How about a streamer.....?

Post #1001..........  really, this thread deserves one more story. Last story was when I was 45 or so. This one goes back to about age 10.
 In my small cow town in Wyoming, there was a population of 4,300 people. The town was maybe 1 1/2 miles long, and at on the east end was a small convenience store. It was the kind that had a wooden screen door, sold sweet corn in a basket, and Coke-a-Cola from a red vending machine that laid longways on the floor. The cash register had a hand crank that rang a bell when you turned it full circle. The only reason that this store matters here is because it had a second floor, an apartment actually where the owners used to live. There was a long set of white wooden stairs to it's door. I was wasting my own time out back on a summer afternoon when a man approached me from the stairs. "Hey kid, you wanna see something neat?" Not the words that kids these days would be comfortable with, but this was a different time. Without answer, I followed him up the stairs and into the junky little apartment. It was a short wave radio that he had going, and I was all eyes and ears. I didn't understand much of what he said, or how the radio operated, but I did know that there were voices on the other end from far away. This started my love of radio, and I dreamed of owning a Lafayette Radio some day. Interestingly, 4 decades later, I bought a house across the street from that old site. It's been torn down, and a Pizza Hut is in it's place. You can't tell many people about these things that it matters to at all. Just a few special grand kids with that look of amazement in their eyes, as they watch my tube amp glow.

 A big thanks to Dana for the sale of his Kenwood tuner to me. It was one of the best parts of my week. The signal has been tamed of noise, and the one station that I really like comes in just fine... Of course, you guys realize that it is just a matter of time before I open up the tuner and replace old electrolytic caps and more to get it back to pristine condition.

And THAT my friends, is why I am popping the top of the 'new' tuner and replacing caps, etc. Long live FM.

I recently visited the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. They have a section with the evolution of the radio which was actually very cool to see in person. At 46 I am lucky enough to remember the older radios  like my grandfather had in a wooden cabinet with black control knobs.  

There is something to be said for the manual hands on approach that goes into tuning into a radio station.   It’s sort of gave you a connection with the station and the people on the air.  

I can remember as a kid that dad would take me to my uncle’s tailor shop, where AM radio was the only thing that we listened to.  Unfortunately talk radio is no longer mainstream like it was in the past, but the memories are still great!!

While I have the latest and greatest technology at my disposal in my car to listen to Spotify, CDs, or my own music on my iPhone, I still enjoy listening to the radio.   Most of the time I listen to the classical station 105.9 WQXR out in New Jersey, especially when I have my daughter in the car who is 7.   I am hoping that she gets older she will tune in to the radio and help support the local stations.