Hobbies

[Sean Regan]

Most people have hobbies outside of gardening.
I'm into vintage audio and subscribe to various related message boards.
Some people like to restore vintage radios, particularly those of the thirties and forties. Mostly in the USA.
This hobby requires both electrical and woodworking skills. Even re-veneering the cabinets sometimes.
They post messages on the board showing what they've found (sometimes in thrift shops, house-clearance sales or, "free at the kerb") and what can be done with them.

Here's an example. This is an RCA model C8-16

The sad thing is of course, these radios can only pick up the old wave bands, no fm.

The stations on these bands are progressively closing down.

 

[zigs]

I listen to Medium Wave all the time Sean

Radio Caroline on 648 AM​

Radio Caroline returned to the medium waveband on 648 kHz AM as a legal broadcaster at the end of 2017, after applying for, and being granted, the Ofcom licence for the Essex and Suffolk areas of South Eastern England. We were using a power of one kilowatt from a Nautel ND2.5 transmitter which was obtained through a supporter in Switzerland.
In July, 2021, Ofcom extended our licenced areas to parts of Kent and East Sussex, and increased our licenced ERP (Effective Radiated Power) to 4 Kilowatts. To implement this increase we acquired a Harris DX25 transmitter via a supporter in the Netherlands and spent much of the summer and autumn of 2021 rebuilding and retuning it to our frequency. This duly went into service at the end of November 2021.
You can hear us strongly in the above areas, with the signal dropping off gradually further afield. Those with good radios or specialist receivers can hear us at considerable distances from our transmitter, including The Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France, depending on local conditions and other factors.
Getting this far was a long process, as you can read in the sections below, but it has given the station a tremendous boost and helped prove that, despite the current pan-government trend of dropping AM in favour of DAB, there is still sufficient interest in old fashioned 'steam radio' – and indeed people with radio sets that can receive it. A lot of effort has been made "behind the scenes" by Caroline staff and many others in order to achieve this, and we thank them all for their diligent efforts.

Transmitter location​

Our 648Khz transmitter is housed at the former BBC World Service site at Orfordness on the Suffolk coast, built and maintained at great expense by the government of the day, but long since mothballed and scheduled for demolition - an irony not lost on us. You can read how we came to find this plum site on our The History of 648kHz page.
The site though is not open to the public, and being on an island isn't readily accessible to anybody, except those that work there fulltime. We do not own the site and the site owners have made it clear they do not welcome people turning up to have a nose around, so please do not try to get there.

 

[zigs]

But I had to buy a separate radio for Short Wave as most of the new radios don't have that band anymore

 

[Sean Regan]

I listen to Medium Wave all the time Sean

You can at the moment, but fewer stations, eventually all AM stations will cease broadcasting. Contributors to the message boards in America advise any that they are aware of no longer transmitting on AM.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I have been well into telling traditional stories, went to a few festivals and such pre-covid.
Writing, I belonged to a writing forum for quite a while and got into editing and helping others as well, there is quite a bit to it when you really get into it. Then when covid struck I started the YouTube channel, Oliver Buckle, the Story Shack, Mostly my own stories, but a few odd traditional ones. I had about 1,500 views, but then I edited it and lost about 500 views in doing it, creeping back up now, 1,370 odd.
I spend a fair bit of my life on hospital visits, not really a hobby, but I always have. Mum used to tell of the receptionist who looked up at me coming in, a little boy with a bloody eyebrow, and said, "Not again Oliver!".

 

[zigs]

You can at the moment, but fewer stations, eventually all AM stations will cease broadcasting. Contributors to the message boards in America advise any that they are aware of no longer transmitting on AM.

I think Radio Caroline have other ideas Sean, they've recently invested in solar power to power up the transmitter. They have a new jingle - "Caroline - Powered by the Sun" which I quite like as I'm often listening with my solar powered radio

 

[Loose Screw]

When I was a very young child, I traveled the US a little. I was fascinated by the Working Man's radios. Early morning working men with their coffee and Lucky Strikes at the docks or farmhouse huddled listening to the Weather.....

The above are not mine...I have (2) really nice Zeniths...I'll post some pix in a minute...Really I'm not a collector though, my wife calls me a Hoarder....

 

[Sean Regan]

Back in the early sixties I bought one of these second hand, a Bush VHF 64.
You could get BBC TV on the FM band.

 

[Loose Screw]

Yep, the last time I checked (years ago) the tubes in theses still had a few electrons....they worked...

 

[Loose Screw]

English speaking United States licensed Frequency Amplitude Modulation radio stations in the United States of America nowadays tend to be exclusively News/Opinion/Sports. Mexican licensed Amplitude Modulation and Frequency Modulation stations do cover a lot of the United States of America airwaves with Music in Both English and Spanish.

Who wants to listen to Ed Sheehan, Lizzo, Cardi B, Madonna or Sam Smith on a hundred year old radio anyway!

 

[Mike121]

Always interesting to see different hobbies folks have. I used to collect sports cards. I do still have my collection but no longer actively look to add to my collection. These days my primary hobby is building/maintaining websites (forums in particular).