Tough to find good music on commercial radio

[n1ps]

well...slipped into the sack abt 930 last night.  Long day.   Flipped on the radio...band was quiet, which surprised me due to the storms running up the coast....but then....Mancini!  Nice song.  You know he did write some nifty music.  Hard to not like it.  Of course it was on 3885   

[Opcom]

amazing. Never hear that sort of thing around here. A Northern custom? It would be nice, when things are quiet. Can one trust the average ham to play music only if it is high fidelity and decent? That is, stick to standards?

[Pete, WA2CWA]

They should be reported, fined, and their amateur license taken away forever! It's plain and simple malicious interference. There's no rational for it on the amateur bands.

[Steve - K4HX]

I don't know if it's a custom, but it was more common in years past. There used to be music QSOs. One station would play a song andy then drop the carrier. Another station would key and play a song. And so on for a while. Often there was commentary in between on the music selection, fidelity, signal strength, etc. There was usually more activity around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[flintstone mop]

I don't know if it's a custom, but it was more common in years past. There used to be music QSOs. One station would play a song andy then drop the carrier. Another station would key and play a song. And so on for a while. Often there was commentary in between on the music selection, fidelity, signal strength, etc. There was usually more activity around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Those were very interesting times. One evening there was a nice little bit of Tchaikovsky's Nut cracker and it was unbelievable. Very nice audio and dynamic range. The TX sounded like it could have been turned up more.
And who wants to hear restricted audio from a Ham transceiver, and adding insult to the music, using SSB? The art of transmitting music on AM is still amazing. My hat is off to those who do this without stirring the crazies up too much.
Fred

[n1ps]

Oh I think music during the winter holidays has never dropped off.  As to "crazies" we have our share here in the northeast kingdom.  Mancini the other night was OK...no QSOs were going.  Good audio.  So no complaints  .  On the other hand I flipped on the radio last Saturday night and it was WW3.  Jammers galore, mostly or all of the SSB variety attacking the AM QSO.  Sad really.  I have always wondered if we could ever put together a good DF group for such events. 

p

[Opcom]

Around here, aside from some rude voices and QSYs sidling up in the wrong direction, there's little amiss on HF. Really have nothing to complain of. Although I like music, I'd never go against the ham regulations. That's what the dummy load is for if I want to play and listen to the TX. Nothing gets out of the grounded metal building.

Music is technical and amusing but I am persuaded to agree in common sense with Pete on the subject of putting it on the ham bands and ask please don't.

Instead, there are always those micro-power 'allowed' AM BC transmitters, I forget which "FCC Part" regulates them. They called them phono oscillators in the olden days. The signal can't get far off your property. The real beauty of it is that any nice old AM radio will work to receive. Good use for those big consoles. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using one to run your MP3's through and working on it so it is very clean and properly modulated. Just takes paying attention to the rules and ought be easy for any ham to set up that way. Hey maybe that is something good to do to get one's 'fix' for 'broadcasting'. hah. Here's an old article for a two tube one (4 triode) that even includes a meter for modulation. There is really no limit to the workmanship one could devote if desired to make it nice like a ham or professional style equipment.
http://69.36.164.11/lit/hmbcam1/index.html

For unauthorized on-air music, best to take note of Halloween and Christmas, and SWL for the pirates  , oneself having nothing to do with the transmitting or operation. 

[Steve - K4HX]

The Nut Craker has been heard so often over the years around the holidays, that it has become a tradition. Some years before it was Snoopy and the Red Baron.

Those were very interesting times. One evening there was a nice little bit of Tchaikovsky's Nut cracker and it was unbelievable. Very nice audio and dynamic range. The TX sounded like it could have been turned up more.

Fred

[KB2WIG]

I'm torn between these two classics,

http://amfone.net/index.php?ind=media&op=file_view&iden=185

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTSA_sWGM44


klc

[WZ5Q]

That was my favorite part of listening to music on shortwave was the selective fading, it just adds something to each song that I can't describe. Listening to the same music on FM or the internet just doesn't feel the same after hearing it on shortwave and AM.

Oh, I agree, it's part of the ambiance of it.

I live on the banks of the Calcasieu River here in Southern Louisiana. The most beautiful thing I have ever heard in my life concerning music was hearing Patsy Cline's song, Walking after Midnight, from down the river on a foggy moonlit night. There was just the right amount of fading, echo, and shift to sound just breathtaking. I will never forget that.
It is the same for me when listening to AM on shortwave. That is one of the reasons I really don't care for the Synchronous Detector, it removes that ambiance.

[k7pp]

Great way to test a transmitter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEtAt8z5e4A

[Tim WA1HnyLR]

 Yep!
A subject near and dear to my heart. As of late I have been reworking some receivers that cover AM broadcash as well as the amateur bands ( R388- EH Scott SLR 12-B and a Hallicrafters S72-R) I have taken considerable time to put an audiophool grade outpoot section into the SLR-12 B and almost the same in the R 388. The SLR 12 is going up to Monticello( WBCQ) it is one of Allen's pieces. As it is I have been doing much listening to AM broadcash radio during the day. There are a number of stations here with music formats. There seems to be a preponderance of a type of format that plays from old buzzard wuss music to old rock'n roll.Some big band stuff included as well . I find the format un-listen-able. The crash and burn segues want to make me puke! As it is the AM sister station of the group I am responsible for is programming classic country. I am not a country music person. There are some stations playing oldies. But they are the same group of tunes that I have heard ad nauseum  on all other oldies stations. Then I discovered WHVW from Hyde park New York (950) . The owner of the station is a long time associate of Allen Weiner's (JP Ferraro) also known as "Pirate Joe" . The station has a very eclectic format. Allen is carrying it in simulcast on WXME 780 in Monticello. I find myself listening to it while I am working up there. Sometimes there are crash and burn segues . I understand it is a limited budget operation. The programming is streamed. Pirate Joe is broadcast on WBCQ 7490 @ 3:00PM tuesday-thursday. There is little to no advertising dollars coming in. The commercial radio broadcast industry has shot itself in the foot. To predictable ,Too repetitive, and too boring. People are turning away from it. Lets hear other stories of other radio station owners who are not afraid to do something different. Tim WA1HnyLR

[flintstone mop]

It seems that stations that allow the DJ's to program the music might have a little more success. They would play from their private record collections. WOR FM started off with that format and that vaporized when new ownership (corporate types) took over. During the 60's and early 70's FM radio was assigned to be "background music stations" or Muzak or classical music stations.
There is an FM station in Pittsburgh called Bob radio..May have something to do with the call sign and  they go all over the music scene with nice mixes from different genres. Country, pop, an oldie, and not worn out "classic rock" tunes. They play the other cut from the album instead of the worn out cut "The masses" can connect with.
The terrible audio from crappy AM receivers will turn anybody's ear off. Seems that the newer cars have a little better audio. Nothing beats the diode load output from an R390A and a healthy hi-fi amplifier and a real speaker system, not a Radio shack speaker or bookshelf from Good Will. And you got yourself some nice sound. WBCQ ahhmm, sounds awesome on a real big radio!!! Thanks Timmy. Listen tonight between 7-8PM,especially around 7:30. Speaker cleaning time!!
Fred

[DMOD]

There are some stations playing oldies.

At night a Canadian station on AM 740 comes in well here in the midwest and plays a nice mix of oldies.

I suspect they are using a 50kw Nautel transmitter.


Phil - AC0OB

[Ralph W3GL]

There are some stations playing oldies.

At night a Canadian station on AM 740 comes in well here in the midwest and plays a nice mix of oldies.

I suspect they are using a 50kw Nautel transmitter.


Phil - AC0OB

Yeah, that's "ZOOMER RADIO"...

 What's a zoomer? 

That's a Boomer with Zip...

[AJ1G]

There is an FM station in Pittsburgh called Bob radio...they go all over the music scene with nice mixes from different genres. Country, pop, an oldie, and not worn out "classic rock" tunes. They play the other cut from the album instead of the worn out cut "The masses" can connect with.
Fred

Exactly why I do most of my music listening on Pandora these days...set up a "station" for one of your favorite musicians or genres like "J. J. Cale"  or Mark Knopfler", or "Surf Rock" (one of thier own genre stations) and i'ts amazing the stuff that comes at you that you never have heard before, along with lyrics and bios of the artists.  Truly amazing.  And the audio quality is great, just no selective fading.

[ve6pg]

...AM740 is the old CBC tx site...CBC went to the FM band, and rents out the tx to the folks at "zoomer"...the building also houses the CBC French tx, which is still on the air, on 860kc..the AM740 tx is 50KW...

[W7TFO]

Spotify.com has replaced Pandora around here.

I didn't like their 'selections', mostly tunes I just couldn't wrap my head around .

With Spotify you build your playlist via tune, album, or genre.

No commercials for $5/month.

I blow it into a baby AM tx on 1 MHz so as to hear it on all our old radios around the radio ranch.

73DG

[Opcom]

Burn ins with dummy loads and chosen audio material. works for me. Then you can be sure it will work reliably on the air, as there is nothing more embarrassing that having the TX conk out.

No interest at all in internet or digital online "stations". They are not radio, even if the production and listening ends can feel like a plastic replica of it.

There ought be no gripes about AM receivers because there are plenty of the better older ones with good tone. Anyone listening to AM music stations for entertainment ought be using at minimum a big old wooden radio, maybe something with a 6-8" speaker, large baffle, a 50C6, and the kind of tone control that boosts treble or bass depending on position. Been listening to AM on such a radio for 35 years and the FM has not worked in 15.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

The AM broadcast band has had no appeal for me in many years. the few stations that broadcast music have too many commercials, static and fading are annoying, and the overall quality sounds like crap. As I type, I have my wireless headphones on receiving great tunes from the man cave HD FM receiver.

How can you not love hi-hi fine static-free songs that start with: Hey hey uh huh huh huh huh oh; Uh huh huh huh huh huh yeah; It's twenty five miles from home; Girl, my feet are hurting mighty bad.....................
Come on feet don't fail me now 

[KB2WIG]

I use a sx28 and GE speakers for that wholesome AM sound.  (  zoom zoom zoom, Toronto is only a short flight away )


klc

[Steve - K4HX]

Listen to stations all around the country on iheart.com. Or you can make your own make your own playlist(s). Not as extensive as other site. Best for live radio listening or previous radio shows.