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A day in the life of a lamptimer

DrAkbar

DrAkbar

Star Participant
Because we had nothing better to do with our time on Saturday, Nurse Jeff and I made it a point to catch the sign on and sign off of KAZG, aka Lumberyard 14~Forty. Shortly before 7am an English language talk show could easily be heard on the nightwave signal. Straight up at seven the carrier comes on and we're tapping our collective toes to the already in progress Brown Eyed Girl (that song should be played more often). The sha-la-la-la-laddity da ends and lo and behold it's followed by a legal ID, letting the world know Lumberyard 14~Forty is blasting out five kilowatts of Music Pow-Pow-Power from Scottsdale. Fast forward to 5:45pm when Junior Walker and his All Stars use their Shotgun to put Lumberyard 14~Forty out of our misery. No legal ID, just clipped audio as the carrier dumps and the sound of skywave interference. A tip of the fez to the Lamptimer for getting it right on both ends. Nothing for Gumpdusky as they continue to waste the revenue potential of a colon blow or religious or Spanish or all of the above formats!
 
Dr. Akbar said:
Straight up at seven the carrier comes on and we're tapping our collective toes to the already in progress
Brown Eyed Girl...(it) ends and lo and behold it's followed by a legal ID...
Click to expand...

But no legal ID when the carrier came on at or about 7:00--i.e., before the
start of regular programming.

That an ID did air as the JIP Morrisong faded was only due to the fact that
it is a TOH sign-on this month (subject to the whim of the lamptimer ;)) and
the automation was going to play the ID anyway somewhere around then.
One day it's entirely possible you'll hear the carrier pop on and the first thing
heard is (end of jingle) "...Scottsdale/Phoenix" (start of next song).


Fast forward to 5:45pm when Junior Walker and his All Stars...put Lumberyard 14~Forty out of our misery.
No legal ID, just clipped audio as the carrier dumps and the sound of skywave interference.
Click to expand...

If it was around 5:45, Gumpdusky has a problem (well, we already knew that)
as November sign-off is 5:30.

BTW, I was in Home Depot on Friday and saw lamptimers on sale for $4.98.
Should have bought one and taken it over to the lumberyard to replace their
1973-vintage K-Mart "Dobie Gray Drift Away" model! ;D
 
On Sunday, the lamptimer went off around 5:31 P.M. Earlier in the week, it was sticking very close to the 5:30 time. I still wonder if they will ever broadcast the station at night, no matter how weak the signal is. It's some form of oldies and right now, with KOOL's hiatus, we got nothing in the valley! :mad:
 
I have several hours worth of mp3 airchecks thanks knidly to a member on here, and I do like the music and jingles..

But what gives with KAZG?

GUmdumpsky wont sell it to anyone else, they don't run many commercials.. they don't seem to care much about it.

ANd how the hell does the lamptimer keep drifting? You say KAZG never signs off at exactly the same time.

I'd love an actual serious, technical response from someone.....

..Of course, the usual funny responses will do as well, as I'm sure there are some;)
 
We're giving Lumberyard 14~Forty a Clapper for Christmas. That way the Gumpdusky suits can just clap their hands at sunrise and sunset and won't have to deal with the always drifting Lamptimer anymore!
 
I'm afraid they're using the same timer I use to water my lawn and plants! Does anyone have the number to a good nursery? :eek:
 
radioguybroadcasting said:
ANd how the hell does the lamptimer keep drifting? You say KAZG never signs off
at exactly the same time.
I'd love an actual serious, technical response from someone.....
..Of course, the usual funny responses will do as well, as I'm sure there are some;)
Click to expand...

Serious or funny? You be the judge...

From whenever I've tracked it over an extended period such as a week
or more, the lamptimer loses about :08 every 24 hours.

If one day's sign-off is at 5:31:00, the next day is 5:30:52, then back to
5:30:44, etc.

Similarly, a sign-on at 7:01:00 slides backwards over the next few days
to 7:00:52, 7:00:44, etc.

Depending on how (in)accurate the lamptimer is at the start of a month,
it can, and has, drifted enough by late in the month so sign-on can occur
5:00 or more earlier than the specified time. This error has even continued
into the next month--July's monthly sign-on time is 5:30, but on July 2
KAZG popped on at 5:24:02 (atomic clock time), nearly six minutes early.

I think it's reasonable to give a station a window of up to 2:00 early at
sign-on and up to 2:00 late at sign-off. I say that because, for example,
during a month with a TOH sign-on--such as November--a daytimer might
want to do a formal sign-on announcement (KAZG doesn't even do the bare
minimum of a legal ID! :eek:), play the National Anthem, and hit a network
newscast on the hour. All of which could take up to two minutes.

Akbar's right. If Gumpdusky can't get a new, more accurate lamptimer,
then they really need to go the "clap on...clap off" route. ;D And have
the Clapper trigger a relay that overrides the music automation and airs
a legal ID.
 
For other than FCC 'legal' reasons, why is the sign-on/sign-off time of the Lumberyard of so much interest to so many people? I mean, with their blowtorch signal they can't be interfering with anyone else, right?
 
landtuna said:
For other than FCC 'legal' reasons, why is the sign-on/sign-off time of the Lumberyard of so much interest to so many people? I mean, with their blowtorch signal they can't be interfering with anyone else, right?
Click to expand...

Because, it's never at the same time each day
 
landtuna said:
...why is the sign-on/sign-off time of the Lumberyard of so much interest
to so many people?
Click to expand...

It's really of interest only to Akbar, pberger and me...but look at all the
others we manage to bring into the conversation! ;D

Besides, it's a far sight more interesting than all those "Energy" threads. ;)
 
If it really IS a lamptimer, it runs on a synchronous motor, locked to the 60 hz power line and theoretically cannot lose 8 seconds a day.
So what's happening here is that at the moment of or buildup to the ON or OFF event, the motor slows and labors to throw the mechanical portion of the lamp timer. Turn one of those timers slowly and feel just how much effort goes into throwing the mech on or off.
Some are VERY strong detent switches, so it does not sprise me that there's 8 sec/day drift.

If the tiny motor in the timer were bigger this wouldn't happen.
Maybe someone should do a report on various lamp timers' drift, there must be something that doesn't drift.
 
Tom:

The lamptimer theory started--probably as a joke--in a KAZG thread
a couple of years ago and it has stuck around and become part of
the "lumberyard legend."

More recently, someone (who may have been inside of the XMTR
building) mentioned what actually kicked the plate on and off--a
program on an old DOS PC, IIRC. That may well explain the drift
(PC clock) along with the time being manually reset every once in
a while.

But the lamptimer is a lot funnier, and...you never cut funny!* ;D


*: King Kaiser, 1954 (from My Favorite Year, 1982).
 
radioguybroadcasting said:
asugeorge1 said:
Why do you guys call it "Lumberyard" 1440? Is this because 1440 used to carry the NAU games?
Click to expand...

The tower is IN a real lumberyard off East THomas Road
Click to expand...

Really? That's kinda cool. It's by 64th Street and the canal in Scottsdale, right? Is the lumberyard abandoned or still functioning?

Also, any idea why they refuse to broadcast at night? It shouldn't cost too much to keep a station on auto-pilot.
 
asugeorge1 said:
radioguybroadcasting said:
asugeorge1 said:
Why do you guys call it "Lumberyard" 1440? Is this because 1440 used to carry the NAU games?
Click to expand...

The tower is IN a real lumberyard off East THomas Road
Click to expand...

Really? That's kinda cool. It's by 64th Street and the canal in Scottsdale, right? Is the lumberyard abandoned or still functioning?

Also, any idea why they refuse to broadcast at night? It shouldn't cost too much to keep a station on auto-pilot.
Click to expand...

They probably have a tube transmitter that can't make the 52 watts of night power.

Im beginning to think that someone at Gumpdumpsky has an emotional attachment to the station and really likes it.. they've been offered well beyond market value to sell it and turned it down.
 
radioguybroadcasting said:
asugeorge1 said:
radioguybroadcasting said:
asugeorge1 said:
Why do you guys call it "Lumberyard" 1440? Is this because 1440 used to carry the NAU games?
Click to expand...

The tower is IN a real lumberyard off East THomas Road
Click to expand...

Really? That's kinda cool. It's by 64th Street and the canal in Scottsdale, right? Is the lumberyard abandoned or still functioning?

Also, any idea why they refuse to broadcast at night? It shouldn't cost too much to keep a station on auto-pilot.
Click to expand...

Im beginning to think that someone at Gumpdumpsky has an emotional attachment to the station and really likes it.. they've been offered well beyond market value to sell it and turned it down.
Click to expand...

That I'm really happy about. 1440 is a good station that plays music you can't find anyplace else on Phoenix radio (especially now with KOOL being all Christmas). I just wish they broadcasted at night.
 
radioguybroadcasting said:
Im beginning to think that someone at Gumpdumpsky has an emotional attachment to the station and really likes it.. they've been offered well beyond market value to sell it and turned it down.
Click to expand...

And thank goodness for that, too. You know whomever the potential buyer would be, would drastically change AM 1440, probably get rid of the music altogether, and put on colon blow-- pay to play junk.

As much as we here at Radio-Info like to joke about 1440, the fact is that it's got to be a high compliment to the mastermind of it over at Sandusky. It's clear that many of us radio geeks, who could probably tell you of several other things we could be listening to right now, do spend a decent amount of time listening to KAZG, Arizona Gold.

In a time when radio is recently more business than ever, I'm grateful for this station playing the oldies, and the person with the love and passion behind it. We do love the "Lumberyard"!
 
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