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Ben Dawson — whose name is associated with more than a hundred medium-wave, UHF and VHF broadcasting antenna and transmission system projects in the United States and abroad — is the recipient of a notable honor from the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society.

The BTS chose Dawson to receive its Jules Cohen Outstanding Achievement Award.

“Although we could not present Ben with the award in person, he attended the October virtual BTS Adcom meeting as an invited guest, where President Ralph Hogan virtually presented him with the award,” the society said in an announcement.

Dawson has five decades of experience in telecommunications engineering, and specializes in antenna and propagation design and analysis. (For a sampler of his many projects, see below.)

“Ben received numerous nominations from many colleagues throughout the industry,” the IEEE BTS stated. “One nominator stated ‘If Ben Dawson is associated with a project, it has instant credibility.’ Another nominator stated ‘Ben has always been a fabulous mentor.’”

Dawson taught himself calculus in high school to better understand antennas, according to a Radio World profile story in 2006.

“When I was 15, I began working an air shift during the summers for a radio station in Salem, Ore., but when the transmitter broke — an old RCA 250L — I was the only one who could fix it,” he recalled at the time. “Then my parents moved to Portland, Ore., and I started work for KUIK(AM), which was half-owned by Harold Singleton, who was a consulting engineer. Once Harold realized I could fix things I became his go-fer.”

After college, where he was chief engineer of Harvard’s student FM station WHRB for a year or so, and after stops as the chief of several West Coast radio stations, Dawson formed Hatfield & Dawson in 1973 along with Jim Hatfield Jr., and Maury Hatfield.

The Cohen award is given to “exemplify outstanding work in the field of broadcasting, focusing on Integrity, professionalism, quality, extent, reach and thoroughness of the candidates work as well as commitment to client success.” Last year’s recipient was Gary Cavell.

It is named after Jules Cohen, who among other contributions played a major role in developing the rules governing assignment of stations in the noncommercial educational portion of the FM band.

Ben Dawson received the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Engineering Achievement Award in 2006, with his longtime project partner Ron Rackley. He has produced numerous policy analyses and technical research for private clients as well as local, state, federal and foreign governments. He’s a past delegate to study groups of the International Telecommunications Union.

He’s a professional electrical engineer who is a member of several IEEE societies, as well as the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers and the Society of American Military Engineers.

Check out Ben’s favorites

Radio World asked Ben Dawson to list some of of his favorite or more interesting jobs. He replied by email:

1.  Diplexing 620 Portland on the 1190 antenna when the Port of Portland destroyed the beautifully designed 620 antenna (designed/implemented by Harold Singleton), ironic since 1190 had originally been at the 620 site.

2.  The three-station frequency swap in the Miami area that Ron Rackley and I did, establishing the 1040 operation in Miami with 50 kW.

3.  Designing the 900 MHz point-to-multipoint delivery system in the L.A. basin for City News Service of L.A.

4.  Design (with Harris Broadcast engineering staff) of the conversion of the Loran antenna in western Iceland to LF broadcast, and designing the new LF broadcast antenna system in eastern Iceland.

5.  Designing the adjacent-frequency two-site operation (954 kHz, 963 kHz) of what was then Radio Liberty in London, providing citywide coverage despite the unnecessarily restrictive allocation policies of the then-UK regulator (who’ve since been replaced by OFCOM).

6.  Obtaining FCC authorization for the first fulltime slant-wire fed grounded AM antenna in several decades.

7. Designing and implementing the rebuild of the 1 megawatt VOA (USAGM now) antenna in Thailand so it would handle the peak modulation from a modern solid-state (DX-1000) transmitter.

The post Ben Dawson Honored With IEEE BTS Award appeared first on Radio World.

The author is sales engineer for Wheatstone.

If you’re new to AoIP topologies, you have probably heard it’s best to set up a central core stack of switches in the TOC with edge switches at each studio or group of studios.

There are two good reasons to do this:

First, should a studio lose connectivity with the central stack for any reason — fire in the TOC, flood, power outage — individual studios can continue to operate independently via their local switches.

Cisco has a topology called Stackwise, where the back planes of multiple switches in a TOC, for example, can be joined at very high bandwidth (somewhere on the order of 160 gigabits-per-second links) in a daisy chain configuration, as shown above.

If any one of the switches should drop out of the stack, the other stack members can still communicate with each other.

Second, all local I/O is handled by the edge switches, which provides a more efficient networking and traffic control by cutting down the number of “home runs” from the studio to the central core stack.

Shown above are smaller, 12-port edge switches that handle the local I/O for the studio and have a trunk connection back to the central stack. (Click the image to view in detail.)

For additional redundancy, you can take a baseband connection out of one of the local I/O nodes (or BLADEs, in the case of Wheatstone) in the studio and run it into the rack room.

This gives you a baseband audio connection directly from the studio to the TOC in case you need to quickly patch programming into the RF chain.

Learn more about Wheatstone AoIP technology.

The post Best Switch Topology for AoIP Redundancy appeared first on Radio World.

The author is with Telos Alliance.

Processing is as important for podcasts as it is for live radio. However, your challenges and your goals are going to be slightly different.

Radio needs to have that larger-than-life sound to stand out. It’s broadcasting and the challenges are much different.

Just for starters, processing for FM has to take into consideration pre-emphasis, limiting, stereo pilot and multi-path. Most radio stations are a combination of music and voice, and the processing needs to bring out the best in both. Consider the amount of time a lot of processing gurus spend listening to one clip from one song to make sure that the cowbells really sound like cowbells when the radio listener hears it (yes, I am talking about Omnia founder Frank Foti).

The processing also needs to be adjusted for a wider variety of content and voices than a podcast.

Could you have the same processing preset for both an FM radio station and your podcast? Not really, because you will not have pre-emphasis or a final clipper to deal with.

But just as many radio stations have managed to get their streams having similar sonic signatures for their FM and streams, developing a core processing recipe for your podcasts and your FM station can and should be a goal.

After all, if your listeners love your radio station and they recognize the same sonic signature on your podcasts, you already have a fan.

One thing both have in common is the objective: To make sure the listener stays with you and loves your sound. Here are five tips to process your podcasts that will do just that.

#1 Test Your Podcast’s Processed Sound in a Variety of Environments

The other thing podcasting and radio have in common is that you don’t know where your listener is doing the listening. It may be in a car, using earbuds on public transportation, or at home, whether it be on an FM radio or smart speakers.

For both FM and podcasting, you have to create a sonic signature that works across all devices and environments. And we highly recommended that you test your podcast’s processed sound across a variety of devices.

We learned from many years of experience that what may sound great in one environment doesn’t always translate to others. In other words, don’t listen on the most beautiful speakers you have and think “Eureka!” The person listening on a really small smart speaker may not have the same experience at all.

#2 Process Based on Voice

Most podcasts are voice-only with only occasional music beds. A podcast should be processed depending on that voice. The processing adjustments you make will be to try to make the voice sound as good as it can.

This is critically important to keep in mind. The podcaster may have a great story but not the greatest voice, and processing can be used to add a bit more “oomph” to that voice or get rid of issues with over sibilance. What type of mic the podcaster uses can also affect how you process the audio.

#3 Consider Your Format and Audience

Your podcast’s desired sound also depends on what type of podcast you are producing.

A fast-paced podcast geared towards a young audience including lots of music beds can be processed very aggressively. But even at that, if you are going to maximize the loudness, it will need to be at a lower loudness level overall, because it will need to fit in with the rest of the content on a smart speaker or other podcasts. Very little irritates people more than audio content that is much louder than other content.

Using that same aggressive type of audio processing on a cooking show geared towards a more mature audience is a mistake. That audience doesn’t need to hear something über-compressed. Your goal with that type of show is probably a much more open sound.

#4 Podcast Processing & Audio Codecs

Processing for podcasting is  similar to processing for streaming. You do not have the same issues you need to deal with in FM processing.

Both podcasts and streams do have the challenges of audible artifacts caused by audio codecs as well. The good news is that you do not have to deal with a final clipper which can cause issues with audio codecs.

#5 Get Intimate with Your Audience

It is also worth considering that podcasting by its nature is a much more intimate one-on-one experience. It is a podcaster sharing information or a story with its audience one at a time. Often people are listening on ear buds. Processing needs to have that intimate feel.

For more on this topic, see the Telos Alliance webinar “Podcast Audio Quality.”

Also read the new Radio World ebook “Trends in Processing for Radio” at the Radio World Resources page.

The post 5 Tips for Processing Your Podcast appeared first on Radio World.

The author is chief engineer of KTIS(AM/FM), KDNW(FM), KDNI(FM) and KRFG(FM).

Artist Experience via HD Radio has been around for quite a few years now, but KTIS(FM) just implemented station logo and album artwork about two years ago.

At the time, the only ways to verify whether or not the images were going out over the air properly were various car stereos (built into the vehicles, so not very convenient for rack room monitoring), or the Sparc SHD-T750 Tabletop HD Radio.

Because the SPARC was the only indoor option, we purchased a few units — one for engineering, one for promotions, and one for the assistant PD.

We quickly discovered, however, the limitations (bugs?) of the Sparc unit. Strange unpredictable caching of station logos (why is the old logo still showing up on my radio?) and apparently no logo or artwork functionality on the HD4 channel. And even though they’re still being sold on Amazon and promoted on Grace Digital’s website, it seems to be an abandoned product that won’t be receiving any updates or bug fixes.

Enter the Inovonics Sofia 568 SiteStreamer+. It is a veritable toolbox for FM/HD Radio broadcasters to make sure that what you’re intending to put on the air is exactly what’s going on the air.

If you’ve used any of Inovonics’ recent equipment, starting with the Aaron 650 and popular INOmini SiteStreamer line, you will recognize the web interface. It’s organized and divided into sections that make sense. The “Now Playing” tab gives you an overview of your signal condition and various alarms, along with the option to tune the audio output of the unit to whichever station you’d like.

What the listener sees

The “Listener Experience” tab is where the real fun starts.

This tab gives an overview of every single active HD subchannel on the currently-tuned frequency, along with all the metadata and Artist Experience images, while also highlighting which image should be currently displayed on listener’s radios.

It will also tell you if your station logo has an “image issue” relating to the requirements specified by iBiquity Digital/Xperi for the station image logo.

On my particular unit, I’m noticing that my HD2 station logo isn’t currently working for some reason, and that my HD3 station logo seems to have an “issue.” This doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t work over the air, but that for best results, you should look into its formatting and resolution, and that it’s totally cleared of all EXIF data before being loaded into the Importer/Exporter/MSAC Client.

The Sofia 568 has many options for audio outputs — analog, AES3, streaming via the web interface, and AES67 via a separate Dante network jack. So far, the most useful of these has absolutely been the webstream. It’s a quick and easy way to verify things are on the air and sounding normal.

Alarms can be configured to send out an email for audio loss, low signal, RDS issues, pilot issues, HD carrier issues, and HD Artist Experience issues. Also, there are four GPOs on the rear that can be configured as any of those alarms for local signaling to an external monitoring or remote alerting system.

As usual, Inovonics has been extremely helpful in supporting and updating the unit for functionality and bug fixes ever since the original purchase. Overall, having the Sofia 568 in our facility has been a valuable addition to our HD Radio troubleshooting, diagnostic and monitoring toolbox, providing much information that was not otherwise available to us.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

For information, contact Gary Luhrman at Inovonics in California at 1-831-458-0552 or visit http://www.inovonicsbroadcast.com.

The post User Report: Inovonics Provides FM-HD Radio Toolbox appeared first on Radio World.

There’s a new organization focused on supporting the needs of independent radio broadcasters.

The concept of the new Independent Broadcasters Association (IBA) started as the brainchild of the independent radio operator Ron Stone. After sitting in on a session at an annual NAB conference two years ago, Stone walked out realizing that none of the issues covered were focused on independent radio companies at all.

“When you go to those events, you want to improve your organization and sales. It just seemed like everything was focused on the larger companies,” said Stone, who is founder, president and executive director of IBA and also owner 24 stations in five markets as part of the Adams Radio Group. “I was disheartened. And from there, I thought about what an association can do if it is formed in the right way.”

Fast forward to today and the new Independent Broadcasters Association has found support from 1,200 independent radio members. The association’s goals are to provide independent operators with ways to drive revenue and achieve cost benefits cannot be achieved alone. It will also meet needs not be served by other organizations, such as through educational webinars, conferences, access to group health insurance and admittance to jobs board.

On the heels of this, the IBA also plans to roll out a news service for independent broadcasters. “If you go back into the 1800s when [the Associated Press] started, it began as a co-op with other papers,” Stone said. “What we’re trying to do is to have all independents of the IBA contribute stories and images and [make that news accessible so that] any member can use it.”

Stone wanted to make it clear that stations who are part of the IBA are not trying to compete with other umbrella organizations. “We’re trying to take away from anyone else’s organization,” he said. “And we’re not trying to displace anyone else. Ours is highly focused on operational cost and revenue.”

Other offerings include the ability for independent broadcasters to participate in a financial review of their organization. IBA recently announced an association with dk east associates, a media specialty accounting firm, who will conduct a financial analysis of independent broadcasters’ operations. Participation in the financial report is free but stations must be a member of the IBA.

“We see a lot of information about the industry, but typically it only speaks to larger public companies and it is difficult to use in a meaningful way for local operations,” Stone said when the announcement was made. “The IBA was formed to bring shared resources like this to independent broadcasters, along with revenue-generation and cost-saving opportunities.”

For example, the IBA-dk east associates report will allow members to compare and contrast their operations to others of similar size and will provide quarterly data against 2019 to allow members to gauge their own performance against similar operations during the COVID-19 crisis.

Why did Stone see the need for this type of organization now? “Bigger companies have taken control of what is going on in our country,” he said. “They’ve had control since consolidation in the ’90s. And if you look at revenue, in 1996 we were something like a $15 billion industry. This year, we’re a $10 billion industry; compared to 1996 valuations, that’s more like $8 million. So we’ve lost 50% of the revenue that we used to have. Half our revenue is gone.

“We can keep doing the same things and you can see what the next 10 years is going to look like,” he said. “Or we can make a decision to bind together and find a path together.”

The entire radio industry is facing big challenges, he said. If we lose our position in the car, for example, we lose in a big way, he said. “Part of our plans is to create an app so that we, too, can go to the car manufacturers and argue ‘there’s a reason this app should be on your dashboard.’”

Stone said the organization is also in talks to create its own real-time, app-based ratings service.

A look at the IBA’s current board shows a mix of CEOs, GMs and independent owners with a mix of industry attorneys and digital companies serving as board advisors. The 501(c)(6) nonprofit company will require one third of the board to vacate their seat in December 2021 to keep ideas and mindsets fresh. Varied voices are important, Stone said. “We don’t want to see the same board members serving or 30 years,” he said.

There are several ways to join the IBA, one of which includes a way to make membership financially feasible to all stations. One option is a barter-based plan that includes a per station $100 annual fee plus one 60-second daily barter advertising spot. If they choose the membership barter option, that inventory is sold to fund their membership, Stone said. A second option is $600 annually per station with no barter.

Stone believes that the more independent members that the IBA has, the stronger the association will be. “The more members we have, the more voice we have in the matter. There is every reason to have every [independent station] be part of us.

“I want to know that when our generation hands it over [to the next generation], it will be in good shape,” he said. “But it takes every independent to make that happen.”

The post New Association Tackles the Needs of Independent Radio Stations appeared first on Radio World.

RTBF’s Francis Goffin is the recipient of the WorldDAB Outstanding Service award.

WorldDAB cited Goffin’s work with the French-speaking operations of the Belgian public broadcaster along with his promotion of transition to digital broadcasting.

[Read: WorldDAB’s First Virtual General Assembly Approaches]

He said, “I would like to thank WorldDAB Pres. Patrick Hannon and the entire WorldDAB community for giving me this wonderful award which underlines my involvement in the promotion of DAB+ for almost 10 years now.”

Goffin added, “I believe this award also honors the entire Belgian radio sector, which has collectively embarked on the digital migration from analog FM to DAB+ digital radio with great enthusiasm.”

The WorldDAB 2020 general assembly is this week.

The post Goffin Wins WorldDAB Service Award appeared first on Radio World.

Longtime broadcaster Saul Levine thinks the FCC’s decision to allow all-digital on the AM band is “a breakthrough,” and he’s encouraging his fellow AM station owners to invest in new equipment and programming with an eye on eventually going all-digital.

For now, the president of Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters Inc. has just spent a quarter of a million dollars on a new AM transmitting system at his oldies-formatted station KSUR(AM) in Los Angeles.

And he has turned on hybrid AM HD Radio as an interim step, making him one of the few U.S. broadcasters to add fresh AM HD Radio service in recent years.

The project involves a new 25 kW Nautel main transmitter and a 12 kW Nautel standby, plus four new 200-foot towers and ground systems.

He said that KSUR has a “significant” existing audience, so he views using hybrid mode as a compromise that lays groundwork for going 100% digital, which he anticipates doing in 12 to 18 months.

KSUR is a Class B directional station with 20 kW daytime power and a translator at 98.3 FM.

in 1959, Levine put KBCA(FM) on the air at 105.1, broadcasting from more than a mile above downtown Los Angeles as one of the first FM stations on Mount Wilson. “I placed FM 105.1 on the air in 1959 when FM set penetration was only about 25 percent,” he recalled. “It was a difficult time for FM, and the station did not become profitable for 10 years.

“I suggest AM owners who do not have a passion for radio and are looking for fast profits get out of the AM ownership business,” he continued. “Ultimately 100% AM digital will prevail and be successful. Initially, we have elected to go with hybrid HD digital/analog technology. The reason is that this allows continued analog listening while making the transition to all-digital AM.”

He said his analog AM sounds good and the digital component “is significantly noise-free, and provides stereo. KSUR 1260 is also simulcast in HD on our 105.1 FM facility with 100-mile coverage from 6,000-foot-high Mount Wilson.”

Levine told Radio World, “I see the recent FCC decision to approve all digital AM transmission as a breakthrough for the AM service [that will] will lead to financially successful AM stations. In my opinion initial operation with hybrid technology is a fast way to generate a positive outlook for the AM band, and lead to 100% digital technology within a few years.

“In the interim, I urge AM station owners to invest in AM with new equipment, and invest in unique programming to provide the audience with a reason to tune in, plus perceive digital AM radio as I did with FM 62 years ago.” He  says if an AM station plans to go to a new format or needs a kickstart, “I recommend all-digital now. But install the digital equipment now,” regardless.

Read our 2007 article “Levine’s KKGO/KMZT Embrace HD Radio”

The post Levine Sees AM Digital Vote as “Breakthrough” appeared first on Radio World.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement on the centennial Monday of the famous KDKA broadcast.

This is the text:

“Today we celebrate the 100th anniversary of our nation’s first widely recognized commercial radio broadcast that took place on November 2, 1920. The broadcast, which aired in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on KDKA, Westinghouse Electric’s newly established station, relayed the results of the 1920 presidential election and set the stage for a long line of radio broadcasts that have shaped the story of America.

As the earliest electronic mass communications medium, radio has allowed us to listen in on some of the most momentous occasions in American history, from President Roosevelt’s famous ‘fireside chats’ to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.  It has entertained us, from The War of the Worlds to The Jack Benny Program to American Top 40 with Casey Kasem to The Steve Harvey Morning Show.  And radio still keeps millions of Americans company on long drives, enthralls us with coverage of our favorite sports teams, and when disaster strikes, is one of the most valuable resources for life-saving information.

Radio has given us a way to come together in times of strife and times of triumph.

On behalf of myself and the FCC’s dedicated staff, it is my honor to join all Americans in recognizing this milestone. Congratulations to radio broadcasters on a century of excellence. We look forward to the stories that radio will continue to tell!

The post Chairman Pai’s Birthday Message to Radio appeared first on Radio World.

The DTS Connected Radio platform that Xperi has been working on for some time is coming to market now and will be part of the sophisticated MBUX multimedia car platform, the company announced.

The Daimler MB User Experience, or “MBUX,” is featured in the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class line.

DTS Connected Radio is a hybrid radio system that combines reception of broadcast signals with IP-delivered metadata; the company says it is now available in 48 countries. Hybrid systems provide a transition for a listener from broadcast to internet as a car drives out of range of a station OTA signal.

[Related: “Hybrid Radio Picks Up Momentum”]

The company also said its content comes from 48,000 radio stations and millions of tracks, albums and artist bios. DTS believes it has the world’s largest database of broadcast metadata.

It stated in the press release: “DTS Connected Radio features big beautiful art, comprehensive artist and album information and imagery, songs, playlists, content recommendations, lyrics, local events, podcasts, and more, enriching broadcasts from thousands of radio stations around the world.”

Xperi General Manager of Automotive Jeff Jury described the relationship as “partnering with Daimler to help make what they call the ‘Third Place’ — a refuge between home and workspace — more delightful.”

In a Radio World interview in July, Jury was asked what was notable about the MBUX system.

“First, Daimler [the parent of Mercedes] is not just handing over the dash to Apple or Google,” he said at the time. “They are innovating for their customers. This is a great outcome for the radio industry because it means not all entertainment needs to be behind a car play or android for auto wall.

“Second, the main screen has radio as a separate icon (and apps as a separate icon). This shows that radio is compelling, and importantly, a standalone infotainment source for Daimler buyers. Again, good for the radio industry because radio is a main option, not one of many apps in the dash.”

DTS highlights research that says radio remains a “must have” dashboard feature and reaches more adults 25–54 than other audio sources. Jury said those consumers want radio “to be as rich and engaging as other media platforms and experiences, particularly a mobile experience.”

DTS promotes its platform to carmakers as a global one, compatible with analog AM/FM and global digital radio formats including DAB, DAB+ and its own HD Radio technology. It said the platform enables OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to create better user interfaces without consuming a lot of data and computer resources in the vehicle.

Xperi is also the parent of DTS AutoSense, which monitors drivers and occupants; and HD Radio.

[Related: “Jeff Jury Highlights Further Personalization of the Dash”]

The post DTS Joins the MBUX Multimedia Platform appeared first on Radio World.

From our Who’s Buying What page: Family Life Radio station KFLR(FM) in Phoenix, Ariz., took delivery this fall of a new Nautel GV30N-D FM transmitter.

Shown is Michael Bove, chief engineer for Family Life Radio in Tucson and Phoenix, with their new box, which supports the station’s addition of HD Radio with –12/–14 HD injection.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

Effective radiated power is 100 kW. Its TPO is 21.566 kW, of which HD Radio is 1.066.

The station broadcasts with an ERI medium-power half-wave-spaced four-bay directional antenna mounted to a top pole on Tower 12 South Mountain Phoenix.

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

The post A Nautel Transmitter for KFLR appeared first on Radio World.