Fast Forward to Millenium

I wanted to Fast Forward to the Millenium because I have a small portable AM/FM stereo which I have sentimental feeling for.  This radio I have used in the past extensively and I would rate this radio as excellent due to it's sensitivity and long life performance.  SONY SRF-49.

The radio uses only 1 AA battery which I strongly recommend Alkaline for long use without the chore of changing the battery.

When I first started using this radio I was not very impressed due to I was not spending much time with broadcast radios as I usually do.  I was listening and learning more about shortwave listening.   As I listened to shortwave radio I was learning about DX and sunspot cycles.  I was living in a time and era just before when broadband internet was taking OFF.
I remember when 1.5MB/sec was the standard premium speed we could get.   It was just about the same as it costs now.

Anyways, something happened in the family which required me to spend large amounts of time being at a place for extended periods of time doing nothing and catching up on sleep.   I was also at an emotional stressed period.   I would spark up this SONY walkman radio and listen to the radio for long periods of time til I would dose OFF.  This would help me learn and appreciate the system of Broadcast Radio Syndication.  I was learning more about the different shows on the radio dial and when the times were and when I could catch them broadcasting.  It was very dark depressing era of my life as well.  The radio sure kept my mind off of the current sate of affairs.

As time went by, my schedule was getting me used to the night shift.   When I got home I would spark up the SONY SRF-49 radio and I soon discovered the joy of late night radio reception of the AM broadcast band stations.   With it, I was listening to stations as far as Texas.   This truly amazed me.   How could a small pocket radio such as this be receiving those radio stations.  Of course as I recall the true nature of the night sky and the engineering that goes into designing a receiver such as the SRF-49.

I have some plans some day to refurbish the SRF-49.   I spoke to an RF engineer one day long ago and we discussed the thought of replacing the components such as the capacitors with higher different type.  It does make sense to do that.  I hope it is really worth it.

During the time I was discovering the world of late night radio, I was listening to interesting topics and discussions.  Some of these topics were of political and or social commentary and some were of the conspiracy theory as well.  Since I was working during the night shift every night, I had thought of finding a radio I could listen to at work.  I searched the shelves of many of the electronic stores.   Back then their were still a few which I miss.   It was a time when we had a selection and choice of who we can patronize.  I find it more comforting to pay a little more for great service and quality stock, then to pay bottom dollar and get treated like another number and wondering if the item was returned.

During this search I came a cross a nice feature full radio which I thought was going to be the last radio I will ever buy.  It was a radio shack branded radio model SP-808. I couldn't find any pictures of it.  It had AM/FM shortwave and TV tuning.  For me at the time I thought that was enough. I didn't need any more radio than that.   I was disappointed shortly after purchasing this radio.  I don't think this reflects on the tandy manufacturing, but on the management culture of radio shack. For some reason, every time I purchase a nice radio at radio shack I find that the radios are either used or damaged in some way.  I am not making this up.  The real reason why I returned the SP-808 radio, is I found battery acid in the battery compartment. If not, I would have kept it.  I remember the manager wanting only to give me 10% discount.  Wow, a damage item and selling it for 10% off.    At this time during the turn of the century 2000, radio shack was ending their reign in selling radios.  I do miss their selection.

I shortly there after gave up on a shortwave portable radio and found the SONY ICF-24.

This is nice radio for it has decent sensitivity, but it is definitely not for FM DXing.   Funny thing I never got to experiment with was AM DXing.    It has the standard size ferrite bar antenna.  One thing I do have to note that I used this radio extensively at work and the location was in a rural area of the Santa Monica Mountains.  I guess that explains the sensitivity issues I thought was important to overcome.

The favorite thing I listened to on this radio was the Jim Ladd Show on KLOS 95.5FM.    Jim Ladd's show was well done. It is a shame not to hear him on the radio anymore.  I pray he gets back up and gets his own Sindicated radio show.   More radio DJs need to learn from him.  Every night, Jim would have a theme set to all the songs he played.  It made listening to the music truely enjoyable.  It was kinda like watching a movie.  There was a story line behind the music set he would play.   Jim Ladd's show really helped pass the time at work nightly.   When all you have are four walls around you, the radio really helps in softening the walls.  I got to set aside time to watch a few concerts of big names, because of the listening to Jim Ladd's radio show.

This is all I have for now. I want to next talk about how radio kept me informed and company during the first gulf war.

Early Radio Listening (Continued)

I want to add more thoughts and insights regarding my GE Transistor AM/FM Radio since it was an item which kept me company through Jr. High School and half of High School. It was my link to the world.  There were so many stations and not enough time to listen to them all.

As I said in my last post blabbering about listening to AM top 40 music,  I later learned about the world through FM radio.  This was where things started change.   The local top 40s music station KCAQ Q105 (104.7FM) was the station I listened to.   I would have that radio on almost have the day.  It was on most of the evening till the wee hours of the morning sometimes, especially during the summer.  I guess that is why the battery never lasted very long.  I would fall asleep with the radio on and realize the battery was dead in the morning.

Some of my favorite songs I remember listening to on my GE transistor radio were 'Eyes without a Face' by Billy Idol, 'Save a Prayer' by Duran Duran, 'Borderline' by Madonna, 'We got the Beat' by the Go Gos and 'Who can it be Now' by Men at at Work.   To this day I have listened to the songs in stereo and it is not the same.

I would not only listen to top 40 music, but I would also like to listen to Rock music as well.  There is a radio station in Santa Barbara I used to listen to for Rock Music which is KTYD 99.9FM

For some reason that monotone tinny sound from the radio is what I expect whenever I hear certain songs.   I have this effect when I listen to the Album 'Affection' by Lisa Stansfield.   I used to play the tape back in 1990 on a cheap AM/FM radio cassette player I got while in military station transition from Georgia to Germany. The barracks walls and the tinny speakers had that certain sound.  Sound acoustics in those old German Barracks were awesome.

Anyways I don't want to loose track of the subject here.  As I got into High School my music taste changed drastically and I was getting into the punk rock and alternative music.  Radio stations in Oxnard were not playing punk rock or alternative music.  My GE transistor radio was not picking up the stations I loathed for.  KROQ in Pasadena was too far to get reception.  I even tried extending the antenna with a long wire or FM antenna,  it was found to be a difficult task.   I was always jealous of another friend I had who lived in a two story house. He had an FM antenna hooked up to his radio and I believe he probably listened to KROQ with it.

The only time I could enjoy listening to KROQ was when I would join my mother and father on their trips down to Chula Vista.  We would drive through Los Angeles for about 25 to 30 minutes. At that time I would quickly turn the radio on and listen.

When I got into listening to punk rock music that was a whole new world.  At that time the only station I was able to listen to punk rock was the Santa Barbara College station KCSB 91.9FM.  It was funny.  I remember my friend showing a flyer two all the people we hung out with.  It was Xeroxed hand written and drawn flyer about the new punk rock music show on saturday nights from 9pm to 12 midnite or something like that.  This radio station I was able to receive on my GE transistor radio.   I soaked up all that music and it slowly and surely had a big influence on how I saw the world.

As the years went by, listening to the punk rock music took it's toll and interest slowly but surely faded and radio listening would take on a new form with the discovery of FM Stereo.  FM Stereo at that time was crack cocaine to my ears.  I could not get enough of it. The song 'Be Near Me' by ABC fed my ears with bliss.   I didn't know what the song was about, but the separation of channels from left to right was ecstacy to my ears.  I had had a steady job as a fry cook and I saved enough for a walkman type radio.  It was a SANYO RP-45 AM/FM radio.  It's amazing I was able to find an image of this radio.

I enjoyed this radio for a short brief time which, I enjoyed it as much as I could.  I had some challenges due to one of our house cats liked to sneak and take it for a run.  He like to chew on the foam.  I was so pissed OFF.  I had no way of replacing the foam covers.  There were no replacement foam covers available for this model.  Buying a new set of headphones were out of the question.  It would cost about $15 dollars at that time.  That was quite a bit of money in 1985 with a wage of $3.25 an hour.