a larger office, compartmentalized for a specific purpose; 2.) A subsection of a prison, containing a number of inmates. It is that second definition that best applies to podcasts produced in the Police State of America where podcasts are surveilled to weed out all anti-Trumpers. At KDX we produce no podcasts and what few radio programs we have are completely ignored by the authorities and by the general listening public.

Monday November 11, 2019 12:40 NOON CST - Wait 'Til You Hear the One About the Unfortunate Truth
There is some benefit when the truth is funny, but certain truths are also god awful. This example of both sides of certain truths is submitted by radiot Artisan Radio.
Cried So Hard We Laughed

Sunday November 10, 2019 7:43 PM CST --
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. -- George Orwell

Sunday November 10, 2019 4:37 PM CST -- Look See the KDX SDRuno Screen
What we are seeing is the spectrum view of KDX AM 1680 in our SDR Play RSP1A Software Defined Receiver. You agree that it's very beautiful, right?
Playing with SDR Play
SDRuno in Action

Saturday November 9, 2019 8:42 PM CST -- A Radio Movie
We ran across a 1956 film about the radio business starring some of the best voices in movies. It's a strong story and happens in the offices and studios of a radio network with local affiliates and all the interchange among management and air talent.
A Great Man

Saturday November 9, 2019 6:45 PM CST -- I'm Not Superstitious But
Strange things sometimes happen with no obvious explanation. Take what just happened with the Zara Automation System on KDX. A program called "Mystery Science Theater" produced by Frederick Moe was in its last 5-minutes when the next items in sequence began playing at the same time causing two different audio streams to go out over the air and what's more we could not find a way to stop Moe's program. We deleted it from the playlist but it kept playing anyway. We hit the STOP button which shut-down the second programs that were running but Moe's program wouldn't stop. No such error has happened before in our many years of using Zara and we cannot imagine a way in which to replicate the event. But of course there is a rational and scientific answer to the situation but we are so shook up that we suspect helicopters in the sky sending disruptive commands into our electric wires or possibly the witch woman we met a few months ago who mixes potions and delivers them at holiday time.

Saturday November 9, 2019 12:29 NOON CST -- SDR Play Is Back On the Air
Here inside the Internet Building KDX AM 1680 is being received on a software defined radio SDR Play RSP1A and streamed on KDX2-OGG.
The Icecast Radio Server from KDX

Saturday November 9, 2019 11:02 AM CST - Marriage License
Bestiality is legal if you're married to the beast.

Saturday November 9, 2019 10:52 AM CST -- Ferrite Rod Loopstick Antenna Notes
We may have gone over this ground before.
Loopstick - Electronics Notes
A Loopstick That Looks Interesting

Friday November 8, 2019 10:06 AM CST -- An SDR Phase II Plan is Forming
In a burst of inspiration we know where to go from here regarding the SDR Play RSP1A Software-Defined-Radio recently placed in suspension here at KDX due to indecision about what to do about it. Here are facts that play into what we will do next - this particular SDR has one antenna input which can only be changed manually given the reality that no single antenna covers the full spectrum from 500 kHz to 2 GHz. That being true, we will employ several different antennas and periodically change the configuration featuring different portions of the spectrum at any one time. The main emphasis of the SDR will be streaming of signals received from our low power radio transmitters, eventually adding the means for visitors to tune around and hear other stations local to this area. Distinct bands will include long wave, medium wave, shortwave, FM band, and the 1 GHz region. For the two lower bands we'll install loopstick antennas outdoors with ability to physically re-aim them to favor any direction. Further, we'll want a loop good from 1.7 to 30 MHz for shortwave, and higher-band antennas yet to be determined. All this will be done under the guidance of Bruce's Radio Monitoring Station in Hartford, Connecticut, consultant. As always input from our radiots will be welcome.

Friday November 8, 2019 9:52 AM CST -- Be Ahead of Your Backups
I have long advocated for backups to all broadcast systems, from the transmitter to the computer. The purpose of backups is rapid recovery from breakdowns. A friend of mine also in the media business said that he purchased two of everything so he'd always have a spare to keep his business open in the event of equipment failure. I quickly adopted this policy and purchased a second car, second building, and started living in two states. That was before I became broke and homeless which has no backup plan. There may be some hyperbole in what I blog but finding ourselves in the year 2019 the wisdom of backing up still holds true yet we were caught again when our AM radio transmitter failed and nothing was ready to take its place. That's why today or soon, whichever comes second, we might order an iAM FCC certified transmitter. I'm going to sit here until I decide. On second thought I'll sleep on it. On third thought I'll table it except that all the tables are in use.

Friday November 8, 2019 8:05 AM CST -- Something Else Happened
KDX has been churning along for weeks, no, more than four weeks, spewing the finest website, blog and radio, until moments ago when our server abruptly stopped serving. Everything stopped all at once including the website, the radio stream, and the local network connection to our controlling computer where I was busy doing stuff. What did we do in response to the crash? Well, we did what would be expected if this were the real world; we began to make observations to assess the situation. Now it's all back up, if not backed-up as we say, but there's a lesson to be learned. And that is, no matter what we do, something else happens.

Friday November 8, 2019 4:40 AM CST -- A Message to Fellow Radiots
The main reason for this message is to tell our fellow radio enthusiasts that you are radiots. If you like radio you are a radiot. If you broadcast with low power you are a radiot. If you worship towers and mess with loops; radiot. It's one of those words that came into mind quite early in the A.M. and F.M. with outdoor temperature 24o. If I hadn't written it down right away it would have been forgotten. So this message is the Official Birth Notice of the new term: Radiot. Any other use of the the word without express permission of KDX Worldround Radio requires attribution to its coiner, Mister Carl Blare of 1 Wireless Way, Average Terrain Park, Missouri, U.S.A., a location so hidden not even the postman knows where it is.

Thursday November 7, 2019 CST -- Thrown Bone
Word from Boomer:

I had to check in when I saw on the blog front cover that there's a 'Human Girlfriend Day.' That's funny, when people think I am close to Dogs so much, sending pictures of me interacting with different pooches and I've been told I should get married to one, or why not get a human girlfriend? It's mostly fun needling between friends.

I've thought, as far back as maybe junior high that it might be a good idea to allow marriage between humans and other animals. As I think about it now, it might be seen to dirty both marriage and Dogdom. Still, there are marriage ceremonies between people and their pets, something that makes the newspapers from time to time.

So much to comment about the Blare Blog from 1910.html. I have to get to radio, I'm so close to getting AM stereo back on my station. How have you been doing at getting your station up at 1510?

Boomer

Carl Replies:
Hello Boomer, I've been reading your well reasoned contributions to one of the smaller radio forums. And of course yes, a large portion of the human public would line up for inter-species marriage licenses and KDX is in favor of it. In my experience several observations come to mind... a freelance artist I commissioned confided to me her intimate dogplay involving peanut butter, a widow said to me, "I don't know what I'd do without Minkee", her small dog, and for the flash of a moment her face registered a nearly guilty look, and finally there are Missouri politicians whose faces reveal a distinct crossbred resemblance to farm livestock.

If it's a role model you want then take Almighty God. He, a one-gendered specie of One, ventured with an underage, unmarried, engaged human girl and produced a hybrid son who, like a mule, would never progenitize but became the special friend of twelve swell guys.

As to 1510, while we do have an LPB carrier current transmitter outfitted for 1510 kHz, and a regional station on that frequency has gone silent, that station being perhaps 40-miles outside of town, the fact is we have a local station on 1490 kHz which is closer on the dial than would be preferred. What would you do?

Tuesday November 5, 2019 6 PM CST -- Tongues
Talking and Otherwise Sticking Out
A white nationalist said "dem furners comin' crossa barder oughter spik Marekin" (translation: foreigners coming across the (southern) border should be capable of speaking the English language, sometimes erroneously referred to as the "American" language).
As a cosmopolitan I believe that white nationalists should be able to speak a language.

Tuesday November 5, 2019 3:27 PM CST -- Guy Fawkes Night
The Blare Blog was closed while I happened to look around the web and came across mention that it's Guy Fawkes Night so we've opened The Blog!
Remember the Fifth of November

Tuesday November 5, 2019 2:50 PM CST -- SDR Reflections
Our SDR (software defined radio) is put away in the toy box, but after having fiddled with it for a few days we have some lingering impressions. It is a very appealing way to listen to radio because one views the entire broadcast spectrum on the computer monitor and can watch each station's relative power level and changes from day to night patterns. This way of "seeing" radio means a lot more than the silly text and 2-D still-pics on FM whadayacallit which is no more than the reinvention of old-style slide-shows which is very 50s. In fact, portable and table radios would do well to include spectrum screens on deluxe models. If you have an opinion write it on a piece of paper and recite it to the family at the Thanksgiving table.

Tuesday November 5, 2019 1:51 PM CST -- Aaron Swartz Day November 8th
Creative American internet hacktivist suicided by overly zealous prosecution.
Aaron Swartz Story
International Hackathon

Tuesday November 5, 2019 1:42 PM CST -- Thinking About One of These
One of These
It would be used with the SDR Play RSP1A for 500 kHz - 30 MHz reception. Then we'd need a 2nd antenna for 30 MHz to 2 GHz, which can be shopped later.

Sunday November 3, 2019 3:49 PM CST -- The Entertainment Hour
Yes, every week at this time we turn the microphone on our listeners and let them entertain us! Alright everybody, pause listening to us because we're listening to you! What might you have in store for us this time?

Sunday November 3, 2019 3:32 PM CST -- SDR Phase 1 Complete
It can now be said that we installed and tested a software defined radio (SDR), which was streamed on the KDX-OGG Server for several days in reception of the KDX AM 1680 signal by way of a hatchy-patchy antenna strung up on the curtain rod including two dangly Slinkys. We got as far as we're going to get at this time, not knowing what to try next, so the test is officially concluded and you won't hear about it again until we come up with a new plan. We proved the common knowledge that indoor antennas located in a computer environment are too noisy to be of much use.

Sunday November 3, 2019 12:48 NOON CST -- Nice Day Except for the Barking
I'm not superstitious but all you've got to do is let the universe know "I don't have any problems right now" and problems come buzzing around like a bunch of buzzards. I probably shouldn't put it that way because I'm quite fond of buzzards, vultures and condors, so let's say a bunch of dying bees buzzing on the ground poisoned by weed-killer from Monsoon Chemical Company. I also like bees very much and can't really speak of the chemical giant because they were a client for many years employing our skills as film-strip narrator, so we're still groping for an action word to connote annoyance. "Like a barking dog" is out of the question because we have correspondents who are more defensive of dogs than they are of humans and when you approach them with a problem like "Your dog ate my parrot" they'll say "dogs are like that - very territorial". To them it makes perfect sense that a dog would eat a parrot it's just a risk parrot owners take. Luckily I don't have a parrot. Anyway, on this otherwise peaceful morning, given an absence of trouble, our AM radio transmitter after many years of excellent stability and robust performance sounds distorted and undermodulated. It's not a problem we look forward to solving with no clue as to what might be at fault. We've naturally begun preliminary contemplation about what the problem could be. Possibly karma in some kind of diabolical payback for those things we did in a previous life which are best not talked about. So we'll let it go at that.

Sunday November 3, 2019 7:15 AM CST -- Fermentation of Thought

After days of tinkering with this new software defined radio we reached a limit and decided to stuff the whole project into a storage closet. Originally we wanted to be like the HAMs who put their slick SDRs online for the world to enjoy but we reached two stumbling blocks and began bridling. Stumble number one is the matter of learning the "how to" aspect of software/hardware; this is a very complicated project. The second stumble is the fickleness of building a wideband antenna with all its physical demands. Enthusiasm gave way to a dark cloud of pessimism and negative thinking. Yesterday we became convinced that this SDR idea was too far removed from the mission of KDX and would be more appropriate for some amateur radio hobbyist. Then along came the gudamn stupid clock mess as so-called "daylight time" jerked back to standard time shifting our negative outlook toward a different target and the SDR took on an aura of familiar nostalgia. An extra hour of sleep produced a string of dreams in which solving small problems became increasingly impossible until waking up and thinkng about the SDR brought the feel of something actually doable. We have turned in a full circle, seen our tail directly ahead, and believe we can catch up to it.

Saturday November 2, 2019 6:15 AM CDT -- Bruce's Radio Show
In addition to operating a Radio Monitoring Station on the east coast, Bruce has many radio related devices to show.

CCrane_FM1
This is my C Crane FM transmitter (version 2.0, I think) which I bought about 16 years ago, if my memory serves me correctly.
The green "triangular symbol" means that I use rechargable batteries in this - it's practical because the unit doesn't consume much energy. The green triangle helps me remember that 2 of my zillions of batteries are doing a job in the C Crane transmitter - some other radios or radio accessories have red triangles - which means - not rechargable - i.e., check the batteries often and replace before it becomes necessary. I have yet to lose a radio to the dreaded battery leakage.
The transmitter whip antenna became intermittent after 15 years of use. One day the whole thing fell off - swivel joint and all. I gave up trying to fix the whip.
I made an imitation "rubber duck antenna" with a plastic soda straw, some wire, and different colors of electrical tape. The rubber duck isn't really done - it needs a little more work. OR maybe a lot!
The transmitter "audio in" cable also became intermittent and was replaced by a straight audio cord.
The transmitter was heavily used and abused.  It was used inside and outside in all kinds of weather. It hung from a ceiling. It was carted all over the place.  These "repairs" were made only a year ago.
My C Crane transmitter was also modified to transmit mono, instead of stereo. It was done on a whim. I just took the FM pilot crystal out. Is that helpful with range? Well - SOMETIMES. That subject is beyond the scope of this little narration.
So - attached is a photo of the C Crane FM transmitter doing it's job. It is relaying audio from an ICOM shortwave receiver to an FM radio in another room in the house.
I am very glad to have this transmitter!.
Brooce
Carl's Comment -- The green triangle looks like a PLAY button for a video.

Space Patrol Walky Talky
For 3 weeks after CB day (10/25/19) here is a Radio Shack Space Patrol Walkie Talkie. I bought this one in 1973.  However, Radio Shack started making this in or around 1965.
I had another one somewhere around 1965 or 1966, but it was lost in the shuffle somewhere.
This 1973 unit is a wonderful keepsake for me.  It is pretty banged up on the outside but works OK for what it is. And what it is - is not too much!
100 mW or less of DC input power and a stone-deaf receiver.  The transmitter section has a crystal for CB channel 14 (27.125 MHz.)
The receiver is optimized (ha ha) for channel 14 but doesn't need a crystal because it is a Regen. I still had fun with the radio by using it with a random long wire antenna.
A minimalist set-up here, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much!
I was able to make contacts out to about a half mile or so with the wire antenna in those years.
Later on, when I learned about ionospheric skip, I was able to hear CB stations out to about 1000 miles away from home.  Of course, I always needed an external antenna.
Those were great memories and I'm glad I still have the radio!
Brooce

Flavo Radio
Here's the yellow and (recently acquired) orange Flavoradios.
The orange one I just received in the mail doesn't work.  But I know what's wrong with it and I think I can fix it. If not, it will still look cool.
Brooce
Carl comments: They look like travel containers for bars of soap. "Hey Millie, there's a good program on the soap dish!"

Friday November 1, 2019 7:17 PM CDT -- Wonderful Music
This performance was recommended by Bruce and presents the music of Jacob Collier with his Maro Band and the Sydney Strings.
LUA

Friday November 1, 2019 2:47 PM CDT -- The Written God
Following a conversation about love of writing I set out to show a style that's influenced how I write. These words of R. Buckminster Fuller come, not from what he wrote, but from a transcript of what he said in a free form improvised lecture:

No scholars have published refutations of my widely publicized conclusion that all of the foregoing brain-recorded, mind sorted and comprehended experiences clearly disclose an infinitely greater a priori, omnianticipatory, intellectual integrity embracing and permeating universe than that demonstrable or suggested by any known capability of any individual human intellect --nor of the integrated, cumulative capabilities of all of history's human intellects--to control total universe in such a manner as to account for all the foregoing experimentally evidenced , omni-integrated, complex behaviors of universe. Wherefore the comprehensive, superhuman, nonanthropomorphic, Universal Intellectual Integrity thus altogether manifest to man by the integrated discoveries of experimental science may be spoken of as God, for that is the most economical term thus far intuitively formulated by humanity to identify such a macro-micro, human capability transcending, anticipatory, embracing, and inspiring relationship.

-- R. Buckminster Fuller "Utopia or Oblivion: the prospects for humanity"

Friday November 1, 2019 1:49 PM CDT -- Today's SDR Progress

A second Slinky has been attached to the makeshift receiving antenna on the SDR Play RSP1A software defined radio, visibly boosting the received signal levels from local AM stations. The result can be heard by listening to KDX-OGG.
KDX Icecast Server

Friday November 1, 2019 6:17 AM CDT --MONTHLY REQUIRED SIGN ON MESSAGE
This is The Blare Blog, the Official Blog of KDX Worldround Radio operating on AM & FM under authority of FCC Rules Part 15 and Streaming the Planet from servers located in FEMA Region 7. The Blog is written by a Committee of Self-Wise Elders comprised of Carl Blare and Correspondents. The Blare Blog is politically independent, religiously disaffiliated except to the degree that large infusions of cash may influence and we regard ourselves as scientifically in touch. Anything else that might hold true may be considered held true even if it doesn't come to mind right now.



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