2018 Update
Posted on November 18th, 2018 by admin
OK now it’s at 98.3
Welcome to my Tiny Radio Station. It’s now at 98.3 FM. from the Melrose MA Highlands.
OK now it’s at 98.3
Welcome to my Tiny Radio Station. It’s now at 98.3 FM. from the Melrose MA Highlands.
Here’s the playlist which updates as songs play: https://tinyradiostation.com/chrisrollins/currentTrack.html
It’s too bad, the widget was cool – it showed you what song was playing.
Did you actually pick up this station’s feeble signal? Send a message!
Thanks for visiting, and maybe listening!
I was on 98.9 for a long time, but WCCM just signed on a translator on that frequency in Southern NH. Interference from the north. So now I’m trying out 96.3 FM. [update May21-17 – 96.3 from Cape Cod coming in too strong. Switched to 99.9]
Just playing music. Nothing more. Continually updating playlist is on the right. Not usually crowd pleasing stuff.
You can anonymously comment by clicking on the tiny “leave a comment” link directly below. I’m only curious if anyone was receiving. The “Captcha” asks you to name the country the food is from, usually Italy. Don’t retype the word listed, type the country. Stifado is from Greece. I think Meat Pie is too. You might have to Google the item to get the origin. “Bumba” came up and I couldn’t find the correct answer. There are an ocean of spammers out there, hence this floodgate.
Happy 2017!
JeffB
WCCM signed on a translator at 98.9 from Salem, NH, so there’s new right wing talk interference from the north.
Mostly indie folk, rock, electronic, and experimental. But now at 81,000 songs, it can be wildly unpredictable.
Could range from Showtunes to Shoegaze. Cole Porter to Katy Perry. Beatles to Beasties to Bruno Mars.
Familiar favorites • Brooding Singer Songwriters • Catchy Electronic Pop • Spirited R&B • Rootsy gritty punk & blues • Infectious guitars and harmonies
Country, Progressive/Classic Rock, Hip Hop & Old School, Jazz, Soft Rock, Alternative Rock, Active Rock, Americana, Standards, Folk, Avant Garde, World Music, Classical, Ambient, Dream Pop, Electronica, and sometimes Metal..
All on “Shuffle”
Hit parades spanning the decades – all the way back to the 1940’s.
An intentional sonic collision between worlds of music.
Sources: WZBC, BIRP.FM, SXSW, KEXP, RadioK, FBI (in Sydney), Newbury Comics, Amazon, Bandcamp, iTunes, eMusic.com, record company websites (like Matador), Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, Quietus, LineOfBestFit, NastyPanda, PASTE.com, servers of various commercial radio stations I’ve worked at in and around Boston, ripped CD’s from my own collection, and my own digitized vinyl collection that goes as far back as the 1960’s.
Usually the selections are either completely random or constrained to “recently added” to learn what’s new. When I’m on the computer, I’ll curate the playlist rather than just have it be auto-generated. If you hear a message directing you to this website, I’m probably at the controls.
The statistical probability of this mix appealing to you is low. It’s not intended to be mass appeal. But if you happened to enjoy something you heard, and want to learn what it was, I’ll gladly share the playlist with you. Just send a message via the comments or contact section. There’s a single person behind all this (me), who only does it for fun. And ’cause i like all kinds of music.
The music is usually just iTunes 10.7.
From there the music goes digitally into a series of audio plug ins to emulate real FM radio station processing. Big commercial stations have powerful audio processing boxes with either the name Omnia or Optimod on them. They’re expensive.
I’m using a combination of Wave Rider, McDSP MC4000, Ozone Advanced, L3Multi, and Fab Filter – all feeding a Finalizer which digitally feeds the transmitter.
(update, power supply on the Finalizer died. Until I can replace it, I’m using a spare ULN2 to distribute the audio – jeff Mon Nov21-16)
(update again, instead of replacing the power supply, I grabbed a used TC Electronic dbMAX box that was just retired from a Low Power FM station in NYC. OMG this thing is sweet! Mon Dec19-16)
The goal is to maximize the levels without killing the dynamics in the music. And maybe add some “zing”. Radio stations do this because the sound has to work on a variety of mediums: clock radios, car stereos, boomboxes, small portable players, big 5.1 surround systems, etc. They also do it because they want to be competitive with other stations. “Sweetening” the sound, much like Coke adding more HFCS to their sodas.
After years of tweaking, I think my audio measures up to how the local big Boston stations sound. It’s a black art.
If you listen off the stream, it’s the same signal feeding the transmitter.
I know this stuff is geeky, but believe it or not there are forums solely dedicated to processing for FM radio stations. It’s kind of a hobby. Many of us also like trains.
Sorry this station has been on less frequently. Just weekends mostly. And when it is I’m running fewer announcements directing you to this website, so it becomes “that station that just plays music and never talks or says anything’.
But I continue to add to the library.
Little ones who wanted to be “on the radio” yielded some produced ID’s I’ve been airing between songs. Hate to tell them this radio station has about as much power as a cordless phone. One of those messages may have directed you to this website if you caught it.
New Year’s Day, and the station is on (both over the air at 98.9 and the stream). I’m running messages mentioning this website, if that’s how you found it, welcome!
My little radio station is currently set to play anything I got that came out in 2013. I’m broadcasting from highlands of Melrose, MA – the signal gets out to northwestern Melrose and eastern Stoneham, also getting into south Wakefield.
It’s just a quick way for me to listen to my music around the house, but since there’s no chatter or commercials, it might appeal to anyone with eclectic taste who is in range with an FM radio.
The playlist updates in real time, look in the box to the right.
Would be a thrill to receive a message if you heard the station, even if sent anonymously !
Happy New Year !
jeff