My project to use 24/7 outdoor music broadcast to repel urban hoodlums - don't let your memes stay dreams

[Jarl Varg]

@millais , have you ever thought about using Mongolian throat-singing songs? Interesting in short term, bound to be annoying as all get out after a little while.

 

[Sneedenhagen Chew]

It's an interesting constraint on this problem, that the music has to be at least somewhat tolerable to whitey since it's on constant broadcast in shared/public spaces. Yes, it would be funny to loop some spiritual like "whip the nigger" to irritate the hoodrats, but I doubt his neighbors and the authorities would think it's as funny.

However, as a fun thought experiment, what would be the theoretical most obnoxious and psychologically harmful to blast them with? Everyone is going for the most offensive and crass songs they can find, but I have an alternate theory: if you wanted to punish the loiterers as much as possible, you'd just loop sissy hypno tracks constantly.

Especially with the machismo and gay-bashing that goes on in those groups, imagine being some tough thug gangbanger trying to bunker down through an unrelenting stream of consciousness of "mmmm yeah you're just a little slut, a useless piece of fuckmeat that's only good for taking big fat manly cocks in your tight little boypussy" fucking oVER AND OVER AND OVER.

It would almost certainly make all your neighbors hate you, and might actually be illegal, but it would be funny.

If you had access to those very-precise broadcast units that can target sound to a very tiny specific location, you couldn't really get in trouble for this because a homeless person saying that he hears voices calling him a useless cock-sleeve would just come across as a schizophrenic tweaker being a schizophrenic tweaker. Anyone who can do this should.

 

[TurboNAS]

It's an interesting constraint on this problem, that the music has to be at least somewhat tolerable to whitey since it's on constant broadcast in shared/public spaces.

This is all about sharing culture and bringing the joy of music to an underserved population.

We’ve been inundated with music from this group for years now so it’s just being neighborly to share the richness of European culture with the area.

on the technical side it’s fascinating to see what works and what doesn’t. Because of the puny size of the speakers you have a natural volume limit. Plus this has to reasonably be audible in a limited area. The type of music also plays into this because pieces with more treble like female vocal numbers will broadcast more audibly than tracks on the low end of the spectrum. It’s not worth the hassle and power expense to add bigger speakers since they have to be defended from tampering with metal cages.

All in all through basic experimentation I think Millais has built a very effective setup on a shoestring budget.

I’d love to see other people in a similar situation set this up. Remember, you need to be in a commercially zoned area so that you don’t have residents to complain about all that culture. Then you have to go out and hang the speakers and players where they won’t immediately get mangled. Good luck to whoever tries this next!

Edit: this earworm is from the game Hong Kong 97 and plays on endless loop in the game.

 

[Flareanthia]

Damn, I just closed a PO Box. If anyone wants to send me materials for this project, PM me.

I tried a newish SanDisk last year for this purpose, and it couldn't play continuously 24/7, even when plugged into power. Somewhere before 24 hours, it would always pause the current track and have to be manually unpaused.

Not too much of an update to share. Both working broadcast units are still playing "La valise". The hoodrats are still hanging out in their usual spot, but they may have run out of batteries for their headphones, as they are back to covering their heads with towels and blankets.

Spoiler: The rogues' gallery

View attachment 6026705View attachment 6026706View attachment 6026707View attachment 6026708View attachment 6026709View attachment 6026712View attachment 6026713

Due to bad weather, I may not be able to install that 3rd broadcast unit this week. Will have to wait and see.

Do you think it may be useful to edit the first post, so that people are aware that if anyone has stuff to send you for this project they should PM you? Otherwise it might be that people that people miss this message, and don't even consider sending stuff ?

 

[millais]

I was too busy to check the one operating broadcast unit each day this past week, but I finally checked today to find some unwelcome damage.

The hoodrats used a long metal pole or long piece of lumber to break the metal bars on the bottom part of the double layered protective cages. Then they used a long stick to reach through the opening to hook the power and aux cables for the speakers and pull the connections loose.

So over the past few days, the unit has been broadcasting at a very low volume and bad fidelity due to the loosened connections.

From this damage, I can deduce a few things:
1. They could not figure out a way to counter my duct taping over the volume controls, so they are back to trying to brute force it.
2. They are really unhappy about listening to "La valise" on loop for weeks on end.

You can see here the physical damage, viewed from below the unit.


The inner and outer protective cages originally had an intact coating of white enamel and zinc galvanizing respectively. So everywhere you see rusty metal bars is a place where the hoodrats bashed the cage with enough force to chip off the enamel and allow the metal to rust in the rain. The rusty metal wiring is unrelated to damage ( I used ungalvanized metal wire to tie some parts of the cage together )

2 of the bars on the bottom were deformed enough to break the welds, and that is where they reached in with a stick to hook the wires.



The speaker housing was not scratched up before, so that is how I know they did it with some long stick, while standing on the ground. They must have struggled to get the stick into the gap where they could hook the wires, scratching the housing in the process.

But fortunately it was very easy to reconnect all the cables and restore the unit to full working order, so the music has been back on since about noon today.

To prevent them from disconnecting the cables again, I reinforced the bottom and side of the protective cage with some more outdoor-grade duct tape. This way even if they manage to break more bars on the cage, there won't be any gap through which they can reach to mess with the wires



I will have to wait and see what happens next, but I think this is a pretty good fix. They can try to bash in the other side of the cage that I did not reinforce with tape yet, but on that side the speakers are tautly secured flush to the wall, so there is no gap to get at the wiring.

 

[Poonocchio]

I'm loving this battle of wills.

 

[Dambusters' Dog II]

Alternatively if you want to really fuck up a set of speakers, give P.A.L a shot I'll guarantee it'll clear crackheads in 5 minutes or less. Money back guaranteed.

While that was interesting, the power of autism compels me to mention that the drumbeat to that is James Brown's Funky Drummer, which has been used in countless backing tracks for rappers to gibber over, and therefore is probably not suitable for deterring dusky-hued gentlemen of no fixed address. They may even nod their heads to it.

 

[millais]

Last night, the hoodrats found an even bigger piece of wood and punched through the entire bottom section of the protective cages with brute force. Lot of damage to the wall as well, and they got close to ripping the cage off the anchoring bolts sunk into the concrete wall.



But the idea of reinforcing and blocking access to the bottom was a good one, as the duct tape did interfere with the hoodrats' ability to reach their smaller stick into the power cables behind the speakers, so they were only able to disconnect the cable for 1 pair of speakers, and that was only after destroying the entire bottom section of the cage and knocking the speakers around enough to make a gap between the one speaker and the wall.

I reconnected the one disconnected speaker pair, so it's been back to normal broadcast volume since this morning.

I reattached what's left of the cage firmly to the wall and replaced/reinforced the entire bottom of the cage with a sturdy board of thick plywood that is secured to the cage with steel wire that I tied to holes I drilled around the edges of the plywood.

I will take a photo tomorrow, as it was raining hard by the time I finished the up-armoring.

Also, I found the big piece of wood the hoodrats used in their latest attack. It was a big fallen tree limb that they must have found on the side of the road somewhere. I cut it up into small 1-foot sections and tossed it into the trash.

One thing you learn about hoodrats and homeless is that it's never enough to simply confiscate and throw their stuff away. They will make the effort to climb and jump in and out of a dumpster just to get their stuff, even if the dumpster is empty and it's a physically difficult feat to climb and jump it, or even if the dumpster is full and they have to dig through piles of rancid garbage to retrieve their stuff.

They will stop at almost nothing to get back their things and stolen goods.

You really have to destroy their stuff totally or take it to a completely different place miles away to throw it out. Or if you do toss it into a nearby dumpster, you have to make sure it gets buried and pinned under really heavy stuff that they can't lift, like old tires or furniture.

 

[Peaches the Wonder Cat]

Maybe they need some new music.

 

[a hapless toad]

Maybe they need some new music.

IIRC, @millais is in Texas and while the hoodrats seem to be mostly of a darker persuasion, this might appeal to any loiterers from south of the border.

I know Slim Whitman has been suggested in the thread before, the best of course being Indian Love Call, which makes Martians heads explode.

And millais has said he's already got a pretty solid playlist but I'm gonna throw in some suggestions anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHjAUhtSrk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn0HAWX1TSA&list=PLLICd7vQi7iGUyErozBAwgcr4F49kxiXY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD9zmHUU2jE&list=PL1A0B83DEC64489DA&index=5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-oWNSp7--w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5FAyGhgfDI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSy6b-mg7vQ

 

[LiveFromNS]

Man too bad there wasn't a way to set up some kind of video, whether streaming or recording, so we can see these filthy wastes of oxygen trying to take out your setup. I remember some of the clips from the Window of Life streams when the apes would throw shit at the speakers and windows got broken out.

I think it would be amazing to see the lowlifes in action. Also, potentially could be used as evidence of property destruction if there was any way to charge the scum with a crime.

Just musing out loud as I am picturing them doing their attacks on the setup...

 

[millais]

The reinforced protective cage only lasted one night. The hoodrats pulled the entire cage off of the concrete anchors, which disconnected both speakers.

The cage is completely deformed by the latest damage and not reusable.

It may be time to remount the whole unit higher off the ground, maybe around 25 - 30 ft. It will take a few days to rebuild the setup at a higher level, if it's possible.

I was originally thinking to just rebuild the system at the existing height of 14 - 15 ft, but if the hoodrats have enough leverage and strength to rip the cage off the anchoring bolts, then further strengthening of the cage may not help.

 

[Probably An Autist]

its funny how a pair of speakers can cause such unhinged chimp outs.

god sneed you crazy man, the wall speakers just got 10 feet higher.

 

[Aunt Carol]

The reinforced protective cage only lasted one night. The hoodrats pulled the entire cage off of the concrete anchors, which disconnected both speakers.

They hate it. You're confirmed to be on the right track.

 

[The Tall Man]

The reinforced protective cage only lasted one night. The hoodrats pulled the entire cage off of the concrete anchors, which disconnected both speakers.

The cage is completely deformed by the latest damage and not reusable.

It may be time to remount the whole unit higher off the ground, maybe around 25 - 30 ft. It will take a few days to rebuild the setup at a higher level, if it's possible.

I was originally thinking to just rebuild the system at the existing height of 14 - 15 ft, but if the hoodrats have enough leverage and strength to rip the cage off the anchoring bolts, then further strengthening of the cage may not help.

You are engaging in an arms race against the hoodrats, it might be worth it to think about going stealth mode.

 

[dick brain]

Electrify it.

 

[Catgirl Tyranid]

Electrify it.

While funny, he'd have to throw up warning signs, etc. Also a lot more complex and a ton more work when putting the setup higher and/or installing a tougher protective cage would likely solve the vandalism issue better.

 

[Rain Team Pepe]

Electrify it.

That may injure or kill birds, which could be illegal depending on the local laws.
Razor Wire woven into the bottom of the cage may leave the top safe for birds but chimpout proof.

You could make a "bunker" out of concrete and place them inside that.
Chicken wire for the openings that the sound comes out of?

 

[millais]

Razor wire will make it inconvenient to do repairs or upgrades to the unit in the future, and electrification is not going to do much. Their method of destroying the protective cage probably still involves lobbing a heavy lumber or broken tree limb, which they could continue to do without getting shocked.

Stealth may not trick them. They spend 24 hours a day staring at this wall and they will surely notice if anything new suddenly appears, even if it is disguised as another piece of hardware.

I think I'm going to go all in with more height for protection. At a taller height, it should be impossible to physically reach without a firearm, and without need for a protective cage, I could add more speakers to the unit, as the cage only has so much volume it can enclose. Since the height will more than double, I will try to double the sound output to compensate for the added distance.

Going from 20 watt peak to 42 watt peak, if all 4 speaker pairs can mount.



I tested the setup at ground level and it seems to work fine. No loss of signal even though it's being split several times, and it's not pulling enough amps to trip the circuit breaker, though I don't know how heavy a load it will have to share on the circuit that will be serving the mounted setup.

The 2 pairs on the left are from the recently destroyed unit, the pair in the middle is from the unit that was destroyed about a month ago, and the pair on the right is new.

The only thing I don't like about mounting so high off the ground is that it would be a little inconvenient to repair or upgrade as the type of ladder for this height is very unwieldy for one person to handle.

 

[Spruce Supremacist]

it's not pulling enough amps to trip the circuit breaker, though I don't know how heavy a load it will have to share on the circuit that will be serving the mounted setup

Loudspeakers generally don't consume much power, especially ones you're using. I think this current setup you've shown won't pull much more power than several computer monitors working in unison would.