"Outside Speaker"

[W2NBC]

" I'll be listening on the outside speaker"..

Yes, famous words some of you may remember.. The question is, what are you folks using to monitor your (main) station receivers when you're not 100% copy within earshot? I've heard all kinds of methods, from 'Talking House' AM transmitters, to Bluetooth hook-ups. For years, I just cranked up the audio and wandered into bathrooms and kitchens, or opened windows when the dog needs walking and does his business.. Now I have other receivers scattered around, but again it's about monitoring your main station while doing other stuff around the house. I have a method in mind, but would be interested in YOUR set-ups!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Thank goodness I don't need a radio fix that bad that I have to listen to it when I'm away from the station area doing other things around the house or outside. However, in the past, if the need came up for whatever reason, I just plugged in a set of wireless headphones. Covers the entire house, my entire outside area plus a little more.

[WA1LGQ]

I use one of those ubiquitous flea powered FM TX's for CD and MP3 players. They come in handy. A low power AM TX might be more appropriate though. I have a couple of ancient "phono oscillators" that would do the job.
..............Larry
 

[Tom WA3KLR]

Hi Jeff,

I have an FM band monaural transmitter in the shack here for many years, which I think was a Ramsey kit, just a circuit board, no cabinet, provided my own mini-box.  It is very simple – a modulated Hartley oscillator with a loop for antenna output – all on pcb traces, modulated by varactor diodes.  The frequency is free-running; puts out about 2 1/2 milliwatts.  I run the output into an FM turnstile antenna in the garage.  I can listen while working around the property on my Walkman and also listen on a number of transistor radios in the house including the main stereo receiver in the family room.  I’ve even listened on the Walkman in bed very late at night.   All of these are very convenient.

I am in a semi-rural area between Philadelphia and Allentown but find that all channels are full at least in the lower half of the band which this unit covers.  Once I hooked it up to my 10 meter vertical and was able to hear it in the car at least 0.3 miles away (when the band was less occupied).  The channel I picked (after looking with my spectrum analyzer) has the lower power type of stations but I am still strapped by one from Flemington NJ once I get out by the road.  I don’t recommend the kit I have as it is not synthesized.  I can’t imagine that this operation is possible in the NYC metropolitan area except just right in an apartment unless some of the other models available run a little higher power than mine.

The transmitter didn’t have proper FM broadcast pre-emphasis so I added this mod, and changed the low level audio amplifier also.  This was definitely an amateurish/toy kit.

I was at a yard party a year ago and was amazed at the audio quality of some bluetooth speakers which looked like a can of soda.

Attached below is a photo of Irb’s famous outdoor bull horn speaker in all of it’s humble glory _._

[WBear2GCR]

Slackers...

My outside speakers look like this!!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Slackers...

My outside speakers look like this!!

I think when some of my neighbors throw a weekend back yard party, they use a similar speaker system. Windows closed, air conditioning running, TV playing, etc. and they still come in loud and clear.

[KL7OF]

There was a time when w1lyd was using an outhouse at his Carcross, Yukon cabin ........he had  a speaker hooked up out there ...sort of a Throneside listening post....A wellpoint and indoor plumbing are now in place ....A crapapple has been planted in the hole......It is sad to see the old traditions fade....(flush) away....

[Opcom]

Slackers...

My outside speakers look like this!!

I think when some of my neighbors throw a weekend back yard party, they use a similar speaker system. Windows closed, air conditioning running, TV playing, etc. and they still come in loud and clear.

The rent house neighbor had a habit of parking his crown vic mobile PA system in his driveway on Saturday mornings around 10-11AM and cranking up the booming noise on the stereo with the windows down and then going inside or in his back yard. Once I tired of this annoyance I began to go into the shack and get on the radio for a while to evade the nuisance. In short order the neighbor became more considerate. It probably had nothing to do with the fact that the end of the sloped dipole was near the driveway.

I'm for the phono oscillator! In the past it was convenient to connect the RX audio to a cheap 100mW walkie talke of the "channel 14" type and key it on. A wall wart was used to avoid wasting batteries. The signal with the HTs antenna down was just strong enough to be received well on the twin handheld around the house but not bother anyone farther away. That apparently isn't kosher because of the band it was on.

[Jim/WA2MER]

Nursery monitor: inelegant, but cheap ($15) and very effective. I use it only during nets when I have to make a plumbing inspection while awaiting my turn. I hate to miss anything.

[WA2SQQ]

I feed audio into my signal generator connected to my discone. 5/9 copy anywhere in the neighborhood, on any frequency I choose!

[KB2WIG]

I have the S38 in the garage. I  cant efford the Queen of receivers.


KLC

[Tim WA1HnyLR]

I have a real outside speaker PA horn. It has not been used in years. I have to get an audio feed to it. I have a kitchen sink side speaker mounted under a shelf. I have installed two Shadio Rack speakers( About the size of the Minimus 7s) up on the bathroom wall . I have yet to put audio to them. I could soak in the tub listening to the goings on or sitting on the pot. If I go wireless it may be a part 15 device( 900Mhz or  2.4 Ghz.) I have a little screen modulated transmitter that can function in the AM broadcast band. I have plenty of other receivers if I want to have remote listenling. I am not that hard core.Too much else to deal with in life .
De Tim WA1HnyLR

[WA2SQQ]

Tim you need a remote hookup in the  "download" room, so we can hear the pristine acoustics of the porcelain palace!

[w1vtp]

No outside speaker but I have one in the back room so when I buzzing around the shack I don't miss a word.

[WB2EMS]

FM transmitter so I can listen in the kitchen, everywhere in the house, and even out in the yard or on the lawnmower.

[AB3L]

You could use the Neil Young solution:

From openculture.com


    Graham Nash, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, has a new book out, Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life. And that means he’s doing interviews, many interviews. A couple of weeks ago, he spent an excellent hour on The Howard Stern Show (seriously). Next, it was off to chat with the more cerebral Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air.

 In the midst of the interview (listen online here), Gross asked Nash to talk about his friendship with Neil Young, a man Nash has called “the strangest of my friends.” Just what makes him strange? Nash explains:


The man is totally committed to the muse of music. And he’ll do anything for good music. And sometimes it’s very strange. I was at Neil’s ranch one day just south of San Francisco, and he has a beautiful lake with red-wing blackbirds. And he asked me if I wanted to hear his new album, “Harvest.” And I said sure, let’s go into the studio and listen.

Oh, no. That’s not what Neil had in mind. He said get into the rowboat.

I said get into the rowboat? He said, yeah, we’re going to go out into the middle of the lake. Now, I think he’s got a little cassette player with him or a little, you know, early digital format player. So I’m thinking I’m going to wear headphones and listen in the relative peace in the middle of Neil’s lake.

Oh, no. He has his entire house as the left speaker and his entire barn as the right speaker. And I heard “Harvest” coming out of these two incredibly large loud speakers louder than hell. It was unbelievable. Elliot Mazer, who produced Neil, produced “Harvest,” came down to the shore of the lake and he shouted out to Neil: How was that, Neil?

And I swear to god, Neil Young shouted back: More barn!

             

[steve_qix]

I use the old low-power FM transmitter trick.  Works great, and as others have said, you can listen anywhere in and around the house.