Messages

256

General Radio Discussion / Re: Comparison of current solar cycle to cycle 5 and the Dalton Minimum

« on: July 04, 2018, 0735 UTC »

When was Cycle 5?

And I wonder if this means there will be better MW conditions.

Over the past couple years they haven't been very good here, considering the low sunspot numbers.

257

General Radio Discussion / Re: Memorial Day listening conditions could have been better...

« on: May 29, 2018, 0528 UTC »

Greece was in on 9420 khz, barely audible half the time. Two other stations on 31 meters, one I think might have been RNZI.

20 meters had two CW QSOs (both too fast to read), the JT65 channel was blasting away at S5, and maybe three SSB QSOs, only one that was above S3 in strength -- ironically, a guy from Texas talking to a guy in Hawaii. And I'm in the PNW.

Yet no other QSOs on an early holiday evening. This is why I think ham radio is slowly dying. Even the guys with rigs and antennas don't bother to get on the air when it's a holiday and conditions -- although a little mediocre overall -- are at least good enough that Texas and Hawaii can talk to each other. Obviously its wasn't the reception issue on my end -- if I could hear them, why couldn't I hear other guys from the 2nd most populous state talking to Hawaii or wherever?

Our hobby is taking strange turns this solar cycle.

258

Equipment / Re: Good CB radio?

« on: May 25, 2018, 0610 UTC »

Cobra 148 if you are considering SSB. I would save up the extra $80 or $90 and get one new (the list price seems to be around $189 at least at first search), unless you are certain that the used one you are looking at hasn't been tricked, which may or may not be a good thing.

For AM CB only, the others' suggestions are good. Cobra made a good product. Uniden made Cobra for a while (maybe still do?).

I don't know anything about the Superstar or Galaxy radios but I remember a lot of guys talking on them during the late 80's / early 90's.

My Uniden PC122 ran hot and didn't last long. The Cobra still works years later.

259

General Radio Discussion / Re: Broadcasters Cheer Pirate Radio Bill

« on: May 13, 2018, 0954 UTC »

which is precisely what is happening.
the conglomerate media companies who own several FM/AM stations in captive market areas are trying to recoup their losses by offering and venturing to several other media platforms to keep the investors and lending firms happy in addition to acquiring competitive radio stations to eliminate competition and stomping out the "gnats" of low power pirates in order to keep captivity on that specific market and keep revenue loss from advertising on the decline.
now imagine if one media company owned all the FM radio stations in the NYC market.

I hate to sound cynical, but if only one radio company owned all the FM stations in the NYC market, would any of the listeners really notice?

I think the only people who would notice would be industry types, radio enthusiasts (like us here at HFU), and policy wonks.

The average listener? I'm not sure they would either notice or care. They just want to hear their favorite music. Not saying that's awesome, but just sayin'.

260

General Radio Discussion / Re: Broadcasters Cheer Pirate Radio Bill

« on: May 13, 2018, 0950 UTC »

There's also the danger to power when the networks are bypassed, and by networks I mean fox, abc, cbs, nbc, msnbc, cnn, etc corporate/agenda media.

Cable TV is starting to see a dip, just as FM radio is.

Not as much news about it, but when ESPN cuts staff, you know that Cable is having a few issues.

From what I've read, it seems to be mostly people cutting back on their cable packages.

261

General Radio Discussion / Re: Broadcasters Cheer Pirate Radio Bill

« on: May 12, 2018, 1404 UTC »

Where there is money..... etc.

I don't like being conspiratorially minded, but I see an industry (FM radio) that is worried. Worried about their future. Worried about loss of listeners. Worried about loss of revenue, including advertising revenue. Even though the numbers of radio listeners who have gravitated away to other forms of entertainment haven't yet been substantial, the writing is on the wall.

When you see massive businesses scrambling to wipe out gnats, you know that there is more to the picture than just whether someone was breaking the law.

262

General Radio Discussion / Re: Sad news; ART BELL has passed away...

« on: April 30, 2018, 1007 UTC »

Boombox, I agree with everything you wrote except: Art Bell did not invent late-night spooky radio. Long John Nebel (east coast, shows available on Ytube) did, or probably there was someone else before him, maybe. What Bell did invent was "coast to coast" late-night spooky radio. Indeed! And truly a pioneer.

There were times, on the crazier shows, where I thought I could hear Bell laughing. Maybe I was wrong. But I remember this guy who said, "and Art... they have even got recordings of the sounds of Pleadian [space-] ships!", where there was at least a chuckle, or a guffaw, or something.

He also promoted totally bogus stuff, a lot of the time (i.e. guests that he damn well knew were bogus) but that was in the Long John Nebel traditional late night entertainment modus operandi anyway.... i.e., the broadcasters viewed these kinds of shows as what they were: "Entertainment".

Godspeed to Mr. Bell.

FWIW, I had heard about Long John Nebel. He was on one of the big NYC AM stations, I think in the 1960's. I saw his pic in a UFO mag talking about him. It seems he was a pioneer, sort of when the whole idea of paranormal and UFOs was a completely fringe idea. From what I've read, Nebel was sort of like the Charles Fort of late night East Coast radio.

I hesitated to mention him as I didn't know much about his show, and never heard it, so I really couldn't say much about it... I'll have to check out the sound clips on YT. Wasn't aware of them. Was always curious about the NY and EC radio scene back in the earlier days.

I agree with you that Art probably knew some of the claims by guests were bogus. But it made great radio, didn't it. :-)

263

General Radio Discussion / Re: Sad news; ART BELL has passed away...

« on: April 20, 2018, 1232 UTC »

I used to work overnights during the 1990's and early 2000's. Art Bell was a big part of my life, as my Superadio was always there in the studio as I worked, invariably playing Art Bell's show.

Really sad that he's gone. He basically invented night time 'spooky' radio. Coast To Coast AM had a really nice tribute to him earlier this evening, with a few excerpts from Art Bell moments -- JC the wacky guy, the clip with the guy flying his private plane into Area 51, etc.

RIP Art Bell, now you probably know the answers to a lot of the mysteries your show explored.

264

General Radio Discussion / Re: Well this is Troubling...

« on: March 22, 2018, 2102 UTC »

Wow, those pirates must be really filling the FM band so much that ya can't hear your local CHR or NPR station.

I understand their dislike of unlicensed operators -- I mean, if someone is running a station that is putting out interference in the Air Band, I get that.

But the number of pirates I've heard about in my metro of around 4 million people are very, very small. And I've never heard one. Ever.

And the weird thing is the FCC is heavy duty about these FM pirates, but some ham can spew hate and filthy language in the middle of the 40 or 20 meter band flagrantly (and I've read it can happen on the 2 meter band in some cities) and they rarely, if ever, get investigated.

265

General Radio Discussion / Re: Sony to Exit Shortwave Receiver Market

« on: March 06, 2018, 1427 UTC »

In the 90's -- most consumer CD players and even worse DVD and worst of all DAT players were really poorly made. It didn't seem like there was much difference in them when you opened them up, 90's cassette decks too. I never did have a CD or DVD player that lasted more than a few years. My cassettes get a lot more attention these days because you have to go all stereophile (sadly) to get a robust CD player, CD collection is collecting dust!

Those recording Walkmans were great, I could use one now!

What usually went first in the CD players of that era were the laser pickup. Even Pioneer CD players (which were a standard in radio for a while) had a certain lifetime -- and the weak part was that laser pickup. They lasted longer than a stylus on a turntable, but whether they lasted longer than the head on a cassette deck is a good question. I think a lot of the CD players in the late 80's and early 90's were made in the same handful of Japanese and Korean factories, before everything moved to China and other Asian countries.

The CD technology overall was excellent, but the weakest part was the laser pickup (and bad scratches, of course). I had a Korean made, black CD boombox that played CD's from 1991 until well into the 2000's. Got it at a KMart, if memory serves. Then I had a "professional" CD player I got at a guitar / sound store that barely lasted a year. Sometimes you'd get a good one.... and then....

Of course, now CD players are getting as rare as hen's teeth.

RE: Sony: they definitely will be missed here... Luckily the Sonys I have work well, except an ICF5900W which only works on MW and FM. The other Sony items work like champs.

266

General Radio Discussion / Re: Sony to Exit Shortwave Receiver Market

« on: March 05, 2018, 0153 UTC »

My Sony Walkmen -- which I got at a thrift store -- all work well and are good DXers on AM with a loop...

My Sony ICF-38 is the around-the-house and yard radio. Excellent on AM, very good on FM, works for several months on a set of batteries.

Sony's peak was the 1980's, when the Walkman was king and they had all these cool Walkmen and boomboxes, and their home stereo equipment was good and popular also.

Now they still make stuff -- mostly in China. And aside from a game box, I can't really tell ya off the top of my head what they actually make anymore.

Pretty sad.

267

General Radio Discussion / Re: IHeartMedia is said to plan bankruptcy as soon as this weekend

« on: March 05, 2018, 0149 UTC »

The stations themselves, especially in the large metros, are money makers, and no company buying them would want to mess it up. But you never know. The CBS/Entercom deal led to stations changing formats in many cities, including mine, where several stations changed formats.

268

General Radio Discussion / Re: IHeartMedia is said to plan bankruptcy as soon as this weekend

« on: March 03, 2018, 1721 UTC »

To the average listener in a reasonably large metro, nothing will change. It's more of a hassle for the lawyers and bean counters.

269

General Radio Discussion / Re: Get those long wave antennas ready

« on: February 13, 2018, 1059 UTC »

Keep the ammo dry. Global cooling could also possibly cause food shortages, and who knows what else.

Are we hunting the most dangerous game of all - MAN? 

Was thinking more about one protecting one's stash.... Of food....

270

General Radio Discussion / Re: Sony to Exit Shortwave Receiver Market

« on: February 13, 2018, 1058 UTC »

It probably won't be long before they get out of radios altogether.

One of these days I'll drop the big bucks (comparatively) for an EX5MK2. Some day....