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Sunday
Apr032011

TWiRT 76 - Green? Really?

I didn't know that broadcasters had any "green" options.  Seems high-power AM broadcasters can save up to 40% on their power bills using interesting tech to manage the AM carrier power.

Kirk Harnack - Executive Director, Business Development, Telos-Omnia-Axia
Tom Ray - VP, Engineering, Buckley BroadcastingWOR, New YorkW2TRR 
Chris Tobin - CBS Radio, New York
Chris Tarr - Entercom, Milwaukee, GeekJedi, and Broadcast Engineering Info

TWiRT is sponsored by Axia Audio with low-latency Livewire AoIP, even in the new, budget-priced iQ console (now shipping).  Over 2,000 Axia consoles are powering studios around the world, saving engineers time and money. 

Show notes:

Nautel presentation on reducing AM transmitter power usage.

AM series-fed (hot) tower lightning balls.

Chris Tarr described his station's Nautel XR6 and it's redundant amplifier drawer. 

Photo of mercury vapor rectifiers.

We discussed the famous 833A triode vacuum tube, popular in many 1 kW AM transmitters.

Download the podcast here...

 

TWiRT 76 - Green? Really?

Sunday
Mar272011

TWiRT 75 - Ice Downs Tower

Mark Persons is back to discuss radio engineering with Chris Tarr (The Geek Jedi), Chris Tobin, and me.   A TV tower, nearly 2,000 feet tall, has collapsed due to heavy ice.  What use is an oscilloscope?  Is it really the most important piece of test gear?  And Mark like his spectrum analyzer to solve RF problems.

Kirk Harnack - Executive Director, Worldwide Sales, Telos-Omnia-Axia
Chris Tobin - CBS Radio, New York
Chris Tarr - Entercom, Milwaukee, GeekJedi, and Broadcast Engineering Info

TWiRT is sponsored by Omnia, and the new Omnia.9 FM+HD+Streaming Processor/Encoder 

Links from the show...

WEAU TV Tower Collapses

Chris Tarr has ice photos.

Attack of the Cows

 

Download the podcast here...

TWiRT 75 - Ice Downs Tower

Saturday
Mar262011

TWiRT 74 - EAS and More Hame

Some healthy debate over EAS tests, including the proposed national EAS test.  Plus, Tom tunes in the world - or part of it - on his Ham club's new kit-built transceiver.

Kirk Harnack - Executive Director, Worldwide Sales, Telos-Omnia-Axia
Tom Ray - VP, Engineering, Buckley BroadcastingWOR, New YorkW2TRR
Chris Tobin - CBS Radio, New York
Chris Tarr - Entercom, Milwaukee, GeekJedi, and Broadcast Engineering Info

TWiRT is sponsored by Telos, home of the new Hx1 and Hx2 digital telephone hybrids for POTS lines.

Links from the show...

Small Wonder Labs - Retro 75 transceiver kit

First National EAS Test

 

Download the show here...

TWiRT 74 - EAS and More Ham

Thursday
Mar102011

TWIRT 73 - Mark Johnson

What's new in satellite program distribution for radio broadcasters?  We give a short history lesson about early satellite audio distribution, and Mark Johnson, Director of Technology for Ka You Communications, tells us about modern, IP satellite distribution.

Kirk Harnack - Executive Director, Business Development, Telos-Omnia-Axia
Chris Tobin - CBS Radio, New York

TWiRT is sponsored by Axia Audio, maker of the Axia PowerStation and Axia iQ Console.

Links from the show...

Ka You Communications

Cool site for visualizing geo-stationary satellite beam patterns.

 

Download the show here...

TWiRT 73 - Mark Johnson

Sunday
Mar062011

TWiRT 72 - Dits and Dahs

Tom shows off a shortwave CW transceiver that his Ham Club is building.  That leads to a whole range of topics on the table, from Morse Code to superheterodyne receivers.

Kirk Harnack - Executive Director, Business Development, Telos-Omnia-Axia
Tom Ray - VP, Engineering, Buckley BroadcastingWOR, New YorkW2TRR
Chris Tobin - CBS Radio, New York

TWiRT is sponsored by Omnia Audio and the new Omnia.11 FM audio processor.

Links from the show...

Tom's transceiver kit

Electraft

 

Download the show here...

TWiRT 72 - Dits and Dahs