Carl Blare

Been planning to move the 10-foot bamboo pole farther away from the house as recommended by PhilB, but wasn’t sure how to make it stand up.

Been planning to move the 10-foot bamboo pole farther away from the house as recommended by PhilB, but wasn’t sure how to make it stand up.

Propping it against a ladder was one idea, but then I wondered, why not just use a 10-foot aluminum ladder as an antenna?

Opinions?

I just registered two new domain names :

http://www.worldroundradio.com
http://www.worldroundradio.net

I just registered two new domain names :

http://www.worldroundradio.com
http://www.worldroundradio.net

The word “worldround” was coined by me as a slogan for KDX Worldround Radio, calling to mind the errant name “worldwide web:” If the world was wide it would need to be flat.

Then I thought that “Worldround Radio” stood on its own as a proper name, and since domain names that haven’t already been taken are hard to find, I grabbed them. Why?

For now they will simply point to kdxradio.com but in the future maybe a radio network could be built upon “The Worldround Radio Network.”

We have talked about LRN, the “Longwave Radio Network.” And to the best of my knowledge the domain name “LRN” is not owned by anyone, so maybe YOU should register it.

Harvey at KPAH, a Part 15 station in Pahrump, Nevada, told me he thought about starting a Part 15 network, and there have been other discussions on this website of starting networks.

Is Carl starting a radio network? Probably not. Networks require programs and programs require studios and talent and news bureaus.

I doubt that a Part 15 network would gather many affiliates because most stations do their own program scheduling and might not like someone else’s choices. So what am I talking about?

I got two neat names, that’s all. The reason for it can come later.

Feel welcome to submit ideas to Carl Blare, here at part15.us

EDITOR IS BACK TO ADD: Networks need slogans too, so how about…
THE WORLDROUND RADIO NETWORK, “Serving Parallel Dimensions Since 2011”

No, I am not introducing a new antenna of some radical design. I am simply imagining a new Part 15 product supplier under the company name “Radical Antenna.”

No, I am not introducing a new antenna of some radical design. I am simply imagining a new Part 15 product supplier under the company name “Radical Antenna.”

The Radical Company would provide three main antenna products tiered by price and efficiency.

Model # 1 – “The Indoor,” would be a series of indoor art antennas, like 9-to-10-foot high wall hangings, for example, that would merit being displayed in a gallery. These would contain the 10-foot antenna with some kind of secure enclosure built like an extruded baseboard into the bottom. There would be floor lamp and various other kinds of indoor designs that could be disguised into the furnishings.

Model # 2 – “Indoor/Outdoor,” would be based on Ermi Roos’s or my or someone else’s window designs for reaching the yard and house;

Model # 3 – “The Occupier (name inspired by current events),” would be the classic stick with radials for outdoor installation, with variations from compact to full-size (more and longer radials), and these would typically require a mobile radio service company to come out and install;

Probably a roof-top or chimney mount might be worth considering, since other vendors supply those and some consumers would chose them.

Being able to upgrade antennas is no different than the choice of upgrading transmitters. It results in future sales from past customers.

If you want to enter the Part 15 supplier market, use my idea freely.

Based on an idea from AM1620 96.9FM Tha Dood the 15th Low Power Hour started production this morning and could possibly be ready later today.

Based on an idea from AM1620 96.9FM Tha Dood the 15th Low Power Hour started production this morning and could possibly be ready later today.

This one will begin an ongoing series of reports on radio programs available for use by Part 15 stations.

Future Low Power Hours will explore long wave Part 15, something recently discussed here at part15.us with forthcoming transmitter building projects and a National or continental long wave network.

Of course the recent introduction of the AMT5000 transmitter from sstran.com is major news, and may be a revolutionary event in the growth of the Part 15 movement. The story is only beginning.

My two main AM frequencies leave little room on the upper end of the medium wave band for a third frequency, devoted to testing. Unless you count 1710.

My two main AM frequencies leave little room on the upper end of the medium wave band for a third frequency, devoted to testing. Unless you count 1710.

Of course 1710 would be a poor choice for regular programing because of its limited power allowance, but many antenna tests actually benefit from micro-mini-power because it is easy to observe, at close range , whether a given antenna performs as well or better than another antenna.

We’ll give it a try and tell you what happens.

On the two threads comparing the AMT3000 to the new AMT5000 I used my ram-shackle window-frame antenna, which showed only that the AMT5000 goes a farther distance than the other one, but it did not show how far it can go with a much better antenna.

Meanwhile, still living in an imaginary world where an antenna can be built into the house in some way to radiate indoors and outdoors with some efficiency, I “decoupled” from the window and tried another approach.

I moved the AMT5000 1.5-feet to the left on its shelf, ran a 5-foot lead-in wire out a tiny hole at the base of an east facing window, found a corner where the clearance from ground to overhanging roof was exactly 10-feet, cut a 10-foot long bamboo pole supporting a 10-foot vertical wire, secured it in a standing condition right up against the window but electrically insulated, attached the lead-in at the lowest-point of the antenna, and tried to find peak. No luck.

So I put the 20 pF capacitor in line with the lead-in at the transmitter and found peak within toroid position S3, then went 1-full turn CW for that resonant spot.

R1 = mid
peak current = .5345
resonant spot current = .2465

Jumped in car and tuned radio to 1550 kHz, left the driveway onto the street and the signal went from full to weak background and didn’t even get halfway across the street. At the intersection no signal. On the next block it came back very briefly and was gone as I moved on.

Lesson: Though not perfect, the original window antenna works better than a 10-foot vertical wire against the back of the house.