The Blare Blog
Center
of the Bla Bla Galaxy
All Things to Some People
July
2021
Saturday July 31, 2021 2:00 PM CDT -- What Happened --
The Blare Blog was offline for awhile but it was a close one. As we watched Lightning Maps
the briskly moving storm front veered and started moving straight south
which would have skimmed the outermost edge of our location, but two
lightning bolts struck within about a mile which triggered a decision
to shut down. By 11:32 AM the storm was sufficiently distant that
we began full restoration of website and broadcast services.
Much
of the past week while the website was closed under our part time
summer schedule we spent installing and learning the new expansion card
for our RF Explorer Spectrum Analyzer and there is a lot to learn.
After the mechanics of installing the card I poked at the 7 buttons but
couldn't figure out how to activate the card. It took a bit of
scrolling through the manual but we found the trick for selecting the
card which gives us a look at a swath of radio frequencies spanning
from 15MHz all the way to 2.7GHz! Each click of the left or right
arrows travels increment by increment across this massive expanse. So
we dug in and learned a few things. We discovered that it is possible
to define particular limited views of whatever part of the spectrum we
want to observe and save the setting as a preset! The first test of
this was to establish a window from 89.3 to 90.1 MHz so we could see
our two FM channels at 89.5 and 89.9 completely apart from the many
high power FM signals in the area. The next choice was to view our
cordless phone band up around 1.9 GHz and we were very puzzled by what
we observed. We placed a call to Free Talk Live's Listen Line
(641-793-0191) and did not see any significant RF activity even as the
connection was operational, except that at intervals a carrier would
appear for around 1-second and then be gone. How can that be? How can a
solid telephone connection exist with a very sporadic RF carrier?
Finally we wanted to find out what our newly installed Smart Meter was
putting in the 900 MHz region. There's a YouTube video claiming we
are being pelted with deadly microwaves coming at all times from the
Smart Meters, but all we found across the entire 900MHz band was
background noise. There's more to learn.
Saturday July 31, 2021 9:04 AM CDT -- It's Coming Fast --
This
is a Storm Update from KDX Control Side-Table inside the Internet
Building. We have been monitoring an intense electrical storm front
moving southeastward with US (we) in the bullseye! It's now about
40-miles out and moving steadily. I don't think we're going to miss
this one.We are preparing to shut down.... LISTEN! Did you hear that? Is that thunder?
Saturday July 31, 2021 7:50 AM CDT -- Why It Looks So Dark --
Weather
is likely in our area today, with an 80% chance of thunderstorms. As a
safety precaution to reduce the possibility of damage to critical
equipment, KDXradio.com and Streaming Station KDX-OGG will go offline
if lightning approaches.
Saturday July 31, 2021 6:23 AM CDT -- What Does the Microphone Do? --
We
talk about the many operators of low power radio stations under the
Part 15 banner, and can't help but notice the big-boss microphones
appearing prominently in photographs of their control setups. Yet, upon
a closer look, we discover that none of those radio folk do their own
announcing. It isn't clear whether they are shy or somehow unable to
mouth words, yet those microphones hang there like a fake steering
wheel on a kid's wagon. At most, many of the stations use 'voice
tracking', the use of either artificial computer synthesized voices or
voices-for-hire provided by semi-professionals by special recording. I
got to thinking about this after reading the July 26th blog entry by Artisan Radio titled "Voice Tracking".
So what kind of hypocrit am I? I use synthetic announcers on KDX courtesy of ttsmp3.com
where the choice of voices and audio quality are acceptable for our
purposes and I can sit back and be my lazy self. Having been an actual
radio, tv and recording announcer over a long career I consider
myself too professional to sit there reading scripts on a small
mini-Watt radio station even when I own it. I realize it's a bit
pompous of me to criticize other stations, but I think it's funny that
they go so far as to have microphones all hooked up and foremost on
display, yet shirk announcing duties.
Sunday July 25, 2021 9:35 PM CDT -- Closing the Place Down --
This
is the Master Control Desk where this international radio station and
website have their technical connections, and my job will be to shut it
off until next weekend, but I'm wondering if I need to wait until
midnight to give you all a full dose of the Blare Blog. It could happen
that in the next 2 & 1/2 hours I might write something that makes
it all worthwhile and you'd get the big payback for having waited until
the last possible minute. While I'm sitting here 'Sterling On Sunday'
is playing on the TECSUN PL-310 radio, and he opened with a little
radio play about a large TV control room during the Olympics of a
former year, and one of the cast members is the voice that played Flash
Frizbone, an even older series of mini-dramas about radio DJs. I happen
to know who that actor is, and I know that he's a big shot in the radio
industry. I know a lot, in fact, but I'm not going to share any of it
right now because I'm only killing time until this Blog and Website
close shop until next Saturday morning. Now I'm hearing a commercial
for 'curing ED' and I'm thinking, it's become standard practice to
blame the male for ED, but I know the truth. ED is the result of women
not being 'into it'. When women are 'into it' a man is able to detect
it on a very visceral level and everything kicks in without
pills. Frankly, the real cure for ED is a different woman. What? The
rich donor lady is complaining on line 1? Turn down her donation.
That's what I said. I'm in charge of this radio station and no rich
society women are going to tell us what to do. In fact, get her husband
on the line. He and I can set up a pact and cut off her checking
account. That'll cure any man's ED. What time is it now?
Sunday July 25, 2021 12:40 NOON CDT -- Naming Rights in Times of Extinction --
On
this week's program Reverend Billy of the Church of Stopshopping
reported that his new series "Extinction Talk Radio" has been asked to
forego the title because extinctionradio.net
already has claim to the title. In a very civil way Rev. Billy accepted
the loss and began searching for a new name, inviting listeners to
submit their ideas. Here inside the Think Tank we came up with
a suggestion and sent it to Reverend Billy, and we'll stand by to find
out what he decides. If he doesn't choose my proposal I will be bitter
and spiteful for months to come.
Sunday July 25, 2021 10:04 AM CDT -- The Inner Snob --
I
have never liked snobs. Probably no one likes them. In school snobs get
beaten up everyday on the way home. In the military, snobs are
'accidentally' shot in 'friendly fire' incidents. In prison snobs are
'turned out' as sex slaves.
Classical
music radio is home to several types of snobs who don't like each
other. One of them went around telling people that 'Carl Blare only
knows 80% of the literature'. When I became aware of this I was
puzzled, because knowing 80% of the classical catalog would be an
unusual achievement because there's so much to know. But I realized he
was just outsnobbing me. But I soon learned that anti-snobbery can be
fatal if practiced amidst snobbish peers. I'd go on the air and make
fun of snobbish affectations such as phony foreign accents, almost a
prerequisite for American symphony conductors. That was over the top
and caused the rich donor ladies threaten to cut off their fund-drive
contributions, which drove the weak-spined manager to notify
Carl that he was canceled. The ultimate snobs were the rich donor
ladies.
So
then, you'd
think I'd know better than criticize the part 15 low power radio
hobbyists for their conformity in programming a single kind of music in
a world with a wide array of choices. Tens of thousands of 'top hits'
radio stations and virtually nothing else. The point that needs to be
made is that I'm not criticizing the music. What I find significant is
the uniformity, the sameness, the clone-ishness of everyone doing
exactly the same thing. In my view copycats are redundant and the world
doesn't need them. Humans are born with potential individuality, yet
somehow cut off the blood supply to their brain by obeying one and the
same way of doing everything. Pickup trucks, Christian belligerence,
ecologically barron lawns, dislike of other races and nationalities,
and top 40 hobby radio stations. And of course there's the hatred
and risk of mobbing up to do something about the Blare snob.
Sunday July 25, 2021 8:36 AM CDT -- Sports in Space --
Watching
Jeff Bezos and his crew mount the 7-story high staircase up to the Blue
Origin passenger capsule we were especially tensed over whether 82-year
old Wally Funk would be able to survive all those steps, but she
completely aced the climb and joined in the gravity free tossing of
Skittles and ping-pong balls while the capsule was hurtling across the
edge of space. Thus Space Sports was born!
Meanwhile, down
here on earth surface radio station KDX is already preparing to
introduce Space Sports as a new broadcast format starting with the
launching of thousands of balls into geo-stationary orbit consisting of
foot balls, base balls, soccer balls, soft balls, bowling balls, basket
balls, ping pong balls, tennis balls, croquet balls, beach balls and
some ball bearings, with future plans to get our teams up there for
some competition. The definition of an athlete is someone who competes
by running, jumping and throwing, and now we'll be doing it in zero
gravity.
The Japanese Olympics are floundering badly due to
the pandemic, but Space Sports will put the Olympics where it belongs..
way the hell above the clouds!
- CBS News
Sunday July 25, 2021 6:34 AM CST -- Now What: A Quick News Brief --
First responders Boomer and Artisan Radio comment on the new hours:
BOOMER: I thought taking the weekdays off was because the Artisan Blog had
returned and you were giving the lectern to him, going by the note
on the offline page. I was thinking it was a back room handshake
deal, maybe some money in an envelope.
CARL: Not even an empty envelope. Here's what Artisan wrote when he noticed our shortened Blog schedule:
ARTISAN RADIO: I was a bit disappointed to see in your blog that you're cutting
back. I totally understand, however. This pastime can be a lot of
work for very little reward (and, in fact, a lot of abuse).
Ironically, it comes at a time when I'm starting to ramp up. I've done some proof of concepts, broadcasting
without a
computer (over the air, of course) and may go that way - I'm
slowly gathering up equipment to do it 'old school'. Interestingly
enough, I find that audio quality doesn't suffer, and, in fact, may be
better.
I intend to play music on FM (I'm getting 400-500 meters range from
an MS-100 I recently purchased new), and OTR on AM (mainly for myself,
I doubt I'll get much range from my current residence). I will
be streaming the AM feed only , due to copyright concerns re
music. I also intend to put the blog back up, probably by this weekend.
I've gone through several incarnations of it, all the while agonizing over
its content (should I concentrate on radio only, am I being too
negative,
etc.). I've decided to just let my opinions go wherever they
end up and see what happens. One of the ongoing topics in the blog will
be an unexpurgated history of the ALPB, another my adventures in
moderation over at Part15.us (now .org).
I just enjoy writing too much to give the blog up.
Anyway, hope things are OK with you, and maybe you'll regain your
energy
and enthusiasm again. I certainly have! -- Artisan Radio
CARL:
I wrote back to Artisan to assure him that I have not become
weary or discouraged and in fact am simply 'playing with my radio toys'
by experimenting with part time hours. Of course money in an envelope
could change things immediately!
BOOMER: I'm used to the convenience of a website being available 24 hours a
day, and mostly having fresh news on the weekdays, but it might be
good to counter-program and do weekend operation. It's what I've
thought radio hosts could do. They all seem to take off at the same
time, but some lone wolf host could try a live show when everything
else on the dial is highlights. I wonder how listeners would
react?
CARL:
There is a lone wolf who understands the weekend vacuum on
commercial radio, and his name is Walter M. Sterling. You can probably
hear him in your area over the radio.
BOOMER: I'll agree it's a crime that people don't listen to classical
music. Even for me, as a big music fan, I don't immediately go to
classical when I think of music, and I blame that on growing up in
the era of rock and roll. Kids tend to listen to whatever is fed to
them on popular music stations, and don't really like that old
music their parents listen to.
I heard classical through the 'Pops' that my mother would listen
to, beautiful music stations with their instrumentals, Lawrence
Welk's orchestra, 101 Strings records and movie soundtracks.
Really, classical motifs have been used in many rock songs over the
years.
CARL:
Over the years I've developed a belief that many people literally
suffer from hearing damage which naturally ruins their ability to enjoy
the sonic beauty of acoustical (non-amplified) music. Rock concerts,
loudspeaker volumes in bars, power lawn equipment, jet engines around
airports, firearms... many causes of permanent hearing loss.
BOOMER: I guess you do have weird programs, not the names you hear every
day. I get that with the less heard music I like to play in the
freeform style. I like to ask what kind of music you think we
should be playing, maybe it's something we don't know about.
CARL:
My programming on KDX is mostly talk, but I have drifted away
from my core mission of exposing organized religion and religious
superstition as the most harmful causes of human downfall in the
world. Instead, I've been carrying a lot of journalistic programming
which keeps me informed about world events and the political games that
go into it. News stations are not uncommon in the realm of licensed
radio, but for some reason the part 15 little stations mostly incline
toward the same limited forms of music, the same way all Republicans
prefer red hats.
BOOMER: As for selling a transmitter without talking about what antenna it
will need, that could be it, keeping things simple, so the station
operator will stay focused on the dream, not the amount of work it
will take to get the best range.
CARL:
After years of touring the depths of my own imagination, I now
have a clear idea of an antenna design I'd like to try, but it will
require the dimensional shaping of metal. That's the tricky part I am
not trained to master, but like a dog who knows there's something in
the hole I will keep digging.
Friday July 23, 2021 6:39 AM CDT -- Post Card from Vacation --
The
Blog has been off all week because the entire KDX-dot-com website has
been offline, making us perhaps the only website in the world that
keeps part time hours. What I've noticed, and something I didn't
expect, is that I'm far less inclined to write new blog entries
everytime an idea pops into the head. That is a benefit, because
despite the fact I enjoy blogging there are other tasks and projects
taking place that require time and attention, so there's a good
argument in favor of disconnecting from the web during the week.
By
great fortune our colleague Artisan Radio happened to choose this very
time to re-start his Blog, Website and Streaming Radio Station,
providing low power radio followers with a constant connection
24/7. His opening blog makes a concise statement as to why he chooses
to open his radio service and the Bowen TV video adds an excellent
welcome greeting. Make a stop at Artisan's site. Check out the Blog,
Program Schedule, and enjoy original oldtime radio shows:
Wednesday July 21, 2021 9:55 AM CDT -- They Call It a 'Break' --
Coffee
break. Cheese break. Maybe the original idea was to think of it as a
'brake', a stopping of rigorous activity to do something more relaxing.
Caller lines are open.
Monday after dark we closed the KDX
Website for the rest of the week, me thinking that a 7-day a week hobby
website might be overdoing it. It seems quieter around here without it,
even though the radio station is still on everyday because I enjoy
hearing other people tell me what they make of it, with yet another
variant entering the frackus.. Lambda is it?
I wore a mask
this morning to take the bagged yard waste down to the street. Six bags
packed with dead bamboo branches that took me six weeks to load.
Whenever I do something strenuous I wonder if the resulting dizziness
foresignals death and wonder if I should make a phone call or dash off
a will, but I was more interested in the coding problem we were having
with the KDX-OGG stream. I even watched some YouTube Icecast videos at
5 AM and couldn't find one presentation that wasn't annoyingly nerdish.
One guy said he was about to do a tutorial on streaming with Icecast,
but added the caveat that "If you don't know how to load an encoder you
shouldn't be doing this." Somebody should tutor him on what tutelage
is.
If you don't know it already Artisan Radio is streaming
some great OTR, just go to Demand Radio on the above options menu and
visit Artisan Radio. Take a brake.
Monday July 19, 2021 1:06 PM CDT -- Here's the Thing --
When
a person finds a radio program weird, he has the right not to listen.
However, how can anyone know a program is weird if he doesn't hear it?
Monday July 19, 2021 9:19 AM CDT -- KDX Home to Weird Radio Personalities --
During
a recent conversation with a reader of our Blog, we were told "I don't
listen to KDX because of the weird programs." All at once that reader
rushed away before explaining what he found weird about it. Taken aback
by the criticism, we reviewed our program schedule and have yet to
recognize whatever 'weirdness' might reside. Following is a partial
list of journalists and personalities heard on KDX (in no special order):
Ralph Nader
Jesse Ventura Thom Hartmann
Michael Moore
Al Franken
William Shatner Harry Schearer
Holland Cooke
Maria Gilardin David Swanson
Seth Andrews
George Hrab Reverend Billy
Talen Seth Shostak
Peter Anthony Holder
Adam Curry John C.
Dvorak Chris Hedges
John Kiriakou
Jeffrey Blankfort
Lee Stranahan Dan
Barker Annie Laurie Gaylor
Heidi Boghosian
Michael Steven Smith
Glenn
Hauser Steve Gibson
Janine Jackson
Dr. Steven Novella Cara Santa
Maria
Jeremy Scahill
Leo Laporte Kirk Harnack
Julie
Amacher John Perry
Dan Roberts
Ian Freeman Alan
Herrick
James Underdown Tommy D. Mischke
Steve Skrovan
David Feldman
Sam Mulvey
Dr. Ginger Campbell Dennis Miller
Monday July 19, 2021 6:22 AM CDT -- Your Attention Please --
Effective Tuesday July 20, 2021, this kdx.com website will be available on Weekends Only. For more information refer to 'Minutes of the Meeting'.
Monday July 19, 2021 5:57 AM CDT -- Minutes of the Meeting --
Over
this past weekend the Board of Misdirectors of Worldround Radio met at
a disclosed location for their Summer 2021 Meeting and called for a
financial report from managing actor Carl Blare, who said that for
yet another year the Website and Radio Station have cost a "lot" of
money and earned "next to nothing". Asked "Well then why do we do it?",
Mr. Blare answered, "Because I like it". The Board passed a Resolution
to discontinue some weekday services effective ASAP. When asked "What
are we cutting?" the Board told Blare "Cut the Website. Just do it on
weekends." Blare said, "I know three people who will be disappointed."
The Board concluded, "We've got to have some semblance of reality
around here. What's the restaurant situation?"
Sunday July 18, 2021 12:28 NOON CDT -- Gender Fluidity --
At
its roots the genders of a species are limited to those combinations
capable of reproducing that species. Fundamentally, in the human
species the limit is binary and dependent on male and female fertility.
But we've entered a time when impotent genders by the score are
claiming equality on a scale figuratively represented by the color
spectrum as personified by the rainbow flag. The freedom to 'wear'
gender as a changeable costume has come to be protected as a rightful
expression following a dark age when gender gaming was hidden in shame,
denial and in ways banned by law. Trying to describe the state of
gender is going to take more work on the part of Wikipedia, which threw
this color streaked paint against the wall.
It's
sort of like trying to glean meaning from the phrase 'critical race
theory', but the main thing is that cosplay has been taken away from
the theatre stage and become available to private individuals to play
act as they will, giving us bearded cheer leaders, fully lipsticked
eye-lined soldiers in high heels, husbands married to husbands, and middle grounders
on dating sites that await unwrapping to know for sure. Will we need
birth control? Your guess is as good as mine.
Sunday July 18, 2021 5:51 AM CDT -- Let Me Get This Straight --
So
I was wondering. If you go to college and get a 'master's degree', what
is that? Does it mean you can keep slaves? It isn't a title that people
seem to post on their door, so, um...
Alright, so, word is
that reopening restaurants and other businesses are having difficulty
finding workers, and blame seems to suggest people are getting handsome
unemployment benefits and mostly loafing at home. But what about
the fact that over 607,365 people have died from the virus? Might some
of those have been workers now lost to the work force?
And you
got people smacking their lips over the ridiculous rise in property
values, they could have close to $400,000 for their ordinary homes. But
wait. Then where would they live? Oh, they could purchase a different
$400,000 home. But since they have one already...
Over in
England they're going to build a batch of satellite dishes for tracking
space debris and be able to predict when massive objects the size of
city buses are going to fall toward earth. We envision an entire new
industry opening up known as 'junk trackers'. Probably junk already on
earth needs to be tracked so it doesn't fall into space. I'm new at
this.
Sunday July 18, 2021 5:06 PM CDT -- Advantages of Advanced Age --
As
a rule the girls don't pay attention to the older men which leaves the
men plenty of time to build and operate personal radio stations. A
dramatic exception is when the old man is considered to have
substantial means which makes him all at once an object of great
interest based on the question, "how much do you think he's worth?" This
can be avoided by occasionally letting it be known that the guy was
rich but lost his fortune in a divorce. The divorce doesn't have to be
real for this to work.
Saturday July 17, 2021 4:09 PM CDT -- When I Think About Radio My Antenna Goes Up --
Boomer understands about antennas.
I think that's right Carl, so much attention is paid to the
transmitter, that box of parts you see by itself on an
advertisement, but the antenna is rarely discussed in detail, and
that's something that could make or break the radioman's experience
on the air.
Radio broadcasting is really a system, transmitter, antenna, a
ground that's just as important as the antenna, and the audio being
fed to the transmitter. The receiver is also part of the complete
system, which many broadcasters don't think about because it's an
unknown factor, and listeners will use whatever radio they
have.
Looking at it, the transmitter is always at the focal point when
people think about starting home broadcasting. It's the high tech
centerpiece of the project, and the item that would make sellers
the most profit, unless you plan to buy an Isotron antenna for your
system! The Isotron is a premium built-to-order antenna.
Could it also be that sellers are trying to comply with the 'kit'
rules in home building? You could say that a transmitter by itself
is only part of a kit, because it can't go on the air without an
antenna and ground.
- Boomer
Mister
Boomer, I agree on every point, and would add that perhaps the
transmitter sellers are worried that the already scarce transmitter
market might balk at the fear of spooking the potential buyer by
bringing in the complications posed by constructing a proper antenna.
That's why we need a simple 'out-of-the-box' antenna. I know that even
I, a dedicated broadcaster with technical experience, have yet to
construct a serious outdoor antenna. I can understand the hesitancy.
Saturday July 17, 2021 7:36 AM CDT -- All Kinds of Things Go On --
WOMAN: This surprises me. I thought you were gay.
MAN: I make exceptions.
- An original radio play by Carl Blare
Saturday July 17, 2021 7:30 AM CDT -- Freethought of the Day --"Religion is such a medieval idea. Don't get me started. I have thought
about every facet of religion and I can't buy any of it."
- Phyllis Diller, comedian, actress, author
Friday July 16, 2021 4:36 PM CDT -- Rain, Working from Home --
Every
time we don't look the weather forecast changes. What was to be several
days of storms is all at once reduced to a 40% then 30% chance of rain
until 7 tonight, then nothing for the next week. Which reminds me of a
call I had in which I was lucky to reach a human regarding inability to
log in to an online account to find out the next payment deadline. She
was very professional and after we'd talked I freely fantasized that,
working from home during COVID, she'd been disappointed when we
said goodbye and had a visceral hope that she'd finally encounter a man
like me. It's all for the best because she would have eventually realized that streaming radio came before her.
Friday July 16, 2021 4:25 PM CDT -- Setting Up in a Shipping Container --
Friday July 16, 2021 3:16 PM CDT -- Coming Next --
The
'intentional radiators' allowed under FCC Part 15.219 (pertaining to
the AM band) are genuine micro radio transmitters legally permissible
for operation for hobbyists, religious purposes, or small business
ventures. The transmitters themselves are easy to handle, install,
connect, but the bugaboo is the need for an efficient yet
rule-compliant antenna. Until somebody invents a small managable Part
15 antenna the entire application of this otherwise fertile potential
is bogged in technicalia that exceeds ordinary do-ability. It is
therefore that Carl Blare continues to ignore the usual critics who
insist that antenna theory is written law not subject to change. He
prefers to believe that there's something else tucked in the laws of
physics so far overlooked and waiting to be found. It's not that he
wants to get rich. It's only a desire to solve the final puzzle in
bringing personal AM radio into common grasp.
Friday July 16, 2021 2:32 PM CDT -- How Can You Explain It? --
I clearly remember
That I don't have a very good memory.
- Carl Blare, not sure of what he's talking about
Friday July 16, 2021 2:03 PM CDT -- We're Already In Space --
It's a very interesting space to live in,
where you're living in
the questions
and the universe is slipping you answers.
- Jason Sudeikis, actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer
Taken from tvtech SmartBrief
While
on the 'space' subject I'll give my small-change viewpoint, during this
time when reports of UFO's are now UAP's and billionaires are jumping
like grasshoppers up through stratospheres and ionospheres to see what
space is like when down here we understand that there is nowhere to be
other than space. Where do they think the earth is? On the other hand
the tourist in us goes exploring places on far earth, around the
hemispheres, so by that measure taking a jump skyward is only a
variation of the same old thing. No one understands that better than
RoadShow host Tommy D. Mischke who pursues his own travel plan.
The car broke down so I'm taking out the spaceship
Friday July 16, 2021 10:56 AM CDT -- If You Think You Know What's Going On You're a Silly Goose --
That
being the case, here's what I think has gone on here this morning. As
we've been writing about, some new approaches to radio streaming were
given a try and the results not totally encouraging, so we shifted back
to the regular setup but found nagging failures involving some of the
operation. Eventually we resorted to the favorite cure-all used by
computer users everywhere - the full re-boot. This seemed to repair the
problems we were having so we decided to check the e-mail and found a
message from the ISP notifying us that "Some users are having trouble
logging in to their e-mail accounts". Evidently this included us
because the e-mail never came on display. Well think about it. If
the ISP is having one problem, they might be having any number of
other problems along with it. Don't you get it? What if none of the
problems we encountered earlier were ours, perhaps the ISP was gumming
things up. What if everything in the universe is the result of one
mistake at the beginning of time. Oh wait, come to think of it, that's
exactly what the Bible says. It has to do with snakes. Small snakes get
eaten by geese. Large snakes eat geese. The Bible doesn't say that.
Friday July 16, 2021 8:19 AM CDT -- Internet Interferences --
Following
our early morning stream experiments described in 'Storms and Streams'
we have detected a number of internet anamolies following a return to
normal streaming operation. The situation places doubt into the
accuracy of earlier observations during experimental exploration,
rendering those outcomes indefinite.
Friday July 16, 2021 6:06 AM CDT -- Storms and Streams --
Another
several days of storms is moving through the KDX operational area,
starting with thunder last night that had us disconnect and enter
security mode. The arriving storm had the potential of intense wind
gusts, but by luck the path of fury skimmed the very eastern edge of
the population area and moved into another state. The night was
pleasantly quiet with a hardly noticeable heavy rain around 3 AM. At 4
AM it was time to give StereoTool a test drive as a stream encoder.
Right
away we were able to relay audio to the Icecast Server by way of the
StereoTool Streamer, and we learned a few things from the
documentation. StereoTool utilizes the VLC Player's streaming
capability which of course requires having VLC installed. The
relationship between StereoTool and VLC is entirely 'under the hood'
and does not require opening or adjusting the VLC Player. And, although
MP3 is selectable as a stream format, StereoTool recommends using the
OGG/Vorbis format because of known defects and limitations within the
MP3 codec. Using a chorale for organ by Cesar Franck as the test music,
we were streaming, but the meta data information showing the current
program title was not transferring to the Icecast Server and the
directory listing facility was not posting to Xiph nor Steamcast. The
worst discovery was that turning off the StereoTool Streamer caused
StereoTool to crash. Restarting it came up with the Streamer turned on.
Trying to close the streamer caused the program to crash. This went on
for quite awhile until somehow we took charge, not sure what we did
that broke the cycle. The experience brings heightened appreciation for
the B.U.T.T. (Broadcast Using this Tool) Encoding Utility.
Thursday July 15, 2021 9:45 AM CDT -- Techy Tinkerings --
Streaming
from an Icecast Server we have found that if the server is turned on
too early in our startup procedure it does not register itself at the
Steamcast Directory. When this happens we are able to stop and restart
Icecast, but turning on the stream server later in the sequence avoids
the problem. The string of inter-operating softwares that open our
website and radio servers number about nine.
We are
experimentally streaming in the MP3 format under the callsign KDX-MP3
after previous operation in the OGG/Vorbis format as KDX-OGG. It
appears that MP3 remains the most popular audio format despite apparent
efficiencies achieved in AAC, OGG, and OPUS formats. It may be a
moot point given that most audio players respond to all of the formats.
We have reason to be somewhat inquisitive about the status of
Icecast, its XIPH Directory and the OGG and OPUS formats since activity
by the developers has been at a standstill for a long time.
The
trouble recently experienced with the B.U.T.T. Encoder update may have
an easy solution according to instructions in the manual; we'll be
putting our hunch to the test possibly today.
The audio
processor StereoTool contains a section noted as an experimental Stream
Encoder, and we'll be giving it a trial sometime soon as a possible
substitute for B.U.T.T.
The highly versatile VLC Audio
Player also contains provisions for streaming and we'll be delving into
what possibilities it may offer. We presently utilize VLC as a kind of
virtual audio cable to monitor our radio stream over the designated
hardware chain.
Wednesday July 14, 2021 11:23 AM CDT -- Net Neutrality is On the FCC Do List --
Acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel fully hopes to bring back net neutrality.
Wednesday July 14, 2021 9:40 AM CDT -- Why Do People Lie? --
William Shatner sets out to learn the answer.
RT
America is a video network giving viewers the choice of watching
William Shatner, and if you 'scrape' the audio then it becomes a radio
program, as heard on KDX.
Wednesday July 14, 2021 6:58 AM CDT -- That Coffee's Not Real --
Mister
Carl Blare is thinking about launching a new daily radio show free for
all radio stations. If he decides to go with it, the tentative title
will be "Morning Coffee with Carl". As he sees it, the show will be a
quick 5-minute coffee break in between musical segments on most
stations, or a time-filler for talk stations so the talker can grab a
bathroom break. On this show Blare will share things he thinks about
like his idea concerning what the UAPs are (Unidentified Aerial
Phenomena), lingering questions about these vaccines we keep hearing
about, time-fillers used by Carl to fill his time-filler, such as
episodes of Flash Frizbone, a hero of radio from the 1970s who moved
from station to station because of instabilities on everybody's part,
an in depth probe of human psychology to explain why people always want
something other than what's happening, a continuing observation of the
latest research in the science of sleep and dreaming, sharing emails
and phone calls from listeners, small chit chats with staff members
including impersonal assistant Flotilla DeGlued and her sister Dissaray
who doesn't work here but stops by for coffee and the hope of meeting
Brooce whom she once spoke with on a phone call that Carl was having,
legal advice from lawyer Stag Pinstripe, medical opinions of Doctor
Proctor Cavalier, wildlife expeditions in our lovely wooded campus to
see if any birds or rabbits have survived the black cat that lounges
here all day while its owner is at work, and any other subject or
topic. Carl says, "I don't know. I might do it. I think about it. It
would be a good idea. Probably the stations would like it. Getting top
rank programming free is what they all look for. Eventually I'd resent
not being paid, but that's only human. Maybe we could get a coffee
sponsor. But they don't need the promotion. Coffee is already a major
part of peoples' lives. Still, there would be a good match combining
coffee with the Blare image. Let's just play it one ear at a
time."
Tuesday July 13, 2021 2:37 PM CDT -- Reduce Sound Between Rooms By 1/2 --
Monday July 12, 2021 4:04 PM CDT -- We Are Kept Going By an Illusion --
Deep thinkers are able to realize that biological attraction is an absolute illusion
often manifesting as a full blown delusion,
but without it there's no way our species would reproduce itself.
- C. Blare, following considerable introspection
Monday July 12, 2021 3:15 PM CDT -- We Can't All Survive This --
While
hoards of spoiled adults crowd back into 'normalcy' or 'normality',
however you wish to say it, reality is following a much larger script
in which the pandemic is every bit still in full force regardless of popular
belief that it has ended, and the planet is determinedly flexing
whatever shakes off the pests that are threatening it's continued life
in the universe. The vast majority cling to faith in superstitious
'god planning' and trust that air conditioning and streaming movies
will see us through.
Monday July 12, 2021 3:09 PM CDT -- It Took the Rest of the Day --
After
failing to solve the defects in the new B.U.T.T. (Broadcast Using This
Tool) update, we spent hours back-setting our computer to the last
functioning version, got it streaming, and then accidentally 'hit
something', which means we inadvertantly tapped a key on the keyboard
and the volume level of everything dropped to a whisper. It took
another hour to fix that, but still don't know what caused
it. The always changing webscape improves things until failure is
reached, and there we sit.
Monday July 12, 2021 11:48 AM CDT -- Out of Service Announcements --
KDX-AM
has been off the air much of the week because of a string of electrical
storms that's been passing by; we disconnect from the ground radial
system to avoid giving lightning a path into the transmitter room. We
noticed a major tree down across the roadway about 700-feet up the way
as a probable indication of a windstorm overnight.
KDX-OGG is
not streaming due to audio defects in a new B.U.T.T. stream encoder
upgrade installed this morning. Before we revert to the previous
version we'll spend some time scrolling around to see if anyone else is
having the same result.
Opening and closing our large network
of servers and transmitters to avoid dangerous storm damage is time
consuming and will more often be met by leaving services offline for
longer periods of time.
Saturday July 10, 2021 6:16 AM CDT -- I Don't Understand --
William Shatner is set to host a new series of weekly programs from RT America in Washington DC.
Friday July 9, 2021 7:24 AM CDT -- What All is In the Air --
By R. Kreyser - Moved to Commons from the English Wikipedia., Public Domain,
Link
Brooce is located near the Atlantic Ocean
somewhere in Pennsylvania and reports receiving KSIV-FM a St. Louis
station with 85,000 Watts. As radio scouts know, the game is to fish
out the rare and distant signals, it makes no difference what those
stations are sending by way of program.
Meanwhile, from practically within sight of the St. Louis city limits
and very much near the master antenna that carries KSIV-FM, I, Carl
Blare, have taken up a renewed interest in the Wi-Fi neighborhood of
frequencies ever since the electric company installed their Smart Meter
on the side of our Internet Building. We took a look at the 2.4GHz
version of our RF-Explorer Handheld Signal Analyzer which provides a
screen view of the entire Wi-Fi band of 13 channels showing signals
jumping all over the place with bustling activity. For comparison we
next took a look at the Wi-Fi Adapter Stick on our desktop and noted
that, for the early 6 AM hour, Wi-Fi channels 6 and 11 were handling
most neighborhood traffic, indicating that a lot of what we saw on the
Spectrum Analyzer was other than ordinary Wi-Fi internet traffic and
might be cordless phones or video doorbells.
Far from satisfied we obsessed with curiosity over what was happening
at other nearby frequencies used by cordless phones and Smart Meters,
such as the 900 MHz and 1 GHz spectrum, and sent away for an extension
card for installation in the RF-Explorer, which will expand the
available view of RF signals sharing the air around us.
Thursday July 8, 2021 1:01 PM CDT -- Shure Wants FCC to Do Something
About Vacant TV Channels --
Tuesday July 6, 2021 1:45 PM CDT -- A Person of Recent Acquaintance --
The performance artist who worked under the moniker 'Like a Villain'
turns out to be a singer, composer named Holland Andrews, now entered
in our personal directory of favorite composers.
Tuesday July 6, 2021 1:28 PM CDT -- The Gary Davis Story --
Martin Sheen will be appearing in a documentary about the concept of
naming the World as one's country.
Tuesday July 6, 2021 11:07 AM CDT -- Treats Today --
Thom
Hartmann is back from holiday and has a special guest today during the
3rd hour when actor Martin Sheen will talk of a new film about being a
'citizen of the world' and what it means.
Also, I've researched the composer named below as 'Like a Villain' ('A
Song About Romance') and
come upon a most interesting musical personality about whom we hope to
learn more. We'll post later today with more facts.
Tuesday July 6, 2021 7:05 AM CDT -- Money for Short Paragraphs --
This
morning's broadcast of Cory Doctorow's podcast talks about 'Self
Publishing' and mentions offers seen around the internet to earn real
money for writing short paragraphs. I, Carl Blare, write short
paragraphs everyday under the banner of The Blare Blog, and if I could
get paid for it how much would it take to get rich?
Monday July 5, 2021 6:19 PM CDT -- On the Borderline Between Beauty and
Inspiration --
A wonderful peice of music from a creator called 'Like a Villain'.
Monday July 5, 2021 1:09 PM CDT -- Cultural Distancing --
This
week's SymphonyCast from American Public Media features two exceptional
works performed under novel circumstances. Rachmaninoff's 2nd
Piano Concerto and Shostakovitch's 7th Symphony, performed to an empty
hall in Minneapolis during the height of COVID. The Minnesota Orchestra
made the decision to carry forward with the concert given they'd
rehearsed and were prepared, so they served a radio-only audience, the
musicians clad in full concert black.
Melodies from the
Rachmaninoff Concerto have been borrowed for many romantic songs and
heard as theme music in motion pictures, gloriously beautiful, and
having been composed following a several year depression brought on by
the disastrous premier of his 1st Symphony when he was 19-years old.
The
Shostakovitch 7th was a radio hit in the early 40's when scores of
European broadcasts were followed by the U.S premier under Arturo
Toscanini and his NBC Orchestra. It became an anthem of the Second
World War which was still raging as Nazi troops marched toward
Leningrad, Russia, in a relentless quest to conquer the Soviet
Republic. The composer's photograph appeared on the cover of Time
Magazine wearing the hat of the fire brigade where he volunteered
amidst the tension of air raids and oncoming battles. Spare moments
were spent composing what stands as a portrayal of imminent war mixed
with bitterly wistful emotions.
When I think of so many people
who ignore this music and have no curiosity to explore it I wonder if
perhaps there've been more lobotomies than surgical records indicate.
Monday July 5, 2021 5:55 AM CDT -- Critical Race Theory --
An entire jello spill in three words.
There.
Now that you've read the link you can explain to us what is meant by
those words 'critical race theory'. Go ahead. Explain it to us. We're
all listening.
Sunday July 4, 2021 2:31 PM CDT -- In the Words of An Independent Man --
As
the central activity this 4th Holiday in the U.S., KDX is sending out
some Blare OnAir programs so we can recall things we got away with
saying in previous years. The one linked here was a response to being
violently ejected from the hobby radio club that was totally demolished
when a failed chairman lost his mind and started pushing furniture out
the window.
Sunday July 4, 2021 2:13 AM CDT -- Beer Belly Blogs --
Looks like we've stirred Boomer!
You know what, Busch has
a beer for dogs, made from bone broth. It
was given a push during the pandemic, being that people were at
home with their dogs more, and now you could have a beer with your
best friend.
If you want to know
interesting facts about beer, there's a book
called 'B Is For Beer', a coffee table reader.
Boom
Next we'll have dog taverns and routy dogs howling sea shanties until
all hours.
And while looking forward to reading B Is For Beer
the next time we're near a coffee table, the question needs to be
begged, why is 'B' the second letter of the alphabet? I mean, why are
the 24-letters of the alphabet taught and recited in a standard order?
We won't have true independence until we can recite the alphabet in any
order of our choosing! I like to start out with the letter 'G'
and
go from there.
Saturday July 3, 2021 12:48 NOON CDT -- Introducing Powdered Beer --
Powdered
drinks have always seemed to me, Carl Blare, like a modern efficiency
that avoids the costly transportation of water as part of
conventional beverages. Imagine attending a ball game with a pocket
full of light-weight powder-packs. Water would be easily obtained from
a public fountain and a little stirring would give you all the
beer you'd need to make an event of it. For me the daily infusion of
morning coffee comes from powder crystals which provide all the boost
desired from coffee but never interferes with sleep, an unexpected side
benefit. Not so long ago we read that someone was developing a powdered
alcohol of some generic variety, a whiskey of sorts, and we have
fantasized about being the inventor of powdered beer, but we waited too
long and the Danish have pioneered the world's first!
Saturday July 3, 2021 -- The Nature of the Medium --
What
we have here is one medium speaking of another medium. We've got media
reflecting on it's selfs. There's the written medium represented by the
blog form, but tasked with a discussion of radio as a medium,
especially its technical under carriage, which at its best works
transparently in delivery of speech and music.
As writer of this
little essay I became stalled over the difference between 'speech' and
'speach', briefly losing confidence in all the writing of my entire
past life in which I may have confused the two. I mean, we 'speak', we
don't 'speek', so 'speach' seems appropriate but look at the 1st
Amendment about 'Freedom of Speech'. Why wouldn't I think the whole
thing is a lawyer's trick in which we end up not having freedom of
'speach'. Certainly the July 3rd Holiday Weekend would seem an
inopportune time to question our independence, even though it
would apply only to United Statons. All it took to settle the
fuss
was a consult to Wicktionary dot org to learn that 'speach' is an
obsolete form of 'speech'. But come to think of it you'd think the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1791, would
contain the 'obsolete' version, the history of American English not
having much history prior to that time, but I'm thinking aloud.
The
voices and instruments coming out of the radio can be heard clearly if
the electronics in the delivery path are well tuned by artful
technicians with the common objective of making given stations loud
enough to stand out on the dial. But take the moment for the sake of
grins to tune down the line from station to station and there will
probably be a few of them that sound weaker than the others. While this
could be a sign of poor engineering, it sometimes flags a 'purist'
engineer who strives to match the dynamic range of a real concert hall.
A concert hall might represent a medium in itself, but can
generally be assumed to consist of a quiet indoor space in which the
lowest volume of musical performance might be very quiet compared to
maximum velocity which is known to cause hearing loss to some musicians
over the course of their career. From pianississimo (very very quiet)
to fortississimo (very very loud), the dynamic range of an orchestra is
huge, ranging perhaps from a low of minus-60dB to +5dB, (estimating),
and the purist engineers who try to shoe-horn this vast range of volume
levels into the limited confines of a radio carrier invariably end up
with a signal that sounds very dim on average, and only becomes well
defined at the loudest moments of musical transmissions. Most listeners
do not have their radios in concert halls but most usually are in cars
and homes where ambient noise conceals quieter audio coming from the
radio.
It is for these reasons that Pierre Linear, chief
engineer of KDX, adjusts our audio levels actually while noisy air
conditioning equipment is turned on full force, setting the knobs so
that whispers can be heard as clearly as blaring crescendos, making our
station easy to hear.
Thursday July 1, 2021 8:20 AM CDT -- The Electrics --
In
between bouts of electrical storms all the fine programming heard on
KDX Worldround Radio is dispensed from a chain of electronic devices
which require constant care and attention from our chief engineer,
Pierre Linear, a figment of myself. Between the one of us there are
continual high priorities that skim the boundaries of catastrophe and
defy being written about. Take for example the percieved emergency when
our RF Explorer
Signal Analyzer became locked in an on/off flashing
mode requiring an entire day of urgent software surgery to bring it
back to life so we could resume watching waveforms across the 2.4 GB
Wi-Fi Band. We were prepared to blame the electric company's new Smart
Meter on suspicion of overloading the delicate antenna circuit, but
installing a firmware upgrade restored the Analyzer and spared the
reputation of the meter.
Youtube radio reviews recently
brought our attention to comparisons among various TECSUN models as we
foresee the aging of our PL-310 which serves as an essential
test
and measurement tool with its on-screen signal-strength indicator,
providing eyes on the power levels of our radio transmitters at varying
distances from their antennas. A convincing case was made that the
newer PL-380 sported several improvements, and there was also a
competition between the larger PL-660 and PL-880. By taking the matter
further to Radio Jay
Allen's radio review website, complexity and
confusion entered the exploration by his reviews of PL-330, PL-365,
PL-660, PL680, PL-880 and PL-990, in addition to a number of sets with
other numbers not pre-fixed 'PL'.
Indecision is a status.
Thursday Jul 1. 2021 7:12 AM CDT -- Franken FM Granted 6-Month Stay of
Execution
(Nothing
to do with Al Franken)
Thursday July 1, 2021 5:43 AM CDT -- Upon Starting a New Month --
From
the center of north america, smack in the middle of the United States
of America, KDX Worldround Radio begins another month of blogging and
blabbing. It's raining steadily which will cause the grass to grow, and
we're already finding ways to avoid the inconvenience of mowing it.
