TWiRT 583 - Engineering for Fun with Patrick van den Hoek

Patrick van den Hoek lives in Amsterdam, yet he owns and engineers his 13 radio stations in Spain. What’s more, Patrick has implemented several clever engineering techniques to solve audio and listener experience problems on these stations. See if Patrick’s engineering “hacks” might be useful for you and your radio stations!

Show Notes:
We started with Chris Tarr referencing Dr. Clayton Forrester from MST3K
Chris mentioned the DEVA Radio Explorer II
Patrick uses the Diversity Delay on the Omnia.9sg to sync his STL links.
Basic info on RDS (Radio Data System) 

Guest:
Patrick van den Hoek - Radio Consultant and Engineer

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:
iTunes
RSS
Stitcher
TuneIn

Subscribe to Video:
iTunes
RSS
YouTube

TWiRT 583 - Engineering for Fun with Patrick van den Hoek

TWiRT 582 - Hacking the Supply Chain with Scott Stiefel

Everyone is being affected by "supply chain" delays and difficulties these days.  Broadcast engineers are waiting longer for equipment delivery - sometimes a lot longer.  What's behind these delays?  Didn't they get that container ship unstuck from the Suez Canal a long time ago?  Some delays are being mitigated by equipment redesign - others by costly air freight. Scott Stiefel at Telos Alliance is seriously plugged in to supply chain management and the issues of the past 2 years.  Indeed, he's one of our industry's leading experts on working through and around these challenges. 

Show Notes:
An Overview of the Top 5 Semiconductor Foundry Companies
More wafer fabs in the US – When, how?
Fire Destroys AKM Audio Chip Factory: Can 2020 Get Any Worse?
Kirk notes that the short story, “I, Pencil: The Movie”, gives an excellent overview of a cooperative supply chain, demonstrating its complexity. (6 ½ min video)
Scott’s Tip: Schedule a meeting with yourself.  Here’s how.

Guest:
Scott Stiefel - Co-Chief Executive Officer at The Telos Alliance

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:
iTunes
RSS
Stitcher
TuneIn

Subscribe to Video:
iTunes
RSS
YouTube

TWiRT 582 - Hacking the Supply Chain with Scott Stiefel

TWiRT 581 - Virtual Lunch Gathering with Barry Mishkind

If you could choose someone to gather and publish the information that broadcast engineers need day-to-day or once in a blue moon, you’d choose Barry Mishkind.  A broadcast engineer in his own right, Barry founded OldRadio.com - The Broadcast Archive - to help himself and other engineers quickly find otherwise hard-to-get information on the broadcasting industry and broadcast equipment. A quick look at OldRadio.com’s FAQ page gives one an idea of the vast information in this online resource.  And, The Broadcasters’ Desktop Resource is another invaluable treasure trove of current broadcast technical news, how-to articles, and other resources for broadcast engineers.  Barry’s in-person Tuesday lunch at NAB, and his Virtual Lunch Gathering on Thursdays provide a terrific time of teaching, learning, and camaraderie for both radio and TV engineers.

Show Notes:
The Broadcasters’ Desktop Resource
OldRadio.com - the Broadcast Archive
Sign up for the Virtual Lunch Gathering here.

Guest:
Barry Mishkind - The Eclectic Engineer

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:
iTunes
RSS
Stitcher
TuneIn

Subscribe to Video:
iTunes
RSS
YouTube

TWiRT 581 - Virtual Lunch Gathering with Barry Mishkind

TWiRT 580 - Radio's Northern Outposts with Pierre Boucher

Pack 300 pounds of luggage, parts, and tools - Check.

Set FM transmitters to 30 watts TPO - Check.

Set STL data rate to 8 kbps - Check.

Take the day off if the weather is nice because no one else will be working - Check.

Bring the caribou and beluga recipe books - Check.

Such is the to-do list for Pierre Boucher, broadcast technician for some of the most northern radio stations in Canada.  Working in far Northern Quebec and Nunavut, Pierre keeps these vital communications resources on-the-air for the Inuit people and others living in these northern extremes.  Pierre joins Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack on this intriguing episode of TWiRT.

Show Notes:
Taqramiut Nipingat Radio Network official website
Wikipedia’s description of the Taqramiut Nipingat network of stations
VF2446-FM - Low Power FM station in Salluit, QC, CA on Radio-Locator.com
A Salluit 360º Street View from March, 2016
Many of Pierre’s hand-selected tools are from Wera

Guest:
Pierre Boucher - Technicien en radiodiffusion

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:
iTunes
RSS
Stitcher
TuneIn

Subscribe to Video:
iTunes
RSS
YouTube

TWiRT 580 - Radio's Northern Outposts with Pierre Boucher

TWiRT 579 - The State of Solid with Jeff Welton

Jeff Welton is a sought-after speaker at broadcast engineering conferences. As a regional sales director at Nautel, he visits hundreds of radio transmitter sites, noting areas for improvement prior to installing a new transmitter - or for providing a better operating environment for an existing transmitter. We talk with Jeff about troubleshooting techniques for today’s solid state transmitters. What about air handling now as opposed to older tube transmitter air cooling? And how is efficiency and reliability better or different now? Chris Tarr adds updated advice from his own hands-on work with a variety of transmitters, including several brands of solid state units.

Show Notes:
Jeff mentioned LDMOS transistors as the current best-choice RF amplifier
Ferrite Cores play a major role in solid state transmitter protection
Chris mentioned the line of Rig Expert Antenna Analyzers

Guest:
Jeff Welton - Natuel Regional Sales Manager, Central U.S.

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:
iTunes
RSS
Stitcher
TuneIn

Subscribe to Video:
iTunes
RSS
YouTube

TWiRT 579 - The State of Solid with Jeff Welton