So here you are, minding your own business on a not so frantic Wednesday afternoon, when a guy shows up in the lobby and wants to see you. The receptionist says he has a badge and he is from the FCC.
Oh no! Panic! Mayhem! Chaos! Etc!
Actually, things are not so bad as they might seem, after all, this is not your father’s FCC.
Many stations use the state broadcaster associations Alternative Inspection Programs (AIP). This is where you pay a contractor from the broadcaster’s association to come out and do a mock inspection of your radio stations. After the station “passes” the “inspection” it is issued a “certificate” that “insures” it won’t be inspected by the FCC for three years.
Totally bogus, or as the French might say, complete bull shit.
The stations I currently work for had those “certificates.” When the FCC inspector showed up, he laughed at them and inspected us anyway. We complained to the state broadcasters association and the head of the FCC enforcement bureau at the local field office, all to no avail. This happened four times. Each time the FCC inspectors found nothing and went on their way.
What did I learn from this? Why bother with the stupid AIP’s when all that needs to be done is comply with the FCC’s rules. After all, the so called “inspector” from the broadcaster’s association is merely going to use the same FCC check list that is down loadable from the FCC web site. Anyone can do that themselves.
I also learned that the FCC inspectors check a few things more closely than others. For example:
The public inspection file should be perfect. Since they inspect these stations all the time, they know what is usually missing; Issues and quarterly reports, Contour maps and license renewal cards.
EAS logs and procedures. Make sure that every operator knows how to send and EAS test. Make sure that all the EAS logs have been check and signed by the chief operator. Make sure that any discrepancies are noted.
Directional AM station operating parameters. Still a hot button issue and one area that trips up a lot of people. All antenna parameters within 3 percent of licensed values. All monitor points below maximum allowed.
Equipment performance measurements. These are needed on all AM stations every year. They are carrier frequency harmonic measurements and NRSC-2 mask compliance measurements.
Tower fences and tower registration numbers. Big one and easy to spot and fix. All AM towers need to have a locked fence around the base insulator. Any tower over 200 feet tall needs to be registered and have a sign with the registration number posted. The sign needs to be accessible and legible.
So prepare ahead of time for the inevitable visit. It is very easy to comply with the FCC rules using the FCC checklists. Both the AM station checklist and the FM station checklist can be down loaded and used to self inspect any radio station.
Here is something else that I have found. Clean up the transmitter site. Sweep the floor, replace the burned out lights, empty the garbage, keep a neat maintenance log, etc. These things go a long way to making a good first impression, which can make the inspection go a lot better.
Once, myself and the FCC inspector pulled up in front of the transmitter building of an AM station. The grass in front was mowed, the bushes were all trimmed back, the field was mowed, the towers had new paint on them, The fences were in good shape, the place just looked good. We were about to go inside when he asked “Does the inside of that place look as good as the outside?” Which it did and I said yes. Then he said he had seen enough, have a nice day.
So, when the FCC guy shows up, offer him a cup of coffee and relax, things are going to be alright.
Update: This is the actual check list that an FCC inspector will use if he is inspecting a broadcast station.
Remember the movePlanet of the Apes, at the end, when Charlton Heston realizes that the planet is actually Earth in the future, run by apes? Here is a little refresher for you:
Anyway, my take on that movie was that world of the Apes was not a better place. When the Statue of Liberty was blown up, it was the end of everything that represented western civilization, e.g. everything good.
I find some striking parallels in this story.
Radio was discovered and perfected by various inventors and innovators. Heinrich Hertz is generally accepted as the first person to experiment with electromagnetic waves and their ability to be manipulated. He was a physicist and an electrical engineer.
Nikola Tesla was the first person to use electromagnetic waves to transmit information. He was also an electrical engineer.
Guglielmo Marconi developed and implemented commercial radio services, mostly ship to shore transmission facilities which charged customers by the word for delivered telegrams. He was a physicist.
Reginald Fressenden invented Amplitude Modulation (AM) first using a rotary spark gap transmitter. His first transmission included a violin solo and a reading from the bible. This was transmitted a distance of about 1 mile. He was an electrical engineer.
Lee Deforest invented the electron tube, which allowed for better amplification of transmitted and received radio waves, allowing the reliable transmission of voice over radio and broadcasting. He was an electrical engineer.
Others such as Steinmetz, Alexanderson, Baker, Armstrong, and even David Sarnoff (like him or not) added to the inventions and innovations that made radio work as a mass media and entertainment outlet.
Through the Golden Age of Radio, engineers and technical people ruled the roost, continuing to develop the technology and make improvements such as FM radio, Stereo Broadcasting, improved studio equipment, inventing television, and other wireless technology. Radio was the first technical medium where budding electronics geeks could sink there teeth into something. The number of devices that we use today because of radio is staggering. Two way radios, cellphones, wireless internet connections, blue tooth, EZpass, RFID, shoplifting alarms, cordless phones, baby monitors, etc. all came about because somebody had the idea; “hey, we can use radio to do this…”
As the radio broadcasting developed into a big business, it became more of the realm of sales guys. I once knew a General Manager, who rose from the ranks of the sales department say “Look, I don’t know nuttin about no technical stuff. Those tubes and everything.” We call him Biff (cause he looked like the guy from Back to the Future) the manager. I worked for a general manager who, when I asked to spend money to fix something, would say things like “In the land of the blind, a one eyed man is king.” While I contemplated what that meant to me, he would run out of the room and disappear for the rest of the day. From this point, things only became worse.
Now radio is run by bean counters and bankers, a droll lot if there ever was one. Not that bean counters and bankers are necessarily bad people, they don’t seem to understand the entertainment aspect of radio. The fact that a successful radio format is more than just playing some music on the air. It has to take the listener somewhere, either by evoking a memory or emotion, or by providing useful information. Even a commercial, if well done, can accomplish this.
Computers are inexpensive, they are reliable, they don’t need vacations, they don’t call in sick, they don’t get divorced or get pulled over for drunk driving, they even reproduce good sounding audio. In the end, however, it is just a machine. Computers have no personality, no soul, no cognizant judgment, computers cannot decide if something is an emergency, they cannot engage a listener and make a personal connection.
And that is what radio is all about, making a personal connection with the listeners.
So imagine you worked as an engineer in radio in the 1940′s and by some strange occurrence, you were transported to the same radio station in 2009. The atmosphere would surely be much different, if not completely unrecognizable. Then you are discovered to be an engineer and the hounds are released. You are beseeched with inane requests for everything from replacing the florescent light bulbs in the bathroom to fixing the squeaky chair. You might think you are on another planet. One run by… Apes.
This would be what it is like on a typical Monday morning department heads meeting…
Because of this post, I have received some e-mail asking why I am against community radio. I am not. In fact, I support community radio. I think that community radio done well is a wonderful tool in our democracy, giving a voice to those that are watching government. It also promotes other locals interests, events, music, etc. I would like to see more failing stations bought by community broadcasters and turned into something that is a public trust and responsive to the local population.
What I was trying to get at in the previous post was that over crowding the FM band with more and more small signals will degrade it. There is no ifs, ands or buts, removing third adjacent protections on the FM band will increase the noise floor. This will lead to more interference on the average FM radio, which will lead to more people getting fed up and tuning out.
Here is why: You cannot change the laws of physics. FM transmitters have output filters that attenuate side band energy, that is to say, energy transmitted on 1st, 2nd and 3rd adjacent channels. A 50,000 watt FM station on 100.3 MHz will have side band energy on 100.1, 99.9 and 99.7 MHz as well as 100.5, 100.7 and 100.9 MHz. Due to the limitations on the components used to construct those filters, they can only be designed with the accuracy of the components used. In other words, most electrical components have a tolerance given in percent, example +/- 10%. That means that the value of the component will change, usually because of heating. Therefore, output filters cannot be constructed to limit emissions to only the main channel and say one adjacent channel, they would drift off frequency.
Also, creating a brick wall filter that cuts everything off at the second adjacent channel will cause distortion of the RF signal on the main channel. With analog AM and FM transmitters it cannot be done. Digital transmissions are another story, but that is not what we are talking about here.
That is an engineer’s point of view.
One other thing about adding hundreds more LP FM signals. There should be something that stipulates most (say >50%) of the programming be locally originated. Recorded for later playback is fine. Having thousands of LP stations broadcasting the same syndicated shows or running voice tracked automation 24/7 would be a recreation of the AM band as it currently exists. If you want to listen to that, then it already exists, help your self. I, on the other hand, would like to avoid the AMization of the FM band.
Almost all radio stations use a tower of some sort to support their transmitting antennas. These towers need maintenance from time to time and only qualified people should perform maintenance on towers. Hence, the tower company is formed.
405 foot guyed tower with ERI FM antennas
Over my years of experience, I have dealt with many different tower companies, from one man operations to big corporations that have multiple crews out in the field on any given day. I have discovered that not all tower companies are created equal. Not only do tower climbers need to be in good physical shape and be trained correctly in all tower climbing safety procedures, they also need to be good mechanics so they can actually repair things on the tower. Climbing a 470 foot tower to repair a strobe light is all well and good. Once the climber gets to the strobe light, he needs to be able to disassemble it without dropping parts or breaking things, trouble shoot if needed, install new parts and re-assemble the unit, again without dropping or breaking anything.
Applying a RF connectors, installing a FM antenna or STL antenna, repairing light fixtures or conduit all require some amount of manual dexterity and concentration. Assembling high powered antenna requires close attention to detail. Any pinched O rings, cross threaded bolts, bent bullets and the antenna will have problems, likely at the worst possible time.
The sign of a bad tower company is if it’s climbers cannot carry out those tasks with one or at most two climbs. I have a situation on a tower where our FM station is a tenant. The tower has a strobe light failure near the top of the tower where our FM antenna is located. They have climbed the tower no less than four times to repair this, and it is still not fixed yet. Each time they climb, the station has to reduce power to protect the tower climbers from excessive RF exposure. Each climb it takes them several hours longer than anticipated to finish their work.
A good rule of thumb, If the defective part cannot fixed in the first two climbs, then the entire strobe unit should be replaced on the third climb. Even though the strobe units are expensive, by the time they get done paying for all this tower work, they could have bought two new strobes. Today will be the fifth climb and there is no guarantee that it will be fixed.
I advised the tower owner that they should be looking around for another tower company because these guys aren’t exactly setting the world on fire.
One thing that I find a little annoying is the continuing need to reboot everything at some interval. Computers in the studio, audio vault servers and work stations, e-mail servers, files servers, network routers, and so on. Got a problem, first thing to do is cycle the power off and on…
One of the most irritating pieces of equipment is the audio processors on one of our FM stations. A few years ago, we purchased the whiz bang Omnia 6 processor. Every 6 or 8 months the thing losses its mind and sounds terrible. The station gets all bassy and the high end sounds distorted. I have tried everything I can think of to prevent this, including installing an UPS, extra grounding, extra shielding, software updates, etc. In the end, it just has to be rebooted, which of course, means several seconds of dead air. Naturally, this processor is at the FM transmitter site, where it is difficult to get to.
Truth be told, when it is working, it does sound pretty good on the air, but is it $10,000 dollars better than the older Optimod 8100A? No, it is not.
The old Orban Optimods sound pretty good as long as they are re-capped and aligned every so often. If fact, our number one billing station has an AC format and uses an Optimod 8100A and nothing else. Our other station in the same market uses an Optimod 8100A and a pair of Texar Audio Prisms. In the ten years I have been working for this group of radio stations, I have never had to reboot the Optimod or the Audio Prisms, they just seem to work continuously without problems. Imagine that.
I have seen this called a “retro audio chain” by some. Nothing retro about it, a little care and feeding and I’d stack this equipment up against an Omnia 6 any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
This is a grainy video of an 8100A in action:
That was taken in our rack room using off air audio on the rack room speakers and a cheap video camera. You get the idea.
So here is to Frank Foti and his marketing gurus that have sold all of the program directors in America on the need to “update” there air chain processors, because, you know, the Optimod, that is old skool.
A little background here: Perdue Chicken company has or used to have a saying that went like this: “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken” That’s kind of a hokey thing to say, but so be it. Then, for an ad campaign in Spanish, somebody mistranslated that saying into something like this: “It takes an aroused man to make an affectionate chicken” or words to that effect.
Perhaps that is what Ernie Anastos was thinking of last night when he said this live on Fox News’ 10 o’clock newscast in New York:
Which, I don’t care who you are, that is pretty funny. Doing that in TV market number 1 with millions of viewers tuned in, priceless.
By the way, the coanchor’s name is Dari Alexander, and she’s a cutie (hey, look at you, hey).
So here we were at the radio station studio on September 11th, 2009. The announcer was talking about the terrorist attacks which took place a short distance away and how much it changed things around here. It was an interesting retrospective.
At 8:46 am, they had a moment of silence to mark when the first plane struck the World Trade Center. Then a little fizz, a a little crackle on the air, and the STL transmitter quit. Right there in the middle of the moment of silence.
The unit in question is a pair of the newer Moseley PCL 6010 transmitters with a TPT-2 automatic transmitter switcher. It did not switch over automatically during the failure, I had to run into the rack room and switch it over manually. The main transmitter, unit A, had high reflected power. When I switched to unit B, everything was fine.
After all was said and done, I checked all of the RF cables for loose connectors, there weren’t any. Then I switched back to transmitter A and all was normal. Creepy.
So on 9/11, we had a prolonged moment of silence in one of the weirder incidents I have ever witnessed.
I read through the news coverage of the vandalism at the KRKO transmitter site. Apparently there is some group of idiots people running around insisting that radio towers are bad for the environment and people’s health. These are the same ones who have torched SUV’s and burned high end housing developments down. Naturally, no pollution is released into the environment during these acts, else they would be hypocrites.
They make these claims with no merit or scientific basis, instead relying on base fears to make people go crazy, either temporarily or permanent like. It is actually a pretty good motivator as both political parties and all sorts of fringe truthier, birthier, and others have discovered. If enough people insist that it is true, than it must be so.
Unfortunately there is always some idiot around who thinks it is his or her duty to take action, to protect the rest of us from some terrible fate.
In the meantime, some security cameras at the transmitter site might be a good investment. Chances are, these Earth Liberators that sneak around with bolt cutters and hack saws will likely think twice if there is any chance of themselves going to jail.
By the way, those KRKO towers looked like self supporters which would have been very difficult to get down. Did they rent that excavator, or was that some construction equipment left unattended?
This is a picture of an exploded battery on a 45 KW backup generator:
850 CCA battery exploded during generator startup
This happened during a thunderstorm. The smoking crew was out on the back porch, during a thunderstorm (you have to have your priorities I suppose) and witnessed the entire incident. What was told to me was lightning stuck the generator. I find that improbable, since there are many metal objects scattered around the area that are much taller. What likely happened was lightning stuck something close by, causing the power to drop out momentarily. This caused the generator to turn over. The battery was likely low in electrolite, so there was an internal arc and the thing exploded in short order.
These events happend in rapid sucession, giving the illusion that lightning struck the generator.
I removed the old battery and hosed the inside of the generator out with copious amounts of water. There is nothing that can be done about the spilled electrolite, since it was likely washed into the storm sewer during the storm. After replacement of the battery, I tested the generator and all is well.
I’ve had one of those weeks were few things go right. Sometimes you can look back on a situation and think, that could have been handled better. Other times there is nothing that could have been done to prevent a problem or problems.
This week started with a continuing T-1 outage to our transmitter site. This site is serviced by two T-1 circuits, a main and a backup. Unfortunately, there was a major cable cut that took out both circuits, and the dial up phone line and every other TELCO circuit in the building. In this case, backups didn’t matter.
I got around the issue by bringing the AudioVault server to the transmitter site. The program director then drove updates to the transmitter site and loaded them in manually. Operating from the transmitter site was out of the question for numerous reasons.
This particular radio station is the General Manager’s favorite, thus he called often for updates, which can be annoying. Nothing worse than trying to fix a problem when you are being continuously interrupted by phone calls. I tried to explain to him that it didn’t matter how good the format was, whenever a station is off the air it takes priority over everything else. In this case, however, there was not a lot we could do other than wait for the phone company to fix the problem.
On top of that, another station’s STL transmitter decided to stop working in the middle of the night, which prompted a 1am drive in to the studio. Add to that the missed appointment by the utility company that left me sitting at a third transmitter site wasting time for an hour, the dead battery in the engineering truck, and the constant nit picking by the corporate office over the expenditure of every nickle and sometimes I have to ask myself; is this worth it?
Explaining to the accountants why we need to replace a 24 year old transmitter at a mountain top transmitter site before the snow flies, for the fifth time, is a little wearing. Explaining to them why we should lease a new studio building were we don’t need T-1 circuits for STLs (there are plenty of good places out there), especially in light of the 10 day outage we just experienced, is like trying to explain to somebody why it is a bad idea to set yourself on fire. BECAUSE YOU’LL DIE!
Of course, this is the same company that allowed one of their studios to deteriorate so badly that the production person fell through the floor. No kidding, it was a single wide moble home, she fell through the floor onto the ground below. I often wonder how we didn’t get sued or fined.
It may be time.
Axiom
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
~1st amendment to the United States Constitution
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin
...radio was discovered, and not invented, and that these frequencies and principles were always in existence long before man was aware of them. Therefore, no one owns them. They are there as free as sunlight, which is a higher frequency form of the same energy.
~Alan Weiner
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers
~Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Article 19
So here you are, minding your own business on a not so frantic Wednesday afternoon, when a guy shows up in the lobby and wants to see you. The receptionist says he has a badge and he is from the FCC.
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