The Blare Blog
Center
of the Bla Bla Galaxy
Where
the Future Arrives
April 2022
Thursday April 28, 2022 5:00 PM CDT -- What Did You Call Me ? --
I didn't mean you. SLUB is an interesting website in Europe. Artisan Radio found it.
Thursday April 28, 2022 6:45 AM CDT -- Part 15 Teeter Totter --
Do
playgrounds still have teeter totters? During the socially active years
a visit aboard a nearby teeter totter provided memorable fun around a
fulcrum riding up and down face to face. The expression 'teeter totter'
would make a suitable metaphor for a web forum. Imagine 'Part 15 Teeter
Totter', sharing the ups and downs of the low power radio lifestyle.
Maybe Moderator Mark could do an Elon Musk by purchasing Part15.org and
renaming it 'The Part 15 Radio Teeter Totter'. Then the Twitter people
could 'tweet' and the part 15 folks could 'teet'.
Wednesday April 27, 2022 12:45 NOON CDT -- The 2 CCrane FM Transmitters --
CCrane
FM1 was briefly available until replaced by FM2, bringing two notable
improvements: FM2 has an extremely quiet carrier, which is to say that
the audio is received with very high quality signal-to-noise
characteristics. The FM1 had a hissy noise floor that was conspicuous
during silent moments in audio modulation. The second improvement was
made to the LED modulation light, the FM2 registering a blinking green
light in response to audio modulation and red light flashing on
over-modulation. The FM1 had no visible indication that audio was
present until overmodulation flashed a red LED.
KDX utilizes
two CCrane FM transmitters, one of each model. We've been using the FM2
as a daily workstation monitor for our radio station, and have just
restored the FM1 to service for monitoring audio from our newly
installed 2nd computer. Right away we became aware that the FM1, in
addition to its hissy noise floor, has developed a crackling noise like
frying bacon. This is particularly noticable during quiet audio,
frequently encountered in web listening, a good example being the live
YouTube coverage from the Johnny Depp courtroom proceeding with long
stretches of very weak audio. The likely cause of the crackling noise
may be a defective electrolytic capacitor which will be difficult to
locate and replace because of circuit miniaturization.
Tuesday April 26, 2022 2:37 PM CDT -- Artisan Speaks of the Musk Twitter Titter --
Just as we were about to call for a 'wellness check' since Artisan Radio hadn't posted for awhile, he posted
Artisan
gave two reasons why some Twitter tweeters tell lies, and The Blare
Blog suggests two more reasons: those being commercial advertising and
organized religion. I know all about both since I worked in each field
during the course of several careers. In both ads and holy work we
appeal to the human imagination which is quite pliable. Our job is to
prompt people into believing what they want to believe. Even devout
believers of one particular faith would agree that all of the other
religions are speaking falsehoods. There's no reason why you should
believe me, but Elon Musk has spent 46-billion to allow me to spout
off.
Tuesday April 26, 2022 10:31 AM CDT -- The Magic Band --
Listeners
with amateur radio experience will know that the 6-meter band is known
as "the magic band" because of its extraordinary DX characteristics
under certain conditions. As well, those with amateur knowledge will
realize we're talking about the 50 MHz region and they'll know what
"certain conditions" and "DX" might be. They'd know a lot more,
such as how the "old FM band", VHF channel 2, and frequencies
previously used by cordless phones were neighbors. This whole topic
came up when we needed a last minute program-choice to fill an hour of
air time on KDX and arbitrarily found "HAM Radio Concepts podcast"
which happened to devote their show this week to 6-meters. Here at KDX
radio our engineers have their eye on a Part 15 license free low power
channel at 49 MHz, allowed by the FCC, which we'd like to employ as a
studio-to-transmitter-link (known as STL) to supplant our 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
audio system now in use.
The "old FM band", 42 - 50 MHz, started
in 1945 and was closed in 1947 when the new FM band was opened from 88
- 106 MHz. The frequency shifting had to do with the advent of VHF
television which gobbled up many megahertz.
Sunday April 24, 2022 11:28 AM CDT -- Hey! Come back Here! --
A car drove by.
It veered off the road.
It hit some trash cans.
It kept going.
Saturday April 23, 2022 1:31 PM CDT -- Today as Seen from the Speeding Train Window of Life --
The
lady on the phone had a probably Latin American accent, but I didn't
ask where she was stationed, so I'll guess wildly that it might have
been Argentina. She was my contact person at the sales site that
rejected my login attempts where I want to buy shoes. Of course I am
certain my telephone personality has her wanting to call me back and
make it personal. While I'm waiting for that call I happened to think,
'The show is over but I'm still in the theatre', and I know what that
means even if it's not clear to blog readers.
Now we have a grip
on what's going on with this stupid but irresistible problem getting
the USB drive on the Wi-Fi router to work across the LAN. I also know
what that means even if it's not clear to blog readers. The Windows 10
machine is able to download but not write to the USB drive, but the
Windows 7 computer does not detect it at all. Somehow life made it all
these years without having this problem, but it's here now and like any
other dog I'll keep chewing on it.
Out the window is the second of two days in the 80s so that's where I'm headed before the storms come later on.
Friday April 22, 2022 3:34 PM CDR -- Careers in Media --
You've
decided that tower climbing is out, have no desire to be a top 40 DJ,
are not much interested in transmitter electronics, so what's left?
Friday April 22, 2022 8:33 AM CDT -- The USB Port on the Router --
As
we've said, the new Wi-Fi router put recently into service contains a
USB 3.0 port which we've populated with a harddrive taken from our
broken XP tower computer, already loaded with 3 partitions full of
audio files. From within the router's own software dashboard under the
USB setting all 3 of those partitions are listed, proving recognition
of the harddrive by the router. But, and you could feel a but coming,
none of those partitions are findable on either of our two workstation
computers. As a further fact, the router setup instructions tell us
that the USB port can be activated via 'Samba' and/or FTP, upon which
we determined that 'Samba' would be of no use because it's purpose
would be to enable linking of a Windows system with a Linux outfit,
which does not apply around here. FTP sounds ok, except that thus far
we've been unable to figure out what to do at either workstation to get
started. I should say, though, we have found an audio file known to be
stored on the elusive harddrive by way of Audacity Audio Editor, but
are unable to find a way of saving back to that drive. A case of
temporary insanity has taken our brain hostage and become foremost in
priority as we leave you for now.
Friday April 22, 2022 8:10 AM CDT -- One Mouth Two Ears --
Friday April 22, 2022 7:58 AM CDT -- Upward Mobility --
While
we small broadcasters fumble around with 3-meter antennas there are
stations elsewhere dealing with heights as great as 2,000-feet.
Friday April 22, 2022 7:21 AM CDT -- Noise is Unwanted Sound --
During
the early years I enjoyed loud loudspeakers blaring symphony music
which drove my father to shout "USE REDUCED VOLUME!" For me the loud
music was a wanted sound and enhanced my immune system. For dad the
loud music was an unwanted sound and detrimental to his continued
health. This linked article brings it to mind:
Thursday April 21, 2022 6:21 PM CDT -- New Streaming Radio Tuner --
Thursday April 21, 2022 4:10 PM CDT -- Where's Your Studio? --
Many
recording studios go into business with mammoth audio mixing boards
that require an airplane hanger, but here's a mixer so small a studio
would have a bad day if it was misplaced somewhere in a small room
while your client sat by waiting for some indication that this was a
legitimate studio. So, maybe don't use this for a recording studio, but
it would work great for a small radio station in a crawl space
below a stairwell.
Wednesday April 20, 2022 6:33 PM CDT -- Reflections On Radio --
This Essay Was Written by Me, Carl Blare, on Dec. 30, 2012
In
the beginning radio was viewed from the public service point of view.
It was a "theater of the air" and it was a wide-area "public address
system" and it was there to deliver quality sound performances and
important information to the surrounding population.
The legacy
of licensing stations to towns and cities is a remnant of the old
system, but there is a disconnection, because the actual towns and
cities no longer have a place at the table. Big owners in far away sky
scrapers own the licenses and keep their eye on one spot.... the bottom
line.
The bottom line is the profit line, and is a matter of reducing operating costs on a teeter-totter with advertising revenue.
As
far back as the early 1960s high paid "consultants" were advising
station managers to fire the creative talent, because these types were
considered too independent and uncontrollable.
Consultants
themselves had limited life expectancy because their reign lasted only
as long as the ratings that followed in their wake.
Bringing
quality to the public was drained from the discussion and in some ways
was passed over to public broadcasting, but the politics have boiled
most non-commercial stations down into a sterilized politically correct
pudding.
The last bastion, so to speak, has been so-called
"community stations", but weak signals and petty in-fighting by license
holding boards of direction have overturned many of the better
ambitions that lost their grip on the paddle.
Comes now the
smallest stations you've never heard, enabled under part 15, and in
certain ways it's the final death struggle of radio, trying to be that
mature horn of plenty we all envision.
Even down here in the
microcosmos there are yapping dogs sent in to nip at our milliwatts and
remind us to stay within our marked area. The creative rabble must be
subdued.
Wednesday April 20, 2022 8:45 PM CDT -- Puff Piece --
It is said
that persons of age are to be revered and honored for their wisdom,
having taken many lessons from long years of experience. What then, is
the better course for self management by the elder so as to best
fulfill his place as sage to those of youth. Speaking from my own
venerated loft, I would advise preserving our accolades by saying very
little, so as not to let it out that what we really want is to chase
women around the room.
Wednesday April 20, 2022 6:15 AM CDT --
Steve Gibson's Picture of the Week
TWiTtv
Tuesday April 19, 2022 6:58 PM CDT -- Here's the Up High --
People
are always reporting things 'on the down low', a figure of speech which
I guess calls for a kind of crouching huddle to share intimacies and
sly secrets. So, therefore, it should be possible to hold an open
conversation 'on the up high' when there's nothing secretive going on.
Yea, that's what we'll do now.
Hey! For the past day and a
half we've been crouched and huddled over two keyboards on two
computers setting up this Wi-Fi router while enlarging our radio
broadcast operation in the process. The second computer had been
stashed in storage for almost two years and has finally become
integrated into daily use thus growing our overall capability. The
older familiar machine runs Windows 7 which served reliably but
this newer addition contains Windows 10 which has been daunting and
snarly. Like breaking in a horse we've slapped a saddle on her and been
spurring it to figure out where the unamazing maze of software trails
reach the information super highway. Just as we'd finally uninstalled a
glut of needless frills and fancy dads and do's Microsoft sent an
imposing message informing us that our version of Windows 10 had
reached 'end of life' and warned us to update now or later tonight,
striking terror into our brain's panic out-of-control center. Saying a
few bitter nasties, I signaled back, "alright. Do what you have to do",
and it did, taking 35-long-long minutes. And in the usual Microsoft way
they messed the bed by leaving new glutter in the system that I'm still
finding and uninstalling. It's a hate hate relationship.
Tomorrow
the happy trail resumes when we attach something to the USB 3.0 port on
the Wi-Fi router, creating a LAN shared drive available to all of our
computers, a complication that will make life less complicated.
But it's not all about me. How's your stuff doing?
Monday April 18, 2022 10:26 AM CDT -- Settling the Problem --
Many
of the human animals who've bluffed and blundered their way into
political power have such scrambled brains that they could easily
'bring it on' with reference to a final war. We're at exactly the
juncture where any moment could bring the flash that would end our
history. It is past the time when debating fine points has useful
influence. If by sheer chance one of the idiots doesn't quite launch
nuclear annihilation it seems clear that slower decline will get us
soon enough through climate destruction, so why not abbreviate the
experience with the one-button solution? It's not really a vote we have
the choice of making; our only choice is to sit around waiting to see
which it will be.
Sunday April 17, 2022 10:21 AM CDT -- Virtual Expansion --
Based
on an internal study of the KDX technical operation, we have established a
routing pattern so as to best apply the new Wi-Fi routing device now in
active service. Our primary server-computer providing the kdxradio.com
website and Icecast web stream is hard-wired by ethernet and a
secondary utility computer is networked on a 5G wireless channel, thus
displacing what would be a 35-foot ethernet cable. As a blog reader we
realize you are immensely excited to hear about this and we pledge more
such talk in days to come.
Saturday April 16, 2022 4:34 PM CDT -- Goings On --
For the
first time since the beginning of time KDX has installed a Wi-Fi
routing system after talking about it for a long time. We are impressed
by everything about it from a technical standpoint and notice only one
small and insignificant difference when compared to wired ethernet.
While streaming audio from our KDX work station it generates a
noticable jitter distortion over wireless Wi-Fi which does not occur
when directly wired. Such things as movie audio or reception of
streaming radio from other webcasters would therefore bring the same
minor distortion if heard by Wi-Fi, but it's no more important than the
perceptible differences between analog FM and AM, particularly since
there's no nessary advantage to using Wi-Fi in our day to day operation
other than as a novelty for our own technical amusement.
The
subject just changed, we are now talking about music heard today on KDX
with chilly sunny weather on campus. It was time to bring the piano
concertos of Rodion Schedrin into our familiar zone, never having spent
the time to sit them out. He wrote six of them, each around 22-minutes,
and we have all but No. 5. It comes as no surprise that they are each
pleasing for their originality at a time in music history when it's
become a challenge to write anything new, there being only 88-notes on
the piano and so many hundreds of works in the genre already
established. Maestro Schedrin is in his 80's and slowly becoming a
world favorite among serious composers, not to overlook several jocular
works such as "Silly Limericks", the subtitle of his Concerto No. 1 for
Orchestra which sounds like something from an insane cartoon.
Saturday April 16, 2022 10:04 AM CDT --
The first mistake of the believer
is to believe him/her self.
- C. Blare - said one Saturday morning
Friday April 15, 2022 11:40 AM CDT -- 10 DIY Hacks to Improve a Home Radio Studio --
Friday April 15, 2022 11:02 AM CDT -- What Can You Do in a Container? --
(Kirk is a host of 'This Week in Radio Tech' as heard on KDX)
RADIOWORLD
Friday April 15, 2022 10:57 AM CDT -- WRMI is Somewhat Larger Than Your Typical Part 15 Station --
Friday April 15, 2022 8:13 AM CDT -- Twitter Needs Musk --
The
warping of Twitter from a communication platform for open expression
into a poorly moderated bottleneck of stilted repression opens the way
for changes at the top. Enter Elon Musk ready to freshen things up.
Friday April 15, 2022 7:59 AM CDT -- Charlie Rose Comeback --
One
of the finest interviewers of recent generation is back doing what he
does following lengthy exile over non-criminal complaints. The
misandrists have left their mark and contributed nothing of value in
their obscurity.
Thursday April 14, 2022 6:54 PM CDT -- Spectrumers Unite --
Just
as picnicers find a spot in parks, spectrumers manage to occupy slivers
of the electromagnetic spectrum. We go a little bit overboard here at
Worldround Radio, home of KDX and our various other radio stations,
with slices of the medium wave, FM, and Wi-Fi bands, all under the
authority granted by the Federal Communications Commision Rules Part
15. Today we made further incursion with the addition of a Wi-Fi 2-band
router which needlessly sends and receives everything we do wirelessly
over a distance of 7-inches in lieu of an ethernet cable. As a result
of not using ethernet cables we have many extra ones in storage,
but also retain the ability of switching to cabled operation at
anytime just because we might feel like it. It's a hobby and hobbies
sometimes involve doing something in a way distinctive of that hobby.You may quote me.
Thursday April 14, 2022 6:53 PM CDT -- No Preparation Necessary --
When it comes time to exist no more,
We will know how to do it.
Thursday April 14, 2022 9:30 AM CDT -- How Speakers Work --
Routenote
Thursday April 14, 2022 9:21 AM CDT -- YouTube Worldwide Technical Difficulties --
TechCrunch
Thursday April 14, 2022 9:11 AM CDT -- Electronic Sounds and Effects --
Boing Boing
Wednesday April 13, 2022 6:49 PM CDT -- Return to Operation --
The
day ended up being dark, mellow, wet, calm and collected. The
possibility of dangerous weather passed south and east of us and even
at those other locations no consequential hazards developed.
Wednesday April 13, 2022 9:59 AM CDT -- Stepping Out of the Way --
Likely
severe storms are expected through the day and, as per standard
practice, this website and radio server will be taken offline for
security. During a brief half-hour of sunlight we managed to give our
campus a razor cut so the grass is well within the 7" limit specified
by local authority. We removed the KDX Mobile Unit from beneath
the 40' tree standing over Wireless Way, also known as "the driveway".
We'll be watching the Lightning Map and already see that we are
encircled by bolts of electricity. If the Internet Building is blown
apart by possible 90-MPH winds we will attempt to stream from a tent,
or from a tent in the stream, as the case may be.
Tuesday April 12, 2022 7:01 PM CDT -- TORNADO COVERAGE LIVE !! --
Tuesday April 12, 2022 11:45 AM CDT -- Michi Has a YouTube Channel
Tuesday April 12, 2022 11:40 AM CDT -- FCC Today Podcast --
Tuesday April 12, 2022 9:08 AM CDT -- The Benefits of Radio --
Sunday April 10, 2022 11:43 AM CDT -- Bamboo Towers --
On the
campus of KDX Worldround Radio we have a bamboo forest that attracts
many species of birds, provides safe harbor for rabbits, attracts loony
new age people who think its has sacred qualities, and produces poles
for building fences, fishing poles and towers.
Saturday April 9, 2022 11:43 AM CDT -- An Open Letter from Paul Thurst
--
Engineering
Radio Blog
Saturday April 9, 2022 10:27 AM CDT -- Radio Shares the Air --
Friday April 8, 2022 4:53 PM CDT -- Carlrad --
Boomcasting at 640 and 1240, it's Boomer:
Rad Carl,
I was always intrigued
by the Conelrad stations, since radios had
markings on their dials for them at 640 and 1240 kc. I tried tuning
the stations in but I never heard them on the air, even testing.
What I knew back then was that they were special transmitters
outside of cities, with generator power and hardened against
attack. If that threat came, the city stations would go off air and
Conelrad stations would activate with emergency info.
Through the years I've
wondered if CD stations were still out there
somewhere in compounds, ready to go, or maybe decommissioned and
rotting away.
A great teen fantasy
would be to stumble across one of the CD
stations while out hiking, abandoned, overgrown, but the equipment
still in working order. We would sign on with a one-time mystery
broadcast, and get away with it, and everyone in town heard it and
would be buzzing about the clandestine radio station. That would
make a good Hardy Boys episode. Oh, add hearing spies on the
station monitor receiver, speaking in Russian accents, and run out
of the building, screaming.
Now that page throws out
the previous knowledge I had incurred,
Conelrad was just your normal broadcast stations re-tuning their
transmitters to the emergency frequencies. Now I don't know what
the secret transmitter story was, maybe a different system, used
somewhere else or at a different time.
What's never heard in
the discussion of Conelradio is what to do
about local FM stations in an emergency, I guess they would have
gone off the air too?
Maybe you could set up
an extra transmitter as a 'Carlrad' station
for use only during emergencies. You could find lots of emergencies
to use it, polar bear attack or sidewalk crack grass growth.
Maintain the station and do regular logged tests..
As for the grass, man, I
think Crackgrass, if you get busted for it
and end up in court, tell the judge that grass was an effort to
combat Climate Change since the blades were there to convert carbon
buildup along the street. Well, in today's wolk climate, stranger
things are being discussed, like litter boxes in schools for
students who identify as members of the cat and dog community.
Never mind that the story is false news, lots of people believe it
apparently, the topic keeps coming up on talk shows.
You can look up Class E
to see more of the theory behind it, with
oscilloscope photos showing what the proper waveform is supposed to
look like. There's very little authoritative information on it for
puny low volt Part-15 transmitters on the AM band, as E is used
mostly on shortwave and by hams at high power and up at Ghz cell
phone frequencies for high E-fficiency. Commercial AM broadcast
transmitters seem to use mostly class D, because that has fine
efficiency on the lower frequencies used in the broadcast band. I
haven't seen any Part-15 broadcast band transmitters use D though,
but we should, it might be easier to tune by the average po, and
yet get higher efficiency like E has.
As for college radio,
you have to put yourself in the frame of mind
of a teen learning about the world at large. When I finally got an
FM radio, I listened to college stations all the time, and they
opened up a world of eclectic and alternative music, with dee jays
who were closer to my level socially and emotionally than the
top-40 pros. It felt underground, cool, and just for me, something
adults didn't know about.
The question could be,
is college radio like that relevant now and
do we need it? Kids like Tick Tock these days, but it doesn't seem
to have the same intimate feel as hearing a school FM station with
a small coverage area and a few listeners. You know with Tick-Tock
or any of those media sites, that anyone could be watching it
anywhere, and you're being surveilled and tracked wherever you go,
it's not so subversive.
- Boom AM
In
the Conelrad days FM was a non-issue because it had almost no occupancy
and there were very few FM receivers. As to Class E, the SSTran5000
manual has an excellent write-up on what it is and how to tune it and
it really works because I followed the instructions and then observed
the spectrum analyzer screen and hey! Wow! That sucker is efficient,
tell ya what! And another thing, I do believe the Ramsey AM25 kit may
be class D. It has a 50-ohm RF output and, according to PhilB, inventer
of the SSTran line and once member at part15.us, posted that he was
puzzled why the 25B was designed like a full-scale professional
transmitter not at all suitable for a short wire antenna. Also the 25B
could be wired for 1-Watt which got some fussy-pusses really cranked. I
have a Ramsey 25B and might put it on at 1710 at very very low power
because I like hearing radio through as much AM background slabber as
possible.
Friday April 8, 2022 1:35 PM CDT -- Wi-Fi Router Cancelation Notice --
Earlier
this week, following several weeks of research, we of KDX Worldround
Radio placed an order for a difficult to find Wi-Fi6 router. Today,
however, we have received a cancelation notice from the supplier
telling us the router is unavailable and our account will be
reimbursed. It would seem there is a widespread general shortage of
newest generation Wi-Fi6 routers and it appears no further action
remains open for us at this time. We surmise that worldwide chip
shortage combined with supply chain blockages are at the root of the
problem.
Friday April 8, 2022 8:45 AM CDT --
EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM --
WE
INTERRUPT THIS BLARE BLOG FOR A NOTIFICATION FROM THE EMERGENCY
NOTIFICATION SYSTEM. THIS MAY NOT BE AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY.
THIS
MAY ONLY BE A SCHEDULED TEST. STAND BY FOR AN OFFICIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT WITH FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATURE OF THIS BLOG
INTERRUPTION. PLEASE REMAIN CALM. THE SPECIAL
EMERGENCY
ANNOUNCER IS ON HIS WAY TO THE BUNKER STUDIO AND IS EXPERIENCING DELAY
DUE TO HEAVY TRAFFIC. AS WE ANTICIPATE HIS ARRIVAL THERE WILL
BE
A BRIEF INTERLUDE.
THIS
INTERRUPTION IS STILL IN PROGRESS. WE HAVE RECEIVED WORD THAT
MORGAN FORD, THE SPECIAL EVENTS ANNOUNCER, HAS HAD A FLAT TIRE ON THE
WAY TO THIS EMERGENCY MICROPHONE BUT DOESN'T HAVE A JACK.
THERE
WILL BE AN INTERLUDE AS WE SWITCH TO THE BACKUP PLAN.
WE
HAVE LEARNED THAT THE BACKUP PLAN IS PENDING DECLASSIFICATION BY THE
EMERGENCY COMMITTEE WHICH IS SCHEDULED FOR THE MONDAY AFTER EASTER.
UNTIL THAT TIME THIS DISASTER CHANNEL WILL BRING YOU A CONTINUOUS
INTERLUDE.
Friday April 8, 2022 5:38 AM CDT -- College Radio --
Forget
the idea that radio is educational. Operating a radio station is
technically about the same as using a sink. Truth is that playing DJ is
the same as working the public address system at Walmart and the only
reason colleges have radio stations is to provide a playroom to keep
students occupied between real classes. Faculty advisors are not there
to teach anything; their only job is to make sure FCC regulations are
followed. There is no reason for the public to hear any of it, but
being on the air serves the school as sort of electronic flypaper to
attract more enrollment into lifelong student debt.
Thursday April 7, 2022 8:42 AM CDT -- Don't Say Sway --
Since claiming ownership of the ALPB Rammer Bob holds sway over the
neutered organization.
Thursday April 7, 2022 8:31 AM CDT -- Are We In Radio's 2nd Golden Age?
--
Not exactly, but somewhat, based on this half-interesting read:
Thursday ASpril 7, 2022 6:55 AM CDT -- Point and Laugh, Carl Blare
Doesn't Use a Cellphone --
Guest column by Boomer -
Class 'E' is Classy
Class E is a real thing,
created by lead engineer Nathan Sokol in
the 1970s for high efficiency RF amplification. It describes a
different type of circuit layout, RF drive and tuning. Tuning is
done for the highest efficiency and best done by watching for
the proper waveform on an oscilloscope as you tune the output
stage.
Tuning for efficiency is
the key to make class E work for you, and
I seem to recall a method the designer had for the oscilloscopeless
man to use, peak it up, then turn the tuning screw a half turn more
which should put it into class E.
As for 'duck and cover',
I remember hearing about that, but we
didn't do it in my school. I remember when fallout shelters were
decommissioned though, and I had a few of those shelter signs you
used to see everywhere.
There's lots of audio
from the Cold War period, Conelrad test
sounds, PSAs and the 'duck and cover' children's records out there.
This site is good, though the audio files aren't working for me.
You can find them on audio download sites or Y'tube.
http://www.atomicplatters.com/audiodirectory.php/
I wanted to see what bomb shelter radios were like. There were a
few made, and modifications made to battery portables for low
current drain and external antennas. Electronics and scouting
magazines published schematics so that you could get involved in
preparations by building your own low drain shelter radio in a
cigar box.
This page has a lot of history on it, and I suspect there's a lot
more out there..
http://onetuberadio.com/category/conelrad/
Dogs can also suffer from fur problems, just like celebrities, with
a disorder called "Canine Alopecia Syndrome." I used to have a PSA
on cassette at my station from the American Academy of Dermatology
about CAS.
- Boomer
This
is Carl, long time listener and chronic caller... I always wondered how
Conelrad stations could suddenly pop up at 640 and 1240 kHz when there
were no regular local stations on those frequencies. It can't be easy
to achieve. I don't recall ever getting underneath the little student
desks but remember the teacher handing out little brown iodine tablets
and having us march single-file weaving between desks to a phonograph
recording of John Philip Sousa's 'Under the Golden Eagle'.
Thursday April 7, 2022 6:44 AM CDT -- Realization --
Time
happens only once.
- Carl Blare - from Between Dreams
Wednesday April 6, 2022 5:57 PM CDT -- Ukrainian Composer --
Reinhold Gliere died in 1956. His Symphony No. 3 is among the best
little known classical works of all time.
Wednesday April 6, 2022 1:56 PM CDT -- New Mobile Audio Recording
System --
Wednesday April 6, 2022 11:38 AM CDT -- Why Is the World Run by Morons?
--
Morons
have an advantage over people of intellect. Morons have nothing but
spare time in which to dream up nefarious schemes to lie, cheat, steal
and bluff their way into greater and higher power, while the brain
endowed are busily concentrated on scholarship, authorship,
invention and progressive development. The chronically stupid,
ironically, benefit in being shunned for their boorish dullness,
insufferable lack of tact, blatant dishonesty and foolish superstition
because no one with any sense would care to have them around. Given
such wide berth, the lunkheads escape notice as they bully their way
into top office while the better qualified have already scampered to a
safe distance. That's why we have our Trumps and Putins.
Wednesday April 6, 2022 9:36 AM CDT -- The Middleman Takes Over --
Radio
was a sprawling beast when slick city studios linked to farmish remote
towers through dedicated phone wires while the listeners stayed home.
Then the phone wires evolved into a world spanning web that made the
home into a radio station.
-
Carl blare
Wednesday April 6, 2022 9:32 AM CDT -- From Broad to Pod --
Rolling Stone
Wednesday April 6, 2022 9:22 AM CDT -- Pirate Fight Ramps Up --
FCC to add 15 full-time anti-pirates:
Wednesday April 6, 2022 6:31 AM CDT -- Routing --
Wednesday April 6, 2022 5:41 AM CDT --
Steve Gibson - Picture of
the Week - TWiTtv
Tuesday April 5, 2022 9:01 AM CDT -- Florida Law --
Boing Boing
Tuesday April 5, 2022 6:56 AM CDT -- Part 15 Gang Activity --
A
brief furor arose at the HobbyCaster Clearing House yesterday in
response to recollections on the Artisan Radio Blog about the
shifty 'Transmitter Challenge' from years ago. For one day only the
Hobby Boys re-posted ancient diatribes against the purported Class E
circuit which distinguished the now legendary AMT5000 Transmitter from
SSTran, including an old poison paper by persistent SSTran hater the
Late Ermi Roos. In summary, the net result of the bashing was to raise
doubt about the Class E claim, carried on now despite the fact that the
transmitter is no longer available. But if the Boys were such
professional engineers, according to their own self description, they'd
easily know one way or the other, yet their tactic is to merely scoff
about it. It doesn't matter today because the Bottle Washer has pulled
the flurry of defaming rants and returned to the usual riddles.
Monday April 4, 2022 7:57 PM CDT -- The Start of Everything --
Every
new morning starts with the first thing, often a cup of coffee, before
taking on second thing, third thing, and the expanding to-do list
stretching through the day always gaining in number until it's clear
once more that unfinished plans will be set aside until tomorrow. The
undone merges with falling night and mixes with a universe coming into
view showing the unending depths and expanses of undoables unreachables
and unknowables blinking from across time. Only sleep offers a way back
toward morning for another simple beginning.
Monday April 4, 2022 6:01 PM CDT -- Beam Me Up --
With Beam Forming
as a new feature of Wi-Fi6 routers can we expect personal molecular
levitation up to hovering spaceships via the 2.4 GHz band? In his
summary of Wi-Fi routing Artisan Radio was a little skeptical about the
promise of 'beam forming' and I would have to have doubts myself, that
without making any physical changes to a router or its antennas it
could 'know' how to redirect its 'beam' to targeted devices around the
house. What are all the antennas on Wi-Fi routers? Is it something like
diversity reception in some wireless microphone receivers that smartly
switch to the antenna with the best reception? No matter how smart you
are, you are always outsmarted by electronics that think but keep many
secrets.
Monday April 4, 2022 3:30 PM CDT -- Heinous Tragedy in the 21st Century
--
Russian
soldiers in Ukraine have been binding wrists and ankles of
civilians, torturing them, shooting them in the head, but deny doing
so and claim the besieged Ukrainian population is doing it to
themselves to falsely blame Russia. The invading soldiers want the
world to believe they are waging a nice invasion.
Monday April 4, 2022 1:08 PM CDT -- White House Press Secretary Moving
to KDX --
There's no rumor suggesting that Jen Psaki plans to move to KDX but she
may exit to MSNBC.
Monday April 4, 2022 1:02 PM CDT -- Pain Relief Through Binaural Beats
--
Monday April 4, 2022 12:55 NOON CDT -- Lagging Popularity of Windows 11
--
Monday April 4, 2022 12:43 NOON CDT -- Acoustics --
Monday April 4, 2022 9:38 AM CDT -- The Ground of Radio --
The
subject of grounding is up again at the Artisan Radio Blog and Mark's
well moderated forum at Part15.us, as the subject of grounding is
central to achieving the best performance from AM radio transmitters.
There are many who don't realize that grounding for the medium wave
band is a necessary half of a vertically polarized antenna system. It
took me years before I came to understand that an electrical connection
into the earth forms the return path needed to achieve a fully
radiating
circuit from an antenna. One common approach is to sink an 8' copper
ground rod and attach it to transmitter ground with a short ground-lead
wire. What has worked even better for KDX is to lay out so-called
ground radials from a central feed point in as many directions as
possible, the more the better up to possibly 60 or so. Truth be known,
I only have two radials at this time, one laid toward the south, the
other toward the north, yet with only that much the signal gets out
many times farther than with a single ground point or no ground at all.
I'd estimate a strong signal to 600', slightly feeble at 1,000' but at
times heard in the far background on a parking lot 1-mile away. By
adding more radials it would further improve and that day will come, if
Vladimir Putin doesn't soil our plans.
Monday April 4, 2022 7:58 AM CDT -- Seeking Improvement of Radio
Receivers --
FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel seeks receiver improvements.
Sunday April 3, 2022 10:11 AM CDT -- The Playground of Radio --
Longtime
radio personality Tommy D. Mischke wants us to see his new website. And
while you're there listen to or download his Mischke Roadshow No. 145
titled - "The Playground of Radio" where Mischke gives potrayals of
commercial news radio, smooth jazz station, hit music radio, sports
radio, public radio and religion
radio.
Sunday April 3, 2022 9:09 AM CDT -- Authority Wears a Dress --
Now a message from Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney-Island:
Abortion
is to be abhorred. As a Catholic Judge I represent God, who wants every
life to be born. The main responsibility of those among us as a result
of having been born, is to live in service to life and
welcome it along every stage of the way, starting with sperm. Everytime
a man ejaculates he sends 6-million sperm on their way into
uncertainty. If man's seed falls upon the ground, as the Bible says,
6-million lives are lost before they have a chance to begin. This court
will introduce criminal sanctions against masturbation punishable by
6-million life sentences per incidence. When conception occurs
involving a woman, 1-egg has a chance of being fertilized, but
5,999,999 sperm are lost down the drain. We foresee a requirement under
law to immediately report every fornication to the police who will
arrive to gather spilled semen for deposit in a sperm bank. We're at
the beginning of sweeping changes to the Shepherding of the Flock,
brought on by the Supreme Court-Catholic Hospital Tribunal. And
further, we call to mind the Biblical passage: "Man passes from dust to
dust", a clear indication that dust itself is a sacred substance and I
intend to ban all vacuuming, dusting, mopping, or any form of dust
removal. The divinity of dust is evident in the way it settles
everywhere on all surfaces. Because I am a woman some have called me a
witch. But I am not a witch. I am a Fire Breathing Dragon! If this
Blog gives equal time to another point of view, I'll torch it
and
scorch it! And now back to Carl Blare.
Right. Well, as it turns out, the other point of view has backed down.
Saturday April 2, 2022 2:35 PM CDT -- Catch On Now? --
Here's what I
think's been going on. As I've been browsing Newegg and Amazon
regarding the TP-Link AX50 Router, listings for new routers of this
model have been disappearing. A first visit to the TP-Link Official
Website
shows that the AX50 is not listed at all. So, looking at another
promising model, we noticed that it was 'sold out'. I believe there's a
router shortage, possibly because of shipping troubles and maybe even
chip shortage. It's wartime in the world.
Saturday April 2, 2022 1:20 PM CDT -- Classical Saturday --
A
concert by the Mankato Symphony Orchestra is being heard on KDX
featuring a premier work by a contemporary composer. Strikes
me
that in writing the piece there was indecision at every note whether to
go upscale or down in avoidance of matching something already written
by someone else. Music education is a real bear these days because
you've got to develop a familiarity with every piece ever written so as
not to inadvertently come up with Beethoven's 5th or Rossini's William
Tell by unintended coincidence. That would be a bummer when you learned
your hard work was a waste of time. Heck, I came close to writing
Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto. Let's see, then we'll have a chamber
music concert from Pittsburgh and finally a European orchestra doing
Carl Nielsen's 4th Symphony, known as the "Inextinguishable" based on
the idea that the creative spirit cannot be doused. Is that correct?
Dowsed. I'll look it up later.
Saturday April 2, 2022 1:00 PM CDT -- Don't Let the Water Take On Boats
--
As
far as anyone can tell we've been drifting through space like this as
long as can be determined. Everything is flowing with us. Even the blob
of light in the sky we call the sun. Even Mars - can't see it in the
daytime - planets, all of it. Destination? We've always wondered about
that. Could be a stone wall at the end of the universe. One big smoosh.
Lunch ready? Great!
Saturday April 2, 2022 12:48 NOON CDT -- New Prague Radio Station
Serves Ukrainian Refugees -
AP News
Saturday April 2, 2022 12:03 NOON -- Nooner --
I
remember those days. A 'nooner' was slang for a clandestine meeting
with a sweet woman of one's acquaintance, possibly a secretary or other
lunch hour friend. But that's not why I'm here. We've already landed
the New Yorker Radio Hour and it's airing now, same one we heard
earlier this morning on public radio. The program's website states that
the program is 'free' and no other terms, conditions or limits are
posted (that we could find). Another thing we'll pack into this
fattening paragraph (the paragraph is getting fatter, not readers) is a
growing expectation that the computer router we got so agitated about
yesterday might turn out to be the best choice afterall in the category
of AX type routers. FYI the AX designation marks routers of the most
recent Wi-Fi6 variety, while 'AC' marks Wi-Fi5 or earlier
models
which remain perfectly compatible and handle in-home personal computing
situations perfectly well. We'd come upon the TP-Link AX50 named as the
PC Magazine Choice for its category and praised by a YouTube reviewer
as the finest router in its class. Our circular path results from
looking at what other router makers offer, all sporting less by way of
goodies. We had cringed because of frustrations over disarray
in
the AX50 descripting (descriptions) by both the manufacturer and the
sales language elsewhere. Oh! She's here now! Talk to you later in
another paragraph.
Saturday April 2, 2022 8:11 AM CDT -- Here It Is --
Saturday April 2, 2022 8:00 AM CDT -- Lawns Are the Law --
We've
talked about the new ban on grass in sidewalk cracks, but we didn't
mention another law requiring lawns to be NO LONGER THAN 7-INCHES, with
a picture of a policeman and his tiny ruler checking the length. If
they weren't so anal they might know this other thing...
Saturday April 2, 2022 7:00 AM CDT --
Coffee
with honey added sure runs out fast. Let me get some more, then I have
a few morning thoughts and need to get KDX started. Hold on a minute...
Alright,
we're back at 7:32 AM. That was a long minute, but here we are. The
first thing that broke the silence this morning were voices from NPR
which quickly drew me into a narrative about a guy who spent his life
canooing rivers and keeping journals of his exploits, but was
eventually lost and has never been found. It was a very riveting tale
with excerpts from the man's writings read by a professional voice
actor and the program was identified as the New Yorker Radio Hour. So
you'll know, the New Yorker is a highly regarded magazine known for
exceptional high quality writing and has for some time produced their
own radio hour which now I'm determined to carry on KDX if permission
allows. As I gather more information I'll share links and so on for
Blog readers who may likewise be curious. Let's see, I was also going
to say something about music royalties and NAB, but let's pick that up
another time, KDX is behind schedule and I'm the only one on duty.
Friday April 1, 2022 6:19 PM CDT -- Notes from Vacation --
It's
off to a good start on my abruptly delclared vacation and I'd like to
share advice on how to regenerate and refresh following the
burnout that can overcome a person when an intensive
project veers
out of control. Did you realize that mental concentration burns energy
at a furious rate? That's true and the speediest recovery starts with
an immediate nap to fully wipe the mind's slate and emerge anew in
midday ready to have a second morning. New thoughts start sprouting
like flower buds in the springtime. Watch also for listener fatigue
brought on by excessive repitition of news stories or songs you've
heard one too many times. Remember how I said that KDX has no sign off
message? That's changing as our new sign off message will be "We've
heard enough."
Friday April 1, 2022 3:15 PM CDT -- Fools in April --
Human
beings are the world's preeminent fools and it is April 1st so it's our
day.
Friday April 1, 2022 2:58 PM CDT -- Router Search Reaches Impasse --
After
intensive study of the current state of the art of routers and perusal
of available models we had tentatively named a victor in our search.
But two things have caused us to call a halt and begin from
scratch. Several YouTube router reviews reveal cautionary
gotcha's endemic to the model we were set to choose, and confusing
clutter in online listings at the sellers' websites have caused us to
back off. Following a relaxing holiday we will resume our work.
Friday April 1, 2022 10:38 AM CDT -- Duck, Cover and Dig --
'Dig
it, man' was a beatnik expression from the '60s possibly related to the
forgotten icon of the cold war nuclear scare more often remembered by
the expression 'duck and cover' with images of school children ducking
underneath their desks and wrapping arms around their heads
during
bombing drills marked by air raid sirens. In those same days
the
digging of bomb shelters underneath cellars also became iconic
but
the only remnant of such self-defense measures in our time is the
tornado siren with the instruction: 'Go to a lower level of your home
until the all clear is sounded'. Actually, the muffled voice from the
public address loudspeakers sounds more like
"Mawewahellowneyuhpladneersounded!" Anyway, with renewed scare brought
on by Vladimir Putin's way of expressing himself the bomb shelter
industry could be coming back. There might not be time to apply for all
the building permits required to dig a hole under the house so there
could be increased call for squads of property inspectors to add
basements along with sidewalk cracks to their list of violations.
Ironically the shelter will provide a place to hide from the inspector
especially since the doorbell cannot be heard in a subterranean hole.
More important is food for the 100,000 years it will take for the
ionizing radiation to finally decay and butchering skills required to
prepare and eat the neighbors. You may not have time to sit here all
day reading blogs.
Friday April 1, 2022 9:46 AM CDT -- Disorders of the Day --
Three
health disorders in current news include aphasia, alopecia and
childhood onset fluency disorder also known as stammering or
stuttering. COVID 19 and all its variants have moved into the
background while we de-celebrate the unfortunate celebrities now marred
by their trademark defects. Two out of the three inflicted parties are
actors whereas the third being a politician one might regard him as a
second rate actor in as much as politics has somewhat of a stage.
Another political game player who went out on a disease was President
Ronald Reagan who took on alzheimers the day after leaving office and
stepped up from being a B actor to Academy level by retiring into the
respectibilty of being stricken together with co-star and supporting
actress Nancy who played the loyal wife in attendance, leaving his
trail of misconduct and war crimes out of bounds. Meanwhile, the other
night, the Best Actor walked off the carpet in perfect health because
he's the best actor and of course not a feral unhinged bully.
Friday April 1, 2022 9:14 AM CDT -- Radios and Routers --
For
about two weeks we have been pouring over router choices to replace our
computer's ended-life Cisco model currently in use. We've been aided by
input from a panel of computer consultants,
scouring supplier catalogs, viewing YouTube router
reviews
and studying online instruction manuals for each potential buy. What a
mess. New models are coming out every few minutes and recent models are
already out of date. It's exactly like the situation with radio
receivers. Although professionals like Brooce, Artisan, Mark and Boomer
can recall near-perfect radios from past times, those are now long
discontinued and continually being replaced by more
recent
models with quality always bobbing up and down as some are deficient
and others passable. I guess the design labs and marketing departments
behind the products are in constant fear of obsolence which would be
brought on by happy customers with stable products that lasted
a
lifetime. We as customers have been trained to yearn for the latest in
upgraded newest model number. Version 3.0 is yesterday, version 4.0 was
2-minutes ago, version 5.0 is already being shipped, version 6.0 is
about to be announced. The pursuit of happiness is a
self-thwarting
endeaver.
