The Organizational Standard Software Process
Does anyone else have an expansive bureaucracy to methodologize, categorize, and obfuscate software engineering activities at their workplace?
One of my coworkers described our "Organizational Standard Software Process" quite succinctly today using the following code snippet:
<ossp> <loop_step> <body_part name="Pud" action="Pull" /> </loop_step> </ossp>
The pirate band is alive...with international broadcasters
Once again, the winter months are giving us some wonderful listening opportunities on the shortwave bands. The Israel Defense Forces radio station, Galei Zahel, is coming in this evening on 6973 better than most domestic shortwave stations. Galei Zahel is almost always present here, but it's usually too weak for good listening. They frequently play a mellow mix of popular music, including many American tunes) mixed with news and commentaries, and always in Hebrew. Tonight's reception is as good as it gets, and not bad at all, considering how far their modestly powered signal is travelling.
You can listen to Galei Zahel on the web via amachai.com (Windows media player). I found this link via israelive.net, and the web stream tonight is, sure enough, exactly what we're picking up here in Mount Airy on the shortwave.
Also audible this evening is Radio Fana from Ethiopia on 6940. Their signal is creeping just above the noise floor tonight, bothered by the utilities, bizarre military traffic, and spies who also frequent the 6900-7000 KHz area. No sign of any domestic pirate broadcasters tonight.
Specifics for the log: Thursday January 31, 2003, 0330, 6973: Galei Zahel, music and talk in Hebrew. Overal signal 444. 0355, 6940: R. Fana, Ethiopia. M speaking in arabic/african language. Signal 222, occasionally bothered by nearby utilities.
Radio Caroline returns to WBCQ
As promised, Radio Caroline, Europe's seminal classic rock station, returned today to WBCQ. It's now running five days as week at 4PM ET (2100 UTC) on 9335. Remember that WBCQ runs 9335 with carrier plus upper sideband, which makes the signal a bit more stable. The signal's coming in strong and clear here this afternoon, but it's a bit washed out by the fading so characteristic of this time of day.
We could do without the strong and annoying utility interference on 9330. Starting about 2130, persistent two to four second data blasts bother WBCQ's signal so much as to make it unlistenable. Fortunately this interference stopped after a few minutes.
I suppose we have no method to complain about interference, since domestic shortwave broadcasts are, by definition, intended exclusively for foreign audiences.
The story of Jo
This morning we took Jo the cat to the vet to get spayed. That in itself isn't such a remarkable event, but Jo is a feral cat we captured a couple of months ago. Tonight, if all goes well, she'll be spending her first evening in our home, after being in a cage in the shed for a while.
I've been torn between the idea of keeping a wild cat in a cage for so long, as opposed to simply getting her medical attention and releasing her back into the wild. Re-releasing her here where we live is not an option. We live on the state highway, and there is no other feral cat group around here -- she'd be quite literally on her own facing an unhappy future if we released her here. Our only humane option was to try and get her warmed up to human contact, and possibly prepare her for adoption through our local SPCA organization.
She was incredibly wild when we enticed her into a humane trap using tuna fish. She got loose in the garage and climbed the wall up to the rafters in about two seconds. However, we persisted and have given her attention and care over the past couple of months since she's lived in a big cage in one of our out-buildings. I now firmly believe that, for a cat, being kept warm, fed twice a day, and coaxed and treated kindly, even in a cage, is far preferable to trying it on your own in the cold winter, with nothing to help you and plenty to go against you. I am filled with the strongest possible revulsion at someone who would abandon an animal in such a way.
Today, Jo is still rather wild. Jane has been working with her every day, starting with a feather on a stick to get her used to human contact. We haven't even been able to touch her, but she's slowly becoming more and more relaxed at us being around. She was surprisingly calm when we moved her into a small cat carrier and drove her to the vet. This time she didn't escape, freak out, climb the walls and hide.
Now, as things go, we've gotten attached to Jo, so we will be trying the next big step starting this evening -- adopting her as our own. As long as we can help it, this animal will never have to fend for herself outside again. Even if she only warms up to two human beings over the rest of her life, it's better than dying alone and unloved on the highway.
More morning shortwave finds
Monday, January 27, 2003: I missed getting up before dawn this morning to see what interesting things could be pulled off the airwaves. After the local dawn, though, several stations were audible that I haven't caught for some time, if at all.
1220, 4844.9: Radio Kekchi, Guatemala. Mellow music with M announcer. Signal 322 with occasional utility chirps hampering reception. This is the one of the only tropical band stations still audible here after dawn.
1228, 4800: R Buenas Nuevas, Guatemala (presumed based on last week's logging). Very weak, 211.
1229, 4860: Unidentified. time pips at 1230 and into M speaking. Does not sound like Spanish or Portuguese. So-so signal, hampered by wideband noise between 4820 and 4900. Signal 211.
1236, 6140: R Rebelde, Cuba. ID at 1238. Weak audio, strong signal, 323.
1240, 6195: BBC World Service, 322. They're usually not audible here at this time.
New Maryland Governor moves fast in attempt to mess up the state
Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., newly-installed Governor of the State of Maryland, is proposing the installation of as many as sixteen thousand slot machines at four horse racing tracks in the state. That's right, let's soak the poor and stupid with more gambling, while critical issues like education suffers. Who's going to benefit from the massive infusion of legalized gambling interests in the state? Certainly not the citizens who will be wasting their time by dumping millions of dollars into cold machines for the thrill of the payoff of seventy five cents on the dollar, while their kids are home watching MTV, learning how to imitate gangs and criminals. Have you walked into any store in the state lately and not been upset at having to wait while some poor, misguided soul wastes money better spent on his or her children, buying a pile of lottery scratch-off instant-win flashy-game pieces of paper? Were you upset when that person threw all those scratch-off tickets in the trash, not only wasting your time, but helping fill up those landfills polluting the Chesapeake Bay? How about the Keno Counter where people waste hours staring at a TV screen full of numbers, programmed by a computer that guarantees that the house will always win?
Bob Ehrlich, our new Governor, wants to expand this "tax on the stupid", and invite organized gambling interests into Maryland, because he has no other viable solution to the state's economic woes. What a shame. We all will pay dearly if he gets his way.
Kook watch update
Ah, the paranoid conspiracy theories of kooks and crackpots. The cold weather appears to have resulted in a marked increase in kook activity. As the temperature tops out at 15 degrees with strong winds here at home, we present our top kook list for January.
- Jeremiah 33:3 Ministries: M-F 1800 on 17495 WBCQ, Tu-Sa 0200 on 5050 WWRB. Shortwave kook extrordinaire, whose rantings we are using to brush up on out Bible studies (specifically as an example of how not to interpret the King James Version). This kook illucidly rants about David Rockefeller, "the little fella," who traces his lineage back to George Washington the Luciferian worshiper, who was ordained as the ruler of the United Nations, the Illuminati, Tri-lateral Commission, antichrist, five letters in David, five pointed star, Pentagon, Baphomet, Masonic Jewish conspiracy, Albert Pike, New World Order, (ad nauseum).
- Edmond Wollmann: Now posting daily to Usenet. He recently failed miserably when he tried to create a moderated newsgroup, which turned out to be neither moderated or propagated. Once again his consistently incoherent postings of bizarre astrological pseudo-new age screed is the subject of universal ridicule, and yet he still manages to threaten fake law suits and complain to ISPs and news admins who killfiled him long ago. He and his sock puppets are now debating weird and meaningless astro-kookery in his new dead newsgroup alt.astrology.moderated.metapsych.
- Dr. Turi: A self-proclaimed prophet who recently appeared on Usenet after a long absence. His trick is to make lots of puffed up vague predictions about common events, such as celebrity deaths, earthquakes, horrific crimes and war, and claim that he predicted such events after they happen, in order to sell penny paperbacks and fake "counseling" services to weak minded and stupid persons. This dirtbag claims to have predicted September 11 and the Washington DC sniper attacks, and in both cases he should be reviled as the fraud he is.
- Pastor John Lewis: Usually three days a week on the "Black Brigade" radio show on WHRA 5745, Tu-Sa 0130-0200 (You best chance to catch him is early in the week. If conditions are poor you can catch the "angel two" real audio feed from World Harvest Radio). Pastor John is the ultimate far right redneck "independent baptist preacher" who travels around in a bus sporting huge revilingly graphic anti-abortion posters, and who's mastered the art of street preaching. He is in your face, and he dosen't care if you like it or not. Too bad he's so consumed by hate that, combined with his good ol' boy euphamisms, makes him appear stupid and misinformed, when he obviously possesses above average intelligence.
More pre-dawn tropical band loggings
Friday January 23, 2003, 1030-1130: Our pre-dawn opening to Latin American stations on the tropical band (and beyond) continued to show itself today, giving us some fine listening of radio seldom heard here.
- 1031-1125, 4960: R Federación, Sucua, Ecudaor. talk by male, mellow local music. Signal 333.
- 1034-1130, 5054.6: Faro d Caribe, Costa Rica, with mellow pop music, really laid back M talking. Signal 333.
- 1037-1126, 4919.3: Radio Quito, Ecuador. Music. Sounds overmodulated. Signal 322.
- 1043-1124, 4845: R Kekchi, Guatemala. Mellow acoustic music. Signal 434.
- 1045, 4800: R Buenas Nuevas, Guatemala. M talking, sounds like religious program. Signal 444, 'sweeper' underneath.
- 1048, 4781.35: R Oriental, Ecuador. M talking, news broadcast. Signal 323.
- 1052, 4746.87: R Huanta 2000, Peru (tentative). M talking. Signal 222 under strong noise. Gone by 1118.
- 1059, 4421.3: R Bambamarca, Peru. Energetic minister in a monotone chant with lots of hallelujahs. Signal 222.
- 1105, 4390: R Imperio, Peru. Sounds similar to 4421 program, another religious service in a large hall with echo, i.e. a church. Alternating M and F speaking. Signal 322.
- 1106, 4052.5: R Verdad, Guatemala. Religious chorus music. Signal 222 with utility ping underneath. Utility gone at 1116 recheck.
- 1109, 3810: HD2IOA, Ecuador. Time pip station, ID in spanish at the top of each minute. Signal 323 with splatter from hams.
- 1119, 4815.0: R El Buen Pastor, Ecuador. Local music. Signal 313, strong interference, fine in USB.
- 1127, 5040.4: R LV del Upano, Macas, Ecuador (tentative). Alternating M and F talking. Signal 222, hard to copy with utility noise.
WHRI 5745 is back
Friday January 23, 2003, 0150 UTC, 5745: WHRI. Pastor John's back on his advertised frequency this evening with dialog like "John Ashcroft, Assembly of God, went to Washington and got all cock-eyed!". So sometime in the last 24 hours, World Harvest has managed to bring "angel 2" up. Signal 322 with lots of peeps from a utility. Depressed conditions and a geomagnetic storm are making listening a challenge this evening.
HF opening to Central America
Tuesday January 21, 2003, 1109, 4830.02: Radio Tachira, San Cristobal, Venezuela. Booming signal here this morning, at 6AM ET local time. Several commercials, then a man repeating the R. Tachira ID twice, and a neat musical "Radio Tachira" ID at 1115. Mellow music and news followed. Overall signal 434, s15.
1122, 4815: R El Buen Pastor, Saraguro, Ecuador. Male announcer, neat locally flavored music. Signal 323, lots of wide band interference, but listenable in USB. News at 1131.
1132, 4800: R Buenas Nuevas, S Sebastian, Guatemala. Religious program. Signal 434 with slight interference from the "sweeper".
1136, 4844.85: R Kekchi, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Mellow acoustic music. At 1150, song that sounds like the one Bugs Bunny sings at the beginning of "Gorilla My Dreams", with lyric "Down where the trade winds play, down where you lose a day..." Signal 423, blasted occasionally by chirpy, screechy and warbly utilities.
1153, 5025: R Rebelde, Bauta, Cuba. Male and female talking, news show. Upbeat music and ID at 1200 with "Buenos dios, Cuba!" Rapid fades, signal 433.
1203, 5054.5: Faro d Caribe, San Jose, Costa Rica. ID by male at 1204. A most unique nightclub-like instrumental version of "Glory, glory Hallelujah". Signal 333, fading.
Thanks to the Latin America DX SW Logs page for helping me identify these stations.
Pastor John on WHRA tonight; WHRI 5745 is down
Tuesday January 20, 2003, 0130, 7580: Pastor John Lewis.
Since Hal Turner proved very boring this evening, I was scanning the band and happened across our favorite extremist hate preacher tonight on WHRA for a change. As Pastor John explained, "Angel Two," one of World Harvest Radio's transmitters in Noblesville, Indiana, has been down for more than a week. So tonight he's booming forth on the 100KW WHRA from Maine. (However, my previously saved link to the 5745 real audio stream worked fine).
Pastor John's still ranting about abortion, and still hawking huge banners one can purchase and display. These banners are designed to alert people to the "sin of abortion" by putting disgusting and revolting images of so-called abortions out for all to see.
There was a lot of classic Pastor John to be had tonight; he ranted about "the sodomite-dictate legislators," "cock-eyed baby murders," and "sodomites who consciously make their decision to fornicate against nature."
Pastor John had a few choice words about Dave Franz (of WGTG/WWFV/WWRB), who the Pastor said kicked him off the air without notice and stole 400 bucks from him. If I recall, this happened sometime last year in the summer or early fall.
Signal strong and clear on 7580 at 0130, a bit better than typical results from 5745 here. Nothing but static on 5745.
Pastor John's program runs Tuesday through Saturday at 0130. He said this week he'll be back on Wednesday and Thursday; one of the other "Black Brigade" regulars will take over on Friday, and an Indiana "street preacher" will broadcast Saturday evening. As entertaining as Pastor John is, some of his good ol' boy buddies are just as hilarious.
Marion's memories are close to ours
As Lopez once said, "And now, something very, very, special."
Marion Webster started her shortwave show this evening with the Liberty Bell Launch, from an Edison cylinder record made in 1904. Jane and I were immediately taken aback by this musical selection, as it reminds us of a certain British comedy show that is, along with Marion, one of our favorite listening pleasures.
Then, as if we weren't completely engrossed in a conceptual continuity moment, Marion played a selection by Ada Jones, called "Cheyenne", that reminded us of the soundtrack from a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon.
We're presenting here the Liberty Bell Launch and Cheyenne, as recorded off of WBCQ's console feed. We hope you enjoy these musical selections as much as we do. If you like this, please consider supporting Marion's show on WBCQ. Marion offers any show for $10 on CD. Contact Marion at:
Marion's Attic
PO Box 583
Coventry, CT 06238
Timtron on 75m
This snippet comes from Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest 3-010, and gives us a bit of news about recent program changes on WBCQ from Timtron's perspective.
Blind Paul
Saturday, January 17, 2003, 2000-2029 UTC, 17495: Pan Global Wireless "program number sixteen" on WBCQ. Finally, a chance to listen to this highly regarded show.
Making fun of "the new Mix 104 point one", and other free-form discussion about radio, interspersed with interesting music (where does he find these tunes?). Blind Paul, the show's host, also promotes WBCQ and it's programs.
Contact info given as:
Pan Global Wireless
PO Box 1101
Faribault MN
55021
Overall SIO 555 here. This show followed Radio Timtron Worldwide at 1900, Zombo Mondo's Record Party at 1800, and a repeat of last night's Allan Weiner Worldwide at 1700. WBCQ has a winning lineup on Saturday afternoons on 17495, and I hope it continues. Sadly as the season progresses, our reception of 17495 in the daytime will get worse and worse, and by the spring we'll probably be in the skip zone and miss it completely.
Complete synchronization acheived
Tasha wasn't able to deliver her show this evening, which is a bummer. But instead, we were treated to a rebroadcast of last week's show. This time we're grabbing Tasha's wonderful audio enlightenment from the web stream that Complex Variables Studio presents, and it's a rebroadcast of last week's show. So, once again, we're nostalgic for Key West -- when we heard this show as it was originally broadcast, we were there.
Weekly World Edmo #6
I missed adding this to the archive. The latest Weekly World Edmo, from December 27, 2002, is now available for your amusement. Note that this parody won't make much sense to you unless you regularly visit the Usenet forums alt.astrology, alt.alien.visitors, and alt.usenet.kooks.
The complete archive of Weekly World Edmo is available here, and at Ed Wollmann's personal pages, thanks to our postings on alt.binaries.kooks.
Someday I'll get around to analyzing the situation on the Usenet kook groups for you here, and explaining the Weekly World Edmo.
Key West FM Loggings
My FM loggings from Key West were aided by the search engine at radio-locator. Again, we were aided by great conditions and the excellent FM receiver in our Grundig YB-400PE.
Detailed logs follow.
Tuesday January 7, 2003, 1700 UTC, Key West, FL
88.7 music 2 [WAYJ Ft Myers]
88.9 WDNA Miami, BBC News 4 [WDNA Miami]
89.7 music, F talk 2 [WMCU Miami]
89.9 talk 2, buzzed by music on 90
90.5 talk 5 [W213BF (WJFM) Key West]
90.9 religous 5, obliterating nearby station on 91 [WJIR Key West]
91.5 religous 5 [WJYO Ft Myers]
92.3 Sp F talk, AT&T Wireless commercial in Spanish 2 [WCMQ Hialeah]
92.7 pop music 5 [WEOW Key West]
93.1 dance music 2 [WPYM Miami]
93.5 pop music 5 [WKEY Key West]
94.1 classical 2
94.5 "Airo 94.5" Bob Marley vall in request, J Geils Band request, Ft Myers 3 [WARO Ft Myers]
94.9 Sp talk 3
95.3 "Oldies 95" 2 [WOLZ Ft Myers]
95.7 Sp mellow music 3 [WXDJ Miami]
96.1 Rock music, Pink Floyd "Us and Them" 3 [WRXK Bonita Springs]
96.7 Sp talk 5
96.9 Mellow pop music 4 [WKEZ Tavernier]
97.7 Pop 3 [WWWK Marathon]
98.3 Sp music 2 [WRTO Goulds]
98.7 Pop "Smooth jazz 98 7 Conch FM" 5 [WCNK Key West]
99.1 Rap 2 [WEDR Miami]
99.5 Rock ZZ Top 5 [WAIL Key West]
99.9 Country "99 9 Kiss Country" 2 [WKIS Boca Raton]
100.1 Music, bothered by 100.3 2 [WRLR Port Charlotte]
100.3 talk 4 [WCTH Plantation Key]
101.1 Mellow music 2 [WAVV Marco]
101.3 Classic rock, Eagles' New Kid In Town, "WKYZ 101.3" 4 [WKYZ Key Colony Beach]
101.5 Very faint, time pips? 2 [WLYF Miami]
101.9 Religous country music 3 [WWGR Ft Myers]
102.1 Urban 4 [WKLG Rock Harbor]
102.5 Redneck music 5 [WPIK Summerland Key]
103.1 Rock Outlaws "Green Grass and High Tides", REO "Heard it from a friend" 5 [WFKZ Plantation Key]
103.5 Very faint 1 [WMIB Ft Lauderdale]
103.85 Urban, obliterated by 104.1 [WXKB Cape Coral 103.9]
104.1 Pop, Billy Joel 5 [WWUS Big Pine Key]
104.7 talk "Mix 104.7 The Gulf Coast's Best Mix" 3 [WSGL Naples]
Great commercial on 104.7: "How do you know you're roofing company isn't going to close it's doors and open under a new name when the going gets rough?" (There must be a problem with shady roofing companies in southern Florida :)
105.1 Mellow pop 2 [WHQT Coral Gables]
105.3 Very faint 1
105.5 Pop, mellow music, Journey 2 [WAVK Marathon]
105.9 Pat Benetar 2 [WBGG Ft Lauderdale]
106.3 Mellow Sp music 5 WZMQ Key Largo]
106.7 Mellow Sp pop music 3 [WRMA Ft Lauderdale]
107.1 Grungy metal alternative music 5 [WIIS Key West]
107.9 Sp music, Abba in Spanish 5 [WMFM Key West]
Key West Medium Wave Loggings
I was really surprised at the number of medium wave stations our Grundig portable received clearly in the middle of day in Key West. I logged about seventy stations, and I've been able to cross-reference their probable calls and locations using the excellent search tools at radio-locator.com.
There are a lot of UNIDs. It is likely that many are Cuban in origin, as I was getting clear daytime reception of stations in Florida 150 miles away (and Cubs'a only 90 miles from Key West).
Detailed logs follow.
The format of this log is as follows:
frequency description, overall SIO [ID or probable ID]
Tuesday January 7, 2003 1639 UTC, Key West, FL
530 Sp F talk, 3
540 News 4 [WFLF Pine Hills?]
560 "Sports Radio 560 QAM" 5 [WQAM Miami]
590 Sp talk muffled 5
610 Paul Harvey 4 [WIOD Miami]
620 Sp music 4
640 Sp F talk 5
660 Sp, nuked by 670, 2
670 Sp music, fluttery, 4 [WWFE Miami]
710 Sp F talk 4 [WAQI Miami]
750 Sp F talk 2
770 Sports "WWCN Ft Myers" 3 [WWCN North Ft Myers]
790 Talk 3 [WAXY South Miami]
810 Sp music fluttery 3
840 Sp music 4
860 "WGUL" 3, splatter from 870
870 WGW861, "City of Key West Information Radio", mentions www.keywestcity.com 5
890 Sp M talk, muffled 3
910 Sp music 3
950 Sp talk 5, co-channel time pips
960 music 2
970 WFLA talk 3
980 oldies music 3
1020 Sp F talk 2
1040 "WWBA news talk 1040" fluttery 3
1050 music, very faint 1
1070 "America's best music WKII" 3 [WKII Solana]
1080 Sp M talk muffled 2 [WVCG Coral Gables]
1100 Sp talk 2
1110 Bible beater 2
1120 Sp carribean music 2
1140 Sp talk, another station underneath 2 [WQBA Miami]
1150 music 2
1180 Sp talk 5
1200 talk 4 [WINK Pine Island Center]
1210 Sp music 2 [WNMA Miami Springs]
1240 Sp talk 3 [WTLQ Ft Myers]
1250 talk, bothered by 1260 2
1260 easy listening smooth jazz 4
1280 talk very faint 1
1290 Sp talk, carribean music, bothered by 1300 2
1300 talk 4 [WFFG Marathon]
1310 music 3
1320 talk 3 [WLQY Hollywood]
1330 Sp F talk 3
1340 Sp M talk 2
1350 very faint 1 [WCRM Ft Myers]
1380 banjo music, nostalgia? //1410 2
1390 Sp F talk 4
1410 banjo music, nostalgia? //1380 2 [WMYR Ft Myers]
1430 Sp dance music 2 [WOIR Homestead]
1450 talk 2
1470 Sp music 3
1480 talk 2 [WVOI Marco Island]
1500 Sp music 5 [WKIZ Key West]
1520 "ancestors of the rich and famous" genealogy show 2
1540 Sp talk 4
1550 Sp talk 2
1600 talk 5 [WKWF Key West]
1660 talk 4 [WCNZ Marco Island]
Key West HF Observations
Conditions were great this week. There was also very little noise in most of the band, which was surprising as we were right at the southern end of the city of Key West (more accurately, about four blocks north of the southernmost point in the US).
I noted all three WBCQ frequencies (7415, 9335, and 17495) as good to excellent during daily broadcast checks.
Disappointingly, there was very little on the tropical bands but static and noise -- of course this could be the sensitivity of the Grundig combined with the fact that there aren't too many nearby tropical band stations from Latin America creeping through the airwaves any more.
Radio For Peace International on 15038 was very strong and clear in the afternoons and provided for some enlightening listening.
Mid-afternoon broadcasts from Europe, and broadcasts targeted at Africa on the higher frequencies in the 17MHz area were very strong, clear and listenable.
I logged the "fishermen" on the pirate bands a couple of times, with some lively two-way talk in Spanish on upper sideband.
During the daytime, I noticed a wide ban FM-like splatter in the following ranges on 17MHz:
- 17490--17560, sounded like talk in Spanish
- 17800--17855, sounded like a religous broadcast?
More detailed logs follow below.
This isn't an HF logging, but since there's not much of interest on long wave I include my only notable longwave logging here:
Tu 1/7/3, 2300, 333 KHz, a beeping beacon pattern ".._. .. ..." The next day, we visited Porky's Dockside BBQ in Marathon, at mile marker 47.5. Great food here, and we highly recommend Porky's. The tablecloth was an aeronautical map of the Florida Keys that confirmed the frequency and pattern as Key West's Aero Beacon.
HF notables:
Tu 1/7/3, 1730:
5025 Carribean music in Spanish. Most likely R. Rebelde, Cuba. 333.
12689.5 USB. AFN from Key West (Boca Chica), sounded like Rush Limbaugh, 555.
W 1/8/3, 0117:
R. Prague International with good signal on 6200//7345, 323/333.
9745, HCJB, Excellent signal, 555.
4845, UNID. Weak modulation, fair signal, Sp F talking, religious service? 312.
Fr 1/10/3, 1545:
6950 USB. "Fishermen" lively conversation, 333.
11715, KJES Vado NM. Still playing with the mixer. F chanting with large audience f children repeating every phrase, and a song sung by YF mixed in, 344.
12689.5 USB//6458.5 USB, AFN from the Keys and Puerto Rico, respectively, 444/333.
11815 R. Marti jammed badly, SIO 411. 11930 also jammed but not nearly as bad, 422.
Fr 1/10/3, 1901:
15385, KJES Vado NM, typical programming, 333. I thought this was beamed to Australia/Pacific. Strong and clean here, 333.
Fr 1/10/3, 1950:
15038, RFPI, Costa Rica: World of Radio 1164, ended at 2005. 444.
Ode to vacation
Key West rocked! It was a bit of a shock leaving a sunny, cloudless 80 degree setting with a nice warm gulf coast breeze blowing for 20 degrees four hours later here at home. We are nostalgic already, so we're presenting a couple of live web cams to keep us wishing we were still there..
Environmental Circus, 518 Duval Street
Hogs Breath Saloon, 400 Front Street
What are your favorite shows on WBCQ?
What are your favorite shows? In no particular order, here are mine...
Radio Timtron Worldwide - my all-time, no holds barred favorite. The best music ever made, a great variety of music and comedy. Always entertaining. Deserves it's own transmitter. (Saturday 2300 UTC)
Tasha Takes Control - Another can't miss show. Monitoring Times calls this "upbeat progressive music." Are you synchronized? Tasha's show is always entertaining. Pretend your mind is a tire and change it today. (Saturday 0200 UTC)
Marion's Attic - Marion's show is the best example of how WBCQ has enabled unique and valuable programming to be heard by the masses. From Edison discs to vintage 78s, recordings over one hundred years old played on original equipment by the lovable and gracious Marion Webster. (Sunday 0200 UTC)
Radio Free Euphoria - Free speech rules. The Captain presents a weekly journey into the world of the off-beat and arcane. Sometimes Radio Three can be heard. Somestimes Jay Schmelkstein has a word or two. A uniquely mystifying and entertaining show. (Sunday 2200 UTC)
Allan Weiner Worldwide - The state of the station is...good. (Saturday 0100 UTC)
You are what you think - Strangely reminiscent of the Firesign Theatre and Monty Python. Enlightened political commentary, with an off-beat shortwave tilt. Brother X rules. Not to be missed. (Sunday 0400 UTC)
Real Amateur/Piss and Moan - Timtron's free-form discussion of all things radio. Sometimes there is cool ham radio music. Sometimes there are technical discussions of Tim's textbook knowledge of radio technology. (Sunday 0000 UTC)
WDCD - Take the weirdest recorded material ever, add a mixing board, and imagination, and WDCD is the result. The Monkey Song. Audio tracks from cult movies like "Weed". Crazy girlfriend on the answering machine. Always worth listening to. (Friday 2330 UTC)
Uncle Ed's Musical Memories - A popular music show, set some fifty to sixty years in the past. An enlightening journey into cool music from long ago. The music is always entertaining! (Thursday 2330 UTC)
Goddess Irena I - "The Age of Aquarius" a capella. Strangely enticing musical interpretations by the Goddess. (Wednesday 2330 UTC)
Jewish Radio Network/Torah Talk/EVM - The Rabbi has a kind heart. He advances the voice of peace and tolerance, and wraps it around a talk show mixing the best of educational and intellectual enlightenment with a talk radio format that is always entertaining. Best, he doesn't take any shit from phone-in trolls. (Tu-Fr 0515 UTC and Wednesday 0200 UTC)
Jeremiah 33:3 - There is nothing more entertaining than hearing that David Rockefeller is the antichrist, George Washington is the father of a massive worldwide masonic conspiracy, the Washington Monument is a huge masonic icon, we're all Luceriferians and we're going to hell, and having it all backed up with detailed scripturally proven numerology. (Monday through Friday 1800 UTC on 17495)
Amos and Andy - Accurate and faithful reproductions of lost broadcasts of the radio show that defined all other radio shows. Recently Ed ran the classic "Amos on trial" series. (Monday through Saturday 0500)
Lost Discs Radio Show - Off-beat music that you thought you once might have heard on the radio. (Saturday 0000 UTC)
Fred Flintstone - a free-form mix of music from sentimental fifties and sixties favorites to head banging, ass-kicking, body stomping rock and roll. (Sunday 0030 UTC)
Radio Caroline - Europe's "peace love and understanding" station. Classic rock with a flavor not heard anywhere in the US. (occasionally at 2100 UTC weekdays)
Harry Shearer's Le Show - The king of satire. Enlightened topical commentary. A flagship product of the great KCRW in Santa Monica, the home of the homeless. (Monday 0000 UTC)
And there's also Radio New York International, World of Radio, Pab Subgenius, Pan Global Wireless, and Pocket Calculator -- all great radio.
A bit late, but we planted our Christmas tree
Going on four years, now, our early January tradition has been to plant the Christmas tree on New Year's Day. We finally got around to planting our little white pine tree from Christmas 2002 today. We were a couple of days late because it's been raining non-stop here since New Year's Eve, and no one wants to get sick hanging around in the rain right before vacation starts.
For Christmas 1999, we got an extra tree as a gift---a beautiful blue spruce from Jane's brother Mark---one of our two 'millenium trees.' Both of our millenium trees survived last year's drought, and with any luck, they will keep growing big and tall for years to come.
Pine trees are very cool. In addition to giving the birds a home, they give us a privacy and noise shield from the state highway in front of our house. And the bigger they get, the less grass there is to mow.
WMPR: Micro powered radio
Saturday January 4, 2003, 0450 UTC, 6955. WMPR. "Just can't get enough" by Yaz just creeping above the noise floor, SIO 222. Techno music, station ID around 0440 or so.
Radio Bingo/WHYP
Saturday January 4, 2003, 0340 UTC, 6952.5. Radio Bingo/WHYP. The Vapors' "Turning Japanese"; Wang Chung, "Dance Hall Days"; "Number nine", from the Beatles' Revolution 9, "fifty fifve sixty nine", ID at 0347; bingo prizes, rules, and a game, interspersed with lots of pirate radio clips, including Jimmy The Weasal; a news update on L Cee's missing stinky horse; being ridden by a naked Jay in Ontario, where it's really f00king cold; Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There"; Alex Draper has captured and tied up the naked Jay and the stinky horse; Oxy Christmas; Beatles' "Baby you're a rich man".
A very hilarious broadcast with great sound in glorious wideband amplitude modulation. Strong signal, SIO 545 with very slight fading and occasional utility farts. Screaming utility on 6950 at 0345, no match for Radio Bingo's strong signal. Had to tune down at 0404 to conter a strong utility on 6955. Utility stopped at 0408, but by then Radio Bingo's signal had deteriorated badly, down to 222. The map says conditions are excellent here now, so it's likely Radio Bingo's skipping over us on it's way to the southwest and beyond.
Go get the axe, there's a flea on Lizzie's ear
Tonight we changed our blog title to "Mama get your hammer (there's a fly on baby's head)", which reminded Jane of Carey Zeigler, who, the last time we were privileged to see him and his band Expensive Hobby, mentioned this immortal song. In the interest of conceptual continuity, we present a quote from Bugs Bunny, from memory:
Peepin' through the knothole on Grandpa's wooden leg,
Why do they build the shore so near the ocean?
Go get the axe, there's a flea on Lizzie's ear,
For a boy's best friend is his mother!
Radio Free Speech again
Thursday January 2, 2003, 0315 UTC, 6950: Radio Free Speech resumed broadcasting after stopping quickly earlier this evening. Alas the perfect conditions we experienced earlier this evening are gone, and now Bill O' Rights' Dirty Song Special is coming in very weakly with deep fades, SIO 222 now.
Captain Morgan
Thursday January 2, 2003, 0117 UTC, 6950. Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae"; Twilight Zone theme; Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary"; Beethoven's fifth; Green Acres theme, tips to the class of '99 to drink beer and other useful advice like "make fun of old people, it's fun"; Twilight Zone theme; Beethoven's fifth; Eagles' "New kid in town"; "you're in the pirate zone with Captain Morgan"; Frankie Vallie "Oh what a night"; "A fifth of Beethoven"; off at 0137.
SIO 333 with occasional deep fades and occasional utility chirp.
Radio La Voz del Campesino
Thursday January 2, 2003, 0020 UTC, 6956.7. I had to take a short break from shortwave to fix a leak, caused by a fantastic rainstorm and wind we're experiencing here this evening. When I returned from impromptu home repair, I discovered that a station's on I haven't logged here since the summer.
After many months, I am once again receiving Radio La Voz del Campesino from Huarmaca, Peru, in the HF band used by domestic pirate broadcasters. This may be a special broadcast, or else conditions have improved to the point where their signal is reaching us again. I suspect the latter, as nearby Galei Zahel on 6973 is booming in with SIO 333, and Mauritania on 4845 is also very strong. R LV del Campesino is playing lively south american music and talk by a male with echo effect. Overall SIO 222 with fading.
Undercover Radio
Wednesday January 1, 2003, 2255 UTC, 6955 USB, "This is Undercover Radio broadcasting from the middle of nowhere". An odd recording by Lori Anderson from 1977; Lots of entertaining readings of William Burroughs material. QSL requests to undercoverradio@mail.com. Off at 2348.
SIO 555, as long as I can keep Jane's mom from using the microwave to heat up a cup of water and screwing up the signal. Brief utility interference at 2305, mitigated by pass-band tuning.
At 2323 UTC, someone played something very strange on 6959 USB for about a minute, interfering with Undercover Radio's signal. It was definitely not a utility and sounded more like scary music. Perhaps someone was testing there. It's odd that pirates would venture this far above 6955.
Here is a brief snippet of Undercover Radio's program.
Radio Free Speech New Year's Special
Wednesday January 1, 2003, 2236 UTC, 6950: Radio Free Speech. Starting almost immediately after WHYP ended, Bill O' Rights introduced the Radio Free Speech New Year's "Dirty Song New Year Celebration". Music: "Beer is good for you". At 2242, "we have an unexpected visitor at the door --- we'll be back later." and immediately off air.
SIO 344, Not quite as strong as WHYP. Minor fades.
Here is a recording of WHYP and Radio Free Speech's broadcast for your amusement.
New Year's Day with WHYP
Wednesday January 1, 2003, 2215 UTC, 6950 AM: WHYP. Entertaining program with killer signal, SIO 555. Uncle Schmekstein talking about Captain Ron's box; how he taught Jay to play with his friends' weiners; Steve Anderson on the roof of the A&P in Mt. Kisco, polishing Yahweh's helmet; Doctor Tornado; WMPR; visiting Mr. John T Arthur in Belfast. Some music: "Standin' on shaky ground". Jay stole L Cee's horse. John zaps Uncle S back to last year's WHYP Haloween show. New year's greetings and a dedication to JB's girlfriend. Contact info, interval signal, and off at 2236.
Conditions have improved dramatically here in the last 24 hours.