AM Radio ======== Before the days of the internet, I classified people into two camps: radio people and TV people. I don't think I was unusual in doing so. TV people -- those who owned TVs -- were the dominant majority. But I knew a number of families who had no TV and most viewed it as a moral choice. They were avoiding the impact of mass media biases, advertising, and the 'dumbing down' of the culture, although no one used that phrasing back then. Most non-TV people were radio people. They were book people. I lived in an area full of back-to-the-landers, hippies, draft dodgers, environ- mentalists and various dissenting religious types. They were thoughtful. A bit more introspective. I had different kinds of interactions and conversations with them. I've been thinking about them a lot lately, because I've noticed how many gopher and gemini users are "Radio People" of one sort or another, whether that involves streaming, podcasts, ham, shortwave or AM DXing. I guess text and audio are connected in the sense that they are literary/ philosophical rather than visual/ spectacular. A while ago on the circumlunar space bulletin board, Joneworlds wrote some pretty interesting stuff about how the particular sound of AM radio makes you feel. That spawned a really wonderful technical-philosophical conversation and I realized then that I have a real connection with the AM sound too. I've been listening to AM stations my whole life. A lot of it was news and sports, but I like the sound of music on AM too. I think that admission -- and my unending tinnitus -- rules me out as an audiophile. :) The last AM station in my town moved to FM over a decade ago. The closest remaining AM station is about 70 miles away. It's "listenable," but it fades in and out depending on where you are in town. A single station doesn't make for much variety either, though Radio NL is better than most in that respect, with a mix of news, talk shows, and music. Anyways, after Joneworlds' post, I started thinking that I wanted an AM transmitter, so that I could put whatever I wanted on the AM band. I already have an FM transmitter. I bought it to listen to radio while working out in the yard. But I got more than I bargained for: it's a "Drive-By Broadcasting DGX1050." Apparently they were made in the 90s for real estate agents to use for open houses. Mine originally shipped in the summer of 1997 (it came with the original box, Fedex labels and all). It was supposedly FCC approved (so it should be underpowered by Canadian standards), but it's way more powerful than the FCC standard. It shouldn't broadcast much more than 200 feet. But if I put it in the windowless part of my basement with the antenna down, it broadcasts for about a one block radius. If I put the antenna up the coverage is about five blocks! I'd probably be able to cover most of the town if I brought it upstairs. Since it's not Industry Canada approved, I hesitate to make much use of it.[1] But back to the main point: the AM radio bug had struck and I started to investigate transmitters. I don't have a lot of experience with soldering, so it seemed wise to start with a project that would involve simple soldering, to give me an opportunity to improve my technique. I ended up buying a transmitter board[2] and then getting all of the parts (housing, terminals, jacks, switches, LED, etc.) to make a nice enclosure. There are pics on the main page of my phlog. This winter, I'd like to build a transmitter circuit. I've found two that look really promising: *Robert Gibbons' SimpleAM Plus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnG9EMGByg *All-American Five's Solid State AM Transmitter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jV5rfc-QhA My current AM transmitter works quite well, though I had to dig out a 9 volt power supply from the 1980s to eliminate electrical hum. As for range, it covers my yard and probably a house on each side of me. I doubt anyone tunes in, since AM is such a dead space, but you never know. During the day, if you're on my block, you might catch a football game, some oldies or twangy country music, a bit of Radio Havana, or something else. There's so much on the internet to stream ... and it sounds so good on AM! -------- [1] There are only three micro- broadcasting sets approved by Industry Canada: - Decade MS-100 FM transmitter - Whole House FM transmitter 3.0 - Chezradio Procaster AM transmitter Unlike the US, it's actually illegal to DIY a transmitter in Canada -- unless you submit it for approval, which is a costly process. [2] You can find the board schematics at https://github.com/coopzone-dc/ AM-Modulator-v2. Coopzone sells them on eBay.