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We conclude our series about the early days of broadcasting before and around the famous KDKA broadcast 100 years ago. See other recent articles in the Radio @100 series.

In any important endeavor there seems to be a certain amount of contention as to who was really “first.”

In aviation, the Wright’s supremacy in making the first powered flight has been challenged by supporters of Clément Ader, Hiram Maxim, Gustave Whitehead and Richard Pearse. There are those who argue that Elisha Gray or Antonio Meucci should be given credit for inventing the telephone.

In broadcasting, there are serious contenders for the history book position of being the “world’s first radio broadcaster,” including one that aired election returns at the same time KDKA held its inaugural Nov. 2, 1920 broadcast.

As mentioned in our earlier account of the KDKA broadcast, there seems to be some agreement on what constitutes a broadcast service. At a minimum, these include (1) programming intended for the general public, (2) the advertising of transmissions in advance and (3) a regular pattern of broadcasts.

Earlier “broadcasts” by Fessenden, de Forest and Herrold easily fall outside of these criteria.

SHOULD “MARCONI” GET THE PRIZE?

Interestingly, a British effort, initiated by Marconi employees no less, comes very close to passing the litmus test and certainly antedates the KDKA “big broadcast.”

This was the establishment in December 1919 of 6 kW experimental radiotelephone station MZX at the large Marconi manufacturing facility in Chelmsford, England.

Documentation reveals that broadcasts of a sort began there on Jan. 15, 1920, with regular programs of speech and phonograph records. More than 200 reports of reception were received from amateur and shipboard radio operators. The station initially could be heard from Norway to Portugal, with one report coming from a listener 1,450 miles distant. Power was soon upped (15 kW input) and a regular schedule of two transmissions per day was established in late February with the airing of newscasts.

Following this round of testing, MZX added “readings from newspapers, gramophone records, and … live musical performers,” as Tim Wander writes in “2MT Writtle: The Story of British Broadcasting.”

A still-extant telegram offers testimony that on March 20, 1920 the station’s offerings were heard as far away as Australia. “Listening in” was not confined to “hams” and commercial operators, either.

Newspapers began to take notice, and one, London’s Daily Mail, decided to make a broadcasting “splash” in a really big way by footing the bill for an international superstar of that era, opera soprano Dame Nellie Melba, to perform live at the fledgling station.

Dame Nellie Melba

Melba (in whose honor “Peach Melba” and “Melba Toast” are said to have been created) was paid the huge sum of £1,000 — the buying power of about $50,000 today — for a 20-minute performance on the evening of June 15, 1920. Obviously, the newspaper believed there was a future in broadcasting.

The Mail gave its “big broadcast” quite a buildup, with the British government issuing almost 600 new receiver licenses during the two-month runup. It was a truly international broadcast too, being heard in countries all over Europe, even as far away as New York. (A loudspeaker arrangement was deployed in Paris so people in the streets could hear Melba perform.)

So, with success spelled in such numbers (listeners and talent fee alike), why shouldn’t MZX get the honors for being the premier broadcaster?

It boils down to lack of sustainability. Following a complaint made five months after the Melba musicale to the House of Commons by the Postmaster General about MZX’s operations interfering with “legitimate services,” the station was ordered closed.

As Wander put it in his book, “This view seemed to be echoed by the Navy and Army, who stoutly maintained that any civilian broadcasting would hamper ‘genuine experiments’ and would not be in the best interests of imperial defense. The critics of wireless broadcasting saw that the device was ideally equipped to be a servant of mankind, but were determined that it should never be considered as a toy to amuse children.”

DO DITS AND DAHS COUNT?

On the U.S. side of the pond, KDKA had contenders also.

One frequently mentioned is the University of Wisconsin’s 9XM, now WHA. It was licensed initially for experimental transmissions in June 1915 and, following the lead of similar stations at other schools, soon began a regular schedule of transmitting weather reports for the benefit of farmers and others. The rub: these were via radiotelegraphy, and those who wanted to benefit had to learn Morse code.

Pioneer University of Wisconsin station 9XM was broadcasting weather and other information to farmers on a regular basis before KDKA’s Nov. 2, 1920 program of election returns, and may have transmitted information that election night too, if only in Morse code. (University of Wisconsin Archives)

A couple of years into these daily code broadcasts, the station experimented with radiotelephony, broadcasting phonograph records and live announcements just as Conrad did at his ham station.

Progress was slowed by the World War but resumed in early 1920 with a relicensing of the station, which had been engaged in research for the military.

Radiotelephone broadcasts of the regular weather reports were promised but did not become a reality, continuing in code instead. As noted in his 2006 history “9XM Talking: WHA Radio and the Wisconsin Idea,” Randall Davidson wrote: “On November 2, the evening that KDKA made its debut broadcast with results of the Harding-Cox election, 9XM may also have been on the air, albeit only telegraphically.”

These code-only transmissions went on into until early 1921, with only sporadic attempts to transmit speech and music — too late to best KDKA in meeting the criterion of “being accessible by the general public.”

WHY NOT DETROIT?

Perhaps the greatest challenge to KDKA’s “first and foremost” status was Detroit’s 8MK (later WBL, and now WWJ), which was owned by The Detroit News.

It commenced radiotelephone transmissions on Aug. 20, 1920 of news on a daily basis, more than two months before KDKA took to the air. Adding to the station’s claim for priority was information printed in the News instructing readers as to how they could take advantage of this wireless service.

There was a slight problem, however. 8MK was licensed as an amateur station and could operate only on wavelengths reserved for amateur use, in this case 200 meters (about 1500 kHz), and as such was subject to interference from ham operators. (KDKA had requested and obtained a commercial license from the Department of Commerce, which allowed operation on a lower frequency well separated from amateur transmissions.)

And to further handicap matters, the de Forest “radiophone” transmitter leased by the News operated at one-fifth the power employed at KDKA.

Station 8MK in Detroit was on the air before KDKA, transmitting Victrola music along with news from the newspaper that owned it. The station aired election coverage on Nov. 2, 1920, just as KDKA did. (Wikimedia Commons)

8MK initiated a rather serious broadcasting agenda beginning on Aug. 20 with reporting of returns from an election held on that date, and continued with daily transmissions of news reports interspersed with music. Records show that the station was on the air the night of Nov. 2, 1920 with a pre-announced broadcast of election returns, just as KDKA was doing some 200 miles away,

So why shouldn’t this fledgling broadcaster get the honors for being first? They were on the air well in advance of KDKA, advertised their broadcasts in advance and continued on a regular schedule after the election eve reporting. (The station was licensed for limited commercial operation in late 1921 and received the call sign WBL. This was changed to WWJ the following year.)

Perhaps broadcast historians Chris Sterling and John Kittross explain it best in “Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting,” where they write:

“While it isn’t easy to compare and adjudicate such conflicting claims, it can be done. As to broadcasting licenses, KDKA led WBL (WWJ) by nearly a year. Conrad’s amateur station, 8XK, successor to the prewar station, went on the air more than a year before 8MK and was broadcasting music 10 months earlier. As to license holding, Westinghouse or one of its officers held a license before the Detroit News did. Only by maintaining that 8XK is not the precursor of KDKA, and that 8MK is the precursor of WWJ, can one uphold WWJ’s claim — and both Conrad’s status as a Westinghouse employee and the Detroit News’ delay in applying for a broadcasting license belie that position.”

Doubtless, other claims could be made for supremacy in terms of “who was really on first.” However, as the old saying goes, “close” only counts in the game of horseshoes.

The author thanks Mark Schubin for his assistance with the Dame Nellie Melba photo and information, and broadcast historian and author Tim Wander for information about the 1920 Marconi Melba broadcast. Wander has published a limited edition 270-page book “From Marconi to Melba, The Centenary of British Radio Broadcasting,” which details the beginnings of radio broadcasting in the U.K.

The post Others Were ‘On the Air’ in 1920 appeared first on Radio World.

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Southern Illinois Radio Group, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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The National Association of Broadcasters has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the Federal Communications Commission go ahead with significant changes in its media ownership rules.

This is part of the culmination of a long legal fight. The FCC and the NAB had appealed a lower court ruling blocking the changes, and the Supreme Court recently accepted the case.

Now NAB has filed its opening brief.

[Read: Supremes to Hear Broadcast Dereg Case]

“The Third Circuit Court of Appeals overstepped its authority when it invalidated the FCC order modernizing its local media ownership rules,” the association wrote in a summary. “NAB asked the court to reinstate the FCC’s modernization order and end the Third Circuit’s 16-year assertion of authority over the commission’s media ownership rulemakings.”

The Third Circuit had blocked the commission’s 2017 quadrennial review order. The FCC wants to eliminate the ban on owning a print newspaper and a radio or TV station in the same market; remove restrictions on owning radio stations along with a TV station in a market; revise the rule limiting ownership of TV stations in local markets; overturn an earlier decision involving joint sale of ad time by two TV stations in a market; and reform its approach to “embedded markets.”

At the heart of NAB’s argument is whether the relevant part of the Telecommunications Act requires the FCC to look at statistical evidence or do an in-depth analysis of the effects of the changes on minority and female ownership.

The Telecom Act, NAB said, directs the FCC to “repeal” or “modify” any rule that is no longer “necessary in the public interest as the result of competition.” And it says the FCC did so in its planned rule changes. “Yet the Third Circuit concluded that the commission inadequately considered the effect of those changes on minority and female ownership — even though [the Telecom Act] says nothing about that issue.”

Further, NAB told the court, “The same divided Third Circuit panel has repeatedly elevated its policy concerns over the statutory text and purported to retain jurisdiction over the FCC’s Section 202(h) orders, effectively blocking review by any other court for more than 15 years.”

It called the circuit court’s actions “vastly overbroad,” and said it has “improperly retained jurisdiction” over FCC reviews of the relevant section of the Telecom Act.

 

The post NAB States Ownership Case at High Court appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC’s current proposal on application fees would force many TV and radio broadcasters to essentially pay twice for FCC services while others reap the benefits of these services without paying their fair share, the NAB argued in recent comments.

The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that looks to amend the scheduling of application fees. In the NPRM, the FCC proposes to increase several application fees and add new fee categories for TV and radio broadcasters based on the estimated direct labor costs to the FCC for providing these services, citing the RAY BAUM’s Act requirement of the commission recovering its costs to process applications, per NAB.

[Read: Radio Stations Get Little Relief on FCC Fees]

The commission says that the NPRM will take a “careful approach” to calculating the costs for those paying application fees that already have to pay regulatory fees so as to try and avoid doubling the costs of these services. However, the NAB argues that the proposed approach is the same whether a group pays regulatory fees, like broadcasters, or not, like big tech companies, giving the latter “a significant discount relative to costs.”

This is a continuation of the FCC’s refusal to acknowledge flaws in the regulatory fee process, according to NAB. In earlier comments regarding setting regulatory fees for FY2020, NAB and other broadcasters said the commission should account for broadcasters’ payments of application fees so as to avoid being charged twice. NAB also argued that the RAY BAUM’s Act gave the FCC the ability to expand the base of contributors to include technology companies that benefit from the FCC’s resources, including some of the largest companies in the world, with the NAB calling them “free-riders.” The FCC ignored these requests.

“As a result, broadcasters and other licensees not only pay twice for the commission’s costs of processing their own applications, but also bear the substantial costs of their competition’s fee-free participation in rulemaking and other proceedings,” NAB said in its most recent comments.

In addition to being unjust, the NAB says that this ultimately restricts broadcasters’ ability to provide free local broadcast services to the public.

The NAB therefore is calling for the FCC to ensure that its collection of regulatory fees is fair and accurately reflects the work the commission performs. However, until that time, the FCC must minimize the application fee increases in the NPRM by ensuring that only tasks involved in the review of unopposed applications are included and by excluding all levels of supervisory review. NAB also says that the commission should refrain from imposing any new application fees on broadcasters.

“The commission must take steps now to overhaul its fee collection methodologies to ensure that broadcasters are not paying twice for the same services and that the costs of the commission are recovered fairly from all of the commission’s work,” NAB concluded.

NAB’s full comments are available online.

 

The post NAB to FCC: Proposed Regulatory Fee Process Unfair to Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.

John Bisset

The author is editor in chief of Radio World.

One of the best parts of my job is presenting the Workbench column in our pages.

Workbench was well established by the time I joined RW in 1996. Sometimes the smartest thing that the editor of a publication can do is support a good thing and get out of the way.

With this issue we celebrate 30 years of John Bisset writing Workbench, and salute the hundreds of readers who have provided the tips that are at the column’s heart.

Getting started

When RW’s founder Steve Dana sought to expand Radio World and its tech content the Workbench column was born. At the time, John was a chief engineer who had written product reviews for RW; he also taught a college-level broadcast engineering class part-time and enjoyed teaching.

Workbench quickly became popular and secured its place as a feature in every issue.

John had gotten his own start at age 12 by building what today would be considered a pirate top 40 station. (You don’t know how often I hear stories like that from people in our biz). He hooked a Lafayette mike mixer up to a couple of turntables and a reel-to-reel fed a Lafayette Wireless Mike AM transmitter. The station had about a two-block coverage.

John was always hanging around radio stations (again, sound familiar?) His first professional job was at WFAX(AM) in northern Virginia, serving the Washington area.

“Program Director Roy Martin hired me as a summer relief announcer, when I was 16. I worked there part-time through high school and college, and joined the full-time staff after graduation.” Around that time he received training in technical writing with an influential teacher, Professor Joey Horobetz.

Eventually John was promoted to WFAX chief engineer, and the same year fellow engineer Henry Stewart and he started a contract engineering business.

John, center, started in the biz at age 16 doing summer relief announcing work at WFAX. “It seems like only yesterday we were replacing stylii and aligning cart machines.” This is a 1977 holiday gathering with colleagues Roy Martin, left, and Bill Turkington.

“I got into equipment sales by learning from Joe Novak at Delta Electronics. Later stops included Harris, Dielectric, Broadcast Electronics, Nautel and Elenos.” About eight years ago he joined Telos Alliance, where he is radio product sales manager for the western U.S.

John and I both seek to make sure that the column’s content is fair and thorough and not favoring any manufacturer, including those for which he has worked. John adds a hat tip to Telos for being so supportive in providing him time and opportunity to educate engineers on topics like AoIP and studio construction, in RW as well as other platforms.

Grab the bubble wrap

The column’s relationship with its readers is crucial.

“Over these 30 years, hundreds of engineers, programmers and managers have sent in tips and photos from all over the world,” John pointed out.

“Published tips qualify for SBE recertification credit,” John reminded me. But he’s especially proud of the programming and management readership of the column.

“I try to explain the tips and subject matter in such a way that the non-technical or semi-technical reader can use them, as well as the seasoned broadcast engineer.”

Have any reader tips stood out as most useful? He laughed.

“As I’ve gotten older, something to protect your knees when you’re kneeling in the back of a rack, under a console or in a transmitter — with the power off — that’s where bubble wrap comes in handy. Keep a few sheets in your service vehicle and at each site.”

(John, this is classic Workbench stuff. MacGyver would be proud.)

“Using a cell phone camera to document things ranks a close second,” he continued.

“Use the camera to take pictures of smoked components, animals you encounter and parts. Parts photos can be shared with a service department when you are missing a manual and need to identify something.” A camera also lets you share pictures anonymously with Workbench or just with your own station staff.

“Let’s face it, other than engineers, few employees of a radio or TV station understand what the transmitter site is all about. Posting pictures of exploded parts, dead snakes or raccoons that have taken up residence are great conversation starters.”

What about strange or unexpected submissions?

“Shortly after the column started, an engineer sent in a modification to an old transmitter,” he told me.

“The tube transmitter was atop a mountain several hours away, and occasionally the plate breaker would trip, turning the rig off.”

The engineer could never identify the problem and got tired of the two-hour drive.

“Frustrated, he mounted a cart machine solenoid to the front of the transmitter, right above the tripping breaker. He drilled a hole in the end of the breaker and connected a line to the solenoid plunger. The solenoid was connected to the remote control, so that when the breaker tripped, it could be reset ‘remotely’ by energizing the solenoid,” John related.

“I could see both sides of this solution. It’s not necessarily good engineering practice to remotely switch a breaker, because you don’t know why the breaker is tripping in the first place. But repeatedly driving two hours to simply flip a breaker on had to be pretty frustrating.”

He took heat from some readers who felt this idea was reckless; but many thought it was a genius solution to a problem that a new transmitter later corrected.

Efficiency

I asked John how the column has changed.

“In the early days, there were a lot more tips on modifying or troubleshooting equipment,” he recalls.
“There were engineering staffs consisting of a chief and a couple of maintenance engineers and maybe a transmitter tech. Today, one guy does it all.” And “all” now includes multiple stations for many engineers.

With that evolution, he focuses more on improving an engineer’s efficiency.

“The maturity of software-based products has made this possible. Features can be added or bugs addressed with a simple software update. The equipment is also more reliable, and in most cases modular, so many repairs involve simply swapping a module.”

Parts may be swappable but it’s hard to imagine Workbench without him. Thank you John for your contributions and hard work.

I can’t end without sharing a little-known early career fact about John Bisset that also captures his elfish sense of humor.

“I started out with a parallel career. Intrigued by medicine, I wanted to be a doctor. To help me ace my anatomy classes, I started working as an embalmer and apprentice funeral director.

“My patients never complained!”

 Sidebar: Warm Appreciation

Among colleagues and readers I hear warm appreciation for John’s work.

Marty Sacks, EVP of sales, support and marketing at Telos Alliance, has known John for four decades and calls him an industry treasure and trusted colleague. “He’s the same gentleman I have always known. The service he has provided to so many, including me, all these years through his Workbench columns have truly been a labor of love.”

Jim Wood, founder of Inovonics, calls Workbench “a turn-to in each issue; I always come away knowing a little more.” Colleague Ben Barber, president/CEO of Inovonics, saluted John for his expertise in collating and condensing useful information succinctly.

Frank Hertel of Newman-Kees-Hertel RF Measurements & Engineering remembers attending a meet-and-greet with an FCC agent out of Chicago, at which Frank posted a question.

“As it turned out, the FCC agent did not have an answer, but John did! He nicely stepped in and saved the day for the agent. He presented the answer authoritatively, but also with a calmness that radiated a true source of knowledge. After all, John actually was involved in writing the FCC ruling pertaining to low-power toroid RF Ammeter readings.”

And Charles “Buc” Fitch — who like John is a past recipient of the SBE Educator of the Year Award — has said that industry knowledge now seems to have a “half life” of about four years, meaning half of what we learn or buy today may be useless in that amount of time.

“So how do we keep up at this aggressive pace?” Buc asks. “How do we learn?

“We teach each other.”

The post Happy 30 Years to RW’s Workbench! appeared first on Radio World.

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WMGG is the 1470 signal listed in the 96.1 FM Caliente logo.

Tampa’s WMGG hopes to be broadcasting in all-digital format on the AM band by early next year.

We told you earlier about the plans by NIA Broadcasting President Neal Ardman. Now transmitter maker Nautel reports that Ardman has ordered the necessary equipment.

“The station has announced the purchase of a Nautel NX3HD with HD IBOC exciter upgrade and a Nautel HD MultiCast+ Importer/Exporter; delivery is anticipated prior to the end of 2020,” Nautel stated in a release.

The only current full-time all-digital AM station in the United States is WWFD in Frederick, Md. The Federal Communications Commission recently announced it will allow all-digital transmission for any station that wishes to use it. Analog-only AM radios will not be able to tune to the signal.

Nautel quoted Ardman saying, “Continuing with analog broadcasting in 2021 when the technology exists to provide great content with great audio, and to NOT do it, is unthinkable.”

He plans to notify listeners of the switch and encourage them to purchase an HD Radio if they don’t have one already, or listen to the station’s analog FM translator or online stream.

WMGG has an FM translator on 101.9 MHz. Both signals are part of “96.1 FM Caliente,” the radio home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Spanish-language network.

 

The post Tampa AM Station Buys Transmitter to Go All-Digital appeared first on Radio World.

The author is chief engineer of WSRQ LECOM Radio.

In 1992, WZZS, Zolfo Springs, Fla., was launched as a Class A FM on 106.9 MHz. This is approximately 40 miles inland (east) of Sarasota/Bradenton Florida.

Due to the extremely flat topography and the subtropical climate, auto reception was audible up and down the coast though the Sarasota area.

Hal Kneller

In 2007, W295BH, a 250-watt FM translator, commenced operation in the Sarasota area on the same frequency. While it has moved several times over the years, it never was a real problem for WZZS other than eliminating the fringe coverage, which was well outside the Class A FM 60 dBu contour.

The same could not be said in reverse. WZZS inflicted considerable interference on the translator, even well inside the translator’s 60 dBu contour. Motorists driving through Sarasota and Bradenton would often hear WZZS “pop through” while listening to the W295BH translator.

Areas east of Sarasota, which remained still within the W295BH 60 dBu contour, were especially inundated with interference from the co-channel Class A FM. This was due to both WZZS’s higher-power penetration into the inland Sarasota area, and the much lower power of the 106.9 translator in that same part of the market.

These unpleasant experiences lasted the better part of 10 years, until Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) entered the picture.

The college purchased WSRQ(AM) 1220 and W295BH in December 2018, along with another translator on 95.9 (W240DP) located further south of Sarasota.

The new owner desired to expand its reach into the growth areas of Sarasota and Manatee counties, and eliminate the interference caused by WZZS. LECOM accomplished both objectives by acquiring WZZS in December 2019.

The initial simulcasting efforts fell short of the intended goal. With no simple way properly to time the audio using the existing setup, along with a multipath-like (simulcast interference) sound in many important areas, it became clear that only full synchronization of the 106.9 signals would cure the problem.

With the help of Tony Gervasi, Intraplex specialist and sales manager for GatesAir, a proposal was delivered for an intelligent IP networking system with built-in synchronization. The goal was to establish a composite multiplex signal over IP to the three FM transmitter sites in a four-way simulcast with WSRQ (AM), using fiber connectivity to the public internet.

Preparations

The initial work required an evaluation of infrastructure to support the new networking strategy.

One positive was that the existing fiber connections (and related Service Level Agreements) to all FM locations were adaptable to the new system. It was also possible to retain the existing GatesAir 950 MHz HD Link feeding the AM transmitter.

Less adaptable were the existing exciters and stereo generators — together anyway — which were not matched and would be unable to achieve the required synchronization.

The initial work involved extending the existing VPN to include the Zolfo Springs transmitter site that would become WSRQ(FM). That site used a Harris (GatesAir) Z5CD transmitter that integrated an older exciter that was unable to properly match modulation components to the W295BH transmitter from a different manufacturer.

Without full matching, there was no way to properly and fully synchronize. Thus, it was proposed to replace the old Harris exciter in the Z5CD with a new GatesAir FAX-50 exciter, and install a GatesAir Flexiva FAX 1kW air-cooled transmitter/exciter at W295BH.

It was determined that the existing Wheatstone FM-55 audio processor with its integrated stereo generator could be retained, along with the SmartGen RDS encoder from Deva Broadcast. Both devices were moved from the W240DP Nokomis site to the WSRQ studio in preparation for the networking and transmission upgrades.

Meanwhile, the Flexiva FAX 1kW system replaced the translator for W295BH, and an existing BW Broadcast translator for W240DP on 95.9 FM was determined as adaptable to the new system. We were able to retain that transmitter since it lives on a different frequency, and its internal audio processor was engaged while the new system was being set up.

A single-frequency network with several transmitter sites would require matching exciters at each location to avoid synchronization issues. This is because when dealing with microseconds as it relates to the path of the radio signal, the differential delay in an unmatched signal through using different exciters will introduce unpredictable latency.

For this project, it was only required to use the same exciter on all 106.9 systems, making this a rarer kind of synchronized network than what we more typically see with a complete SFN architecture.

Connecting the Links

Next came the decision on which Intraplex IP Link codecs to use, most of which have the option to add Intraplex SynchroCast software.

The decision came down to either using AES192, with each site utilizing its own stereo generator and RBDS encoder, or some form of multiplex composite over IP, either analog MPX or digital AES192.

To function properly, the system would require one codec at the send site, and one at each of the three FM sites; for the AM transmitter, we planned to continue using the existing Intraplex HD Link 950 MHz STL.

We looked at three IP Link codecs, all of which support digital AES192 AES composite transport. After consultation with GatesAir’s Tony Gervasi, we elected to use AES192 distribution.

We selected the Intraplex IP Link MPXp codec model, which has a built-in feature set that includes GPS lock for synchronization, and optional LiveLook software for advanced network analytics. This gave us the flexibility of using both AES192 as well as the analog MPX composite using BNC connectors. We needed the analog MPX composite capability to feed our emergency backup transmitters /exciters, so the IP LINK MPXP offered the best of both worlds.

The audio chain at the studio consists of a Wheatstone WheatNet system that feeds IP audio to compatible devices on the network. The Wheatstone FM-55 processor is fed as a blade (node) on WheatNet, which has a standard analog composite multiplex output and a digital output that can be either AES/EBU (AES3) or AES192.

We chose to use the AES192 interface to the IP Link MPXp. We are told that there is a several dB of separation advantage and a slight loudness advantage by going this route.

This is not anything like the old AES3 interfaces to an exciter, where overshoots were common and perceived loudness was reduced. Performance has proven to us that the modulation control is very good over AES192. The RBDS encoder is also connected to an SCA input on the studio IP LINK MPXP codec, which means we can deliver a fully-processed stereo signal with embedded RBDS over IP.

The Intraplex codecs have some “secret sauce” not fully known to us, but one thing we learned is that AES192 as a standard is not highly efficient. The IP Link MPXp repacks the data much more tightly, and can deliver our complete signal in an uncompressed-linear mode at the astounding data rate of 1.64 Megabits per second. Conventionally, a stereo uncompressed linear AES3 signal requires about 1.5 Mbps, but here we have the entire baseband in a neat little package.

Redundancy is important, and the use of fiber and public internet for connectivity can provide for two parallel networks to move program audio. Using GatesAir’s Dynamic Stream Splicing (DSS) feature, we can run four streams across the two networks. At the present time we are installing a second ISP connection over a cable modem to back up the fiber network.

If the primary on the fiber fails or experiences packet losses on one provider, the software repairs the stream by utilizing redundant packets from the other. If there is only one connection available, two streams are sent with a slight delay on the second one (we are using 500 mS) and rarely have an audible dropout.

The system employs GPS lock at the studio and all FM sites, with the two 106.9 transmitters also utilizing the Intraplex SynchroCast feature. The Nokomis/Venice W240DP translator, on a separate frequency, receives the same composite signal with audio timed to synchronize with the 106.9 signals. This is critical since there is some overlap in coverage.

The Dynamic Stream Splicing feature is configured with between 180 and 500 microseconds of delay between the streams as they move across all FM sites to address that overlap. Since the W240DP translator operates on a different frequency, it does not require that we carrier lock the signal but the audio is synchronized.

Since going live, weeks go by before a single drop is noticed, which is a testament to the robust nature of Dynamic Stream Splicing feature. On rare occasions, ISP issues have created some problems, but the software still produces a “hitless” experience.

The Intraplex package also included Intraplex LiveLook feature for real-time network analytics. This feature also provides historical reporting on the quality of the IP connection between the different sites, including email notifications of connectivity issues. LiveLook provides insight on network behavior over time, which also delivers predictive capabilities for network troubleshooting.

Network Design Criteria

There are some compromises with our system’s design from the ideal. We cannot control the overlap areas completely, or offer precision timing over such a wide area. We also cannot pinpoint correction to all of our interference areas.

The presence of unpopulated (farmland/ranchland) areas between the sites has proven beneficial, and we were able to force most of the interference over that area. In an ideal SFN, we would use directional antennas, and perhaps even use multiple transmitter sites, to create a more robust, interference-free network. This is not a main station and booster scenario, however; this is a main station and translator situation.  The math behind this calculates the “launch delay” at W295BH, because the signal takes longer to reach the areas of interference from the Zolfo Springs site due to distance.

Our “sweet spot” from an interference standpoint was to be the licensee’s dental college in Lakewood Ranch, a suburb east of Sarasota subject to considerable interference. The distance from Zolfo Springs to that site is 63.43 km. We calculated that the signal from W295BH would reach that point 180 microseconds before the Zolfo Springs signal would arrive.

We set the launch delay from W295BH at 180 microseconds so the signals arrive in-phase and fully synchronized in every way, at our reference point. The signal can be heard at that location if either transmitter is turned off, but with very similar field strengths. Therefore, it is also an ideal test for perfect synchronization. When signal strength is nearly equal, timing is extremely critical. As the ratio of D/U increases, timing will become less critical until there is at least 20 dB difference.

The calculations proved correct: That site receives a clean signal with no multipath-type interference. With matched equipment at both the translator and the main FM station, the modulation components are identical, and in the end, we have a robust solution.

The big question: Would this timing work out for the rest of the area to the west where either signal may be heard, depending upon location?

Strong Results

As Fig. 1 below shows, the IP Link MPXp feeds a Flexiva FAX 1 kW translator at W295BH (click on the image to see it enlarged).

At the former WZZS site, ow WSRQ(FM), a FAX50 exciter feeds the legacy Harris Z5CD transmitter. At W240DP, the audio is also time-stamped and transmits in audio synchronization with the 106.9 signals, but again the carrier is not locked by GPS.

Fig. 1: System block diagram. Click to enlarge.

Fig. 2 shows the propagation paths between the translators and the Class A FM. As mentioned, LECOM operates a dental college in Lakewood Ranch, east of Sarasota. Lakewood Ranch is a “boom town” and has had huge growth over the last 10 years, which is projected to continue. It was also an area prone to extreme chronic interference, especially under certain seasonal weather conditions.

Propagation paths

We were able to have enough control to be able to lock in Lakewood Ranch and still not have any noticeable interference in the immediate Sarasota/Bradenton area from the WSRQ signal from 40 miles away.

East of Myakka State Park there is an interference zone that lasts about five miles before the WSRQ signal overrides the translator’s interference, traveling east. The good news is the interference area is programmed to be over “no-man’s land.” It is agricultural in nature and is not a heavily traveled commuter route. The timing could be adjusted either way to move this interference slightly, as needed.

The only other area of interference which could not be controlled in this scenario is south of Venice (see Fig. 1) where the signal strength of the 106.9 signals is very close to equal. However, this is right in the heart of the W240DP translator signal that simulcasts the 106.9 signals.

What is management saying about the results?

Operations & IT Manager Charlie Halley said, “I used to pull my van into my driveway inside the City of Sarasota. On one end I heard our station, and the other end I heard WZZS. Easy to tell because they were Spanish, we are Classic Hits. Now it’s seamless, end to end.” Charlie also appreciates LiveLook to keep an eye on the quality of the network.

General Manager Jim Schaffner adds, “I am very pleased with the station’s expanded reach and the sync of the two stations. And now our coverage is extended to over 60 miles inland, giving us several additional counties in our primary coverage area.”

Hal Kneller owned and operated radio stations from 1986 to 2014 and has served on numerous industry organizations such as NRSC and NAB technical committees. He is a member of the SBE National Certification Committee and Past Chapter Chair of SBE 90, Southwest Florida.

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Broadcast software developer OmniPlayer has announced that its OmniPlayer 3 automation platform has been chosen by Belgian broadcaster RTL to be used by its Radio Contact and Bel RTL stations.

RTL Information & Media Technology Project Coordination Manager Alexis Vingerhoed said, “We were looking for a robust, yet innovative solution to meet the needs of all our users. M&I [OmniPlayer’s parent] has been with us from the outset in our strategic and ambitious vision for the future of our radio stations.”

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

He added, “From a technical side, two points, in particular, caught our attention. As our RadioVision channels are TV channels in their own right, we cannot compromise on quality. This is why we wanted a radio playout system capable of managing audio and video simultaneously. It was also essential that the system was open to interconnect with other systems and could be remote-controlled completely.”

Radio World invites both users and suppliers to tell us about recently installed new or notable equipment. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

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As always, Workbench is my “first read” in every RW issue. I learn something new, confirm stuff I already know or get a chuckle.

I still fondly recall John Bisset’s presentation at SBE Chapter 22 in Liverpool many years ago. I almost wore out my hand taking notes. My favorite tip involved “black double-knit fabric”!

In reference to the column “How Michael Bolton Can Be 300 Times Worse” in the Sept. 16 issue:

That YouTube demo by “Nickd2011” of MP3 over-compression revealed the standard’s shortcomings. The artifacts were horrific!

I used to record my church services in MP3 until I heard a few “sour” organ notes, then switched to 44.1/WAV, which was noticeably-better. (Any necessary MP3 conversions from Audacity are done post-editing.)

Meanwhile your generator maintenance mentoring will yield large dividends for our “newbies” whose only experience with “backup power” is usually a UPS.

Good familiarity with “heavy tech” can save time and money; diligent recordkeeping may seem “overkill” but I’ve learned from years of transmitter work that it may reveal slow trends towards pending failure, and knowing what to tell the service person on the ‘phone can often ensure better site reliability or quicker restoration.

Again, thanks, John!

[Read recent Workbench columns.]

The post Letter: Michael Bolton and Workbench appeared first on Radio World.

Master Control studio

KING-FM had occupied its studios in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle for more than two decades when its landlord informed management that the building would be torn down for condos.

The station began looking for a new long-term home.

Meanwhile the Seattle Opera had just moved into a new nearby building on the Seattle Center campus near the Space Needle, a building with multiple performance venues and space set aside on the second floor for a future tenant. Their desired tenant would be aligned with the goals of the arts community and pay rent that would help the opera meet operational costs of its $60 million facility.

The space was a perfect fit for Seattle’s famous nonprofit, listener-supported classical music station. KING-FM.

The Seattle Opera building on Mercer Street is the station’s new home. It’s close to the Space Needle (left) and features large, highly visible performance spaces.

CEO Brenda Barnes said in 2019, “We are thrilled to be moving into this beautiful space, and to be in such close proximity to one of our most important partners.”

The station moved in February 2020.

Project team
Utter Associates was the turnkey system integrator. It is a Seattle-based engineering and consulting firm whose clients including broadcasters, corporations, educational facilities, government entities and architects.

Founder Erik Utter was design lead on the project.

“KING-FM broadcasts on 98.1 with an analog, HD1, HD2 and seasonally an HD3,” he said. “They also stream the same services to a variety of platforms. They host live concerts and events both in the building performance venues, and from remote locations such Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony.”

The technical scope of the project included broadcast studios for air, production, interview, voicetracking and editing; a technical operations center room; processing, codecs, RF distribution and related broadcast facets; all IT infrastructure; links to performance venues; and a live performance system.

“Our scope of work started with consulting to set the project operational requirements, technical requirements and developing a budget,” Utter said.

“We worked with Chief Engineer Michael Brooks — who was the SBE Chapter 16 Engineer of the Year — and Operations Manager Rachele Hales.” Other key leaders were General Manager Brenda Barnes and board member Jim Duncan.

Chief Engineer Michael Brooks works in the Technical Operations Center.

“Once the project requirements were defined, we made recommendations on technology, which culminated in a trip for the client to the NAB Show to confirm final selections and set the final budget.”

An architectural, consultant and construction team then was named by KING-FM; these included Owen Richards of ORA Architects; Basel Jurdy of Stantec for acoustics; and Sellen Construction.

“This was a wonderful team to work with,” Utter said. “In all honesty, this was the smoothest project of its type we have been involved with.

Building for change

Utter worked with that team to develop the physical layout of the studios, mechanical systems for equipment cooling and backup cooling, electrical systems including power, backup power and low-voltage pathways.

“We also worked with the acoustical consultant to work through the acoustic requirements and design details. This is a critical phase of the project.”

Through the lifetime of using the space, he said, technology will change and probably evolve in ways not yet evident.

“Correctly designing the core infrastructure to ‘get it right’ in the first place will make it easy for these changes to be implemented in the future with minimal cost and disruption.”

This hallway view gives a sense of the open feel and the treatment of walls and ceilings. Note the decorative classical music theme.

Simultaneously to the architectural work, Utter began a detailed technical design in AutoCAD. Once the final detailed designs were approved, Utter began the procurement process, completing an inventory of all items received and configuring as much of the equipment in its shop ahead of the installation as possible.

When the construction was complete and a certificate of occupancy issued, the team began the integration portion. The installation phase took about two months, followed by testing, commissioning and training.

“We place a heavy emphasis on ergonomics, modifying casework and carefully adjusting equipment placement and sightlines as needed,” Utter said.

“The changes to the RF system and microwave STL were straightforward, with new STL and receive antennas placed on the roof and only a short initial hop to the KING-TV tower of about eight city blocks. Harrington Tower completed the STL antenna work. IP circuits were provisioned for the feeds to the primary and backup transmitter sites, relegating the microwave to backup purposes. Of course, we were there for the cutover, which went flawlessly.”

Data patching in the TOC.

(On the RF side, the station’s main site is West Tiger Mountain, where a Nautel GV30 runs an HD1 and HD2. KING-FM is a Class C station operating at 68 kW ERP due to HAAT. The transmitter feeds an ERI master antenna, model ERI-1082 4CP-DA. The station runs its HDs under an experimental license allowing asymmetrical power of –10 dBc on the lower sideband and –14 dBc on the upper. An Inovonics Justin 808  keeps the HD aligned. A Continental 816 transmitter is on standby and an aux transmitter site is atop Cougar Mountain.)

Hardware choices

Wheatstone and its WheatNet-IP network were chosen as the backbone studio system, including two LXE consoles, two L8 Consoles and a series of Blades.

“We made extensive use of the technology for such things as audio processing, scripting and utility mixers for intercom, automated alarming, etc.,” Utter said. “We also used Dante for live performance mixing and venue interfacing.”

Key components also include RCS Zetta automation, Comrex Access NX Rack codecs, AKG C414 microphones, Neumann KH 310 and KH 120 audio monitors, Wheatstone furniture, Inovonics monitors for modulation and streaming, Intraplex HD Link and legacy gear for STL, and HPE/Aruba networking.

Studio accessories include ESE master clocks and Yellowtec mic arms and copy stands. The TOC has Middle Atlantic racks, Broadcast Tools DA, Sage EAS gear, Bittree patch bays, Burk transmitter control, a Marti system and Nielsen PPM gear.

KING-FM host Dave Beck handles the inaugural live broadcast.

The initial consulting for the project started in spring of 2019, and the cutover was in February, just prior to COVID.

“An interesting thing about that,” Utter said. “Prior to COVID the remote production capabilities of Wheatstone and Zetta were mostly novelties. Very quickly they became critical features that make operations now much easier.”

Utter related that shortly after everything shut down for the pandemic, KING-FM continued to provide live coverage of the Sunday night Compline Choir from St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle.

“The choir was singing to an empty cathedral and broadcasting live on KING-FM as a public service, providing relaxing meditative music during a time of fear and uncertainty. The lone board op at KING-FM called me on a Sunday night, four minutes to air, explaining that she couldn’t get the remote source to come up on the LXE console.

“I was able to connect with my laptop and resolve multiple issues, and finally pot up the source on the console, just in time. Something unimaginable just a short time ago.”

Planning for worst-case

“One of the reasons the project went so well is that the systems integrator was brought in very early, just after the project was conceived,” he continued.

“This allowed for a deep partnership and understanding of the client’s needs. This also allowed us to bring up design considerations with the architectural team early enough to easily address, resulting very few compromises in the facility design.”

Utter is a big fan of WheatNet, saying it simplifies future routing changes and that its distributed architecture provides robustness.

In order to keep workmanship orderly in the long term and allow for inevitable changes to wiring, Utter connects all I/O of a Wheatstone Blade to a Bittree E3 bulkhead panel, passing through that to the equipment.

“The connections on the rear of a Blade are just too dense to be making changes while keeping up the level of workmanship and neatness in a larger facility.” Future equipment additions or wiring changes can be done easily on the E3 panel.

“As an engineer, I still need to imagine and prepare for what a worst-case failure situation may look like. … All critical portions of the air chain are brought out to patch, so that if there were a massive networking failure, signal could still be quickly patched to air.”

KING-FM was founded in 1948 by Dorothy Stimson Bullitt; it is among the longest-running classical radio stations in the country.

Radio World welcomes suggestions for facility and project profiles. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

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