Monday, October 3, 2022

Folk Image Site Restored and Integrated into t1700.net

The entire vintage Folk Image website (1997-2004) has been restored and integrated into t1700.net. Around one and a half years ago, I decided to let the folkimage.com domain name expire to save an annual expense for a website that had not been active in well over a decade. But a little more than a week ago, I became enamored with the idea of restoring the whole thing and integrating it into the t1700.net domain.

The work took three days. The longest, most tedious part was changing perhaps more than a thousand links from folkimage.com to t1700.net/folkimage.com. I also updated to a currently functioning search engine and removed links to software that was no longer relevant.

You can now find a link to Folk Image on every page of t1700.net. All available two hour shows, specials, live events, and artist interviews are there for your enjoyment.     

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Workarounds discovered: Liberty & Justice 1640 should return to its regular program schedule Tues. night 9/6

I thought of a workaround and after considering it for a couple days, I have decided to go with it. My personal desktop computer uses the same motherboard model that the Liberty & Justice automation computer uses. I can install it in the Liberty & Justice computer along with all the other hardware that was originally there. With that there should be no issues with activation or having to re-register the automation software.

This will cause some inconvenience as I will need to temporarily reshuffle the functions I normally do on my personal computer to other devices. But I'll live with it for a few weeks.

Expect the internet stream, normal audio processing, and regularly scheduled programming to return by 6 AM Eastern on September 7th.  

Friday, September 2, 2022

Worst possible timing: Motherboard of the Liberty & Justice computer suffers a BIOS update mishap. Regular programming suspended, possibly for weeks

The past three weeks have not been kind to Minimum Wage Media's PC work horses. First, a dish cloth got caught in the CPU pins of the motherboard in my personal desktop computer, ruining it probably for good. Then, as if all the fall out from that was not enough of an expense and inconvenience, the motherboard of the main Liberty & Justice computer underwent a USB-based flashed BIOS update while I forgot to remove a networking device that was still connected to the USB bus. The update took forever with mostly a blank screen. It finally proceeded normally. But after completion, the computer went dead instead of attempting a re-boot. It has not been able to power up since.

The motherboard is still under warranty, so the cheapest solution was to send it back to the manufacturer to have them re-set the BIOS. However, the complete process may take four weeks or more.

The timing could not have been worse. The Massachusetts Primary is on 9/6 with the general election in November. Without that computer, and the years of programming and maintenance that went into it, I was forced to suspend regular programming indefinitely. There will be no internet stream, no local input to the programing, and no audio processing. Only the terrestrial AM signal within 3 miles of Acme Park will remain. We will carry various networks - Infowars, GCN, Real America's Voice, RSBN, and Frank Speech - switching among them with no set schedule as I am able to do so. I am planning to carry President Trump's Wilkes-Barre rally live on Saturday and the Tele-rally on Labor Day evening (7 PM) featuring President Trump, Geoff Deihl, and Leah Allen. But mostly it will be all networks all the time by necessity.

Computers are finely tuned, unforgiving devices. If you would like to assist with a donation to help during this frustrating period, you can do so on our advertising page. I appreciate your support.       

Friday, May 6, 2022

Both FM signals (mini translators) have been shut down permanently

I have decided to permanently shut down our FM mini-translator signals at 87.9 and 97.9. Due to our New England winters, I cannot get an FM transmitter to last more than two years. Without proper antenna de-icing, multiple components fail and it is not an easy fix without a schematic. Buying new transmitters - yet again - and erecting antennas inside the only RF transparent building I own (a wooden shed) would not be worth the time or expense during this period of my life. All this and one additional factor weighed in my decision.

Of course, you can still hear the stations on their main AM frequencies of 1640 and 1710. A modification I made in their tuning systems last year has resulted in the best range ever for these two signals. They also broadcast in stereo using the Motorola C-Quam system on receivers from the late 1980's and early 1990's capable of decoding such analog-based multiplexing.

If you are more than 2.5 or 3 miles from the transmitters, your sole option remains the audio streams.