This Week In Radio Tech (TWiRT)

“We’re on the verge of a Voice Activated Internet,” says Tom Vernon. Tom’s recent front page Radio World article, “Can Smart Speakers Bring Radio Home?” points to new radio listeners using smart speakers. We may also find voice-activated tasks around broadcast stations, facilitated by Amazon Echo or Google Home devices.

There are myriad perspectives from which to view One World Trade Center’s rebuilding after the tragedies of 9/11. From the broadcast perspective, 2017 marks a notable milestone – the resumption of television transmission from atop One WTC. The latest transmitter and antenna technology is now deployed at One WTC, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at a symbolic 1,776 feet in height; it has resumed broadcast operations as one of the world’s elite broadcast centers. John Lyons, Director of Broadcast Communications at The Durst Organization, leads a presentation focusing on this new, premiere, RF transmission facility.

The Broadcasting Club is a popular Facebook Group where engineers and others in Radio and TV post photos, videos, stories, and other info of interest to broadcasters. The group’s Admin is Daniel Hyatt, an engineer in Denver. Dan threw a party for local engineers and those of us attending the SBE Annual Meeting there. Dan’s home was also the stage for this week’s TWiRT episode with a bevy of engineers telling us their own War Stories!

The AES and NAB fall shows combine to provide several days of seminars, special events, and equipment demonstrations in New York. Chris and Kirk interview technology leaders and find out what’s hot now and in the future. Special thanks to David Bialik and Andrew Zarian helping make TWiRT possible this week.

Possibly the best regional conference for Radio and TV engineers, the WBA Broadcasters Clinic is our venue in Madison, Wisconsin. John Chelliah, Steve Lampen, Chris Tarr, and Mark Persons make-up an all-star cast for this episode of TWiRT. We’re talking 12 GHz coax, AoIP, and console-less consoles, live from Madison.

Jordan Bitz walked into an existing AoIP radio station and had to learn it - fast! Now he’s extended his AoIP network to a transmitter site 30 miles across the valley. Plus, he’s using streaming audio for distribution and backup systems.

Also on this episode, David Bialik previews an amazing Broadcast and Streaming track at the AES Convention in New York.

Chris Tobin is speaking at the Central Canadian Broadcast Engineering conference (CCBE) in King City, Ontario, Canada. He joins the show from the relaxing Kingbridge Conference Center. We’re discussing CyberSecurity for Broadcasters - what we learned from a recent expert panel discussion in Columbus, Ohio. And a first look at troubles with the National EAS Test.

The Emergency Alert System - EAS - suffers a love-hate relationship with most broadcast stations. Radio folks may love the fact that EAS handles the burden of alerting the public to life and safety threats. But sometimes the program interruptions are just too much, and the audio quality is often just terrible. Rob Dale is the Regional Planner at the Ingham County, Michigan, Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management. He’s also a broadcaster and meteorologist. Rob joins us to discuss the state of EAS, training, and where we might be headed.

Stereo Tool is a popular PC-based audio processor for FM, DAB, and web streaming. Radio Engineer, Matt Levin, tells us about installing and using Stereo Tool. Plus, Hans van Zutphen, the author of Stereo Tool, describes how Omnia audio processors benefit from Stereo Tools users’ feedback.

What’s Interactive Radio? It’s when listeners have real-time input to the on-air talent. And what could be a more natural interaction than the human voice? Dan McQuillin at Broadcast Bionics introduces interactive radio using Amazon Echo or Google Home. His company’s code and service, added to Alexa Skills, brings instant listen feedback and sentiment to any radio show.