Vintage Audio: Comrex Buddy Remote Mixer

During the Dark Ages, before the coming of the Internet, most remote broadcasts involved the use of leased telephone lines. Usually these lines were installed by the phone company a few days before the broadcast. Typically, they ran from the remote site to the central office (CO), and from there, to the studios. Voice grade lines were usually ordered, sometimes they were equalized, sometimes not, depending on the distances involved. The good thing about these lines is they provided a guaranteed quality of service (QoS), i.e. if they didn't work, the phone company had to make it right. The bad news was that they required advance lead time with the phone company, and there was a cost for the use of these lines and their setup. If there were weekly sports remotes, these costs could easily add up. Normally this was just added to the sports budget. But there was an alternative for the budget minded.

A Trip to Tomorrowland

If you're into electronic music, the Tomorrowland festival is the place to be. During the last weekend in July, artists perform on 16 stages in Boom, Belgium, 32 kilometers north of Brussels. Starting in 2005 as a small one-day event, it has grown over the years to three days, multiple stages and international connections.

The second night of the event, known as Tomorrowland UNITE, involves a live video connection between Tomorrowland (Belgium) and cities in Mexico, India, Japan, Colombia, Germany, South Africa, and Israel.

Vintage Audio: Singer TTG-3 Two-Tone Audio Generator

Many of the items featured in Found in the Attic are familiar staples of the broadcast, test equipment or consumer electronics industries. But sometimes we feature the obscure. This is one of those times, as we revisit a college surplus grab from the 1970s, and look at the Singer Two-Tone Audio Generator Model TTG-3.

Part of what makes this device obscure is that it wasn't designed as a stand-alone piece of test equipment. Rather, it was a plug-in component of the Singer Panoramic Model SSB-50 Single Sideband Analyzer System. Since it is a two-tone generator, it could be used for single or two-tone modulation of single-sideband transmitters, intermod distortion tests, harmonic distortion tests, and general troubleshooting.

Topics: Vintage Electronics, Vintage Audio Technology

Visit to Amsterdam and IBC Leads to Search for Best Beer in the World

At dinner one night during a previous IBC, a discussion of the “Best Beer in the World” took hold of our table. Of course the beer in question came from a Belgian monastery, according to the internet (100 score on BA). One of the dinner participants was determined to try this beer while still in Europe. With a smart phone search we learned that the beer could indeed be found in Amsterdam. A small contingency at the table decided to break the mold of our traditional IBC routine of show floor hours, dinner, and sleep by venturing out into the greater Amsterdam area in search of this beer. We separated from our dinner party after the bill was paid and pleasantries were exchanged, and walked through the streets of old town in search for the store (the name of which is long forgotten). It was dark, it was late, and needless to say we never made it. The beer store was closed.

Topics: IBC, The Telos Alliance

TWiRT 317 - Ted, Holly, and David

Ted Randall knows both sides of a radio mic. He’s a longtime broadcast engineer and host of the QSO Radio Show. Holly Misslin quietly keeps PCs, servers, and networks humming along. And David Bialik is coordinating another all-star program track at the next AES convention in Los Angeles. Chris Tobin and I are talking with all these broadcasters on today’s This Week in Radio Tech.

Guest: Ted Randall, Holly Misslin, David Bialik

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

Links from the show:

QSO Radio Show

Speakers: Snell Type A, Dahlquist DQ-10, Acoustat, Adam 7

4G LTE Signal Figures of Merit:  RSRP, RSRQ, and SINR

141st AES Convention - Broadcast & Streaming Track

Empire State Building - Master FM Antenna 50th Anniversary Light Show

Ubiquiti Networking How-To Videos from Willie Howe

Topics: Broadcasting

Hope 103.2 Delivers One-Two Punch with Omnia.11 Plug-Ins

The sound of Omnia processors and Axia Audio gear is literally heard round the world. Halfway across the globe from our Cleveland, Ohio, headquarters, it's making an impact in Sydney, Australia.

Even though licensed as a community radio station, Hope 103.2 puts a 50,000-watt ERP signal into Sydney. Its mission is to deliver a positive message of hope.

Topics: broadcast audio processor

TWiRT 316 - Radio on the Cheap

Engineers seek out tools and products to get the job well done while saving money. It’s important to be frugal when you can, so you’ll have the resources for when you can’t.  Chris Tobin, Andrew Zarian, and Kirk Harnack look at some low-cost solutions for radio engineers.

Guest: Andrew Zarian - Founder, GFQ Network

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

Links from the show:

BM 8000 Studio Condenser Mic

Mic Pop Filter for many side-address condenser mics

Behringer HA400 4--Channel Headphone Amp

CR2032 Batteries for many PC motherboards

Behringer Xenyx 1204USB

Grandstream 4-Line ATA (SIP to POTS adapter)

Refurbished Dell 755 Core2Duo for PC-based projects

Radio World Magazine

ARRL Hints & Kinks book - 18th Edition 

Topics: Broadcasting

Vintage Audio: VOMs and VTVMs

Accurate measurements of voltage, current and resistance have been an essential part of electronics troubleshooting since the beginning. Early repairmen used pocket watch meters, which were the topic of an earlier Found in the Attic. Using different meters for voltage and current, as well as for different voltage ranges, was pretty inconvenient. Soon, with the addition of rotary switches, and 'A' battery and meter multiplier resistors, the VOM, or volt-ohm milliammeter evolved. It was a giant leap forward for convenience, but left us with one of the limiting factors of pocket watch meters, namely that the internal resistance of the meter loaded the circuit under test, resulting in inaccuracies.

Topics: Vintage Electronics

It's 9X/2 for 9 Stations at ARN

With nine FM radio stations, the Arabian Radio Network is the largest multi-platform radio network in the Middle East, and includes a significant streaming audio presence. Recently, our own Denny Sanders sat down for a few minutes with Murad Jahangir, Director of Information Technology for ARN in Dubai, to chat about his experience using the Z/IPStream 9X/2 for his streams.

Topics: Streaming Audio

Vintage Audio: Lafayette LT-81 FM Stereo Tuner

The 1960s were a transitional time for consumer electronics. The market for quality equipment was dominated mostly by American and German companies. By the mid-1970s, Sony and Panasonic were the names to watch. It didn't happen overnight. The earliest Japanese imports were laughable examples of shoddy workmanship and design. But they quickly learned from their mistakes, and began to roll out quality products rather quickly. In the end, American companies either went out of business or changed directions and went into things like government contracts.

Topics: Vintage Electronics