[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Nolan Woodbury

For years I've toyed with the idea of adapting satellite to a big, 12-tube Zenith or some other quality vertical console. It's been discussed here, but I haven't acted on it. Imagine being able to enjoy everything from Big Band, classic country, DooWop or sixties rock on your favorite set, whenever you wanted!

To me, that would be the ultimate radio experience.

I like the tone of a quality AM signal, but here in AZ the interference can sometimes get really bad; especially during the monsoon season. I like FM, and we're lucky to have a few really good stations that not only play good music, but seem to be intelligent enough to stay in business. KOOL-FM (94.5) is owned by CBS and has been playing the same 60s/oldies/Motown format Since 1970. They produce a beautiful signal too; really punchy and loud, with lots of bottom end.

Sounds great on the MJ 1035!

I can vouch for the great sound of KOOL-FM 94.5. I've heard it on the Web here near Cleveland (I have its stream bookmarked in my browser and listen to it now and then), and, as you say, it sounds fantastic. My only regret is that I cannot listen to it using my Winamp player; one must use the special CBS Radio music player to hear the stream. No matter. I like the station so well I'm willing to use an external player to hear it. That station (and KCDX 103.1) are my favorite Phoenix stations now. That's the beauty of Internet radio streaming--one need never be out of range of a favorite station, even if that station is hundreds or thousands of miles away; as well, stations that stream over the Web can and do increase their listener bases far beyond their over-the-air coverage areas. The oldies station in Cleveland, WMJI "Majic 105.7", is operated by Clear Channel Communications of San Antonio, Texas; it's been doing oldies since 1981 and streams on the Web at http://www.wmji.com. The station sounds great, both OTA and online, but it has too many commercials and too much DJ chatter for my taste, except when it runs 100-percent automated after midnight Eastern time. Even then, I like KOOL-FM 94.5 and another oldies station located in Chicago, WZZN 94.7 (http://www.wzzn.com online). The Chicago station is programmed entirely from the True Oldies Channel satellite oldies network and sounds great as well. There was a station about 35 miles east of me that was carrying the True Oldies Channel for about two years, more or less, then it switched to a talk format.

Easy listening, aka elevator music, didn't die; it went from FM to the Internet. My favorite easy-listening Internet station is "The Breeze" from Crown Point, Indiana (northwest Indiana, near Chicago) ; its URL is bookmarked in my Winamp player. Their website is http://www.thebreez.com (that's without the 'e' at the end, as an announcer intones about once an hour when he gives the station's web URL). On their home page is a picture of an old-time radio, but don't let it fool you; it's not just for looks. That picture will, when clicked on, take you straight to the audio stream, as it is a link to the website I mentioned.

If you like what you hear on The Breeze, drop them a line and tell them so. There is a link on the home page just for that purpose. They read all email that comes in to their inbox, and they appreciate the feedback.

You are lucky to have so many different radio stations in the Phoenix area. Here in the Cleveland area, most stations from 92.3 MHz on up play rock, rap and other stuff, but no easy listening. Below 92 MHz, however, things are different. There is a very good big band/standards station on 91.5 MHz, WKHR-FM, operated by a local school district. It has students from a local high school as disk jockeys during school hours and until 9 p.m.; after nine p.m. the station is automated until about eight o'clock the following morning. Their website is http://www.wkhr.org if you want to listen online. Their OTA signal is very good everywhere in greater Cleveland, owing to the fact that the station is located in Geauga County, Ohio. This county's elevation above sea level is very high, which means the station's antenna tower is higher than those of most Cleveland stations; the latter have their transmitters and antenna towers in a southwestern suburb of Cleveland called Parma (a few stations have their towers/transmitters in another southwestern suburb known as North Royalton, and still others have their transmitters in yet another SW suburb called Seven Hills). Cleveland station WENZ (Z107.9, urban) also has its transmitter and towers in Geauga County. This station runs only 16kW effective radiated power (ERP) vertical and horizontal these days, but in the 1960s and '70s, and possibly into the early eighties, it was a monster running 70kW ERP in both directions, for a whopping 140kW ERP signal. The FCC ordered WENZ to reduce its output to 16kW about 20 years ago, IIRC, when new FMs went on the air in Pittsburgh and Toronto, Canada, on 107.9 MHz. I would be willing to bet, if I were a betting man (I'm not), that, when WENZ began operating with only 16kW ERP vertical and horizontal, the station's older engineers probably sighed, "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted." They would be referring, of course, to the station's days as a 70-kW ERP powerhouse. I don't think anyone around here will ever forget those days. Kinda' like when WLW in Cincinnati first went on the air in the '30s with a 500-kW transmitter. The signal was so powerful that it caused light bulbs to glow, even out of their sockets, and in lamps that were not even plugged into an AC outlet. The problem was lessened, if not completely solved, when the FCC limited the maximum power any U.S. AM radio station could run to 50kW.

BTW: Nolan, I have a picture of Phoenix, Arizona during monsoon season as my computer desktop wallpaper. Nice to look at, but I bet monsoon season is no picnic in that area.

I can think of at least one way you can hear satellite radio through your treasured Zenith antique radios; just connect the audio output of your satellite receiver or computer across the volume control (using a series blocking capacitor, of course). The sound will be reproduced through your radio's own audio system and speaker, and it will be great if your set's audio system is good, as all Zeniths are. I once had a 23" Zenith b&w TV with a hi-fi sound system; I hooked up the audio output of an old FM tuner across the volume control, and it worked/sounded fantastic. Unfortunately, I had to give it up when I moved about three years later. And after all the work I had put into it (new tubes, etc.)! Oh well, it was plenty of fun while it lasted.