I'm getting ready to do the lawn, and was about to do something 99% of the general population will never take the time to attempt. I was planning to get a battery-powered AM radio, tune it to the faint whisper that is WPHT 1210 (despite my being in the heart of the Philadelphia market), run a cable to my small in-home FM transmitter, and hope that I'd be able to hear Roy Halladay pitch the last-ever Phillies game at Joe Robbie Stadium.
You see, I discovered long ago that only the strongest AM signals here (KYW, 860, and WNAR) are the only ones powerful enough to overcome the lawnmower's motor noise.
And because my little transmitter is in my home office (99% of the time it's used to relay Internet streams; there isn't much worth listening to on what's left of dinosaur radio these days), pulling in a clear WPHT is even more challenging. That is, unless I **unplug** (not just turn off) all the computers, copier, and printer.
Imagine how excited I was to learn just before first pitch that the Phillies' feed-- with Franzke and Andersen-- is being carried on the new WIP-FM. Problem solved. No need for any goofy setups. Just the Sony Walkman tuned to 94 and I'm good to go.
All weekend, the non-radio people in my life (i.e. the majority) have been raving about now being able to hear WIP on FM. Interestingly, many of them complain endlessly about the station. Yet everyone's conceding they'll likely listen more.
Despite all of the advances in media distribution technology over the decades (and specifically the most recent one), it should blow the mind that Delaware Valley sports fans are all excited right now over the decision by CBS to utilize a 75-year-old broadcasting system to air something as simple as spoken-word programming.
Take that, "HD" cult members and die-hard proponents of AM radio who continue to let their hearts rather than their brains rule their radio geekdom.
This weekend in Philadelphia, good old-fashioned frequency modulation is as revolutionary to the listening experience as it was when Edwin Howard Armstrong first demonstrated it in the earlier years of the FDR Administration.
Hat's off to the Major. After 75 years, his FM system-- in its analog form-- is still the tops.
You see, I discovered long ago that only the strongest AM signals here (KYW, 860, and WNAR) are the only ones powerful enough to overcome the lawnmower's motor noise.
And because my little transmitter is in my home office (99% of the time it's used to relay Internet streams; there isn't much worth listening to on what's left of dinosaur radio these days), pulling in a clear WPHT is even more challenging. That is, unless I **unplug** (not just turn off) all the computers, copier, and printer.
Imagine how excited I was to learn just before first pitch that the Phillies' feed-- with Franzke and Andersen-- is being carried on the new WIP-FM. Problem solved. No need for any goofy setups. Just the Sony Walkman tuned to 94 and I'm good to go.
All weekend, the non-radio people in my life (i.e. the majority) have been raving about now being able to hear WIP on FM. Interestingly, many of them complain endlessly about the station. Yet everyone's conceding they'll likely listen more.
Despite all of the advances in media distribution technology over the decades (and specifically the most recent one), it should blow the mind that Delaware Valley sports fans are all excited right now over the decision by CBS to utilize a 75-year-old broadcasting system to air something as simple as spoken-word programming.
Take that, "HD" cult members and die-hard proponents of AM radio who continue to let their hearts rather than their brains rule their radio geekdom.
This weekend in Philadelphia, good old-fashioned frequency modulation is as revolutionary to the listening experience as it was when Edwin Howard Armstrong first demonstrated it in the earlier years of the FDR Administration.
Hat's off to the Major. After 75 years, his FM system-- in its analog form-- is still the tops.
