Topics

91

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Part 15 preemphasis and compression?

« on: September 23, 2024, 1553 UTC »

Boomer, ran into this discussion:     https://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=441388&sid=2089fe7c284211d0cc4e5ef8d5c97a66     It's been asked and talked about before. Me??? I'm very cheap. Since 2005, I 1st run into a TERK VR-1 original DSP based Audio AGC, (Not the stupid Audiovox version that replaced that for cheaper.), then run into a ART CS2 compressor, set at 4:1 COMP, then run that into a 32-Band EQ. Why??? To me, it seemed to sound the best over-the-air that way to me, and less harsh. The EQ also helps control bad sibilance, (S's & T's.), from podcasts that do not use a de-essing unit in their audio chain. Believe me, it was done with lots of trial & error over the years, but my AM stations sound better than any of the commercial stations around here locally. One advantage about what I have for audio processing? No software updates. Also, when something goes wrong, I like the idea of separate components to repair, and, or, swap-out.    Basically, I'm doing what seems to work best for what I have setup here. You, may have a completely different setup that works for you.

92

General Radio Discussion / Latest ARN # 2447, 9/20/2024, has Icom statement on HT's blowing up!

« on: September 20, 2024, 1935 UTC »

https://www.arnewsline.org/    Actually, Icom talks about a counterfeit version of their HT's copied in the wake of the Walkie-Talkie explosions in the news in Lebanon. (THANKS, to Caryn, N2GUT, for keeping me posted on this!)

93

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Sources for T.O.T.H. News Minutes and Special Reports for Part 15 and LPFM's?

« on: September 19, 2024, 1710 UTC »

I was asked the following, from an LPFM licensee, what do I run for Top Of The Hour, (T.O.T.H.), News 'Headlines / Special Reports'? I answered, "Good question!", since I'm in the same boat. I'd like to find a non-biased, (Practically impossible today.), news brief and, or, special reports. The LPFM'er was contemplating AP News, but aren't they commercial, with possible ads and fee-spots? That, would be fine for Part 15, but not non-commercial LPFM's.  Boomer, of WAG AM690, posed a couple of ideas, like FSN,   https://www.featurestorynews.com/subscribe-now/  that requires monthly subscription, and  USA Radio,  https://usaradio.com/shows/usa-radio-news/   . Many news services are just gone, like the nice, 5 minutes, MP3 downloads from Media Minutes, but that went bye-bye over 15 years ago. Say what you will, about The Christian Science Monitor News Service, but they did have an excellent news service department for decades, but also are gone. So, the question is out there, what very cheap, and, or free, news service is out there that LPFM's and Part 15 stations can, link / download, to for either T.O.T.H. Headlines, or breaking new flash events? LPFM's would have to be non-commercial, but Part 15 Stations could run pretty much anything. Hmmmmmmmmmmm... This might be a nice subject to suggest to Radio Survivor.     

94

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Does 'Cable FM' still exist anywhere today?

« on: September 06, 2024, 1704 UTC »

Another Part 15 option that has existed, at least since the early 1970's in the USA, is Cable FM Radio.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_radio  (I'm sure there are other explanations out there, but that was from a very quick search.) Anyway, in the 70's, 80's, and the 90's, college campuses and small towns, with CATV companies, could allow a station to exist via only being available on their cabled system. Where I grew up, we had Cable FM, but not anything local access like, just re-FREQ-assigned of rebroadcasted stations from Buffalo, Rochester, Hornell, Olean, Niagara Falls, in WNY, and even Toronto, ON, Canada. Local FM reception was dismal, at best, in that area, so FM was nice for the cable company to offer at the time. The only thing that was Cable-Only was the leaky-cable coo-coo at the very start of the FM dial. That, was the tool where cable company employees could drive around, using just a car stereo's FM RX, to find out where the RF leaky cable faults were, and, or, see whom was stealing CATV illegally. Bottom-line, does anyone know of any Cable FM only stations that exist only on the local CATV system, that they are carried on? Or, do you have stories of such station in the past?

95

Amateur Radio / ARRL September VHF Sweepsteaks, 9/14 - 9/16/2024.

« on: September 05, 2024, 1809 UTC »

https://www.arrl.org/september-vhf       Hopefully, 6M will still be hopping on F2 for this. Don't know if Tropo will exist for 2M, on up.

96

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Inexpensive Automatic Volume Control for Part 15 stations? And, other things.

« on: September 04, 2024, 1847 UTC »

https://www.tompolk.com/hobbies/automaticvolumeleveler/avc.html   Looks very doable to me. However, I wonder if you could use LM386 audio amp IC's in there? They would be easier to power, and are more readily available. https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm386.pdf

97

Huh? / Pretty big FCC AM Station(s) listing!

« on: August 29, 2024, 1938 UTC »

Actually, I was doing an updated TIS Station search, but came across this, instead:    https://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?call=&arn=&state=&city=&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&facid=&class=&edu=1&list=1&NextTab=Results+to+Next+Page%2FTab&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&NS=N&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&EW=W&size=9       Yeah, a pretty big listing there, and not just USA stations. Just FYI...

UPDATE??? OK... This is, if you don't crash the FCC's site doing this. Oooops...

98

Huh? / CB Tricks is back, but as a .ORG now.

« on: August 27, 2024, 1822 UTC »

Great site for various classic CB radio INFO. And, now they are back with a different URL.    https://cbtricks.org/   You can spend hours looking through and downloading various manuals & schematics. (YEA!!!!)

99

Propagation / Good conditions for Late Summer VHF / UHF Tropo? Could be!

« on: August 23, 2024, 1904 UTC »

It's been incredibly dry here in SW West Virginia, where even the GND Rods need to be kept moist for conductivity. Well, this next week the weather here calls for mid-90's in the day, and 60's at night, even foggy mornings. That's, usually good makings for nice Tropo for VHF / UHF  Propagation, from like midnight, to maybe 9AM. Best indicators for that are distant NOAA weather Radio FREQ's, from 162.400MHz - 162.550MHz FM. TV / FM DX'ers may get some good catches here. And, don't forget to try DX MURS VHF and GMRS UHF. Don't forget those Amateur Radio simplex FREQ's. This map site could be helpful as well.  https://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html    So, hopefully, HAPPY VHF / UHF DX'ing!

100

Huh? / Radio Survivor Podcast #342 – The Famous Computer Cafe

« on: August 18, 2024, 1453 UTC »

Got to admit, it's kind of a different turn for Radio Survivor, but digging-up 1980's computer shows are no doubt of interest. So, enjoy.   https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2024/08/podcast-342-the-famous-computer-cafe/

101

General Radio Discussion / CHML 900AM Hamilton, ON going bye-bye? Uh...

« on: August 16, 2024, 1557 UTC »

Ya know, I've just RSVP'ed a post, where someone was asking about station that still air Old-Time Radio programs, and CHML 900AM was one that I remembered that still did nightly. Well, I guess not anymore.  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-corus-shuts-down-hamilton-radio-station-amid-other-necessary-changes/  That sucks, as it was also another neat alternative talker that could be easily heard driving around WNY. (Thank you Boomer, for passing that along to me.) Still, sucks to read about.

102

10/11 meters / 0352 UTC, 8/12/2024, CB CH38 LSB. Rare, late night F2 and late season Sporadic E

« on: August 12, 2024, 1739 UTC »

Surprised to hear activity on CB CH38 LSB, 27.385MHz, at 11:52PM EST, with Sporadic "E" from Illinois, and F2 from a 416 Jeff, from Melbourne, Australia, peaking out at S9. Then, there was this dude DX'ing from Hawaii, but didn't mention where. Still, neat to hear that late at night, on 11M.

103

Huh? / What's your 'College Stations' list?

« on: August 08, 2024, 1718 UTC »

With the recent buzz of the movie documentary 35000 Watts, www.35000watts.com , that leads the question out there to y'all. What college stations did you either visit, listen to, was on-air with, or even provided engineering to? With me??? Still thinking about it, my list keeps getting longer, but been to the studios of:

WJSL, (Now WXXY.), WNTE, WALF, WITR, WECW,

Station that I have not been in the studio, but just outside, or at the TX site:

WETD, WGCC, WGSU, WBSU, (That includes the AM Carrier-Current trainer station.), KSUA, (Got to also see their parade float in 7/1985.), WRUR, WBNY, WSBU, WVCR, WEOS, WMUL, WWVU, WSPN, WVBR,

Other stations that I've listened to, but never been to:

WICB, WDWN, WFSE, WCEB, WCMO, WKPS, WSRU, WQSU, WERG, WVWC,

The only station to provide engineering to, thus far:

WNTE


Am I forgetting some? I know that I am. I'll never beat Jennifer Waits's list. So, how many do you know on this list? https://www.35000watts.com/college-radio-database/

While I'm at it, LPFM stations that I've been to:

WTSQ-LP, WSVQ-LP

Now, how many pirate stations have I been to? Um... Let's leave that one for another subject.

Incomplete list? 8/10/2024: Forgot about listening to Toronto's 89.5FM, CIUT,   https://ciut.fm/  heard driving down Rt 390S, to as far as Wayland, NY. That was in the late 1990's, and they just played a long set of Trance tunage then. Thus far, the only Canadian college station that I remember hearing. Probably, couldn't do that today, with all these newer FM translators on-air.

104

SDR - Software Defined Radio / Radio World discovers, SDR: The Next Level of Shortwave Radio Listening? Ok...

« on: August 07, 2024, 1622 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/global/sdr-the-next-level-of-shortwave-radio-listening   Hey, gotta' start somewhere on this. At least, the author got his RTL-SDR to work, where as I'm still doing occasional on-line Kiwi-SDR's and the all-in-one-box Xiegu G90. Bigger and better SDR's in my future? Hope so, but $$$$, projects, and time, always have to go elsewhere.

105

Part 15 AM and FM Station Operation / Letter: Richard Fry on Part 15 AM Coverage Area? An RW rip of past conversations

« on: August 05, 2024, 1809 UTC »

https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/readers-forum/letter-richard-fry-on-part-15-am-coverage-area    This subject has come-up more than once on the Part 15 sites.