The AM Forum

I have been making rumblings about it on the air, and made it official yesterday. I have accepted a new offer for a new job and me and the miss' will be packin' up and moving to Maryland. Where yet is TBD, but my last day on the job here is 10/5, and I start there 10/15.
Now I have no excuse to go to gaitherburg, howard co., or whatever the hell its called.

Mike W2ZE - soon to be /3.

I guess the coin came up heads again!! 8) 8)

Where abouts?

The job is with iBiquity digital corp. (the evil empire to some folks on this board ::)), and they are located in Columbia, Md. I am already faced with the idea of a long commute (45min or so), as I told the realtor that I need at least 1/2 acre, and not too close to other houses. I am looking at a couple of places in Carroll co., and Arundel co. We'll just have to see where, but I will dark (off the air) untill then. All my crap is going to my OM place, we'll see how much he "borrows" when I come back up to claim it. ;)

If you are jonesin and need that fix, I know where it can be had ;D ;D

It's a small world.

We might very well be working together on digital radio projects in the future.

Go for Carroll county. Most of AA county is over run, except for the southern part and that would make for a nasty drive to Columbia. And you don't want to live anywhere near VJB!

For the above info, I would like a free IBOC generator for my AM ham rig. The digital sidebands should be good for smashing slopbuckets.

Good luck with the move.

Mike, OUTSTANDING!  Glad to see you'll be a neighbor.

I live in Carroll county, Mt. AIry area.  Prolly a half hour-45 mins to Columbia.  But there are other nice areas farther east in Carroll cty.

PM me if you want, we can discuss on the hnyellophone or on the air  :)

Steve:

It's good that Ibquity is hiring someone with a good knowledge of RF.
IMO it's about time they had a tube thumper on the staff; the insight could be beneficial re interference issues.

Mike,
Congrats on the new job.  It's a big step but I'm willing to bet you'll be AOK and won't regret it in the long run.  At first you might as you might feel like a big fish out of water but as time goes on things will fall into place and you'll feel that you made the right choice.  I wish you and your family the best. Good luck
Bob

Hey Cue Ball get your kid out of my brand-new television set !
He's sounding like a high def CBer in there, caw maw, and I'm calling the police.

Hey mike, congrats on the new job. picking up and moving is a pain,
(just ask me  :)  your still within radio range of east-coast radio.
its a bit tough sometimes from way out here. reminds me the monsoon/lightning season is about over here. time to reconnect
up the vertical array!  deano

Just about time to re-connect the feeders here, too, Deano.

Hey Mike, welcome to '3' land. We can always use another AM signal from this sector. Warmer down here anyway.

Be sure to add as a condition for purchase, no deed restrictions or zoning ordinances that would prevent your putting up an effective antenna, and have it put into writing in the contract.  Preferably no HOA to have to deal with.

When I interviewed, thats one of the main reasons they were looking. Also, they wanted someone who has been in the "trenches" so to speak. as they move forward, iBiquity wants to make improvements that make sense to an engineer at station level.

I appreciate everyone's well wishes. To be honest with everyone i'm still uneasy about it all, but as ZGC told me, change happens in life; but this is change that I can control.

Welcome.  I've been here 8 years now and have yet to be kicked out.  I think you'll like it.

Mike, you'll do just fine.

All of the broadcasters have bet the fort on the success of digital broadcasting (and being able to get the bugs out of it), so you have our support 1000%. It's not going away anytime soon; frankly, if we all can't make this digital transition work out, radio is going to be in deep doo-doo because there's no other alternatives to compete with the new media out there.

Me, I'm a radio dude, and I want broadcasting to survive in this 21st century.

Another way to look at it is that analog radio, both AM and FM, need digital to work for survival, or we're going the way of spark and LP records.

Ibquity does need someone like yourself that understands AM and life in the trenches to work with their computer geeks.

I was responsible for implementing the first FM digital multicasting here in Denver, it's been a long haul..I had to apply for an experimental license from the FCC. And iBquity sent a couple of their software dudes out here to see the pragmatic details. We all learned something from each other, but it's a lot harder (I think impossible- LOL!)to train a computer geek in broadcasting, AM and FM, than it is to train an RF guy in software. That's where your niche wil probably be, and it should be fine.

bill

Don,
That was the first stipulation I made to the realtor, the 2nd being at least 1/2 acre. I don't care so much about a commute as I have a lengthy one now, or if the house is a fixer upper. I need to be on the air, and not in some self imposed radio quiet zone.

Hey Mike!  Congratulations on the new job!  It sounds pretty exciting and I give you a lot of credit for making the decision.  I know you'll do great.  It should be a great adventure!

This is real important. They will tell you anything.

Out where you're looking, there were some people who bought into a new development that had been marketed with a "Clarksville" address.

The post office did not agree and never did, and these people got the hated "Columbia" mailing address instead. That's a high-crime, deteriorating part of Howard County, leftovers of a failed "planned community" where everything sinks to the lowest socio-economic strata.

It's now a haven for drug lords from both Baltimore and Washington, nice.

SO anyway these people were planning on filing suit for the disputed value of the mailing address that was part of their home sale. I don't remember the resolution, but it was funny to those of us from that area who predicted the blight of Columbia when the bulldozers started blasting the trees clear to homogenize the landscape in the 1960s.

Mike, I don't know what your price range is but there's a house not too far from me I saw advertised in the local paper as an "Assist to Sell" that was 5 acres, nice high alitiude, for $515K "bring any offer".  You can view it here:  http://www.drodio.com/maryland-real-estate/mount-airy/3908-boteler-rd-mount-airy-md-21771-cr6152575.php

Around here there are any number of houses with a 1/2 acre to an acre for the mid 300s.

Thats about the range. While I know I can afford it, I'm still skiddish about a mortgage that high. The house I'm in now is, well.... a dump, but the mortgage is real low. I just know that I am going to have to carry that mortgage for awhile, but not forever.

Mike
I live in Montgomery County Maryland right up against the District of Columbia.  The city is lovingly known as the Peoples Republic of Takoma Park.  If I can be of any help to you in your move you have but to ask.  I own a half ton van and I have family in Massachusetts.  Since I'm self employed as an electrician I'm in charge of my own schedule.  I have a forty two foot tower, a 10,15,20 beam and a 10,15,20 quad I'll let you have cheap.  For a pizza and a few diet root beers I'll even help you put them up. 
--
Tom Horne

Tom may not have been in the Takoma Park market for a while, because the real estate agents these days are making a Very Big Deal out of the fact Takoma Park has an ordinance on the books making it a NUCLEAR FREE ZONE.

http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/committees/nfz/nftpcord.htm (http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/committees/nfz/nftpcord.htm)

That'll be good for yer kids, besides being close to schools and shopping.

http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/committees/nfz/nftpc.htm (http://www.takomaparkmd.gov/committees/nfz/nftpc.htm)

Hey there, Young Mr. Raide.  Congratulations!  We are going to miss you though here in Finger Lakes Land.

All the best!

K2VHerb

Mike,
       Congrads on the move, and I still have a Cardwell "condenshure" with your name on it. Let me know when you'd like to get together on it, or email me at my regular email address.

Hope to mod-u-later, with a little wiggle in your signal and class A audio modulating your oscillator OM!

Joe Cro N3IBX

Note on Tacoma Park, be sure you are aware of all of the extra taxes you will be assessed living there.  I have not verified, but I have been told that Tacoma Park residents pay an extra (or perhaps just notably higher) city property tax and a city income tax.

Also, Tacome Park is not that close to Columbia.  And, depending on where you live in it, does not have convenient access to the Beltway.  Though a Northbound commute is quite quick daily.  I used to drive from Silver Spring, MD (N tip of DC) to Hunt Valley, MD (N of Baltimore) every day for over 2 years and it rarely took me over an hour.

David how close is that new Intercounty Connector going to be to you ? The state sure has made a lot of promises to shove that through. Have the bulldozers started blasting the trees for THAT project yet ? Ugh. Just pave everything and make it look like Los Angeles. It's like recommending a larger belt for the fat man instead of weight control.

I always thought Takoma Park was a neat area, but that was as a non-taxpayer.  We have a similar dual tax town around here, Crofton. It's another "planned" community like Columbia, but without the high crime. Columbia has an association fee of some kind, but Crofton has a designation as an "independent tax district," which means that plus county taxes.

Mike,

I lived in Columbia over 25 years. Beware, some of the old eastern village centers have become crime and drug areas. They were turning bad in 1998 when moved to west virginia.

I recommend southern Carroll Co. for a good place to live.

Tnx Derb. Everyone I have spoken to said that Columbia is a good place to work, but horrible to live.
I am driving down with Kim tomorrow to go house hunting with the realtor Thurs. PM and all day Friday, driving back on Saturday. We have lined up a bunch of houses ranging from Pasadena in AA co. to south Hampstead to Sykesville and Mt Airy in Carroll co. Realtor recommends Carroll co. too if I can stand the commute, because it will build equity fast.

  "  No outdoor grilling, in deference to your vegetarian neighbors.  "

When I worked nights, I'd crack open a beer and throw a steak on the grill at 7:30 AM. The neighboors always left me alone..... 

As for deference to the vegan neighbors, MY religion causes me to offer animal sacrafice to the gods... This can be accomplished by burning on the grill or, by placing chicken bones at the corners of the property.  You can read entrails when they have company so as to know if the guests are evil or not....  klc

Ah yes. A whiff of my slow-cooked smoked ribs on the grill would cause even the most hard core vegetarian to have second thoughts about their diet...
..and drool on their shoes.
Can't have that!

Only problem I have when grilling is keeping the neighbors away !!
They line up with plates in hand. Too bad it's against state law for individuals to  SELL venison. I'd make a killing
 ;D

                                                                    .

As others have mentioned, Columbia is a planned community purposely situated to be equidistant between DC and Balto, and pretty much in the middle of central MD.

I live in western Montgomery County, but you'll probably find the real estate situation anywhere in Montgomery to be too rich for your blood. A couple of acres and a 3000 sqft house can't be touched for less than 750k on up here.

Your agent seems to be steering you correctly to the locations you mention. I think you'll find something pretty quickly to the west or northwest of Baltimore. The area on a veritcal axis from Westminster to Damascus is still reasonably priced and within good commuting range of Columbia. That would be most of Carroll, the western part of Howard, and eastern Frederick Counties. I don't have any commuting experience from the areas east of Balto such as Anne Arundel and Prince Georges county, but as a general rule I would suggest staying away from PG. It's too closely emulates the urban problems of nearby DC and is congested.

Another area to consider is southern PA between Hannover and Gettysburg. Pretty country, housing is cheaper than in MD, but the commute will be a little longer.

In my experience, before buying, I would take a motel room near the town you're considering and try to commute to your workplace to get a feel for the morning rush hour traffic.

73, Jim
WA2AJM/3

Can you say Oakland Mills? That area was mostly OK when I lived there in the 80's. Now it's a dump!

"Save dem bones for Henry Jones, I wanna eat some meat"!

yeh, oakland mills is now home to drugs, thugs, and guns.

had a great time at the slab bacon's last night! Fine eats, finer company. Carol and Frank made us feel right at home. swapping stories with 3885 in the background, nothin' better!
Thanks to Slab, and Carol!

Mike

No thanks necessary, we enjoyed having youse guys!!