Low Power FM Transmission

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Mark Urbin

I decided to muck about with a low power private FM transmission. The goal was to pump my local and streaming music over an open FM frequency so I can listen on a radio, which I have several, including nice Bose Wave radios. The FM transmitter was just under $150 with shipping and taxes. This is a fairly easy to use model. I set the frequency, plugged in the input, and started listening.

I have it plugged into an old Sonos device (the Connect device, which has stereo output jacks). I had playlists with local and streaming music I could easily load and put in a looping random mix. An old smart phone or mp3 player with a mic/headphone jack and power supply would work also.

There is also a long wire antenna included in the package. The documentation clearly states that this is not for use in the United States, since it would boost your range well past the 300 feet allowed by the federal government.

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100 Basic Geek Skills

Posted on July 12, 2009 by Mark Urbin

Wired has an article on 100 Essential Skills for Geeks.

I wasn’t surprised to see I have many of them.  Here are some of my favorites.

Properly secure a wireless router.
Crack the WEP key on a wireless router.
Leech Wifi from your neighbor.
Screw with Wifi leeches.

Knowing how to screw with people stealing bandwidth from your website is good too.  Not only did I have a commercial site leech bandwidth from me, they were using one my 3D images for their logo.  So I replaced that file with a jpg of two Rhinos having sex.

Work from home or a coffee shop as effectively as you do at the office.
Wire your own home with Ethernet cable.

I had the house wired with Coax Ethernet, before I switched to CAT5.

Install a Linux distribution. (Hint: Ubuntu 9.04 is easier than installing Windows)

Just did an Ubuntu install yesterday, before I saw this article, and it was easier than installing Windows

Successfully disassemble and reassemble a laptop.

A valuable IT skill, along with knowing how to bypass OS login passwords.

Create a website using vi (or Notepad)

Be able to explain why it’s important that Han shot first.
Know why it is just wrong for Luke and Leia to kiss.
Stop talking Star Wars long enough to get laid

That last one is important.

Sleep with a Cricket bat next to your bed.

I have a Cricket bat, but it’s not my the bed. The Jo staff is much nastier.

An interesting list, I fail on being able to name all the Dwarves in The Hobbit, but I’m much more a hard SciFi fan than a fantasy fan.

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