I recall the “Discrepancy Log” kept by the engineers at the TV station where I announced, and it was really bad if I got “written up” for missing an announcement or being late for sign on.
I recall the “Discrepancy Log” kept by the engineers at the TV station where I announced, and it was really bad if I got “written up” for missing an announcement or being late for sign on.
Now I keep a discrepancy log for a group of part 15 and internet stream radio stations, and there’s my name again.
This morning I got all the programs in the playlist, turned on all the carriers including two AM, one shortwave and three FMs, and started the Playlist at the right time.
I immediately went to work working on the carrier current project and recording a new show, until six hours later I discovered the stream server had never been started for my website and shoutcast. Write me up.
So I am here as a senior adviser to caution against having too many iron pies in the fire, or whatever that slogan is; too many bowling pins in the juggle, uh, too much texting on the highway, pay your bills on time, have an extra shoe lace.
Always remember your girl friend’s name and start your station on time.
Not Enough
“turned on all the carriers including two AM, one shortwave and three FMs, and started the Playlist at the right time.”
I think the reason for the little slip up is because you need more carriers going besides the 6! Simply not enough carriers to go around!
With the CC system that will be 7. Curious..but WHY??? Leaving out the CC setup, why 6 carriers? Are they all sending out the same program content within the thousands of square inches of coverage?
I don’t want to even think about how much IF intermod that goes on within the walls of KDX!!
Just trying to make sense of it is all…more power..err more carrier to you! 😀
RFB
Carrier Confessions
The two excess carriers are the two AMs. I could really do without 1550, because the same programs are heard on the more efficient AM 1680 (AMT5000), but maybe there is a rationale after all….. allow me to explain.
First let’s consider the near-field, indoor listening at each end of the house. AM 1550 is on the front Wintenna (window antenna) and AM 1680 is at the rear Wintenna.
Radios too close to the active transmitter tend to overload on the front-end, so the kitchen radio is tuned to the farther away 1550, and the front desk executive radio is tuned to farther away 1680.
Also, when I run an indecent program after 10 PM I shut-down 1680 so no one can hear it except me, listening on 1550 (shows with F-words, etc.).
FM 101.9 is the STL feeding both AM 1680 and SW 13.560, but I can’t listen to FM 101.9 because those darn certified transmitters don’t go anywhere. I’d get mostly FM noise.
FM 87.7 is actually off unless I’m digitizing a vinyl album.
FM 107.7 is the official editing channel for previewing and editing audio not on the main stations.
The soon to come carrier current will be another AM but theoretically will reach different places than the AM intentional radiators.
The eventual long wave station will be pure vanity, so that I become a “Donny Trump Mini” in my own self-perception.
I’m hoping to sell the entire station group to Cumulus for a cool $1-billion.
Occupy the dial.
3 Famous Words
“Occupy the dial.”
I think those 3 words right there is all the splaining needed to convince Cumulus the $1 billion price tag is money well spent! 😉
RFB
Multiple Transmitters and My Short Story (Radio) On Another Site
All those transmitters.
My yard is narrow and very deep. Actually,
it’s a real pain to maintain. They don’t
call this Fern St. for nothing. If you don’t
put some kind of weed killer down everywhere,
you get Zillions and Zillions of FERNS growing
everywhere. Not to mention all kinds of forms
of alien plants. I’ve got bright BLUE vines out there.
What are they?
Anyhow, if I had the money, I would put a C Crane
transmitter on each end of my yard, each one
on a different frequency. Up in trees in water
proof containers, that sort of thing. My yard
actually pokes back between 2 properties on the
back street.
So this is how it would work. I’d put a C Crane
facing south under the gutter in front of my house.
The north C Crane would be 150 feet back at the rear
edge of the property for the north direction. It
would actually be between two house’s back yards
on the rear street.
The east and west C Cranes would be up in the big
trees on the sides of my yard. My yard is 75 feet
wide. So the yard is a big rectangle. But the
rectangle goes back to the read street.
That idea has always been a dream.
Speaking of errors in operating radio stations,
you guys have the unique opportunity to read the
very first short story I have ever written.
There is a fantastic website here called Hartford
Radio History.com. If you bring up the site,
when it all loads, you will see a gigantic list
of radio stations on the left side. The list also
has other categories down near the bottom, such
as “pirate stations,” “stations that went dark,”
“experimental stations,” and so forth.
Way down at the bottom of that list is a category
called, “campus only stations.”
If you click on that, you will get a bunch of history
about stations that cover just school areas, many of
which were carrier current.
Way way down the bottom is a piece called,
“The Goofy Story Of WSJH, Sedgwick Junior High School,
1969 A.D.”
I wrote it as a story, sort of in the style of
Gene Shepard’s “A Christmas Story.” Although
not nearly as good, of course.
You’ll probably get a kick out of it. I plan to
add at least one photograph connected with the set-up
and some more tech info. The names have
been changed to protect the innocent. And the
humor is somewhat exaggerated, but the story is
true. I hope you can check it out.
By the way – Carl – I didn’t know you were a TV
booth announcer! Well you sure the voice for it!
Hope you can check out my story.
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
Will Do
I indeed will read the story and it will be fun over this chilly winter weekend.
You changed the names of the innocent…. how many names did you change?
How many names did you not change? What were they guilty of?
Oh, I should just read the story.
The Story Is Not Very Long
Best Wishes,
Brooooooooooooooooooooooce
DOGGRADIO STUDIO 2
More Decrepidcy, uhh, disfunctionality, uhh …
I run my thing 24/7. Last night I lost my website, hosted by my ShoutCast IP, got it back late this morning.
The stream kept trying to quit on me earlier this evening, finally quit altogether. Now I can’t even get to the servers for any of it, i.e., their own website is down.
The Internet sure is a love-hate relationship. I’ve been at a benefit for Bruce Harvie (great player) of RadioFree Olga podcast fame, who recently had a heart attack and incurred a lot of bills (lousy insurance). I was thinking seriously about broadcasting it … good thing I didn’t … would have been very disappointing.
24/7/365
Same here. Just run the LW, AM and FM 24/7/365 and not mess with sign off and sign on nonsense. I choose frequencies that allow for a 24/7/365 schedule and the SAM auto-loads each day’s program lineup with no intervention from me. I sit in the studio and prop my feet up on the console desk, sip a cup of coffee and relax while the station runs itself..until something breaks down and then my cup of coffee flings up in the air and I run over to the TX rack (bookshelf) and flip blade switches and punch in bypassing on the audio router switcher!
RFB
Hours of Operation
For a few months KDX stayed on the air 24-hours on the weekend, Friday through Sunday, and if a declared holiday on Monday the hours extended to include it.
Unfortunately I cannot ignore the station when it is running, and I keep it audible on a radio, which interferes with the fact that every evening I really like to go completely silent, which makes it possible to concentrate on other things.
To have a 24-hour operation a person must learn to ignore the station during certain hours, and I can’t.
Goofy WSJH
Just came back from Hartford Radio History.com after reading “The Goofy Story of WSJH.”
It was a triumphant beginning of a radio station started through effective political lobbying, but why didn’t someone think of making pre-recorded announcements to get around the microphone ban?
Too bad it got stomped by tyrant forces.
Learn And Learn Again
“To have a 24-hour operation a person must learn to ignore the station during certain hours, and I can’t.”
Setting up the operational parameters at the beginning is what allows for one to set aside those “ignore” hours vs the attention hours…to which I have done just that. I planned the station’s operations well in advance and I knew exactly how it was to operate, thus it operates in a worry free 24/7/365 way.
Even when I am not in the studio doing something, the studio monitors are always on, volume at a low level so that when I get within 3 steps of the door to the studio, I can hear what’s going on. All of the TX’s are sitting where I can see them from the living room down the hallway, and I have a small end table radio next to my recliner in the living room so when I am watching all the mind manipulating media tv riff raff…I can quickly tune in and check things without getting out of my comfy recliner.
But that is the neat thing about our Part 15 radio. We can actually set up or stations to be customized for both the locations, as well as our own schedules. Commercial radio cannot do that, and does not program to the local like we do.
Radio..gotta love the variety…the variety Part 15 brings.
RFB