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

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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 579 - The State of Solid with Jeff Welton

TWiRT 578 - We May Be Just as Down, But I'll Feel Better - with Stephen Wilkinson

We’ve seen and heard news reports about pandemic lockdown measures taken in Australia. Recently some measures have eased up, so Aussie radio engineer, Stephen Wilkinson, joins us live from Sydney. Stephen is the Technical Ops Manager at Hope Media, and he consults a number of other radio stations on their engineering and technical operations. How are his stations doing under stay-at-home orders, and what technical solutions has he implemented?  Chris Tarr looks after over 30 radio stations in Wisconsin and describes his solutions as well. 

Show Notes:
Stephen talked about Microsoft InTune for remote device management

Guest:
Stephen Wilkinson - Technical Operations Manager at Hope Media Ltd and Owner, Optimum Sound Services

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.
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 578 - We May Be Just as Down, But I'll Feel Better - with Stephen Wilkinson

TWiRT 577 - I've Prepared All Year for This Show with Chris Tarr

We’re delighted to officially welcome Chris Tarr to TWiRT as our new weekly co-host along with the show’s founder, Kirk Harnack. As Group Director of Engineering for Magnum Media, Chris brings a daily hands-on radio engineering perspective to the show. We’re giving Chris the floor for this episode so you can get to know him and the kinds of projects he’s working on at Magnum Media.

Since Chris Tobin’s passing, Kirk Harnack has been hosting TWiRT solo for the past year. Kirk recently invited an engineer familiar to many of us, Chris Tarr, to rejoin TWiRT as a regular co-host. To our delight, Chris Tarr has accepted the invitation and will be on TWiRT regularly! Chris Tarr also joins us on this episode to fill us in on highlights of his engineering work in 2021

Show Notes:
RigExpert AA-230 Zoom - RF Network & Antenna Analyzer

Guest & Co-Host:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media

Co-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.
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 577 - I've Prepared All Year for This Show with Chris Tarr

TWiRT 576 - What Did YOU Do - And How - Last Year? with Chris Tarr and Sam Woo

Sam Woo owns a media content and consulting company, Primetime Radio. He collaborated with former TWiRT co-host, the late Chris Tobin, on technical improvements and logistics for producing the “Let’s Go Devils Podcast” as well as corporate events and more. Sam joins us to talk about his collaborations with Chris Tobin, and to show us the “Menlo” that Chris Tobin often used for his appearances on TWiRT. 

Since Chris Tobin’s passing, Kirk Harnack has been hosting TWiRT solo for the past year. Kirk recently invited an engineer familiar to many of us, Chris Tarr, to rejoin TWiRT as a regular co-host. To our delight, Chris Tarr has accepted the invitation and will be on TWiRT regularly! Chris Tarr also joins us on this episode to fill us in on highlights of his engineering work in 2021.

Show Notes:
Chris Tarr mentioned LUCI software for live remote broadcasts
Sam Woo produces the Let's Go Devils Podcast
The Let’s Go Devils Podcast get rather rowdy. See this video and watch for Chris Tobin and Sam Woo in the video.

Guests:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Sam Woo - Founder and CEO at Primetime Radio

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.
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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TuneIn

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TWiRT 576 - What Did YOU Do - And How - Last Year? with Chris Tarr and Sam Woo

TWiRT 575 - Minding Your AM Site with Benjamin Dawson and Stephen Lockwood

A few AM station owners have turned their licenses back into the FCC, giving up on their AM radio business. Many other AM station owners, however, are looking for ways to profit from their AM transmitter site property, or to reduce transmission site costs. Co-locating with land mobile and cellular towers using an inexpensive slant-wire feed for the AM station may be a solution for some AM station owners. There are other financial mitigations as well. Benjamin Dawson and Stephen Lockwood from Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers join us to discuss the possibilities. 

Show Notes:
“Collocating AM Transmitter Facilities With Cellular Monopole Towers“ - Radio World
“Optimization of Shared-Frequency AM Antenna Systems Using Synergistic Filter Design” - Ronald D. Rackley, PE
Deferred Maintenance and Its Effects on Future Costs - Ben Dawson
Revisiting Medium Wave Ground System Requirements - Ben Dawson & Stephen Lockwood
We talked about Maxwell’s equations (from Wikipedia)
Crane Arc from AM Station RF (video clip)

Guests:
Benjamin F. Dawson, III, PE - Consulting Engineer, Hatfield & Dawson
Stephen S. Lockwood, PE - President/Senior Electrical Engineer, Hatfield & Dawson

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.
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

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TWiRT 575 - Minding Your AM Site with Benjamin Dawson and Stephen Lockwood