This Week In Radio Tech (TWiRT)

Whether the medium is radio, TV, studio recording, live sound, or amateur radio, nearly all audio is captured with a microphone. But which mic is appropriate for any given sound capture situation? Michelle Levitt of Heil Sound is here to highlight different mic technologies, and explain some characteristics to observe when choosing right mic for the job.

Hawai’i’s newest FM station has 40 owners, and isn’t on the air yet. The call sign is KHKU-FM and we’re in Lihu’e on the island of Kaua’i building the studio now. We’re talking with co-owners Joey Cummings, Larry Fuss, Mark Jensen, and Fletcher Ford as we put together the studio and rack room.

Live from NAB 2018! Some of the hot topics at NAB this year: A microphone war story with Michelle Levitt, Frank Foti with the Chairman’s view, Will Mashione on efficient Local radio, Alex Hartman talking about the future of touchscreens, and a wireless broadband alternative with John Bohn.

The Association of Public Radio Engineers hold their conference each year, just before the big NAB Show in Las Vegas. It’s called the Public Radio Engineering Conference (PREC). The PREC is a terrific opportunity for engineers to learn the latest tech, brush up on fundamentals, and get some hands-on experience during the Night Owl session.

Low-budget and community broadcasters are using free, open-source software to run many aspects of their broadcast operations. Take a listen to CJUC-FM, for example. Using local PCs or cloud-based operations, community stations can air quality programming, with either local or remote hosts. They can also fulfill both the letter and spirit of emergency broadcast requirements. Audio and video streaming are important aspects as well. Rob Hopkins, founder of Open Broadcaster, joins Chris and Kirk to talk about the possibilities and and what Yukon broadcasters are doing right now with this technology.

More of us radio engineers are being called upon to provide adequate lighting for new venues. Many stations are building live performance studios. Others are putting cameras in the control rooms. Whether it’s for a live audience or a video camera, talent needs good lighting to be seen - in a good light. Brett Gilbert with iHeartMedia in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been lighting up stages since high school. He shares a couple decades of hands-on knowledge with Chris Tobin and Kirk Harnack.

Ahoy, matey! Thar be pesky pirates in New York, Boston, and Philly! Nick Straka is a contract and consulting engineer in the New York City area. He builds and maintains licensed FM transmitter sites, plus he tracks down the pirate broadcasters who interfere with them.

You’d think the National Religious Broadcasters convention would be lacking engineers in attendance. Well, I thought that - and I was wrong. They’re here! Lots of ‘em! We’re live from the expo hall at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, meeting and talking with broadcast engineers and engineering reps.

Between accommodating the Television Repack and Norway’s Public analog FM stations going dark, what’s a poor FM transmitter to do? Radio Magazine’s Editor, Doug Irwin, talks about these topics along with changing workflows with on-demand radio programming and streaming media.

Single Frequency Networks, or SFNs: European FM broadcasters have been using them for decades. Now, US and other broadcasters around the world are extending coverage and filling in coverage holes using synchronized FM transmitters. Hal Kneller consults SFN projects and discussed the technology and techniques.