DAREDX

My last post like this elicited a good exchange over email with Francois D, and he agreed to allow it to be publicly accessible, so I thought it might push the issue a bit further along.  I welcome any comments on the issues we raise…

On Sep 19, 2008, at 10:48 AM, Francois Daigneault wrote:

Hello, Matthew,

Why radio, when we have the internet?
That very question has been on my mind for a few days.

After reading your post about the TX workshop, I wondered if some access to low-power AM or FM might be a good thing for Canada BUT could not help thinking that we have the internet with blogs, vlogs, streaming, etc…
Why risk chaos on the airwaves ?

well, for one thing, I think radio (even community based, low power, broadcast) builds community unlike any other medium.  The internet tries, and succeeds on a certain level, with the web 2.0 tech, but I think it is fundamentally different than hear someone’s voice.  Hearing the inflections in the words.

I don’t think chaos would result either.  If there were to be an ‘allowance’ under a certain PEP wattage, say 1 watt even, then I doubt that we would see an explosion on the airwaves, but rather the few people that this would benefit, would make a station.  I have been thinking about how great ti would be for DARE-DARE to have a legitimate station, one that was so low power it would only extend in the very close vicinity of the park, and what that might mean for the people that spend allot of time there.  You know, someone brought a soccer ball yesterday there, and people had a blast - happiest I’ve seen them in a long while.  Maybe ‘DJing’ a station like that would give them a voice, and something to do, to think about.  DARE-DARE could also use the system too - they plan on having events like movie night outside, and rather than just blasting the audio, they could instead transmit it, and people could listen on their headphones, or smaller radios.

If a low-power limit were set, then in fact it too could be regulated, and any interference could be dealt with in a professional way, rather than an aggressive one.  Maybe IC [Industry Canada] could even assist in being sure that these LPFM transmitters perform as they should.  So for a small price, organizations, and communities could realize some of the potential of radio as it was seen by some of its earliest practitioners.

Me, a ham for nearly 40 years, thinking that the internet trumps radio ??? I guess it depends on what one wants to achieve:

- A chance for anyone to express his views or creations ?

- An outlet for dissenting opinions ?

- Bring back a sense of community, a connection to local things ?

- A global forum for issues affecting humanity ?

Radio is saddled with a couple of handicaps:

- Entry barriers:

Radio transmission remains somewhat complicated.

Technical standards, equipment costs, risk of interference, …

- Limited audience:

I don’t see countries granting wide-open access to chunks of the spectrum capable of great distances.

I agree with this as well, and is why I always said that I’m not a ‘total’ anarchist :)  There needs to be regulation, especially when we start to talk about communication technology that can potentially reach the world.

That said, maybe you could shed some light on things from a technical perspective.  I have read from a few theoreticians, that in fact, allocation could be a thing of the past if we allowed certain type of technology similar to what is used for WiFi (802.11 right?) whereby these devices transmit and receive all on the same set of channels, yet my packets and my neighbors don’t get confused.  So let’s dream big for a moment, and imagine that this type of technology (is it spread spectrum in a way?) was slowly introduced for the ‘rest of the spectrum’. could this in a way alleviate the issue of interference, and then presumably, we could open the allocations?  Now I know for many different reasons this will probably never happen, but as an artist, I feel obliged to ask this kinds of questions, so excuse me if you imagine me going way out of orbit here

Think of an international ham band on a contest weekend and multiply the activity by a factor of 10:  the result would be akin to ‘noise’ wall-to-wall from stations competing for attention.

Allocations can only be VHF+ with limited coverage.

Again, agreed here, for the ‘un-licensed’ low power FM folks that I imagine could be very useful on a variety of levels. Worldwide abilities definitely need a degree of understanding before you try and jump into that pond.  I hardly feel that I am authorized, but the more I practice the better off I and everyone else out there is.

Computers and the internet have opened-up ready access to audiences, near or far, it all depends on the contents you offer.

Distance and time are no longer impediments to exchanges.

I think of radio as a ‘niche’ for specific purposes.

I think of the internet as a medium that has filled every niche of niches. I don’t even want to look in the darkest corners :)  Look at the wide range of information that exists on the net.  There’s so much, and almost so little, and sadly most of what you read, see and so on, is re-hashed from somewhere else online.

Now, if the infrastructure or society breaks down, if government or corporations misbehave, we have a problem but isn’t that the exception rather than the rule ?

hmmm, governments and corporations misbehave as the exception, this may be where we have to agree to disagree on a friendly level.  I can’t speak for Canadian politics, as I don’t feel exceptionally well versed in the history here and I still have problems keeping up with current events, but I can speak from the country I come from, and I can name a laundry list of things I don’t agree with which they have done.  Governments in a large scope, the big ida of government is of course not out to hurt the people who it governs, but the problem is that when you mix corporations with government I think it becomes a very bad mix.

I think that we only need to look at the case of AT&T drag-netting the internet / telephone node for the US government last year that was brought to light by the technician whistelblower as reason enough to consider creating networks outside of the internet, child of arpanet…

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/homefront/interviews/klein.html

I don’t wish of a societal breakdown (as much as it may seem after reading all of this), but what I would like, is for us to re-think our positions on these issues.  They are the biggest issues at hand today I believe.  Bigger than oil even.  Communications technology is what it’s a built upon - without communication we wouldn’t even know where to send the oil. (or at what prices

have a look at this article - nothing earth shattering, but a good one nonetheless: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/opinion/30wu.html

François

[ Lately, I have bookmarked a couple of blues 'radio' stations, one in New-Jersey, the other in Texas.  http://www.live365.com/ I can't have access to that over the airwaves at such little cost. ]

True, absolutely - I don’t think we should abolish either, they serve differing needs - but I think that radio could serve many more, and I think we should re-examine the use of both technologies.  As one begins to grow up (the internet) i think its a great time to examine the root, and evaluate it.  Maybe even re-define it.  Society is so hung up on the newest, latest, greatest tech - that we are creating a huge amount of waste.  Why not look at what is already there.  There is something so comforting about the transceiver I have and knowing that as long as I take care of it, I wont need to replace it for any reason.  14Mhz isn’t going the way of Microsoft Windows 3.1.  I have been using that as a selling point for radio by the way at Cabot.

[ Did you see the CBC's Newsworld taking video Skype calls from viewers in the evening as part of their election coverage ? ]

This almost require a whole separate email.  I am still out on how I feel about these ‘citizen’ reporters.  I miss the days of the pros - but then the pro channels have their own agenda, and they co-opt citizen views.  Im just not sure, and I am really confused about this - but I do spend allot of brain power on this issue.

Francois, I really appreciate all of your questions and input - you continue to challenge me in a very positive way…its great. I hope I’ve clarified some of my points - I was just writing off the top of my head, so excuse some of the ramblings

Would you mind if a clipped our discussion above and posted it to the blog? I think this type of exchange is so crucial.  If you don’t feel comfortable, its no problem, I will totally respect that and not ask again, but I do enjoy exchanging with you…

Now I have to head down to the square…
all the best,
matthew

(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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