And huge thanks to Covenant Network for allowing us to do our testing on their equipment, and to Adam Wright, who coordinated with us for the bratwurst experiments :)
00:00 - Plasma and high-power AM radio 00:57 - Hot Dog 02:02 - Pickle 02:48 - How does AM radio work? 04:04 - Pickle, Analyzed and Tasted 05:40 - Bratwurst 06:05 - Vegan Hot Dog 06:47 - Corn Dog 08:14 - A.M. Breakfast Sausage 08:39 - Hot Dog Warmer 09:50 - Did we break the transmitter? 11:52 - How is the signal affected?
Can we turn a bratwurst into a radio speaker? (ft Plasma Channel)Geerling Engineering2024-09-03 | What do you get when you touch a bratwurst or a pickle to 7 kW of AM RF? Science!
Note: DO NOT mess with AM towers. Or, really, any towers which you're not qualified to work on. RF burns hurt—and they don't really heal.
Check out all our experiments at the 12 kW AM radio transmitting site just outside St. Louis, MO, with special guest Jay from @PlasmaChannel!
And huge thanks to Covenant Network for allowing us to do our testing on their equipment, and to Adam Wright, who coordinated with us for the bratwurst experiments :)
00:00 - Plasma and high-power AM radio 00:57 - Hot Dog 02:02 - Pickle 02:48 - How does AM radio work? 04:04 - Pickle, Analyzed and Tasted 05:40 - Bratwurst 06:05 - Vegan Hot Dog 06:47 - Corn Dog 08:14 - A.M. Breakfast Sausage 08:39 - Hot Dog Warmer 09:50 - Did we break the transmitter? 11:52 - How is the signal affected?Cooking with AM radioGeerling Engineering2024-08-21 | DO NOT ATTEMPT! Full video coming soon, but here's a taste of our experiments with the 12kW AM transmitter, cooking hot dogs on a stick.
You can learn more about the protocol and how to get started at meshtastic.org
HUGE thanks to Muzi Works for reaching out after Open Sauce and sending over their H1 and R1 pre-built Meshtastic radios! You can find out more about them and see all their products here: muzi.works
They did not pay us anything to make this video, but they did send the radios that we're using to learn Meshtastic (thus the 'Paid sponsorship' disclosure at the beginning of the video!).
I've also ordered a few extra radios and my Dad and I are starting to learn about this fancy new radio tech! The map I showed near the end of the video is here: meshmap.net
There's another map here: meshtastic.liamcottle.net — and there are even others out there too... it's kind of the wild west right now in Meshtastic-land!
00:00 - What is Meshtastic? 01:33 - Setting up the node 04:30 - First mesh message! 06:08 - We're still learning 07:41 - Meshtastic uses?This AM radio still costs thousands of dollars—why?Geerling Engineering2024-06-05 | My Dad put his Potomac FIM-21 Field Intensity Meter on the bench.
In 1986, this radio cost $1,950—which is nearly $6,000 today! (And this isn't even the most expensive AM radio today—there's a newer version for $15,000!)
It measures the field intensity of AM radio signals in volts, and a calibrated unit like this one can be used for official readings sent to the FCC for broadcast stations in the US.
A few other things we mentioned in this video (some links are affiliate links):
00:00 - Field Intensity Meter 21 01:13 - Over 900! 02:22 - How to take a measurement 03:14 - Loop antennas, nulls, and SDR 05:56 - External antenna testing 08:16 - What about FM? 09:16 - Why it costs thousands of dollars 10:46 - Field Calibration 13:33 - Is it still useful? 14:46 - The importance of calibration 15:50 - Justifying the cost... with a hot dog?Building the ULTIMATE Electronics Workbench (with my Dad)Geerling Engineering2024-05-10 | It's finally time to start setting up the new Geerling Engineering workbench!
This video shows the setup process in the studio, and some of the first tools to go on it.
Here are some of the things we mentioned in the video (some links are affiliate links):
00:00 - A workbench to honor a brother and uncle 01:21 - The bench 02:08 - Shelves with ShelfLinks 05:35 - Cutting wood 07:17 - Screwing in wood 08:23 - Jeff goes solo 10:59 - Setting up the bench 11:25 - Dad's back! 12:19 - Initializing the gear 14:19 - The final touch 15:54 - What are we missing? 17:13 - Spurious emissions 18:04 - Audience participation 19:29 - The memorial workbench's many armsThis old tech could cost automakers BILLIONSGeerling Engineering2024-05-08 | The Center for Automotive Research says it would cost the industry $3.8 billion dollars to solve interference problems in EVs to put AM radio in new cars.
It's a wonder any EVs on the road today have AM radio tuners, then! But they don't seem to happy with new legislation, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. We dive into this spat between the radio industry, automotive manufacturers, and the US government.
The AM radio we're using in the video is the Sony ICF-506, in case you were wondering. If you want one, you can use our affiliate link to pick one up! amzn.to/3UPWGdz
00:00 - 3.8 billion dollars 01:30 - Asking a radio engineer 07:56 - AM interference (spurious emissions) 10:19 - What must be done?This 100-year-old tech splits my voice in fiveGeerling Engineering2024-04-17 | Geerling Engineering encounters a phasor at the 8-tower site of WSDZ-AM in Belleville, IL—formerly a Radio Disney station!
Special thanks to Aaron Cox and Relevant Radio for letting us see this tower site!
00:00 - It splits your voice? 00:59 - Set Phasor to 'stun' 05:26 - Day and night patterns 07:33 - A 'dummy' load? 10:38 - Signal routing and monitoring 11:44 - Power and a massive grounding system 13:59 - Strange parts 17:14 - Designing an 8-tower arrayWe made a hot dog talk... with RFGeerling Engineering2024-03-27 | DO NOT TRY THIS.
Seriously.
That out of the way, we devised a test to see just how dangerous the RF energy can be on an AM tower, if someone were to touch it while it was transmitting.
This tower was operating under 10 kW. There are many AM towers broadcasting at _much_ higher power levels, so they are even _more_ dangerous. RF burns can kill, and there's a reason there are fences around these towers.
Hopefully we have satiated your curiosity with this video.
Is there more to this story? It seems like a lot of information is missing from early news reports—and just what is an FM translator, anyway? We'll cover all that in this video!
Special thanks to Arm for sponsoring our trip to CES 2024 (they did not sponsor this video, but they did pay for our travel for a video on the Jeff Geerling channel!).
00:00 - AI hype train 01:03 - Our top 3 04:16 - WIERDEST tech at CES 07:29 - What tech's coming home in 2024? 09:53 - More sightings at CES 11:42 - Expensive techIf I touch this tower, I dieGeerling Engineering2023-11-16 | KMOX-AM is a 50kW clear channel station in St. Louis, MO; take a tower of the tower and transmitter site!
Special thanks to Audacy and KMOX-AM engineers for assisting us with this tower tour. Find KMOX online here: audacy.com/kmox
00:00 - 50,000 Watts 00:23 - The tower is the antenna 04:12 - The ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit) 11:30 - Transmitter building 14:03 - PEP Station (EMP-proof) 15:28 - Transmitter building (and power distribution) 20:50 - Giant tower lights, and the !@&(* button 23:41 - Guy wires and a full-service restroom 25:31 - Transmitter room 37:43 - Backup studio and MREs 39:34 - A century of tools in the workshop 41:21 - Fried frogs and other tailsThis radio tower fries frogs!Geerling Engineering2023-10-31 | That's what 50kW'll do to you, be safe around RF!
Full video of our tour of the KMOX-AM transmission site coming soon, stay tuned ;)
They provided us a special $10 off discount code — use code WG8N2JG at checkout! They also just released a new 'ONE' model, check all their devices out at: airgradient.com
00:00 - Are you sure that's air your breathing? 01:01 - AirGradient 01:45 - How it works at the studios 04:05 - Indoor and outdoor 05:50 - How important is open? 07:01 - In the basement 07:53 - Wildfires and long meetings 09:30 - Healthy changesHow the EAS alert was broadcast (its just a test)Geerling Engineering2023-10-01 | DON'T PANIC! On October 4th, everyone in the US will get an alert.
Why? And how is it delivered?
We'll talk about the EAS (Emergency Alert System) for broadcast television and radio, and WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts) for mobile devices. How they are propogated, and how and why the nationwide system is tested.
00:00 - October 4 00:45 - Why do we need nationwide tests? 02:03 - How do they run the test? 03:57 - Past tests and a MASSIVE failure 04:59 - What is a successful test? 06:31 - EAS Audio chain (local radio stations) 09:40 - Jeff runs a test live, on-air! 11:28 - Why so much testing? 12:17 - Is EAS required for all stations?Its ILLEGAL for my Dad to transmit!Geerling Engineering2023-08-30 | Well, technically *now* he can. But when we started making this video, he couldn't.
00:00 - It's illegal to press this button 00:55 - Amateur radio 03:23 - What hams do 04:27 - Getting licensed 06:49 - Avoiding the FCC's ire 09:01 - Finally, First ContactNot just cars: Where does AM radio go from here?Geerling Engineering2023-06-28 | Joe and Jeff Geerling discuss AM radio station ownership, emergency use, rural listeners, and more.
00:00 - Tesla, Ford, and AM radio in cars 02:12 - Can emergency use save AM? 05:48 - Rural use and wide area coverage 06:52 - Ownership 08:18 - Old people vs free airwaves 09:19 - Local coverage 10:25 - Rising costs, fried frogs 12:12 - Trains are still here 13:38 - NRSC and the future of AM radio 15:00 - Father's Day gift time!Dad helped me NOT burn down MrBeasts studioGeerling Engineering2023-05-29 | It was crazy!
We helped make Mr. Beast's 1-100 video: youtube.com/watch?v=FM7Z-Xq8Drc — and thanks to my Dad's testing, we caught a wiring issue that could've led to a fire!
00:00 - Day 1 00:42 - What's up at Beast HQ 01:31 - First we Feast(ables) 01:58 - Validating the LED strips 02:49 - McDonalds ... and a frozen tea 03:19 - Day 2 04:41 - Shenanigans, and many miles of cabling 05:37 - Down to the wire 06:16 - Parting thoughts 08:53 - The longest run (325 feet!) 09:37 - Challenges ahead!Control any computer, ANYWHERE — PiKVM v4 is here!Geerling Engineering2023-05-10 | The PiKVM v4 is here, and we're going to replace the BliKVM on the studio PC to see how it works.
00:00 - PiKVM v4 Intro 00:36 - Teardown and internals 02:10 - Getting ready for the new KVM 04:16 - ATX front panel connections 07:09 - Plugging it back in 09:29 - First login and setting up displays 12:33 - Changing the default password 13:00 - Testing latency and video playback 14:12 - It was (mostly) uneventful, which was good!Whats inside the 2nd oldest TV tower in the WestGeerling Engineering2023-03-17 | KSDK TV has a storied history as the second oldest TV station west of the Mississippi River in the US.
My Dad and I explore the history and the present for this 50,000 Watt broadcast TV tower—which was built in the 50s to spread KSDK's signal further West from the downtown area.
00:00 - TV and... golf? 00:48 - Transmitter room 02:29 - Lots of packets 04:13 - Transmitter up close 05:37 - Feed lines, filters, and waveguides 08:11 - 10 massive water cooling pumps 09:41 - Remote room and old-school HD CRT 11:02 - Power feed and filtering 13:21 - Motorized multi-band satellite 13:55 - Massive generator, multi-kV transformers 14:43 - A fine weathered feed line 15:42 - The red elevator 16:38 - Low-power TV and an AM translator 18:27 - Tx protection 18:55 - If only these walls could talk (could they?)Is AM radio dead? Tesla thinks so!Geerling Engineering2023-01-26 | Is AM radio dying? If you ask Tesla, it's already dead. But what does that mean for the hundreds of local AM radio stations across the US?
Mentioned in this video (some links are affiliate links):
00:00 - Is AM Radio Dead? 00:48 - Retio AM disaster 01:47 - Why is AM so noisy? 04:03 - Why keep AM alive? 05:22 - Tearing down the Retio 06:30 - A whole lotta hash 08:06 - Content is king 08:40 - Indoor solar?1 MILLION watts—really? FM Supertower Part 2!Geerling Engineering2022-12-07 | You had a LOT of questions about the 1 million watt FM tower, so we went back, and went even deeper!
00:00 - Megawatt, really? ERP Explained 01:39 - Not all radiation is ionizing 04:05 - Thousands of pounds of rigid coax 05:25 - It didn't fry the drone! 06:39 - Ice and other falling objects 08:12 - A bubble of lightning protection 09:01 - Incandescent? Why not LED? 10:14 - 90-degree coax (not waveguides) 12:00 - Little coax, BIG coax 12:50 - A blue flame of RF 13:35 - Why combine signals? 14:23 - A desk fan is so cool 15:09 - Inside a 30 kW FM Transmitter 15:53 - HD Radio (US) vs DAB+ (EU) 17:31 - Analog tubes? RF burns! 18:18 - Reflected Kilowatts 19:06 - We love hams!Exploring a 1 MILLION Watt FM TowerGeerling Engineering2022-11-11 | My Dad and I took a road trip to tour the 1 MW FM community tower in Crestwood, MO, serving the entire St. Louis metro area combining 10 FM radio signals into two antenna systems.
Special thanks to the Audacy engineers who allowed us to take a peek at their (very clean!) transmitter rooms and equipment!
00:00 - The Supertower 01:52 - Grounding and Guy-Wires 03:11 - Tower-scale cable management 04:13 - Transmitter Room 05:49 - 400A power and backup power 07:09 - 50kW Dummy load, switching, and 30kW water cooling! 09:16 - MARTI filter cans and cable loss 10:37 - In the basement - from 30 to 300 kW 12:47 - Giant coax with explosive arcing potential 14:00 - Tower safety: RF lockout 15:01 - Power, Aux services, Comms, and Lights 16:41 - One tower, many storiesI interviewed a REAL Time Lord (in St. Louis!)Geerling Engineering2022-10-07 | My Dad and I interviewed John Clark and Demetrios Matsakis at Masterclock. We talked about horology, timekeeping, and even linguistics!
00:00 - Time is everything 00:39 - Masterclock 01:39 - John Clark and Masterclock's role in time 05:26 - Factory tour 06:40 - Interviewing a *real* Time Lord! 11:00 - Linguistics and terminologyRaspberry Pi used in Biomedical ResearchGeerling Engineering2022-08-10 | The Geerling Lab at the University of Iowa uses Raspberry Pis in cutting-edge medical research!
We travelled North to talk to Joel Geerling, MD, PhD, and Fillan Grady, a neuroscience graduate student performing research on thermoregulation in mice. See what this means for humans, and how he and his Dad built two Raspberry Pi-powered enclosures!
00:00 - Road trip! 00:23 - The parabrachial what? 01:43 - Replication and open source 02:19 - Human connection 03:07 - Pi Thermal chamber 04:36 - Pi Nose Poke chamber 06:15 - Better than commercial products? 08:16 - Fillan's Dad 11:05 - Good science is reproducibleDad tests the Retio (retro nixie tube clock!)Geerling Engineering2022-06-18 | Thanks so much to the viewer who sent the Retio, it's definitely a conversation piece! It's a bit pricey, but for someone who loves nixie tubes, vintage electronics, radio, and fine woodworking... it's about as close to a perfect product as it gets!
Here are links to all the other odds-and-ends we talked about in the video:
00:00 - Unboxing (Jeff) 00:58 - Dad's Desk and SDR 04:33 - Unboxing (Dad) 05:44 - Testing Retio (clock and radio) 07:52 - Testing Retio (bluetooth) 10:24 - More knick knacks 11:24 - Drone for Tower inspection 12:28 - 5000 watts! 13:06 - ConclusionMassive Rack Upgrade for the Homelab!Geerling Engineering2022-05-18 | Every now and then you run out of rack space. Or you need to mount a 300 lb server. And that's why we upgraded the rack in Jeff's basement!
What are your favorite rackmount tips and tricks? Is there any piece of gear you just can't live without in your racks?
- StarTech.com 25U Open Frame Server Rack: amzn.to/3LmGw3q - StarTech.com 4-Piece Caster Kit: amzn.to/39VrILV - Neat Patch Cable Management Unit: amzn.to/3wllI88 - StarCase.com Cage Nut Insertion Tool: amzn.to/3NoYqE7 - Tripp Lite Isobar 12-outlet surge protector: amzn.to/3Lmf8Cv - APC Smart-UPS 2200 RM XL: amzn.to/3Lnlf9Q - ASUSTOR Lockerstor 4 AS6604T (primary NAS): amzn.to/3yNnyjF - ASUSTOR Drivestor 4 Pro AS3304T (backup NAS): amzn.to/3MrBm7l - Mikrotik 10G Cloud Router Switch (CRS309-1G-8S+IN): amzn.to/3PnteqF - (Let us know if there's anything else I missed you'd like to see here!)
Contents:
00:00 - Why a new rack? 01:18 - Assembly + Homelab philosophy 03:40 - Planning the move (and hijinks) 06:14 - Beginning the move 08:09 - UPSes are heavy 09:16 - IoT bedtime woes 09:37 - Finishing the move 11:17 - Final touches 12:40 - Bonus content - fancy wood top!Pro NAS drives - worth the upgrade?Geerling Engineering2022-04-22 | My Dad and I got an unexpected surprise after our last video: 64 terabytes of IronWolf Pro hard drives for the radio studio's NAS! Watch as we install them and compare the old 4 TB IronWolf drives. Are the Pro drives worth the price?
00:00 - 16 to 64 Terabytes 00:54 - We'll do it live! 02:27 - IronWolf Pro vs IronWolf 05:03 - Change of plans: BTRFS 06:30 - Change of plans: Back to Raid 10 07:04 - File copy tests 08:13 - SMB Multichannel 08:53 - Feels pretty good
Writing, Cameras, and Recording: Jeff Geerling Edited by: Stephanie MuellerMy Dads idea for #shorts ⚡️Geerling Engineering2022-04-07 | This is his idea of a good short...
The NAS and hard drives were provided to us by ASUSTOR and Seagate, respectively. No other form of compensation was given, nor were they given any control over the content of this video.
Contents:
00:00 - Storage intervention! 01:00 - Lockerstor 4RS walkthrough 02:28 - Delivery 03:39 - Rack ears 04:58 - Drive trays 06:07 - Floppy drive - still alive! 07:21 - Rack mounting 08:02 - Sysadmin ASMR 08:52 - Cabling 09:49 - Power on 10:46 - Network setup 11:34 - RAID levels 14:00 - Blinkenlights and Windows Update Woes 15:13 - File copy test 16:40 - Notifications and security 18:06 - SummaryChoosing a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)Geerling Engineering2022-02-25 | Radio engineer Joe Geerling explains UPSes, why you need one, and how to choose one, based on decades of experience building and maintaining critical radio infrastructure.
00:00 - Introduction 00:37 - Single workstation UPS 01:27 - Rackmount UPS 03:00 - Sizing a UPS 03:23 - Network integration and monitoring 04:21 - Getting clean power 04:54 - Battery hot-swap 06:36 - Battery chemistry and choice 08:55 - Stories from the trenches 09:47 - Why you need a UPSThis Raspberry Pi controls ANY PC (BliKVM)Geerling Engineering2022-02-11 | The BliKVM is a PiKVM-compatible hardware kit that allows you to remote-control any PC, complete with ATX integration for system power control and status indication.
00:00 - What's a KVM? 01:46 - BliKVM Walkthrough 08:27 - Assembly with CM4 09:54 - Installation into PC 14:46 - Exploring PiKVM 19:45 - More notes about BliKVM