i never realized just how much equipment and music i really have!!!!
female amphenol pins, crimper, and extractor tools from wheatstone.
going to build a 66 block breakout box for the A50
Another way to alleviate stuttering audio is to get a pro-grade soundcard. The audio files will load up on the card's internal memory and playback flawlessly. There have been a few times where the full power's computer locked up but the song would keep playing.
I taped the antenna wire to a 6 foot piece of wood trim, stood it up and changed the frequency to 1500 with the ATU off. There it was, loud and clear, once I set the laptop's level out. Man, not even a ground! No hum at all! The antenna is leaning against the wall. The whole building, and the neighbors around me get a clear signal! Wow.
The SpitFire is one badass little box! I played The Wolf Show (Wolfman Jack impersonation) since 9 am. The neighbors LOVE it! 1500 kHz seems to be clear during the day.
Doug
1500 am KLW
That is good news! I was afraid you had a defective unit. Now the work begins keeping the programming up and running!!
Let us know when you get time to do some hard range tests.
Today I was approached by someone I know fairly well, and is the pastor of a large non-denominational church here. He had heard about my efforts with the radio station, and came by to offer support. He would like to use it as an avenue to broadcast Sunday mornings. Both have been on my list of things to offer.
I explained our current situation, and the legality/limitations.. I also explained the options we have at hand including streaming and the goal of either LPFM or even commercial/non commercial licensing in the future.
I expressed the need to form the board for LPFM and the need for diversity etc. He is in agreement. He even enjoys my current music programming. Apparently he has been listening to the broadcast.
This project just became bigger than me...
I now have 5 viable members for the board, including two music collectors, one attorney who holds a county office, myself and a community leader.
Of course...LPFM licensing is non existent at this point...so that will be something that will have to be addressed initially.
Boardmaker, back at ya, I missed your post on this fast-moving thread!
I sure wish that the Americas had adopted 12.5 khz filtering instead of 10 khz, if they had to adopt something. It's easy to hear the difference between 10 and 12.5 khz filtering, but I think 12.5 is what's needed to just get to the point where the response sounds close to FM on average decent speakers, like in a good boom box or mini stereo. When I did listening tests with 10 khz, my ears took a while to get used to hearing sound that way.
I know it might not be noticed in most AM radios now, but I think that putting the reduced bandwidth into the rules helped set in motion that AM was now to be thought of as a lower fidelity medium, not to be given attention by radio manufacturers using DSP techniques to reduce noise and allow wide variable bandwidth for strong signals. A lot could be done at the receiver end that wasn't anticipated back then.
That Carver tuner sounds pretty awesome, it sounds like an engineer's delight. In another thread you were talking about its antiphase pilot reduction too. That makes me think of how you could get a very accurate pilot frequency, in 50 hz power grid countries, by dividing the a sample of the line voltage by 2.
The original Alfredo stereo transmitter does process sum and difference mode rather than in left and right. You can probably use a two channel compressor, with the audio matrix in front of it.
Craig F., that's pretty cool, I should check with some churches around here, because I really want to get into doing community radio a little more rather than just playing music, even if it is unheard stuff. I'm thinking how podcasting is adapting to becoming a more voice and issues driven medium, since it seems people care less about music radio these days.
What about a community events calendar, and having your city submit press releases about local events, like auctions or book sales at the library, and police reports. There are probably ways to do it and keep it easy too.
Right. My idiot friend came over this morning. He truly is an idiot. Self-centered and arrogant about it. No clue what's going on around him. I had the Spitfire on air, and since I have so few wall sockets, I have an extension cord across the room. Plus the antenna wire. He pulls up a chair, and I said, "Be careful. We are on air live, and don't unplug me!"
Not one minute later, I'm off air, and he's wrapped up in the power cord and antenna! The transmitter is hanging off the table. Idiot. Effing brainless DOLT! He says, "Sorry. What's that, an mp3 player?" Holy - No clue. AM Radio means NOTHING to this REtard! He's 25 and didn't know what a cassette tape is for!
I fixed my Spitfire. Good as new. There are no people my age that hang out here. I'm 61 and seem to be the ONLY one paying attention...
Doug
Anyone wouldn't know by looking that the spitfire is a transmitter., unless they are knowlegable about these things.
But ya, his age group...not all, but the majority, don't know what AM radio is, or even radio for that matter, also tapes, records, etc.
You can tape the spitfire down on the desk so it won't move and fall of so easy.
Mark
At the moment, I'm on air doing a Saturday Night Music Show. 🙂
Part of my routine every Saturday is to make sure the voice overs for the Saturday nite show are in place. I did that today, and worked on some settings for the compressor that is tied into the AM transmitter. It sounds much better and the volume level is better also...
A little at a time!
"Anyone wouldn't know by looking that the spitfire is a transmitter., unless they are knowlegable about these things."
True. But I showed him, and explained exactly what I was doing...he pays NO attention. Ya gotta know this guy...a complete fencepost...
Doug
That is why I say terrestrial Radio has a very short life span left. Many younger folks under 34 know what a Radio really is anymore or even care. When I told folks in my house to be careful of the bandwidth they are using so I could broadcast on the Internet on my Radio station my Stepson said “Who even listens to the Radio anymore?” Some of his other friends said “And why even do it your not getting paid for it?” I tried to explain that I have a sponsor who’s invested thousands of dollars on my station to be able to legally broadcast and they still didn’t get the importance of the station. Trust me I’ve almost lost my station several times due to people under 34 who were so brain dead and self centered. And even lied about paying the Internet bill (with our money) when my wife was sick and I was supporting her in the hospital. To our surprise right in the middle of a Radio broadcast our Internet goes out. I check the cable TV Yup the bill was NOT PAID!! This was on a Saturday at 1:30 in the afternoon. Well I ask the cable company how much we owe to get it back. It was $552. Imagine our shock and horror because I had to get BACK ON THE AIR!!
So in the middle of 30 degree Winter I high tail it to the end of the driveway across from the library to use their Wifi and finish my show with layers of clothes to keep warm. I had a 8 hr show to do. It was hard because I had to run an extension cord to the laptop and then place it on a snack tray with a chair next to it. To announce I had to cup my hand over the mic to block the sound of the traffic. These folks don’t know what commitment is as not only did I have to drag the Laptop but too the FM Transmitter so that I could still be on FM.
Two weeks after that we moved away and stuck the kids with the bills as we were not going to stand for anymore lies and deceit.
Today i put the TH 5.0 on 800 khz while leaving the SStran on 1620 khz, fought with the horrendous sound quality of the TH transmitter until i said the heck with it and put an eq on it set to nearly flat.
Sounds like a TIS playing music but whatever. The TH has a better coverage with the aluminum conduit antenna and despite being outdoors , it still manages to couple to the power lines extending some of the coverage past my little road.
I might make this permanent.
That is all.
Barry of BBR 1620