AM Data

[WA1HZK]

Go here: http://www.amforever.com/

I would suck up this information while it's available.
Keith

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

It's Forever. 

[KX5JT]

Forever has arrived!

[kc2ifr]

What a great site!
The movie about the 610 was very good......

Thanks for the post.
Bill

[W9GT]

http://www.amforever.com/

For some reason, every time I try to go to the site I get a gateway timeout error.  I have previously been able to access it though, and enjoyed it very much.

73,  Jack, W9GT

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Just curious why you use Flash video?

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

What is the codec?

Just curious why you use Flash video?

Flash video compression will playback and stream much faster within web browsers. It’s just a lot more efficient in html/php pages.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

I wonder if that's what's used on YouTube. Often the audio and video aren't synced. Never saw that problem with any of the latest H2xx series.

[WD5JKO]

I watched the W8VYZ video with great interest. That guy was old back in 1988, and he is still on the air today!! His big HB rig was 20 years old then! I wonder if he still smokes? Who came up with this stuff about Bill for sale:

http://shop.cafepress.com/w8vyz

In the video I really enjoyed seeing Rick, K8MLV / 0. This guy was unique, and definitely pro-AM!

I recall the 1980's where we had the 7160 "International SPAM" group. Many big guns now SK were there, W5PYT (Bob Hohertz), W5MEU (Johm Mohn), WA5TWF (Floyd Dunlop - SPAM Prez), and Rick K8MLV /0. Rick. Rick was seldom strapping however, and he would talk on and on as the foreign broadcast stations chopped away at his audio. I recall he had some interesting anti ssb T-shirts.

Brian, do you have a copy of the SPAM video done in the 1980's by many west coast stations including W6PSS. I have a copy, but the quality is poor. Maybe Dave, PSS has a better one. This video is surely worthy of being on your wonderful site.

73
Jim
WD5JKO

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Lots of codecs to try, that's for sure. Just with QT Pro there are a ton. QT has a quick start function that allows the move to play before it's completely downloaded, so comparing file sizes may not be legit.

I use an Apple here too, but mine's a Mac. It has a MAC  address, but I don't know it off the top of my head.   

The videos are great and the Ashtabula Bill visit is a classic. Keep up the FB work!

I wonder if that's what's used on YouTube. Often the audio and video aren't synced. Never saw that problem with any of the latest H2xx series.

I think it just boils down to people using incorrect codec settings when they convert it. There shouldn’t be any sync problem with the videos I have on the site.

The difference in the file formats is after I pulled the video from the DVD David sent me, which was huge in size, I converted it to mp4. I do everything with a MAC. I then used QuickTime Pro and saved it as a mov file. The mov file was 310.4MB, but the mp4 file was a large +/- a few KB. I then converted the mov file to flv, flash video, also with QuickTime Pro. The flash video file is only 74.5MB, which is what I uploaded. It would take 10 times longer for the 310.4MB mov file to download and play as compared to the 74.5MB flash file which starts playing and streaming almost instantly unless your using a slow dial-up connection. There is no difference in video quality between the mov or flv file formats either.

[k4kyv]

Rick, K8MLV, was a little odd, but he was a dedicated AM’er. He only had the DX100 so he would get covered up at times by the broadcast stations and of course by the appliance operators. But remember, it was all Ralph Nadir’s fault

For many years, he had a Johnson Kilowatt that he was always "just about to  get ready to put on the air in a few weeks".  I think he may have been afraid of RFI problems in the trailer park where he lived.  I wonder what ever happened to it after his tragic demise.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

I also have Final Cut Express along with the complete Adobe CS4 suite on this iMac with its MAC address  so I have Premiere Pro and the Encore app to do some really fancy stuff. It’s just a lot quicker and easier to use QuickTime Pro when you don’t need the extra power.

QT Pro rules. I've been using it since it came out - maybe 8-10 years. I used to use it for audio conversion work too after the all-time great Mac audio application SoundApp went away with the move to OS X. Audacity does the trick now.

[N3DRB The Derb]

I learned long ago that Windows is crap and a nightmare.

It's so bad now that Microsoft had to rename Vista just so it would still be a viable product.    I paid $2499 for this dual 1.8 G5 in Sept 2003, and it's faster now than it was then due to continuous improvements in OS X.

We picked up a complete G4 system for my wife after she abandoned windows, and she cant believe the difference.

733 G4, 1 GB ram, 40 GB HD,  the first generation lcd apple 15" studio display, Harmon Kardon soundsticks, brand new white KB, and the whole lot came in at under $275. It runs Tiger and iLife 06 just fine. 1998 computer, still perfectly capable today.

[W4EWH]

Yeah, many media players do that, but it stills take them longer to download larger files. That’s why when some start to play they stop every now and then because their trying to play the movie before enough of the video is actually downloaded. They get ahead of themselves. It can usually be adjusted some, but its still a problem.

Please provide any URL's or other pointers to methods and procedures. I'm running a Gateway laptop with Luse XP on it, and the problem drives me nuts. I can't change the machine (it's for work), so I'd really appreciate a cure.

TIA.

73,

Bill W1AC

[N3DRB The Derb]

streaming video requires serious horsepower both in the serving and the receiving. Dual core or 2 cpus helps out a lot as long as your playback app and op system are set to take use of it.

I can watch off the air HDTV on this dual 1.8 Ghz G5,  (using a El Gato Eye TV 500) and I can watch any of the apple web content in hd. My wifes 733Mhz G4 with it's old slow system bus and junk video card sometimes has troubles just viewing regular streaming video - but she really only uses the thing to surf and do email. OK fine for that.  Unless that laptop has some pow pow power, it will hiccup on video.


I would love to put one of the newer Mac Pros with the quad or 8 core cpus to the test. They're around 5 to 25X the speed of this G5 depending on what it's doing.

[W1GFH]

That's typical Ashtabula Bill; cigarette hanging from the lip, mic in one hand and a beer in the other. All starting at 6am in the morning too. I don’t know if he still smokes though, maybe some else knows. The guy is a timeless classic..

I don’t know who’s trying to make money from that merchandise. Bill probably doesn’t even know about it.

Bill knows about it. At least he did a few years back when I exchanged emails with members of his family. No markup. No copyright. No scheme to make money. I just thought it'd be fun to have Ashtabula Bill on a mug, T-shirt, beer stein, button, and ladies thong. CafePress charges the buyer for printing those items to order, but that's all.

Bill certainly is one of a kind. Never met the guy, but used to chat with him on 14.286 or so in the late afternoons back when sunspots were plentiful. He was the anchor for a regular Old Buzzard roundup every day that included a character from Hamiota (?) Canada named Doug, I think.

[W9AD]

Got a chance to talk with Doug last night on 7.160. It's so sad to hear about his increasing health problems. I knew he had been using one of those oxygen tanks some time but you could not really hear anything,now he appears a little short of breath. He was in a good mood, but Doug is always in a good mood and full of great stories. Hope he hangs in there for a long time.

[Opcom]

The videos are great! the old ones, seem to be non-royalty, would it be possible for the site owner to permit people to download and save them the easy way?