TWiRT 593 - RF Propagation Mapping with Doug Vernier

Doug Vernier, Consulting Engineer and founder of V-Soft, is talking to us about RF signal propagation and the incredible maps that reveal your coverage area in so many ways.  We'll examine over a dozen real-world signal maps to compare FCC contours vs. Longley-Rice coverage. Plus Doug shows us the huge differences between your station’s “coverage area” with and without accounting for “interference areas”. 

Show Notes:
The RF Maps we showed during the show are also viewable in this album on Google Photos.
Doug Vernier’s V-Soft website with his software offerings and example outputs.

Guest:
Doug Vernier - President and CEO at Doug Vernier Telecommunications Consultants

Co-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:
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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 593 - RF Propagation Mapping with Doug Vernier

TWiRT 592 - Live from NAB 2022 in Las Vegas

What a joy to see old friends and colleagues - and make a few new friends, too!  The annual NAB Show had to take two years off due to the worldwide pandemic. And, due to the timing of the pandemic onset, it’s been three years since the last NAB Show in Las Vegas since 2019. Attendance was reported to be about half of 2019’s turnout, and the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) added a huge new section - the West Hall. Somehow, between customer meetings, SBE functions, and conference papers, we managed to corral thirteen guests on this episode of TWiRT! This is an hour well-spent, as you’ll meet some of the best and most clever people in broadcasting. Plus, Chris Tarr joins us from his home office in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. 

Guests:
Bill Bennett - Media Solutions & Accounts Manager at ENCO
David Bialik - Owner, David K. Bialik & Associates
Simon Jackson - Chief Executive Officer, AVC Group, Auckland, NZ
Christian Brenner - Founder at GMC & GTA & NexCast - owner of radio.cloud
Andrew Scaglione - Account Director at Radio.Cloud
Chriss Scherer - Member Communications Director at Society of Broadcast Engineers
Joe de Max - Founder and Developer at Central Control
Egor Tyagunov - Business Development, Europe, CIS & APAC
Jesus Mantoo - VP Sales India and MENA for AVC-India
Jim Ragsdale - Executive Director for the Society of Broadcast Engineers
Dan McQuillin - Managing Director at Broadcast Bionics
Jim Offerdahl - Chief Engineer at Offerdahl Broadcast Service, Inc
Geary Morrill - Regional Director of Engineering - Midwest at Alpha Media USA

Co-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 592 - Live from NAB 2022 in Las Vegas

TWiRT 591 - Public Radio Engineering Conference 2022 - Live from Las Vegas

It’s a conference full of smiling faces and hearty handshakes! The Public Radio Engineering Conference (PREC) is back for nearly 2 full days of technical sessions and reconnecting with broadcast engineering friends. Tech presentations included sessions on Audio over IP, RF network design for Single Frequency Networks, infrared inspections with aerial drones, maintaining FM & HD transmission systems, and using Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) for better IP-Audio over imperfect IP paths. We pulled a few attendees away from the action and got their thoughts on broadcast engineering projects and challenges today.

Guests:
Scott Fybush - Editor/Publisher at NorthEast Radio Watch/Fybush Media
Jim Gray - Managing Partner at Optimized Media Group
Charles Sather - Chief Operating Officer @ Koahnic Broadcast Corporation
Paul Shulins - Founder of Shulins Solutions broadcast consulting
John Antonuk - Owner at John Antonuk Technical Services
Pierre Lonewolf - Broadcast Engineer at Kotzebue Broadcasting Inc.
Richard Parker - Director of Engineering at Coast Alaska, Inc
Stephen Lockwood - President at Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers

Show Notes:
The PREC is a function of the Association of Public Radio Engineers (APRE)

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

Follow TWiRT on Twitter, on TWiRT on YouTube, and TWiRT 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 591 - Public Radio Engineering Conference 2022 - Live from Las Vegas

TWiRT 590 - And While We're At It - with Dave Supplee

After building out many dozens of radio studios in the past few years, Dave Supplee has been upgrading older transmitters with new, solid state units. Transmitter replacements provide a rare opportunity to focus on the entire transmitter facility, including the building, foundation, walls, floor, electrical, and other fairly permanent fixtures. These foundational parts of a transmitter site often go without proper upkeep; “out of sight, out of mind.” But Dave says that replacing a transmitter affords just the right scenario for management to approve other much needed upgrades. 

Guest:
Dave Supplee - Director of Engineering, Cumulus Media, Harrisburg, PA

Co-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 590 - And While We're At It - with Dave Supplee

TWiRT 589 - Some Antenna Tech - with Les Kutasi

Les Kutasi is a business developer - and that’s a title he’s taken working at several broadcast equipment companies. When your customers are broadcast engineers you have to know your technology. Les understands broadcast antennas from yagis to log-periodics to multi-station TV master arrays and FM panel antennas. A popular speaker at SBE meetings, Les joins Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack for a humorous yet educational discussion on today’s antenna scene.

Guest:
Les Kutasi - Broadcast Business Development at Kathrein

Show Notes:
We spoke about the SCALA PR-450U antenna, now dubbed the SCALA PR-900
Not often seen in the USA, these Kathrein master FM antennas are popular throughout Europe
FCC Looks to Update Directional FM Antenna Rules - InsideRadio article
Radio & TV transmitters at Farnsworth Peak, Salt Lake City, Utah - Wikipedia
Deep snow covers transmitter site at Farnsworth Peak, Utah (photo)

Co-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.

Subscribe to Audio:
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TWiRT 589 - Some Antenna Tech - with Les Kutasi