TWiRT - This Week in Radio Tech - Podcast

What use is a low-wattage, AM radio station in a town of 2,000 residents?  Indeed, the whole county population is just over 12,200. Is AM radio viable there?  With 500 watts daytime and 18 watts at night what can a new owner do to revive such a station?  Beth Mann, President/CEO of Edge Media Group, wanted to bring WEKT back to a rightful stature in this small, Western Kentucky town.  Beth grew up in Elkton, across from the original WEKT studio and transmitter.  Now she, along with her “digital- and future-oriented” staff are putting WEKT at full throttle with local news, local sports, local weather, and appearances to promote the station on-air and online. On this episode of TWiRT, she along with Josh Claussen and Bill Booth describe the technical operation, but more importantly the community involvement that’s driving Elkton’s embrace of WEKT, resulting in advertising and renewed revenue.  

Show Notes:
Edge Media Group is using Riverside.FM as a remote audio connection service for sports and other outside broadcasts.
WEKT’s new studio features an Axia iQx audio console, and they use Wide Orbit automation.
Kirk mentioned that he has used the WKDZ Live Weather Cams on some TV weathercasts of WSMV-TV in Nashville.

Guests:
Beth Mann - President/CEO at Edge Media Group
Bill Booth - Operations Manager at Edge Media Group
Josh Claussen - Program Director at WEKT

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’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
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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Rolf Taylor describes himself as a Lover of Audio, Tinkerer, Broadcast Engineer, Support Engineer and Product Manager, Telco Guru, and Researcher and Writer.  As Rolf’s longtime friend, Kirk Harnack can attest to each of those appellations. Rolf joins us on this “Festivus” episode of TWiRT, though we spend most of our time on making product usage and support better, and just a few minutes on the “airing of grievances”.  

Guest:
Rolf Taylor - Broadcast Engineer at CACI International Inc

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

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
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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As Chris Tarr points out, Paul B. Walker, Jr. is probably the most enthusiastic supporter of local radio service and programming.  Paul is the Program Director at KSKO-FM in McGrath, Alaska, but he wears almost every hat required for running a full-service FM Public Radio station.  Many TWiRT fans know of Paul through the Facebook group he started, “I Take Pictures of Transmitter Sites.”  Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack talk with Paul about the challenges of broadcasting in rural Alaska, including antenna icing, Internet service, STL connections to outlying villages’ FM transmitters, and even the occasional “moose fade”.    

Show Notes:
Paul does just about everything at KSKO-FM, McGrath, Alaska
The KSKO-FM high-quality web stream is here.

We think Reeve Air Alaska is pretty interesting as the way to get around in rural Alaska.
An interactive, real-time map of Starlink satellites is here.

Guest:
Paul B. Walker, Jr. - Program Director (and much more) at KSKO 89.5 McGrath, Alaska

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
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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Any time spent with Charlie Wooten is time well spent! Engineering with iHeartMedia in the Florida Panhandle, Charlie keeps his Facebook friends apprised of bigger projects and occasional off-air emergencies. We also know that he loves “roughing it” at a 13,000 acre deer camp with longtime friends and fellow hunters. From a vexing audio crosstalk problem, to multiple station monitoring, to mentally resetting around a campfire, Charlie shares his thoughts on a great work-life balance.

Show Notes:
Charlie loves the ASI2816 1RU 4-16 channel streaming radio tuner for monitoring multiple AM, FM, & HD stations simultaneously.
Trail cameras are good for spotting wild game - or for keeping tabs on remote transmitter sites.

Guest:
Charlie Wooten (NF4A) - Regional Director of Engineering and IT at iHeartMedia

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
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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Once each year we discuss air conditioning and airflow at transmitter sites - and we do so in preparation for hot summer weather. But what about temperature control and monitoring during the cold winter months? What issues arise when it’s cold outside but the transmitter is still making plenty of heat? There are many variations in scenarios, but Joe Fleming advises that monitoring the temperature at key locations is important to keeping tabs on your HVAC system and your transmitter’s health. 

Show Notes:
We mentioned Bard HVAC units for transmitter sites.
What is “Low Ambient” and how can we modify an HVAC system to deal with it? 
Joe showed temp graphs created by an NTI Micro Environment Monitoring System
There’s also an NTI Low-Cost Environment Monitoring System – Supports up to 24 Temperature Sensors
Kirk likes these Wyze Cam Pan v3 units for about $25 each on sale
Kirk puts these wall thermometers in the transmitter building, in view of a Wyze cam.

Guest:
Joe Fleming - Engineer at Virginia Public Media

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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Have you ever been to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada?  No? Not many have, even though it’s a thriving city with excellent radio stations and a lively downtown social, shopping, and dining scene.  Saskatoon is also the home of Pippin Technical Service, a leading broadcast equipment dealer and project services firm for all of Canada. Pippin Technical, now “PTS”, is an early adopter of IT and broadcast technologies, including Audio over IP via Livewire and AES67.  PTS boasts highly capable on-staff engineers, technicians, and programming developers. In this TWiRT episode we get a tour of this premier equipment and services provider, plus we talk with Tyler Everitt, PTS’s President, as well as Evan Semenoff, developer of the new PTS Aurora GPIO interface. We also take a quick trip - a  live shot - out to a new studio under construction at Pattison Media in Kelowna, BC, Canada. 

Show Notes:
PTSAurora - Ethernet warning light (and other lighting) controller
PTSPKR (PTS Speaker) - Passive speaker designed for broadcast
PTSxR1 - Silent, mid-power, 1RU compute platform designed for broadcast applications
PTS*GATEWAY - Asterisk Server for Telos VX and business office

Guests:
Tyler Everitt - President at PTS
Evan Semenoff - Programmer / Developer at PTS
Todd Beswitherick - Senior Technician at PTS
Mike Delayen - Logistics at PTS
Mike Modney - Engineer at Pattison Media Ltd
Phil Stalwick - Installer / Technician at PTS
Jason Pearson - Engineer at Pattison Media Ltd

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

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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It’s only natural that we pause and consider the things - and people - we’re thankful for during the Thanksgiving Day holiday.  Wow! What a list! It turns out we’re thankful for many more things than we can talk about in a 1-hour podcast! This week’s show features a slate of awesome broadcast engineers who remind the rest of us that we *do* have a lot to be thankful for. Enjoy this episode of TWiRT, and we know you’ll think of a few more things yourself!

Show Notes:
StudioHub
Audio Compressors & Limiters
SMS Alarms
Klein 11-in-1 Screwdriver
Power over Ethernet (PoE)
“Remote/Local” Relay Contacts in Transmitters
Video Calling / Conferencing
HTML5 Web Monitoring & Control (M&C)
Widely available Fiber (and other) Internet Connections

Guests:
Chuck Kelly - Retired radio guy, broadcast engineer and road warrior
Christian Vang - Broadcast Engineer/IT Specialist - South3E.com
Marcos O’Rourke - Engineering Manager, Linkup Communications Corporation
Shane Toven - Senior Broadcast Engineer at EMF - K-LOVE & Air1 Media Networks
Steve Tuzeneu - General Manager--Chief Engineer at WIHS
Tim Braddock - Broadcast Engineer & Consultant

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

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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Max Pandini is known throughout Southern Europe for his audio processing acumen, radio brand consulting, and compelling audio programming. Host, Kirk Harnack, actually didn’t realize it until today, but Max is now a colleague, working at Telos Alliance! Max maintains his consultancy for some of the tops radio brands like Radio Kiss Kiss (Italy), Klassik Radio (Germany), and DIXI Media (Moldova). We caught up with Max on a consulting trip in Verona, Italy from where he’s sharing his passion for compelling audio processing, visual radio and branding, and takes us inside a couple of beautiful broadcast facilities.  

Show Notes:
Max Pandini’s YouTube channel features the videos we used on this episode, plus many more radio station tours: https://www.youtube.com/@maxpandini
Max mentioned Cricova Winery in Moldova, so we had to link to it, of course!

 Max provided some listening links and notes about the different presets:

Radio Globo, CHR
https://radioglobo.it/webradio-radioglobo

Radio Globo Vintage, Oldies
https://www.globovintage.it/

Radio Romanista, Sport Talk
https://radioromanista.it/

The concept now is: which Bruno sound do you want?

As in the beginning it was: Bruno sound, that is Clean, Defined but also Loud and where the djs never stop the music even when they speak.

But now he has 3 stations and the concept is a basic concept we’ve always know: every format has its own sound!

So you can’t upload on a Talk Radio the same CHR preset and so on..

Guest:
Max Pandini - Radio | Programming | Audio Design

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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It’s said that sometimes it’s the plumber who has the worst home plumbing in town; ditto for the electrician with “temporary” fixes and home wiring done hastily, and in an un-workmanlike manner.  Both professionals may not do it right the first time, knowing they can do it right any time. Which never comes.  We broadcast engineers can fall into the same trap. We know where the twisted wires are that are holding the transmitter on-the-air, and we’re careful not to bump them as we do other work. Or we have an overflowing trash can at the transmitter site, which subconsciously deters us from cleaning up new trash as there’s nowhere to put it. Or we know just how to wiggle a power supply connector, or a tower light monitor, or other “percussive maintenance” tricks that no one else knows about. Radio’s most beloved conference speaker, Jeff Welton, and his colleague, Jeff Wilson, join us from Nova Scotia, Canada, with a full hour of smart ideas, clever hacks, and common sense about making your engineering life easier, and doing a better job of it.

Show Notes:
David Bialik’s Radio World article, “What? You Don’t Have a Broadcast Vendor?”
An excellent white paper, “Lightning Protection for Radio Transmitter Stations”
“FM/HD Radio Efficiency Improvement” - a presentation by Gary Liebisch
“Mission Critical: Maintaining Your Transmitter Site” - ebook from Radio World

Guests:
Jeff Welton, CBRE - Regional Sales Manager, Central U.S.
Jeff Wilson - Regional Sales Manager – Western US at Nautel

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

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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Every time I check in with Josh Bohn, founder of MaxxKonnect Group, he’s busy on an engineering project, or on his way to or from a project. And he’s not alone.  Seems that most broadcast engineers are absolutely slammed these days with upgrade projects, regular maintenance, and the usual off-air emergencies.  Today Josh is in Indianapolis meeting with several other radio engineers, including Matt Levin.  Wondering what kind of work is keeping engineers busy this year, I asked Josh to join us - and he did, along with three other engineers. Let’s see what’s keeping engineers so busy, and how are thoughtful engineers advising station owners to invest in equipment upgrades to avoid unscheduled off-air time.

Show Notes:
Article on Tube vs Solid State Transmitters from Engineering Radio
Nautel article: Five Reasons to Switch from a Tube Transmitter to Solid State
Josh mentioned the CR202 mobile 4G router, available with MaxxKonnect Wireless service
MicroMPX technology was mentioned. This MPX-over-IP tech is available in several products in software or hardware forms:
Omnia MPX Node
Thimeo Audio Technology

Guests:
Josh Bohn - President/CEO at The MaxxKonnect Group
Matt Levin - Broadcast Engineer - FM & Stream Processing, Axia & WideOrbit Integration
John Takach - Chief Engineer at Radio One
Nick Lopez - Assistant Chief Engineer, Radio One, Indianapolis

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

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.

 
Subscribe to Audio:
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