TWiRT 646 - EAS Rants and Fixes with Chris, Shane, & Mark

A pleasant surprise today as our scheduled guest, Shane Toven, joins us from “Gilbert Lodge”, home of Mark Persons! We’re talking about the Emergency Alert System and how broadcasters might move forward with better techniques and technologies to get live-saving information to their listeners. Shane works with EMF (K-LOVE and Air1) while co-host, Chris Tarr, serves on the Wisconsin State EAS committee. Host, Kirk Harnack, expresses some annoyances with the current EAS system and Chris is the usual voice of reason.  

Show Notes:
Chris Tarr mentioned that Gary Timm has stepped down from state EAS duties (Radio World article)
The new Wisconsin State EAS Plan is hot off the presses and receives high praise from Chris.
Our sponsor, Broadcasters General Store, offers several brands of EAS units for radio stations.

Guests:
Shane Toven - Senior Broadcast Engineer at EMF - K-LOVE & Air1
Mark Persons - Founder of M. W. Persons & Associates (Ret)

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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Angry Audio - with StudioHub cables and adapters. Audio problems disappear when you get Angry at AngryAudio.com. 
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TWiRT 646 - EAS Rants and Fixes with Chris, Shane, & Mark

TWiRT 645 - Hal & Joe in Hawai'i

Three radio station owners walk into a bar.  They also happen to be owner-engineers of a terrific radio station on a tropical island. We’re talking about Hal Kneller, Joe Fiorini, and Kirk Harnack at Star 94.3, KHKU-FM, in Lihu’e, Hawai’i. We were all here for a broadcasters’ conference, plus some light maintenance at the Star 94.3 studios.  While Hal has been a guest on TWiRT, this is Joe’s first appearance. What interesting engineering backgrounds from both of these guys! We talk about AM radios in automobiles, a question of 50 ohms, and some ideas on backing up everything.

===> So, how did Kirk manage to leave an unrelated mic open during the show, providing delayed echo and huge audio coding artifacts? In a hurry? Careless? Not learning the same lesson from our NAB show? Anyway, my humble apologies for the bad audio. Our headphone feeds were great; we didn’t know that Streamyard was recording my laptop’s built-in mic with no way to remove it from the recording later. Extra embarrassing since we worked hard to use the studio mics (one of which has a buzz, so that’s another embarrassment). This is why we should leave the show production to the pros, like our beloved “SunKast”. 

Guests:
Hal Kneller - Broadcast Technology Consultant
Joe Fiorini - Owner of Fiorini Broadcasting

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 - 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.

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TWiRT 645 - Hal & Joe in Hawai'i

TWiRT 644 - Broadcast Computer Automation with Alan Freeman

We've ALL used broadcast automation/playout systems, but have you met the BRAINS behind their designs and software? Today we're meeting Alan Freeman, author of several Radio and TV automation systems including Digital DJ, AXS, EZ DJ Pro, Virtual Cart Machine, and Voice Tracking on Scott Studios automation systems. Plus, Alan helped design audio and relay cards for PCs, making integration possible between these PC-based audio systems and hardware of the day. From controlling satellite-delivered music formats, to mega-CD-changers, to music on hard drive, Alan has written software and user interfaces for them.

Show Notes:
Alan’s Business website is CDControl.com
Chris & Kirk like Alan’s Funk Logic rack panel - here’s the Funk Logic web store

Guest:
Alan Freeman - Senior Software Consultant / Software Developer / Owner: Wintek Software Inc.

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 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 - 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.

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TWiRT 644 - Broadcast Computer Automation with Alan Freeman

TWiRT 643 - Angry Audio Ideas with Mike Dosch

Many broadcast and audio engineers have terrific ideas. Indeed, there’s hardly a shortage of ideas. “Wouldn’t it be great if someone built this?” Or, “Why doesn’t anyone make that?”  Then there are people who build things–usually with a good idea, but sometimes not.  Mike Dosch’s passion and unique skill are identifying the best ideas for audio devices, then designing and building them with solid technology and knife-edge precision. His company, Angry Audio, embodies this ethic and activity, and we broadcast engineers get to use and enjoy the results. In this episode, Mike and Chris Tarr discuss audio processing designed around Cornelius Gould’s “Chameleon” algorithms. Then Mike shares some new ideas in mic processing and elegant analog audio mixing.

Show Notes:
During his discussion of a useful device from Inovonics, Kirk forgot to mention that this amazing remote-controlled tuner and monitor is the AARON 650 FM Rebroadcast Receiver.

Guest:
Michael “Catfish” Dosch - Owner at Angry Audio

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 is offering webinars, training, and the Nautel Users Group at NAB. Sign up 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 - 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.

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TWiRT 643 - Angry Audio Ideas with Mike Dosch

TWiRT 642 - Building for Broadcast with Bob Burnham

Like many of us broadcast engineers, Bob Burnham built an audio mixer and started broadcasting from his parents’ basement. Indeed, if it weren’t for basements, garages, and kitchen tables we’d likely still be in the technology Dark Ages! Bob’s engineering experience ranges from a 10-tower AM directional station, through a few other AM directionals, FM stations, on-air work, and building studios at a broadcasting school. Plus, Bob founded BRC Broadcast Services, which offers Old Time Radio shows for nostalgic enjoyment - even if you’ve never heard these great shows before.

Show Notes:
BRC Broadcast Services and Old Time Radio shows
For analog mic cable, Bob prefers Canare Star Quad cable.
A good technical explanation of the Star Quad cable design
Bob mentioned WHFR and points us to their live stream on the WHFR.FM website

Guest:
Bob Burnham - Owner of BRC Broadcast Services

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

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel and the new Nautel GV2 FM transmitters - “Just Add Audio”
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 - 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.

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TWiRT 642 - Building for Broadcast with Bob Burnham