Art Bell

[VtaGeezer]

You know, I bought a C-Crane because of Art's advertisements, too.  I wonder how many of us here did!  Not counting books, I can't remember whether or not I ever bought anything else, but I know I at least requested info on other stuff.  Art's magic... he really can even make ads compelling.  I'm such a sucker.

You're right about Noory, though.  I'm suspicious of any company that would attach themselves to his name.

C Crane hit the jackpot with C2C.  Bell put them on the map as a niche vendor for AM radio stuff.  A lot of his listeners in the hinterlands were desperate for better AM radios to pull in C2C from a distant station but stores sold only crappy $10 clock radios. Decent AM table radios were disappearing. Crane had just the right products for the Bell's audience...quality AM radio stuff you couldn't find anywhere else any more.   I bought one of Crane's old style AM antenna boosters specifically for grabbing the C2C signal from a distant station that faded in and out badly...it looked like it came from a 1952 sci-fi movie set but it really worked great.  Crane sells Sangean radios which are excellent.  I think the stick with C2C because its been a great success for them...and its a cheap national ad. 


I've wondered whether C2C had any impact on the success of the Tivoli table radio of the 90s that was first quality table radio introduced in many years.


OTOH, the "Freeplay" crank-up radio that Bell personally touted was a real POS.  I bought one off the close-out table at Good Guys as a $40 novelty and after a few uses the coil drive spring snapped with a huge bang that scared the piss out of me!  They replaced it and the same thing happened to #2.

[Tinfoil Hat]

I've got a C-Crane Freeplay Plus I bought in the late '90s that's still going strong. The hand-crank charger is very useful when the lights go out. Maybe I paid too much, but at the time I could afford it and I hadn't heard of any other AM/FM/SW radios with a light, solar charger and hand charger.

Now that I've posted this, it'll probably die on me.

[Sardondi]

C Crane hit the jackpot with C2C.  Bell put them on the map as a niche vendor for AM radio stuff.  A lot of his listeners in the hinterlands were desperate for better AM radios to pull in C2C from a distant station but stores sold only crappy $10 clock radios. Decent AM table radios were disappearing. Crane had just the right products for the Bell's audience...quality AM radio stuff you couldn't find anywhere else any more.   I bought one of Crane's old style AM antenna boosters specifically for grabbing the C2C signal from a distant station that faded in and out badly...it looked like it came from a 1952 sci-fi movie set but it really worked great.  Crane sells Sangean radios which are excellent.  I think the stick with C2C because its been a great success for them...and its a cheap national ad. 


I've wondered whether C2C had any impact on the success of the Tivoli table radio of the 90s that was first quality table radio introduced in many years....

I've got a C-Crane Freeplay Plus I bought in the late '90s that's still going strong. The hand-crank charger is very useful when the lights go out. Maybe I paid too much, but at the time I could afford it and I hadn't heard of any other AM/FM/SW radios with a light, solar charger and hand charger.

Now that I've posted this, it'll probably die on me.

So C Crane does sell good quality stuff? At least some? When I pay a premium price, I expect that the products must be of superior quality and workmanship, and should be extremely durable.

[wireless3418]

I have the "CC Pocket" and it is a POS.  It works, but not very well.  If anyone knows of a good AM radio please let me know.  I have had many of them through out the years and none of them ever performed very well.  That being said.  The "CC Pocket" is the worst of all by far.

[kf5iwe]

THE SCORPION ARMY HAS BEEN TOTALLY MOBILIZED TO ENVENOMATE ALL THAT IT IS PREMIRE! THE SCORPION ARMY GENERAL ART BELL HAS NOW AIRED IN THE OPEN ON THE 8MHZ EMERGENCY FREQUENCY WITHOUT CW, "WANNA TAKE A RIDE?"! THE EXECUTION WARRENT FOR CAPTAIN GEORGE HAS BEEN FILED! RISING FROM "THE DESERT OF THE SEA", TO NEW DOMINATION OF THE AIRWAVES, GENERAL BELL CALLS ALL OF US TO DUTY! AND JUST WHAT IS "@ArtBell51", AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOUR FUTURE?
http://artbell.com/

I thought you were supposed to be a teacher? You can't even spell warrant? My dog is smarter than that. I will require your immediate resignation!!! You will find a Luger and 1 round in your quarters. Do the math

[kf5iwe]

If Art is returning to the airwaves, it wont be C2CAM. Jorchie just said he signed a unprecedented long term contract.

So did Czar Nicholas, but alas...

[ItsOver]

I bought one of Crane's old style AM antenna boosters specifically for grabbing the C2C signal from a distant station that faded in and out badly...it looked like it came from a 1952 sci-fi movie set but it really worked great.  Crane sells Sangean radios which are excellent.  I think the stick with C2C because its been a great success for them...and its a cheap national ad. 

Decades ago, I bought a Select-A-Tenna from C. Crane, way before C2C and when Crane popped-up there.  I believe that's what you're referring to VtaG.  It worked fine for me.





Years ago, I purchased a more advanced antenna and then a Pogo Ipod-type device, both from C Crane and they worked fine. I still use the Pogo and it's probably getting close to being over 10 years old.


As I recall, the owner Crane and Art are buddies, with their mutual interest in radio.  Remember Art talking about his visit with Crane to some overseas facility that was producing stuff for C. Crane?  I've heard the Sangeans are very good but I've never owned one.  My "go to" AM radios are a Panasonic from the '80s and a more recent Denon.  Both have been excellent.  The Panasonic is built like a tank and shows no sign of wearing out.

[Usagi]

So did Czar Nicholas, but alas...

I like where this is going.

[ItsOver]

So did Czar Nicholas, but alas...

So did this guy:





With some dude named "Adolf." 

[ItsOver]

I like where this is going.

I'm making some popcorn. 

[wireless3418]

Just went to the Coast to Coast website and their streaming link is down.  I haven't listed to the show live in a long time.  Seems to me that no one checks the function of the streaming link web player.  This is not the first time i have experienced this.  Sometimes it goes on for days.  Premier Radio must be asleep at the wheel.

[ItsOver]

....Premier Radio must be asleep at the wheel.

That seems to be a safe assumption.

[Sardondi]

So did Czar Nicholas, but alas...

Heh. I can picture George: "But...but...I had a long-term contract!"

[lonevoice]

 

So here we are six weeks, a question mark, exclamation points, some red white and blue, and a bit of Morse Code later - and nothing.

I wonder - does the longer this goes on with nothing substantial from Art mean some sort of comeback is more likely, or less likely?

Sadly, my vote is less likely. 

[LeslieV]

How the fuck can you listen to that hysterical right wing shrieking in the middle of the night? They're doing a bad Limbaugh impression, and with irritating voices to boot.

I keep asking myself the same thing but it is better than noodle brain and at least keeps me cranked up over something where as noodle brain just totally pisses me off with his stupidity.  Most nights I listen to nothing because I sleep but on the nights I need to be up I need something and if it is not Sunday and Knapp night then that is the only alternative on stations I get out in the hinterlands of the plains.  Seems Red Eye is on every station that use to have C2C on and all of them come in strong as does the station (KOA) with C2C that is unless there is a game then the game on KOA is more interesting than noodle brain.   

[LeslieV]

who the hell buys am/fm radios that cost over $100???

and even if you buy one... it's not like you say to yourself "you know what this room really needs? 3 or 4 more $100 radios to really get the look i'm going for"

You can get blue ray players cheaper than some of these radios... and those hook up to the wireless internet, and stream movies!

It's not like all the tweens are trading in their iphones and ipads for a hand crank am/fm radio that has been flown in from the early 1990's

every device that hooks up to the internet now days can stream radio stations live... and if for some reason the world goes to shit and all the electric lines are down and we are forced to subsist by scavenging the burned out wasteland... guess what?! the radio stations wont be working!

This rant has been brought to you by Carnivora. That's C-A-R-N-I-V-O-R-A.   
   

Back in the 90's there were not a lot of quality radios around unless I wanted to use my ham radio that also receives the AM band on its' antenna but that is and was in the basement so not really useful as a bedside radio.  When I heard Art talk about the CC radios I got one and also the antenna booster and set that up bedside with a pillow speaker.  The only problem was that Art was almost always interesting so sleep was a premium but he did open the mind and if not for him, Y2K preparations to patch the flaws in computer code that would have caused massive issues may not have got going as soon and as much as it did.  Before you say Y2K was bunk, keep in mind that lots of computer controlled things from power stations and the like worked on older controllers that used date code truncated so 99 was 1999 and when things turned over to 00 the system would indicate a 100 year lapse with no maintenance and go into fault.  Phone systems were also on truncated code and that night thousands of us were up at keyboards or critical points to perform a reset so things would go fairly smoothly.  A few hiccups happened but thanks to Art and the clarion call to action major issues were averted.  I might add that I was listening one of those nights and heard Art and a guest talking so brought that up in a meeting and found out that several others also listened to Art and C2C.  That was in 98 if I remember correctly. 

I doubt noodle brain would have had enough going back then to sound much more than a Carnivora that is C-A-R-N-I-V-O-R-A call and have no idea that Y2K issue was a major problem waiting to happen.  Art, being the geek and great host understood the issue and the problem.

Thanks Art, you saved us from weeks if not months of misery by sounding the call back then.   

[bateman]

I keep asking myself the same thing but it is better than noodle brain and at least keeps me cranked up over something where as noodle brain just totally pisses me off with his stupidity.  Most nights I listen to nothing because I sleep but on the nights I need to be up I need something and if it is not Sunday and Knapp night then that is the only alternative on stations I get out in the hinterlands of the plains.  Seems Red Eye is on every station that use to have C2C on and all of them come in strong as does the station (KOA) with C2C that is unless there is a game then the game on KOA is more interesting than noodle brain.   

My recommendation: http://johnbatchelorshow.com/podcasts

[LeslieV]

My recommendation: http://johnbatchelorshow.com/podcasts

Hard to do podcast when no computer is around and all you have is a radio.

[bateman]

Hard to do podcast when no computer is around and all you have is a radio.

If you listen to Red Eye, Batchelor's probably on the same station; they're both Cumulus properties. He's just on earlier.

[LeslieV]

Sadly he is on none of the stations I can get from Denver, Colorado Springs so I guess I need to put the old C-Crane to looking at some distant stations.   

[Surmo]

Batchelor, besides being an intelligent questioner, makes a great use of music.

[FortRock]

THE MUTIANY OF STATIONS IS INDICATED OVER THE 8 MHZ. EMERGENCY STATION. KFI-AM 640 LOS ANGELES, AT THE END OF CAPTAIN NOORY'S "SCREENSAVER RADIO PROGRAM", STATION SAYS "GEORGE NOORY, A CERTIFIED MEMBER OF THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT"! ATTACKS BY YOUR OWN STATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF YOUR SCREENSAVER? CAPTAIN NOORY HAS A NEW CONTRACT, BUT WHAT STATIONS OTHER THAN PIRATE CB-RADIO OPERATORS TO AIR IT. THE SCORPION ARMY SMELLS A VERY EASY VICTORY! LONG LIVE GENERAL BELL, AND HIS FEARLESS LEADERSHIP! ART BELL TO ANNOUNCE HIS RETURN SOON!

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

What happens if the Scorpion Army approached George Noory, and Tommy pulls out a can of pesticide?

Nothing against you Fort Rock, I'm just wondering how strong this Scorpion Army really is, having been a relative latecomer.

[analog kid]

CAPTAIN NOORY HAS A NEW CONTRACT, BUT WHAT STATIONS OTHER THAN PIRATE CB-RADIO OPERATORS TO AIR IT.

Pirate CB radio operators. Lol.

[VtaGeezer]

I have the "CC Pocket" and it is a POS.  It works, but not very well.  If anyone knows of a good AM radio please let me know.  I have had many of them through out the years and none of them ever performed very well.  That being said.  The "CC Pocket" is the worst of all by far.

I like Sangean.  We have two, a clock radio that has super AM reception and very good sound, and a small portable for picking up C2C when traveling and short wave for Armageddon. Even high end hotels put junk clock radios in the rooms.

[Surmo]

I also have an Sangean, bought around 2000, and its been a great radio, if
overpriced.  My house did get struck by lightning while it was plugged in, and
ever since the station numbers are nearly impossible to read, but I can't fairly
blame that on the radio.  I bought this radio solely based on the words of
Art Bell.

[NowhereInTime]

What happens if the Scorpion Army approached George Noory, and Tommy pulls out a can of pesticide?

Nothing against you Fort Rock, I'm just wondering how strong this Scorpion Army really is, having been a relative latecomer.

The "Scorpion Army" is about as useful as using a toothbrush to clean the Superdome after Katrina.  It's commanding officer is a d-bag nutjob who had running commentary battles some years back about mail order brides and other nonsense.  He's about as accurate as Karnak and as insightful as Dick Morris.
And, BTW, EVERYTHING against you, Fort (Stinger) Rock!

[bmcintyre]

So, is Art Bell really coming back?  Don't tease.  I have moved to Mysterious Universe at night.  I cannot stomach George's hubris any longer.  Does anyone know what happened to the rods? 

[Sardondi]

So, is Art Bell really coming back?...

Uh, no.

[SR-71]

I wish fort rock gets a life soon. Fort rock and his so called army is want happens when you smoke too much bad weed.

Hey art when are you coming back to the radio?