So, what are some of the historic events of 1928?

• February 25 – Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission.
• March 21 – Charles Lindbergh is presented the Medal of Honor for his first trans– Atlantic flight. 
• April 12–April 14 – The first ever east–west transatlantic aeroplane flight takes place from Dublin, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Canada, using German Junkers W33 Bremen.
• June 17 – Aviator Amelia Earhart starts her attempt to become the first woman to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean (she succeeds the next day). Wilmer Stultz was the pilot.
• September 25 – Paul Galvin and his brother Joseph incorporate the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (now known as Motorola).
• September 11 – Kenmore’s WMAK station starts broadcasting in Buffalo, New York.
• November 18 – Mickey Mouse appears in Steamboat Willie, the third Mickey Mouse cartoon released, but the first sound film.
• December 21 – The U.S. Congress approves the construction of Boulder Dam, later renamed Hoover Dam.

Oh yes, and the RCA Corporation built and sold the RCA Radiola 18 Tuned Radio Frequency Receiver

Were you around in 1928?  Probably not.  But the antique radio I just acquired was there to hear it all.  You can just imagine a family, “watching the radio”, as they listened to the news of Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Boulder Dam, and of course Mickey Mouse.  1928 was just a few years after the first radio broadcasts.  You an imagine that radio broadcasting was as exciting and full of possibilities as was the beginning of the public Internet in the mid 1990′s.

If you own one of these older radio’s you have at least three things.  First, you have a piece of history.  Second, you have an example of early radio receiver design that is not around any more.  And third, you have a usable radio that you can use everyday.  The AM broadcast spectrum has not changed much since 1928 so your vintage radio will still be able to receive the AM broadcast band as it exists today.

What people are willing to pay for these radio’s… well… depends on how much you value history.  There is a link below of a mint condition RCA Radiola 18 for sale for $450.  Lucky for me, I was able to get my fully restored and working RCA Radiola 18 and matching speaker for just $50.

Read the rest of this entry »

Radio is officially dead, especially when wireless internet access comes to your car.
–Seth Godin

When disruptive technologies comes along it sometimes requires us to look more deeply at the traditional concepts we have and the terms (words) that we use to describe these concepts.  There are many changes taking place simultaneously having complex interactions that no one can predict in advance.  Complicating all this is human reflexivity in response to technology and cultural changes.  What’s happening?  We are all living in a maelstrom of change.  For some, it is the biggest opportunity of their lives.  For others, it is nothing but fear, trepidation, and avoidance.  Change initiates the great sorting out of people and companies - an act of differentiating individuals and companies, one from another.

So what about Radio?  What is “radio” anyway?

Seth wrote the above in the context of Podcasting back in 2005.  There is a segment of the time of day that each of us prefers to listen to media that is limited to an aural presentation.  One of these places is your car.  When the wireless internet comes to your car will “radio” be dead?

When wireless internet comes to your car in a “taken for granted reality” sort of way what will take a hit for sure is your traditional AM/FM radio.  What will also take a hit is your local radio stations.  Local radio stations along with the traditional delivery mechanism of limited reach (transmitters, antennas, and power) may be in a fight for their life.  The FCC granted your local radio station a license to operate at a certain frequency within a certain limited spectrum of available frequencies.  They (your local radio station) have a privileged position due to scarcity of available frequency spectrum and the reach of the traditional distribution mechanism.  You (the consumer; the listener) don’t have much of a choice when listening to your AM/FM radio in the car.  Locality and limited choices may trump content as a preference for your listening.

What if the spectrum of  available frequencies for AM/FM radio was infinite?  And what if no one needed a license from the FCC to broadcast into that radio in your car?  What if the reach of your radio was not just the local stations but stations anywhere in the world?  What if, as a listener, you had infinite choices?

Read the rest of this entry »

Check this link out for a huge collection of  vintage e-books related to Radio Theory, Electrical Engineering, Vacuum Tube Theory, Audio Amplifiers, Test Equipment, and much more

http://www.tubebooks.org/technical_books_online.htm

The Pew Internet Project has put together a retrospective of the past 150 years of communications. 

You can find a link to the full paper (24 pages) at the end of this posting.

In addition to the historical facts, this paper includes some interesting predictions made in the historical context in which these communications inventions emerged.

Here are a few predictions about radio from the time:

Sir William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, a Scottish mathematician and physicist, is quoted as saying in 1897:

Radio has no future.

According to a report in Dunlap’s Radio and Television Almanac, Sir John Wolfe-Barry remarked at a meeting of stockholders of the Western Telegraph Company in 1907:

…As far as I can judge, I do not look upon any system of wireless telegraphy as a serious competitor with our cables. Some years ago I said the same thing and nothing has since occurred to alter my views.

A June 1920 article in Electrical Experimenter titled “Newsophone to Supplant Newspapers” reported on an idea for a news service delivered via recorded telephone messages and also predicted the:

 radio distribution of news by central news agencies in the larger cities to thousands of radio stations in all parts of the world” leading to a time when “anyone can simply listen in on their pocket wireless set.

H.G. Wells wrote in “The Way the World is Going” in 1925: 

I have anticipated radio’s complete disappearance…confident that the unfortunate people, who must now subdue themselves to listening in, will soon find a better pastime for their leisure.

In 1913 Lee de Forest, inventor of the audion tube, a device that makes radio broadcasting possible, was brought to trial on charges of fraudulently using the U.S. mails to sell the public stock in the Radio Telephone Company. In the court proceedings, the district attorney charged that:

De Forest has said in many newspapers and over his signature that it would be possible to transmit human voice across the Atlantic before many years. Based on these absurd and deliberately misleading statements, the misguided public…has been persuaded to purchase stock in his company…

De Forest was acquitted, but the judge advised him

to get a common garden-variety of job and stick to it.

Here is the full paper -
Read the rest of this entry »

“Never operate any transmitter that isn’t heavy enough to kill you if it falls over” - W4BVT

Take a look -

Remembering the past.  Drake, Collins, Heathkit, and more.
Here are resources to get you linked up with the history of Amateur and Broadcast radio.

Drake, Collins, and Heathkit Radios
Vintage radio refurbishing and restoration (pictures)
http://www.wb4hfn.com

Drake Virtua Museum
http://www.dproducts.be/DRAKE_MUSEUM

Antique Radio Parts
http://www.tubesandmore.com

Boat Anchor Manual Archive
http://bama.edebris.com/manuals

Nostalgia Air – Online Antique and Vintage Radio References
http://www.nostalgiaair.org

Second Date:
Review of the Degen DE1123 DSP AM/FM/SW Pocket Radio with 1GB MP3 Player & Recorder

Read our related posting – Review of the DEGEN DE1123

Cheap Date

This a follow-up to my experience with the Degen DE1123 “do it all” AM/FM/SW radio, recorder, and MP3 player.

Now that I have had this “device” for a few weeks, here are some further thoughts and observations.

Overall, this is a very cheaply made device.  The slide switch on the left hand side is probably the weakest of the controls.  It is hard to move and position at the right setting.  The plastic case is thin and does not have a good feel.

The device packs a great deal of capability.  It can “do it all” for $79.  Here is what I use it for.

Findings

1. I found that it is an excellent voice recorder.  It has a build in Microphone and records at the proper bit rate for voice recording quality balanced against recorded file size.  I use it extensively for recording conference calls which I attend daily for 3 to 5 hrs a day.  I did not expect to use it for this purpose – and that it works as well as does is a surprise.
2. I use it to listen to recorded audio books.  I read or listen to a couple of books a week.  The DEG1123 is better than my undocked Apple iPod Touch since the DEGEN has a much better speaker than the internal speaker in the iPod Touch. 
3. Of course, the prime use for which I purchased the DEGEN was to time shift radio programs which were not available as podcasts and for which I am not able to arrange “appointment listening”.
4. The ability to record 70 hrs of audio either directly from the radio (AM/FM/SW) or from the built-in microphone is the real real value of this $79 device.
5. Transferring files to/from a PC with the supplied USB cable is fast and easy
6. The AM/FM/SW radio section is acceptable.  I live near Chicago with power-house radio stations.  So reception on this radio is not a problem.
7. With the supplied 3 x 650 ma batteries the run time is about 18 hrs.
8. My biggest gripe is the audio record volume.  When recording directly from the radio the actual recorded audio when played back is only 1/2 the volume level when recording.  The only way to get around this is to plug the headphones in when recording and crank it up.  Alternatively, post process the audio with a free open source program like Audacity and increase the volume.

When “Cheap” is better than “Insanely Great”

As odd as it might seem the real value of this radio is that it is cheap and almost “disposable”.  That is, I would never think of taking my $200+ Apple iPod Touch for a bike ride – but I will take the DEGEN.  The batteries in the DEGEN are 3xAAA – you can change them on the fly – not so with the Apple iPod Touch with its internal proprietary battery pack.  The playback on an undocked iPod Touch through its internal speaker – can’t compare with the DEGEN front mounted large speaker.

The face-down smash test.  I accidentally dropped the DEGEN 1123 from a height of 4 feet on to a hardwood floor.  The DEGEN landed perfectly face-down causing the battery compartment cover to fly off.  The 3 x AAA batteries were ejected and rolled across the floor.  I retrieved the batteries and put them back in the compartment.  It radio worked.

Bottom line, sometimes cheap and disposable with good capability is better than “Insanely Great”.

Go buy a DEGEN 1123 and enjoy a cheap date.

Here is the Manual for the DEGEN 1123 - http://frrl.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/degen1123_manual.pdf

Review of the Degen DE1123 DSP AM/FM/SW Pocket Radio with 1GB MP3 Player & Recorder

Providing a valuable service

From the “We wasted our money on this so you don’t have to” department… “

So who needs another portable AM/FM/SW radio – certainly not me.  Or do I?

Innovation

There is really only one reason I bought this radio – it has one innovative feature that is really valuable to me – the ability to directly record to its built-in 1 GB memory.  When listening to any station on AM/FM/SW hit the record button and you can both listen and record up to 69 hrs of audio.

The radio goes for $79 at Amazon.com.  I purchased the radio from Amazon.com, no tax, and free shipping.  The radio arrived in about 5 days.

Here’s what you get

1. The radio
2. Three AAA rechargable ni-mh 650 mAh batteries
3. USB cable
4. earbuds
5. carrying case
6. Wall charger (accepts USB cable)
7. An interesting manual written in “Chinenglish”

First Impressions

Fist impressions is that this is a very cheaply made radio.  The plastic case is very thin; the buttons are hard to push; and the slide switch which switches modes from FM/AM-SW/MP3/Record is going to be the first thing to break.

My second impression… is that my first impression is correct.

So, getting past that, lets turn the radio on.  After putting the batteries in and firing the radio up the first thing you will find in AM mode is that the factory default step between stations in not appropriate for the US.  Get the magnifying glass and the “Chinenglish” manual and set the AM station set size to 10 KHz.

Ready to go.  The user interface to this radio is not at all intuitive – you need to read the manual.  A little bit of intellectual elbow grease and you will have it down in 30 minutes or so.

Where’s the Beef?

So, lets get to the beef – the ability to record any station you are listening to into its 1 GB internal memory.

The good

1. It does in fact work.  Record any station you can tune.
2. Stores up to 70 hrs of audio neatly arranged in files.  Each time you hit the record button a new file is created
3. You can play recorded audio back through the radio
4. Plug in the USB cable and copy the WAV files to your personal computer
5. Charge the supplied AAA batteries in the radio.

Some more good features

1. This radio will play MP3 files.  Once connected to your personal computer via the USB cable drag any MP3 file to the device.
2. The radio has a built-in microphone for voice recording,  Record any audio.  The mic is very sensitive.
3. Use it for fie storage – 1GB – put anything on there that you want.

The not so good

Audio record levels

There is one very disappointing attribute of the the voice recording – the audio level.  The recorded audio is only about 1/2 the level that you will hear when listening in real time.  The radio has a digital volume control and indicator.  The max setting is 31.  A normal listening level is 15.  If you record at 15 you will have to playback at near max volume setting – 31.

The manual warns you about this.  They recommend that you set the volume to max when recording and connect the earbuds.  I assume that they don’t expect you to listen to it in this mode.  In any case, the volume you hear when recording is not the volume you will get on playback – the audio volume is reduced to about 1/2.

Mitigation Strategy for Audio recording levels

Not too much of a problem since I would simply copy these recordings off of the device and place them on my PC for later listening.  One can fix the audio level problem with fee software such as Audacity and then re/save the file back to disk on the PC or transfer it back to the device.

Tuning

Painful!  There is no VFO, wheel, or direct entry of frequency.  You can press and hold the freq up/down button but it will stop on anything strong including interference.  Manually trying to get to a specific frequency on SW is painful.  Store those frequencies in the 100 presets.

“I forgot”

Take the batteries out and lose the time, date, and AM tuning step.

Some interesting other features

1. Digital signal strength meter – very nice
2. Sleep timer ( 5 to 90 minutes)
3. Time and date
4. SW (2.30 MHz to 23 MHz )
5. Also available in 2GB and 4GB models (have not seen these advertised as of yet)
6. Presets 225 – FM(100) MW (25) SW (100)
7. ATS (Auto Scan and store of active frequencies in a band)
8. Battery power levels
9. Charge from your PC when connected to the USB port

Wish that it had…

1. Timer to start recording.  That is, let me set a recording start/end time and  mute the audio.
2. Better construction
3. Expandability of the built-in memory – but 69 hrs of recording seems to be more than adequate with 1GB internal
4. Let me set the recording quality.  I’d take better quality at half the recording duration.
5. Always-on back light
6. Built-in Cappuccino maker

Other Alternatives

The only other alternative that I know of at this time is the C.Crane Witness.  The Witness is more than double the price.  The Witness has double the memory (and expandable) and looks to be of far better construction from the picture on the CCradio web site – but no Shortwave !!

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/am-fm-radios/cc-witness.aspx

Conclusion

This radio does exactly what I want – record any AM/FM/SW station that I am listening to with up to 70 hrs or recording time.  However, there are some bumps in the road.  The biggest bump in the road is the record audio level which is only about 1/2 the level of the orginal.

The DEGEN1123 barely gets gets a pass.  I give it a D+ due to its cheap construction and the record audio level problem.  At $79 it will be a good value for a AM/FM/SW portable radio IFF (If and only if for you logic fans)  you have the burning desire or need to record broadcast terrestrial radio stations.  If you do not highly value this feature – then there are far better radios out there at about 1/2 the price.

“Please copy the files frequently.  Our company will not answer for the data destroying and losing”

“The functions and LCD displays will be changed because of the updated software, please take the unit as the standard.”

“While tuning the stations, you had better get very close to the window or stand on the outdoor field in order to avoid and disturb and gain the best reception”

Plus, if you feel you are ripped off, then read the “Chinglish” manual for some “free” entertainment.

Resources

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/am-fm-radios/cc-witness.aspx

You can see that the CC Witness is a different anaimal at about twice the price and perhaps 4 times the features and quality.
Manual for the C. Crane CC Witness – http://frrl.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cc-witness.pdf

DEGEN1123 on Amazon.com

The Future of Satellite Radio: What Satellite Radio can learn from Motorola Iridium

Related Articles:

Postscript: Who is the audience for Shortwave Radio?
Global Internet Distribution of Cultural Media: How Internet Radio was oh so 5 minutes ago
Terrestrial Broadcast Radio: The end of an era?

This is a follow-on to a number of posts on this site on the subject of terrestrial and internet radio.  See references above.

On a Tear

I am on sort of a tear regarding terrestrial radio and internet radio and what might be the future for both.  Looking over some past issues of Fortune magazine there was an article in the March 13′th issue on Satellite Radio.

It begs the question – What is the positioning of satellite radio in the context of conventional terrestrial radio and Internet Radio (Streaming media)?  How does Satellite Radio fit into the picture?  What can Satellite radio learn from similar endeavors?

The state of Satellite Radio today

The March 13′th issue of Fortune on Sirius is mostly about CEO Mel Karmazin and his attempt to rescue XM Sirius from bankruptcy with a $350 million dollar injection of capital.  The Sirius XM stock price has fallen by 98% trading at 20 cents per share.  In addition XM Sirius is saddled with $995 million of maturing debt.

How is Sirius XM Satellite Radio doing these days?

Over the years Sirius and XM have been absolute horror shows for investors. The duo rang up $3 billion in debt, tallied cumulative operating losses in excess of nearly $10 billion, and since 2004 lost shareholders a combined $15 billion in stock market capitalization. As recently as March 2 – before all the i’s were dotted on the Liberty deal – Sirius XM issued an ominous warning. Explaining the reasons it would be late filing its 2008 annual report, the company said it had not yet completed “its evaluation as to whether substantial doubt exists relative to the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

Ok, and regarding the up front costs and when investors will see a profit?

Read the rest of this entry »

Global Internet Distribution of Cultural Media:
How Internet Radio was oh so 5 minutes ago

Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox

While at the local Frys’s Electronics I saw a bunch of Internet radios from Aluratek. Most of the models were in the $100 price range which is typical of appliance design internet radios.

However, there was one device available for $29.  This was advertised as a USB Internet Radio Jukebox.  A recent issue of Monitoring Times had a review of this device.  The reviewer in Monitoring Times was not too impressed with the USB Internet Radio.  My guess from the review was that what you really got in the Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox was a standard USB memory stick with software.  So, I passed it by.

On the way home I was wondering what Internet source was feeding the Aluratek radios.  I knew about Reciva as a major site that feeds some Internet radios.  But what about the Aluratek?  Did Reciva feed Aluratek?

Oh Grasshopper

Well, who cares anyway.  I have all the internet radio I can deal with.  I have the Apple iPod Touch with all those great application plus I know about Reciva.  Between the iPod Touch applications and Reciva I have everything I need.  Oh Grasshopper.

“Quickly as you can, snatch the pebble from my hand.” The young Caine tries and fails. “When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave. -Master Kan

When I got home I did a bit of research.  What I discovered was that vTuner feeds Aluratek appliance Internet radios.  My conclusion was based on the fact that I discovered that the vTuner site cites Aluratek as a device maker partner.

vTuner Internet Media feed and receiver application

Go to the vTuner site and what do you find?  For $29 – as a one-time fee – you can download software to your PC to get access to Internet distribution of media.  So I suspect that the Aluratek USB internet radio is some version of this software on a traditional USB memory stick.

vTuner allows a 15 day free trial of the software.  So, I gave it a shot.  This is some really great stuff.

The differentiators – Reciva vs vTuner

At the time of this writing Reciva is pure audio.  vTuner adds video to the audio offering and tight integration with Real Player.  This is some really great stuff.

Redefining the offering.  Internet Radio to Internet Media

At some point one needs to redefine the language with regard to these devices.  These are not Internet “radios” ( one infers a limitation to audio) but these are Internet media distribution services in the broadest sense of the word.  These devices collapse the traditional distinction between radio and television as differentiated by the appliance needed to receive these types of media.

Basically, anything that can be digitized, coded, and pushed down an internet pipe is fair game.  This includes radio (audio), television (video), web cams, scanners, and everything else that can be tuned into bits and recovered at the other end.

A real win with Real Player

There is another real win with vTuner over Reciva.  And that real win is the tight integration with Real Player.

vTuner integrates with Real Player and offers a feature to record just about anything you are listening to or watching.  Real Player automatically tags the media that you are listening to or watching  and places it into its media library on your PC. This is really a great feature.

There are some media streams that are protected and can not be recorded.

“Enough is never enough” – Ferengi Rules of Acquisition

Here’s a partial summary of what you get with vTuner not in Reciva

Television (including distance learning)

There are many categories of television stations.  Some of the categories are College, Government, Public, Religious, Sports, variety, and a number of other categories.  Nearly one half of the 49 College television programming is Distance Learning. If you are into ad hoc or ala carte education then you might enjoy this

Web Cams

There are also a large number of web cams.  Want to see the live traffic in Hong Kong or Belfast Northern Ireland? Then take a look.  Want to look at Burbon Street in New Orleans? That is there as well.  Do you want to see research experiments in progress?  How about the Pitch Drop Experiment in Brisbane Australia?  Don’t know what it is?  Then find out.

Scanners

You can listen to about 100 scanners across the United States and a few across the world.

Amateur Radio Repeaters

At the time of this writing, there is one Amateur Radio Repeater streaming audio to vTuner

Conclusion

The term “Internet Radio” applied to infrastructure systems such a vTuner is a misnomer.  The general public hearing the term “Internet Radio” associates and infers the traditional meaning of radio with all its limitations.  The limitation of audio associated with ‘Radio” is no such limitation of Global Internet Media Distributors like vTuner.

So for now, go and download the free 15 day trial of vTuner and have some fun.

Watch for our follow-up posting on the societal and cultural implications on importing and exporting cultural media.

Resources

http://vtuner.com/

https://www.reciva.com/

Here is another USB-based device  http://en.muzee.net/index_flash.html

It’s a good bet that all of these USB devices are nothing but some version of the vTuner software made to run on a traditional USB memory stick.  The advantage is that all the configuration and saved stations are on the USB stick and can taken from PC to PC.  The downside, is that you have another device to deal with.  vTuner software is $19.95 at the time of this writing.  The question would be – If you buy the vTuner software on how many PC’s can you install the software?  If the answer is only one, then it’s probably better to have the USB stick.

Images Gallery

Postscript: Who is the audience for Shortwave Radio?

This is a postscript to our article:  Terrestrial Broadcast Radio: The end of an era?
The quote below is from a Monitoring Times article cited in the original posting:
A Tuning Point for International Broadcasting: what does the future hold for shortwave.

Separating medium from message or specifically, separating the method of distribution from the content (station programming) begs the question of the identification of the audience segment(s) of shortwave listeners.

By observation, there are individuals that love dragging out the old Zenith Trans-Oceanic receiver or similar classic receiver, checking the schedule of shortwave broadcasters (time and frequency), tuning in and listening.

In contrast, there are individuals that will go to a web site like Reciva or directly to an International broadcasters web site and listen to via the Internet.

Is it about the technology of distribution or the stations programming/content?

The question is, what are these two representative individuals after?  Assuming one has internet access why would one choose to listen via a traditional RF/radio rather than the internet?  Certainly, there is a hurdle listening via the RF/radio – one has to deal with fading, finding the frequency at the chosen listening time, and if the gods of propagation are not on your side, no amount of RF power is going to get the signal to your radio.

As Dieter Weirich of Deutsche Welle observes, there may be a segment of Shortwave listeners who listen to Shortwave simply because of the technology of distribution with the content being, more or less, irrelevant.  Certainly, choosing this segment as some sort of focus group to recommend or suggest programming will send an International broadcaster down the wrong path.

It makes far less difference to the station how the listener accessed the content, whether via shortwave, satellite, the Internet or CBC Overnight.  If the listener’s focus is content the station is interested in hearing from him or her.  But if the focus is confined to running up verification numbers, that relationship is not likely to be very welcome.

The article cited above and the quote was written 10 years ago.  Does anyone really ask for QSL cards from International broadcast stations in 2009?  I don’t think so.  That is a legacy of the past motivated by the lack of ubiquitous global communication.

One wonders, in 2009, how important is all this (expensive) RF infrastructure to International broadcasters when we consider these aspects:

1. the audience that listens via traditional RF/radio may not be the target audience that the station is seeking.  ( These folks listen more because of the method of distribution (technology) rather than the content of the programming).  Why retain a distribution to an audience that you, as the International broadcaster, is not interested in pursuing?
2. RF distribution of content is far more capital intensive and difficult than Internet distribution
3. Internet distribution is in ascent; RF distribution is in decline.

The “true” shortwave listener by self-identification

With all this in mind, perhaps the only legitimate audience for International broadcasters are the folks that listen via the Internet.

Folks listening via the Internet have self-identified themselves as focusing on the stations content/programming as most important when other technology options are available.  Folks listening via RF/Radio have self-identified themselves as more interested in the distribution technology than the content since they have chosen a sub optional distribution method when superior methods were available ( i.e. the Internet).

So it comes down to this.  The “real” shortwave listeners are listening via the Internet.  The people with the RF/Radios – what are they after – really?  If the real “shortwave listeners” (the audience that the broadcaster is interested in) are listening via the Internet then we have redefined the traditional language.  Shortwave listeners (as traditionally defined using a RF/Radio) are NOT the audience International Broadcasters are seeking – the “Internet Listeners” are the true audience of the International broadcasters.

It’s clear that disruptive technologies and disruptive innovation also disrupts and redefines traditional language as well as business models, markets, market segments, and the identity of traditional organizations and corporations.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Terrestrial Broadcast Radio: The end of an era?

If you are a regular reader of this blog it should be no secret – I have an Apple iPod Touch and I am diggin’ it.  Before you spend several hundred dollars on a Wi-Fi radio you might want to see what the Apple iPod Touch – or some of your existing technology - can offer you.

What is Wi-Fi Radio?

“Imagine listening to more than 5,000 radio stations from all over the world in a radio in your home, office or hotel.

Internet radio stations offer an endless audio entertainment. Some of it is a simultaneous broadcast from NPR, ESPN, the BBC and so on. Others are Internet-only stations that serve both mainstream and niche tastes. The variety is staggering, all of it is free, and it is largely uncluttered by ads.

You tune into radio shows just like you have for decades, but the antennas of the radios are internal Wi-Fi that connect to a wireless home network. The reception is excellent: the wi-fi radio can pull in thousands of Internet radio stations from all over the world, without a single pop of static. It can also play podcasts, a copious source of free, generally ad-free prerecorded audio programs. The radio comes with several Internet stations already listed in the menus, sorted either by genre (Comedy, Kids, Latin, Hip-hop and so on) or by geographical location. At the service platform – wifi-radio.biz- you can easily add new stations of your choosing.”

What’s at the Apple Application Store for Wi-Fi Radio?

There are an amazing number of free applications in the App Store for the iPhone and the iPod Touch that can get you linked into Wi-Fi Radio.  Of course, for the Touch, you need to have a home wireless network.  If you are going to use the Touch as a Wi-Fi Radio appliance surrogate then get a docking station.  My 50 Watt iPod Docking station was $50 – a good buy.

These are just a few of the Application that can link you into WiFi Radio

• Shoutcast
• Stitcher
• iHeartRadio
• FlyCast
• NPR Mobile

All of these applications are free to download and use.  These applications provide you the capability to listen to literally thousands of radio stations.  The challenge of all of these applications is how to organize and present thousands of radio stations and internet streams in a usable form for search and selection.

Some of the applications organize the stations by genre; some by city then genre; some apps organize by categories (sports, technology, world news); one application is focused on public radio broadcasts and archives of those broadcasts.  Some applications will tell you how many people are listening to the stream.

A clever feature in iHeartRadio is the “Shake It” city and genre selector.  You “Shake it” and two lists roll – and where she stops – nobody knows.  You can choose to listen to that city and that genre of try your luck again.

The benefit of the iPod Touch – small size and portability

No matter what audio stream you choose, the real advantage of the Apple iPod Touch is the small size and portability.  Choose your favorite station and listen via the built-in speaker or use the ear buds.  In either case, you can carry the Touch in your pocket or place it on the table where ever you are.  The device is small and portable.  You can’t do that with the Wi-Fi radio pictured at the top of this posting.

No Apple iPod Touch?  Then use your PC or Mac

If you don’t have a small portable device on which you can listen to Wi-Fi radio then the next best thing is to use your PC or Mac desktop or laptop.  Again, no use to buy the $159 Wi-Fi radio appliance.

The big boys

The grand daddy web site of streaming radio/audio stations is Reciva.

You can get to Reciva via this link – https://www.reciva.com/

Registration is free.  You can listen without registering.  If you register you can build a list of favorite stations and listen with one click rather than searching for the station each time you go to the site.

How many audio streams are on Reciva?

Listen to any station, anywhere in the World  Reciva brings the world of Internet radio into your home. We provide access to an extremely diverse range of Internet radio stations from around the world, with broadcasts from nearly every country on the planet. We provide both live and on-demand (“listen again”) content and we support Real Audio, Windows and MP3 streams.”

Site Information: Our directory contains 16747 stations (and 21242 on-demand streams) in 280 locations and 67 genres.  86,145 registered users.

Reciva by Genre’s

|60s |70s |80s |90s |Adult |Adult Contemporary |Alternative |Ambient |Bluegrass |Blues |Bollywood |Christian |Christian Contemporary |Classic Rock |Classical |College |Comedy |Contemporary |Country |Dance |Discussion |Drum & Bass |Easy |Electronica |Experimental |Folk |Gospel |Greek |Hip Hop |Indian |Indie |Indie Rock |Jazz |Jungle |Kids |Latin Hits |New Age |News |News Talk |News Updates |Oldies |Pop |Public |Punk |R&B |Rap |Reggae |Religious |Rock |Soft Rock |Spanish |Sports |Talk |Top 40 |Unknown |Varied |World |World Africa |World Asia |World Caribbean |World Europe |World Mediterranean |World Middle East |World Tropical

Reciva By Location – Shortwave listeners, please take note

|Afghanistan |Albania |Algeria |American Samoa |Andorra |Angola |Anguilla |Antigua and Barbuda |Argentina |Armenia |Aruba |Australia |Austria |Azerbaijan |Bahamas |Bahrain |Bangladesh |Barbados |Belarus |Belgium |Belize |Benin |Bermuda |Bhutan |Bolivia |Bosnia and Herzegovina |Brazil |British Virgin Islands |Brunei |Bulgaria |Burkina Faso |Burma |Burundi |Cambodia |Cameroon |Canada |Cape Verde |Cayman Islands |Chad |Chile |China |Colombia |Comoros |Cook Islands |Costa Rica |Cote d’Ivoire |Croatia |Cuba |Cyprus |Czech Republic |Democratic Republic of the Congo |Denmark |Dominica |Dominican Republic |Ecuador |Egypt |El Salvador |Eritrea |Estonia |Ethiopia |Europe |Falkland Islands |Faroe Islands |Federated States of Micronesia |Fiji |Finland |France |French Guiana |French Polynesia |Gabon |Gaza Strip |Georgia |Germany |Ghana |Gibraltar |Greece |Grenada |Guadeloupe |Guam |Guatemala |Guernsey |Guinea |Guinea-Bissau |Guyana |Haiti |Holy See (Vatican City) |Honduras |Hong Kong |Hungary |Iceland |India |Indonesia |Internet Only |Iran |Iraq |Ireland |Isle of Man |Israel |Italy |Jamaica |Japan |Jersey |Jordan |Kazakhstan |Kenya |Kiribati |Korea |Kuwait |Kyrgyzstan |Laos |Latvia |Lebanon |Liechtenstein |Lithuania |Luxembourg |Macau |Macedonia |Madagascar |Malawi |Malaysia |Maldives |Mali |Malta |Martinique |Mauritania |Mauritius |Mayotte |Mexico |Middle East |Moldova |Monaco |Mongolia |Montserrat |Morocco |Mozambique |Namibia |Nepal |Netherlands |Netherlands Antilles |New Caledonia |New Zealand |Nicaragua |Nigeria |Norfolk Island |Northern Mariana Islands |Norway |Oman |Pakistan |Palau |Panama |Paraguay |Peru |Philippines |Poland |Portugal |Puerto Rico |Qatar |Republic of Korea |Republic of the Congo |Reunion |Romania |Russia |Rwanda |Saint Helena |Saint Kitts and Nevis |Saint Lucia |Saint Pierre and Miquelon |Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |Samoa |San Marino |Saudi Arabia |Senegal |Serbia and Montenegro |Seychelles |Sierra Leone |Singapore |Slovakia |Slovenia |Solomon Islands |South Africa |South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands |Spain |Sri Lanka |Sudan |Suriname |Swaziland |Sweden |Switzerland |Syria |Taiwan |Tajikistan |Tanzania |Thailand |Togo |Trinidad and Tobago |Tromelin Island |Tunisia |Turkey |Turks and Caicos Islands |Uganda |UK |Ukraine |United Arab Emirates |Uruguay |USA |Uzbekistan |Vanuatu |Venezuela |Vietnam |Virgin Islands |Wallis and Futuna |West Bank |Yemen |Zambia |Zimbabwe

What is the future of Terrestrial Broadcast radio?

So all of this begs the question – What is the future of Terrestrial Radio?

This blog is being written near Chicago, Illinois.  The 50,000 Watt blow torch AM radio station in the area is WLS.  On a business trip to Detroit Michigan I could not hear WLS on a radio near or in Detroit.  Fifty thousand watts and all the infrastructure to produce 50,000 Watts of RF energy could not make the trip 300 miles from Chicago.

But, in the hotel room with wireless internet I was able to listen to WLS in crystal clarity on my laptop – via Reciva.

The New Paradigm

Way back in 1997 Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School wrote a book: “The Innovator’s Dilemma When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail”.

From the work of Christensen came a number of new terms.  Among these were “Disruptive Technology” and “Disruptive Innovation”.

… a disruptive innovation is a technology, process, or business model that brings to a market a much more affordable product or service that is much simpler to use. It enables more consumers in that market to afford and/or have the skill to use the product or service. The change caused by such an innovation is so big that it eventually replaces, or disrupts, the established approach to providing that product or service.

Of course the disruptive technology is the Internet.  And what it disrupts, in this case, is the traditional delivery/distribution mechanism of “Radio”.  The term Radio is now in quotes as the disruptive technology put’s the term into question.  What is radio?

What do we mean by “Radio”?

It is important to make a distinction between the medium and the message.  Traditionally, these have been conflated.  Ten or twenty years ago when one heard the term “Radio” it generally denoted a delivery mechanism and an appliance that was designed specifically to receive that delivery.  What was delivered was a variety of audio content based on the market served.

So, “radio” mostly signified a form of delivery.  Shortwave Radio was also about delivery and also denoted a special type of content or programming.  You can read the sidebar’s for the special focus on Shortwave Radio.

So what happens when you radically separate content from delivery mechanism?  What happens when you free the content from the constraint of a particular delivery mechanism?

Disruption

The game changer is all about the opportunity of radical change in distribution and the radical reduction of cost of distribution.  Prior to the public Internet, radio RF was the only viable global delivery mechanism.  Distribution of content by RF can be expensive.  There are huge capital and infrastructure maintenance costs in RF distribution of any content targeted to a global audience.

When I posted the information on the radio station WLW - a 500,000 blow torch -  I found an article with an anecdotal comment that the street lights dimmed with this station went to full power.  That gives you some idea of the power required to run a one-half million watt radio station – the cost of distribution of the stations audio content.

Cost of distribution

With the Internet, what is the cost of distribution?  If WLW wanted to distribute it’s audio content via the internet what would be the ratio of costs of Internet distribution vs distribution via 500,000 Watts of RF?  The difference in cost is staggering.

What happens when the cost of distribution is reduced by many orders of magnitude and all distribution is worldwide by default?

It disrupts markets.  For example, WLS programs to the local Chicago area market within a competitive space of other local radio stations.  But what happens when it is as easy for a listener in Chicago to use an Internet Radio to listen to any radio station in any city in the United States or any city in the World?  The competitive landscape for WLS programming has now changed radically.  Geographic boundaries are erased.  WLS competitors are no longer limited to local radio stations.

The same disruption of distribution is now well known to newspapers and magazines.  Traditional newspapers and magazines are now affectionately known as the “dead tree edition”.  No longer do local newspapers compete only on a local basis only.  A person with a internet connection can view newspapers from a thousand different cities.

Who wants to wait for a magazine to be published on paper and delivered to your door step or the local news stand?  Again, its about distribution – cost and speed.  If I can get the information at the speed of light why would I prefer a delivery mechanism that only delays the information?

And the US Post Office?  The medium on which information rides is slow, cumbersome, and inefficient.  Again, I can send e-mail at the speed of light at nearly zero cost.  The US Post Office will charge me 40+ cents and take days to deliver my message.  What is the future for this business model and service?

New Vision; New Mission; New Goals; New Strategy

Let’s get back to radio.  If the playing field has been leveled on distribution so that no radio station has an advantage on distribution and geographic boundaries are erased then what remains?  Content.

Traditional shortwave radio stations will most likely be at a greater disadvantage than local stations.  The unique programming of traditional shortwave stations could be seen as irrelevant post Cold War. The advent of ubiquitous global communications over the past decade made possible by the internet has made the mystery of other cultures evaporate.  What is the reason for the existence  of shortwave radio?

“Radio” minus its unique distribution mechanism (RF) will collapse into the aggregate category of “content provider”.  These “radio stations” will enter a new competitive landscape along with “television”.  Like “radio” traditional “television” stations separated from their unique mechanism of distribution will also collapse into the aggregate category of “content provider”.  The same for traditional newspaper and magazine publishing – they are all (merely) “content provider’s” when stripped of their unique delivery and distribution mechanisms.

Digital Convergence of all content providers

Once distribution and delivery from all content providers converge in the digital internet pipe there is nothing to distinguish between “radio”, “television”, “newspaper”, “magazine” or anything else that was once distinguished by the method of delivery and specialized appliances for reception.

This creates a new competitive space for all content providers where there was none before.  This will cause all content providers to re/think and re/invent themselves.  At least it will present to them this opportunity.

What business are you in?

For these content/programming providers to redefine themselves might be the key to their survival.  How an organization or company defines itself limits them or positions them for new opportunities.  For example, at the turn of the 20′th century what business were Railroads in?  If Railroads had the idea that they were in the Transportation business as opposed to the Railroad business (=tracks and engines) then how much better would they be positioned at the dawn of aviation.

What about the Oil companies?  Are Oil companies in the oil business or are they in the “Energy business”?  If Oil companies understand themselves as fundamentally in the Energy business then they are well positioned for the future beyond the nations dependence on oil.

The same analogy can be applied to traditional radio stations.  For a radio station – what business is it in?

New Competitors

There will be some surprises.  A classic book on corporate competitive strategy is Michael Porters “Competitive Strategy”.  In that book Porter lays out five competitive forces that determine the intensity of competition of a particular market or industry.  One of those 5 forces is the threat of new entrants.  Some of the barriers to entry of new competitors are: high capital requirements and proprietary technology.

Decades ago the barriers to entry of new competitors into broadcast radio included huge capital requirements.  How much does it cost to build out the infrastructure for a new 50,000 Watt radio station?  Today in 2009, anyone with the technical knowledge of a high school student can set up a audio stream on Shout Cast and make the stream available globally.  Capital cost is negligible and technology is simple and free.  The barriers to entry in this area are nearly erased.

So the surprise might be new competitors that incumbents have never considered.  The same surprise was experienced by traditional brick and mortar bookstores when Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com bust onto the scene in 1995.  The business model of selling books at a discount on-line (enabled by the disruptive technology of the Internet) caught traditional booksellers off guard.  It took them many years to catch up to a competitor who entered the market from outside the traditional bookseller industry.

Ding – What do we do now?

One of my favorite quotes from Apple CEO Steve Jobs is: “I want to put a ding in the Universe”

Well, someone did, and it’s called the Internet.  Probably the most disruptive technology of the 20′th century.

Conclusion

So forget all this.  Let the corporate strategists figure it all out.
Let’s just have some fun listening to the “radio” – or whatever it is now.

If you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch – iHeartRadio, ShoutCast, FlyCast, or Stitcher in the App Store – free.
If you have a PC or Mac desktop or laptop -https://www.reciva.com/ is the hottest game in town.

References

The sidebar is from this article from a decade ago in Monitoring Times (January 1999) -  To their credit International Broadcasters were thinking about disruptive technologies and re/evaluating what business they were in against a changing and uncertain environment.
A Tuning Point for International Broadcasting: what does the future hold for shortwave.

Clayton Christensen’s web site -http://www.claytonchristensen.com/

A (old)  classic book on Corporate Competitive Strategy -
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (Hardcover) -  Michael E. Porter

One of the best books I have read on how to deal with strategic uncertainty.
The Strategy Paradox: Why committing to success leads to failure (and what to do about it)  by Michael E. Raynor

More on WLW the 500,000 Watt blow torch of  Cincinnati
http://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/cinc/wlwpix.htm

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Holy cow. What hath God wrought?  Someone has put 2-meter ham reception in a commercial AM/FM radio.  Check out the new C.Crane CCRadio-2 that has AM/FM/Weather/2-Meter Ham Band.

Previous versions of the CCRadio had AM/FM/Weather/TV-Audio.  In the age of digital television, the ability to receive analog TV audio is useless.  So, what do they pick as a replacement.  Wow – the 2-Meter Ham Radio Band.  Perhaps placing 2-meter ham band reception on the table top consumer radio may spur interest in Amateur Radio by ordinary citizens.

Here is what C.Crane  has to say about its new radio.

The radio designed for long-range AM Reception and now Emergencies!

The new CCRadio-2 has the same familiar look and layout as previous models of the CCRadio but with even better AM Reception and the addition of the 2-Meter Ham Band. The boost in AM performance comes from our patented Twin-Coil Ferrite(r) AM Antenna, and other improvements built into the CCRadio-2. AM stations continue to sound just right, thanks to audio that’s optimized for voice clarity. After you select a station, the CCRadio-2 evaluates the signal for several seconds and then locks in for the highest signal possible.

FM reception is a little better than the CCRadioplus while the Weather Band can keep you informed of any government-issued alerts. The addition of the 2-Meter Ham band may make the CCRadio-2 a life saver during an emergency like hurricane Katrina. 2-Meter Ham operators are early on the scene and they donate their time while handling perhaps 90% of the emergency coordination efforts. The CCRadio-2 can act like a simple radio scanner and search the five memories for ham operator communications. The sensitivity (squelch) can be adjusted for best results. More information about the 2-Meter Ham Band can be found at CCRadio.com\2-meter.

The CCRadio-2 comes in our original Black Mica or a new Titanium color. It features a brighter, clearer LCD display with a full backlight and three levels of adjustable brightness plus an “off ” setting. Five years ago we made changes to the durability of our CCRadio LCD display that have proven to be robust. Other features include: 5 memories per band (AM, FM, Weather and 2-Meter bands), adjustable display light, adjustable bass and treble, clock alarm, sleep timer, auto scan, stereo headphone jack, line-input jack, and line-output jack.

Weight: 4 lbs (without optional batteries) Size: 11″ W x 6.5″ H x 4″ D.

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/am-fm-radios/ccradio-2.aspx

The Collins designed, R390A/URR general coverage HF radio receiveris considered to be the finest HF radio receiver ever built. Tuning .5 to 31,999 mhz and employing 21 vacuum tubes and weighing in at 85 lbs, this electro-mechanical wonder was designed in the early 50′s and released for military use on February 24, 1954. Thanks to features such as a 6DC6 first RF amplifier, a suite of 4- Military Grade Collins mechanical filters teamed up with full tracking RF and IF sections, the R390A is capable of copying AM and CW signals down to its -143db noise floor, close to the galactic limit. All this while maintaining the capability to operate in high overload, strong signal environments…

History
http://www.r390a.com/html/history.htm
Technical
http://www.r390a.com/html/technical.htm

Detailed Technical Manual covering the operating, theory of operation, troubleshooting, maintenance, and much more.  If you ever wanted to know what is inside one of these 85 pound military monsters, then this is the manual for you.  309 pages.
R-390A/URR Technical Reference

Images of pallets of R-390′s awaiting recycling – Image one and Image two

A R-390 in action – makes a nice 85 pound desktop broadcast AM reciever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmatppABCo8

These radios regularily show up on e-bay

During World War II GI’s in foxholes in Europe and POW’s would build radios out of whatever was available. No matter how bad your situation you might be able to get a hold of some wire, a razor blade, and a pin or pencil.  If you had all these things you could build a simple receiver to hear local broadcasts.
These simple radios made by GI’sand POWs  during WWII were generically known as Fox Hole Radios.  Check out our collection of videos, other assets and build your own fox hole radio.  A good family project with your kid.

How to make a FoxHole Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skKmwT0EccE
Fox Hole radio by a 10 year old kid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj7yk4qZKOg&feature=related
Another kid tells his story – ( obviously a budding video producer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tlziPvw6hg.

The Technical Stuff

Cat’s Whisker Detector
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat’s-whisker_detector
Some History (read the disclaimer)
http://bizarrelabs.com/foxhole.htm

We have constructed a fully functional, fully integrated radio receiver, orders-of-magnitude smaller than any previous radio, from a single carbon nanotube. The single nanotube serves, at once, as all major components of a radio: antenna, tuner, amplifier, and demodulator. Moreover, the antenna and tuner are implemented in a radically different manner than traditionalradios, receiving signals via high frequency mechanicalvibrations of the nanotube rather than through traditional electrical means. We have already used the nanotube radio to receive and play music from FM radio transmissions such as Laylaby Eric Clapton (Derek and the Dominos) and the Beach Boy’s Good Vibrations. The nanotuberadio’s extremely small size could enable radical new applications such as radio controlled devices small enough to exist in the human bloodstream, or simply smaller, cheaper, and more efficient wireless devices such as cellular phones.

http://www.physics.berkeley.edu/research/zettl/projects/nanoradio/radio.html

CB folks do crazy stuff.

Check out this video of a car of a CB’er decked out with a 4,000 watt  mobile station.  Near the end of the video he keys up this setup and gets nearly 3,600 Watts on a power meter.

I have a suspicion that this is perhaps a bogus video.  The reason is that I have seen videos of other high power stations and usually high power knocks out or distorts the video image.  When this guy keys up 3,000+ watts about 15 feet from the video camera there is no affect on the video image.

http://www.worldwideamplifiers.com/index.html

See our related article on CB nostalgia
Uncle Eddy:  the black sheep of the family that Amateur Radio does not talk about

Scanner Listener? No mattter where you live in in the World, if you need frequency information for a business, public safety, or any radio service, then this is the site for you.  Includes the ability to map transmit locations using satellite maps. Download frequencies directly into your scanner.  Plus discussion forums and al the rest.  Check out the RadioReference site.

RadioReference.com is the world’s largest radio communications data provider, featuring a complete frequency database, trunked radio system information and FCC license data.

http://www.radioreference.com/

Introduction

Sometimes you just need to buy stuff just for fun. When the Baygen Freeplay Plus radio came on sale from C-Crane Radio ( http://www.ccrane.com ) for $89 including shipping and no tax we could not resist.

The Baygen plus has to be the best eccentric para military, gloom and doom radio you could possibly possess. It seems that the Baygen would add to the ambiance of listing to Coast to Coast AM on broadcast AM. Brother Stair on shortwave, and also Dr. Gene Scott on shortwave. It should be noted that Dr. Gene Scott passed away a few years ago but can still be heard on radio preaching and asking for money.

The Baygen is the optimum listening device for information on flying saucers, alien implants, shadow people, rods, trans-dimensional beings, time-travelers, magnetic therapy, end-time prophecy, and the odd mix of Dr Gene Scotts lectures of biblical theology and flying saucers – all of which makes up much of the Shortwave bands. You will probably find a melted Baygen in the ruins of the David Koresh compound at Waco Texas.

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s on broadcast shortwave?
Here is an excellent up-to-date resource.  Schedules pre-sorted by various criteria.  Also allows you to download schedules in various formats.
http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/

And a links page to various shortwave/DX clubs
http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/links.html

The basics of Software Defined Radio

by  Gerald Youngblood, AC5OG

A software defined radio for the masses Part 1
A software defined radio for the masses Part 2
A software defined radio for the masses Part 3
A software defined radio for the masses Part 4

Burt Fisher K1OIK strikes again on Software Defined Radio
We wrote an article on one of his videos
Here are all his videos (to date) on the FlexRadio 5000

Not YouTube savy?  Then Lisa Nova is here to help http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1aN7H1EmHM

We love Walmart

On the way out of the Walmart store – right where you check out - the place where smart merchandising people place items for those people who are impulse buyers and those who are unable to delay gratification – I saw a FM Radio for the price of one dollar.  For the exchange of one dollar in United States fiat currency I could have in my possession a FM radio.  Wow.

The radio runs on 2xAAA batteries, came with a earbuds, tunes the whole FM broadcast band, and has a light.  Wow.

The radio runs on 2xAAA batteries, came with a headset, tunes the whole FM broadcast band, and has a light.  Wow.

In a few moments, the prize was mine.

Can’t break old habits.

I have heard people tell stories of when they were a kid they liked to take things apart to see what was inside.  If you are a kid, maybe 5-10 years old, then its fun taking things apart but unfortunately sometimes they did not go back together.  Maybe your parents told you to stop doing this – taking things apart to see how they worked.  But for many kids, myself included, one could not resist taking things apart to see what is inside and what makes it work.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Watching” the Radio

Right now, in 2009, radio and “wireless communication” is ubiquitous and part of the landscape.  As such, no one really notices it.  It is a taken for granted reality of everyday life.

It’s hard for modern people to put themselves in the position of people in the early 1900′s when radio was a new invention.  Imagine, hearing voices and music from across the country, or across the world – without wires.  Instant communications.  You don’t have to wait for the newspaper to find out what was going on. Entertainment?  Sure.  Turn on the radio and hear Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, The Great Gildersleeve, The Inner Sanctum, Sam Spade, The Shadow,  GI Journal, and hundreds more.

It’s always interesting see pictures from the 1930′s and 1940′s of a family sitting in the living room “watching” the radio.  Watching the radio as if someone was talking directly to them – from hundreds or thousands of miles away.  And that is exactlywhat it was – astrounding.

Recovering the Past

I can only imagine that some folks who collect old broadcast radios have some sort of appreciation for this era.  When you get that radio from the 1920′s to 1940′s one can imagine how many families sat in front of that radio listing to music, news, or entertainment.  Perhaps, in 2009, that family has passed away.  But the radio, which you have in your hands right now, just may remember.  On that radio from the 1940′s perhaps they heard the call to buy war bonds.  Or, that was the radio on which they heard the start of the D-Day invasion, or the end of the war.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read our related article: Hands-on Electronics – Signal tracing a simple transmitter

Hog Heaven at the Mailbox

The good times just keep on rolling. 

Going out to the mail box I found a white envelope from CBC International.  I expected more of a box – but an envelope is what I got.  “You go to war with what you got.”  OK, I get it.

There was my copy of  The ‘Screwdrivers experts’ Guide: Do it yourself CB repair and modifications by Lou Franklin ( K6NH )

Could it get better? Yes, it was personally signed by Lou.  “Best Wishes, Lou Franklin”.  I am in hog heaven.

Economic Stimulus

You might think this posting is from our “We wasted our money on this so you don’t have to department.  Well, yes it is.  In these tough economic times you have to “spread the wealth” for the good of the country.  So I made this discretionary purchase – it was my patriotic duty.

But really, I wanted to see what was in this book – I could not find it in my local public library system.  This book is a companion to another book by Lou Franking “Understanding & Repairing CB Radios for the Professional Technician”

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Read the rest of this entry »

Hands-on Electronics – Signal tracing a simple transmitter
Or, How not to be an appliance operator

Is ham radio still about electronics?  If you think so, then this posting is for you.

You may want to read our nearly related article on the Heathkit radios (Collecting Heathkit Models SB-101,102 & HW 100,101 ).  That posting contains a high level conceptual explanation of how  the transmit section of those radios work.  We think that the Heathkit folks missed an opportunity in the education market.

Heathkit had a great platform in the SB and HW series of transceivers to serve as a course in electronics – learn as you build.  But that was not to be.  Perhaps an objection is that there were high voltages in the Heathkits – 800 volts on the plates of the tubes. So, sticking fingers in the wrong place in a Heathkit is going to get you zapped.   So maybe that would undermine ones joy of learning.

A learning strategy

Read the rest of this entry »

Software Defined Radio:
Burt Fishers (K1OIK) Review of FlexRadio 5000

We already wrote one article about Burt Fisher K1OIK.  This posting is just to draw your attention to Burts Review of a software defined radio – The FlexRadio 5000.

Folks reading reviews QST should be aware that their business model depends heavily on revenue from advertising.  Theoretically, it would not be to their benefit to write less then positive reviews of products – even if it was the truth of the matter.  For example, QST gets advertising dollars from FlexRadio.  If QST wrote a less than favorable review of the Flex Radio products then Flex may pull advertising revenue. 

This is the perennial collision of ethics and business.  Consume Reports maintains objectivity of product reviews by simply making the potential conflict of and advertising dollars vs objective reviews go away by accepting no advertising.  When was the last time you read in any QST review that any produt was not a wise purchase compared to other products on the market in the same category?

This is all to say, product review from real hams with no revenue at stake makes them more objective.  This is not to say they do a high quality or comprehensive review – its just to say that they don’t have a devil over one shoulder wispering revenue impact when they are doing product reviews.

In any case, here is a link to burts video review of the Flex Radio 5000.  This is the first in a series for the Flex Radio.  We suggest you subscribe to Burts YouTube channel

Burts YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/burt2481

Review of the Flex 5000A SDR Radio

Resources

Check out the WordPress auto generated related links about Ethics in Jouralism

Soon after that, Eidos threw a $%$#@  and withdrew their advertising from Gamespot. The rumur mill began grinding. The blogs began buzzing. Rumor has it that Gamespot lost hundred of thousands of dollars of future advertising revenue over that one bad review. Rumor has it that Jeff was sacrificed to the almighty dollar. Nobody knows how much of it is true, but the whole thing even made the front page of Slashdot. That’s about as big as a limited interest story like this gets.

Now, to be fair, nobody knows for sure that Jeff was fired for his review. I mean, it could be a coincidence that a respected, high profile, long-tenured writer was put out to pasture immediately after writing a bad review of a game that was responsible for tons of advertising revenue for his website. Maybe they were planning on firing him all along and were just victims of almost impossibly bad timing.

Jeff: Instant celebrity, official status as the “straight-shooting journalist who can’t be bought and sold.” Practically guaranteed another high-profile writing job, perhaps for an organization that understands that reviews are only as good as the perceived integrity of the reviewer.

http://themcp.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/the-ethics-of-journalism-in-games/?referer=sphere_related_content/

Shortwave on the Internet -
Medium vs Message

 Confounded and Conflated

When one talks about listening to “Short Wave” (radio) what does that mean?  Really, the communication is confounded in the sense that “Listening to Shortwave Radio” conflates the medium and the message.  The medium and the message are separable.

It the past – oh so 5 minutes ago – certain messages could only be communicated through a specific medium.  For example, international broadcasts via RF transmissions in the Shortwave RF spectrum.  But what happens when communications become aligned with new mediums?  Then when one says, “I am listening to Shortwave Radio” maybe post modern people don’t understand what you mean. 

What you are really telling them ”I am listening to shortwave” is that you are listening to a medium – but what is the message?  When messages that have been so historically aligned with a specific and irrevocable medum become detached then talk about the medium (Shortwave) makes no sense.

What about Television?  “I am watching Television”.  Now you are talking about an appliance.  Why would you watch an appliance?  You would watch an appliance if that was the only medium by which you could recieve certain types of communications – Video communications in the case of a TV.

“I am on the Telephone”.  Get it?  The Telephone is an appliance for which only certain messages, based on  circumstance, can be communicated.

The Internet Changes Everything

In a word – Convergence.  Convergence enabled by the Internet changes everything.  Now, you don’t need a Television to watch Television – you can watch “Television” on the Internet  ( http://abc.go.com )without a Television.  You don’t need a Telephone to use the Telephone – you can use Voice Over IP on the Internet for phone calls without a Telephone applicance.

When the idea of convergence becomes part of the taken-for-granted landscape then folks talking about listening to the Radio appliance, watching the Television appliance, and talking on the Telephone appliance will seem strange.  You can do all this on a converged device – such as an apple iPhone or any Internet-connected PC desktop of Laptop.

All of this applies to the traditional sense of “Listening to Shortwave Radio”.  What one means in the legacy sense of this statement is that they are probably listening to international broadcasts.  So why not say “I am listening to International Broadcasts”?  Because the medium (RF Shortwave) has so long been indelibly linked to the message.  It was the only way (the appliance) one could get the message.

Prometheus unbound

International Broadcasts have been liberated from the appliance

Listen to any station, anywhere in the World

Reciva brings the world of Internet radio into your home. We provide access to an extremely diverse range of Internet radio stations from around the world, with broadcasts from nearly every country on the planet. We provide both live and on-demand (“listen again”) content and we support Real Audio, Windows and MP3 streams.

Our directory contains 15062 stations (and 21242 on-demand streams) in 277 locations and 65 genres.

Check out the web site that powers most of WiFi Radio

https://www.reciva.com/

“Gett’in it”

If you read the title of our posting “Shortwave on the Internet’ and it didn’t bother you as nosensible then now, if you “got it”, then “Shortwave on the Internet” should be incomprehensible.  How can you listen to an appliance on the Internet?

Conclusion

All of our postings have a summary in conclusion.  This one is simple – “Go Listen” – https://www.reciva.com/

Other resources

“Television” liberated from the Televsion appliance
http://hulu.com
http://fancast.com

Many people today spin the dials and twist the knobs on a radio without really knowing what is going on inside that black box.

You can be a person who likes to listen to radio and that is the real deal of why broadcast radio exists.

Growing in popularity are cable shows such as “How its made”,  ”Batteries not included” and other shows that tell you how things work and how things are made.

As a kid you may have been one of those folks who liked to take things apart to see how they worked.  Parents sometimes did not like this.  One of our friends who has a son of about 10 years old asked “What’s inside Diamond?”.  Diamond was the family dog.

But now we are all adults and can take apart anything we want – but maybe not Diamond.

So what is inside the black box of shortwave radio?

We stumbled across a free ebook written by a retired Broadcast Engineer.  This is an excellent book on what is inside a glowing tube shortwave radio from a detailed technical perspective.

We like this book for a couple of reasons. 

First, there is considerable technical explanation in this book.  It goes a long way to teach you about electronics - just what you need to know – to understand how all the component stages of a radio come together to get the RF off he “air” and into your ear. 

Second, the book uses a real example - the RCA model 8Q2 Shortwave Radio.  This radio represents the common technology of the “All American Five” design used in radios from 1930-1960.  So this book is not a book on “theory” without practical application.  In fact, the book is so detailed that just about every component in the radio is explained.

The tile of the book is The Vacuum Tube Shortwave Radio: Understanding and Troubleshooting. 
The author is Richard McWhorter. 

The book is 212 pages in length provided as a PDF.

The PDF of the book is password protected.
The password is “allamericanfiveradio”

The authors download web site is: http://www.vacuumtuberadio.com/vacuumtuberadio/

In case that site disappears we snagged a copy here.

The author has a ton (81+) of electronics education and vintage radio videos on YouTube.
Check out the authors videos on YouTube – “AllAmericanFiveRadio”