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Messages - ThaDood

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1
https://electronics-diy.com/    This company sort-of takes over, where Panaxis Productions and Ramsey Electronics, left behind. Unfortunately, many of the FM transmitter kits wouldn't be legal to use in USA, unless under a dummyload test. Too bad that they don't seem to have any AM broadcasting kits, or the means for AM Stereo C-QUAM RX / TX capabilities, where that would be more permissible in the USA under Part 15. Still, neat site to check out.  Oh yeah... Got this from an RW FWR.

2
Yep... September 2025 makes 25 years of this trio-made, one-time, station, Radio Wolf International. This, was a collaboration of WKND, WKZP (K-ZAP), and Radio Flatus. Then, you got to see the station, months later, from the Franklin Video Group, when they released the documentary, Inside Pirate Radio, on VHS.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_oXEMu7Rzo    Wow... 35 years since all this.

3
https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/news-makers/from-gainesville-to-gain-control-reaves-finds-his-zen        Yeah, it is easy to forget about controlling audio with some sort of an audio Automatic gain Control, (AGC), But, adding a decent AGC, with the Compressor / Limiter, does yield to some nice, commercial broadcast quality audio results. BTW, my answer to Audio AGC was the original TERK VR-1 unit, meant to tackle TV audio that was all over the place at the time.  https://www.crutchfield.com/S-3KT4WJ8C5t0/p_209VR1/Terk-VR-1.html  In 2005, I bought one of the original ones for $80.00 new, which was considered a bargain for what it does, a DSP unit that is specifically setup for Audio AGC. Do not confuse this with the now newer & cheaper, but very much flawed P.O.S., Audiovox VR-1. That, uses op-amps as compariters, and does these loud POP sounds when it acts hard to control audio. A very inferior version indeed. However, if you find the original TERK VR-1, in perfect order, I'd suggest you grab it up.

4
Equipment / 1960's & 70's Console Stereos. Remember them?
« on: August 23, 2025, 1817 UTC »
Something different, console stereos. Many of us grew up with them. I was remembering when we had a 2nd-hand Zenith late 60's console stereo, in the mid-80's, given to us, but I don't remember from whom. One channel was burned-out. I rebuilt the amplifier, being those 3-legged transistor NPN / PNP pairs that are 1/2-sized of TO-220's. (Can't remember the TO-#, but you remember those.) It worked fine for a couple weeks, then blew-out again. I should have gone back further in the power supply, but re-CAP'ping wasn't the popular thing back then, like it's pretty much the mandatory thing to do to restore electronic gear today. Anyway, my good friend, The Damage, his Mom wanted to off her Admiral 1970's console, but I just wanted the guts of it, the tuner and 8-Track Player. They let me do that and I was able to Frankenstein that Zenith console with the Admiral electronic guts. (The Zenith guts actually had a tuner with better spec's, but...) My Dad put that in his bedroom and used that for years. Most likely, he sold it with the house. I helped JG Tiger move-out is Grandma's 1960's Fisher console stereo. Nicely kept unit, that stayed in our basement for a while. I cleaned it up and restored the turntable in it. Sounded nice and had a decent tuner as well. JG Tiger's bro has it now, blues artist, The Ugly Doug-ling. 
              Anyway... Restored, some of these 1960's console stereos are now going for like $8,000.00! (Geez...................) So, what did you have, and do you still have it? The closest thing that I have for a console stereo today is that BOSE Acoustic Wave Music System.    
https://www.theturntablestore.com/products/bose-acoustic-wave-music-system-cd-3000-am-fm-w-pd-2-pedestal-and-remote?srsltid=AfmBOoo89Ul96TYTxA-zT8wyp4qX99lNAjC0FSDtdSw9Mv-uPPmKCp4G
I bought that for over $1,300.00, with audio switching pedestal in 1991. I had that 230W Pioneer stereo receiver, but could not use even 10W of it, without the neighbors coming to my door bitching about bass coming from my APT walls. (I was in the APT complex then.) So, I gave the Pioneer to my parents, and bought the BOSE System as a perfect APT stereo unit. (BTW, I have that Pioneer receiver again, but the tuner took a lightning hit, but BFD, since it's the amp and switching I want for functions on it.) Back to the BOSE, I did the Bruce Elving FM narrow MOD on it, and that worked great for that incredibly FM crowded Horseheads / Elmira, NY area. FM bottomed to 88.1FM, and AM topped at 1610AM. Both bands sounded great, and AM was a very pleasant wide-band sound. (WOW!!!) I listened to a lot of college stations on that. I still have it. Now granted, console stereo weren't always the best in mind for DX champions, and I don't know of any that had SW Bands in them. (Maybe Grundig???) Many did have a LINE IN, or AUX IN, to add audio from a SW Tuner, another tape deck, TV audio, whatever. Hopefully, your old stereo consoles are something nice today, than spider havens. (Uh-huh...)

5
The ARRL has a nice write-up on Meteor Scatter.   https://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST%20Binaries/nt0z.pdf To me, once you get past the FM broadcast band, it becomes like 'what's the point' of hearing a fast-blast of maybe 1 syllable, or less, of scatter time. 11M CB Bands seems to be a nice FREQ sweet-spot for scatter. What I don't know is what the lowest FREQ Meteor Scatter can happen. Is there any INFO on that? Hmmmmmmmmm...

6
10/11 meters / Persied's Meteor Scatter on 11M galore, 02 30 UTC.
« on: August 13, 2025, 1603 UTC »
Woke-up around 2:30AM EST for a bathroom break, and seen that the skies were clouded over. So, kicked the CB on, with a Starduster GND-Plane, to see if meteor scatter could be heard. Oh yeah!!! Started at Superbowl, CH6, where stations were battling out with each other from S1 - S9, in a very rapid signals ride. Like, someone was doing a fast ride with a 40dB attenuator. Fortunately, the rig I had has a very fast AGC and was able to ride with it. Then, heard these dudes on AM CH29 from Rhode Island, where one dude commented, "I can't believe the skip is rockin' this good tonight!" Heard them make several contacts to the Carolinas and Virginia. They didn't hear me, at barefoot power, so I suspect that they were running stupid power. Then, AM CH35 had all these dudes up in NYC just picking stations out there, and NYC accents and F-bombs galore along with it. I didn't have SSB rig connected, but noticed signal peaks on CH38LSB. Also, stations on AM CH20, 28, 11, 31, and 15. Went back to bed around 3AM. Hey... I could not watch the meteors, so did the next best thing, listened for them.

7
https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/digital-radio/china-adopts-drm-standard-to-modernize-am-radio-bands      Well, at least China is taking an initiative here. The only way that you'll see DRM in the USA is Part #15 experimenters.

8
Huh? / Great Places to Scan the Dial? Mountain Top Cabin! RW rip...
« on: August 10, 2025, 1857 UTC »
https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/nicks-signal-spot/great-places-to-scan-the-dial     I used to do this as a teen, take a decent AM / FM portable and hike up the top of Madison Hill, about 2,400ft ASL in WNY's Southern Tier. I, grew up at 1,800ft ASL, but the hills around MAX'ed to 2,500ft. Especially Alma Hill, around 2,580ft ASL. I even did that with portable TV's and Walkmans, where Toronto's Q107 would still be full stereo strength at over 120 miles away. Hike to where roads didn't exist, and Pittsburgh, Erie, Tyrone,  Syracuse, Binghamton, Cortland, Ithaca, Williamsport, in USA side. From Ontario, Canada, Hamilton, London, St Catherines, Paris, other Toronto stations, etc., would just come in like locals. Try it sometime, it's total fun.   

9
Driving back, the CB locals called it a night by around 10PM. (Really???) Thought that I heard some skip on the truck rig as I pulled into the driveway on CB CH25. Get on the base setup, all 40CH's, nothin'. However, before bed, I did a channel scan. I've gotten back out a old Midland #77-838, dated June 1977, the early PB-type rig with the PLL02A chip in it. Anyway, it was after 2AM EST, and the only channel active was Superbowl CB6, with this ops rappin'-away from 'The Bayou Of Mississippi!", with 300% MOD and no doubt WTF-power levels. Lots of fading, but peaks up to 9lbs. Couldn't hear the 'Mr. Footlong' that he was going at it with, but clear signal after 2:30AM. (Wow...) Huh... So, HARRP firing up the atmosphere again?

10
https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/the-perseid-meteor-shower-2025-peaks-aug-12-13-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-dazzling-cosmic-light-show    Well, if you can't watch them, then you can listen for their 'scatter' effects.  https://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST%2520Binaries/nt0z.pdf   Then, there are hardcore FM Station DX'ers out there that setup multi-hour recorders on a weak, or empty, FM FREQ and see if an ID can be caught, or even a liner / jingle, that could be looked-up. A decent car stereo setup, with a 30", 1/4-wave, antenna, always seems to work the best for that. Either way, HAPPY DX'ing!!!!

11
I know... We've all heard stories like this, but still a neat read upon utilizing an old LPB, Inc., AM Carrier-Current transmitter.  https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/a-north-carolina-am-recovers-after-flooding-drowned-its-operations    BTW, I know that we've also heard stories on how stations get back on-air, the not-so legal way. Case in point, when a certain college station, in the late 1990's, lost the use of their old FM transmitter, they bought one from Free Radio Berkeley. (I won't mention the call letters and location of this station.) Anyway, that got them back on-air, with way less coverage, for months. I believe the power was like 20W, or less, and it was neat to do a drive-around to see how far that went. Unfortunately, it was on a crowded FREQ of 89.7FM, where, within 100 miles, there were at least four 89.7FM's licensed for that FREQ. (Yeah, what was the FCC thinking there?)

12
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41500898.html    I really did like the first two Iron Maiden albums, the 1980 self-titled, and 1981's Killers. I heard that he was active in bands after Iron Maiden, but I couldn't remember which ones. UPDATE: So, if Paul Di'Anno died in October 2024, why did I hear it in the news Tuesday late night 7/29/2025? Huh???

UPDATE 8/2/2025: OK... Apparently, I was more confused than Julia Childs coming upon a drag queen show. Paul Mario Day passed-on. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I see... https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/paul-mario-day-original-iron-maiden-singer-dead-69    Even this old-fart learns something, once in a while. Albeit, it might take me a while to do so. THANK YOU Jamie-Lee, of Radio Smut, for pointing me the right way.

13
https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/connecting-currents-on-campus   With AM stations going dark, and licensed LPFM start getting even more expensive, or just not available in many 'metro' areas, AM Carrier-Current operations is still viably worth a look. (Thanks again, Boomer!)

14
OK... I had to respond to this one RW rip,   https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/guest-commentaries/you-may-hate-npr-but-killing-cpb-puts-rural-america-at-risk   Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Let's see... I seem to remember that it was NPR that help to kill the Low Powered FM 10 Watt, Class 'D' stations in 1977. And, it took America almost 25 years to get back a water-down LPFM service again. So, does 'Empty-PaR' get any sympathy from me for having the feds slash their funding? Um, hell no!!! If, that service is indeed that needed, then the locals, in the coverage areas, can fund those themselves. I can't get any government funded grants, so why the hell should they? Just sayin'...

15
https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/readers-forum/letter-its-time-to-put-noaa-weather-radio-in-cars    Well, I certainly use NOAA WX Radio, like in the case of this.  https://archive.org/details/yepoormanseasrev2.1/Ye%20Poor%20Man%27s%20EAS%2C%20Diagram%2C%20rev%202.1%2C%203-8-2020/
Still going, 5 years later. But NOAA Weather Radio??? Our tax $$$$$$ are paying for it, so we might as well use it. Apparently, the USA & Canada are the only countries to have it. WX Radio in vehicles? Sure... Using the FM BC RX'ing antenna will work for 162MHz RX'ing, way better than putting WX FREQ in a CB and expecting 162MHz to pass through that 27MHz setup. (Yeah... I've proven that not to work, so WTF were they thinking there?) Newer 'lil bubble-pack GMRS / FRS radios now have NOAA in them, but how effective is a 3" antenna on 162MHz, where 1/4-wave is like 17" for there. Now, the WX feature in 2M rigs and the C. Crane Radios, make a hell of a lot more sense to me. But vehicles??? We pay for NOAA Weather Radio to begin with, so let's have it in vehicles as well. My $0.02 worth here.

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