Monday November 28, 2022 5:21 PM CST -- The Path Beaten Down by Music --
In the continuing search for fully assembled radio programs of free music we've happened upon the 'Music Manumit' series, available under Creative Commons license and bringing a wider assortment of styles than anything so far on KDX. I would dub some of it 'vomit music'.

Monday November 28, 2022 5:17 PM CST -- Another Music Genre Finding --

Saturday November 26, 2022 11:30 AM CST -- The Holiday Shunning Incident --
A private Thanksgiving dinner was held in the Upper Management Lounge of the Internet Building, home of KDX and The Blare Blog, with special guests C. Randy Limphand and Percy Downer. In the recent past the two made a public spectacle by staging a very loud argument at a holiday lighting display in the park over the fact that neither one wants to be regarded as the 'husband' in their marriage, reported in the local newspaper in a column titled 'Dispute of Two Wives'. Because their disagreement was out in the open I assumed the matter was fair to discuss, so I asked, "Is it really necessary to assign the husband wife labels in a modern marriage?" To my embarrassment they became deeply offended and abruptly left the table. Before they reached the door I yelled after them, "At least let me make a doggie bag for you!" They came back long enough to accept the doggie bag but refused to say another word. The Blare Blog strives to be sensitive about mores and conventions and we pledge to do better in the future.

Saturday November 26, 2022 5:56 AM CST -- Forget the Truth --
The truth is too depressing to know. Those who know it wish they didn't. Help keep the truth from being known by hitting the donate button. If you cannot find the donate button hit the complaint button and describe the problem. That's all you can do as just one person.

Thursday November 24, 2022 5:09 PM CST -- Statement on the State of the Station --
On the Winter Solstice, Longest Night of the Year near the end of December, it will be time for the 'Annual State of the Station Address', traditionally on a Special Edition of  Blare OnAir, however this year probably coming aboard The Blare Blog. At that time we will report the achievements of the past year and plans for the coming year.

Thursday November 24, 2022 4:57 PM CST -- A Few No Thank Yous --
A general 'No Thank You' goes out to Fundamentalist Christian Conservative Right Wingers and the Little Hitler that stirred them up. The swastika won't be coming back anytime soon.

'No Thank You' to a handful of bad influencers who have done damasge to the part 15 radio hobby and a 'shame-on-you' to those who continue to look the other way by not reacting to the trolls' bad acts.

A big 'No Thank You' to Vladimir Putin for the grave damage he continues to unleash not only against the neighboring people of Ukraine, but also to Europe & the world, and his own country: Russia. What a mannerless low-life good for nothing jerk.

Thursday November 24, 2022 2:10 PM CST -- Another Music Form --
The whole cluster of music types that we generally class under the ambient banner must include

Thursday November 24, 2022 1:09 PM CST -- Time for Thanking --
Pardon me for being somewhat late, so let's get started. As I think everyone knows, today is a Federal Holiday in the United States known as Thanksgiving Day. It was started back at the founding of the Original Colonies at the very start of this Nation, celebrating finally having driven the Indigenous People out of the area and stealing all their food and ponies. In my own life I've tended to spend the day substituting at radio and TV stations so the regular staff could be with their families, and in more recent years I've sluffed the day off by having a smart-ass response when asked: "Are you ready for Thanksgiving?" My reply has been: "I'm not thankful." But this year it's a whole new time and I'm here to thank everyone and everything that I'm grateful about. So here we go.

To our Blare Blog Correspondents, Artisan Radio from Artisan Radio, Mark the Moderator from part15.org, Richard Powers of End 80 Radio on Tybee Island, Boomer and his many radio ventures, Brooce the DXing Station in Pennsylvania, Tha Dood in West Virginia and anyone else who has made The Blog better... we say Thank You Very Much.

To our many programmers and program sources making KDX one of the most culturally refined radio stations to be found, our deepest Thank You.

To the utility companies that keep the grid gridding... electric, gas, water, internet and sewer... Good Job and Thanks!

To the delivery drivers who've turned the streets of America into unloading zones... Thank You for Your Good Handling of Our Packages.

To essential service workers who keep groceries on the shelves and automobiles on the road... Many Thanks.

We'll be here until 6 PM Central Standard to exchange thankyous... don't hesitate.

Thursday November 24, 2022 6:24 AM CST -- Crowd Controlling the Playlist --
Since adopting the 'ambient music' group of genres as time filler for non-talk hours on KDX we've gotten pulled into exploration of the impressively vast assortment of such home-brewed psuedo-music and am wondering how the Internet Archive manages to provide storage-space for such a never ending incoming batch of such jotty sketchy material as though it were important art. Like anything, some is 'better' than other and what I'd like to achieve is an orderly form of crowd control to admit only the preferred selections into the single-file one-at-a-time playout that makes its way to our servers and transmitters. With all that, what was going to be an easy solution to padding the schedule is burdgening into an entire department.

Wednesday November 23, 2022 7:29 AM CST -- Claim to Creativity --
At one time KDX lived up to its belief that low power radio stations should provide original creative programming by ourselves presenting 'Blare OnAir', a program featuring me talking. After about a thousand shows we stopped the effort since we'd fallen into a pattern of repeating ourselves, but tomorrow and Friday 'Blare OnAir' will fill in for Thom Hartmann between 11 AM and 2 PM Central Standard. I am looking very much forward to myself.

Wednesday November 23, 2022 7:06 AM CST -- Hold Your Thanks --
The holiday known as 'Thanksgiving' will be held tomorrow in the United States with its traditions of family get-togethers around a turkey dinner for an exchange of thank yous. It would be premature to offer any thanks today, as the typical preparations include a last minute rush to the grocery store and for many the roadtrip, railtrip or flight to arrive in time for the festivity. Here on The Blare Blog we will be issuing thank yous to our readers and listeners between 12-noon and 6 PM CST tomorrow as well as accepting thanks. We'd hoped to have a goose rather than turkey, but because of avoiding the last minute shopping trip we're down to only a few items including sardines, three potatoes and some Napa cabbage. We are reminded of that Thanksgiving in 2006 when all we had was a jar of mayonaise which I must say was actually quite delicious. 

Tuesday November 22, 2022 5:22 PM CST -- Where Radio Stations Are --

Tuesday November 22, 2022 2:26 PM CST -- Update On RR Situation --

Tuesday November 22, 2022 1:41 PM CST -- Pending Railroad Strike --

Tuesday November 22, 2022 1:01 PM CST -- Radio by TV --
As low power radio broadcasters we need to start paying attention to 'NextGen TV- ATSC 3.0' and its potential for carrying radio signals. The idea of sending ATSC 3.0 signals into cars may bring AM radio back to dashboards without the need for radios. What would be involved to getting our stations into the mix for listeners citywide? Would we pay to get in, would they pay us, or might it be a mutually valued exchange (free)? The other point-of-reception for 'NextGen TV' is the in-home Smart TV receiver where radio would be a menu choice, but we believe that visual television would pre-dominate the in-home experience with radio only an unused 'extra'.

Tuesday November 22, 2022 10:31 AM CST -- FCC Commissioner Advocates for Preservation of AM Radio --

Tuesday November 22, 2022 10:22 AM CST -- Public Libraries Streaming --
In the 1970s the Louisville Public Library held two FM licenses and operated a classical station and a jazz station. I'm not sure what happened to those licenses in the intervening years, but today we hear that public libraries are venturing into audio streaming.

Tuesday November 22, 2022 10:08 AM CST -- Actor Tom Hanks Goes Public Radio DJ --

Tuesday November 22, 2022 5:57 PM CST -- Mark These Words --
Mark responds to our post on Wireless Chargers:

Everything is out to get AM radio. And what about not causing interference?

Guess it only applies to us. And no one complains about interference on AM anyway.

- Markhttps://radioink.com/2022/11/18/tom-hanks-to-take-over-wyep-on-thanksgiving/

So many new electronics are adding to the already noisy AM band and yet I don't notice radio stations themselves saying anything about it, and I listen daily to local AM stations who talk about everything else. And the NAB goes after other targets like LPFM and hobby radio but also acts like major interference isn't a thing. Or, maybe I'm living a sheltered life. To be fair I just did a search at nab.org on the words 'AM interference' and the result showed nothing on that subject.

Monday November 21, 2022 8 AM CST -- Coming Threats to AM Radio Reception --

Monday November 21, 2022 6:36 AM CST -- Some Things to Get Started --
Our website was off longer than originally planned due to indifference on the part of our only volunteer. As that volunter, I, Carl Blare, will attempt to explain. Uh, we put up what they call a 'Parking Page' in place of the website, with the message: "Website & Radio Server Offline for Regular Maintenance". At the outset that was a true statement. We'd planned a few technical upgrades and expected to come right back. But we got way-layed watching free movies and preparing a number of meals, finally succombing to horizontal polarization for a deep and pleasant sleep. Yet, while being lax about turning back on, we managed to fret over the wording of our 'parking message'. What, we wondered, was ''regular maintenance'? Might we have just said 'maintenance'? Is there such a thing as 'irregular maintenance'? No final decision has yet been made.

Earlier in the week we had a pre-Thanksgiving dream that I found entertaining. In the dream I was present at a Thanksgiving meal with 'some people'. They could have been family or friends or complete strangers, but we were gathered around a huge table and were conversing about stuff. There came a moment when I excused myself to visit the rest room, and when I returned the table was gone and the guests had scattered, with only the host sitting in a chair reading a paper and completely ignoring me. I took umbrage and let myself out, walking the night street and noticing random strangers also walking about. Since the dream, I have wondered how they got that huge table out of the room during the brief time I was in the rest room.

Saturday November 19, 2022 10:28 CST -- Television on Icecast Server --
As a follower of the Artisan Radio Blog we enjoy an ongoing series of posts about experiments with streaming video. And recently we encountered a videocast linked from the Icecast Directory which otherwise features mainly radio streams.
Each time we've logged in we've found either the same movie - 'Barefoot' - or the stream not currently running. Also, the link to it is not always present at the Directory. The way to check it out is to choose 'CODECS' from the menu strip and 'WebM' as the codec of choice. The picture quality is pristine, the audio superb.

Saturday November 19, 2022 8:43 AM CST -- WTWW 5085 is Gone --

Saturday November 19, 2022 5:59 AM CST -- Novel Streaming Radio Stations --
Many mornings include a bit of a scroll through the Radio Directory at xiph.org, better known as the Icecast Directory. As you likely know Icecast is the world's popular open source streaming software. Try this:
This organization is using their Icecast Server to full capacity, loading 24 different streams onto a single server. The stream that most captured our attention is the forth one down the list named TIMECODE. A Player is embedded at that location for you to try.

Thursday November 17, 2022 5:21 PM CST -- Memo to New Years Eve Staff at CNN --

Thursday November 17, 2022 3:32 PM CST -- The Late Jim Bohannon --
Overnight radio personality Jim Bohannon died recently from cancer. Only days earlier, on a Friday all-nighter, he did his last show together with Rick Sanches, his replacement for the future. I happened to be listening during that last 'Jimbo' show and remark now how easy, graceful and accepting Mr. Bohannon came across on what seemed like any of his regular programs. Only days prior to that hearing the Michael Harrison 'Interview', carried by KDX, welcomed guest Jim Bohannon to talk about his career and plans. Michael Harrison is the editor-founder of Talkers Magazine and a leading talk radio personality. 

Thursday November 17, 2022 3:15 PM CST -- The Trance We're In --
Another musical kind has joined the trail of musical types emerging from the ambient playlists recently on KDX.

Thursday November 17, 2022 9:50 AM CST -- Wording and Birding --
Under a recent blue sky we observed wide-winged hawks soaring above on their way toward warmer places, while we plan our wingless lives down here between the furnace and the food. Turkey inventories are low, according to the radio, with avian flu having forced the cull of over two-million of the plump strutters and concerns about upcoming Thanksgiving in the U.S. where 'The Bird' is the centerpiece of family gatherings.What I want to ask my butcher is whether goose is an available option. Delicious.

Thursday November 17, 2022 8:34 AM CST -- KDX Undergoing Stream ReArrangments --
As soon as we hit the ENTER key to post this blog online, we'll be digging into the B.U.T.T. Stream Encoder to reconfigure from an  OPUS Codec over to a VORBIS Codec. The reason behind this change is a decision to re-enable the ability to spawn MetaData 'Now Playing' titles at the point of reception at several stream directories which link to KDX. Previously we have operated under the 'OGG' name, but to be technically correct Ogg is not a codec but is a container format for the VORBIS Codec, sometimes referred to as 'OGG/VORBIS'. While the changeover takes place our other stream, KDX-MP3, will operate uninterrupted. 

Wednesday November 16, 2022 3:44 PM CST -- Another Addition to the KDX Genre List --

Wednesday November 16, 2022 12:53 NOON CST -- KDX Simulcasting On Two Streams --
In addition to the Main KDX-OPUS Radio Stream we are now simulcasting the same programming on a second stream at KDX-MP3. This accomplishes two things: 1.) MetaData, which does not appear on stream directories under the OPUS format can now be viewed on the MP3 listing, which posts together with OPUS on directories; 2.) Because KDX-MP3 is streaming at the low bitrate of 16kbps it becomes available to world listeners with slow internet connections, even dial-ups.

Wednesday November 16, 2022 10:44 AM CST -- Update Available --

Monday November 14, 2022 6:11 PM CST -- New World of In-Car Entertainment --
The plot to beam tons of stuff to the automobile dashboard, including radio by a new pathway.

Monday November 14, 2022 5:50 PM CST -- Batch of Movies --
In addition to acres of music and troves of oldtime radio shows the Internet Archive houses many

Monday November 14, 2022 12:35 NOON CST -- Another Music Genre --
As my musical education grows stemming from a newfound interest in ambient music and its offshoots, I've come upon a lively genre called 'dubstep' which appeals to me greatly.

Monday November 14, 2022 11:32 AM CST -- Wait, What? --
New talk about re-arranging the modulation scheme used by hybrid analog-digital FM stations, unless I misunderstand what's being discussed:

Monday November 14, 2022 9:58 AM CDT -- New Idea of the Day --
Two words: Community Website. But what is it? Is there such a thing? Let me use the example of a community antenna. Our town has a 1,000-foot so-called community tower, carrying antennas for an amazing number of commercial and non-commercial high-power and low-power FM stations, charging each with their fractional cost of operating and maintaining the tower. A community website would be a single website serving a collective of  low power radio stations with each contributing his share or the website landlord could write-it-in as part of the hobby and do it at no charge. This is the kind of idea that could have been realized by the ALPB (Association of Low Power Broadcasters) under the Late Jim Henry, before it was stolen away from its members and made dormant, impotent. and a blight to the radio hobby. I might set up an experimental working model by offering placement on this (kdx) website as a test of concept. Fine. Approved. Good work. We now enter the public comment period.

Monday November 14, 2022 9:10 AM CST -- Your Assignment --
This week you are to write a script promoting part 15 broadcasting for airing on many of the online streams some of us run, the objective being to inspire others to build low power radio stations to serve themselves and nearby listeners with better programming. You will get extra credit if you also record the spot and make the recording available. The assignment is due by Friday.

Monday November 14, 2022 8:54 AM CST -- Same Is True Hereabouts --

Monday November 14, 2022 6:03 AM CST -- I Know Where I Am and What To Do Here --
On this very morning a certain Carl Blare awakened to find himself inside a building which he recognized from previous experience as the Internet Building, where connections are made. Other memories came flooding back but Mr. Blare was still steadfast against compiling his memoirs owing to a disdain for nostalgia. Just where he'd been since last being awake he couldn't quite remember, but did know that wherever it was it amounted to dreams and did not have the physical hardness nor wintery chill of this return to vertical life, standing upright and moving away from the bed transport system. The order of things begins always with coffee followed by entrance to cyber-windows on the world where email from Mark awaited:

At the end (of your recent blog) a very true statement was made
"If you are a licensed broadcaster and are concerned that a legally operating Part 15 station is going to cut into your market share, you are simply doing it wrong".

Yeah my little station that covers a 500 to 600ft circle around me hurts a commercial station that covers a 60+ mile circle around it? Come on!

- Mark 

It's the same way here where my smallish radio stations manage to save me from full-size radio with their fancy licenses and terrible programming; Sports and religion over and over constantly. If we didn't have bathrooms I wouldn't be able to express how I feel about it.

Second cup of coffee and a spin through dir.xiph.org the Icecast Stream Directory where another station stands out, this time Australia's Best Reading Radio Service where a clear voiced well spoken woman was reading aloud the words from some page which I approved without knowing the context but I remembered that I wanted to install and test Icecast Version 2.5 Beta 3 which is in a file format .tar.gz, sending me back to Home School College to learn something about opening such a package. I learned that '.tar' stands for 'tape archive' and '.gz' is GZIP but information overload started me narrating the morning into a contemporary blogcast not yet nostalgic on account of newness. Hi. Nice to have you reading along.

Third coffee and all attention switched to hot oatmeal with cranberries stirred in.

Sunday November 13, 2022 12:42 NOON CST -- Time Standing Still --
Nothing has changed since professional engineer Paul Thurst and his 'Engineering Radio Blog' posted this mention of Part 15 unlicensed boadcasting a decade ago. It brought forth replies from the usual suspects who are still making sure everything gets said right.

Sunday November 13, 2022 10:15 AM CST -- A Brief History of Christianity --

Sunday November 13, 2022 6:05 AM CST -- Abstract Fabrications, Artificialities, and Creative Imagination --
Until this moment and since a time many years ago when I believed what I was told, I have openly spoken of the preposterous, ludicrous, illogical, irrational and nonsensical thing called 'religion'. This radio station (KDX) has been an honest voice telling listeners "you've been scammed, lied to, exploited, fooled, and tricked by the purveyors of absurd children's stories that do not come anywhere close to being good literature, but through the 'Big Lie Mechanism' have become ingrained in human culture through age-old repetition resulting in familiarity". Faith has overtaken knowledge for the masses, who are conditioned by intense devoutness to respond to mob triggers to eliminate deniers by the drive of hatred rather than come to realize the depths of their own ignorance. But now today this moment, before we get too far from having said it, I opened with the statement: Until this moment. What is it about this moment? Something very simple has taken place. I all at once realize there is a place for religion in human affairs despite the harm it does, regardless of the time it wastes. Human beings are larcenous animals who, in contradiction, want to be known as good people. Religion, in addition to many other insidious benefits, provides the platform for dual-mindedness, able to know it all while having no idea whatsoever. The religious are models of the same hypocricy they deny. My only difference is that I have admitted to hypocricy and become widely shunned over it and accused of 'twisting words' while at the same time 'confession' is held as a special tenet of  religious piety. Even big lies dissolve if not told in a traditional way. Whether intentional or inadvertant the exposing of a lie is regarded as an attack against sacred terrain and needs be avenged, for which we will always hear of 'blasphemers' being stoned for their wrongly phrased words. A balance of power cannot occur between belief and disbelief; it must be reached between beliefs of kind; between denominations. The choices abound. Variant Christianity is commonly chosen because it's a public domain religion owing to longevity, although startup churches occur with their copyrights, patents, trade marks, brandings and slogans, such as Mormonism and Christian Science. Pre-Christian Jews coin themselves 'the Chosen Ones' which differs from the Teutonic 'Master Race' in that the German brand was nationalistic and not religion per se. What I see myself doing is establishing my own religious product starting with its founding Book and cast of characters. Costumes and artifacts bring theatre into it, and always the ceremonial choreography and bodily sign language. Step One - a table in the middle of a room for counting money.

Saturday November 12, 2022 9:46 AM CST -- Douchebag Door Knockers --
On his weekly radio program Seth Andrews is talking about how he went ballistic when some little Christian people interrupted his fine day in the privacy of his home by knocking and inviting him to share the love of Jesus by attending their church. Seth is a nationally recognized radio host of 'the Thinking Atheist' radio program, and his comments are not limited to proselitizers at the door but includes all kinds of uninvited unexpected knockers; gutter cleaners, lawn services, better windows, political canvasing, petitioners, TV reporters, whatever. And I'll have to say that the topic strikes a chord with me as I am also driven bananas by surprise knocks or doorbells. The porch is not a shopping mall nor a conference room or even part of the public street. It's private noncommercial space and door-to-door pests are trespassing intruders who need to be dragged away by beefy security guards. I've thought of all kinds of signs I could display on the outer door, from the standard 'No Solicitors' to more descriptive notes like 'THIS IS NOT A COMMERCIAL ZONE' or 'There Will Be a 15-Minute Wait Until We Answer Your Unscheduled Knock'. To make these confrontations even more irritating some of them are trained to deflect reasonable hints, like Jehovah Witnessers are taught to disagree by arguing that they are not solicitors and the usual sales spiel ignores rejections by coming back with reasons why you might want to reconsider your refusal. I wish this hadn't come up. Now I'm all angry.

Saturday November 12, 2022 9:20 AM CST -- Tha Dood Behind His Pay Wall --
Another blogkeeper slash part 15 station operator is Tha Dood in Poca, WV, somewhat in the path of whatever remnants of the hurricane, on a web service called 'VK'. You only get a few seconds to read anything before VK blacks it out with a SIGN IN/SIGN UP window I am reluctant to 'sign up' with any more stuff online... there's just too much of it to deal with.

Saturday November 12, 2022 5:20 AM CST -- Good Listens --
On many days, in addition to being one of the worlds foremost streaming radio stations, we at KDX check around to see what other radio streamers are about. A general impression we have following extensive searching, is that there's a deplorable amount of sameness in what we find. Same music, same absence of human personality, same distorted audio. Thus it's a special occasion when we come across an engaging original interesting and quality radio station. We like to share these stations through our Demand Radio page. These new discoveries are being added today:

Friday November 11, 2022 8:37 PM CST -- From Another Radio Blog Out There In the Night --

Friday November 11, 2022 7:27 PM CST -- Well Analyzed Spectrum --
Mark Remarks:

I have one and it's very useful. You can see if you are putting out any bad spurious stuff anywhere. You can focus on your transmitted signal FM or AM and see if you are overmodulating with audio and getting into adjacent frequencies. I can zero in on the FM band and see all the stations. Set resolution for the aviation band and see if your transmitter is getting any harmonics there. Can keep you out of trouble. Can also see your signal strength off your antenna. And it's affordable! Amazon has them.

It's much easier to see your modulated signal with FM than AM as frequency modulation is simply showing as a deviation from your center frequency with the audio.

AM shows with audio variations with amplitude on the carrier.

- Mark

Friday November 11, 2022 3:04 PM CST -- Useful RF Management Tool --

Friday November 11, 2022 11:21 AM CST -- Worse Music --
One day I recognized my love for bad music. I'm not talking about musical parodies or comedy music which are 'bad' for a reason. I am referring to music performed with all sincerity by would-musicians striving to do their best, but which falls far short of the mark. The trouble with bad musicians is that they sometimes get better with practice. Staying musically bad and perhaps getting worse calls for extreme negligence while clinging to a determination to be heard. It's a balancing act amounting to psuedo talent.    

Friday November 11, 2022 7:31 AM CST -- Figured Out --
For a long time I couldn't understand why so many people admired and even tried to emulate a person of Trump's ilk, so bluntly and obviously untrustworthy. All of a sudden in a flash I realized what has taken place. It happens that an unexpectedly large number of people have underlying traits and tendencies leaning toward dishonesty, lying, being deceptive, and spreading false gossip. Such people have heretofore been caught out, recognized for what they are, in short not gotten away with their squirrelly nonsense. Then along comes Trump who not only gets by on negative personality flaws, but rises to stardom amidst seeming wealth and achieves the highest office in the land. The ultimate American idol! The legend goes on as the expression 'The Big Lie' has become a policy objective.

Thursday November 10, 2022 3:27 PM CST --

Thursday November 10, 2022 3 PM CST -- How Many Nows in a Day? --
Adding to previous blogging about the Meta Data Generator which tacks a 'Playing Now' title on streaming directories, ignoring for a moment that Icecast Servers presently won't do it in the case of OPUS Codecs, here's why I have mixed feelings about it. The way our software works it becomes a big job, almost in need of a fultime stenographer. The Zara Automation software writes a textfile containing the audiofile title of whatever is currently playing and the B.U.T.T. Encoder sends the title to the directory listings out somewhere on the web. Listeners can view this text as 'Playing Now: Public News Service'. But the newscast called 'Public News Service' also known as 'PNS', originates with the title 'comp-4099-16680045056' which will post just that way if our typist doesn't rename it. With the large number of programs carried by KDX it would be a massive job renaming everything. And, to repeat what's already been said, I'm not sure it really matters to publish meta data titling.

Thursday November 10, 2022 2:57 PM CST --

Thursday November 10, 2022 10:53 AM CST -- Radio Inactivity --
The website at part15.org is still one big jumbled mess with no indication that anyone is trying to fix it. If anybody knows anything, say anything. We are hesitant to link it because it might be booby-trapped, and we might be taken for boobs.

Thursday November 10, 2022 7:15 AM CST -- A Category Opens --
The voters opened the way for recreational marijuana in the state, so now I'll be surveying the options since I am curious about the long tabooed substance. I belong to that minority that has never given the plant a try, even having been offered the opportunity along the way and knowing a number of people in the higher professions who managed to have theirs without being found out. For me, though, it won't be smoked, as it's probable that inhaling any and all kinds of smoke is as harmful to lungs as city air. The plants, leaves, stalks, roots and derivatives therefrom shall be sampled as food additives. That's the plan.

Thursday November 10, 2022 6:50 AM CST -- An Eternal Trail Leading Nowhere --
Anyway, that's a sentiment I feel after listening for awhile to the ambient music coming from KDX Whirlround Radio which sounds like a soundtrack for a wide-screen aural depiction of galaxies of stars, suns, planets, and streaks of cosmic gasses endlessly sifting and spinning through the black depths of out-thereness. But, whereas this electro-experimento-drifto stuff was meant to be a quick no-brain filler for the station's non-talk hours, I've gotten all expanded-educational about it and have identified favorite types of it and less-liked kinds. Some of it has a synthetic chorus of voices singing a sustained "AAAAAWWWW" that trails along with the other lingering tonalities and I'd like to instruct the 'chorus' to sing "OOOOOHHHHH" instead of "AAAAWWWWW". It would mean a lot to me. And some of it has a male voice chanting in the way the call to prayer is vocalized in the Middle East. I don't want that. So what can be done about it? Thing is the pre-packaged programs we air have a restriction against picking and choosing derivatives which would mean using only those parts preferred, and such limitations obligate us to respect the wishes of the producers who make this work free for noncommercial use. I fret about this while others are going on about elections, wars, pandemics, inflation, lawns and abortion.

Thursday November 10, 2022 5:52 AM CST -- Eyes Wide with Disbelief --
Yestaday was a record-breaker for temperatures in upper 70s on that date, and today was to be a sloping back to coolerness, but what?! An expected high of 80-degrees F taday? YES! Watch out! It'll be fun. But then, with tomorrow being that holiday we mentioned earlier in the week, temperatures dropping and dropping with nights of 20s. Oh. No good. Might snow on Monday. Hate it.

Thursday November 10, 2022 5:11 AM CST -- WHITE FUZZY BLOBS SEEN IN THE NIGHT SKY --
Our daily pre-dawn scouring of the stream radio directories took us to WZQR 'The Sound of Pine Island' and the program 'Into the Parabnormal' with Jeremy Scott, 'Somewhere Between Abnormal and Paranormal'.

Wednesday November 9, 2022 2:25 PM CST -- OTR Copyrights --
The question of who owns the right to copy Old Time Radio Shows (OTR) is discussed yesterday (11/8) in an Artisan Radio Blog titled 'Hold On a Minute'. Although KDX does not make use of OTR, there was a time when we wondered about reproducing select programs via cassette for sale. We got input from a number of interested parties, including one fellow who said he'd looked through card files at the Library of Congress and discovered no copyrights on file for most of the regular series, but either he or another party told us that the scripts had been copyrighted but not the radio performances. That left me confused and indecisive because after all the performance was based on the script, so that tidbit of feedback did nothing to clarify the situation. I do believe that in general radio programs during the early years were merely audience bait, the more important factor being commercials and advertisers. The ETs (Electrical Transcriptions) containing the programs were usually pitched (disposed of) after use. Many surviving copies exist only due to dumpster diving collectors. At one time I owned about a hundred ETs containing various radio programs but found them heavy, difficult to store, and of no real use, so we "transferred ownership". They were marked 'Not For Sale' if memory serves. Our recording studio that we ran years back had a pair of 16" transcription turntables but they were never used for anything larger than a 12" disk. One more piece of minutia: even though the transcriptions were 16-inches in diameter, they only contained 15-minutes per side because the groove widths were the same as with 78 RPM records, and for this we kept special wide-stylus available.

Wednesday November 9, 2022 2:06 PM CST -- The NAB has Streaming in Their Target --
Not to be taken lightly. I sense a hidden agenda. Don't you suppose while they're at it the NAB wants all online streaming to become regulated by the FCC? It's a matter of time before 'they' figure out a way to halt easy access to streaming through open-source software.

Wednesday November 9, 2022 6:50 AM CST -- Something Else Altogether --

Wednesday November 9, 2022 6:20 AM CST -- Music of One Kind or Another --
Since KDX (our own radio station) began running 'ambient' and other novel and eclectic forms of (license free) music we've begun exploring the side avenues and tributaries of this largely uncomposed music. In fact I would give all of it the umbrella name 'disorganized music.' We've looked at drone music, techno, chill, gumba, electronic and experimental, to name a few variants. On the particular type 'experimental' I began wondering how literal this name might be, believing that an 'experiment' is either a trying of mixed elements to discover the results, as we might do with cooking food, or the seeking of a distinct result like developing a vaccine for COVID. I took my question to Wikipedia:
More thoughtful detail is put into the definition than goes into most of the music in this category.

Wednesday November 9, 2022 6:01 AM CST -- OPUS MetaData --
Artisan Radio responds to Blog of 11/8 titled: "Knowing Your Audience":

Read your latest blog entry.  OPUS does have metadata in the stream, and
it can be displayed with the foobar media application.  The IceCast
directory is at fault for not displaying it.

- Artisan Radio

Very good to know! There is a new Beta version of Icecast, maybe they've corrected the OPUS MetaData issue. Also, I want to say a few more things about metadata in general, maybe later today.

Wednesday November 9, 2022 5:52 AM CST -- Warming Warning --
Mark speaks on the Faster Warming of the United States:

Stands to reason if the US is the largest emitter.
Look at it this way, man started to destroy the environment with their existence and the earth is now fighting back.
And the earth will win.

- Mark

Very true, and I agree. Mankind is the bully, the earth is only defending itself.

Tuesday November 8, 2022 3:33 PM CST -- Trouble On the Tracks Ahead --

Tuesday November 8, 2022 11:10 AM CDT -- Knowing Your Listeners --
Actually, you can't know 'your listeners' until you have them. Before that happens we need to construct a psychological picture of what potential listeners want and what they do to satisfy their interests. We talked about station directories. Do listeners in search of a 'genre', for instance, finger their way through directories looking for a glimmer of genreic attraction? Does it matter what genres we list for them to find? If you put 'News' as one of your genres but when listeners tune in and hear music do they cross you off? When a listener sees a favorite song in your 'Playing Now' metadata window do they hit 'Play' at least long enough to enjoy that song? For KDX, as we wrote, we presently do not list anything as 'Playing Now' because the OPUS format doesn't support metadata of that sort. Should we be thinking about changing formats to Vorbis (OGG), AAC, or MP3 so we can publish something in the 'Now Playing' field? And the more techy settings like sample rate and bit-rate. Many internet subscribers are hampered by limited bandwidth and our higher quality settings might be unworkable for them so maybe we should crank it down a little bit or offer a second lower quality stream to reach the lesser privileged. There's no correct answer to these uncertainties. It's a guessing game with only the guess and no right answers.

Tuesday November 8, 2022 10:16 AM CST -- The World's Largest Radio Station --
What kind of antenna is that built out of stacked welded oil barrels?

Tuesday November 8, 2022 9:38 AM CST -- The Meek Await Their Inheritance --
Having just opened a fresh jar of instant coffee my brain is launched into a word storm being stirred up by unconscious disturbances. The word 'meek' came into my head and I began thinking about the Biblical promise that "the meek shall inherit the earth". Right away that brings two questions: Who are 'the meek' and is the earth worth having? You tell me who you think populate 'the meek'. Is it like 'humble' or 'poor' or 'uneducated' or 'handicapped' or 'lower class'? How many of them are there and will they squabble over portions of earth when it finally gets divvied up? And if I'm included with the meeks, it seems to me the earth has been despoiled, contaminated, wrecked, demolished, and discarded in a way that makes it unrecyclable. What an insult!

Tuesday November 8, 2022 8:31 AM CST -- Are You a Broadcaster in Need? --

Tuesday November 8, 2022 8:24 AM CST -- Low Power Kill --
Richard Powers On A Question of Licensure

Carl, if we don't need a license for our guns, why do our radio transmitters need licensing? That may have been an argument at one time..

Im alluding to this clip from a 1968 newspaper article which kind of took me by surprise. Evidently back in 1968 you didn't need registration or a license for your guns! The author of the article argues that cars boats and transmitters require it, so why not guns?

I guess later the BB-gun became the first part 15 firearm..

Tuesday November 8, 2022 7:51 AM CST -- Radio Does Girding? --
I'm not sure yet. Somebody on our radio station just used the expression 'gird your loins' and although it's a familiar phrase heard many times over the years, I cannot tell you what it means. What I mean is, I'd happily tell you what it means but I simply don't know. "Gird" is so unknown to me I can't even guess what it might mean, and "loins", I think, refers to maybe the thighs? Part of the upper leg? Um, a cut of meat? All that aside, what if we girded something else, like a blog or a radio show? Give me a minute...
O.k., well, uh, let's see... I'm just back from paging around at wictionary.org, and the word 'gird' has a large raft of meanings, although I'm not certain if 'raft' means what I'm intending to say. As gird is used in the 'gird your loins' expression, it apparently means to 'bind up', perhaps with rope or belt, a mid-section of the body (or cut of meat). 'Loins' is a euphimism for 'pubic area', or 'pubic region', or 'pubic location', or 'pubic district', or 'down there'. So, in short, and to summarize, I still am not sure, but I believe that we 'gird radio' by watching what we say. It's never advisable to mention anything pubic in public.

Tuesday November 8, 2022 7:18 AM CST -- Radio Does Testing --
Most of us have heard radio signals on the air 'testing'. I'm not talking about testing the emergency broadcast system which I think is now called the Emergency Alert System (EAS). It's when the radio station itself runs tests to ensure technical adjustments that determine the performance of the many systems comprising the transmitted signal. The entire 'signal chain', as it's called, encompasses the entire audio path, transmitter and antenna and all associated devices working in unison. This morning, for example, as we sampled a number of streaming stations found on the internet, we compared audio quality among stations and noticed many with very poor results. Over-modulation is common, probably an attempt to be 'louder' than others, but resulting in gross distortion. Under-modulation is not uncommon along with over-processing resulting often in a 'pumping' and straining of music being compressed and suppressed kind of like sitting on a paper bag of tomatoes; squishy mushed sound. Coming later in the week we'll be running frequency response analysis of our OPUS stream with its sample rate of 48 kHz and bit-rate of 40 kbps, monaural. After that, with the Icecast stream checked out, we'll move on to part 2 of testing the newly installed C.Crane FM3 Transmitter.

Tuesday November 8, 2022 5:31 AM CST -- Radio Does Texting --
Running a radio stream in addition to sending low power signals on the AM or FM dial is not an afterthought. The low power radio signals reach a few hundred to a few thousand feet very locally whereas an internet stream is accessible globe-wide, making it the equivalent of a billion-watt radio station. Take it very seriously. This morning we are in the midst of checking around to see what other streamers are doing, along with making observations about our own stream at KDX-OPUS, the word 'opus' indicating our modulation method, generated by a codec similar to OGG format, but incapable of sending text ala the metadata generator. But OPUS does send text in the form of 'genre', where we happen to publicize 'News, Talk, Newstalk, and Ambient'. The next step down the line is to check the directories that list the station; not all of them show the same metadata information. In our own case KDX can be accessed directly from our Icecast Stream Server which displays 'Genre: News, Talk, Newstalk, Ambient' and 'Playing Now: (nothing shown)'; alternately KDX can be listened to via the handy Muses Audio Player from our website, which displays the station name: 'KDX Worldround Radio'', but no other information; the KDX stream also appears at two radio directories: the Icecast Directory and Steamcast, the former of which displays hundreds of genres almost to the level of being a joke, indicating also the 'Playing Now' which in the case of OPUS is blank; and the latter directory, Steamcast, showing the 'Playing Now' information (in our case blank) but no genre data. As is evident by now there are complex considerations to think about when setting up a radio server, and there's a lot more, such as bit-rates and sample rates and special audio processing, subjects we'll write about in separate blog postings so as to avoid writing an entire book in one sitting. For the moment I'll get back to scrolling around other streaming stations to see what they're doing. 

Monday November 7, 2022 6:17 PM CST -- Let the Leaves Fall Where They May --

Monday November 7, 2022 1:36 PM CST -- Maybe We Should Hook Our Blogs to This --

Sunday November 6, 2022 1:43 PM CST -- Veterans Day in the U.S. On Friday This Week --

Sunday November 6, 2022 12:41 NOON CST -- Richard Powers Presents --

Sunday November 6, 2022 10:11 AM CST -- Shifty Times --
The twice yearly time changes are significantly more effort for KDX than the once annual calendar change. The calendar change involves un-hanging the expired year's wall calendar and replacing it with the new year's calendar. The station's computer systems update the years automatically and require no manual intervention. But shifting between daylight and standard time involves critical keyboard inputs to program the website's Schedule page and the KHZ Time Station Voice-Clock to report the correct times to our web audience. We've brought this complexity upon ourselves by listing two different kinds of time... locally we have Central Time, but because we serve an international public we pair this with UTC (Universal Time). The leftmost column on our Schedule page shows the time in UTC at which each program airs, and the rightmost column states the corresponding Central Time. Whereas Universal Time never shifts and is not subject to Daylight Time, the Central Time shifts by one-hour at these middle-of-the night time changes, and all our programs shift with it so they line up with the same time-of-day in Central terms, but move by one-hour on the Universal scale. I assume you are now confused, but don't re-read what I've said in an attempt to follow along; I'll handle the confusion. The other change, to our KHZ Time Station Voice-Clock, is a matter of instructing the Zara Automation software to report the Universal Time that agrees with our Central time table. One year I moved all the times in the wrong direction and our voiced time announcements were two hours off. Therefore I now take the extra step of checking with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Radio Station WWV, the original and authentic standards station that gives the current time in one-minute increments. Why do we subject ourselves to such intricate detailia? Well, it's part of the hobby, you know, the low power radio hobby, and it's good for the brain along with a healthy diet and plenty of fresh air.

Saturday November 5, 2022 7:01 PM CDT -- Time Shift --
At 2 AM Central Daylight Time set the clock back 1-hour to 1 AM Central Standard Time. You will have an extra hour to sleep or browse.

Saturday November 5, 2022 5:05 PM CDT -- Zone of Avoidance --
Part of outer space hidden from view. A Richard Powers Report:

Hey Carl, this is just about one of those things that made me think of something else.. so I figured you might want to know..

///////////////
Scientists Discover Huge ‘Extragalactic Structure’ in Hidden Region of Space

The obscured "zone of avoidance" in space is a place of mystery, and scientists are peering at what's inside it.
By Becky Ferreira
Nov 3 2022
[Excerpts]

Scientists have discovered a huge “extragalactic structure” hidden behind the Milky Way in a mysterious area of the sky known as the “zone of avoidance” because it is obscured by our own galaxy’s opaque bulge, according to a new preprint study.

...this shadowy part of our cosmic map, which may as well be labeled “here be space dragons” because it is so unclear what exists there...

...To that end, it’s unclear whether we will ever be able to figure out what lies in this eclipsed zone, but regardless, Minniti noted that he and his colleagues “are prepared to be surprised.”

/////////////


Richard, what if it is we who are hidden from the Extra-Galactic Structure! What if it's the Master Control Room behind all of existence!

Saturday November 5, 2022 11:37 AM CDT -- Night Weather --
We disconnected from the internet overnight in advance of predicted stormy weather. The forecast contained various possibilities, with a 90% certainty of rain. Also possible were high winds and lightning. We got the rain and a lot of it but the wind was only strong for a brief burst and the only thunder was at a distance. Other locations in the U.S. and Canada experienced much worse.

Saturday November 5, 2022 9:16 AM CDT -- Vascectomy Recommended for Men --
As an intelligent response to the moronic Christian-Republican push to deny women their reproductive freedom there is a growing movement to provide free vascectomies for men. Highly recommended by The Blare Blog.

Friday November 4, 2022 3:03 PM CDT -- FCC Launching Space Bureau --

Friday November 4, 2022 1:18 PM CDT -- Streams of America --
Every morning before our own program schedule starts on KDX I tune around the net looking for radio stations that have something other than music. This morning took us to WSB Atlanta, one of the legendary 50 kiloWatters and their professional news-talk format (non-political). Just after 5 AM the multi-personed staff all joined in a chipper energetic delivery designed, I would guess, to energize sleepy wakers. But I experienced a probably unintended reaction, the steadiness and constancy of the rapid-fire delivery lulled me into a comfortable drowse. The classiness of what I heard was quite different than yesterday's encounter with the news station in Little, Arkansas, where Sebastian Gorka and guest were bashing President Biden for 'being senile', one of many derogative put-downs aimed at Dems. If Biden is senile at age 79, why would Donald Trump not be on the same decline at age 76? By the fact that I think, it should be evident I am not Republican. 

Thursday November 3, 2022 5:50 PM CDT -- In the Space of Seven Days --
Our quiet friend Boomer established a blog in June 2020 but it survived only 7-days and was abandoned.
Call home once in awhile!

Thursday November 3, 2022 8:24 AM CDT -- Middle of the Night in Little, Arkansas --
Station KDXE is 101.1 FM from Cammak Village, Arkansas, with its 850 Watts covering nearby Little (known to many as Little Rock). I streamed it at 3:30 AM to hear Sebastian Gorka's 'America First' where he and his guest were saying denegrating things about Democrats and praising the splendor of Republicans. They had nothing else to say and in essence kept repeating the same line so I flipped it off in both senses of the word. Not too much stream tripping this time but we'll be back at it tomorrow.

Thursday November 3, 2022 7:13 AM CDT -- Worry Flares and Fades --
This Blog has become worrisome, as I've become aware that no matter what happens throughout the day I begin developing a narrative about it in my head with the thought of later blogging it. Yesterday was trash day and I composed an entire play by play in my mind ranging from waste basket management to rolling the trash receptor down to the curb and everything in between. I thought of describing every trip to the bathroom during the night. Last night I slept especially deeply and began working on a full documentation of sleep quality and theories about sleep. At 2:30 in the morning a dream woke me up and I was ready to blog it immediately, how we were preparing, in the dream, to produce a stage play and moved out to the porch to rehearse because the night was so pleasant, still in the dream, and while out there we became preoccupied with physical objects which I guess were stage props that happened to be on the porch. But instead of blogging, I remained awake reading the latest issue of Radio World with an article about the goofy new screens and computer interfaces being installed in cars instead of simple tuning knobs for dashboard radios. My concern about churning every experience into a blog entry has to do with the question of mental status. Back in the days when life was normal the tendency to talk was directed toward human companions, but now The Blog provides a substitute consisting of keyboard, screen, and a vague sense of readers out somewhere on the internet. Maybe this is better than the old way of talking in the presence of humans. Or, and thats's the real question: or what?

Wednesday November 2, 2022 4:14 PM CDT -- Avoid Out of Season Vegetables --

Wednesday November 2, 2022 7:19 AM CDT --

Wednesday November 2, 2022 7:06 AM CDT --

Wednesday November 2, 2022 5:55 AM CDT -- What Could Possibly Go Wrong --
Being all set up to begin the KDX talk program day I tuned to KDX-FM so I could listen to the startup newscast and heard what I thought was our ambient music still playing from the overnights. It was a continuous fizzing sound, typical of some ambient stuff. It went on and on. Finally I checked the radio and saw it was tuned to a non-station and was getting FM white-noise. It was good while it lasted.

Wednesday November 2, 2022 5:35 AM CDT -- On Golden Ponder --
Richard Powers Report:

Hey Carl, Just returned from a stroll at the new front page of part15.org

The introduction states [truncuated here]:
_______
"..Here you will find a warm community to help get you going and answer your questions. Our name ‘part15.us’ is derived from the particular section of regulations... and topics cover areas across the globe including Canada, New Zealand and several others.
We welcome you to join and bring your perspective from your corner of the globe!.."
-------------

It's a very nice intro page, much better than what was there before.. but I was surprised when it said -"Our name 'part15.us'"- (because I was at part15.org) so I tried going to part15.us..
____
"This site can’t be reached
Check if there is a typo in www.part15.us.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN"
-------

Ok. What's our name. On a whim also tried the once part15.ca and got the same. But what really struck me is in the closing paragraph:
_______
"This license free category is typified by restrictions which determine broadcast range – in essence, you can run a radio station without a license if you can’t transmit very far and if your transmission doesn’t impact ‘other’ broadcasters in your area..."
-----------

Couldn't help but snicker... It's accurate, but might be better to re-word it. Also noticed there was recent activity from both you and Artisian in the links there..
_______
Recent Posts
Letteralmente Radio diventa…
shortwave pirate
March Mystery Month On The Blare Blog
Test Blog Post
Carl’s Back Room
------------

I'd like to see it come back to life. But don't know if it will. Would hate to see it dissappear completely. Let's ponder over it.

- Rich

Upon first ponder, Rich, I would say that this line- "This license free category is typified by restrictions which determine broadcast range – in essence, you can run a radio station without a license if you can’t transmit very far and if your transmission doesn’t impact ‘other’ broadcasters in your area..."  sounds to me like it was written by Bob Fwordly, He has a certain style of writing learned in the classroom of his LPFM station, where the website description says: " The classroom setting provides knowledge..."  What we take from this claim is that being in a classroom is a lesson in itself. Stay with us for further ponders.  

Wednesday November 2, 2022 5:29 AM CDT -- Either the Alarm is Sounding or We Hear Ambient Music On KDX --
Mark scares everybody:

Saw this on Hobbybroadcaster but couldn't see the replies of course

From Bill........"Looks like there's a strong possibility, if the big boys have their way, that various non-licensed broadcaster services including Part 15 radio broadcast enthusiasts, may now be subject to Federal Communication Commissions fees"

Could this be true?

- Mark

I wasn't fully awake until I heard this from Mark. Not yet fully paniced, it seems to me that keeping books on all the non-licensed activity would be unmanageable. Stay tuned to this Blog for further scares, two days after halloween.

Wednesday November 2, 2022 4:52 AM CDT -- Neat Neetches of North America --
In a blog titled 'Forums' poseted October 12th by Artisan Radio, he states: "Imho, the only things worth reading these days in the Part 15 space are the blogs, the Blare Blog in particular.  I'd also like to think that I contribute in some small way." I've let that welcome praise sit and simmer for half-a-month but come forward now to be equalize the matter for an important reason. As Artisan pointed out, the low power radio hobby is followed by all too few, making it a niche hobby (pronounced 'neetch'). Therefore in my opinion the survival of our niche interest depends on speaking in unison so that the cumulative strength of our combined voices reach as many corners as possible. For me, no day is complete without a stopover at the Artisan Radio Blog. 

Wednesday November 2, 2022 4:37 AM CDT -- What's Up in Oshkosh --
As our friends know we like to start the day by visiting random radio stations located anywhere, and today finds us at WOSH on the shore of Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It's one of the multitude of stations located at 1490 on the dial with 1,000 Watts fulltime, owned these days by Cumulus Media. WOSH is one of few stations that hasn't changed its call letters dating back many years. The main attraction for me is their newstalk format and when I tuned in at 3:30 earlier this morning they were carrying Red Eye Radio (Westwood One), the host of which (Gary Macnamara) sounded a lot like Tim from Bovey, so maybe it's his brother, or perhaps men from the northern states all sound like that. Interesting to note that WOSH has a DX page.

Tuesday November 1, 2022 6:28 AM CDT -- Good Laughs --
Artisan Radio posted two recent Randy Rainbow songs yesterday on his Blog.

Tuesday November 1, 2022 6:07 AM CDT -- Morning Start --
This morning's customary dial hunting took us to Denver, Coloradio 850 AM KOA and Morning News with Martry Lenz. It was good. But I remembered another station I've been wanting to revisit and went to Grand Rapids, Minnesota and KOZY AM 1320 which was sending ABC News and unfortunate word of halloween shootings in two U.S. cities. The friendly voice of Tim from Bovey let us know that now it's all about Christmas. Pay a call.