Hi Guys:
Almost 2 years ago I thought we were
moving out of our house. For a bunch of
reasons taht are beyond the scope of this board,
we are still here.
But I think the bottom is about to fall out.
To help prepare myself for this, I finally have
to stop using the name DOGRADIO.
There will be other Part 15 operations, probably
experimental. It's in my blood. I know it will
happen. But the DOGRADIO name has to go away.
At it's peak, it had a good coverage area and
one regular listener that wasn't me. That regular
listener wasn't that nearby either. He listened in
his car while running errands in our town, usually
1/2 to about 1 1/2 miles away. A few other people
on my street listened here and there.
As many of you know, at it's peak, it was automated
with no computers, just a bunch of tape decks and
timers. It was crazy, but it worked pretty well.
Also, because of different conditions on two different
AM BCB channels during the day and at night, DOGRADIO
switched frequency up one channel at sunset and went
back down at sunrise, only to repeat that again every day.
It was automatic.
And of course, 3 dogs lived in the same room where the
station was. I think I love dogs more than I love radio.
I had shut the station down several years ago to redo
the ground system and transmitting stick. It never
happened.
I know you guys have heard all of this before.
But I just had to say it.
It's time to move on. I will still be here on the
board as much as I can. But now I will just be
Bruce
Best Wishes To All Of The Nice People Here
Best of luck to you Bruce.
Bruce, we all have our moments. I sincerely hope everything works out for you and yours.
As for RADIO, it will always be with you; in your car, in your home, in your heart.
I don't know the whole story but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. And one day, you may decide you gotta do it all over again.
Until then, remember that the energy of your previous transmissions is still traversing the universe...
Bruce, I have been thinking about you because there is still the portion of the long phone conversation we had which has not yet been aired on the Low Power Hour.
In fact now, with your present circumstance, you will be the first disturbing report on Low Power In the News.
But that will set the stage for your triumphant return later on.
ANOTHER THING... in the many descriptions of DOGRADIO you have never mentioned what programming you put out? So allow me to ask, at the last, what was it?
I have come to this board to meet
some wonderful friends, get a lot of
great technical info (some not seen
ANYWHERE ELSE) and find humor
that is so funny I've been practically
on the floor laughing!
Also, some very very kind people (who
I know wish to remain anonymous) have
sent me some great electronic parts, etc.,
in the mail. You know who you are and
I won't ever forget that.
Carl, to answer your question about
programming: Well, because DOGRADIO
was an experiment - my programming really
wasn't all that diverse. It consisted of mainly
the oldest jazz, blues, and big band music I
could find.
What was really fun was putting anouncements
into my timer/tape deck automated system.
At one point I made a "silence detector." When
a song would end, there would be a little bit
of time before the next song. At that "silence point,"
a relay would drop and trigger a short announcement.
Most of them were IDs, but some of them were just
humorous and goofy anouncements. (With dogs barking -
some of it very silly.)
I had an audio processor and a relay/resistor set-up that
took care of segways. The music would go down in volume,
a real "ÓN THE AIR" light would come on, the anouncement
would fire up - and then everything wold reverse itself again.
The station didn't go 24 hours. It signed off at 1:AM, and
came on at 6:AM, "getting up" time.
One day, the music feed failed, and I came
home to "This is DOGRADIO, Part 15 Point 219:
going over and over and over and over. The
anouncement was on a little audio chip, and
the silence sensor kept triggering it over and
over for probably hours.
Anyway, at sign-off time, the music would fade down,
and the sign-off announcement would fire up.
I had it rigged so that after the sign-off was
over, about 10 seconds would go by, and then
transmitter would drop off. Getting that to
work right was really fun. It was kind of like
what the real radio stations would do when I
was a kid. You know, you would sit there
and wait for the transmitter to shut-off,
and then you could hear what else was
on the channel.
As mentioned above, the station changed
frequency at sunset and back again at
sunrise. It was really fun to set that up.
I was just about to make automated
announcements for that. They were going
to say something like, "This is DOGRADIO.
Because our 1690 signal is blocked by
interference at night, we are now switching
to 1700, a clearer channel, in one minute.
Please retune your radio." (And visa versa
for the morning.)
That would have been a real kick, but I never
got to do it. I took the ground system/antenna
apart, and then life got in the way.
I know a lot of you have heard this before,
but there is still one real radio station in the
U.S. that changes channel at sunset, and
back again in the morning. I find it hard
to believe, but that station still exists.
Anyway, I'm not leaving here, I'm just shifting
gears.
I just have to jump across the river of life where all
the rocks that go across are located.
You guys are great!
Bruce
I had gotten to the crossroads where it was give up radio as a hobby vs get serious about it and do something. When I applied for tbe LPFM that was my thinking.
Since WDXD was granted its CP I have been focused like a cat on getting it built. Not easy when you're as poor as we are..but, we are getting there, bit by bit.
I hope things work out and that you can be happy and content in whatever you choose to do.
Aan
Well, Alan, I'll be thinking about you.
(I already have been.)
I (and the rest of us here, too) sure want
to know how your LPFM is going along.
That's really really exciting!
And I love the callsign!
I will probably spend the next few years working
on a portable AM Part 15 package.
I have always wanted to try that, even
if it is not a great performer. I only know
of one other portable Part 15 station, which
operated out of a stationary truck all day Saturdays
in a town here in CT.
My homemade 13.560 MHz Prt 15 transmitter works OK.
I need to put it into an enclosure for when we move.
(I loved that project, by the way.)
I have a few other related projects still going. So my Part 15
days are not over.
I wish I could be down there to help you
with your LPFM - even if it was just some comments and opinions
from a distance. I would love to see it!
Wouldn't it be great if a bunch of us all lived in the
same town?
Thanks for the kind words, and I will be thinking
about you!
Best Wishes,
Bruce
Thank you for the kind words!
I spent an hour today enjoying Big D Country while working on LPH # 89, which will include an update on the LPFM projects in the works.
WDXD sounds total.
I just read the comment you made bruce, and man what a hero you are for the part 15 world! you went to so much trouble to get your 1690/1700 system working. I can't believe the amount of care you put into it! Rock on, man. We should all admire you.
That really makes my day!
But - I feel the same way about you
and your operation!
Because you obviously have something
really good going there too,
Bruce
Bow Wow