Friday January 31, 2020 1:08 PM CST -- Franken FM Bad says NPR

Thursday January 30, 2020 3:29 PM -- Boomer Re-Aquaints with the Low Power Blog

Lots of interesting stuff on that Low Power Blog, I've seen that site before, but it's been a few years, so it's been around. I wonder if the author is "One Of Us" from the Part-15 groups?

I liked the simple AM transmitters, like the one that uses just a CMOS IC, from Italy.

That Mosquito transmitter could be a good choice for someone who wants a starter or mid-line carrier current station in the US. Why? It has 50 ohm output (low impedance) unlike most kits that are made for Part-15 with a ten foot antenna, which is high impedance. There's no simple way to change the high impedance kits into the low impedance needed for carrier current coupling. Most carrier current couplers take a 50 ohm input, and yes, you'll need some kind of coupler to broadcast over power lines.

In the past, carrier current advocates to one Part-15 groups have stated that using a low power like 1/10th of a watt wouldn't be useful at all, only reaching a few feet down the power line. I feel that they may have been misinformed or had an unusual situation to broadcast in, because I got around 1500 feet of range along the power lines with a local level signal and 100 milliwatts.

I found that going from 100 milliwatts to 500 milliwatts (1/2 watt) didn't increase the range much at all, but that signals within that 1500 feet were stronger. The 500 milliwatts was from the LPB 5 watt transmitter feeding the LPB coupler in the Tune position. In Tune, the coupler feeds most of the signal power into a dummy load, with about 10 percent going to the output, an effect that was discovered by mistake the first time.

The Mosquito puts out one watt, so it might be a good way to get on the air without having to deal with old heavy LPB and Radio Systems units that only broadcast on one fixed frequency. Make sure the Mosquito you get has the crystal for the US channel grid, 10 khz spaced frequencies.  - Boomer

The Blare Blog doesn't know whether Radio Guy, author of the Low Power Blog, is "one of us." I am thinking maybe not.

Before my 20-Watt LPB carrier current transmitter broke I set the power way down near cut-off and used a spectrum analyzer to see that my local in-house signal equaled that of a radiating 100 mW transmitter and recieved the CC signal in the car along the power wires for a good 500-feet, although less dominant than 7-Watts, which is what we normally used.

Thursday January 30, 2020 1:52 PM -- Fallen With the Wind

Tuesday January 28, 2020 -- Aijet Pai on His Face

Tuesday January 28, 2020 8:31 AM CST -- A Low Power Radio Blog
The blog for the recreational broadcaster

Sunday January 26, 2020 8:52 PM CST -- President signs HR 583, The Pirate Radio Act, FRI Jan. 24th, 2020!

                                                                                                                                                              - Tha Dood

That so-called "president" is a very destructive character. Everybody thinks so.

Saturday January 25, 2020 4:40 PM CST -- Kompost your own web

I like the Blare Blog, where everything on your web page was done by you.

I think the mainstream web today is all about producing 'content' for the overlords at the several major web companies to sell, at the expense of your creativity. The best example in my mind would be Facebook, they all look the same.

I've used Mozilla Kompozer also, it's easy, and you don't get bogged down in writing out HTML like in the old days.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/kompozer/

I also thought that Microsoft's freebie Front Page Express was a winner, it came with Windows 98 and made simple pages fast. It's still available as a stand-alone program and will run on new Windows systems yet.

I still use HTML references and copy or type the tags, and then helper programs to check for errors. Firefox's own Web Developer tools are good for that.

Back to Quid Pro Quo.  - Boomer

Thursday January 23, 2020 2:35 PM CST -- Being Interviewed
There's a right way to be interviewed for a big job.

Thursday January 23, 2020 2:26 PM CST -- Doing an Interview
Get good at doing interviews.

Thursday January 23, 2020 7:09 AM CST -- An Optimistic Cynic
Boomer believes in what he does and how he does it.

I believe that my listeners are dying to hear the music programming on offer at my radio station, so superior to commercial offerings, a format driven by love of music, not ratings. While other stations play the same short list of songs in a tight format, they're only helping to accelerate their own demise.

I'm convinced that my 'freeform', free-wheeling anti-format would be a winner with some listeners, if only they knew about it and started to tell others, and if the rules allowed more power so the signal would reach a certain size mass of people who would talk to others, the station could become a viral sensation.

I try to not do things like commercial stations would do, the music is stays away from mainstream hits, and in fact I'm certain that some of the music my station plays had never been heard in my city before.

We also run with audio fidelity that is to a much higher standard than other stations, same as FM, no filters that make other stations sound nasal, or high levels of distortion-producing compression for 'loudness', a property of radio that is so over-emphasized by radio stations and processor equipment makers for sales, until now it's like a cult.

Do you really want to go through life listening and enduring low quality sound? Shouldn't everything be the best it can be? People have forgotten good sound, as they listen on tiny speakers on their telephones at levels that are far past overload.

My hope is the station will set a high quality example that would bring back listening on hi-fi systems with large speakers and AM-stereo listening. It may not turn into a revolution, and why do it? Some things just have to be done, and to the level of excellence. That's how I feel today at the emotional level.

That's nothing compared to how I felt on my first broadcast after I built a transmitter kit. The signal was strong and wide on radios in the house, and I thought every neighbor would be listening right away, I felt naked and exposed. I thought I had the power, and don't think I stayed on for too long. It felt like stage fright.

As for Radio Survivor, I run that every week and have been since they started the show a few years ago. I'm not so worried about the FCC picking on Part-15 stations because of the new P.I.R.A.T.E. Act. I'm probably not in one of the cities they will be looking in, but I might feel differently if my city was on the watch list.

We've seen that a Part-15 station can do more by putting effort into a good signal, playing what people need to hear in the area, and promotion of it as a resource that is part of the community. It would be nice to have a station on a main street that has a lot of fun little shops that could be promoted.

There's also the captive audience, communal living and institutions like nursing homes that would benefit from a Part-15 station even more, because they are closer to the small signal. I think of the station that was part of the drive-in theater nearby, it may have had hundreds of listeners on movie nights!

I like the blog format you have, and even more that it's on your own personal website, where anything you put on the screen is not guided by some large corporation's idea of how it should be placed. You have complete control, which most folks don't have today, using pre-fab sites intended for the masses.

I like Wolfgang's Montage with Kestrel bird in a very gnarled looking tree.

- Boomer

Carl makes a few retorts...
Boomer, your opening line claims that "your listeners are dying" and perhaps that explains what happened to my listeners, of which I have none. Holding a strong belief in your brand of radio programming is the reward and fulfillment brought by the low power radio hobby and it sets a strong example for others who might labor with uncertainty. In fact your confidence is what salesmanship is built from.

The episode of Radio Survivor all about the Pirate Radio Act should be heard by all stations with any fear of being falsely accused because guest John Anderson does an excellent job of placing things in perspective.

Regarding this Blog and website... we agree that there is a commercial look forced on customers of packaged web services. When KDX began in 2007 we were subjected to the building blocks provided by a company called Internet Solutions and I did not love it. I should say that the overall service provided by that company was entirely professional but what we are saying is that the stylized website authoring software was not pleasing as to its shoe-store-like swirliness (maybe my worst sentence ever). Fortunately our experiment in opening an independent site powered by the free Mozilla KompoZer software has put us in better control.

Wednesday January 22, 2020 3:04 PM CST -- The Pirate Radio Act On Radio Survivor
The Radio Survivor radio program welcomes Media Professor John Anderson to discuss the recently passed Pirate Radio Act (U.S.)

Tuesday January 21, 2020 3:22 PM CST -- Next Chapter in the DIY EAS Project
Before switching you over to Tha Dood for the latest on his experiments in EAS, let me tell you what is missing in Blare Blog coverage of this project. This idea of building a do-it-yourself low power hobby version of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) receiver for use by a low power station had its beginnings on two forum sites and eventually switched to The Blare Blog right in the middle of the story. Therefore what we lack on the Blog is the opening description of what it's all about and we don't have the schematic drawing that's being discussed. Now on to Tha Dood:

Back to the WX Radio to Ye Poor Man's EAS project. I've done a few MOD's to mine internally, the big one being the audio tap. I actually have a leftover 1/8" audio socket, with circuit re-router in it, and mounted that near the speaker. (Above the NOAA logo.) The next PIC, you can see what I did. There's actually a fair amount of room in these radios to do stuff. I've also grounded the master crystal case to chassis GND and added more filter capacitors where a through-hole LM7805 use to be in the older unit, next to the SMT one. What I am working on right now is a transformered wallwart power source for both the radio and the switchover audio relay. Reading some of the eham.net reviews on the Midland weather radios, one of the biggest bitches is that the accompanying switching wallwart is just too RF noisy. And it is too!!! Testing with a transformered 9VDC wallwart, there's no more white noise hash, and Charleston, WV's 162.400MHz come in in the basement on the bench. Not at all with the switching power supply. Hmmmmmmmm....

Tuesday January 21, 2020 3:42 PM CST -- Black Dogs

Tuesday January 21, 2020 8:04 AM CST -- Shape Searching
Shape shifting comes easily in the digital online world. A few keystrokes can convert nearly anything into anything else. But what if we don't know what shape to take?

Right now we are shaped like a blog with every intention not to become a forum, which we have learned does not fit the objective of what we are trying to accomplish.

We come to a fork in the discussion pathway with one branch leading to the question of forums and the other is the matter of what we hope to accomplish. Let's take them in order.

Over several years we have followed several forums and have come to realize their various flaws. The information shared among participants is of dubious quality dependent upon the authenticity of the best informed vs. those inclined to present misinformation whether wittingly or unwittingly; what useful submissions are shared inevitably pass down the sinkhole of time and become lost in an uncollated digital sea; the width and breadth of conversation is stultified according to the intellectual biases of forum moderators.

As to what we hope to accomplish here in the flexibility of our own webspace: as a radio station operating under authority of FCC Rules and Regulations Part 15, a form of service requiring no license, it is important that our legality be widely understood not only by the general public but especially by law enforcers who are being armed against an outlaw class of unlicensed broadcasters nominally referred to as "pirates" with felony charges subject to large fines and incarceration. The matter of being "legal" and "innocent" by virtue of little known rules is not the easy defence it might seem; we have come to reside in a police state where the law is a powerful adversary and "innocence" requires an extremely costly challenge in a court of poorly qualified judges and jurists. The antiquated idea of "jury of peers" is a lie.

All of that goes only to describe one message we hope to disseminate and it poses the problem that the message needs to reach the totality of a general audience and is only wasted on peers in radio society who are already aware of the precarious state of things. Therefore neither forums nor blogs are expected to be effectual for us given the magnitude of the problem at hand.

Before we get to the more pleasant and educational elements of our "shaping" it is perhaps wise to set this first priority.

Sunday January 19, 2020 11:20 AM CST -- Space Force Uniforms
Space... where the forest can't be seen because no trees.

Sunday January 19, 2020 7:06 AM CST -- Fool Yourself
Almost all of the low power radio owner/operators we've come across feed their transmitters with popular music formats while professing their belief that this particular music is what listeners want. These "listeners" are believed to be the people and their radios who will magically "find" the beloved music otherwise "missing" from the dial because the larger (licensed) stations program something else which is less in demand. It's a fantasy that ties the small stations into a "community" that "needs" this music and becomes thereby "fulfilled" making the smalltime owner/operator a genuine benefactor. The feeling that what one does is "well received" by an imagined "fan-base" is known to psychologists and philosophers as "solipsism", the sense that personal experience is projected from one's self and everyone else in the world exists based on one's recognition of their existence. By being able to conjure an ideal audience into existence it is a small further step to mold them as listeners-in-waiting, hungry for and receptive to your music. So long as this mental image can be sustained the small radio station is necessary to the local scene.

Viewed clinically by an outside observer a more blunt and less romantic reality is found: the music loving broadcaster is, in essence, broadcasting to himself and normally overrates the importance of his particular taste in music. In truth the physical space reached by the weak transmitter's signal consists largely of empty yards and roads, what few houses likely able to receive a useful signal are most probably engaged in more typical indoor activities, rarely including radio listening.

Saturday January 18, 2020 7:21 PM CST -- Women's March 2020

Saturday January 18, 2020 6 PM CST -- Art from the Worldround Radio Gallery

Friday January 17, 2020 4:38 PM CST -- Dangerous Conditions
Drips are trinkling from the dark gray fog and freetzing glaze is slickening the roadways while Blare OnAir reaches invisibly in search of radio receivers and out the wireways on frozen streams toward global destinations with a show we did in Febrewary 2017. At that time I was delved into a deep study of the FCC rules pertaining to special emergency authority to place transmitters on the air and operate outside of usual limits and the closer we got to a clear understanding the more categories and caveats opened until we proved beyond recovery that we don't know and may never know because emergencies are sudden and abrupt but comprehending the rules is not achieved by reading them. Also on this program we give away a free cat fight.

Friday January 17, 2020 1:31 PM CST -- Impeachment proceeding into cardboard news media

I want a President Donald Trump standup! Seriously, that would be funny. I also see they have 'Chewbacca' cardboard figure as well, if I had a choice I'd probably want Chewie more. I actually posed with a Chewbacca that was in the window of a novelty store at a mall a few years ago.

I'd like something like that in my living room, it would be a lot of fun. I tried to get "Paula" the polar bear from local supermarket, she was a 5 foot high standup with a real image of a polar bear, with hooks that held 'Polar' insulating bags for food. I asked staff several times, if they were going to toss Paula, if they'd save her for me, but no dice, I guess I would have had to place my request at a higher level.

I can see a Trump standup right in your radio room, his guidance making all of your broadcasts better again.

- Boomer

I'd be uncomfortable having a figure standing around but my broadcasts could stand getting better again.

Friday January 17, 2020 10:38 AM CST -- Great Writers On Music

Friday January 17, 2020 10:09 AM CST -- Noir Views & Pre-Views # 6
There've been a few movies we haven't stopped to review but with today's winter weather we have snacks, indoor heating, and a look at the 1934 flick Gift of Gab starring Edmund Lowe and Gloria Stuart. It starts on the street with a sidewalk sales team first spitting brown tobacco juice on innocent passers by with a salesman conventiently on the scene demonstrating stain remover which has the small side-affect of putting holes in fabric. A policeman comes along running the salesmen into a nearby building which turns out to be their next career opportunity because it's the studios of radio station WGAB where a sequence of going in and out of rooms lulled me into a deep morning nap at the control desk of KDX where I later awoke and wondered why minstrel singers were performing on the news program "Loud & Clear" but of course it was the movie where I was able to see the hero parachute down to a plane crash scene while doing the world's first live broadcast from a parachute and moments later marry the WGAB program director live on the air. During the time I was asleep there were cameo appearances by Boris Karlof, Bela Lugosi and Andy Divine, names we may know from a more recent movie era. It was a silly movie and completely free of the blood and destruction of more modern motion pictures.

Thursday January 16, 2020 12:05 NOON -- Keep Him With You

Thursday January 16, 2020 6:22 AM CST -- Whooooooops!!!!! Already see mistakes in the Ye Poor Man's EAS!

Look at the relay audio connection.
Amazing what ya see when ya take a 2nd look at something. And, this is now after work, with a snack and a hot drink, before me now. I've got the audio connected ass-backwards on the relay. And, other revisions that I want to do, but at least I now have a template to start, correct, re-correct, re-re-correct, then build from.
- Tha Dood

Tha Dood, hate ta tell ya but... emergency's over!

Wednesday January 15, 2020 7:02 PM CST -- Rough Draft of Ye Poor Man's Emergency Alert System. Tha Dood

Yeah... A very Rough Draft indeed, but coming together is the idea of using that Midland WR120 Weather Alert S.A.M.E. alarm radio to automatically switch over the audio to the Weather Radio audio, then back again when the alert is over. I still have to determine a few things, like the value of the Holding CAP on the base of the 2N 3904 transistor and if I need to add any RFC's, (Radio Frequency chokes.), to the switching circuit, or even diodes to the relay coil and the audio circuit. The diode in the audio would be to limit that siren audio alert blare. Like I said, preliminary for sure, but a start.
- Tha Dood

Carl's Smartass Remark:  The Poor Man is not entitled to Emergency Alerts. They are intended only for the very well off.

Wednesday January 16, 20204:03 PM CST -- Windows XP Issues

Hi Figurehead,

I too like Windows XP for its sound system, it seems to be stable and I can work out issues on it well. Windows 2000 is also good as well, and takes fewer resources than XP is supposed to.

With the audio programs I use, I've been able to get Windows 7 to work, after looking up some of the functions needed, like restoring the fader for 'What-U-Hear' in the mixer panel.

I haven't had much experience with Windows 10 and running the usual radio-audio programs on it, but it's more of a bear going by what others say. One of the big problems for keeping a radio station running is 10's hunger for updates followed by an automatic restart. There's a way to delay the updates indefinitely, and then choose manual restart, but I haven't tried this so far, not having embarked on a Windows 10 radio automation setup so far.

I like what Tha Dood has been doing to work out a method to achieve an emergency alerting system that Part-15 stations can use. Dood and The Legacy are probably the only ones out of all of our radio comrades who have picked up the gauntlet for EAS.

- Boomer

Wednesday January 15, 2020 11:45 AM CST -- We Should See It Before We Bomb It to Hell
The daffy President of the United States made an uprovoked attack against the far off country of Iran and may have triggered a war that could spread into the Third World War. From the depths of our ignorance perhaps we should visit the place we may soon destroy. This train trip is made possible by Duetsche Welle in cooperation with YouTube and the last mile provided by The Blare Blog:

Wednesday January 15, 2020 11:31 AM CST -- Put You To Sleep. Wake You Up. Wake You Way Up.

Monday January 13, 2020 6:47 PM CST -- There
After days buried in a mire of computer haze and maze the 2nd KDX Digital Radio Station is now test streaming from our Icecast Server. It will run as KDX-MP3 for a few hours in the test mode and later probably this week will launch with regular programming.

The strong impression we have about Windows audio properties is that the XP Operating System contains a more straight forward readily manageable access to the audio hardware, and by contrast the Windows 7 audio system is intentionally crippled so as to prevent the user from getting everything out of it, perhaps to force him to purchase 3rd party software and hardware to "buy back" the features once easily available but now concealed.

The hookup we have is this: Zara v 1.6.2 is rolling out the audio playlist through Virtual Cable 1 and on into Stereo Tool for processing, out Virtual Audio Cable 2 into B.U.T.T. Stream Encoder which ties to the LAN to get the signal past the router into the XP computer and to the Icecast Server which also carries KDX-OGG. For the test KDX-MP3 is not reaching the public directories but is obtainable from this website.

Monday January 13, 2020 1:32 PM CST -- Tha Dood Publishes Chain News Letter
Some of the points of view expressed in the following comments are not necessarilly the points of view held by The Blare Blog and its radio conglomeracy but without reservation The Blare Blog believes that free people can hold and express any point of view even if it could stand revision which probably would happen eventually given the passage of time and the normal maturation of viewpoints with the occasional failure of a few to evolve but that's nature's problem and The Blog has nothing to do with it. What I have just said may not apply.

---

Monday January 13, 2020 1:15 PM CST -- Traffic At the Brooce Coffee Maker


Monday January 13, 2020 12:54 NOON CST -- Good News from Saint Leo Florida
John Mouw oversees WLSL-LPFM serving Saint Leo Florida with an eye always on promising and upcoming radio talent in other markets. For some time he has been following a Deltaville, West Virginia, radio station operator by the name TheLegacy who issued this Manifesto:

The Legacy is happy to be serving Deltaville with a fine signal on 1640 Khz AM. We are starting to get signal reports and I think that our improvements that we made on January 3rd paid off. Working on our antenna system diligently took quite some time but we now have a good strong coverage right to the Deltaville Market and in some cases depending on your car radio or Home Radio you'll hear it further than that during daylight hours.

Now for the folks who are not familiar with album-oriented Rock let's talk about some of the bands you'll expect to hear. Of course you will hear Creedence Clearwater Revival, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Gratefully Dead, Uriah Heep, Queen, Rush and I'm talking the old Rush as well but we also have some great surprises such as David Wilcox which is a boogie and Blues type Rock band from Canada. The Perpetrators which we think you'll enjoy quite a bit they don't get a lot of commercial air play but don't be fooled they are a good Rock band. Old favorites like Fever Tree which you don't hear too much anymore. We dig deep into the archives and help you to ReDiscover the album Rock that have been blocked since 1984.

we are on 1640 kilohertz AM but don't be fooled AM radio does not have to sound like you're talking through your nose or does it have to be staticy and it's not all talk radio. many hobby broadcasters have been broadcasting on AM for quite some time between the frequencies of 1620 and 1700 kilohertz unbenounced to the general public because of course the industry would rather not talk about that. Come and discover Deltaville biggest secret and break free of the shackles of top 40 in rap along with all the commercials that you will hear on regular radio every third or fourth song with 5 to 10 minutes of commercials. We do have public service announcements that lasts about 4 minutes per hour and on the internet side it plays commercials but on the internet side we have to pay for our servers.

Soon we will be looking to put up signs in areas around Deltaville but we have to find people that are willing to allow these signs to be put up I did find a few places that might allow us to put some signs up these are little signs about the size of a realtor sign. We want to be able to serve Deltaville with some quality rock radio so tell your friends about us and check us out.

This is nothing if not inspiring! Patrons of the Deltaville Market have the benefit of radio to accompany their shopping so long as they don't actually go into the store where the signal is attenuated by thick walls.

Monday January 13, 2020 12:43 NOON CST -- Tiny SD Memory Card
In a previous posting Brooce was talking about a $20 radio with a sound card. Now we can view the tinyness of that card.

Here it is: -- Brooce

Monday January 13, 2020 12:18 NOON CST -- National Lampoon Radio Hour Returns

Monday January 13, 2020 10:06 AM CST -- Cheese Break After This Quicky Briefing
Busy here at Worldround Radio with our second streaming radio station set to launch this week, the non-public status of The Blare Blog is very active and we'll be posting a lot of new reports from our correspondents from all over the continent, the control room is being greatly improved while in constant operation which is kind of like fixing an airplane engine while in flight, the weather here in the midwaste took a brief wintery dip with 1/4 inch of snow but springlike conditions are rapidly returning. We seem to be in a fortunate geographic pocket where climate change is actually favorable to human living.

Podcasts are on the mind not only because we often regard them as no different than packaged radio programs, but because this morning alone both the No Agenda show as heard on KDX and PODCASTNEWSDAILY, an insert of INSIDERADIO magazine, called attention to the proliferation of podcasting in the present day.


Talking about podcasts brings to mind my long held future vision of radio, wherein I foresee all households operating their own personal in-home radio station exactly as we and our correspondents are doing which places the choice of programming in the hands of listeners and that is exactly what is taking place with podcasts, except that the bulk of listeners today have not embraced traditional AM/FM radio transmitters as a way of disseminating the program stream in their habitat but employ a whole new generation technology in the way of Wi-Fi and SmartPhones. What we want to see is a wholesale public awakening to the final crown of their media sovereignty by the adding of low power radio to their entertainment ensemble.   

There's no reason to give up but one should always be ready to do so.

Sunday January 12, 2050 9:55 AM CST -- Save You a Trip to Church
It being Sunday and all I would like to deliver one of my spontaneous sermons if you will just have a seat in the pew. Many have sat there, which is why we call it that.

We've always been told, believe in yourself. Yet, no matter how hard we try, there are lingering doubts. No man can sustain in self-confidence by himself alone. What we must do, is persuade others to believe in us, and when they do, turn to them to re-assure you about yourself. In this way, by establishing a wide-spread admiration society, you will know the splendor that comes with imagry, as the image of God you have been told to be. Awomen.

Go in peace and leave something in the bucket on the way out.

Saturday January 11, 2020 5:20 PM CST -- Texas Border Radio Tower Under Air Assault

Saturday January 11, 2020 5:01 PM CST -- Another Philosopher to Explore
Something Boomer said the other day:

As for looking at the words of Aristotle and Plato, you ought to check in on Diogenes, from the Cynic school of philosophy.

Cynicism is good! We will search Diogenes!

Saturday January 11, 2020 4:21 PM CST -- Aristotle Wasn't Done Talking About Music
He said:


Saturday January 11, 2020 1:04 PM CST -- Odd Problem Has Things at a Standstill
Yesterday we blogged about our plan to open a 2nd streaming radio station but decided not to go about it as was described because the stacking of so many applications would possibly overburden the CPU on that computer.

So, we have begun setting up a separate computer with Zara, Virtual Audio Cable, and all the software pieces but need to change settings in the Virtual Audio Cable Control Panel and it won't let us because it thinks we have an audio application running. We've spent an hour trying to turn off the mystery audio app that's blocking progress but cannot find it. The computer's sounds are turned off, Zara's off, Stereo Tool off, and we've run the "cleaner" and restarted but cannot get past what we've nicknamed "Trump's Wall". I tend to get obsessed over problems like this so will be devoting the next year to figuring it out.

Saturday January 11, 2020 12:33 NOON CST -- The Drive-In Movie Critic
Artisan Radio told us about Joe Bob Briggs and we've now seen several of the reviews on YouTube and absolutely enjoy them. The first one we happened to see was a review of TV preachers (not drive-in stuff, but very well researched). But of course we're talking here about the "Drive-In Movie Reviews" so here's the last one done on the Movie Channel:

Saturday January 11, 2020 8:37 AM CST -- More Joe Bob Briggs

His reviews of drive-in movies have been collected into two books, "Joe
Bob Goes to the Drive-In" and "Joe Bob Goes Back to the Drive-In".

At least one of them (and possibly both) can be found in the Open
Library at Archive.org.  - Artisan

Friday January 10, 2020 5:01 PM CST -- Other Movie Reviews of Note
Artisan by cellular:


Yes I'd like to see how Joe Bob Briggs reviews.

Friday January 10, 2020 4:51 PM CST -- Wide Screen Radio
In an earlier slot Boomer shared: I sometimes play movie soundtracks on my station, and with that I mean the actual audio from the movie itself. That mimics the effect of what I heard living near a drive-in movie theater, and going past it at night, I'd tune the radio in to the AM frequency with their movie sound, and listen to the dialog without seeing the picture for a short time, as an interesting curiosity. Perhaps someone in passing will think that there's a movie showing nearby.

Great thinkers are like-minded, but I'm only talking about Boomer and me... What you say recalls an experiment from last year when KDX carried full soundtracks from public domain movies and although I'm always impressed by anything I do, I seriously thought it was a good listening experience.

Also we house a disk library of over a thousand soundtrack albums but cannot play them on the station for royalty reasons. Once at 3 o'clock in the middle of the night we played one but the statute of limitations hasn't run out so that never really happened.

Friday January 10, 2020 3:13 PM CST -- Noir Views & Re-Views # 5
The picture this time is No Marriage Ties from 1933 picked at random. Morse code emanates from the screen with the imposing tower atop the spinning earth and the brand spells out: A Radio Picture.

Newspaper man Bruce Foster (Richard Dix) is about to be fired for being drunk in a bar when he should have been covering a story and frankly I found his drunk act unconvincing. I can do it much better. Even more incredible was how Peggy Wilson (Elizabeth Allan) gravitated to him herself being out of place in her sobriety. But she later credits Foster with being a "charming drunk" and that's a thing, I've known several of those and I have tried to be one, so we followed along as she got him safely home and the story picks up. Soon Foster had a new job with an advertising agency and does so well he makes it to the top and is able to drink on the job in his office with a magnificent roll-out bar the size of a theater organ.The movie keeps getting better and everybody is doing swell until a second woman Adrienne Dean (Doris Kenyon) enters the scene and although both women are especially intelligent and understanding Foster manages to hurt both of them and the usual doors and windows with Foster giving a grand speech about advertising but ending up back in the bar where the movie ends. There are no animals, guns, children or car chases. On a scale of 1 to 37 I give it a 37.

Friday January 10, 2020 10:43 AM CST -- ReOpening a 2nd KDX Stream
Many radio stations employ Zara V 1.6.2 as their Program Automation System and may have noticed that in addition to the Main Playlist, Zara includes 2 or 4 Auxiliary playlists with their own outputs for running several streams simultaneously. Not long ago KDX used Auxiliary 1 to send a second stream over KDX-AAC, and this rainy weekend we plan to re-instate that service.

The Main Channel Playlist from KDX-OGG is manually programmed throughout everyday adding recent programs as they're made available. At all times "someone is on duty" setting up the playlist.

KDX-AAC will be fed by a repeating loop of programs which will be updated every few days with a whole other set of programs.

We are inspired to undergo this expansion by the very small listener numbers connecting to KDX-OGG. We are sure that KDX-AAC will greatly increase the number of people who aren't listening.

Friday January 10, 2020 8:10 AM CST -- Ideas and Other Brain Products

Hi Carl Falcon in flyover country,

The article on AM radio being dead had a reply from someone who said AM radio is still being listened to in flyover country. I don't even know why people write articles like that, I guess they're struggling with the notion that AM is dead themselves.

I hope that the ALPB can continue in one form or another, I've always liked the idea that it's more than a forum, it has the site presence too, with tech resources, programming and the Teamspeak chat line, all things that other sites don't have. A founding member of the ALPB is supposed to be coming back, as read on the MBC Forum.

I've noticed that the same topics and opinions come up on the forums also, and it seems like we have selective memories. I've done it myself, responding to a topic with the same anecdote, and not remembering that I posted it before. Some of it might be in the nature of forums and the ways they're consumed. Forum setup focuses on the latest posts and their replies, brought to the top, like it's top-of-mind info, while older and less popular posts drift down to the bottom and get forgotten.

I've seen some blogs that may use an algorithm to add links to posts that covered similar topics in the past, and I like that reminder, I can see, for example, 'That's right, we did talk about long ground leads before, I plum forgot!' That could help with forming a big picture of a site or forum's topics, and give new members crawling the site an idea of what's been discussed.

I liked the descriptions of the different types of radio station programming and music types on the Blog.

I sometimes play movie soundtracks on my station, and with that I mean the actual audio from the movie itself. That mimics the effect of what I heard living near a drive-in movie theater, and going past it at night, I'd tune the radio in to the AM frequency with their movie sound, and listen to the dialog without seeing the picture for a short time, as an interesting curiosity. Perhaps someone in passing will think that there's a movie showing nearby.
- Boomer

Maybe someday The Blog will be made into a movie. But how can people "drive in" if they're flying over?
I listen to AM radio. How else would I know how bad the programming is?

Friday January 10, 2020 7:46 AM CST -- Dyngus Day

Eh???? Um, Carl??? - Tha Dood

The Blare Blog is into young Polish chics and those with past youngness experience which varies by state.
Sorry to hear you grew up in bowels.

Friday January 10, 2020 7:37 AM CST -- The Sayings of Chauncey L. Fitzkilpatsky


Friday January 10, 2020 7:23 AM CST -- Internet Archive Digitizing Vinyl
The Internet Archive is making full albums available online
Thursday January 9, 2020 2:46 PM CST -- We Pause for Interruption
Tha Dood wishes your attention please:
Pirate Radio Act Passes Senate? Really??? Why??? Oh yeah, lobbyists! Tha Dood
Huh??? I thought that the senate was too gun-ho with impeachment crap to even care about this,   https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,62153.0.html
- Tha Dood

Thursday January 9, 2020 1:39 PM CST -- KDX Slogan Today


Thursday January 9, 2020 1:21 PM CST -- Top 10 Rules for New Improved Original ALPB
The True and Only ALPB inherited from the Late Jim Henry hereby adopts David Lynch's Top 10 Rules for Success. Our Real and Only ALPB may be dormant, but we're not! How do you feel?

Thursday January 9, 2020 11:49 AM CST -- Clank! Clank! The Bell is Dead!
So, too, is AM radio, according to Robert Lee writing in Radio Ink. We realize this article is from March 19, 2019, but nothing has changed since then, right?

Thursday January 9, 2020 10:58 AM CST -- Brooce Tunes In
Brooce has found that listening to Disperse Dispatch evenings from KDX is cool.

(Hi Uncle Carl!)
Radio in kitchen listening to KDX Coffee? Meet your maker!

Thursday January 9, 2020 8:47 AM CST -- You've Got to Be Kidding
A fellow on a forum site said, "The noble approach of the HobbyBroadcaster forum is what makes it notable and reputable, and consistently active."

"Noble?"

What we have noticed over time on these forums is that no matter what is said and whatever gets reported, the regular crowd doesn't absorb and retain any of it and come back later with comments that totally belie what has taken place. It literally makes posting facts and information a pointless excercise kind of like talking to furniture.

Thursday January 8, 2020 7:45 AM CDT -- Blogalution In Progress

IAQ (Infrequently Asked Questions)
Q.  What is it with The Blog?
A.  The Blog is evolving into 2 separate parts. One part will be open to the world public, the other part will be private viewing only for our correspondents, trustees, confidants and elites.
Q.  What's the reason?
A.  The Open Blog will contain news about KDX and Other Part 15/Low Power News of general interest including technical, programming and miscellany. The Closed Blog will be inside gossip, rumors, exposes, gripes & dirt.
It will be the conscious and unconscious; outside job / inside job; public business & none of their business.
Q.  Does all this have anything to do with the ALPB?
A.  The Real and True Original ALPB with Carl Blare Chairman is a dormant hobby organization which has no purpose at the present time. But it's landed in our hands and we'll tend to it..
Q.  What is meant by "our"?
A.  The ALPB was founded as a membership organization. When Bob Fwordly did his hostile takeover he declared that it was "his", which constitutes a theft. Since the true ALPB is in our care it remains a membership organization but with no actual members. During the days ahead we'll be holding two sets of Hearings: 1.) Motion to Impeach Bob Fwordly and Formalize Separation from the Faux (fake) ALPB; 2.) Discussion on Dormancy of the True ALPB.
Q.  Why bother with all of this?
A.  Well, you've got me there.

Wednesday January 8, 2020 5:42 PM CST -- Some Numbers
According to Michael Moore on his new podcast there are over 700,000 podcasts being produced with new ones starting all the time. We take it that he means audio podcasts. In a related mention from This Week in Radio Tech 80% of what's being produced online is video. In our experience at KDX the sound portions of many video productions work well as radio offerings.

Wednesday January 8, 2020 10:00 AM CST -- The Ancient Philosophers
We have been sharing some of the thoughts of Aristotle, now we turn to Plato:


Wednesday January 8, 2020 7:12 AM CST -- The Sayings of Chauncey L. Fitzkilpatsky


Tuesday January 7, 2020 7:23 PM CST -- Brooce Sends Word
Brooce listened to the clock broadcasts that go out all night on KDX-OGG and is beginning to find it pleasant. The clock is a cheap imitation of WWV with me saying what minute it is. The clock provides an alternative to George Noway and Shore-to-Shore AMFM.

Tuesday January 7, 2020 7:17 PM CST -- Boomer Back
Out of town company finally went back where they came from and Boomer is back to what he mainly wants to do, writing to The Blog:

Hello Today,
I like the reviews on film noir, and want to look in to more of those movies. I sure did like Across The Bridge, a movie with a Dog that I hadn't known about (which The Blog told Boomer about).

This past weekend a friend was in town, so it was less time for the net, and I have to get started again.

- Boomer

The Noir Re-View viewing was a good suggestion and we recently saw four non-noir films which will not be reviewed, but there'll be more noirs coming soon.

Tuesday January 7, 2020 5:34 PM CST -- ALPB ReOrganization Talking Points
Artisan Radio is about to deliver comments about the salvaged Original ALPB (Association for Low Power Broadcasters) now housed here at the Internet Building along with KDX:

I've attempted to come up with some talking points towards formulating a
Mission Statement for the *new* (and improved) Original ALPB, headed up
by Chairman Carl Blare.

1.  Only discuss trivial matters, something that both you and I have
been accused of on occasion.  Talking about technical stuff will offend
the programming types.  Talking about programming will offend the
techies.  Talking about rule changes and ground leads will offend everybody.

2.  We want good followers who won't question decisions made by
leadership, and worship blindly, regardless of reason and common sense. 
That will take care of most of the current Part 15 radio Forum members,
and all Trump supporters, but somehow we'll have to interest the rest of
the world.

3.  Perhaps offer snacks at meetings?  Nothing attracts the left like
free stuff.

4.  Invite celebrity members?  I wonder what Ajit Pai is doing now...

I'm sure if we put our collective heads together we can come up with a
lot more good (!?!) ideas.  - Artisan Radio

Artisan, are you sure you're taklking about the same ALPB? Let's take a snack break since you mentioned it, then return for more remarks.
Alright we're back and once again I give you Artisan Radio:

All communication should be in 'Merican.  No foreign stuff.  And
preferably using words of 2 syllables or less so that everyone can
understand.  Luckily, Can'jun is a close cousin of 'Merican, so I and
other Canadians can still be involved.

I've also been asked what might be some trivial topics for discussion. 
Well, guns are good, as well as other hobbies involving killing. 
Complaining about the FCC and existing radio stations is always a
winner, as is putting down music and programming that others may find
enjoyable.

However, no world events.  No politicians lying.  No children in cages. 
In other words, nothing about what is right (or wrong) and common
decency.  Don't want to get anyone upset, do we?  - Artisan

Let's have a show of hands.
By the way, I noticed at the hijacked website of the Fake ALPB they've deleted the rules that false-chairman Mini-Trump Bob violated, and it makes sense because a tyrant doesn't go by rules.

Lots of studies have been done as to why some individuals tend to gather
together into groups.

Some of the reasons are good, such as the desire to share knowledge.

But many are not so philanthropic, and tend to be self-serving. The
desire for status to outsiders, power, the search for self-esteem, etc.

Given this, it's not surprising that conflicts arise in many groups,
usually from, as Boomer so rightly puts it, jealousy.

Bob blamed others for leaving the ALPB the first time, but in rereading
his reasons from various e-mails, it's apparent that he was frustrated
with the group in general, and it not accomplishing what HE personally
wanted it to do.  I suspect that he expected it to fail once he left,
but instead it continued on and reached modest new heights.  He couldn't
have that, of course, and came back to put things back the way that they
were (a failing group with minimal membership).

I, and I know you as well, Carl, and your correspondents, were doing
Part 15 radio long before any of these Forums existed, and I expect that
we will continue long after they expire.

I say, let them continue on as they are and slowly dwindle away under
ego-tripping leadership (I'm not sure that I can stand the excitement of
the Shake Shack boycott).

In the meantime, the Blare Blog can and will continue to be the voice of
sanity in the Part 15 radio wilderness.

I believe that's all that we can expect. - Artisan Radio

Tuesday January 7, 2020 5:24 PM CST -- For a Little While
The Blare Blog has been unlinked from public access and until we make another change can only be reached by Private Pass Key. If you have not received your Private Pass Key please let somebody know as soon as possible.

Tuesday January 7, 2020 10:26 AM CST -- News Stories Being Reported on KDX


Monday January 6, 2020 6:56 PM CST -- Funniest Thing Ever Heard
Tonight is the monthly Mischke Roadshow and he's doing his show from a remote cabin way off in the snowy woods and is beginning to hallucinate. While walking in the snow he encounters Alex Jones! And it really is Alex Jones! Now he's been transported aboard an alien spacecraft. Strange things can happen in the wilderness.

Monday January 6, 2020 6:09 PM CST -- Michael Moore Launches Podcast
This oughta be good.

Monday January 6, 2020 5:55 PM CST -- We Were Just Talking About Moderators
Freedom of the press belongs to everyone who owns a press.

Monday January 6, 2020 1:31 PM CST -- Notes On the Margin
The Blog is delving into the Dialogues of Plato starting with these margin notes:

Sunday January 5, 2020 11:46 PM CST -- Simply Defined


Sunday January 5, 2020 9:50 PM CST -- Radio is a Messenger
Conservative right wing nationalists work to silence the messenger.
This is true on a large scale and at the smallest scale, across the micro-radio hobby organizations.
It has everything to do with why The Blare Blog speaks out while continual efforts are at play to silence The Blog.

Sunday January 5, 2020 8:27 PM CST -- Has President Dimwad Kicked Off WWIII?

Sunday January 5, 2020 1:04 PM CST -- Radio Floormats
Sunday January 5, 2020 10:29 AM CST -- Noir Pre-Views, Views and Re-Views # 4
Today we invent a whole new genre in film commentary by looking ahead at the Wikipedia movie description before watching! Will it prove to be a spoiler?

Akim Tamiroff plays an actor performing in a nameless Latin American country who is pressed into service when the president is fatally injured by a bomb. Impersonating the president, the actor balances the pleasures and temptations of office, dangerous palace intrigue, and his duty to the people of the country.

The plot is identical to the 1988 Richard Dreyfuss film Moon over Parador; both are based on a short story by Charles G. Booth called "Caviar for His Excellency".

Parts of the film were shot in Balboa Park in San Diego.

Now I'm not sure I want to watch it, another in the Lloyd Nolan collection, this from 1939. Oh heck, here goes. I'll be busy for 78-minutes. By the way, the movie is The Magnificent Fraud, a title that reminds me of Mini Trump.

11:40 AM -- Time for a breather at the half-way point in the film. At the beginning we came close to bailing partly because of muffled audio on this print from YouTube, but interest picked up and we'll see it through, but later. We left off where the man kissed the young woman who kissed him first after his earlier attempt to kiss was rebuffed and she's now run off apparantly on the brink of swooning. I wish there was a train involved.

Sunday January 5, 2020 10:10 AM CST -- Lie Detection
Some voices reveal by their tonality or pitch that they are telling lies. The vocal sounds of the Two Mikes, Vice President Pants and Secretary of State Plumpious are cases in point. When they speak the air wreaks of lie. Men of God unable to achieve "mysterious ways" in their work.

Sunday January 5, 2020 10:01 AM CST -- Impeachment Parking
Mini Trump Impeachment Hearings are On Recess but a definite decision was reached that Bob is a palindrome.

Sunday January 5, 2020 8:53 AM CST -- Noir Views & Re-Views # 3
Getting the most out of the final weekend at the end of the holiday season we made pizza and spotted a movie title that looked trainish, Sleepers West from 1941, and yes! Reminded me of that New Years Eve in the early 1980s when a co-worker joined me with a bottle of wine in an Amtrak sleeper compartment headed south. That's all you need to know about that. Getting back to the movie, here's a description taken from Wikipedia:

Shadowed by persistent girl reporter Kay Bentley (Lynn Bari), private detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) tries his best to secretly escort murder-trial witness Helen Carlson (Mary Beth Hughes) by train from Denver to San Francisco.

The main part of the picture involves going in and out of many doors getting onto and moving about in the long train with scenes in the smoker, the bar car, the observation car, the engineering cab, and of course numerous sleeper compartments. There's a suitcase of money, an icognito woman trying to get alcohol drink, the private detective with the most ridiculous scheme for escorting his witness by pretending not to be associated with her, the engineer determined to make up the late-started schedule by pouring on maximum steam,and the less interesting part where they're no longer on the train trying to get to Ogden.

Lynn Bari's voice was a whole experience in itself being well projected into the microphone wherever it was, probably an overhead boom but you never know with a movie. Lloyd Nolan stood out because right now he's got a large number of titles listed on YouTube. You could never have such an interesting story on a plane or bus.

Sunday January 5, 2020 8:42 AM CST -- Visit 1.4 MegaWatt WRMI

Sunday January 5, 2020 7:36 AM CST -- Quick Shortwave Antenna

Sunday January 5, 2020 7:07 AM CST -- Are We OK?

Saturday January 4, 2020 8:21 PM CST -- Noir Views & Re-Views No. 2
From 1932 comes Guilty As Hell which gets high marks for several stand-out features.
Like most movies the story requires a problem that needs to be solved, and this picture's problem is an immediate murder that includes the first of numerous camera gimmicks as we see the crime reflected in the perpetrator's glasses. Then comes the sound of a radio which serves as part of an alibi and we continue hearing the same radio program in another location with a view of an old cathedral style radio. There's plenty of glib banter some of which is very funny, especially the sequence where the police detective manages three or four times to trick suspects into giving conflicting evidence until he is able to gloat very proudly in a prolonged camera shot. Most amazing are scenes precursive of modern 3D where action projects right into the lens and toward the viewers face which takes place about three times in the film. In and out of doors, windows, fleeing down a fire escape, plenty of smoking and the liquor bottles in the detective's drawer kept as "evidence".

Saturday January 4, 2020 5:44 PM CST -- New World Ordure

Saturday January 4, 2020 3:41 PM CST -- Noir Views & Re-Views No. 1
At the suggestion of Correspondent Boomer The Blare Blog opens Noir Views & Re-Views based on films watched while snacking and broadcasting on the radio. Our first pick just happened to be on the top row of films when we opened YouTube, so we went to work.

The 1947 film Exposed is directed by George Blair and stars Adele Mara. The movie opens on a city scene, big stately buildings, streets abuzz with classic cars, streetcars, and pedestrians. The story takes us in and out of many doors: Office doors, revolving doors, hotel doors, car doors and house doors some of them of the streamlined art deco style. Private eye Belinda Prentice is the tallest, prettiest, smartest, and by way of having the largest office desk the most authoritative figure in the movie, daughter of the chief police crime inspector both competes and cooperates with her dad to solve the murder. Men wear suits and hats women dress for town with hats that turn their heads into giant flowers. Restaurant scenes with cocktail signs and custom music by Ernest Gold and full orchestra with extra-long fully orchestrated hand-to-hand fight scene. In the end all the characters are called into the room while Belinda offers deductive explanations of each ones' involvement arriving finally on "the only one who could have done it" and we've had our money's worth.

Saturday January 4, 2020 12:47 NOON CST -- Nothing Is Ever Perfect When You Need It To Be
A man spends years developing a formula for seducing women like collecting good romantic records which are known to cast the right spell but just when things are beginning to happen the needle reaches the end and click-clacks like a broken windshield wiper until the mood is broken. It's no different with radio music where the evening is ruined when the newscaster comes on telling what Trump just did. Alcohol is kind of a desperate measure and can result in the surprise news that you're going to have a son or daughter but don't remember what happened on the date.

Saturday January 4, 2020 12:34 NOON CST -- Shake Shack Knowledge Base
We are only first learning about Shake Shack and find that the nearest ones are in either Leawood, Kansas, or Chicago, Illinois, and still do not know why there's a movement afoot to boycott them.

Saturday January 4, 2020 9:50 AM CST -- About Cross Media Promotion
Correpondent Boomer makes note of Carl's film noir side-activity:

You could do a Blare Movies Blog about these noir films you watch, view them and do re-views, since you must have seen many of them by now.

He's right. I could.
Almost daily we watch a black & white grayscale film from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and enjoy them usually more than recently produced color movies. Those older movies opened a window to another reality in an alter-world whereas today's pictures shave too close to actual reality with fiery explosions tossed in which has become a cliche.
So maybe I will. Carl's noir picks. Ya. Ok, it's a deal!

But let's rattle on a bit about this. In days past I advised against cross-media promotion because one wants to keep his audience and not send them away. The commercial stations have rules about it. For example, if the competitor is called "radio 77" the program director posts the stipulation: "Never say the temperature is 77-degrees because it will remind listeners about the other station." Yet the same station would talk about the most popular movie now showing at the cinema without thinking that listeners might be reminded to go where the popcorn is better. Radio stations don't usually have very good popcorn. So called "community stations" flood the air with concert notices, stage plays in town and food tastings to benefit the shoeless, sending their listeners away from the dial-light. Heck, TV commercials show the best looking woman standing by a red car with the notion drivers will want the car but what really happens is that men contact the nearest woman and tune to a romantic music station.

So, will I be defeating The Blog by saying compelling things about favorite films? All I know for sure is that I might call a woman and ask if she wants to stand by my car.

Saturday January 4, 2020 9:22 AM CST -- What Exists

Saturday January 4, 2020 8:52 AM CST -- The Low Power Hour
Several fresh editions of The Low Power Hour will be produced in this new year, bringing up to date the present state of legal low power radio broadcasting in the world, visiting with people who manufacture products and those who operate stations, also becoming the electronic voice of the Original Association for Low Power Broadcasters and The Blare Blog, now occupying a card table near the supply closet in the Multi-Purpose Hallway of the Internet Building.

Saturday January 4, 2020 7:47 AM CST -- Brooce's Ongoing Lists/Comments - Radios for 72-108 MHz

Tecsun PL-310
Saturday January 4, 2019 7:30 AM CST -- Asked and Answered


Saturday January 4, 2020 7:11 AM CST -- Cat Breaks Into Prison Then Cannot Escape

Saturday January 4, 2020 6:41 AM CST -- Headache
Artisan Weekend Report:

Well, I went back over a lot of the e-mails, and now I have a headache. 
Some things are probably best left unsaid in the mists of time.

Besides, I'm not sure I want to rehash the same old stuff over and over.

I do have all my e-mails, if required.

Some may ask, why not go back to the ALPB Forum.  Unfortunately, that
can't be trusted, because, as self-proclaimed Administrator, Bob has the
ability to go in and modify/delete anything he wants. Given his
apparently unstable mental state, I wouldn't put it past him at all.

I do like the idea of you being the Chairman of a resurrected ALPB.  You
have far more right to that position than Bob.

Let's do it.  If nothing else, it'll be fun.
- Artisan Radio

Step into my office, Artisan. No wait, there's a plumbing leak in there. Let's step into your office. Listen.
The Blare Blog doesn't expect anyone to get a headache over the Bob Impeachment Hearings.
We'll be here well into the spring going over the record to document conduct unbecoming an officer of the ALPB.
You've got an opera radio station to start and we have the Original ALPB to re-organize.

You are right that Bob can delete anything posted to the Fake ALPB website, and he has eliminated most trace that we were ever there.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is going to get us all killed anyway. Breakfast?

Friday January 3, 2020 8:28 PM CST --Aristotle on Music

Friday January 3, 2020 7:13 PM CST -- Radio Lists in Progress
Brooce tells his family they'll have to wait for pizza while he works on radio list for 72-76 MHz:

Note: I just started to note a radio for this list and was IN ERROR.
Friday January 3, 2019 6:42 PM CST -- Bar Brawl on the Blare Blog
Boomer spotted his message from June 2018 in print here today seen by the world:

I came into an altercation this morning on the Blare Blog.

It's good to think about the nature of those forums. Part15 org is probably self-hosted forum software, and makes money through third-party advertising.

MBCF is hosted on ProBoards, a completely outside solution, all you have to do is sign up for a forum and link it to your site. It's 'free', as in ad supported. They earn money through ads, and now End80 has found that they're using VigLink link tracking for marketing, and they also have paid business hosting:

https://www.proboards.com/

Look under classic features, more details, and it will show 'boards.net' in the drop-down box under Desired Forum Name, that's about as 'free' as it gets. You could be poverty stricken and homeless, and still run one of those forums.

One could say there's not much going on here, it's a virtual place, and we're like ghosts attending.

- Boomer

Friday January 3, 2020 6:35 PM CST -- FM Radios That Also Tune 72 - 76 MHz
From out of the phone booth wearing his Radio Monitor Cape steps BROOCE!

List these radios?
1st Radio On List:

Kaito 1103

Friday January 3, 2020 6:04 PM CST -- Scientists Find Link Between Religious Fundamentalism & Brain Damage

Friday January 3, 2020 5:49 PM CST -- Auditory Assistance Device

15.3 Definitions.

 (a) Auditory assistance device. An intentional radiator used to provide
 auditory assistance communications (including but not limited to
 applications such as assistive listening, auricular training, audio
 description for the blind, and simultaneous language translation) for:

 (1) Persons with disabilities: In the context of part 15 rules (47 CFR
 part 15), the term “disability,” with respect to the individual, has
 the meaning given to it by section 3(2)(A) of the Americans with
 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102(2)(A)), i.e., a physical or
 mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major
 life activities of such individuals;

 (2) Persons who require language translation; or

 (3) Persons who may otherwise benefit from auditory assistance
 communications in places of public gatherings, such as a church,
 theater, auditorium, or educational institution.

Friday January 3, 2020 5:37 PM CST -- Learning By Listening: The Rule of Thumb
Something very interesting was said on a radio show today. That's all I have to say.

Or, I guess I could tell you what I heard.

Ok, so, they explained where that expression came from that we've heard over the years: The Rule of Thumb.

It seems that at a time in the past people realized husbands were beating too many wives to death, so they made a law that said that sticks or rods used to beat wives could be no thicker than a thumb.

Friday January 3, 2020 5:03 PM CST -- Traumas in Retrospect
The Blare OnAir "Trauma" shows aired and we were reminded that the suicide bombing of the ALPB by the former chairman was among the more than three traumas in June 2018. (see the Blog earlier today at 11:44 AM)

Friday January 3, 2020 2:24 PM CST -- Interesting Part 15 FM Transmitter
Artisan Radio discovers interesting FM transmitter:

I recently ran across an interesting Part 15 and Industry Canada
certified transmitter - the Listen LT-800-072.

It transmits in the 72-76 Mhz FM band under regulations for auditory
assistance devices and is 15.237 certified in the U.S., RSS210 certified
in Canada.  U.S. regulations allow for a field strength of 80 mv/m at 3
meters (that 80 MILLIwatts vs 250 MICRO watts for 15.239).  The
certification for the device in Canada lists the power output as 250
micro watts (again, quite a cut above the 1 micro watt allowed for
RSS210 in the 88-108 Mhz band).

The transmitter itself is professional grade, with a number of input
jacks (RCA, XLR), permitting microphone and line input.

New, the transmitters go for many hundreds of dollars, but you can also
pick them up for a song used.

The downside, of course, is that you need a receiver that can go down to
72-76 Mhz to listen.  This is inside the OIRT FM band (used in Eastern
Europe and Asia), so you might be able to find domestic receivers from
those countries.  Listen also makes specialized receivers as well.  If
you have a scanner or wide range FM-capable shortwave receiver, you can
probably pick up these frequencies as well.

The use of these transmitters for broadcasting, other than to one's
self, is unclear.  The FCC and Industry Canada obviously did not intend
them to be used for that purpose.

The upside is that I doubt anyone would complain, as virtually nobody
would be able to hear you unless they tried really hard. The range of
the transmitter is much greater than Part15.239 or RSS210 certified
devices for the broadcast FM band.  From what I've been able to gather,
for a given field strength signals travel further in the OIRT band (the
relatively lower frequencies make it less line of sight).

Note that these are not whitespace transmitters.  I have yet to find a
certified whitespace transmitter other than the Comtek BST-25 (and even
that doesn't meet the empty frequency checking requirement for such
devices).   - Artisan Radio

The TECSUN PL-310 AM/FM/SW radio will tune 72-76 MHz, as will other radios in the same series. When radio specialist Brooce sees this he'll be able to list off probably numerous radios that will do the same job.

Artisan queried: The use of these transmitters for broadcasting, other than to one's self, is unclear, to which I reply that we need to understand the FCC's legal description of  Auditory Assistance Devices and determine what it takes to fit that definition.

Friday January 3, 2020 12:14 NOON CST -- Two Interpretations
Recognize this quote from the FCC Rules Part 15?

(b) The total length of the transmission line, antenna and ground lead
 (if used) shall not exceed 3 meters.

Until now everyone has assumed the "total length" to be cumulative, in the form:
transmission line + ground lead + antenna = 3-meters.

However the statement could ALSO be interpreted to say:
The total length of the transmission line shall not exceed 3-meters,
The total length of the ground lead shall not exceed 3-meters,
The total length of the antenna shall not exceed 3-meters,
For a Combined Length of 9-meters.

This difference could result in additional range of more than 4-feet!

Friday January 3, 2020 11:44 AM CST -- Trauma On the Air
Each week at 2 PM CST Friday we hear Blare OnAir the un-awarded radio programs I did in the search for things to say that aren't all the same. In a 2-Part edition on June 16 & 22, 2018, sub-titled "Trauma" I belly-ached about the closing of my social center, the Save-So-Much Store where they also maintained food shelves. What I'm wondering now is whether I was also traumatized by the banishment and exile brought about with the takeover of the ALPB, as I retain no memory of anything said on those particular shows. They say that when three traumas befall a man at the same time he is most likely to take desperate measures so I may have been one trauma short. Let's listen and see what I said.

Friday January 3, 2020 10:43 AM CST -- Bystander from the Past
Boomer was watching the unknown substance splattering from the electric fan back in June 2018:

Things can get heavy on the Part-15 sites, I see it regularly where something is going fine and people have problems with it or try to throw a wrench in it seems. Some of it might be that P-15 people are a small group, at least the ones who go on the Part 15 named sites.

There are lots of other P15ers outside of our groups too, and they seem to focus on different issues, like antique radio, backyard drive-in theaters, Christmas display broadcasting, or working with tubes and building masterpieces of equipment, woodwork and engineering.

I think some of the friction comes down to jealousy, or feeling threatened because someone's equipment is better, or even when they claim more range, people start to cut it down and put up vector diagrams about how it can't be possible.

It's probably small group identification, where the dynamics of a group seek to keep everyone at the same status, "..like the rest of us."

Do your best Carl, fire up that station and blog, and if I can help you in any way, blog tech or with carrier current transmitting or something, let me know.

Yes, Boomer. I could use a ride home from forum jail.

Friday January 3, 2020 10:19 AM CST -- Starting Point
The other ALPB (Association for Low Power Broadcasters) inherits the original slogan without objection from us here at the Original ALPB: "Bringing Radio Back to the People". It's yours without dispute. We'll come up with something different. May we suggest adding a few words? "Bringing Radio Back to Everyone Except Carl Blare and Artisan Radio". 

Friday January 3, 2020 9:08 AM CST -- Podcasts In Abundance
Radio programs have melded with podcasts and entered a time when everyone is on their microphones speaking to one another in streams and downloads. Because of it all KDX is thriving when it comes to available programming to populate a day's schedule, especially around large holidays when regular program hosts take time away and we have holes to fill. This was a problem in our first decade but today there's more quality programming than is ever needed and may it outlive the climate crisis so we'll all be here to talk about it.

Friday January 3, 2020 8:27 AM CST -- Quick Look Back
According to my Email Trail Mini-Trump Bob launched his hostile takeover of the ALPB on June 22, 2018 with a string of very manic communiques accusing us of being "rouge moderators (sic)" for his being briefly banned from the forum when in fact a third moderator who is still in good stead with Bob actually did the banning. Mini Trump claimed to be acting in accord with Chairman Jim Henry's backing while the truth is that Jim was undergoing major back surgery at the same moment and would not have been reachable. A favorite complaint made against me is "Carl is a professed atheist!"

Friday January 3, 2020 6:45 AM CST -- An Email Trail
Addendum from Artisan Radio:

I thought I'd go back and revisit the e-mails associated with the ALPB.  I've kept them all.

I thought you'd be interested.  If not, let me know, as I'm going through more.  Like Trump, Bob is going to go down via unredacted e-mails.

The Blare Blog also retains a revealing Email trail per our expulsion from ALPB. Hearings on the hostile takeover of the ALPB will continue into at least February over which time the Emails can be entered into the record as Exhibits.

Thursday January 2, 2020 9:59 PM -- Never is Better Than Too Late
On December 31st the webmaster at Hobby Broadcaster said that he "forgot" to post the December 3 Email from Bill Baker at Information Station Specialists declaring Talking House Tuesdays throughout December for special discounts on the newly developed Talking House Transmitter Antenna Tuning Unit combination. Not mentioned was the interlocking relationship between Hobby and a Rangemaster1000 dealer.

When The Blare Blog went to view the website of the Rangemaster dealer we found our IP address blocked which brought back memories of the time several years ago when the Hobby site also vigorously blocked many IP addresses of anyone they deemed questionable.

Thursday January 2, 2020 9:44 PM CST -- Presidential Candidate Marianne Williamson Holding Firm
The Blare Blog steadfastly believes Candidate Marianne Williamson is the Best Choice for Democratic President of These United States, overlooking the regrettable loss of her entire campaign staff due to financial rock bottom.

Thursday January 2, 2020 8:57 PM CST -- Shake Shack Inquiry
At the beginning of the year, yesterday, Artisan Radio reported that one of the low power radio forum sites is debating whether to boycott Shake Shack. Our Blog News Bureau is looking into the matter starting with a briefing on the question:
Tomorrow we'll ask "Where is it" and if it's within reach we'll try it for ourselves.
Eventually we'll discover "What do those people at the forum have against it?"

Thursday January 2, 2020 8:36 PM CST -- Reading from the Rules
Two days late Reverend Martin Luther Ray is here to recite the most well-worn Rule from the FCC Part 15 Regs:

15.219 Operation in the band 510-1705 kHz.

 (a) The total input power to the final radio frequency stage (exclusive
 of filament or heater power) shall not exceed 100 milliwatts.

 (b) The total length of the transmission line, antenna and ground lead
 (if used) shall not exceed 3 meters.

The Reverend Ray reminds us : "Respect the Rules and measure your antennas often."

Thursday January 2, 2020 8:02 PM CST -- Lies and Damn Lies
Witness Testimony from Artisan Radio of Canada:

I saw your posts regarding the misinformation being spread over at the
former ALPB Forum by 'Bob DeFelice'.

It's really all rather sad.  Bob continues to attempt to rewrite history
to make his illegitimate takeover of the ALPB more legitimate and
acceptable after the fact.

It was he who came back to the ALPB (after abruptly quitting) and
personally attacked various members and the moderators, just because HE
didn't like what they were posting.  It was only because of the tireless
efforts of these members that the ALPB did not fold when he left in the
first place.

As well as not understanding what the then structure of the ALPB was, he
also obviously thought and still thinks that he was better informed than
everyone else as to what was going on, what was acceptable, and
therefore had the right to disrupt the group once again.  He even
attempted to bring his toxicity over to the now Part15.org, which is why
he was summarily banned from that site.

Bob is a shining example of what is wrong with Part 15 radio today.  He
claims ownership of something that he never owned.  He puts his ego and
personal agendas ahead of the facts.  In other words, he wants to be the
Man.

There will always be some who follow anyone who claims a leadership role
in spite of their abilities.  Just look at the political scene in the
U.S. today.  The big question is, do you want to listen to and associate
with these intellectually stunted people?

With maybe two exceptions in all of the remaining Forums, not me.

I'll take the Blare Blog, which makes you think and question, any time
of any day.  I may not agree with everything, but that's OK too.  That's
how you expand your horizons, and grow.

For those that want to stay rigidly 'on topic' (no matter what the
topic) all the time, I say, life doesn't stay on topic. Radio is merely
a slice of life.

And the Blare Blog is a slice of life.

- Artisan Radio

Thursday January 2, 2020 4:50 PM CST -- Ground Leads Galore
Pavlov's Ground Lead has sounded and the Dog salivates.
- Cryptic sightings from  the top of the tower

Thursday January 2, 2020 2:19 PM CST -- Back to WX Radios as an EAS? This might be it!
Tha Dood works on refining the DIY EAS method:

       Awh wow!!!!! Back to using WX Radios as a "Ye poor man's EAS!", this might be the neat package to get!   https://www.amazon.com/Midland-WR120B-WR120EZ-Certified-Trilingual/dp/B00176T9OY/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=midland+weather+radio&qid=1577993019&sr=8-4

- Tha Dood

Thursday January 2, 2020 1:41 PM CST -- The Future of the Original ALPB
Notice was served as part of the Annual KDX State of the Station Message posted December 23, 2019 here on The Blog that as one of his last acts of business before undergoing unfortunately fatal surgery, ALPB Chairman Jim Henry assigned Carl Blare as Vice-Chairman of the organization, resulting sadly in succession to full Chairman following the death.

The illegal and hostile takeover of the ALPB by a former chairman concurrent with Jim Henry's surgery but prior to Jim's death was meant to rest control away from Jim but resulted in nothing more than seizing the group's website, realizing that "the group" amounted to about three people, none of whom seem disturbed that they were not consulted about having their member authority usurped.

It may come as a surprise that The Blare Blog has no complaint about another and separate ALPB coming into existence because neither of us holds "rights" or "ownership" of the name itself, and there could be any number of hobby groups with the same name, but we have decided to respect and continue the existence of the original ALPB by integrating it with KDX and The Blare Blog.

In days to come we will hold Open Hearings here on The Blog to review and re-draft the original Charter, Rules and Policies of Our ALPB and map a course for the future, and our readers will continue to hear about other ALPBs as part of our Critical Review function in the low power radio realm.

It would be advisable to Impeach the self-proclaimed "chairman" of the Breakaway ALPB for violating all of the rules they'd agreed to, such as "Conduct Detrimental to the ALPB", but that's their inheritance and we have only words to offer.

At times when ALPB chairmanship was open for candidates and nominations I declined the opportunity to apply and feel awkward that it's come to me by an unfortunate accident of circumstances, but we'll keep it alive in dormancy with hopes of finding the right leadership.

Thursday Jaunary 2, 2020 12:59 NOON CST -- On a Forum Far Away
Answering an unasked question the illicitly self-declared "chairman" of a faux ALPB ruminates to his three members, using personal attack to bitch about alleged personal attacks with no examples given:

Two individuals filled this forum non-stop with posts.

Unfortunately, although comedic in nature, the majority of those posts were problematic.

Their abusive and politically motivated posts did not contribute to the advancement of the hobby or this forum.

As moderators, they found no problem with what they had to say.  Somewhat a conflict of interests.

They left here in a huff when called out for it, only to later vacate the Part15.org forum as well for similar reasons.

I would much rather see a handful of good information posts than the countless, worthless posts they contributed.

This is a moderated forum which does not advocate illegal activity (read Pirate radio.)

Personal attacks are definitely not tolerated and will result in redacted posts and locked threads. (originally posted 12/30/19)

The preceeding post is quoted under protection of Journalistic Freedom Guaranteed Under Amendment One of the Bill of Rights - U.S. Constitution. Further, as the above Personal Attacks are verifiably against this Blogger and one of the Blog Correspondents the post serves as Evidence that we have been maligned on a publicly available forum site.

The original ALPB was a member run organization. By the above example we note that the self-acclaimed "chairman" of this counterfeit ALPB is tyrannical by kangaroo court. And by the way, how did we non-sequitur into "Pirate Radio"?

Boomer understands the true nature of declined participation in the smallest of online society represented by Bob Scapegoater's Faux ALPB:

The forum was flying high when Jim Henry was here, a charismatic leader who brought critical mass to the group. It was a peak time, then the fall when he passed, but I don't think personality clashes had too much to do with it, forum membership has been falling all over due to changes in the social structure of the internet.

Thursday January 2, 2020 11:10 AM CST -- How Will We Make First Contact With Alien Life?
That's the actual attention grabbing title of the linked piece meant seriously but again revealing that we (earthly human life) might be stupider than we can fathom. Before glancing at the article let me respond to the question posed in the title: How have we made first contact with life on our own planet? Well, by bombing it or taking over its habitat. Might that be a clue?

Thursday January 2, 2020 8:50 AM CST -- Journalistic Views & Reviews
Journalism is not far removed from bloggism. The keeping of a journal is about the same as keeping a log (a "blog" is a web log), except that conventional use has conscripted journalism for the keeping and reporting of news events and logging derives from the ship's log kept by captains to document ocean journeys. The "blog" is a rough hybrid in which cybernauts text and post anything that comes to mind while surfing the internet. Repeat that back to me, please.

The Blare Blog, always defining itself, is here foremost to record the ventures of KDX Worldround Radio and form an association with other low power broadcasters, but also because radio connects a whole world of ideas with a constellation of listeners the Blare Blog is ultimately unbounded as a multivalent media outlet.

We are a microcosm and a macrocosm; important and trivial; everywhere and everything in limited quantities.

Let's take a cheese break.


Wednesday January 1, 2020 6:17 PM CST -- Incoming Antenna from Tha Dood
Added my TV Antenna to Archive.org . Might as well... Tha Dood

There. I've actually uploaded how to build my Delta Loop TV Antenna a while ago, updated the search parameters to make it easier to find on Archive.org .  So, if you have a construction project that ya want to do with your kids, grand kids, or yourself, build this TV Antenna and receive free OFF-AIR TV. You can download the 6.4MB step by step .PDF . HAPPY NEW DECADE!!!!!!! Oh yeah, here's the link:      https://archive.org/details/pren2mdvuhfindoortvantennaandtestpdf
                                                                                                                                                   Tha Dood

Wednesday January 1, 2020 10:54 AM CST -- The Nifty Muses Radio Player Up on the Left
Yesterday while everyone was busy ending 2019 I needed a tester for evaluating the Radio Player since we cannot check it internally here inside the Internet Building owing to a lack of something the technicians call "loopback", so we enlisted The Brooce Radio Monitoring Organization. Here's his Report:

Hi Uncle Carl!
Wednesday January 1, 2020 6:48 AM CST -- The Sad State of Part 15 Radio Forums
Artisan Radio kicks the new year. That is, kicks off the new year:

As we head into a new year, it's customary to make predictions as to
what will happen next.

I predict that of the 3 remaining Part 15 Forums, perhaps one or even
none will remain at the end of the coming year.

As you so correctly have written in the Blare Blog at times, they have
all been moderated so heavily by partisan individuals with agendas that
virtually nothing of any sort of importance can be discussed and believed.

Over at one, a boycott of the Shake Shack, a fast food outlet, is
currently being debated.

At another, the legality of a transmitter/antenna system is being
discussed with virtually no facts available.

At yet another, there are crickets.

The Blare Blog, with contributions from its correspondents, is really
the only place to go for credible Part 15 (and other important) talk.

No pressure, Carl.

- Artisan Radio