Messages

4066

General Radio Discussion / Re: iHeartRadio adds to suspicion its days are numbered

« on: May 06, 2017, 1135 UTC »

The Curse of Clear Channel marches on.

Nice piece of reporting, Al. Just how many pseudonyms are you writing under these days? This is the first time I've run across you using "Cierra Linnane".

4067

General Radio Discussion / Re: VOA Site B, Greenville, NC

« on: May 06, 2017, 0154 UTC »

Isla Sorna. Be careful...

Don't worry, we're keeping your kind on St. Helena until they're domesticated, Al. We thought combining their genes with that short Corsican guy's would calm them down, but all they do is complain about the quality of their Brie. They want the fancy Camembert.

4068

General Radio Discussion / Re: VOA Site B, Greenville, NC

« on: May 05, 2017, 0357 UTC »

I wonder if they had to wire up those fluorescent fixtures or they're lit by the ambient RF alone?

When I was a kid we went to the Outer Banks every summer. Mom had relatives near Greenville, her first cousin taught at ECU, then ECC, so it was a stop on the way down or the way back. We would go past those things and I would wonder "What the heck are all those antennas doin' way out there?" They were really cool at night when they were all lit up, you could see them for miles in that flat terrain and swamp.

4069

MW Loggings / Re: CKLW 800 am on 580 am due to fire

« on: May 05, 2017, 0337 UTC »

I noticed they weren't there the past couple of nights. As the NYC station on 1130 has been clobbered by the SS station outside of Atlanta in the same period, I put it down to propagation.

Thanks for the heads up. With all the RF on HF in my neighborhood in the past few months I've been doing most of my dx'ing on MW. Time to roll out the old Philco, hook it to a longwire, open the windows and let the neighbors hear what real high-fidelity radio sounds like at 2 a.m.

Hmmm..... I might wait until the wife is out of town before I do that last part.

4070

Huh? / Re: The Penguin Brief

« on: May 05, 2017, 0305 UTC »

Sheesh Al! How long before people figure out what the "F" in FANCO really means? Keep your trap shut about penguins and pants! Some of these guys have IQ's in the double digits.

4071

Huh? / Re: The Penguin Brief

« on: May 04, 2017, 0937 UTC »

And yet you didn't mention Wrong Trousers Day is June 30th this year, nor that it's a major fundraising event for sick children in the UK, did you? Planning on having your JPL buddies back at CalTech supply you with special pants and running off with the money?

BTW, you look much better with a rubber glove on your head than foil. Rather like the rare Chilean Chickguin.

4072

Huh? / Re: The Penguin Brief

« on: May 03, 2017, 2302 UTC »

I'm ordering a couple of packs of those to sit on the front porch in when weather gets warmer. Those damned kids will stay out of my yard when they see me in those swinging my hose.

4073

Huh? / Re: The Penguin Brief

« on: May 03, 2017, 1238 UTC »

Have you ever thought about boxers, Al? I think those briefs are cutting off blood flow to your brain.

4074

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC considers reform of Part 95 rules for personal radio services

« on: April 30, 2017, 0419 UTC »

Way off peak hours to Melbourne in '83, where my Aunt was living to my Mom's place ran about 35 bucks for the first 15 minutes and dropped from there, Al. Her husband got a bit of a break on their end because he worked for a company that was upgrading Australia's satellite telcomms.

I was visiting one Xmas when my Aunt called. You could hear both ends of the conversation as they figured since they were halfway around the world from each other, they had to shout? I'd get on the phone and talk a minute or two with the Aunt, and maybe half that with the Uncle. The first thing I said to him was, "Do you think they can hear each other?" He came back with "They could hear each other if they opened the windows."

The scary thing is they were both women with post-grad degrees. Grandpa sold a bunch of cows to educate those two. That's a lot of milk down the drain for nothin'.

4075

Huh? / Re: A decade into Record Store Day, a new world of vinyl

« on: April 29, 2017, 2157 UTC »

That album ought to be declared the official music of pissed off twenty year old's worldwide, MDK.

SIL later provided a landing place for killer bassist Bruce Foxton after Paul Weller went goofy and disbanded The Jam. Weller was the "Modfather", Foxton was the "Mulletfather" in those Jam years.

4076

General Radio Discussion / Re: FCC considers reform of Part 95 rules for personal radio services

« on: April 29, 2017, 2119 UTC »

The skip rule has been the Achilles Heel of CB since it was founded. Who could resist the temptation to talk to another op on the other side of the country or the world? It's human nature. And it often occurs accidentally. I remember my first long distance contact was a guy in South Dakota while screwing around with a standard five watt CB. I was twelve and it shocked me to death that he could hear me calling "Break".

I had an Uncle who was CB op from early on. I remember clearly the shift to using high power amps and ham transmitters to do the job when the skip rolled in and the pile-ups started to get too much to be heard over with five watts. The fiends switched to "handles" about that time, too. He had DX-60 stashed in a built secret drawer he added to his desk for long distance yapping. 15 watts of carrier, that scofflaw!

It's not going to end high power ops, but it's a baby step in cutting out the silly regulations surrounding CB and services like it.

4077

General Radio Discussion / Re: Server maintenance 0400 UTC 29 Apr 2017

« on: April 29, 2017, 2055 UTC »

I move that we just stay here and entertain these guys. We don't want to spread ourselves too thin.

4078

Huh? / Re: A decade into Record Store Day, a new world of vinyl

« on: April 29, 2017, 2052 UTC »

I remember the movie "High Fidelity". It starts out with the 13th Floor Elevators classic "You're Gonna Miss Me" as both a song about fading record stores in the 90's and swipe at vinyl collectors of the 70's, when papers and magazines such as "Rolling Stone" and "Crawdaddy" always featured classifieds advertising bootlegs of the Elevators albums at ridiculous prices. I knew a guy who bought just the cover of the Ultimate Spinach's first album for fifty bucks when we were in HS, as the record was a legendary thing everyone had heard of, but no one had actually heard. Ironically, the ancient Plymouth Fury he tooled around in had only cost him 75$. I don't know if Eric ever found the record, I never saw him after graduation.

When Moby pulled out that import copy of Stiff Little Fingers "Inflammable Material" early in "High Fidelity" and starts spouting out a line of crap about who it influenced, trying to impress a girl, I about fell out of my seat. I busted my ass to get a copy of that album for friend who worked at a radio station only to have it returned the same day with, "It's too hard edge for us". I kept it, and I'm damn glad I did. It was a killer record and IMO, the last explosion of the first wave of Punk.

Part of the nostalgia for vinyl, again strictly, IMO, is the tube amps and receivers matched with the HQ speakers we listened to them on. Those combos could make a cat fight sound like Bach.

My back is still paying for moving those boxes and crates of records, Ed. I was mowing the lawn yesterday and today I've got a pain from where I felt that funny "pop" from carrying a box of "Frampton Comes Alive" up the stairs from our basement warehouse to the stock room in '76. I didn't like Peter then, and don't like him now. "Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah ...." What a talent!

4079

Bacon, BBQ, Beef, And More / Re: Hong Shao Rou (Chinese Red Braised Pork Belly)

« on: April 28, 2017, 0232 UTC »

I used to share a trailer with a couple of Thai's in college, people in that part of the world love their pork belly. One of the guys was ethnic Chinese, but there that means his family could have arrived in what's now Thailand any time in the past several hundred years.

They and their friends all worked cooks and waiters at local Chinese restaurants. When those guys got off at night we ate like kings.

4080

North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: YHWH 7615 kHz AM 0415 UTC 27 April 2017

« on: April 28, 2017, 0204 UTC »

I hear him in that range from time to time. Since his return, I can't figure out if he's courting another bust or simply back to broadcasting?