Vintage Audio: PalmPilots m100 and m515

2016 marked the 20^th anniversary of the release of the Palm Pilot, the first commercially successful PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant. The event passed without much fanfare or recognition. What little there was probably got drowned out by press on the latest iPhone, Google Android or BlackBerry. But the truth is, these devices owe a lot of their conceptual identity to that landmark device that hit the streets in the mid-1990s. This Found in the Attic explores the history of PDAs, the Palm company and the PalmPilots m100 and m515. PDAs are a subset of the larger personal electronics revolution, which began in the 1970s.

Topics: Electronics, Vintage Technology, PDAs

TWiRT 343 - Where's that Satellite with John Bisset

John Bisset is here! He’s the guy who writes the “Workbench” column in Radio World. Always quick with great ideas for radio engineers, John joins us to talk about moving your satellite dish, preparing for the worst when that doesn’t work, and more tips from the master of the workbench!

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, audio, audio quality

High School Station Bullish on Axia

In recent years, low-power radio stations have hit the FM band all across the U.S., from larger cities to remote outposts and all points between. One such LPFM is WNBI, or Bison Radio, affiliated with New Buffalo Area Schools on the shores of Lake Michigan – part of the “Michiana” area in the corner of southwest Michigan, not far north of the Indiana line.

Broadcasting a mix of older and current music, along with high school sports, local news, and special features produced by the students, WNBI-LP started as an extension of Radio Harbor Country, which included WRHC and WRHZ in nearby Three Oaks, Michigan, providing additional programming for residents of the New Buffalo area. Since hitting the airwaves two years ago, the Bison Radio has been well-received by the local community.

 TWiRT 342 - Make Money by Saving It with Jim Gray

A penny saved really is a penny earned! Ask Jim Gray who runs Optimized Media Group. Jim and his team do normal broadcast engineering; they also help stations by demonstrating Return on Investment with newer technologies, and sometimes with older equipment. Jim joins Chris Tobin and Kirk Harnack on TWiRT.

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, audio, audio quality

ATSC 3.0 Delivered

Linear Acoustic® AMS Authoring and Monitoring System is a comprehensive solution for real-time authoring, rendering, and monitoring of advanced audio programs for the ATSC 3.0 Digital Television System. The audio system in ATSC 3.0 provides listeners with a personalized, immersive audio experience using Next Generation Audio (NGA) technologies, including MPEG-H. AMS simultaneously delivers advanced audio for ATSC 3.0 broadcasts and 5.1-/2-ch audio for ATSC 1.0 broadcasts.

Telos Alliance a Cleveland Technology Awards Honoree 

In keeping with a company tradition of technology and innovation, the Telos Alliance was recently named a Cleveland Technology Awards Honoree in the Established Tech Firm category. Presented by Smart Business Magazine, the Cleveland Technology Awards recognize Northeast Ohio organizations that develop and implement impactful technology. CEO Frank Foti accepted the honor at a luncheon on March 23.

Topics: Broadcast Technology, Frank Foti, Telos Alliance

Keeping Your Broadcast IP Network Safe in the Age of IoT

Considering an Audio over IP (AoIP) network for your facility makes sense; it’s faster, cheaper, and better than previous technologies. By converting to AoIP, you not only tap into the power of current technology, you allow your facility to leverage the enormous universe of “off the shelf” IT devices that are used worldwide, and not just in the broadcast industry.

Telos Alliance Thought Leadership on Display at NAB 2017 

For more than three decades, the Telos Alliance has led the way for the broadcast industry with an array of groundbreaking products. As an example of how this leadership continues today, Telos Alliance personnel will lead five important sessions on broadcast technology at NAB 2017 next month in Las Vegas.

TWiRT 341 - Sports and Studio Mics with Chris Wygal

How many of us broadcast engineers learned by on-the-job training? Have you had a mentor or did you learn by doing it yourself?  Chris Wygal is the engineer and ops manager for a network of stations in Virginia and shares with us his tricks for on-location sports production and broadcast studios.

Hosts:

Chris Tobin, IP-Solutionist
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, & South Seas Broadcasting

Guest:

Chris Wygal - Operations Manager, The Journey Radio Network, Liberty University

Show Links:

The Journey Radio Network

Dead Cat Wind Muff (example)

Shure ULX wireless mic transmitter

How to Improve a Studio’s Room Acoustics

Omnia.9 FM Audio Processor

Cloudlifter Mic “Activator”

Topics: Broadcast Engineering, audio, audio quality

Choosing a Baseline AoIP Protocol

Since the AES67 standard was ratified nearly three years ago, a paradigm shift has occurred in the broadcast indus­try with AoIP becoming the topic both around the water cooler and in facilities around the globe.

By now, you probably already know and understand AoIP's benefits: It saves money. It makes for more efficient work­flows. It reduces the amount of equip­ment you need. It eliminates massive amounts of wiring. It leverages “off the shelf” IP-based components from the larger IT industry for easy integration.