TWiRT 659 - The Transmitter We Got for Christmas with Rob Grayson

How did YOU get started in broadcasting? We each have a story. Rob Grayson’s older brother, Walt, received an AM transmitter kit for Christmas in the 1960’s, and that got both Walt and Rob started on careers in radio and TV. Rob even took his 3rd Class FCC license test with Bob Pittman, who went on to be CEO at iHeart. So many twists, turns, and stories to tell, both from the engineering and the operations and programming sides of radio.  

Show Notes:
Kirk mentioned MultiPing software from Pingman Tools

Guest:
Rob Grayson - Program Director at WKBL & WKBQ-FM, Covington, TN & Owner at Wilkerson Sound Studios

Host:
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel brings you Transmission Talk Tuesday Discussions. Easy, free registration is here.
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

 
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TWiRT 659 - The Transmitter We Got for Christmas with Rob Grayson

TWiRT 658 - Fountain of Engineering Youth with Andy Gladding

We often ask and worry about the next generation of broadcast engineers. Andy Gladding leverages his ties to Hofstra University in New York to encourage students to prepare for careers in broadcasting, including broadcast engineering. And he’s helped a number of Hofstra students move into broadcast careers. Chris Tarr, a popular SBE Mentor, and Andy discuss finding and encouraging our next broadcast IT and engineering professionals.

Show Notes:
New York SBE Chapter 15 announced their Engineer of the Year earlier this summer.
Andy mentioned Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC.org) for free university-level learning.
Chris likes this USB Power Meter USB 3.1 Tester for about $70 on Amazon
Kirk said “WHRU” when he meant to say “WRHU” - the radio station of Hofstra University

Guest:
Andy Gladding, MsED - Chief Engineer at Salem Media Group

Hosts:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel brings you Transmission Talk Tuesday Discussions. Easy, free registration is here.
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

 
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TWiRT 658 - Fountain of Engineering Youth with Andy Gladding

TWiRT 657 - LPFM Window Opening with Dave Doherty

It’s been 10 years (wow!) since the FCC opened an official filing window for new LPFM radio stations.  The FCC’s press release states: The Media Bureau (Bureau) announces a filing window for applications for low power FM (LPFM) new station construction permits. The filing window will open at 12:01 am EDT on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, and close at 6:00 pm EST on November 8, 2023. The window is available for LPFM proposals in the entire FM band (channels 201-300). Our guest is Dave Doherty, a broadcast engineering consultant who has assisted many applicants in getting their own radio stations. Dave joins us to describe not only the FCC’s application requirements and process, plus a channel search tool at the FCC’s web site, but also to show us the value of using mapping techniques to further identify LPFM placement opportunities. 

Show Notes:
Information on the LPFM FCC filing window (Nov 1, 2023 - Nov 8, 2023)
LPFM web page at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
FCC LPFM Channel Finder online search tool
FCC LPFM Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Guest:
Dave Doherty - Founder & Consultant at SkyWaves.com, a broadcast engineering & consulting practice

Host:
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel brings you Transmission Talk Tuesday Discussions. Easy, free registration is here.
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com. 
And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.

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TWiRT 657 - LPFM Window Opening with Dave Doherty

TWiRT 656 - Summer Projects with Josh, Chris, and Kirk

Despite the hot weather, we know that summer will be fading into fall for us in the northern hemisphere. Josh Jones with Maxx Konnext Group joins us to talk about a production room he’s just finishing up. Chris Tarr is on the show, live from Magnum Media’s data center, and Kirk shares photos and thoughts on a new FM station that’s built with everything at the transmitter site, including the on-air phone system and the audio console. What are your thoughts on Kirk's "main studio" build?

Show Notes:
Chris praises the IT connectivity services of Christen Roberts at iQWired.net
Josh Jones is part of Maxx Konnect Group’s expanding technical services for broadcasters
Kirk is installing an Axia Altus mixing console that operates in a software container, accessible from anywhere.
A Telos VXs broadcast phone system lives on the same server as the Axia Altus.
WBZK-FM (The Buzz) is installing and modifying a 10-year-old Nautel VS 2.5 FM transmitter to serve as an FM+HD transmitter.
Opening that transmitter, Kirk was reminded that he had repaired it almost 7 years ago.  Here’s a video of that repair when this same transmitter was at WKXY-FM.

Guest:
Josh Jones - Broadcast Engineer at Maxx Konnect Group

Hosts:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel brings you Transmission Talk Tuesday Discussions. Easy, free registration is here.
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com. 
And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.

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TWiRT 656 - Summer Projects with Josh, Chris, and Kirk

TWiRT 655 - Interoperability is Cool with Robbie Green

Interoperability - what does that mean? After this 1-hour conversation with Robbie Green and Chris Tarr, I would say it means “controlling or checking on one device by using another device or system”. Scaled up intelligently, it implies having control and understanding of complex systems from a single location, or doing so automatically.  So, rather than separately checking on an automation system, an audio processor, an audio router, a satellite receiver, a transmitter, or a security system, these individual systems can connect meaningfully to a central monitoring and control (“M&C”) system and/or to each other as appropriate.  GPIO is a low-bar baseline for interoperability.  Serial control, RS-422, and CanBUSS moved us forward, but a variety of TCP/IP protocols, including SNMP, have brought us to a good level of general interoperability if we’re willing to do the work and research to implement them. These ideas have motivated Robbie Green and Chris Tarr to implement interoperabilities that make broadcast operations more reliable, stable, and convenient.  

Show Notes:
Robbie mentioned the LANTRONIX UDS2100 as a good Serial Device Server
We mentioned live, on-line demos of some Inovonics devices, which are also interoperable
Connect SNMP to other protocols with these...https://www.controlbyweb.com/x600m/
Robbie’s example of vMix TCP integration - https://www.vmix.com/help26/TCPAPI.html
Messaging on various display platforms, like Paravel's WallTime

Guest:
Robbie Green - Product Manager, Communication Products at Telos Alliance

Hosts:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel brings you Transmission Talk Tuesday Discussions. Easy, free registration is here.
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com. 
And MaxxKonnectWireless - Prioritized High Speed Internet Service designed for Transmitter Sites and Remote Broadcasts.

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TWiRT 655 - Interoperability is Cool with Robbie Green