Wow, radio is getting crappy, is nothing sacred

I have a solution. A year or so my father gave me one of those devices that you can broadcast line of sight to an FM tuner. You know a little tweak here, a little tweak there as well as a power increase and WTGO is on the air. Just kidding, I know the fines are enormous for that sort of thing. I wonder if I can use my TV antenna as a tower:scratch2:.

You may as well buy a transmitter designed just for broadcasting. You can buy legal part 15 type FM transmitters. Hook it up to a dipole and broadcast whatever music you want. It's legal if you follow the part 15 rules. You could cover a few houses if you wanted or more.
 
You may as well buy a transmitter designed just for broadcasting. You can buy legal part 15 type FM transmitters. Hook it up to a dipole and broadcast whatever music you want. It's legal if you follow the part 15 rules. You could cover a few houses if you wanted or more.

Hmmmmmm:scratch2::scratch2::scratch2:

That is definitely something to think about. I'll take a look to see what I can find. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
In the Boston area, WMBR (MIT) and WZBC (BC) are usually worthwhile.

I can only envy folks who live within range of WFMU.

Although the signal isn't the strongest where I live, I can still pull in WFMU. Shortly after I started listening, I realized that this was the first station in over a decade that inspired me to seek out new music. Since moving to NYC three years ago, my dial has not moved once since I first discovered WFMU.

Growing up, my favorite station was WBER in Rochester, NY. I loved the shows they had which explored new music, and some of the DJs had truly inspiring set lists and programming. WBER heavily influenced my taste in music and sparked my interest in radio.

I hate to say this, but over the past few years I grew tired of WBER, as formats changed, talk shows were introduced (Rant), and the head DJ, Joey, declared indie music to be dead. When I go home to visit family the first thing I do in the car is change the station to WBER. However, the last couple times I was home I found myself leaving WBER for WDKX. Even though WBER is an "alternative" station, and WDKX plays primarily soul, R&B and hip hop, I just found the format to be more appealing.

I suppose times change and so does the music, but it's hard to let go of a station that you really love.
 
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I like the oh, so tempting coax output for the antenna. I wonder if this would be an acceptable antenna to use with this unit?

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Oh, how I would love to improve the airwaves. Pirate radio WWWRrrrrrrrr.
 
It's too bad so many areas don't have a decent FM station. The Chicago area has several outstanding stations that play a great variety of music, and have terrific signals. We're blessed.

I agree! :thmbsp:

I even love the College of DuPage station playing Jazz and music from the 40's.
 
CD 101.9 was NOT jazz IMO.

LOL. I know, there was a lot of "popular" jazz played on it (KennyG for instance--yuck), but occasionally you'd hear some decent tunes.

You're in the NY metro area... what jazz stations do you listen to? WBGO (88.3) is probably the only real contender, IMHO. Every once in a while WFUV (90.7) has some jazz moments.
 
I remember Joe Pine. I think he invented the angry man talk show.
Got WBGO on my presets. Bergen Street in Newark.
WFMU. We used to pack up my whole band and go
to their studio at Upsala and play live on the air, of a saturday evening. It were fun.
 
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... I wrote to them and mentioned that their EQ was set to "screech" and a dose of ear fatigue after 30 seconds was not the way to keep listeners.
One DJ responded and sent my message to their engineers. For two days it was better.
Now it is back to full screech. I quit.

At least you got a response. I e-mailed WRCJ in Detroit and suggested that they turn their dynamic range compressor down from 11 to, say, 3 or 4 to preserve a little bit of the dynamics in their classical music programming. I never got a response, and the station still compresses the life out of everything they broadcast. Needless to say, I didn't become a regular listener -- I tune in once a month or so to confirm that the sound quality is still dreadful -- and I haven't donated a cent to this listener-supported station.
 
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Some half-a$$ed engineers recommend -40db compression for FM.
Its funny. I did get through and the sound has been vacillating for the last week. ( 'tween decent and blow your ears off 4k boost)
I sent a follow up, And it seems like they are still tuning it.
Q104.3 . I couldn't let it go. Is the last vestige of WNEW FM.
Scott Muny was nice to me.
 
I agree! :thmbsp:

I even love the College of DuPage station playing Jazz and music from the 40's.
College of Du Page (90.9 FM) is indeed a GREAT jazz radio station. It's tough to get it here in the city, but worth the effort.

WFMT Chicago is also one of the very best classical stations around. Unfortunately WBEZ doesn't play music much anymore.
 
Lately my kid and I have been getting a kick out of
"The Core" 90.3? . Its Rutgers but transmits from Piscataway NJ highschool, and 103.3 ? WPRB Princeton.
These are fun stations and you never know what you're going to get.
 
My buddy was a DJ when AM still had music on it around here. The big talk was AM stereo then but I never saw it materialize locally. Did any stations ever broadcast AM stereo? Guess it was a doomed idea. A small life preserver for a sinking ship.
 
Detroit Rocks !

We still have 2 local Rock-n-Roll stations.One classic,one newer music.:music:
And the now plentiful shuffle stations,you know, the ones that mess up the pronunciation of streets and locations when they try to do local news briefs and traffic.
 
My buddy was a DJ when AM still had music on it around here. The big talk was AM stereo then but I never saw it materialize locally. Did any stations ever broadcast AM stereo? Guess it was a doomed idea. A small life preserver for a sinking ship.
Yes. When I ordered my 1983 Plymouth Horizon, the best radio was unavailable. I later installed a Sparkomatic with AM Stereo. I remember listening to Jack and Diane by John Mellencamp in AM Stereo from 1220 WGAR Cleveland.
 
Does anyone else miss Steve Friedman? In the glory days of WCAU AM in Philly he would be on for eight hours non stop with movie commentary. He had the most prodigious memory I have ever encountered. In the days before the internet he could recite even the most obscure details of virtually any movie ever made. he could be herd in38 states and all of Eastern Canada. What a show! He would take questions about any movie from anybody.. He died late last year from kidney failure. In the end the shadow of WCAU (its now called WPHT) reduced him to an hour. But he was brilliant until the end.

That kind of program is long gone on AM.
 
Reagan's, but also Clinton's. That article doesn't address the devastating effects of the Telecomunications Act of 1996. It's a bi-partisan clusterf*ck.

Well according to that link, the trend toward deregulation started in the mid 70s, before Reagan. You know the Ford and/or Carter period. Now bi-partisan fornication aside, don't you think this formulaic approach to radio programming would have happened anyway, without deregulation. Don't you think that the station owners would have done the same market research and concluded that the simpleton listeners want to hear the same songs, over and over?
 
The big talk was AM stereo then but I never saw it materialize locally. Did any stations ever broadcast AM stereo?

WBZ in Boston was AM Stereo. GM offered a radio which had AM Stereo and Radio Shack sold AM Stereo tuners. I am not sure if there are any broadcasting in AM Stereo now as it never really caught on.
 
What about KSER in Everett, Washington? Not an NPR affilitiate, it is community /listener powered. It is a local FM station which makes it relevant to me, not always what I want to hear, but has some fun stuff to listen to ( lately Danny Holiday on Saturday mornings has been grabbing my ear.) .Ed
 
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