A Radio Service That Might Have Been

With the diminishment or the actual shutting down of AM radio in many parts of the world, there is one advantage of AM which should not be forgotten: The potential coverage of large areas of geography.

Some years ago, when the FCC proposed expanding the AM band to 1700 kHz, I had an idea.

TWiRT 381 - Stupidity with Tom Ray

Tom Ray says his superpower is the ability to attract stupidity. But, being a clever engineer he deals with it swifty and moves on. Tom joins Chris Tobin and Kirk Harnack for this episode on stupidity - how to identify it, how to deal with it, and what we can learn from it.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, Streaming Audio, audio, audio quality

Bisset Brief: The Little Console Engine that Could

Owners of our Element and Fusion consoles are aware of the built-in mic processing features. Well, there’s basic mic processing in our QOR.32 and QOR.16 console engines, used with RAQ, DESQ, Radius, and IQ surfaces, too. I spoke with Telos Alliance Support Engineer Brett Patram recently, who outlined the setup of these parameters.

Overcoming AM Noise in Tampa

Neal Ardman is President of NIA Broadcasting, which owns and operates radio stations across the state of Florida. Recently we sat down with Neal for a quick discussion of his success with the Omnia VOLT for NIA’s Classic Hip Hop station in Tampa, WTMP-AM.

Topics: Omnia VOLT

TWiRT 380 - MemberPlus with SBE President, Jim Leifer

Broadcast engineering is a rather small, niche career. How do we keep up with rapidly-changing technology and best practices? The answer is SBE Webinars.  New SBE President, Jim Leifer, is here to fill us in on SBE MemberPlus, where SBE members can gain real expertise in their field.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, Streaming Audio, audio, audio quality

Z/IPStream Update: Wave Goodbye to Silverlight

As a result of conversations with end users and Telos Alliance Support, as well as a few tech updates, Z/IPStream R/1 is better than ever.

A National Treasure: WSM Nashville

The Friday before Christmas, I was driving from Cleveland to Troy, NY, to pick up my daughter and bring her back to Cleveland to celebrate the holiday with the rest of the family. It’s about a nine-hour drive, so I had plenty of time to listen to my music files, internet streams, Pandora, SiriusXM, or the old reliable radio.

Topics: Radio History, Broadcast History, WSM Nashville

Into the Valley of AoIP at VPR

Broadcasting from Fresno and Bakersfield, Valley Public Radio is the NPR affiliate for the greater San Joaquin Valley of Central California. Founded in 1978 and celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, VPR recently moved into a new facility in Clovis, just outside Fresno, which included upgrades to Axia Fusion consoles in multiple studios and Telos VX phone system. We checked in with Director of Program Content Joe Moore for an update on the new digs.

TWiRT 379 - Adopting New Tech with John Schilberg

Adopting new technologies in any profession can be stressful.  John Schilberg is here to talk about adopting new tech with the right attitude - so it’s more fun than stress. In the process we’ll flash back to Miami Vice and Star Trek in stereo! Chris Tobin joins us on This Week in Radio Tech

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, Streaming Audio, audio, audio quality

The Bisset Brief: A Network Butt Set

In the days of analog systems, we used a test set called a “butt-in” or simply “butt set” that was commonly used by the phone company. With some serious alligator clips on the test cord ends, you could “butt into” or bridge any audio circuit to monitor the audio...a very useful tool to trace analog signals.