Not necessarily applicable to radio, but a good collection of videos
Other than that, we are watching another 12 inches of snow accumulate.
Author: Paul Thurst
Listening to the Radio like doing Cocaine
Well now, this explains a few things. Always interested in carrying science forward, I read with interest the article on Gawker which cites a study from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The gist of the article states that we seek out music we enjoy because of a chemical reaction in our brains:
If music-induced emotional states can lead to dopamine release, as our findings indicate, it may begin to explain why musical experiences are so valued. These results further speak to why music can be effectively used in rituals, marketing or film to manipulate hedonistic states. Our findings provide neurochemical evidence that intense emotional responses to music involve ancient reward circuitry and serve as a starting point for more detailed investigations of the biological substrates that underlie abstract forms of pleasure.
By extension, radio has previously been the venue for most new music discoveries. Although this continues today, it is being supplanted by “new media” sources such as youtube. As a point of reference, studies on cocaine addiction show that dopamine levels increase by about 22% during use. When a listener is exposed to what is perceived as good music (a subjective term), average dopamine levels increased by about 21%.
Risk-taking behavior like computer file sharing, when known consequences are large, could enhance that by adding an element of danger. The Gawker article lists Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” which I always found somewhat depressing. Something more like this a little more fun:
You can disregard the T-shirt pitch at the end if you want.
So there you are you erstwhile program directors, now you know why your job is important; you are to make us addicts, or not, depending…
MW/SW hybrid stations
There are four of these stations in Canada. In my scanning of the shortwave frequencies, I have found CFRX on 6070 KHz to put a strong signal into my location pretty much 24/7. At night it is drowned out by interference but daytime is listenable from local sunrise until about an hour before local sunset with a 100 uv signal. A look at the map reveals the CFRX transmitter site is roughly 300 miles away. CFRX is a relay of CFRB, 1010 KHz in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. CFRB does not come in here at all due to protecting 1010 WINS in NYC.
What I find very interesting is the station uses 1 KW TPO into a single 50-foot (117-degree) vertical tower. That is a pretty low-tech transmission facility, nothing like the minimum 50 KW with a 10 dB antenna requirement the FCC stipulates for shortwave broadcasters in this country. Even so, it generates a big useable signal, in the case of CFRX, covering nearly 300,000 square miles very inexpensively.
CFRX has been relaying CFRB’s signal since 1937. According to the ODXA site, the station uses a Bauer 701B modified to transmit on HF. The Bauer transmitters were always solid units. It went off the air in 2008 for several months while the transmitter was repaired, but eventually, it did return. Obviously, the station ownership finds value in the service and it continues today.
I often wonder why the FCC won’t allow a similar HF relay service here in the US. Daytime propagation on the tropical bands (75 and 60 Meters (3.9-4 MHz and 4.7 – 5.06 MHz respectively)) would allow low-power relays to cover large areas like CFRX. Tropical band propagation is such that nighttime coverage may be degraded by interference from other, more powerful stations offshore. Even so, it seems like a good way to cover a lot of ground in an economical way.
Other Canadian shortwave relay stations:
| HF Call sign | Power/frequency | Parent station | Location | Power/frequency |
| CFRX | 1000/6060 | CFRB | Toronto, ON | 50 KW/1010 |
| CFVP | 1000/6030 | CKMX | Calgary, AB | 50 KW/1060 |
| CKZN | 300/6160 | CFGB (CBC R-1) | St. Johns, NF | 4.5 KW/89.5 MHz |
| CKZU | 500/6160 | CBU (CBC R-1) | Vancouver, BC | 50 KW/690 |
Power in watts, frequency is KHz unless otherwise noted.
I know the CRTC would like to do away with these stations, but I think that is foolish.
Local Community Radio Act becomes law
The President has signed the reconciled bill into law, it will be published in the national register. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski promises “swift action” to get the new rules in place. If this law leads to a bunch of new, live local community radio stations springing up across the country then it is a welcome thing. With all the rumbling in Congress about cutting public radio funding, LPFM may have some big shoes to fill. I have to admit, that I am generally a supporter of public radio, however, they have gotten off track (full of themselves) in the last few years.
There are many different requirements placed on the FCC by the LCRA to thread the LPFM needle around translators and full-power FM stations, so it may take a little time to craft new LPFM rules, however, I’d expect to see a filing window sometime in 2011.
If you are considering an LPFM station and are eligible for a license, take a peek at Prometheus Radio Project, which has a wealth of information about LPFM station building.
If you need a good engineer to file paperwork, specify equipment, consult about transmitter locations, towers, antennas, and so forth, drop me a line. You can find my info and contact information in the About section.