{"id":42355,"date":"2020-03-16T09:17:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T13:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=42355"},"modified":"2020-03-16T09:19:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T13:19:58","slug":"johns-illicit-friend-from-the-good-old-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/johns-illicit-friend-from-the-good-old-days\/","title":{"rendered":"John’s “illicit friend from the good old days”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

At the 1-watt setting (13.8V, 470mA DC in) The labels are Photoshopped here for illustration, ie they’re not on the actual case (Source: AE5X)<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, John (AE5X), who recently shared a link to the following story on his excellent radio blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[…]It was the late 1990’s in Montclair NJ. A friend played guitar in a local band and wanted to get some air time for a few of their original songs. He knew his chances of getting his tunes played on a commercial FM station hovered somewhere between zero and none. And – this is key – he’d seen Pump Up The Volume<\/i><\/a>\u00a0and knew that I knew a “bit about radios”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My friend – I’ll call him “Don” since that was (and still is) his name – wondered if there was some way he could be outfitted with a radio similar to that in\u00a0Pump Up The Volume<\/i>, and, if so, what would his range be. I told him that a lot depends on the antenna’s location.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Funny thing about Don: besides being in a rock & roll band, he was also a caretaker for a Montclair church. A church with a very tall belltower. A belltower that he had access to. Do you see where this is going? Furthermore, Don and his wife lived on church property as part of his caretaker responsibilities.[…]<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click here to read the full story at AE5X’s blog.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

What a divine alignment, John! \ud83d\ude42 Fantastic story and, I’m sure, one that resonates with many here in the SWLing Post<\/em> community.\u00a0 Perhaps readers will comment with details\u00a0 about their own “illicit” friends and radio escapades!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John (AE5X), who recently shared a link to the following story on his excellent radio blog: […]It was the late 1990’s in Montclair NJ. A friend played guitar in a local band and wanted to get some air time for a few of their original songs. He knew his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3781,3,297],"tags":[1298,2628,1297,1213,4092],"class_list":["post-42355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fm","category-news","category-pirate-radio","tag-ae5x","tag-fm-transmitter","tag-john-harper","tag-john-harper-ae5x","tag-pirate-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-b19","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41530,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/john-works-with-fcc-to-track-down-wx-radar-interference\/","url_meta":{"origin":42355,"position":0},"title":"John works with FCC to track down WX radar interference","author":"Thomas","date":"January 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Harper (AE5X), who notes that he recently worked with an FCC crew to find the source of noise that was affecting a weather radar site. In the process, John got to check out, first hand, RF Hawk and some of the equipment the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/QRM-plot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/QRM-plot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/QRM-plot.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/QRM-plot.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30539,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/the-muzen-otr-a-handcrafted-salute-to-radio-caroline\/","url_meta":{"origin":42355,"position":1},"title":"The Muzen OTR: A handcrafted salute to Radio Caroline","author":"Thomas","date":"January 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Harper (AE5X), who writes: I thought you and your readers might be interested in this [...] a cool little radio I learned about from the YouTube channel of a drone flyer I follow. I like the craftsmanship: https:\/\/youtu.be\/jGGUaM0hqlw Click here to view on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Muzen-OTR-Radio-Caroline.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Muzen-OTR-Radio-Caroline.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Muzen-OTR-Radio-Caroline.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20915,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/arvin-model-68r05-johns-1967-transistor-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":42355,"position":2},"title":"Arvin Model 68R05: John’s 1967 transistor radio","author":"Thomas","date":"August 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to John Harper (AE5X) who shares the following in reply to our post about transistor radios: Attached is a pic of a like-new transistor radio from 1967 [see above]. Remember the days when they bragged about how many transistors a gadget contained?! Sort of like bragging about RAM\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"arvin_68R05","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/arvin_68R05.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/arvin_68R05.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/arvin_68R05.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/arvin_68R05.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39345,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/ae5x-notes-beware-of-counterfeit-elecraft-k3s-transceivers\/","url_meta":{"origin":42355,"position":3},"title":"AE5X notes: Beware of counterfeit Elecraft K3S transceivers","author":"Thomas","date":"August 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post friend John (AE5X) who posted the following warning on his blog regarding \"Esthetic upgrade kits\" to make an Elecraft K3 look like a K3S. From the AE5X blog: If you're in the market for a used K3S you might want to pay extra diligence to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/k3ork3s-1024x723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/k3ork3s-1024x723.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/k3ork3s-1024x723.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4181,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/the-connection-between-hallicrafters-and-1940s-electronic-warfare\/","url_meta":{"origin":42355,"position":4},"title":"The connection between Hallicrafters and 1940s electronic warfare","author":"Thomas","date":"August 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my favorite ham radio blogs is that of John (AE5X). Like me, he's a QRPer--meaning, as amateur radio operators, we love making contacts across this great globe of ours using very low power...typically 5 watts or less. The challenge is fun, the medium is magical. John's also a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Early_B-24-Hallicrafters-S27-293x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36685,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/john-spots-a-spark-gap-transmitter-in-netflix-series-rebellion\/","url_meta":{"origin":42355,"position":5},"title":"John spots a spark gap transmitter in Netflix series “Rebellion”","author":"Thomas","date":"March 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, John Harper (AE5X), who writes: Your readers might be interested in the spark gap transmitter depiction in Rebellion, a series currently on Netflix: https:\/\/ae5x.blogspot.com\/2019\/03\/spark-gap-transmitter-depicted-in.html Many thanks for sharing, John!","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/spark_gap.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/spark_gap.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/spark_gap.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/spark_gap.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}