The Audio/Video Component Archive returned to egrabow.com two years ago mainly to boost my search engine ranking and - indirectly - deliver more readers to my novel, Caffeine . As before, I enjoyed working on it. It gave me something to do with my stacks of old Crutchfield catalogs and also the joy of tinkering with an ever-expanding database.

Now with my DX hobby expanding and momentum picking up on my second novel, The Day The Rain Came Back , the AVCA is going to be sidetracked again. Finishing it was a big goal to set, and I hate merely having it sit abandoned (this was a factor behind its 2009 shutdown). I've been thinking about the AVCA's future and have come to some conclusions:

• The AVCA has increased site traffic dramatically, as expected, but it isn't helping the novel at all. I didn't expect a high conversion rate, but did hope the traffic would give Caffeine (sharing the same site) a bump on search engines.
• In years past, I would get links from A/V forums, whose users would probably be more interested in checking out other parts of my site (the conversion rate I mentioned). Now links come almost exclusively from Craigslist and it's Russian counterparts. Some are even pasting the images onto their own pages, which is bad netiquette and does me no good at all. (The AVCA is mostly public domain, but I don't own those images.)
• I enjoyed working on it because I wanted to "finish" my circa-2002 database. Now I've basically reached that point and my interest in "finishing" it for 2008/2012/later is sharply diminished. I haven't been hanging out in electronics stores much lately, and it all just feels consumerist to me now (yuck). Taken to it's logical conclusion...
• The database will remain incomplete (yuck).
• And lastly, my DXing hobby offers me the chance to build a new database. These far away stations add up, statistics change, etc. The prospect of a DX database renders the AVCA's as obsolete as the equipment listed in it. ;)

The best solution, if I want to keep site traffic high, is to allow the public to add model numbers and information. But that adds so many variables and security holes that would need constant attention. (It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist who would be tempted to reformat every single thing submitted.) But if I'm willing to let the AVCA go a solution does present itself: A wiki someone has already started. By "exporting" (my word) the AVCA to this wiki the information stays online and where the public can contribute, without me having to sweat the logistics. This is certainly a better way to go than 2009's plug-pulling.

I've already started an account on hifi-wiki.com and plan to move the AVCA entries over the next several months, linking to the new pages as I go. The phased-out AVCA will disappear when I launch version M33 of this website in July 2015.

As announced , I officially began DXing the AM Band (Medium Wave) on June 11. This was the 17th anniversary of my first TV e-skip catch in New York, my own DXing holiday if you will. Summer is not the best season for MW DX, but this way I can get the low hanging fruit out of the way before things pick up in the winter. Here's some low hanging fruit now:

#1 WFED 1500 Washington DC 904mi
#2 WLAC 1510 Nashville, TN 728mi
#3 ZNS-1 1540 Nassau, Bahamas 302mi
#4 WCBS 880 New York, NY 1089mi
#5 WCKY 1530 Cincinnati, OH 876mi
#6 WSM 650 Nashville, TN 712mi
#7 WLW 700 Cincinnati, OH 893mi
#8 WWL 870 New Orleans, LA 551mi
#9 KMOX 1120 St. Louis, MO 963mi

Those are the first night's loggings, all "clear channels" (easier to catch). I added a few more the next night:

#10 WSB 750 Atlanta, GA 521mi
#11 WGN 720 Chicago, IL 1121mi
#12 WMOX 1010 Meridian, MS 573mi (not a clear channel)

It'll take a while to get used to DXing such a large band (118 channels, not counting Europe's). The spanish language still presents a barrier, but efforts to learn it continue. The DX-394, my shortwave radio, turned out to be a dud for DXing. For now, I'm using a Sony Walkman that has surprisingly good performance. Hopefully I can buy a more full-featured radio next year.

TV DXing came back in 2012, MW DXing in 2013. Perhaps FM will be added in 2014? The answer is yes. :)

It's been one year since The Day The Rain Came Back entered its writing phase. I'd hoped to be done with the first draft by now, so clearly I have a lot of catching up to do. My pace has already accelerated nicely over the last six weeks or so. Now I just need to keep it up. (Posting these progress reports is of course an incentive.)

For updates you can follow me on Facebook .

I gave the Exit 9 Page a long overdue update this week. This would be the highway themed page linking to my favorite sites on the internet. Links change, I discover new sites and sometimes they go away. I should really update this page more than once every three years. :)

2013 brings many new links to the page, each with their own "interchange" number. Here are some of the highlights:

[Link 3] 3 Count Radio: Wrestling & Shenanigans
A wrestling podcast a few of my co-workers do every week. Replaced the "What is Brad Anderson eating?" Facebook page, but it's cool because Brad's one of the shows hosts.

[Link 45] GIMP: The GNU Image Manipulation Program
My main image editor, used for most of the graphics on this website. Maybe not as powerful as Photoshop, but for most applications I don't miss it. There was a learning curve when switching, though.

[Link 141] Goodreads (.com)
A good site for us bibliophiles. Caffeine seems to get the best reviews here.

[Links 161 N-S]
Confused Matthew
SF Debris: Science Fiction Reviews and More
Two good sites for reviews of Star Trek movies and TV episodes, among other sci-fi franchises. Sometimes they team up on reviews. (videos are hosted by blip.tv)

[Link 255] Worldwide TV-FM DX Association
I rejoined the TV DX club last year. Naturally, their site rejoins the Exit 9 Page as well.

[Link 439] Twelve Mile Circle
A blog for people interested in geographic oddities, exclaves, border jogs, state high points, etc. (I should know about the last one, Florida has the lowest of the 50, LOL)

[Link 461] eluko's YouTube Page
One of my newest finds. YouTube has plenty of dashcam videos that allow you to tour the world's highways, but these are nicely produced.

Can't choose? Use this random link!

I've decided to add the AM band to my TV DXing hobby. Suffice it to say that spanish-language targets are numerous here in Florida, among both domestic stations and latin american targets. (Cuba is extremely active. They try to drown out Miami stations.) After more than a decade of on-again off-again language learning I finally have a solid motivation. It'll be a lot easier to put radio stations in the logbook, after all, if I understand what they're saying. :)

I did make a few casual catches in New York ~10 years ago, some of which are on my Patchogue DX Page . Now I'll be a lot more organized, and AM will get its own page, a map, etc. I also plan to get a good portable radio for the task... when I have money to spend. In the meantime, I'll dust off my Radio Shack DX-394 and add a loop antenna.

Good ol' analog AM should fill the gap left by now-digital TV. TV E-skip is still possible, but digital makes catches a lot harder and there are also fewer targets. This means the 1500-mile map won't fill up as quickly as it did with analog - if it ever fills up at all. The story with AM stations will be quite different, and there're opportunities for new catches every night!

When I first got my driver's license I quickly made a tradition out of road trips, long and short. I lived on Long Island back then, and any crossing into New York City meant a long trip: not stopping until I got to Florida (I certainly wasn't stopping in the city, LOL). For these long interstate trips I adopted the title RRR&R: "Roads, Rest, Radio & Relaxation." Yes, Radio. I loved scanning the Radio and TV stations of other cities when my parents drove me through them. Now that I could go where I wanted and use my own radio the bandscans became a big feature of my road trips, if not the point.

Now that the DXing hobby is back so is this aspect of my road trips. I celebrated the 12th anniversary of my driver's license, "Asphalt Day," with a trip across the state to West Palm Beach. I echoed my 2009 achievement of driving US 17 from beginning to end (FL to VA) by driving FL 80 from beginning to end (Fort Myers to West Palm - okay, not as impressive). This is my second trip since becoming a DXer again, and my second trip with the new portable television. Unlike Atlanta , though, I stopped at several points to scan for stations. These are stations I'm targeting from a hundred miles away, so it's nice to see them ahead of time. (Especially those that don't show call letters, such as the one in the picture.)

As money gets less tight in the next few years I expect to be making regular trips across Florida. Then the longer trips will follow: RRR&R 2014 to Canada, perhaps? I'll be sure to bring a good antenna. :)