Ever wish you could listen to Radio Dismuke and other vintage programs such as old time radio comedies, dramas and adventure programs through one of those really cool vintage radios? Via this thread on The Fedora Lounge I learned of a Winamp skin based on a 1933 Philco cathedral radio that allows one to at least pretend one is doing so in a virtual sort of way.Winamp is the mp3 player program that I usually use when listening to Internet radio streams (though I use other programs for managing and organizing mp3 files, burning to CD, etc. ) so I decided to give it a try.
I have installed other Winamp skins before and have always ended up going back the default skin the program comes with. The default skin may not be very attractive, but at least I can easily find all of the various features that I need - and Winamp does have quite a number of nice features.
Happily, I was able easily locate most of the commonly used features on the Philco skin - and after a few minutes, I figured out that by right clicking on the mouse I was able to access those functions that are not visible on the skin.
My only major complaint is that, while there is an area provided for the the track and title information to scroll across, it is too small for the text to be legible. This is not a huge problem for me because, even on the default skin where the text is easily visible, I find the fact that it scrolls to be a bit of a pain as one has to wait a few seconds for all of the information to scroll by. Instead, when I am using the default skin, I always open the Playlist Editor window which provides the track information in an instantly readable list. The Philco skin also has a Playlist Editor window which is easy to read and appears as a separate wooden cabinet. The skin's equalizer feature also appears as a separate wooden cabinet - and its attractiveness rivals that of the main radio portion.
I have never been able to install Winamp skins according to the directions provided on the Winamp website. Supposedly when you download and run the skin, Winamp is supposed to automatically start with the new skin installed. That does not work for me. What I do instead is simply download the skin directly to the "Skins" folder inside the Winamp program folder on my hard drive which is located at: C:\Program Files\Winamp. Then all one has to do is open up Winamp, right click on the player and select "Skins" from the menu. The name of the downloaded skin should appear and, as soon as one selects it, the skin is installed. To change back, simply right click, select "Skins" and select one of the two default skins "classic" or "modern."
Whoever put the Philco skin together did a great job in making it very attractive. But I can't say that having an attractive Winamp skin is all that much of a big deal for me personally as I usually keep the player minimized when I am listening. My primary concern is that I can easily view track information when I hear a song I especially like and that I have no problems getting the player's various functions to to work. But judging by the number Winamp skins available, a lot of people enjoy them and this is certainly a appropriately themed one for those who listen to vintage music and old time radio through their computers.
There is another vintage radio skin mentioned in the Fedora Lounge thread based on the 1936 Zenith Stratosphere that not strike me as being quite as attractive and which I did not try out. And if you are not into retro radios or find them to be a bit out of place on a computer screen, there are certainly plenty of other Winamp skins for you to choose from based on a wide variety of themes and styles.
Personal AM Radio Transmitters And A Word Of Caution
I am, by the way, a huge fan of vintage radios and have multiple sets in every room of my house and several more in storage that I do not have room to display. Some still work while others do not. Whether they work or not does not make a whole lot of difference for me as the only thing they will pick up when they do work is modern radio stations - and there is no music on those that I am even remotely interested in. I have the radios around mostly because I love how they look.
There are personal AM radio transmitters available that will transmit programing from a computer or any other audio source to AM radios throughout one's house without violating any FCC frequency interference laws. Because some of my vintage radios do work, I thought it would be fun to get one and use it to transmit vintage music from my computer. And that would certainly be a far more authentic experience than a retro themed Winamp skin.
The least expensive transmitters are available in kit form. I purchased such a kit but, despite being careful, my attempt to assemble it was unsuccessful. After that, I sprang for a pre-assembled model. Unfortunately, what the advertisement for it failed to mention was that it is necessary to have an antenna in order for the thing to achieve even a minimal amount of range. The little makeshift antenna that I threw together with old wire was barely able to transmit halfway across the room. I have subsequently found instructions on how to build a decent antenna. But that would put me back in the position of having a do-it-yourself electronics project - which is not the sort of thing I enjoy and is more likely to result in frustration instead of success. All I wanted when I purchased the pre-assembled model was something that I could take out of the box, plug in and have it work.
There are additional transmitters on the market and I have read about vintage radio collectors having success in using them. My suggestion, however, for those who are not into electronics projects is to ask about included antennas and their range before you fork over any money.
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