The Blare Blog
Center
of the Bla Bla Galaxy
On
the Up and Up
SEPTEMBER 2022
Friday September 20, 2022 2:10 PM CDT -- Part 15 Rules at the
FCC Website --
Friday September 20, 2022 1:35 AM CDT -- The American Radio Relay
League Part 15 Page --
Friday September 30, 2022 10:05 AM CDT -- We Interrupt this Blog --
While doing our executive thinking the brain suddenly issued a
correction to something blogged a few days back...
In
discussing the old Blackhawk radio drama, we mentioned Blackhawk's
daughter Penny, but are now informed by updated mental collation that
Penny was in fact the daughter of the radio character Sky King, also an
aviator just like Blackhawk.
Friday September 30, 2022 9:28 AM CDT -- Breakfast Break --
Earlier,
before daylight, we were listening to the local 50,000 Watt mostly
sports station, and the female host said that 'October is off to a cool
start'. That seemed odd since for me it's still September, so
naturally I double checked and am proven right, today is September 30.
What month is it where you are?
The Blog will be bringing a
review of the three C.Crane FM transmitters, prompted in part by the
recent release by Crane of the new FM3, and also by a continuing
conversation with SRAW Member Mark, also Moderator at Part15.us, with a
string of informative background about the various FCC certified
transmitters. We should have that report within a week.
Today
here at KDX Worldround Radio we'll be catching up with some regrades of
our AM FM transmitting system, not upgrades, but regrades, our way of
saying 'repair'. The Procaster AM Transmitter has a broken ground-lead,
the C.Crane FM1 will be raised higher to better produce a 50-foot
foot-print.
Friday September 30, 2022 9:12 AM CDT -- Executive Decisions
Freshly Thought --
Ex-President Trump was able to de-classify classified documents by
simply thinking about it.
CBC News
For
the first time we agree with Trump about something, and also know that
a top leader can dictate by mental action and, as interim leader of
SRAW (Special Radio Associates of the World) I have thought about
several things recently which are already in force before being
publicly blogged. Among these are my decisions about the future of
shortwave, citizens band, and FM broadcasting in the United States,
details of which will appear once I get around to transcribing my
executive thoughts into words.
Thursday September 29, 2022 1:13 PM CDT -- SRAM BUSINESS AGENDA --
Since
its founding earlier this week the SPECIAL RADIO ASSOCIATES OF THE
WORLD, SRAW for short, Issues these Positions and Policies:
Let the Formal Record Show that SRAW fully and wholeheartedly supports
and endorses REC Networks WIDE
FM Initiative to expand the U.S. FM band to a width of 76 MHz
to 108 MHz.
SRAW Goes On Record as Proposing Various Modifications to Rules
Regarding the AM Medium Wave Band in the U.S:
1.)
A Special Class of Wide Area Regional AM Stations in the U.S.
with ERP of between 5 kW and 50 kW on Frequencies between 530 kHz to
790 kHz serving as Full Service Public Information and Emergency Radio
Stations under a Combined Authority encompassing TIS (Traffic
Information Radio), Weather Radio, & News Affecting the
Tranquility
and Welfare of the Population, operated commercially or
non-commercially;
2.) Standard Traditional Analog AM
Stations presently licensed Required to Migrate to the New WIDE-FM
Band, preserving the Option to Retain the AM Facility or Discontinue AM
Operation;
3.) New License Category to Operate Open-Source DRM All
Digital AM Stations. Proprietary Digital systems disallowed;
4.)
2-Tiers of License Free Low Power Stations on Frequencies
1500
kHz to 1710 kHz Under New Part 16 Category explained elsewhere in this
Document.
SRAW Proposes Opening New Class of Unlicensed Station,
absorbing formerly Intentional Radiator Category moved from Part 15 to
separate the class from 'interference' classification. 2-Tiers of
stations Enabled under Part 16:
Tier 1: Hobby Class for
students, hobbyists, experimenters and various home applications
continuing presently existing rules Part 15.219, 15. 209, et al., kits
and home-built transmitters Only;
Tier 2: Technical Class for
experienced and semi-professional operation Requiring Certified
Pre-Built Transmitters, 1 Watt to 5 Watts with Vertical Antenna Limited
to 25-Feet.
- Sincerely, Carl Blare,
interim leader SRAW (Special Radio Associates of the World).
Wednesday September 28, 2022 5:28 PM CDT -- Parking Lot Radio Called
Off --
Amid
the pandemic Radio Design Group, Inc., set to work designing a low
power AM transmitter intended to serve socially distanced parking lot
events, and made some headway but now issues this cancelation:
After careful
consideration of the general market, supply chain and logistics issues,
as well as FCC
licensing costs, it has been deemed that we will be unable to proceed
with the
production of Parking Lot Radio.
For those of you
generous followers that committed funding in advance,
please contact
Jim Hendershot at jim@radiodesign.com
for details on
how to receive a refund.
We appreciate
your support and offer our apologies for the inconvenience.
We sincerely thank
you for your interest in Radio Design Group and our products.
We hope you’ll
find our continuing communications helpful and informative.
Follow our
social media pages for more!
Wednesday September 28, 2022 1:31 PM CDT -- Blackhawk Culture --
There
are in the wild several black broad-winged hawks, but I don't believe
any bear the actual name 'blackhawk'. I have an inkling of a suspicion
that some component of the German military functioned under the name
'blackhawk' and we ran across a vintage radio labeled 'blackhawk'. To
our knowledge there has never been a Black hero calling himself 'the
Black hawk'. We paid a visit to the Internet Archive looking for
episodes of the oldtime radio series titled "The Blackhawk" with no
result, but did uncover a full collection there of Blackhawk comic
books in full color. And finally, we ran across a 78 RPM recording
Delightful
music of the type heard on Tim's Oompah Hour. In fact there are several
renditions of this waltz by different orchestras.
Wednesday September 28, 2022 8:39 AM CDT -- About All Digital
AM --
This
article by Paul Riismandel, one of the hosts of the 'Radio Survivor'
program, provides an informative overview regarding the prospects for
an all digital AM dial.
Tuesday September 27, 2022 4:35 PM CDT --
Do
it or don't do it -- you will regret both.
- Soren Kierkegard, philosopher, theologian,
poet, writer
Tuesday September 27, 2022 10:16 AM CDT -- Early Radio Regulations --
Tuesday September 27, 2022 10:02 AM CDT -- C. Crane FM 3 --
The
C. Crane Company now has FM3 Transmitter with expanded band.
The discontinued FM2 had a range of 88.3 to 108 MHz. The new
FM3
ranges from 87.5 to 108 MHz.
Tuesday September 27, 2022 9:20 AM CDT -- Fall in Love with Radio
Campaign --
RADIOWORLD
Tuesday September 27, 2022 9:17 AM CDT -- Emergency Radios --
RADIOWORLD
Tuesday September 27, 2022 7:34 AM CDT -- Radio Memories --
The
Artisan Radio Blog posted notice of several additional high quality
oldtime radio shows added to the schedule, and my memory was triggered
to an ABC Radio Network show I listened to during the grade school
years. Based on the Blackhawk comic book series, 'Blackhawk' was the
team leader of WWII aviaters and I'm pretty sure Blackhawk had a
daughter named Penny who flew with him. Not only did I love the show,
it furthered my already serious interest in radio and I moved my
grandparents large console away from the wall so I could look in the
back and see glowing tubes. One day at recess I found out that a fellow
student also listened to Blackhawk, so I asked him to participate in an
experiment. I asked him to shout into his radio during the show and I
would be listening closely to find out if I could hear him in the
background. The next day at school I told him I couldn't hear him, but
he told me he forgot, making the experiment inconclusive.
--
This radio memory was that of Carl Blare, interim leader of SRAW
Tuesday September 27, 2022 5:35 AM CDT -- On Again --
Not
so fast, King. There is merit afterall in founding a radio organization
to represent the class of 'intentional radiators', the special term
used by the FCC to differentiate transmitters too small to require a
license. The point is we are a bona fide 'class', and that fact
entitles us to have our own umbrella organization. Thereby with the
power invested in me by our hundreds of member radio stations, I, as
King of the organization do reverse the dissolution and herein effect
Resolution of said organization. This announcement is an Official Founding Statement and
Royal Proclamation.
Moving directly to the matter of naming, it is decided that admitting a
weakness in naming an organization would be silly. Using expressions
like 'low power' and 'unlicensed' come across more as confessions of
defect and should be tucked into little published portions of an
organization's status. The word 'special' has come to refer to the
handicapped and certainly our work in micro-radio is quite special.
Henceforth we are the Special
Radio Associates of the World
- acronym SRAW". It has been so decided. Membership as of Day One
includes all existing low power radio stations authorized under FCC
Part 15 U.S. and equivalent class stations everywhere, manufacturers
and distributors of key equipment, programmers and providers of program
material, and all radio listeners. As a general fact our class of radio
station shall henceforth be known as "Special Radio". Moving on to
executive titles, while reigning and serving as King of Special Radio,
I, Carl Blare, shall work publicly as interim leader, relegating royal
recognition to a subdued under-stated aura. We finally got this thing
off the ground and will meet back here at the next wim.
Monday September 26, 2022 5:21 PM CDT -- After Thoughts --
With
as yet no name for the new radio association, King Carl Blare rethinks
the whole purpose of what was proposed earlier today. While recognizing
the fact that the legal unlicensed low power broadcasters not only of
the U.S. but of the whole world lack unity and organization, we learned
convincingly that any achievements by a specialist organization depend
on the dedication and skills of its most active members, and despite
its complete disintegration at the hands of an insane ex-chairman, its
was made abundantly clear during the ALPB debacle that there are no
leaders or high achievers in our small pool of hobbyists. If there
were, they'd probably have real licensed stations instead of toy
stations. As pointed out by Artisan Radio our respective blogs already
serve the purpose of promoting and glamorizing the radio hobby, and the
near-death forums offer the opportunity to initiate or join
discussions, but very little participation. A previously failed notion
of lobbying the FCC for more effective power and antennas has shown the
lack of presentational ability and follow-through of the two
individuals who rallied unsuccesfully and no one else has taken up the
call. Therefore, at this time, as King of Radio, I, Carl Blare, do
Hereby and Thereby Dissolve and Set Aside all Further, uh, further...
well, you know what I'm saying. It's a still-birth.
Monday September 26, 2022 5:17 PM CDT -- Good News Regarding
Edward Snowden --
SPUTnIC
International
Monday September 26, 2022 12:01 NOON -- Floating Hotel --
The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is a floating hotel.
The
linked telling of the ship's history is fascinating but, so far as I
could detect, says nothing about the communications system serving
hotel occupants and crew. In it's most modern iteration we guess that
internet access carries whatever radio and television is desired, and
most interestingly may include shipboard radio and video facilities,
but because of the ship's present day location it would matter what
languages apply.
Monday September 26, 2022 11:21 AM CDT -- Unnamed Association --
Artisan Radio just called and left a message -
Hey, we can start a
group that is totally democratic, hold meetings
based on Roberts Rules,
and bring radio back to the people!
Oh, been there, done
that.
I do think you've hit
upon a way to make something like that work - be a
King. People
can either join or not, depending on whether they agree
with what's going
on. Sort of like the Hobbybroadcaster crew. Or a
blog.
Otherwise, you end up
with the infighting and election result
questioning that
occurred with the ALPB. Where everyone was equal,
except some were more
equal than others. The old boys
club. And if
they didn't like what
was being said, or done, they just caused such a
stink that others mostly
just left. Life is too short to deal with
dickheads, particularly
with something that is supposed to be enjoyable.
I'm quite happy being an
independent.
- Artisan Radio
King again! Carl re-thrones. He's throne his hat back in the ring.
Monday September 26, 2022 10:32 AM CDT -- Flash Contest --
The first one to give the correct last name of Queen Elizabeth II is
the winner!
Monday September 26, 2022 9:48 AM CDT -- Third Thoughts --
I
don't want the members of our yet to be named radio organization to
feel obligated to address me as 'your majesty', which is the reason I'm
self-dethroning from the King title. My new title is pending.
Monday September 26, 2022 6:06 AM CDT -- Name Search Ongoing --
If our new startup was a religious organization we could call it The Higher Power Low Power Radio
Association.
Sunday September 25, 2022 2:03 PM CDT -- The New Membership
Organization --
There's
no time for meetings and votes and that sort of thing that so many
hobby groups waste their energy jotting down in 'Minutes of the
Meeting' which nobody ever reads except as evidence in a lawsuit.
Instead of all that I'm taking it upon myself to Hereby Announce a New
Radio Organization for Hobbyists with me functioning as Interim King. I
say king because of impressions made by the recent royal doings at the
longest funeral ceremony in history, despite the sibling rivalry and
backbiting regarding Harry. We still don't know what the Queen actually
did by way of 'duties' but she seemed to understand the job description
and everyone liked her. Maybe everyone will like me if I carry out my
duties, and job one is deciding on a name for our new hobby group. I
looked at NAB, the National Association of Broadcasters and thought
maybe we could be IAB, the International Association of Broadcasters,
but we have no language translators to interface with world languages.
I also noticed that almost every state in the U.S. has a broadcast
association and there's a Canadian Association of
Broadcasters, the thing held in common by all these
associations
is that their names reflect location and we aren't
distinquished
by a location but more by our low wrung on the ladder of importance in
the eyes of the FCC, i.e., low power, unlicensed, almost too
unimportant to mention. How about the Powerless Broadcast Association
(PBA)? Or maybe ABA, Another Broadcast Association? But that word
'association' seems off-tune by the fact that hobbyists of this ilk are
not inclined to associate, as evidenced by the ramshackled
ALPB, the dormant Association of Low Power Broadcasters now
siezed
and padlocked in a hostile takeover. This is taking too long. I'm
declaring a tentative name so we can move on to other business --
henceforth we are the International Radio Affiliates Council (IRAC),
English Language Chapter. No, the Radio Affiliates Council (RAC), or
how about this -- Affiliated Radio Council of the Northern Hemisphere
(ARCNH)? Back to square one. Anyway, we're avoiding a prolonged
membership recruitment drive looking for stations to opt in. Instead we
are hereby telling you that every low power station on every available
list and numerous manufacturers and friends of radio are this day
induced automatically giving us an instant roster of hundreds of
members. If you only like radio slightly, you are now a member
- Congratulations!
We've achieved a lot at this first meeting and will reconvene at such
time.
THE SMALL PRINT: you have the right to opt
out.
Sunday September 25, 2022 8:46 AM CDT -- Guest Editorial --
Every
so often my personal barber, Buster Boatrocker, makes his way to our
open microphone to deliver his perspective on something. Buster?
This
is Buster Boatrocker.
Republicans!!
Clench your sphincter!!
The more crimes they reveal against our Orange
Savior
the more we must stand back and stand down!!
Stay warm this winter.
Burn all the books you can!!
This is Buster Boatrocker.
Mr. Boatrocker is a barber in South St. Louis,
Missouri.
Sunday September 25, 2022 7:40 AM CDT -- Morning Sun --
What this hobby needs is a membership organization.
By
'this hobby' I am referring to the playtime practice of building and
running a small radio station as made legal by sections of FCC
Regulations Part 15 and equivalent rules in other countries.
We envision a membership roster of stations and specialized vendors
rather than individual persons.
The proposition to form such an entity is now officially put forward
and we enter a comment period, inviting your input.
Respond to figurehead@charter.net.
Saturday September 24, 2022 4:23 PM CDT -- Classy and Classical --
Symphonies
produced by some composers chart a veritable storyline when lined up
end to end. For Sergei Rachmaninoff his symphonies produce
a triptych arc, the First overflowing
with passionette
youthful expection mixed with dreadful anticipation knowing already at
age 19 that life despite its promise points inevitably through
transcience toward tragedy. His Second comes from the very heart of
grand success at the height of his art and world reknown amid the
powerful sense of unending possibility. And the Third is distantly
wistful from the far reaches of elderly age where any main event
requires looking back to bygone days. So far as I know this has never
before been said by any of the music commentators from their announcing
shifts at classical music radio stations where little thumbnail stories
of the composers are the bread and butter. The problem with it is you'd
need to play all three symphonies to make the point and anyone who
tuned in late would miss the narrative unless it were told again at
intervals.
Saturday September 24, 2022 2:29 PM CDT -- Heardsay from Authoritative
Source --
This afternoon's
edition of 'Thank God I'm an Atheist' on KDX brought us their weekly
clip taken from an overheard Christian broadcast, in which a 'miracle
healing witness' said, "Yes, I've seen fingers grow back, hair, and
I've seen internal organs."
Saturday September 24, 2022 8:42 AM CDT -- Delta Loop Antennas --
In
this blog entry we are no longer thinking about antennas for SDR
reception, but have in mind the use of loop antennas for radio
transmission by a part 15 type low power radio station. The only part
of rule 15.219 which goes toward describing an allowable form of
antenna limits its size to 3-meters,
presumably a wire
mounted any which way: vertical, horizontal, or flopped over the back
of a chair. But of course the 'antenna' in the FCC's language is
actually half of a full antenna, the other half being the negative side
referred to in this rule as "the ground-lead if used". What the rule
leaves silent is any actual 'ground' that the 'ground-lead' leads to,
and we can reasonably assume this would usually be 'earth' with
whatever lies out of view below the surface of the ground going
ignored, amounting perhaps to a copper ground rod or buried radial
wires. But in engineering-land one can construct a virtual ground with
one type being elevated radial wires. An astute inspector or
engineer would not count elevated radial wires in the 3-meter
measurement because, if properly done, would not radiate. Other types
of virtual ground exist in novel antennas such as loops, which takes us
into very esoteric territory not at all addressed by any reading
of part 15.219, yet are not expressly prohibited. Finger
wagging
sticklers would point to 15.209 which does put a clamp on fanciful
experimentation, but we're only toying with ideas and steadfastly
trusting in the tiny bit of liberation hintfully suggested by 15.219
with its sketchy wording. We wonder about making the pieces fit when
using a loop antenna. For the moment a delta loop, shaped like the
Greek letter Delta or let's say a triangle, with 3-legs or sides, but
in loop-language considered the same as a circular loop. What part of a
loop is the antenna and which part the ground-lead? We need to
determine whether the transmission-line is balanced or unbalanced. Can
a loop be 3-meters tall across the diameter or only contain 3-meters of
wire in totality? How are any measurements of loop properties offset by
virtual-grounding aspects inherent with loops?
Saturday September 24, 2022 8:18 AM CDT -- Never Mind --
I forget what I was going to say.
Saturday September 24, 2022 7:34 AM CDT -- A Public Service Message --
Things
could be better than they are.
You can help make it happen.
Decide today
To make something better.
- This message was brought to you by the Wishful
Thinking Foundation
Saturday September 24, 2022 6:43 AM CDT -- Suggested Station
Identifier for Hobby Radio Station --
You
are listening to an unmanned radio station
Operating from a laptop computer in a closet
Programmed by a small artificial brain
Which knows the best music for you
and is very cute and adorable.
Saturday September 24, 2022 6:40 AM CDT --
We
only have rights if we can prove we have them through expensive
litigation.
- Stag Pinstripe, attorney at law
with the lawfirm Pinstripe, Stripmine &
Shaft
Saturday September 24, 2022 6:27 AM CDT -- An SDR Moment --
Hearing
from Brooooce about working with an SDR (Software Defined Radio) caused
us to think back about our own brief time spent trying ours, at which
time we discovered that a weak point is having a proper
antenna
arrangement to receive signals across a wide bandwidth of radio
spectrum. We tried slinkies and some straight wire setups within the
same room, but the noise generated by indoor sources taught us that
more sophisticated effort would need to be invested for better
outcomes. So now we've re-opened our interest in thinking about antenna
possibilities and ran across something that might be worth trying. See
what you think.
YouTube
Friday September 23, 2022 3:55 PM CDT -- Another Reason Why I Think --
Another
reason why I think FCC 15.219 (a) does in fact mean to say that 100 mW
into the ANTENNA (final RF stage) is the permissable output level, is
that the whole rule is otherwise intentionally designed to be simple
and understandable to an average lay person without specialized
knowledge of electronic theory and the rule's simplicity would be
despoiled if the real definition afterall called for 100 mW at the
input of the final RF amplifier, because that would be a complication
and certainly beyond the skill level of an ordinary person to
calculate.
On that same note, one of the hurdles of the part
15 section overall is that, while some of it is clearly and obviously
written down to the comprehension level of untrained hobbyists, other
parts are obstacle courses to all but fully schooled technicians. Part
15.239, pertaining to operation in the FM band, is a case in point. Not
only is a proper measurement beyond easy understanding, if done the lab
equipment required costs multiple thousands of dollars, which is why an
often quoted FCC bulletin provides a clue for cheap and easy compliance
by recommending a range of around 200-feet to be compliant.
Friday September 23, 2022 2:24 PM CDT -- The CIA is Podcasting --
Yes THAT
CIA! We are contemplating carrying it on KDX, maybe a few to start just
to get the gist of what they plan to present.
ArcaMax
Friday September 23, 2022 12:47 NOON CDT -- There Is Only One Gender --
Actually,
in the case of God, there really is only one gender, which explains why
God turned to an under-aged human girl since there is no Goddess in
heaven, but Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley claimed via a
published e-mail that humans have only one gender.
RFT
Hawley
became well known for his iconic raised fist as he signaled approval of
the Capitol rioters on January 6th, then his hasty scamper toward
safety once inside the building.
No doubt readers of The Blog
will want clarity about how many genders may really exist, having
possibly heard other claims of over 70-genders, only a smattering of
which are framed in the familiar LGBTQ label, which gives mention to
lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals, transgendered and queer people, but leaves
out heterosexuals who consider themselves 'normal'. We can talk about
it now since it's raining out in the woodland garden and we're between
brunch and lunch, so to jump right into it I think it's important to
differentiate between sex and gender. The terms are often used
interchangeably but are really separate things in biological science.
Put simply, there are only two sexes but any number of genders. The key
to telling them apart is recognition of the fact that reproduction is
only possible between the sexes, male and female. The confusion results
when people identify outside of the binary strictures of the sexes,
when a man feels frisky in a feminine way or a woman bulges her biceps
in a showing of her masculine aptitude. While the dial can be turned
and twisted across a gamut of gender variants, the firm ground is held
by the breeders who alone possess the fertility to progenerate. It
would be fair and accurate to say that gender-flexing is a form of
play, most typically cosplay, which means 'costume play', an
exhibitionistic form of off-stage showmanship. Gender benders have
personalized ways of enjoying life and under today's permissive laws
can marry, play house, and take pride in their brand of gender
expression. Men can be wives and women can be husbands. The only advice
I'd give is to tone it down at the work place and don't keep elevators
stopped between floors for more than a few seconds.
Friday September 23, 2022 11:02 AM CDT -- The U.S. Space Force Song --
USA
TODAY
Friday Septrember 23, 2022 9:09 AM CDT -- Podcasting is Just Radio Now
--
VULTURE
Friday September 23, 2022 8:37 AM CDT -- Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin Threatens Use of Nuclear Weapons --
The Guardian
Friday September 23, 2022 8:25 AM CDT -- The Trombone Game --
bOiNgbOiNg
Friday September 23, 2022 7:55 AM CDT -- Spelling Passwords --
If
your passwords are run through a spell checker they will appear to be
misspellings and substitute words are likely to be suggested as fixes.
If able to do so, upgrade the spell checker so it knows the correct
spelling of your passwords.
Friday September 23, 2022 7:37 AM CDT -- AirSpy and YouLoop --
We
have received word from correspondent Brooooce at his secret radio
monitoring station, who is now using an AirSpy HF+ SDR -
Hi Uncle Carl!
There is another radio
item I want to mention.
Just
so you know about this stuff - a real lot of radio guys are trying a
relatively new thing for receiving - particularly for HF and
MF.
People are using fairly small wideband loops with RF preamplifiers, in
some cases. It's getting to be a big thing.
If you Google MLA-30
loop or bring it up on YouTube you will see what I mean.
The
MLA-30 is one example. Another example is called a
"YouLoop." What is funny is that these loops are
not very
large
and
most people mount them fairly close to the ground. The loops
are
adjusted for a direction that minimizes or nulls noise. If
you
look it up you will see what I mean. Even if you never try this, I
think you will find it very interesting.
Additionally,
I am going to look up C.Crane about that radio I mentioned.
It is
loosely based on the GE Superadio, and is sort of unusual regarding the
frequency display, but is greatly praised for fantastic selectivity and
sensitivity.
Very Best Wishes
- Brooooce
The
AirSpy line of SDRs (Software Defined Radios) have a lot of videos by
users and experimenters on YouTube. Loop antennas are of great interest
and here at KDX Worldround Radio we have devoted an entire corner of a
table to winding loops for testing low power radio transmission. The
FCC refers to 3-meter vertical or horizontal antennas under part 15,
but say nothing about loops. Of course a loop could be made 3-meters in
diameter.
Friday September 23, 2022 7:07 AM CDT -- Very Interesting Blog!! --
Mark is a moderator for the forum at part15.org, and says:
First of all, any forum
I am moderating wouldn't get you banned for this. It would be a very
good discussion!
It
is understood that "stage" means amplifier. But I agree it should read
amplifier as you point out stage has a different meaning. When
you
have your day in court wonder how a lawyer would interpret this? The
Talking house range extender has no amplifier, just a coax to a better
antenna tuner bypassing the internal one. You know that stage means
amplifier as it says not including power for the filament if you have a
tube amp. But here's the thing.....I still have a problem understanding
this....if the rule is 100mW DC applied to the final RF amplifier why,
if it is an "amplifier" do you get less at the antenna then was
applied? And also, the rule says 100mW *INTO* the final amp, not the
output at the antenna, so why couldn't you amplify that 100mW to get
way more at the antenna from the final stage? I have never got any
answer to this?
" (b) The
total length of the transmission line, antenna and ground lead
(if
used) shall not exceed 3 meters."
You are right on on this
one!!!
The
word combined needs to be included and if it is not that can be taken
to mean there is 3 separate lengths for each of the 3 things! In fact
that's exactly what it is saying!
The Canadian wording is
the same also. I would take an English teacher into court
with me!
Carl
I think you opened up a loophole here! One thing about legal stuff is
it has to be worded properly as if it isn't many people have won cases
based on just this. I really would like to know what a teacher of
English has to say! As written, I can legally have an antenna of 3
meters and a ground lead of 3 meters!
-Mark
Thank
you Mark. As William Shakespeare said, 'All the world is a stage'. And
before railroad trains we had stage coaches. The online Wiktionary
states that in electronics the word 'stage' refers to 'the number of an
electronic circuit's blocks, such as a filter, amplifier, etc.' And I
think you would agree that an antenna is a 'etc.'
Thursday September 22, 2022 4:22 PM CDT -- Fall Program Concept --
The
new season brings a new program lineup and KDX plans to produce a
special holiday series of "Big Family Arguments Around the Thanksgiving
and Christmas Tables" recorded secretly by actual family members and
submitted by MP3 e-mail attachment. If your family has large
disagreements with a lot of yelling we will be posting instructions for
concealed microphone placement to advance your career as an undercover
at home spy. Let everyone know what you've had to put up with living
with those
people.
Thursday September 22, 2022 2:50 PM CDT -- One Second After --
The
search engines stop being helpful when searches take more than two
words to describe. 'Radio reception in a nuclear blast' doesn't know
where to point and does the only thing artificial intelligence has to
fall back on: it empties an online waste basket of unassorted rubbish.
But persistance has its pay day and a fiction book based on science
holds the answer and reveals the pointlessness of the Red Cross
suggestion of 'listening for official announcements', ignoring the
inconvenient fact of the EMP. Of course a fiction book based on science
would be 'science fiction' and an EMP is an electro-magnetic pulse
released with an explosion of nuclear energy which would do what? Turns
out we know afterall... it would knock out all electronic
communication. Somebody should tell the Red Cross. Where will the
'officials' get their information?
Thursday September 22, 2022 2:04 PM CDT -- Taking Putin's Nuclear
Threat Seriously --
BBC News
The
American Red Cross advises - "Listen for official information" in the
event of a nuclear blast, but gives no further details of the type of
radio or TV reception to expect, if any.
Red Cross
Thursday September 22, 2022 12:05 NOON CDT -- Public Status Denied --
Homeless may not sleep in public parks and personal households may not
broadcast on the public airwaves.
Reminds us of some wallet-sized cards we printed up and sent around to
family and friends:
Memberhip in Society
** Expired **
Thursday September 22, 2022 11:31 AM CDT -- 15.219 Reconsidered --
The central rule regulating 'intentional radiation' by low power AM
radio transmitters is
15.219
Operation in the band 510-1705 kHz.
(a) The total input power to the final radio frequency stage (exclusive
of filament or heater power) shall not exceed 100 milliwatts.
(b) The total length of the transmission line, antenna and ground lead
(if used) shall not exceed 3 meters.
I
have long argued, and been banned from two forums for daring to say,
that conventional interpretation of these two rules may be erroneous.
Looking at (a) we observe that virtually everyone including the
occasional FCC spokesperson (many bureaucrats misunderstand the rules
they're empowered to enforce) believes that 'the final radio frequency
(RF) stage refers to the final RF amplifier of a given transmitter,
when in reality the final RF stage is literally the antenna itself. It
is possibly based on this apparency that the infamous ATU accessory
available with Talking House/ iAM transmitter qualifies for FCC
Certification.
In similar fashion (b) is commonly misread as
if the word 'combined' were included in the statement, which it is not.
The sentence is a condensation of three parts into one. If stated fully
it would read: 'The total length of the transmission line shall not
exceed 3 meters, the total length of the antenna shall not exceed 3
meters, and the total length of the ground lead shall not exceed 3
meters.
How significant is whatever range advantage would be
realized by adopting this more liberal interpretation of 15.219? I'm
guessing it might be as much as a foot and a half in all directions.
Thursday September 22, 2022 11:20 AM CDT -- Law Reform --
This isn't specific to the category of law we've recently raised, but
matches the spirit of what we've blogged:
In
April 2020, the National Center for State Courts and the Institute for
the Advancement of the American Legal System issued a three-year
report, "Transforming Our Civil Justice System for the 21st Century:
The Road to Civil Justice Reform", which surmised that:
Americans deserve a civil legal process that can fairly and promptly
resolve disputes for everyone — rich or poor, individuals or
businesses, in matters large or small. Yet our civil justice system
often fails to meet this standard. Runaway costs, delays, and
complexity are undermining public confidence and denying people the
justice they seek. This has to change.
— Transforming Our Civil
Justice System for the 21st Century: The Road to Civil Justice Reform
WIKIPEDIA
Thursday September 22, 2022 10:04 AM CDT -- Bad Laws --
We
are seeing our fill of genuinely bad laws being pushed forward by the
Theocratic Fanatical Christian Republican Conservative Neo-Facists
(U.S.) and for the sake of this blog moment we wondered what moral
recourses are available to the general public for resisting or
protesting setbacks to them personally caused by bad laws. The notion
of the Constitution providing remedies is only true if proven in court,
otherwise the Constitution is only a defense that can be claimed but
has no force until upheld at significant financial expense. That said,
we have done no more than present our own views at this starting point
and so look to Wikipedia to fortify what is publicly knowable about
facing bad laws.
The
link provides almost nothing of use in managing such laws, but does
point to further links such as 'Dumb Laws' and 'Strange Laws', offering
tangential paths to explore. And since we are concerned with the
smallest of laws, nothing so monumental as 'abortion rights' or 'civil
liberties', but for us at this moment we have in mind the Part 15
Regulations of the FCC and more in particular those sections that
enable license free broadcasting within very small geographic portions
of radio space under the misnomer of intentionally radiated
'interference'. A thing can be 'interference' only when it can be shown
what other process is being interferred with, and many instances are
available which interfere with nothing. The missing scale of measure in
determining the properties under which barely measureable microwatts of
energy can be generated is that of variability. A crowded highly
populated spot of a large city is quite a different matter than an
entirely open space in the hinterlands where the nearest neighbor is
beyond view. And alongside physical space is the fact of spectrum space
where select channels have more or fewer signals assigned and when
fundamentally blank channels present no reason to drastically attenuate
use by
an only candidate. The blunted anti-dynamic mono-legislation as it is
crimps creativity and insults the small stature of plain people wishing
to use what is mockingly called 'public airways'.
Thursday September 22, 2022 8:24 AM CDT -- Building PCs &
Servers for Broadcast --
The topic of this week's 'This Week in Radio Tech' with specialist
engineer Van Clough
Thursday September 22, 2022 7:18 AM CDT -- What Are We Doing Here --
As
a natural and routine step in the business of existing in the world The
Blare Blog periodically asks the large philosophical question - what's
it all about Alfie. Neither having seen the movie nor read the book, we
have no idea why Alfie would possess special knowledge about anything,
but that's symbolic of the fact that no entity actually knows any more
than we can deduce for ourselves. What really happens is that we
analyze our own intentions and aspirations. At the end we still won't
know why the universe is here, but we'll have a mission statement about
what we claim to be doing.
The Blare Blog owes its presence to
an unbridled obsession for radio broadcasting bordering, at times on a
fetish and centered particularly on the practice and potential of
self-ownership and home operation of low power radio stations as
legalized by cryptic FCC rules which take some twists of mind to come
anywhere near to understanding. As we describe and explain
what is
permitted and the methods of initiating small radio systems it probably
seems we are being sarcastic and perhaps ridiculing the authorities
that govern our petty pastime but when accurately portrayed the raw
truth reveals the opposite: the morsels tossed our way ridicule us
penniless laughing stocks not to be taken seriously by a system built
on vast fortunes and armed occupation of the public airways by
corporate masters.
What isn't expected by the power elite is
that hobbyists and micro-operators could possibly operate within the
thinly sliced rules and come anywhere near having meaningful influence
in the larger sphere of broadcasting but The Blare Blog foresees an
entirely revised system of spectrum utilization in which thousands of
legally operating individually owned radio stations become the
valve determining what programs make their way to the radio
next
door. Tens-of-thousands of next doors. The only thing keeping this from
happening is the slight fact that only about four or five low power
radio stations are known to exist, giving The Blare Blog the sacred
mission of recruiting armies of new startups, calling for a major
manufacturing push by the certified transmitter makers to supply the
onrush of new orders. That's what we think we're doing here.
Tuesday September 20, 2022 12:22 NOON CDT -- Summer is Ending Again --
Summer
ended at the start of September, again when the U.S. celebrated Labor
Day, and several times since then. The Final and Last End of Summer
arrives on the Autumnal Equinox Thursday September 22, when Fall
begins.
Tuesday September 20, 2022 6:21 AM CDT -- Bad Ideas from a
Ding Head --
Mark responds to our MTG blog of yesterday:
Unfortunately
this ding head is one of millions who think like this. A constitution
based on a religion? Unfortunately this seems the way of the United
States as long as Republicans have anything to say about it. The recent
abortion thing and the government in every woman's body and banning
books about homosexuality is just the first step.
If Trump runs, and he
could win, God help the USA.
There's
lots of ding heads here in Canada too and we have a new conservative
leader that if he wins, and he could, it could be republican lite here.
There's lots of people here too that think that everyone should be
white and Christian. The country was founded on Christianity? I guess
they don't know about the genocide that took place with the natives
here when the country was "founded".
I
can picture a United States in my mind where Christianity is the law of
the land and if you don't follow it you go to jail just like some
middle east countries.
- Mark
And
in jail there are free Bibles but in many jails NO OTHER BOOKS ARE
ALLOWED! Religion is used as a weapon to make people stupid.
Monday September 19, 2022 4:30 PM CDT -- Immanuel Kant At Night --
At
last we got one of Immanuel Kant's principle philosophic audio books,
'the Critique of Practical Reason', set to stream on KDX Worldround
Radio during the late hours while we settled into a horizontal position
in marriage with the earth. But before the book even started we were
gone off to the dreamverse where everything tumbles around and mixes
together flowing into crevices and ravines with frequent sightings of
men and women strange and familiar always seen from my observer's
position accompanied by background thoughts sifting in my dreamer's
inner mind as he sought always to keep in step with changing scenes. It
was an hour before I entered a clearing in the cornucopia from which to
return upright for a moment's visit to the restroom, finally adjusting
to the radio voice already at Chapter 5, and I heard the words "subtle
speculation" at which point my input locked up and nothing further was
allowed to enter pending a concentrated effort to understand what would
be a 'subtle' speculation. To know this I'd need to return to start and
listen from the beginning, but not anymore that night and probably not
coupled with sleep because audiobooks do not impress themselves on the
scholarly lobes of mind but require complete waking attention with
frequent pauses. There's a reason college takes at least four years.
True learning is not a plug-and-play affair.
Monday September 19, 2022 11:98 AM CDT -- End Separation of
UnLike Entities ----
Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to end separation of church and
state.
bOiNgbOiNg
If there's a bad idea Marjorie Taylor Greene will
think of it. She is a genius at bad ideas. She actually is a bad idea.
Saturday September 17, 2022 3:36 PM CDT -- Why I Have a Problem with
Great Weather --
There
aren't many perfect weather days on average here in the midwaste but
we've been having a string of them and they are wonderful for doing
almost anything except that as human beings we are limited to
doing only one thing at a time. Hiring workers to step in and help with
our favorite pastimes doesn't cut it because then they get to have part
of the fun while we're having other fun. Like today, for example. It
would be nice going outside and messing with the foliage and doing some
tuck-pointing but then I'd want to have Mahler's 2nd piped out over KDX
AM as part of today's BBC Proms Concert but the transmitter is down due
to a clip-lead having detached from the groundlead not to mention lack
of D-cell batteries for the construction site radio. If that isn't
enough there's a new Railroads Online video on YouTube ready for
viewing and a fresh film on tubi.tv ready to watch but there's a
shortage of appropriate snacks and it would be inconvenient to drive
somewhere to stock up. Being highly successful and having everything is
overrated because there just isn't time for it. At least during bad
weather there's a good excuse for doing as little as possible.
Saturday September 17, 2022 3:30 PM CDT -- My Favorite Movie --
Saturday September 17, 2022 1:04 PM CDT -- Part 15 Equipment /
Schlockwood --
Mark agrees with what we posted:
I have this and use it
for FM as well as AM. It's all the processing you need!
Since
it's a balanced out to the unbalanced input of your transmitter a
simple mod is needed in the wiring of the audio cable. The ring wire
has to go to the tip on the Schlockwood side. It needs a better cable
that is not molded but unscrews to give you access to the wiring. All
ZLR male jacks can be unscrewed for wiring access and the
better
1/4" TRS ones can be.
- Mark
True!
It is engineered to fit the electronic circumstances found in the
standard low power radio station. The forthcoming AM Modulation Monitor
will also serve a very important purpose. Hey, by the way... how would
the audio processor do for streaming online?
Saturday September 17, 2022 8:07 AM CDT -- Professional Part 15
Products --
Operating a technically professional low power radio station requires
products like those manufactured by
Saturday September 17, 2022 6:34 AM CDT -- Invasion of the Little Girl
Voices --
It's
none of my business, really, but as long as I'm a member of the public
listening audience I'll exercise my free speech rights by complaining
about the unsuitable voices of so many women allowed to speak over the
radio microphones of America. Call me old fashioned but in my time
radio voices were carefully screened to present mature authoritative
voices from either sex chosen for their exceptional tonal quality and
elucidation. For some reason most of the women on the air these days
sound like grade schoolers with masters degrees. But there are notable
and refreshing exceptions like Janine Jackson of 'Counterspin', a
weekly program about underreported stories in the news.
Saturday September 17, 2022 6:27 AM CDT -- Those Classical Stations
Everyone Ignores --
There
aren't many of them but a few classical music stations still exist in a
handful of cities and I sometimes tune them in to see if anything's new
but nothing ever is. The announcers all sound like they have a sex toy
up their butt with the batteries removed.
Saturday September 17, 2022 6:02 AM CDT -- An Absolutely True Story --
One
thing you could say about life is that, if you live long enough,
everything will happen to you. That has proven true with me as this
morning the one thing happened that had never happened before. But
let's go back in time to the moments just before it happened. I was
rolling my office chair into place to start the KDX Radio program
stream, and had two other things I was carrying at the same time, a cup
of coffee and a banana. To avoid spilling the coffee I got the idea of
placing the banana on the chair for safe transportation, got everything
in position, and plopped down onto the chair for a neat start to the
morning. I got the program stream started, had a sip of coffee, and
reached for the banana, but it wasn't on the desk, so I thought back
and remembered that the last time I saw it was when I set it on the
chair. But I didn't think it was still on the chair because I was
sitting on the chair and had no sensation of a banana-shaped object
underneath me, but I stood up anyway and took a look. Well what do you
know, there it was, a very flat banana. The banana had split open under
my weight very neatly along one seam and the contents were securely
presented so that breakfast could proceed
with
knowledge of a new way of popping a banana.
Friday September 16, 2022 12:45 NOON CDT -- Intercoms --
The
expression 'intercoms' means 'internal communications'. Radio stations
historically communicate between sound proof studios and control rooms
by intercom; TV stations talk from control room to news set to announce
booth to film room; concert venues talk from stage to control truck;
train engineers communicate from engineer to brakeman, conductor, and
dispatcher; and so on and on. These days many of us can intercom our
way from the kitchen to the living room and front door.
tvtech
Friday September 16, 2022 9:43 AM CDT -- Fools Go Quietly --
By
now many Americans have figured out that they were played for fools by
supporting Donald Trump and the Republican Christian Conservative
Party. The smoothest way out is to quietly detach from the failed
movement and carry on as if you were never there. There's no need to
flip Democrat if not desired. Just go independent. People admire
independent people.
Thursday September 15, 2022 2:52 PM CDT -- AM Going Away? --
Commentary from Mark of part15.org regarding Mark Persons dire
prediction:
A comment on your latest
blog...
You
see, the problem with AM is caused by the FCC and Industry Canada not
regulating all these power supplies and other things from causing
interference. Notice in Europe the switching power supplies have 3
extra components there to stop the radiated noise. Why not here? An
extra capacitor/inductor and they don't do it.
Why?
Because no one cares. Tesla and some other electric cars don't even put
in an AM radio because they aren't going to spend the extra engineering
time and expense to shield the noise from the electronics for AM radio.
The FCC is directly
responsible for the demise of the AM band.
And
the noise from billions of these things are in the power grid as you
know if you have an AM radio and you have it on batteries and then plug
it in to A/C see what happens. I am at fault too. We use these things
to power our transmitters and processing gear and computers also. But I
have found that some are better than others. Even the UPS I use for
power back up to keep on the air when the power goes out and protect my
stuff from the momentary power fluctuations....off and on in one second
is all part of the problem.
What
do we do? Yeah back as late as the early eighties AM was clean, none of
this. Cars had noise suppressors, and not the screens and computers
they have now. AM is just left in the dust...not important.
Even our range with part
15 AM would be so much better if this was back before the 1990s.
- Mark
Switching
power supplies are a huge part of the problem, and, as you point out,
other interferences add to the chorus of disturbance. Leaky DSL
internet lines deliver frequencies in the same spectrum as AM broadcast
stations, and nearby AM transmission towers can wreak havoc on DSL
internet as well. I have an early issue LED bulb that wipes out the
entire longwave band and the lower half of medium wave. There was a
streetlamp 600-feet down the block that tried all night to turn on but
failed every few minutes after building up a tremendous buzz that
saturated the AM X-band. Eventually the electric company fixed the
lamp. My own computer renders my nearby Sangean AM radio unusable due
to bizzing and fizzing. The AM radio industry itself seems to be in a
dream state with no attempt on their part to mitigate the problem.
Thursday September 15, 2022 9:15 AM CDT -- AM Radio Slowly Going Away --
Appearing
as the guest on This Week in Radio Tech, respected engineer Mark
Persons talks about the noise problems inherent to the AM broadcast
band. His best guess as to the future of AM radio is that "it's slowly
going away". He doesn't believe there's any re-use for the medium wave
frequencies.
Had
I held a seat at the table I would have balanced the conversation by
saying that part 15 low power radio hobbyists are the heirs apparent to
AM radio and will take it over as a long awaited home for so long as
radio sets survive the dumpster.
Thursday September 15, 2022 7:57 AM CDT -- Stale News in the Morning --
The
reason many of us start the day with a newscast is to brush up on
anything that happened while we were asleep, so we presume that the
available morning newscasts were prepared by professionals so
dedicated they came to work at 3 AM, but one of this morning's
newscasts heard on KDX talked about 'the midnight deadline for railroad
industry attempts to avert a nationwide strike', which tells us that
this particular journalist recorded her report last evening before
taking the night off and not bothering to update her story by 7 this
morning, given the fact that the railway workers reached a settlement
by the deadline. The news business is no place for lazy people.
Thursday September 15, 2022 7:38 AM CDT -- Audio First --
We
came very close to tossing the following link into the waste basket,
but I reached in and brought it back for exhibit here on The Blog. It
deals with a subject we've already talked about, specifically the
adding of video as a companion to a fundamentally audio based product,
be it radio or podcast. When I first saw this piece my reaction was,
'We've already covered this topic,' but what brought me back to
retrieve the story from the digital waste basket was the closing line
by author Nicholas Quah, "It’s
also a
little rich to see so much excitement around video among podcast suits
— when in fact so few of them have actually mastered audio in the first
place". Ya!
VULTURE
Wednesday September 14, 2022 9:01 AM CDT -- Billboards with Spoken
Messages --
Submitted by Richard Powers
Wednesday September 14, 2022 8:36 AM CDT -- Talking Billboards --
Correspondent
Richard Powers has made us aware of a growing use for low power radio
transmitters by their employment to make billboards into commercial
radio stations for passing traffic.
Mr. Powers has sent several news clippings about
radio billboards around the U.S. and we will link you to those stories.
At this time we do not know what transmitter brands are being used but
teams of investigators are looking into it.
Tuesday September 13, 2022 5:51 PM CDT -- Physics Need Not End Here --
Against
staunch insistence that long wavelengths require large antennas I have
persisted in dreaming that some way exists to achieve better results
with small antennas. Other researchers are also seeking that same
secret.
IEEE
Tuesday September 13, 2022 11:54 AM CDT --
SOUND&VIDEO
CONTRACTOR
Tuesday September 13, 2022 11:39 AM CDT --
MIX
Tuesday September 13, 2022 11:14 AM CDT --
RADIOWORLD
Tuesday September 13, 2022 11:04 AM CDT --
Tuesday September 13, 2022 7:21 AM CDT -- Could That Really Be True ? --
Collations
and conflations often bring about skewings over time as bits and
fragments of knowledge confluence into eddys of confusion, and keeping
track of inexact facts is a scholastic field of study in itself with
its own library shelf. Whereas we've talked about the soul of a shoe,
common knowledge persists in calling a shoe's bottomside a 'sole'. But
sole means 'solitary', 'alone', 'by itself' or 'singular', and this
does not fit, no pun intended, with the unavoidable and undeniable
truth that shoes come in pairs and a 'sole' shoe would only make sense
for a one-footed person, but even there you'd have a 'spare' or
'unused' second shoe. Not only that, but very recently we blogged about
modern science's position regarding the existence of the human soul,
knowing that while not proven to exist, it it were to exist, it remains
undetermined inside which organ of the body a soul might reside with
the bottom of the foot being a probable locale whereby we stand guard
on our soul quite literally.
Tuesday September 13, 2022 7:02 AM CDT -- Pomp, Ceremony and Royalty --
We've
already mentioned that the Royal Family of Great Britain, in addition
to reigning over the British Isles of England, Scotland, and Ireland,
also rule over Canada. Adding to that, King Charles III will be serving
as the Head of State over both Australia and New Zealand. Although
contested by several other countries, Great Britain maintains a
controversial hold on the Falkland Islands off the southern tip of
south america. Given the immense span and scope of British reach around
the globe it is understandable that the death of Queen Elizabeth II is
met with such massive public response and lengthy period of
mourning.
Monday September 12, 2022 10:35 PM CDT --
We
may not have soul mates, but shoes do.
- Carl Blare, following a deep nap
Sunday September 11, 2022 7:50 AM CDT -- Reaction to Wide-FM --
Mark is the Moderator at part15.org and writes:
Sounds good! You can
already get receivers that go down to 76 mHz if they are for the
Japanese and European market.
- Mark
Carl
adds: Yes, my TECSUN PL-310 has the 76 MHz reach. We can also hope that
WIDE-FM will include an expansion of what can be done by part 15 type
broadcasters especially in places where open channels are hard to find.
Sunday September 11, 2022 7:30 AM CDT -- Visual Radio --
We've
talked about radio stations adding some form of video component to
their offerings, Artisan Radio has begun exploring ways of generating a
video stream to enhance his two radio streams, and with all this in
mind I started wondering if visual radio stations could be found on
YouTube. I confined the search to only those entities which exist first
as wireless radio, whether low or full power, receivable somewhere on
AM FM radios. A lot of what I found were digital only and I skipped
over them. The first 'real' radio station I found was showing their
playlist while automated audio came out of the loudspeaker. That
covered for the fact that nothing live was being done. Then this popped
into view, and is right on point:
Saturday September 10, 2022 2:05 PM CDT -- Petition to Expand the FM
Band (U.S.) --
Saturday September 10, 2022 1:35 PM CDT -- Expanding Low Power Beyond
Borders --
We've
been concentrating on low power radio on the north american continent
and would like to further our vantage by looking at the adjoining
continent of south america with it's many countries. We should keep in
mind that southern neighbor Mexico is part of the northern continent,
yet we know zero about hobby radio on that side of the border. Michi
Bradley of REC Networks offers a portrait of legal low power radio
including a summary of rules in other countries.
Saturday September 10, 2022 1:02 PM CDT -- Spin Until Dry --
Like a spin drier in a laundromat thoughts go round and round regarding
the wordings and definitions used by CPC
in Canada alongside terms used by the FCC
in the U.S. I got to wondering whether 'Low Power Announcement System'
(LPAS) might mean the same in Canada as 'wireless microphone' means in
the United States, but then noticed that Canada uses both terms in
their webwork of inter-linking cross-referencing labyrinthian rules. I
had to remind myself that part of the game attributes to special
definitions assigned to various nuances as a matter of legalese to
differentiate slight differences, such as 'intentional radiators' being
shorthand for 'low power transmitters' and complex distinctions like
'wireless microphones' being a category apart from 'part 15 radio
stations' consisting of a microphone and transmitter but existing in
separate cabinets rather than combined in a single unit. In America
wireless microphone systems are used to operate in a 'venue' which
means 'location' whereas in Canada (also in north america but apart
from America) the wireless mics apply to a 'fixed area', which might
translate to mean 'a given venue'. The area reached by a broadcast
station is very broad and covers many fixed areas. It's also the case
that wireless microphones are viewed as primarily voice devices except
that they may also be used to capture musical instruments or sports
racket. It almost begins to make sense at times but at other times is
upside down.
Saturday September 10, 2022 12:24 NOON CDT -- Auditory Assistance --
The matter of license free audio assistance devices comes under
Saturday September 10, 2022 10:03 AM CDT -- Broadcasting in Canada --
More facts about from Mod Mark about Canadian Low Power Radio:
I posted a reply to
Artisan and I can give you my opinion on the Canadian broadcasting and
non broadcasting thing. It's nuts!!
You said
"I have
trouble wrapping my head around fixed area and broadcasting".
Here's
my take on this broadcasting and not broadcasting. It has nothing to do
with whether you need a license or not from the CRTC. The Procaster for
example is certified to be used and set up as per instructions as
certified to be used. But RSS-210 is technically not for broadcasting
like BETS is. So since the Procaster is only certified under RSS-210 an
agent *could*(doesn't mean they will) say you have to stop as you are
"broadcasting". Even though you are using it as certified to be used.
You need BETS-1 to
broadcast which stands for Broadcast Equipment Technical Standards.
THIS IS ALL NUTS!!! The
Procaster IS broadcast equipment! It's meant for anyone in range with a
AM radio.
I looked up 3 different
dictionaries on the definition of broadcasting and
If
you are, with a transmitter, sending out a signal that can be received
on a public band of frequencies that anyone in the general public can
listen to with a receiver that receives it, like a radio that receives
those commercial broadcast bands you are broadcasting.
The
only thing that can be considered non broadcasting is things like
walkie talkies, where it is just to another person on a selected
frequency...other examples of non broadcasting are...a pilot talking to
the control tower, a doctor on call with a pager, two way communication
like those examples where you communicate on a private frequency via
two way radio or pager.
Also RSS-210 states for
"any application" in the general section for the standards on all radio
frequency bands.
The
term 'for any application" kind of contradicts that RSS-210 is for "non
broadcasting". If it sends out a signal to be received by anyone with a
radio in range it's broadcasting, and this defined borderline makes no
sense. As you pointed out you can have your range and that is the line
in the sand marking out the coverage area.
That's what I go by. If
you are under a certain power or within a certain field strength it's
just license free broadcasting.
Yes Carl this
broadcasting/non broadcasting Canadian thing is hard to wrap your head
around!
- Mark
Saturday September 10, 2022 7:54 AM CDT -- The Queen of Canada --
The
Artisan Radio Blog posted a reverential homage on the passing of
Canada's Queen, begging the question, did two queens die on the same
day? We may have learned in school that the Queen of the United Kingdom
(AKA Great Britain; England) also serves as Queen to 14 Commonwealth
Countries including Canada.
Saturday September 10, 2022 7:28 AM CDT -- Now We Know Via Radio --
We
have long wondered the definition of 'Mara Lago', the Florida likeness
of 'Neverland' or 'Graceland' where the Ex-Conman President stashed
nuclear codes and other secrets. On this morning's Al Franken Show as
heard on KDX, Mr. Franken made a loose translation based on what he
recalls from college Spanish class. 'Mara' translates
as
'marred' as in 'damaged' and 'Lago' means 'log', as in 'lumber'. It
comes out to 'Bad Lumber'. It remains unknown why this name was chosen.
Saturday September 10, 2022 5:41 AM CDT -- Dialing the World --
Yesterday
we forgot to sample a random radio station as is our want but today
we're back at it and landed on WPKR 99.5 FM 25,000 watts Omro,
Wisconsin, a town so small it isn't printed on the station's own
coverage map. Of course it's the weekend so we can't expect the A-list
of programming or talent, but with a country format 'PKR', as it refers
to itself, has a well-oiled automation system vending the songs and
plenty of commercials: "...that's on you but the beer's on me" was one
of the lyrics picked up. The hefty signal covers Oshkosh, Fond du Lac,
and a number of small towns and is owned by Cumulus Licensing LLC which
owns 428 radio stations, the corporation facing many FCC fines due to
public file and other management misses. We passed the 6 AM mark
without hearing a valid identification but it's not our objective to
pass judgment while making these daily dial stopovers, so let's say we
must have missed the ID while we were blogging. Our preference is
usually AM radio, but WPKR-FM is the only radio station licensed to
Omro. The station history is somewhat nebulous but it can be found here:
Friday September 9, 2022 9:48 AM CDT -- Don't Be Hasty --
This
is a direct appeal to Artisan Radio to give careful deliberation to a
stated inclination to discontinue streaming on the internet. In a
recent Artisan Radio Blog entry he revealed a leaning toward limited
operation by local area wireless transmission, known in Canada as an
'announcement system', for radio listeners in his 'fixed area'. We
would argue that Artisan's Blog has clearly exhibited a promotional
function in service to other low power radio hobbyists and we put
forward the added value of online streaming for purposes of describing
and further promoting the radio hobby, perhaps through educative
announcements made by the artificial announcers employed by the
station. Discontinuance of the Artisan Streams would be detrimental to
the ALPB had it not been dismantled.
Thursday September 8, 2022 3:34 PM CDT -- The English Language in
America --
The
words among, amongst, amid and amidst mean essentially the same thing.
Thursday September 8, 2022 2:21 PM CDT -- The Never Win Aspect of Life
--
As
an obnoxious child I'd perplex the parents by pouting "I don't know
what to do." Of course one learns better ways to attract
attention
and in the later years has plenty to do. But you can't do it all, so
the complaint becomes, "I have too much to do", and much of it is
stalled by extremely hot, cold or severe weather, darkness of
night, holiday closures, mosquitos, plus distractions that
seem
more interesting than routine necessities. Of late it's been my new
railroad simulation computer game that draws me into a virtual
environment so tantalizing that I'd close down the house and move there
if life were fair which it never is, not even when it proves to be,
because no matter how good any outcome may be it will always turn sour
inclining me toward superstition which I steadfastly debunk. Clearly
this opens the way to questioning mortality but here again there's no
resolution because none of the standard beliefs make any sense. Take
the after-life as an example. There's a popular opinion that after this
life we'll see a light. But we already see lights all day long and,
thanks to electricity and computer screens, late into the night. And
we're told that reception in the after-life will be greater in
proportion to how much we pay the church in this life. What I take from
that is that founding a church is a shortcut to getting hands on wealth
now and the large number of religious radio stations stand as
proof there's money to be had; they never seem to go bankrupt.
Ok,
then there's the crowd who deny that life ever ends and believe we keep
coming back through re-incarnation. But this notion falls apart by the
fact that no link remains between the last life and the next and all
wisdom and education are reset to zero. Broken continuity makes
perpetual existence a nullity. You know what? I think child me was
right after all, and the lesson applies to all of us: "WE don't know
what to do."
Thursday September 8, 2022 2:05 PM CDT -- Not Convincingly Aboard a
Train --
I
wasn't convinced by the train sounds we've aired on KDX for the past
few days. They were labeled as long-form sound effects recorded aboard
moving trains, but as a highly trained, extensively experienced, top
credited audio expert I detected the telltales of fakeness. I would say
that at the very best what we had were what the profession calls
'looped samples', which is to say, brief train-sound snippets played
again and again. One giveaway was a brief toot on the train's horn
which recurred every so many minutes for ten hours, with never any
variant toots as there'd be with an actual train. Then there was the
lack of crossing points when a train rushes past a crossing road where
downed gates or alternating red flashers halt automobile traffic with
distinctive ding-ding-ding bells heard with a pronounced Doppler
effect. Disappointed and dejected we've returned to the KDX Tocking
Clock with vocal time announcements as the place-holding audio betwixt
our program segments.
Thursday September 8, 2022 12:37 NOON CDT -- Wireless Microphones Under
Part 15 --
This
section puts users to grappling with the definition of 'wireless
microphone', in as much as an ordinary part 15 radio station consists,
in part, of a microphone and transmitter. Among frequencies open for
this use are the coveted FM 87.7 & 87.9. Unlicensed.
Thursday September 8, 2022 12:18 NOON CDT -- Auxiliary Broadcast
Services in U.S. --
Talking
about Canadian RS-123 for low power radio reminds me of a somewhat
similar category under Part 74 of U.S. FCC Rules for a range of uses
utilized for program production and distribution on a batch of
frequency choices including 87.7 and 89.9 FM, where I believe the
allowed power is 50 mW. Licensed.
Thursday September 8, 2022 11:37 AM CDT -- Self Identity --
The
announcers at radio and TV stations say their names at frequent
intervals so you know who's telling you whatever it is. Then, close to
the 'top of the hour' they identify the station itself as a requirement
of their FCC license, found in Part 73 of the rules pertaining
to Radio Broadcast Services. Interestingly, Section 73.3550,
which
spells out the identifying obligations, also includes (l)
Users of nonlicensed, low power devices operating under part 15 of this
chapter (47) may use whatever identification is currently desired, so
long as propriety is observed and no confusion results with a station
for which the FCC issues a license. This stands out
because it
refers to part 15 but is not found within the part 15 section and is
published in a section detailing the procedure for licensed stations.
The phrase 'currently desired' means you can change your mind and
change identities on the fly, or could decide to state no identity at
all. What's also implied is that you can make a wild claim
such as
'This is the Voice of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica', which does not
result in confusion with any license. Carl Blare speaking.
Thursday September 8, 2022 10:41 AM CDT -- Canadian Broadcasting /
Non-Broadcasting --
Moderator Mark is Canadian too:
It's ridiculous! Even
with unlicensed categories like RSS_210/part 15 or BETS-1 there is non
broadcasting and broadcasting.
With
RSS-210 which is what the Procaster is certified under you can have a
target area/audience indoors or outdoors but you can't be broadcasting.
What's the difference? Broadcasting is to the general public with no
defined area, especially outdoors. With a transmitter like the Decade
MS-100 certified BETS which stands for Broadcast Equipment Technical
Standards you *can* broadcast, which means you don't need a defined
border. So if you are using the AM Procaster, that is not certified
BETS you *could* be told to stop(doesn't mean you will) even though it
is certified for unlicensed use and it is set up as per instructions.
The more crazy thing is the RSS-210 section that covers unlicensed use
for all frequency bands is under the heading "for any application"
RSS-123
which is what Artisan is wanting a license for, allowing more power and
coverage, is for non broadcasting also.....you need a line drawn in the
sand as your target area, a parking lot, a park, a special event in a
certain area, an indoor auditorium, shopping mall, drive in theater,
etc., not just to the general public in range.
Crazy!
- Mark
Thursday September 8, 2022 10:31 AM CDT --
Thursday September 8, 2022 9:54 AM CDT -- Bringing Radio Back --
The
now defunct ALPB (Association for Low Power Broadcasters) had an
amorphous slogan dreamt up by a former chairman prior to his mental
collapse: 'Bringing Radio Back to the People' (BRBP). It could not be
explained what this was supposed to mean, given that radio has never
been taken away from people, similar to Trump's 'Make America Great
Again' without defining what particular greatness is lacking and worthy
of return. Most people assume the MAGA slogan means 'make America white
again'. BRBP was probably not meant as a racist catchphrase given that
a person's color cannot be seen on radio, but we shouldn't look too
hard to find meaning in probable nonsense. Moving on, a related drift
arises regarding theft of the expression 'public radio' by the
non-commercial mafia when in fact all broadcasting on the AM and FM
bands is public. The select 88.1 to 91.9 MHz portion of the FM band was
sanctioned as non-commercial space set aside for educational
broadcasting. You'll scratch your head bald trying to decide whether
present day 'public radio' provides 'education' any moreso than
commercial stations, but we can say that 'advertisment' is another word
for 'not entirely true'.
Thursday September 8, 2022 9:51 AM CDT -- The Speed of Sound --
As a self entertainment it's interesting to contemplate the speed of
sound.
Thursday September 8, 2022 7:33 AM CDT --
Thursday September 8, 2022 6:31 AM CDT -- Licensed Low Power Canada --
Being
a hobby broadcaster located in Canada Artisan Radio has an option
available notably different than anything down in the States, namely
Canadian Rule RS-123, described thusly at Artisan Radio
Blog:
The entire principal of
RSS123 is to cover a fixed area (otherwise, you're broadcasting).
I
have trouble wrapping my head around the difference between 'fixed
area' and 'broadcasting'. If you draw a circle around the area reached
by a broadcast station, also known as a 'coverage map', are you not
showing a 'fixed area'? To my knowledge the main difference would be
the size of the so-called fixed area. For KDX, when our area breaks, we
fix it. Then we have a fixed area. This last part is my idea of a joke.
Wednesday September 7, 2022 11:49 AM CDT -- I'm Tired of Radio History
--
I
started compiling the history of local radio stations while I was still
in grade school. It was all about call letter changes over the years
and frequency moves that went on in the early days. It was less about
owners and virtually devoid of anecdotes about the people who
worked for them and only a smattering about the programming. That kind
of 'history' continues to be common and almost none of it is accurate
or complete, not that details matter in long lists of dates, numbers,
and alphabets. As it is the radio histories seem to apply mainly to
over-the-air radio with no one jotting the saga of streaming radio
where stations come and go every few days, the majority of them logging
one listener at any given time. In terms of general radio history there
is still interest in the days of network radio when dramas and comedies
were put seriously forward, establishing murder and
crime as
mainstays that continues via movies and TV. There's the
perenial
question of where to hide the body. A woman I once met reached
the
top floor of the big advertising agency and penned a book that took the
right approach to history by recounting office intrigues and the
relationships with clients and radio time purchasing. She told the
human side of the business rather than door numbers or how many floors
were served by elevators. I will say though that I remain available to
tell the history of all the radio/tv towers in town. I even gave
serious thought to putting an 80-footer in the side-yard when a surplus
length of tower became available, but was blocked by local
restrictions.
Wednesday September 7, 2022 6:41 AM CDT -- Tips for Small Time Success
--
Noting
that commercial radio stations put their best programming forward on
weekdays during the same hours when most of the public is unavailable
to listen because of work and school, yet pull back on weekends and
holidays with fill-in programs including infommercials, retirement
advice, gardening shows and other nondescript fare, it would behoove
the part 15 low power hobby broadcaster to crank it up on weekends and
holidays to give people a reason to listen to their radios
while home from work and off from school. At the same time the
small operators might organize their weekday programs in such a way as
to always present a better choice than what the commercial operators
have to offer. In many towns the programs available on radio are easy
to ignore.
Wednesday September 7, 2022 5:50 AM CDT -- WABC New York --
Rudy
Juliani is sitting in for Sid and Bernie on WABC's morning show, and I
have to say that Mr. Juliani is performing well, sounds very alert and
animated, and rushing through a lot of topics in the style of a big
city wake up program. Along the way he talked with Phil Dixon about
sports action, but at that point I was preoccupied scrolling
through national news on the WABC website. Now he's on to
talking
about election results but I'm half tuned out because I'm busy typing
this blog. WABC operates at 770 kHz with 50,000 watts. According to the
listing at radio-locator.com WABC's FCC license expired June 1, 2022.
Every day I try a radio stream from a different station.
Tuesday September 6, 2022 6:36 PM CDT -- Coming Attractions --
A
couple more subjects I anticipate bringing to The Blog, are the speed
of sound and ... Well how do you like that... a moment ago I knew a
second forthcoming subject to mention but just like that... snap!.. I
can't remember what it was. I'll think of it again, and when I do,
you'll read about it. All this coffee gets me wound up. Oh, oh, oh, in
the vening moments, or the intervening moments, two upcoming ideas
return to mind. One is my new and fervent stand on computer games, and
another the vital place of radio as a source of information during
emergencies. I ought to charge something for all I do here on The Blog.
Why should I be so generous? Anyway it's a radio thing. We are trained
to announce things of benefit to the audience. We seek flattery, but
end up flattened. Our whole radio effort is about mixed signals.
Without an emergency, radio loses purpose. May there be catastrophes.
Tuesday September 6, 2022 5:01 PM CDT -- Kissing Off --
There
comes a day when the talented artist must kiss off those who've passed
as friends, and tell them plainly that what they have to offer is
nowhere near as interesting as that artist's own thoughts and
accomplishments. Still, to do this during a fund drive would amount to
bad timing.
Tuesday September 6, 2022 4:44 PM CDT -- Radio Hallway of Fame --
Various
occupations are held to an exalted level of importance, including movie
stardom, rock musicianship, and radio personality, deserving halls of
fame to enshrine one other, serving a useful promotional purpose, and
serving as mutual admiration societies. Not at all because I have
exhibited some personality on the radio and am therefore jealous for
not being nominated, but because radio doesn't lend itself to brick and
mortar realworld places, but better to places visualized in
the
mental theatre of the imagination served by the medium. KDX has a
radiostyle building, the Internet Building, and our fabled 'Multi
Purpose Hallway of Fame', a space where no walls exist to separate men
from women nor business from snacks, a place where fugitive fame stops
fleeting around and lands birdlike on the hands of listeners.
Tuesday September 6, 2022 4:01 PM -- Pareidolia the Language of
Patterns --
Now
brewing. Yes, I'm sitting here trying to reassemble a set of thoughts
regarding an earlier conclusion I reached following several instances
of personally experienced pareidolia. The first thing I had to do to
get the reconstruction started was look up the word, not only to verify
my understanding of it, but also to find that I was spelling it
'paradolia', which you see was not correct.
WIKIPEDIA
Allow
me to set aside, for the moment, my pursuit of the idea I want to
re-gather, because today is speeding by at about 70-miles-per-hour. You
see, KDX today is aboard a moving train until we reach a destination at
7 in the morning, when regular programming returns. After experimenting
with jamming signals using power tools and lawn equipment, I switched
over to the sound of rolling steel and clickety clack indicative of a
train ride, and find it to by synchronis with the otherwise silent
orbiting and spinning of the earth which belies the false sensation we
have of standing still. Just to be sure I need to look up 'belies', and
we'll pursue the rest of it after checking out the dining car.
Tuesday September 6, 2022 6:34 AM -- Today's Visit Paid to Some Radio
Station Somewhere --
Lingering
around in my memory is the memory that part 15 station operator Tim in
Bovey also does a wakeup show for 5,000 watt KOZY on the outskirts of
Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and it started up right at 6 AM coming in
clearly from the online stream. So you say, "Oh, Grand Rapids is a
major market," but I'd have to correct you by mentioning that the big
Grand Rapids is in Michigan and the other five have populations so
small that two of them are labeled 'population unknown'. The banter
between Tim and co-host Joe is entertaining, informational, loaded with
wit, and exemplifies the kind of thing low power stations could do if
they were serious about being authentic radio stations. The program is
"The Morning Mess" and is followed later in the day by "The Afternoon
Cleanup".
Monday September 5, 2022 2:05 PM CDT -- Visit to the Butte --
Today's
relaxed laid back edition of the Mischke Roadshow came to KDX from
somewhere in Montana and featured a friendly conversation with
localites about lifestyles in the state. It gave me the idea of
visiting a radio station in Montana and landed on AM 1370 the only
newstalk station in Butte, owned by Townsquare and flooding the place
with 1,000 watts day and night. The KXTL website has a menu tab labeled
"All Staff" listing two guys, Aaron Flint and Chris Plante. I was on
time for the Fox News and the start of the satellite delivered Dave
Ramsey Show. The
schedule also lists Coast to Coast, Freetalk Live and Jim Bohannon.
That
Bohannon guy has a great voice, but... I shouldn't say what I think of
his opinions. For that matter some people don't like my opinions,
amazing as it seems. I only listened for about 2-minutes.
Monday September 5, 2022 5:18 AM CDT -- For This Labour Day --
YouTube
Sunday September 4, 2022 5:11 PM CDT -- Do We Know Yet Whether the Soul
Exists? --
The
Blare Blog has been following this question over the years and
considers a holiday weekend an appropriate time to ask whether new
light has been shed. No
one would know better than Wikipedia, so we grabbed this current
report:
According
to Julien Musolino the vast majority of scientists hold that the mind
is a complex machine that operates on the same physical laws as all
other objects in the universe. According to Musolino, there is
currently no scientific evidence whatsoever to support the existence of
the soul and there is considerable evidence that seems to indicate that
souls do not exist.
The
search for the soul, however, is seen to have been instrumental in
driving the understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human
body, particularly in the fields of cardiovascular and neurology. In
the two dominant conflicting concepts of the soul – one seeing it to be
spiritual and immortal, and the other seeing it to be material and
mortal, both have described the soul as being located in a particular
organ or as pervading the whole body.
In our own
independent research The Blare Blog remains confidant that whatever
else is true, we will continue to have soul music.
Sunday September 4, 2022 3:46 PM CDT -- The Highest Point in Each State
--
Maybe you can put an antenna up yours.
YouTube
Sunday September 4, 2022 2:06 PM CDT -- Shrouded Legality --
Artisan
has a good writeup over on his blog titled "Ripping Away the Shroud of
Illegality" making the point that many perfectly legal low power radio
stations play it close-to-the-vest and surreptitiously as if there was
something wrong about what they do.
To
what he said I would add that after the experience of milling about
with several of the low power guys when the ALPB was still functioning
I'd typify the group as somewhat none-verbal. That is, I don't think
they have the kind of egos developed from having an overblown sense
of importance among those of us who've been paid to talk over
a
public address amplifier hooked to an antenna. They are waiting for
someone else to do the leading, which goes to explain why Donald Trump
appeals to so many 'down-to-earth regular folk'. These are men of sorts
that have never witnessed the wicked self servedness of spoiled brats
who grow older without maturing. Some few of them try to break the
bounds by acting in a way they deem to be Trumpish such as that
self-declared 'chairman' Artisan mentioned, who claimed that the ALPB
was his property since he loaned a computer to it. I myself believe
that because I have a mailbox on the front porch I own the post office.
As the public service message once said, "The mind is a terrible
thing." Then, boding what we do with this terrible thing, adds, "To
waste."
Turning to weather, we have rain here in the midwaste
and KDX is spreading seeds in the form of Beethoven's Late Quartets,
which reminds me... I have a plan for our carrier current facility, the
FCC endorsed method of broadcasting radio from overhead power wires.
This three-day weekend we're in gave me the idea of signing on
the
powerlines exclusively on holidays as a true cultural contribution to
the local radio dial, very philanthropic because we will never know
whether anyone hears it and will never meet anyone whose life was
enriched by the experience of hearing our great presentations, although
heaven keeps tabs on such selfless offerings and may embarrass us with
some lavish reward, if only we'd still be around to make an acceptance
speech.
Sunday September 4, 2022 9:00 AM CDT -- True Stories That Would Be
Better If They Weren't True --
Every
few minutes I, Carl Blare, extend the background noise in my brain so
that visitors to The Blog can share in it, and I am reminded of a story
I read two days ago that Nashville, Tennessee, is being sued by a home
recording business that has been ordered to cease and desist under that
town's ordinance against businesses in the home. I
figured that
the work at home experience fostered by the covid pandemic sort of did
away with such zoning prohibitions, but not with Nashville. Well, that
same sort of thing happened to me when I was pestered by an
investigator about my home recording operation when he referenced my
application for a residency permit in which I wrote "No" to the
question "Will you be doing anything in the home other than living
there?" To my way of thinking the only other thing one could do aside
from "living there" would be "not living there". But bureaucrats aren't
so literal and hold the view that "recording for profit" is somehow
"other than living". Of course recording just for fun would be a form
of living so long as no money changed hands.
Thoughts tend to
jump around and another one from moments ago concerns Reverend Stang
and his 'Hour of Slack' formerly scheduled Sunday mornings on KDX. I
became slowly aware that the exact same show has been airing for
several weeks and upon inquiry learned that new shows are no longer
being produced, so we gave the hour to Harry Schearer for his 'LeShow'
while we determine whether any of them have permits to produce radio
programs in their homes.
Sunday September 4, 2022 7:56 AM CDT --
What
is a schematic but a detailed description of one's scheme.
C. Blare - author of "Wingings and Winnings"
And
this commentary on 'schemes': It's used as something of a
pejorative, isn't it: 'He's a schemer'; 'She's a scheming woman'. Yet
'scheme' is just another word for 'plan', and one must eventually
revert to planning in order to get along. 'He has no plan' is what we
say about bums and hobos, yet even they have plans, however aimless.
Which brings 'aim' into the discussion. What are your 'aims'? 'Do you
aim to follow through?' 'Her aims are suspect'. 'What are you aiming
at?' We put up with each other when we aren't putting each other down.
Thank God for radio.
Sunday September 4, 2022 6:00 AM CDT -- KDX Ear Plug Radio --
Yesterdays
jammercasts went well, especially the chainsaw all afternoon. Today
we're thinking about a rider mower. It's a pity that radio sound
effects can't actually tidy up the yard.
Sunday September 4, 2022 5:21 AM CDT -- Tuning Everywhere On a Daily
Basis --
Here
in Mid-Laborday Weekend our morning was spent with Milwaukee starting
at WMSE-FM which attracted our notice by being the station
of Milwaukee School of Engineering. Our deep rooted love of
engines is always on the lookout for technical schematics and
instruction manuals and what could be more informative than an entire
radio station devoted to abstruse knowledge, but WMSE is
staffed
by volunteer disc jockies and presents eclecticly assorted music with
no technicalia whatsoever, so I politely switched to the AM band and
went straight to WTMJ, 'Newsradio 620', once the station of the
Milwaukee Journal, but now owned by Good Karma Brands Milwaukee LLC.
Evidentally the news staff was on holiday because I encountered a
continuous string of infommercials for exciting creams, supplements,
ointments and medicinals that could break down and absorb while
relieving pain and improving bone mass, endorsed by Doctor Michael
Pinkus who was on the phone until 5:30 when the product shifted and
Doctor Janet entered the studio to offer a risk free trial. The only
reason I didn't call the number is that my bones feel alright for now.
"Help is on its way", says Doctor Janet. "It won't ruin your clothes."
Tomorrow we'll go to yet another radio location. Oh, it's 6 AM and a
teenage newscaster is filling us in on the shooting overnight downtown.
Saturday September 3, 2022 11:37 AM CDT -- Thinking Deeply --
We all know that ghosts wear clothes. If they didn't they would be
subject to arrest. But do ghosts do laundry?
Saturday September 3, 2022 10:48 AM CDT -- Have the Cordwood Ready --
The
leaf blower was a total success but was short and didn't stir many
leaves. Next our chainsaw is set to air for a solid hour!
Saturday September 3, 2022 10:12 AM CDT -- It Has Begun --
I
have influenced myself by musing about a low power jamming station and
will be filling program breaks with leaf blowing and other annoying
sounds, starting today.
Saturday September 3, 2022 6:12 AM CDT -- NPR Had At Least One Part 15
Episode --
Richard Powers memory considered:
Carl, perhaps you've
forgotten, NPR has featured part 15 broadcasting before, back in 2007:
On
another note, attached are three pages I found interesting which
pertained to our hobby from the Arizona Daily Star newspaper July 20,
1998
Richard,
I didn't know about this, unless I did. Maybe I forgot. What I do
recall is that 2007 was the year I began part 15 operation with KDX
which I know was not covered by NPR.
Saturday September 3, 2022 5:55 AM CDT -- Down River South --
This
morning's streaming visit takes us to New Orleans, Louisiana, one of
the most diverse radio towns in all of north america. The entire blog
month could be spent bopping from station to station talking about each
one's unique history, but we latched to WWL "The Voice of the South" at
870 kHz for the CBS Hourly News.
Friday September 2, 2022 9:21 AM CDT -- Technical Projects Considered --
By
now everything should have been considered by NPR's 'All Things
Considered'. but they're still working on it. One thing they've
probably not yet considered is hobby radio under Part 15 of FCC Rules
in the U.S., and per regulation in other world countries. About the
only place where this specialty hobby is 'considered' are the feeble
forums and off-the-mainstream blogs a few of us dabble at publishing.
We offer 'proof through the night that Our Flag is Still Here' by
calling attention to the small radio signals we fantasize about. I see
all this carrier current equipment found on Ebay and daydream about
repairing the LPB Transmitter and getting on the power lines but have
no desire whatsoever to communicate with residents so close to home.
Reaching the distance is an advantage enjoyed by licensed HAMs but drat
the luck they're not allowed to offer programming, unless it's about
HAMing, which wears thin after an hour-and-a-half. But I do have an
idea as yet to be tested... Follow along and pay close attention:
We're
already ready for the first and last legs of this, but there's more
equipment needed to fill in the middle... Ok, so we transmit our usual
daily lineup of newstalk over the Procaster AM Transmitter as we
already do, and we tune into our own station on this Sangeon
ATS-505 as we already do, but here's where things get different. We
connect an audio line to the output of the radio and connect it to the
Line In of the computer and stream it by Icecast. To enhance the drama
the radio would be at least 100-feet away from the transmitting antenna
so a sense of AM dial background fuzz would mix along with the audio.
No,
wait... change that. Never mind the Sangean. What we'd use is our SDR
(Softwear Defined Radio) with a neat Slinky Antenna so that listeners
online would have the full radio experience just like they were hearing
us by radio except we'd have that distance we want because our stream
reaches all 400 world countries! Now we're talking beacon! I
mean, KDX would stand as a Lighthouse on the Shores of Spectrum!
Friday September 2, 2022 6:49 AM CDT -- Toilers Day is Upon Us --
The
U.S. is about to enter a three-day Labor Day Holiday Weekend with
Canada also set for Labour Day on Monday. Other parts of the world
celebrate International Workers Day on May 1. These festivals recognize
the contribution of laborers to a country's achievements. Slackers in
the radio game take no holidays but freely make mention of them.
As
an early morning exercise I like to visit a beacon radio station
somewhere in the U.S., yesterday it was KGO San Francisco and today we
made a try for Little Rock Arkansas. The great beacon stations tend to
be legacy AMers offering a mature newstalk format minus the political
slant. In Chicago these would be WGN and WBBM, in New York City WOR,
WABC and WINS. But Little Rock's AM dial is devoid of anything
mentionable, their only 50 kiloWatter being religious and the smaller
signals being ethnic or plain music varieties. The FM dial is more
fully populated including University of Arkansas's two outlet's, one a
vanilla flavored NPR where everything is undergoing consideration in
between continual repetition of the presenter's name, the other a stock
standard classical where the announcer knows Joseph Haydn's life
history. The largest city in Arkansas, Little Rock's population is
around 250,000, not one of the nation's major radio markets. Tomorrow
maybe we'll go farther south.
Being recognized as a beacon
station is made possible by global internet streams emanating from a
foundation of regional presence established early on by 50,000 Watt
clear channel signals serving as the 'Voices' of major cities.
Some of the legacy 'clears' have lost their beacon status under
youthful management who missed the history lesson. And to a degree
these 'flame-thrower' stations have lost testosterone by the FCC's
decommissioning of the original 'clear channel' ranking and subsequent
reduction of the number of states reached by skywaves at night. It gets
esoteric. But, as a global streamer lacking the foundational wattage
holding no place in historic memory, KDX wonders what it would take to
be perceived at the far distance as a beacon voice, above the ten
thousand other streamers sharing kilobits per second on the internet.
We would probably need to take out full page ads in the New York Times.
Thursday September 1, 2022 2:25 PM CDT -- Radio hobbyists
operating personal radio stations under FCC rules part 15 or similar
regulations in other countries most typically present music, although
some of them bring old time radio shows, readings from books, and even
relay of an internet streaming station so it can be heard on a
household radio. I happen to operate a time radio station much like WWV
from Fort Collins, Colorado, except that mine isn't accurate. Two other
ideas come to mind for someone looking for novelty. Numbers stations
and jamming transmitters are two unusual possibilities, but special
limits would apply.
Numbers stations have been heard on
shortwave radios consisting of seemingly random numbers read distinctly
by a voice without revealing the purpose of the broadcast. It is widely
assumed the numbers are coded messages being sent to agents in the
field, although perhaps that's what they want us to think so
we go
to expense and effort trying to decipher nonsense. A part 15 numbers
station could be any sequence of numerics and could have relevance or
not, it would be your secret.
Actual jamming stations operate
from countries who intentionally block cross-border transmissions they
don't want their habitants to hear but of course a hobby station could
not legally block anyone's transmissions, but could broadcast assorted
clamor such as chain saws, power lawn equipment, helicopter noise or
crying babies, to mimic a jamming station.
To do this sort of thing you've got to be really hard up.
Thursday September 1, 2022 11:21 AM CDT --
I
prefer radio to TV because the pictures are better.
- Allistair Cooke, British-American writer,
journalist
Thursday September 1, 2022 8:03 PM CDT -- From Our Pod to Yours --
Podcasting
has taken the form of a mass movement with so many taking up the
microphone and speaking to audiences across the internet. In blunt
factuality a podcast is essentially a radio program differing only by
method of distribution. The impulse to be heard and recognized comes
from the intrinsic human social drive which begins when we show daddy
how well you can pitch a ball. At KDX we have pitched many balls from
pods called studios and the reason we deny being podcasters has to do
with copyright law which requires royalty liscensing payments by
podcasters because they serve the public directly,
whereas
radio programs are offered to radio stations who become
responsible for royalty licensing rather than the programmer. Of course
the licensing we are talking about only applies when copyrighted music
is used, music being the seasoning that gives flavor to our spoken
word. That reminds me of an earlier time when I invited a room full of
students from the womens college to join me in listening to classical
records. Technically that qualified as a 'public performance' and I
should have paid for a performance license but who knew that back then?
What you don't know can hurt you and what you do know can be expensive.
Thursday September 1, 2022 6:04 AM CDT -- A Collective Experience --
Of
course there is no such thing as a 'month' in a realistic inventory of
'things that exist' but it is hard to ignore the feeling that 'August
is over' because of the power of life-long suggestion upon the
collective human mind. Even The Blare Blog carries foreword as if
'September' deserves an entirely fresh page by which to extend
conscious existence. How much of life takes place in made-up imaginary
head-space? A lot of people have been saying that summer is over now
that September is here, but they're altogether wrong, since autumn
doesn't formally begin until the 21st of the month at the equinox. It's
still nominally summer.
We wanted something different to start
the day at 6 AM this early morning, so instead of tuning to the farmer
on local radio we willy nilly decided to travel to 810 kHz San
Francisco for KGO Talk Radio where it was only 4 AM and George Nory was
talking to dream expert Samantha Fay pitching her new book and
describing past lives revealed in dreams so I guess that means that
George Nory reads The Blare Blog where we recently put forward the idea
of an overnight dream program. I sometimes kid around and refer to
'George Noway' but that's only my penchant for satirical play.
Yesterday
I also did something a bit different in the predawn hour by sifting
around in the Icecast Directory and found both of Artisan Radio's
steaming ventures: the old time radio and book reading
stations.
Seeing those two signals side-by-side coming in so clearly from Canada
I experienced a renewed ambition to branch my station into two separate
outlets: newstalk and timetalk. As it is now both of my stations share
a single stream: KDX with its program schedule and KHZ with continual
time announcements amid the tocking and clocking.
Later in the day under a bright sun that gave reality its emphasis I
visited a row of foliage with a hand-clipper to manually impose my
gardener's touch, I felt what seemed like the jab of a thorn, but as I
attempted to locate and remove it I was jabbed again and a black wasp
left the scene. Painful at first, the sting faded after 20-minutes and
no swelling occured. As real as yesterday seemed the sun rolled away
and this morning's predawn darkness spreads everywhere like the shadow
of a giant black wasp. There's talk of another sunny day.
