TWiRT 742 - Public Radio Engineers Learn & Share at NAB

Public radio has an audience size of around 30 million weekly radio listeners with a broader reach exceeding 57 million when including digital platforms. Public Radio engineers play a critical role in building, upgrading, and maintaining the needed facilities and infrastructure.  Broadcasters go to the NAB show in Las Vegas to see and hear what’s new in the broadcast and media industries, and the Public Radio Engineering Conference (PREC) is one of the first events surrounding each NAB show. The PREC is public radio's annual get-together for engineers, technologists, leaders and creators of all experience levels. TWiRT is excited to bring you some of the key players - engineers, consultants, and equipment experts. 

Show Notes:
APRE - The Association of Public Radio Engineers - apre.us

Guests:
Alex Hartman - KVSC-FM & Optimized Media Group
John George - RF Specialties
Jim Gray - Optimized media Group
Rob Bertrand - Partner at Inrush Broadcast Services
Scott Hanley - General Manager at WZUM Pittsburgh Public Media

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook - and see all the videos on YouTube.

TWiRT is brought to you by:
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.
Aiir, providing PlayoutONE radio automation, and other advanced solutions for audience engagement.
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 742 - Public Radio Engineers Learn & Share at NAB

TWiRT 741 - I Void Warranties with John Bisset

Never miss a chance to talk with John Bisset, author of the Workbench column in Radio World magazine. John joins us along with Chris Tarr to reveal useful tricks and techniques that any broadcast engineer will find helpful. See this episode’s Show Notes (on this show’s listing on YouTube and at ThisWeekInRadioTech.com). From an easy way to print cable labels, to saving your knees, to marking combo locks with the little-known resistor color code, John brings us some fun and useful ideas for living a better engineering life.

Show Notes:
Brother P-Touch Heat Shrink Label Tubing (on Amazon) - check compatibility with your P-Touch
Save your knees when working down low with a Husky Soft Foam Kneeling Pad (Home Depot)
John and Chris recommend a First Aid Kit for remote sites. Here’s one that may be just right.
No water at a transmitter site? You can clean the outdoor coils with this no-rinse spray (Amazon link).

Guest:
John Bisset - Western US Sales at Telos Alliance & Workbench columnist at Radio World
Send technical and engineering tips to John at johnpbisset over at gmail.

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook - and see all the videos on YouTube.

TWiRT is brought to you by:
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.
Aiir, providing PlayoutONE radio automation, and other advanced solutions for audience engagement.
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.

 
Subscribe to Audio:
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TWiRT 741 - I Void Warranties with John Bisset

TWiRT 740 - Enhancing Safety at Tower Sites with Kathy Stieler and Clark Lindstrom

Kathy Stieler and Clark Lindstrom, two prominent leaders in the communication tower industry, are discuss best practices and emerging trends in safety within the broadcast tower sector. Kathy, affiliated with NATE (National Association of Tower Erectors), emphasizes the importance of standardized training and certification programs to ensure worker competency and safety compliance. Clark, who oversees safety initiatives at American Tower, highlights the role of technology in identifying hazards and reducing on-site risks. Both guests promote a proactive safety culture, where regular audits, clear communication, and employee empowerment are prioritized. The conversation underscores the industry’s ongoing commitment to evolving safety standards amid increasing demand for reliable broadcast infrastructure.

Show Notes:
NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association
ANSI/ASSP A10.48-2023 Standard - NATE #ClimberConnection Video - YouTube video
NATE Safety Resources - many are free to download
Tower Site Safety - engineering session at NAB 2025
NARDA Safety Test Solutions - EMF Protection in the Workplace

Guests:
Kathy Stieler - Director of Safety, Health & Compliance at NATE
Clark Lindstrom - Director of Safety Programs at American Tower

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook - and see all the videos on YouTube.

TWiRT is brought to you by:
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.
Aiir, providing PlayoutONE radio automation, and other advanced solutions for audience engagement.
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.

 
Subscribe to Audio:
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TWiRT 739 - You Do What on the Side? with Dustin Tatro

Ya gotta love Dustin Tatro’s journey into and through radio broadcasting. Voicing PSAs at 4 years old got Dustin an early start. Then working as a DJ, along with musical interests, honed his technical and operational skills.  Now as a General Manager and Ops Manager, Dustin has demonstrably learned the engineering side of radio broadcasting.  Indeed, his SBE certification, CBRE, attests to that. Dustin joins Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack to discuss AoIP, audio processing, work working nicely, even with competing radio stations. Indeed, he joins us from the KORQ-FM transmitter site.  

Also on today’s show, we talk with David Bialik. He and Fred Willard are coordinating the SBE Ennes Workshop in Las Vegas.  Their track is “Media over IP”. David gives us information and plenty of reasons to sign up and be there!

Show Notes:
Register for the SBE Ennes Workshop @ the 2025 NAB Show

Guests:
Dustin Tatro, CBRE - Radio Station Manager, Chief Engineer, Sports Organist
David Bialik - Director of Engineering for MediaCo NY

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook - and see all the videos on YouTube.

TWiRT is brought to you by:
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.
Aiir, providing PlayoutONE radio automation, and other advanced solutions for audience engagement.
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.

Subscribe to Audio:
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TWiRT 739 - You Do What on the Side? with Dustin Tatro

TWiRT 738 - SD-WAN for Broadcasters with Dan Merwin & Reggie Jeffery

SD-WAN - Software-Defined Wide-Area Network - is a technology implementation designed to bring better reliability and performance to IP connections over distance. Whether across town, to remote offices, or to remote transmitter sites, SD-WAN technologies are gaining interest among broadcast engineers and IT staff.  It turns out there are a lot of features - optional but useful features - that can be deployed alongside basic WAN management and monitoring.  Dan Merwin and Reggie Jeffery work in broadcast and other industries to offer appropriate technologies and capabilities, improving our critical IP connections.

Show Notes:
What is SD-WAN? - a primer from Cisco
SD-WAN article from Wikipedia
In our SBE meeting earlier today, Reggie mentioned CATO Networks as a source of tech and information. Here’s their primer on SD-WANs.

Guests:
Dan Merwin – Broadcast Engineer & Telecom/IT Agent at Broadcast Telecom
Reggie Jeffery – Solutions Engineer at ScanSource

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook - and see all the videos on YouTube.

TWiRT is brought to you by:
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.
Aiir, providing PlayoutONE radio automation, and other advanced solutions for audience engagement.
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.

 
Subscribe to Audio:
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TWiRT 738 - SD-WAN for Broadcasters with Dan Merwin & Reggie Jeffery