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.