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By Paul Thurst, on June 12th, 2010
It might happen, at least according to Commissioner Clyburn, they aren’t saying no right away. According to her prepared statement:
I believe it is time that we consider the fate of Channels 5 and 6 as they relate to current radio service. These channels have proven difficult for television broadcasting, and I have a hard time imagining that they would fare much better as additional spectrum for mobile broadband use. This spectrum is not well suited for digital transmissions. It certainly is possible that this spectrum could be used for LPFM, expanded NCE use, and AM broadcasters.
That would, indeed, be an interesting development, if it were allowed to happen. Of course, there are quite a few hurdles to get over, even if it gets the FCC’s nod, which is a long shot to say the least. There would likely be some type of congressional “input” into the matter, which could stall things for years if not forever, depending on which way the money flows and which one of our wonderful congressional representatives can be bought and sold.
- Getting new radios on the market with the expanded FM band (77 through 87 MHz) will take some time. Thankfully, unlike HD radio, no licensing fees will be required. Manufactures simply need to increase the frequency range down. It might take several years, but it would happen eventually, as is the case with expanded AM band radios, which are universal now.
- Existing AM stations should be given the option to move, those that stay on the AM band will get the option to improve their facilities or go non-directional as the interference contours allow.
- Those that choose to abandon AM need to surrender their AM license before commencing broadcasting on FM, none of this expanded band crap where they were supposed to surrender licenses after five years and never did.
- Those that choose to abandon the AM band also will not be assured the same theoretical coverage areas they had on the AM band.
- AM migrants should not have to compete in an auction.
Indeed, if LPFMs get a boost in the process, all the better. It might actually give radio the shot in the arm it needs, add a good deal of local competition and satisfy several needs.
By Paul Thurst, on June 11th, 2010
 National Public ? NPISAIPD: National Public Internet Streaming Audio with I-Pod Downloads. Lets face it, when the National Public Radio CEO, Vivian Schiller, basically talks about doing away with radio in the next 5 to 10 years, what are they going to call the network? I suppose they could just say “National Public Media” or something like that. With radio’s current trajectory, she might not be wrong.
Of course all of the NPR affiliates that kick large sums of money up the chain to the network may have something to say about all this. After all, they are the one heavily invested in transmitters, towers, STL’s and all the other equipment, buildings and real estate required to transmit radio signals. Not that I particularly dislike NPR, I think they have some fine programs, but much of it is syndicated and this is where radio is falling apart. Non-local radio stations will perish. Only stations that offer something different and not available through other sources will survive and thrive, voice tracking and syndication will become the kiss of death.
This also leaves a bit of a problem for NPR itself. Much of its revenue (more than 50%) comes from network affiliation fees with member stations. If they intend on short circuiting those stations cutting them out of the programming loop (Schiller says no but we’ll see), they are going to have to figure out how to make up that lost revenue. If I were an NPR member station, I’d surely be looking at my network affiliation agreement and looking for ways to replace some of that content with something local. That would be planning ahead.
Local Radio.
Local news, local music, local arts, local sports, local weather, local content. I can find out what is going on in China, Israel, India or almost any place around the globe with a few key strokes on the computer. I can’t find out what happened at the local town board meeting, what the county legislature is up to, or whether the school budget passed. All of those things have immediate affects on my taxes and therefore my family finances.
Local radio. Fill in the void left by dead newspapers. That is what radio stations need to do, go local or perish.
By Paul Thurst, on June 10th, 2010
Safety at work is one of those things that is often overlooked for various reasons. Sometimes we just get into a groove and are not thinking about it. Other times, employers can put workers in a potentially dangerous situation by ignoring regulations or insisting employees do things contrary to common sense.
For a broadcast engineer working in the field, safety can be a matter of life and death. Transmitters, in particular, have a host of potential safety issues; high voltage, thermal burns, RF burns, revolving mechanical parts, and external things like lightning. Transmitter sites themselves can be critter magnets, anything from bees to raccoons, bears, and even the two legged kind.
Good general practices can go a great way in reducing injuries and downtime. Take this young fellow here:
 improperly attired worker attempting unsafe operation First of all, it appears he has gone to work in his pajamas, which is a no-no. Secondly, he has the right idea, wearing safety goggles while undertaking the risky operation of cutting low density polyethylene with a pair of hand shears, however, those look more like swim goggles. They appear to be improperly donned. He is using a right handed shearing device with his left hand and the work area looks cluttered and unkempt.
Seriously, we are all responsible for ourselves. While at work, it is important to use common sense. I may be a wimp, but if I have a question on whether the breaker is on or off, I go check. High voltage power supplies offer no second chances. Here is a list of things to be cognizant of while working at transmitter sites:
- Weather. If the transmitter got knocked off the air by lightning, wait till the storm is over to fix it. It is still coupled to the tower, even if the backup transmitter is on the air.
- Fall hazards. OHSA requires fall protection for any worker working at an elevation higher than 4 feet. Fall protection can vary CFR 29 subpart E 1926 has all the details.
- Falling object hazards. Tower works have been known to drop a wrench from time to time. A hard hat should be required whenever climbers are on the tower. Also, I watched ice shedding from a 1000 foot TV tower practically destroy a fuel delivery truck in a matter of minutes.
- RF safety. I require all tower climbers to wear personal RF alarms when climbing on any tower that has RF radiators active. Do not work in hot ATU’s or Phasors. ATU’s and Phasors should have provisions to make all necessary measurements with protective covers in place and minimally exposed RF parts.
- Electrical safety. Never work alone at a transmitter site. Turn off breakers before opening transmitter doors, do not defeat interlocks, always discharge high voltage with ground stick. Hang ground stick on HV power supply output. Tag out breakers if in a separate room from transmitter.
- Critters. Use bee spray on ATU’s and other outdoor structures. Be careful around wild animals, even mice and mice dropping can spread disease, use hand cleaner after cleaning up mice nests. Snakes love tuning houses, generator sheds or just about any building that is not inhabited.
- Generators and backup power. Generators pose several hazards; fuel and batteries can be explosion risks, revolving parts, thermal burns and high voltage.
- Access to site. Some areas where mountain top transmitter sites are common, access during winter months can be tricky.
Much of this is common sense, remember, a radio station is a radio station, there is only one you.
By Paul Thurst, on June 9th, 2010
Bob Savage hits the nail directly on the head, it is time to kill it. If you have time, read some of the attachments in the sidebar.
By Paul Thurst, on June 6th, 2010
Shortwave Pirate broadcasting has been going on for years. While it is illegal to transmit radio signals without a license, it is not illegal to receive those signals. There is something sort of sneaky, like you are hearing something you shouldn’t, part of some underground thing, listening to these guys. I am almost remiss to write something about it because I don’t want anyone to get into trouble.
Anyway, on any given day or night, pirate broadcasters roam the shortwave airwaves. Much of what they do is typical sophomoric humor, such as playing a song where the only lyrics are “god damn you” over and over again. Some of it can be somewhat entertaining. A lot of what they tell as jokes are inside baseball, you have to listen and do a little research to get it, the Al Fansome reference is one. There are no set times or frequencies. It is quite common to hear one guy tuning up and getting ready to go on the air when the current frequency occupant signs off (happens often on 6925 KHz).
Most of these guys build their own transmitters based on designs found on various websites. Power levels vary, but 10 to 50 watts is common. Because of this, a good low noise receiving antenna is required to pull them out of the noise floor. I have used, with good success, a K9AY terminated loop antenna. We are in a rural area, so it is pretty low noise to begin with. Even so, the coverage with a 50 watt transmitter is remarkable when propagation conditions are good. Sound quality can be quite good for a homemade AM transmitter.
There is a lot of focus on FM pirates these days, that particular setup is likely the easiest to attain for most non-technical types. There are a few AM pirates floating about, those are likely the most difficult to construct and conceal once they are on the air. Both of those broadcast bands have the advantage in that there are many kits and or instructions on how to build a pretty good sounding transmitter. Shortwave seems to be a small cadre of dedicated hobbyists that simply like to fool around on the radio.
In any case, with the FCC stretched thin, it is unlikely that a SW pirate will be busted but not unheard of. One SW pirate station was busted in Florida about a month ago. Even so, that was the first one in almost five years.
For the most part, the activity seems to center between 6850 to 6970 KHz or so. Some others operate around 15055 to 15070 KHz. Here is a brief selection of what one might find on the SW pirate frequencies:
- WHYP on 6925 USB “Who Wants To Be A Pirate Radio Operator” at 0156z.
- WMPR on 6925 AM “This is WMPR Dancy Party” ID at 0040z.
- Captain Morgan Shortwave Radio on 6925AM “Positive Captain Morgan Shortwave ID, email and twilight zone theme at 2209z.
- Radio Ronin Shortwave on 6950AM oriental-sounding interval signal, id at 01:04, Outer Limits intro, “She Blinded Me with Science”, strange version of “SOS”, anti-BP comedy skits, id at 01:19
- Indira Calling on 6925AM pop music that I can’t identify, “Rock-It”, Indian music, id at about 00:37, “Beach Party 2000″ show, Calcutta mail drop, Beach Boys medley
- WEAK Radio on 6925 Shout out to Voice Of Honor. 0048z “Godzilla” 0055z Sabbath.
- Channel Z radio on 15067AM 2218z ID and contact info, must be an old show (Blue Ridge Summit maildrop)
And so on. Those call signs are usually spoofs on something. Occasionally, contact information is given out, usually in the form of a mail drop. If so inclined, one might write a letter and receive a QSL card.
 Radio Ronin QSL card There is plenty of information floating around out there about shortwave pirate radio, if one cares to look for it. Two of the more popular discussion forums are HF underground and Free Radio Network Grapevines.
By Paul Thurst, on June 5th, 2010
The phone company came out and cut over the T-1 circuit on Wednesday, June 2nd. This really kicked things into high gear. By that afternoon we had moved the Prophet systems automation rack up to the new location and started broadcasting from there.
Unfortunately, the backup plan, which was to use the phone company DSL circuit to relay audio to the transmitter site, fell through at the very last minute. I think the phone company mistakenly turned off the DSL service to the old studio ahead of schedule. The net result was 2 hours off air in the middle of the day, which we were seriously trying to avoid. Once it was done, however, there was no going back, so we worked extra hard to get back on the air from the new location.
Naturally, while all this is going on, the electrical inspector shows up to do the final electrical inspection for the town building department.
Here is a nice progression on the equipment racks:
 Equipment rack with automation system After the T-1 circuit was cut over, we began broadcasting from the new location with the equipment rack automation system using the production room as a studio for live elements and voice tracking.
 Equipment rack, wired to both studios The wiring on the equipment rack is completed.
 Completed with phone system and network switch The equipment rack is completed, the phone system is installed, the computer network is wired and tested. The yellow light on the top of the rack is a silence sensor.
 The old WKZE studio The old WKZE studio was ripped out on Thursday. The console was removed and rebuilt with a new control surface
 New WKZE air studio completed, console is a Radio System millennium 12 The production room was completed, speakers hung, etc.
 The production room is long and narrow All set and ready to be “customized” by the DJ’s. Monday morning, the staff will roll into their new digs, which is always fun. In comparison to most studio moves and builtouts these days, this one was relatively small and simple. Last studio consolidation project involved 5 radio stations and ten studios. That one took place in steps over several months.
By Paul Thurst, on June 3rd, 2010
 4CX35,000C ceramic vacuum tube There are still many hollow state (AKA tube type) transmitters floating around out there in the broadcast world. High power, especially high power FM transmitters are often tube types and there are many good attributes to a tube transmitter. They are rugged, efficient and many of the well designed tube units can last 20-25 years if well maintained.
There downside of a tube transmitter is tube replacement. Ceramic tubes, like a 4CX20,000 or 4CX35,000C cost $6-9K depending on manufacture. A well maintained tube and last 3-4 years, I have had some lasting 8 years or more. My personal record was for a 4CX35,000C that was a final PA tube in a Harris MW50A transmitter. The tube was made by EEV (English Electrical Valve, now known as E2V) and lasted approximately 84,000 hours, which is 9.58 years. When it finally came out of service it looked like it had been through a fire, the entire metal plate body was dark blue. I took it out because the power was beginning to drop a little and it was making me nervous.
This was not accident, I did it by maintaining the filament voltage, keeping the tube and transmitter clean. The tube filament supplies the raw material for signal amplification. Basically, the filament boils off electrons, which are then accelerated at various rates and intensity toward the plate by various control grids. The plate then collects the amplified signal and couples it to the rest of the transmitter. When a tube goes “soft,” it has used up its filament.
I had a long conversation about this one day with Fred Riley, from Continental Electronics, likely the best transmitter engineer I have ever known. At the time, the consensus was to lower the tube filament voltage no more than 10%. On the 4CX35,000C, the specified filament voltage is 10 volts, therefore, making it 9 volts was the standard procedure. What Fred recommended was to find the performance “knee,” in other words, where the power began to drop off as the filament voltage is lowered. Once that was determined, set the voltage 1/10 of a volt higher. I ended up running that EEV tube at 8.6 volts, which was as low as the MW50′s filament rheostat would go.
The other important thing about tubes is the break in period. When installing a new tube, it is important to run only filament voltage for an hour or two before turning on the plate voltage. This will allow the getter to degas the tube. New tubes should be run at full filament voltage for about 100 hours or so before the voltage is reduced.
Tube changing procedure:
- Remove power from transmitter, discharge all power supply caps to ground, hang the ground stick on the HV power supply.
- Remove tube, follow manufacture’s procedures. Most ceramic tubes come straight up out of their sockets (no twisting).
- Inspect socket for dirt and broken finger stock. Clean as needed. Finger stock, particularly in the grid section, is important for transferring RF. Broken fingers can lead to spurs and other bad things
- Insert new tube, follow manufactures recommendations. Ceramic tubes usually go straight down, no twisting.
- Make all connections, remove grounding stick, half tap plate voltage supply if possible, close up transmitter
- Turn on filaments and set voltage for manufactures recommended setting. Wait at least 90 minutes, preferably longer.
- Turn on plate voltage and tune transmitter. Tune grid for maximum current and or minimum reflected power in the IPA. PA tuning should see a marked dip in the PA current. Tune for dip, then load for maximum power.
- Turn off transmitter, retap plate supply for full voltage
- Turn on transmitter and plate supply, retune for best forward power/efficiency ratio.
- After the 100 hour mark, reduce filament voltage to 1/10 volt above performance knee.
Of course, every transmitter is slightly different. There may not be a dip in the plate current if the transmitter is running near it’s name plate rating, in which case one would tune for maximum forward power.
This system works well, currently one of the radio stations we contract for has a BE FM20T with a 4CX15,000A that has 9 years on it, still going strong.
By Paul Thurst, on June 1st, 2010
 FCC seal I was this interesting tidbit on the Radio World website the other day. The question is, how much authority does the FCC have to conduct a search of a private residence. The Electronic Frontier Foundation wanted to know therefore they sent a FOIA request to the FCC seeking documents supporting this claimed authority.
The documents received seem to be redacted and some are mostly blank, such as the training module on how to obtain permission to enter private property is supposed to take 6 hours to complete, but consists of 3 paragraphs and 2 questions. Hopefully that is redacted and does not reflect on the quality of agents the FCC is employing these days. The upshot seems to be the agent either needs a warrant or permission.
It may be surprising to some citizens, however, the FCC does have the authority to investigate radio signals, whether they are intentionally generated, as in a pirate broadcaster, or unintentionally generated, as in a piece of gear gone bad.
According to federal regulations, an FCC agent may request entry to inspect a private building anytime he/she believes there may be a device emitting radio frequency energy. This includes anything with a FCC part 15 sticker, which can be computers, TV remote controls, garage door openers, WiFi network routers, etc. This basically covers every house in the US as well as most businesses. Those rules were written when most homes and businesses did not have any RF generating devices and there was little to indicate that they ever would.
Consequences for failure to allow an FCC field agent into a residence or business appears to be the issuance of a citation in the form of a threatening letter. Continued intransigence would be met with a NAL (Notice of Apparent Liability) followed by a forfeiture notice also known as a fine. The typical FCC fine these days seems to be $10,000.00. If it is a repeated and willful violation, equipment can be ceased and the perpetrator arrested.
In instances where safety of life is in question, then every step necessary to disable the offending device needs to be taken. Things like transmitters spurring into aircraft frequencies or TV antenna amplifiers running wide open, also interfering with aircraft frequencies comes to mind.
One of the examples given details a field agent trying to track down a noisy cable TV amplifier. From the FCC field agent’s perspective, the homeowner appears to be a royal pain in the ass. In this day and age when everything has a computer and most of them generate RF, tracking down interference can be a painstaking process, especially where housing is dense. Uncooperative home owners, especially dumb ones, who have no idea what they have plugged in only make things worse.
Still, there is the issue of forth amendment rights, which, if the above law was misinterpreted, misused or applied with the wrong standard would likely be trampled. In these days of extra constitutional activity, giving Los Federales an entry into one’s house might invite unwanted scrutiny by other agencies. As far as changing the rules, with the current group of scoundrels and rouges in the legislative branch, one might end up with something ten times worse than before.
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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
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Heard in the clear