TWiRT 613 - Engineering Through Hurricane Ian with Hal Kneller and Kevin Trueblood

While Hurricane Ian was destroying bridges, homes, and infrastructure in Southwest Florida, broadcast engineers were keeping their stations on the air however they could. And in the aftermath they’re repairing flooded transmitter sites and restoring signals where some things went very wrong. Thoughtful planning kept several broadcasters on-the-air with critical weather and safety information. Hal Kneller and Kevin Trueblood were in the middle of the destruction as Hurricane Ian rampaged through. Hal and Kevin join Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack with photos and security camera footage of the destruction and aftermath.

Guests:
Hal Kneller - Broadcast Technology Consultant
Kevin Trueblood - Associate General Manager, Technology & Operations - WGCU Public Media

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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Nautel and the regular Transmission Talk Tuesday series of online engineering roundtable events.
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. 

Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

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TWiRT 613 - Engineering Through Hurricane Ian with Hal Kneller and Kevin Trueblood

TWiRT 612 - Digital Audience Engagement with Curtis Machek

We met Curtis Machek almost 300 TWiRT episodes and exactly six years ago! In 2016 he won awards for “Broadcast Logger”, a cloud-based audio recorder for radio stations. Since then he’s working with radio stations, auto dealers, and medical clinics to effectively engage their listeners, customers, and patients. Text Groove does this with opt-in text messaging that’s designed specifically to not annoy, but to engage the recipients, inviting them to listen, test drive, and stay healthy.  We’re focusing on the radio stations’ use of this technology - how to misuse it, and of course, how to use it properly to build loyal audiences.

Show Notes:
Text Groove promises to “Engage with listeners in a meaningful way.”
102.3 Now Radio, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - an example of listener interaction
Twilio presents “7 Best Practices for SMS & Text Marketing”
We met Curtis Machek in 2016 when he won awards for Broadcast Logger at NAB.

Guest:
Curtis Machek - CEO at Text Groove

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 and the continuing informative live webinars. Sign up for free!
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.
Nautel and the regular Transmission Talk Tuesday series of online engineering roundtable events.
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. 

Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

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TWiRT 612 - Digital Audience Engagement with Curtis Machek

TWiRT 611 - The World's Tallest Remote Boy with Charles Kinney

What does "The World's Tallest Remote Boy" know about radio remotes that WE don't know?  Let's find out together!  Charles Kinney with Cox Media Group, including the legendary WSB AM-FM in Atlanta, is our guest TODAY on TWiRT. We recount the way we handle remote audio and signalling for decades - before the Public Internet came along - and what techniques we’re using now to get audio from live, outside broadcasts back to our radio studios. 

Show Notes:
Marti Electronics General Catalog from 1989
The Comrex Buddy was a popular mixer/POTS frequency extender
Comrex POTS codecs - a transitional technology from RPU and POTS to today’s IP codecs
The Telos xPort worked over either ISDN or POTS circuits
Live Broadcasting Is Being Catapulted Forward by Remote IP Codecs - Radio World
A Tutorial on Audio Contribution over IP

Guest:
Charles Kinney - Director of Engineering at Cox Media Group Atlanta

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 and the continuing informative live webinars. Sign up for free!
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.
Nautel and the regular Transmission Talk Tuesday series of online engineering roundtable events.
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. 

Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

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TWiRT 611 - The World's Tallest Remote Boy with Charles Kinney

TWiRT 610 - Building PCs and Servers for Broadcast with Van Clough

Most of us radio engineers have built custom computers. Nowadays, more engineers and broadcasters are outsourcing custom PC and Server construction to an expert like Van Clough. Van builds computer workstations and servers designed especially for broadcast infrastructure such as automation/playout systems. How much redundancy do you want? What factors go into choosing motherboards, RAM, data storage, cooling, and redundancy? Van will deliver the system you're looking for, designed to run for years.  We'll find out with Integrity PROracks founder, Van Clough on today's TWiRT! 

Show Notes:
SSD vs. Hard Drives (and M.2 storage) - updated article from PCMag

Guest:
Van Clough - President at Integrity PROracks

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 and the continuing informative live webinars. Sign up for free!
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.
Nautel and the regular Transmission Talk Tuesday series of online engineering roundtable events.
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. 

Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

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TWiRT 610 - Building PCs and Servers for Broadcast with Van Clough

TWiRT 609 - Where's that Noise Coming From? with Mark Persons

"In Minnesota we keep ourselves apart by one large Walleye."  

It's wisdom like this that keeps Mark Persons busy.  Mentoring new engineers, authoring radio engineering articles, or winning awards for his service to broadcasters, Mark is always sharing some wise words. Today Mark also describes hunting down a source of broadband electrical noise that rendered the 75 meter amateur radio band unusable in his neighborhood, This tale leads to a discussion about the future of the AM broadcast band vis-a-vis the man-made noise levels we’re experiencing.

Guest:
Mark Persons - Broadcast Engineer (Retired) and Mentor 

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 and the continuing informative live webinars. Sign up for free!
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.
Nautel and the regular Transmission Talk Tuesday series of online engineering roundtable events.
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. 

Look for in-depth radio engineering articles in Radio-Guide magazine.

Subscribe to Audio:
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TWiRT 609 - Where's that Noise Coming From? with Mark Persons