Vintage Audio: HP 403B AC Voltmeter

Back in the days when analog broadcast gear was the norm, every radio and TV station was required by the FCC to perform annual proof-of-performance measurements. That meant every engineer’s work bench had to be equipped with certain tools – namely an audio signal generator and distortion analyzer.

One of the more common of these was the HP 403B AC voltmeter. We discovered a rather distressed 403B on a recent trip to the attic.

Lee Sherwood's Radio Journey: Stella Nebraska to Major Market Hitmaker

My uncle was a guy with a golden voice and a master story teller’s delivery. He could have read the ingredients on a box of cake mix and make you want to listen.

From my early memories of the promotional LP’s that he sent my dad, to the WQAM Tiger sweatshirt my mom used to wear around the house, having your father’s only sibling on the radio brought our industry into my young mind.

With little warning, cancer took him from us in February. He left an enormous digital footprint of creativity, accomplishment and contribution to broadcasting. I proudly write in tribute to his legacy.

Live at NAB 2014

Chris Tobin and Kirk Harnack bring some of the best of NAB 2014 live from the NAB Central Exhibit Hall. One after another, engineers and company execs answer questions and share with us what’s hot at this year’s NAB.

Mike Adams - First Response Radio

First Response Radio - on site within 72 hours of a natural disaster where other mass communications are crippled - provides needed humanitarian information at the right time.

Mike Adams, an accomplished broadcast engineer, leads the mission to design and deploy suitcase-sized broadcast studios and radio transmitters. We’re talking with Mike and learning about First Response Radio’s mission, operations, and logistics. This is radio broadcasting at the most local level - and designed to help people when and where they need help and information the most.

1985: Telos 10 Debuts DSP to NAB

The central focus of the Bradley Broadcast booth in 1985 was the Telos 10.

How we got there – and what happened during those four days – was unlike any other trade show I’ve attended.

But first, some background.

Vintage Audio: ATC-Collins P-190 Cart Machine

This visit to the attic not only reveals some great radio gear of days gone by, but a story that’s the stuff of legend.

At the 1959 NAB convention in Chicago, the ATC/Collins ‘P’ series of tape cartridge machines was the hit of the show. No one had seen anything like it before, and for the next three decades, whether for commercial spots, jingles or music, radio ran on cart machines. It can safely be said that the fast-paced 'Top 40' format of the 1960s would not have been possible without tape cartridge technology.

But did you know the premiere of the cart machine was almost a disaster? But first, some background on the technology of these fabled machines…

Predictive Audio Processor 

You might think we would be saving our new product announcements for NAB. However, leaking information on the Predictive Audio Processor on April 1 seems to be the right decision.

All that exists right now is the manual, a document so exciting, we are hoping you may not notice that the product will never be released.

Download your copy here.

As with all of the great 25-Seven manuals, the PAP manual is written by Clio & Emmy Award winning sound designer Jay Rose.

Telos Alliance has led the audio industry’s innovation in Broadcast Audio, Digital Mixing & Mastering, Audio Processors & Compression, Broadcast Mixing Consoles, Audio Interfaces, AoIP & VoIP for over three decades. The Telos Alliance family of products include Telos® Systems, Omnia® Audio, Axia® Audio, Linear Acoustic®, 25-Seven® Systems, Minnetonka™ Audio and Jünger Audio. Covering all ranges of Audio Applications for Radio & Television from Telos Infinity IP Intercom Systems, Jünger Audio AIXpressor Audio Processor, Omnia 11 Radio Processors, Axia Networked Quasar Broadcast Mixing Consoles and Linear Acoustic AMS Audio Quality Loudness Monitoring and 25-Seven TVC-15 Watermark Analyzer & Monitor. Telos Alliance offers audio solutions for any and every Radio, Television, Live Events, Podcast & Live Streaming Studio With Telos Alliance “Broadcast Without Limits.”

Sixteen Streams and What do You Get?

Doug Rowe is an engineer at Minnesota Public Radio. His title is one that we’ll see more often: Media Production Systems Manager. As radio stations, groups, and networks depend on digital media distribution, more engineers like Doug are needed; not only to keep everything working, but to develop the infrastructure for the workflows needed by talent and content creators.

What You Need to Know About Audio Time Management for Radio

The first audio delays were tube based.

But did you know that those tubes were garden hoses with a speaker at one end and a microphone at the other? The hose’s length was calculated at one foot per 1ms of desired delay. As you can imagine, it did not sound good at all.

Today, radio broadcasters can take advantage of sophisticated digital technologies for audio delay, as well as for shrinking and stretching program material.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the historical highlights and where persistence and innovation have gotten us today.

Vintage Audio: Studer A710 Cassette Deck

When precision, Swiss engineering is applied to a cassette recorder, the results are spectacular. Some of the best examples of this were the professional cassette recorders manufactured by Studer Revox.

Lurking in the recesses of the attic recently we found not one, but two Studer A710 MKIIs. We'll examine this machine, and tear down the transport to see what made it so exceptional.