This Week In Radio Tech (TWiRT)

The satellite C-Band repack is upon us. Indeed, some 5G carriers are already operating just below the satellite C-Band and have caused interference. More such interference is on the way and broadcast engineers need to act now. Mark Johnson with LinkUp Communications joins us to outline the C-Band repack timeline and share photos from recent filter installations.

Show notes:

* “The C-Band Repack”* “Essential Info to Choose the Right C-Band Filter”* “What’s Next if you Chose the Lump Sum Option”

Guest

Mark Johnson - President at Linkup Communications Corp.

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Nautel and the continuing informative live webinars. Sign up for free!Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com. And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts. Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

Tony Dimsdale loves RF. And he loves the plumbing it takes to transport high-power RF energy from one place to another without “spilling” any! Working with GatesAir during the TV repack put Tony in the middle of the action, moving FM station antennas, installing RF combining and switching systems, and learning the nuances and “gotchas” of the art of RF plumbing. He shares his knowledge and experience with us on this episode of TWiRT.

Show notes:

* Tony’s Radio Transmitter Site Photos* Tony’s TV Transmitter Site Photos* Tony’s Studio Photos* Examples of fixed flanges for brazing - from Spinner

Guest

Tony Dimsdale - Owner at Dimsdale Technologies - Market Chief Engineer at Audacy, Greenville & Spartanburg, SC

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Nautel and the continuing informative live webinars. Sign up for free!Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com. And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts. Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

Four years ago Philipp Schmid at Nautel introduced HD Radio technology allowing up to 15 digital program feeds on one FM channel. They called it “Multiplex FM”. Now the idea and technology have expanded to include the DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) transmission system. What’s more, Nautel and Telos Alliance have demonstrated a cloud-based system for processing multiple HD channels along with the analog FM program, with reliable Internet delivery to transmitter sites. Philip and Alex fill us in on this technology on TWiRT!

Show notes:

* Cloud-based FM air chain - Radio World* All-Digital HD Radio - Field Tests at KKLZ (PDF slide deck)* Explanation of DRM at Wikipedia

Guests

Philipp Schmind - Chief Technology Officer at NautelAlex Hartman - Support & Research Engineer at Nautel

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

With urban sprawl, property values escalating, and AM stations having a more difficult time financially, sometimes it makes sense to combine one or more AM transmitters at a common transmitter site. Certain technical criteria must be met for this to happen, and combining AM directional stations can be challenging. Mike Patton has helped several AM stations move onto “common ground” and teaches about the key technical aspects to consider when combining transmitters.

Show notes:

* Diplexing AM transmitters - by John Battison [Radio World]* AM Stations Have New Options - Cris Alexander [Radio World]* Diplexed Directional AM stations - Paul Thurst, Engineering Radio

Guest

Mike Patton - Owner, Michael Patton & Associates

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

Too many FM antennas on one tower? They’re (maybe) creating intermod products? No room or structure for more tenants? It may be past time to consolidate all the FM signals onto a master FM antenna. WAMU-FM and WTOP-FM in Washington, DC, did exactly this - and worked with other FM tenants on the same tower to create such a combined, master FM antenna system. Rob Bertrand, CTO, and Andy Gunn, DoE, tell the story and give us a tour of the combiner room at American University.

Show notes:

* WAMU-FM on Wikipedia* WTOP-FM on Wikipedia* WAMU’s Master FM Antenna Assembled and Erected for Final Tuning and Test* New Master Antenna System Serves D.C.

Guests

Rob Bertrand - Chief Technology Officer at WAMU 88.5Andy Gunn - Director of Engineering at WAMU 88.5

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.

Heads-up, broadcast engineers! Docker is coming your way. What's Docker? It's a brand name that's part of "containerized software" - and broadcast equipment is already moving there. Your audio consoles, talkshow system, and IP intercom can all run on PC or servers - on-site or in a data center. This is happening now! Cam Eicher with Telos Alliance gives a great tutorial on Docker containerized software and more on this episode of TWIRT.

Show notes:

* What’s a “Bare-Metal Server”?* Let’s define “Cloud Computing”* Let’s be clear on what a “Virtual Machine” is.* Hypervisors - Type 1 and Type 2* Software container engines run on Linux* Let’s get on the same page about Docker.* OS-Level Virtualization* Fun to say, but what is Kubernetes?* What is Quay.io?

Guest

Cam Eicher - Executive Director of Worldwide Sales at Telos Alliance

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

Why is Rob Ashard managing 19 mix-minus feeds while taping a British TV show? When COVID keeps the audience out of the studio, Rob and his colleagues must go to them - in their homes and flats. Rob Ashard is the lead audio mixer for The Graham Norton Show and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Audience interaction is critical, and these shows have found a way to make it happen. We’ll also discuss bringing a 60 year old portable tape deck back to life, plus learn about DE-RIG mixing kits.

Show notes:

* The Graham Norton Show* Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway* Rob was mixing on a Studer Vista X console* Rob’s lavalier to USB mic is this or similar* Rob discussed not “crossing the line” in camera placement* Another video update from Rob on the EMI RE321 tape deck (on Facebook)

Guest

Rob Ashard - Sound Supervisor at Ashard Audio Ltd

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio,

A broadcast company’s Director of Engineering faces more challenges from different directions than ever before. With telcos abandoning legacy services, fires threatening remote transmitter sites, AM tower sites having to move out, and thieves stealing copper or other valuables, the DoE job is full of daily dilemmas and crises. Cris Alexander, DoE at Crawford Broadcasting, deals with these problems and more, and depends on a team of local engineers as well. We get to spend an hour with Cris to hear about today’s challenges and some solutions.

Show notes:

* The Local Oscillator - current and back issues - A GREAT resource for all of us!* Tip of the Week: Paessler PRTG - network monitoring software* See Todd Dixon’s writeup on Paessler PRTG monitoring software in the April, 2021, edition of The Local Oscillator - starting on page 7

Guest

Cris Alexander - Director of Engineering at Crawford Broadcasting

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

Bustin’ concrete, CIDR notation, Rat Magic, unlimited (almost) photo storage, more mouse eviction tactics, and the best site maintenance practices. Whew! It’s all covered and uncovered on this TWiRT episode with the beloved John Bisset, author of “Workbench”.

Show notes:

* Dexpan Non-Explosive Demolition Agent for Concrete Removal* Concrete Bustin’ Demo Video* Aha! “CIDR” stands for Classless Inter Domain Routing. Here’s a CIDR calculator* John talked about Middle Atlantic Rack Shelves as a possible substitute for Server Rack Rails* John likes ½” galvanized steel “hardware cloth” to protect larger openings from critters

Guest

John Bisset - Director, Western US Sales at Telos Alliance and Author of the “Workbench” column in Radio World magazine.

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And

EAS - The Emergency Alert System: Is it sometimes a pain for broadcasters? Or is it a life-saving emergency messaging system? Adrienne Abbott is Chair of the Nevada EAS. She brings a balanced and reasonable perspective to EAS operations and functionality. Plus, she’s helping to enhance the localism of EAS alerts in Clark County, Nevada, where Las Vegas and suburbs sprawl across the high desert.

Show notes:

* EAS - Emergency Alert System on Wikipedia* AlertSense critical event management platform* Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) on Wikipedia

Guests

Adrienne Abbott - Nevada EAS Chair and Amateur Radio W6BCY

Host

Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow Kirk on Twitter - @kharnackFollow TWiRT on Twitter - @TWiRTshow and Facebook

Sponsored by

Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc.Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, a social media tools at Bionic.radio.Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com.And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.