DAREDX

(image from : http://sound.westhost.com/project54.htm)

François D. sent me this article and I thought it pertinent to go ahead and post it here.  It really give me some hope for the LPFM (Low Power FM) movement down in the US, and hopefully, it may influence law makers here in Canada.  Have a look here: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/25-4

Well, sadly, I’ve boxed up the gear and carted it away from Dare-Dare and Cabot Square.  I’m still digesting the work that I did there, so Ill be posting items as they come to mind.  I will also be uploading the audio archive here.  What I didn’t realize is just how long it takes to upload a 3 hour MP3 file, so things have been going a little slower on that front than I expected.

Im currently out of town, performing, installing and then finally taking a well deserved holiday in Lisboa.  Things will kick back in after the 18th of October when I return.  Until then, I’ll simply say thanks to Dare-Dare for all their support and hard work in making this all happen.  It was an eye opening experience from my perspective in ways I never imagined.  I do hope others got something from it as well.

One of the most often asked questions regarding this project, is “Why not just use the Internet?” I usually contend first that amateur radio is the one and only truly free worldwide communications medium.  Then I go on to talk about infrastructure issues, radio still works in disaster or places where the infrastructure has otherwise been destroyed. And then there’s the surveillance issue too.  Today’s news of Vice President runner Sarah Palin’s yahoo account getting hacked highlights the issue from both sides.  One you are not safe no matter what you think when you data is trafficked over the internet.  End of story.  And secondly, when information wants to be set free - such as the hacker who decided to do this, and then speared the account all over the internet, eventually ending up in places like wikileaks, is now offline.  Coincidence?  I highly doubt it.  I’m sure things are pretty shaky over there now (wherever there is). EDIT: ok, so my conspiracy theory has gotten the better of me -  you can still catch it all here: http://88.80.13.160/ and read a bit and you can have a look at Palin’s inbox if you so desire…but I think more interesting would be most of the other information online there.

The internet is controlled, dear readers, it is not an open, wild-west-like frontier has it has been understood by many of you that have spoken to me in person and asking about the internet vs radio.  The air is open.  The spectrum can be utilized for your utopian dreams.  A project by friend and collaborator, Marko Peljhan, Insular Technologies [2] [3] is specifically about these issues.  It was first presented, I believe, in 1999 at V2 Institute for Unstable Media in Rotterdam.

Another thing that just occurred to me which highlights these issues, is the appeal that Comcast is making to the ruling on their wireless throttling practices.  Again, we are not in control - but could be through the use of HF radio.  DAREDX is in part an appeal to all of you cultural media worker and theoreticians to go out and get your license, the more of us there are, the better prepared we’ll be in the future…

Radio is not just ‘CQ’ calls and ’73’s, there are a plethora of digital modes out there, including yes, email.  In fact, take a look at x.25 protocol - its pretty much the precursor to the internet, ie: packets over a network (this time over a radio network) The first amateur radio application of the X.25 protocol (called AX.25) took place in 1978 in, yes, Montreal.  (thanks to Francois D. for that little tidbit)

All this to say that HF radio could more than sufficiently sever the needs of cultural workers in need of remaining off the grad either by choice, or location.

Sunday we did another workshop, this time it was a FM transmitter building workshop.  I was initially introduced to the workshop through Adam Hyde, and then I helped a little at one at ISEA in San Jose, taught by BYP member and collaborator Lotte Meijer.

The workshop is meant to show how easy it is to work with electronics and get on the air. The transmitter plans that I used are from plans that Tetsuo Kogawa has published and used for many years in his exploits with community based radio in Japan.  I realized after reading through his site, that I actually saw some of his work back in San Francisco, when he did a project with Paper Tiger Television who were a big influence on me.  I used to use their editing suite back in the old ATA days.

Anyway, back to the workshop details, we had a really good turnout, and everyone was super enthusiastic.  It was very, very hot, with the humidex it came close to 37  C! maaayybe not the best for soldering, but it worked out well. We had a little trouble at the very end, of course with the transistor, and the whole collector - base - emitter orientation, but we managed to figure it all out and we had 100% success with the transmitters!

Someone along the way pointed out that it felt like sewing communally, maybe we’ll have soldering parties in the future instead of quilting.  Most folks had no previous experience, and I think everyone walked away unafraid to get their hands dirty in the future!

I did learn that Industry Canada does not allow any form of low power transmission on the air, which is too bad.  Again, it falls back to government trying to clamp down any experimentation by the public.  There used to be laws allowing for emissions under a certain power level, but these have been erased.  Yes, there needs to be regulation of the airwaves, but the power of connecting people through radio is simply too powerful to only allow broadcasting businesses and not community people to access this power.  Maybe we’d all be better off with a thriving underground system of radio pirates rather than a nation dedicated to Facebook.  Tetsuo has written extensively on this, and I encourage you all to go out and have a read.  I’m open to discussion on this issue, and I welcome comments on this…

I have been neglecting the blog here lately, the project in fact has been more dense than I originally thought.  Those of you who are looking for more audio, no problem, please be patient, it will come.  I’m going to go ahead and just make some entries, but I will make them separate in order that the log stays searchable and so on.

The past week was spent crunching hard getting another project of mine together, that is tightly related to the DAREDX project, so closely, in fact, the audio from DAREDX is played in this other piece.  Its called the Office of Spectral Ecology, and is on view at Oboro, another super great artist run center in Montreal.  I’ve really begun to understand the ecology of these centers here in Canada as an outsider from the US.  They are so great, non-profit, and very reminiscent of my days at Artists’ Television Access, but funded by the government.  The spaces are fantastic, and I think contribute very much to Canada’s strength in the Arts.   DARE-DARE is of course very unique with no ’space’ but public space.  It reminds me of Creative Time crossed with ATA.  All the people here have totally gone out of their way here to help me out in so many ways.

Have a look at the Office of Spectral Ecology, and Oboro’s site too.

Speaking specifically about my on the air experiences, well, there have been many more, mostly on the 20 meter band.  In my location, its interesting at the time that I am here.  When I arrive at 5 the band is ususally filled with europeans, and it gradually shifts to the UK and Ireland, then I start getting the US and places south.  My furthest South has been Paraguay, and I’ve only heard that country once, so that was a real treat.

So on with the rest of the catchup…

So this past Sunday, I convinced some of the local radio amateur luminaries to come on down to Cabot Square and have a little public talk and discussion forum.  I thought it would give a little insight into what I am doing here in the park from a perspective that isn’t from a direct art angle.  All of the guys that came down to talk have been into amateur radio for a long time, and have plenty to share.  (you can see their details on the “events” page)

Now sadly, no one showed up, it was the first blustery day here after allot of very warm weather, the Als were playing on a Sunday afternoon, Picnik Electronic was in full swing, and many other things might have contributed to the lack of attendees.  Admittedly, I was feeling a little beat at first, but in fact we spent the entire time talking amongst ourselves and I had a chance to get to know the speakers and their perspectives much more intimately.  John Grow (second from right above) even worked a few contacts on 20 meters.  Francois Daigneault graciously agreed to allow me to post his ‘practice talk’ which he edited together from several takes, so all is not lost for you all out there that didn’t make it.  The guys were very friendly, and we had nice talks ranging from the technical (RF ground) to the esoteric (Why be a ham?)  I think we all walked away with a new perspective that we might not have had before the day started, so in that way, the day wasn’t a failure at all.

Pictured above from left to right is: Jean-Francois (dare-dare board member), John Grow VE2EQL, Daniel Lamoureux VE2KA, Francois Daigneault VA2AAY, Tanya Das Neves (and the little tail belongs to one of our pooches, Floyd) John’s wife Susanne (also a ham) is hiding behind Jean Francois, but she toughed out the chilly day too.

Without further ado,  here is Francois’ talk:

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Last night I had a major meltdown, my trusty old Toshiba that was given to me by my brother Brandon (star exec chef at Stueben’s in Denver CO) totally died.  The hard drive started making some really funny noises, then vibrations, and then poof.  Blue screen.  The sad part is that I lost a bunch of audio recordings, I did save the day 5 recordings but the rest are gone, magnetized still on a platter, but I’m unable to reach them.  So close and yet so far.

After that realization, I called it quits and didn’t setup at all, considering we still had the same poor conditions as the night before, and instead went home to get something together for digital action.  I decided against bringing my dedicated work laptop, as it is really dusty at Cabot Square, and went out and bought a small MSI Wind notebook to dedicate for use with the radio rig.  Its small, super small, and here’s to hoping that it lasts for a long time. In fact, I’m posting from it now - seems to be a nice little laptop. I do regret not just getting it together and replacing the drive in the Toshiba, but I will, and to get things moving and running as far as the project goes, I needed to deal with things fast.  The Toshiba is resting now, but it’ll get back to life and Ill donate it somewhere - i hate to add to the electronics junk pile somewhere.

Its interesting to think about the newer technology, ie computers and their fragility, when considering radio Read more »

OK, I slacked a bit the other day and didn’t get my post up, so Ill combine the two days reports together.  forgive me…maybe the things are getting a little muddled in my head.  Maybe its the radiation.  At any rate, I managed to make my first contact on PSK-31 the other day, finally.  I had some settings a little screwed up, my RF gain was way too high apparently and I was spreading my signal a little wider than it needed to be.  I talked to a very nice fellow from NJ who was patient enough with me in order that I got things set to a good level.  Then right after I signed off with him, I was off to the races, and my next contact was a Quebec ham, who must have seen my callsign and got excited to talk with another local.  It worked out well.  Here’s to hoping for more and more.

Now last night the A index was pretty high, and it looks high again tonight, so Im not sure what Ill be able to hear.  I did make some nice recording of shortwave broadcasts, have a listen.  There’s a christian guy proclaiming that the anichrist is embodied in world databases at about 40 mins, and lots of other banter. Here’s some stuff from Day 5.  If anyone can translate the arabic (I think) at the start, I’d love to know what this guys is saying.

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The third day and things were pretty lively on 20 the 20 meter band - I heard a huge pileup for my firs time, and I tried to break in, but no luck.  I have been trying to get the digital modes down too, and I think I have a small setting a little bit funky on my radio.  Hopefully I can get it together.  John Grow stopped by as well to have a look and he gave me some tips which I will try out - mainly going for a direct connection to the DARE-DARE trailer for the RF ground.  I had laid out a series of resonant ground wires for the 5BTV vertical, in hopes that they would capacitively couple to the trailer - its all metal.  Ill screw directly into the roof and see if it helps things at all.

I also met with a Andrew Foot, another local ham, who armed me with some brochures for the WIARC classes.  Stop by and pick one up, or I can send the info.  I’m going to try and get the audio archives up as well.  I’m a little torn as to the editing process, which out of time’s sake Ill have to leave raw.  They are a clean MP3 encode, for listening here on the web, but Ill also have a link to an uncompressed WAV file too.  The recordings were done straight into Audacity (a great open-source audio editing program if you haven’t heard of it) from the line in jack of my laptop. Its got a pretty decent audio interface, and considering I’m recoding heavy duty noise, and SSB audio, it should be more than adequate.

73 VA2XBX