Engineering Radio » General

Why stealing is bad

Paul Thurst — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:08:53 +0000

Eventually, you will get caught, odds dictate. The local engineer for Cumulus Broadcasting in Cincinnati found this out earlier in the week. Of course, innocent until proven guilty, so I won’t assume anything.

Broadcast engineering, especially radio engineering is a small field. Sadly, when something like this happens it makes all radio engineers look bad and there is no good reason or excuse for it.

I have seen several cases where an engineer or technical person has taken advantage of their position to pilfer from a radio station. These vary from cashing in on dud tubes from a transmitters site to taking high value equipment and selling it on eBay. I recall on recent instance of backup transmitter and STL systems being sold. I cannot imagine what these people are thinking. A transmitter, STL system, console or even a dud tube has a serial number and is traceable. Anything with a serial number is likely part of a station inventory list and or will have some record of manufacture and sale.

There are instances when old equipment is getting thrown out. In that situation, I always get permission before removing anything, even from the dumpster.

I have made several trips to the scrap yard with old transmitter chassis, wire or left overs from transmitter installations. In those circumstances, I always get a receipt and write the source of the scrap on the back. This way, a record is kept and if there is any questions, I can refer to it.

Generally speaking, it is better to be overly cautious.

Work Ethic

Paul Thurst — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:45:32 +0000

We have this guy that works for us who is atypical. We call him Pete because that is his name. The other day, he was slacking off on the job again, this time figuring out how to take a nap in a transmitter:

Pete working on a Harris FM25K

What are we going to do with him?

Actually, he is rebuilding the grid tuning section (AKA input tuning section), which is no small matter. Soon, we will have this 26 year old transmitter running good as new, or better than new. It already sounds much better on the air than it did before, the input tuning is broader and there is much less AM noise.

Currently, it is running about 70% power while we wait for a replacement amplifier from Silicon Valley Power Amps.

SOPA/PIPA protest

Paul Thurst — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:08:56 +0000

Yesterday, January 18, 2012, I blacked out engineeringradio.us for the day in protest of the internet censorship bill working its way through congress colloquially known as SOPA or PIPA. There were some 17,000 or more others that did the same.

SOPA PIPA protest screen shot

If the internet is indeed the new media, destined to replace the old media, then having in place draconian restrictions that allow the government to block websites and content with no due process for the website owner is censorship, plain and simple. Imagine a country where the government can come in and shut down any newspaper, TV station or Radio station, give no reason other than some weak statement about copy write laws. See also: China, North Korea, Cuba, Soviet Russia, etc.

It is important to check the corporate power in this country. It is widely reported that Congress has a 9% approval rating. It is also hard to imagine their approval rating is actually that high. While signing petitions and writing senators and congressman may provide some relief, the shortest path to ending this is to boycott the corporate sponsors of the legislation. Hitting companies bottom line will speak louder than any internet protest, petition, letter writing campaign, etc. Thus, if so inclined, here is a list of producer companies that like the idea of internet censorship.

I don’t know what it is that I like about you but I like it a lot

Paul Thurst — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:42:16 +0000

Alternate title: How Important is College Radio?

If Radio as an entertainment medium is to survive; vital. College Radio is the alternative to corporatist radio and is fertile ground for new artists and music. The big three radio groups control (Clear Channel, Cumulus, CBS) something like 75% of the radio revenue while owning 13% of the commercial radio stations. Against that wall, the remaining radio groups and independent operators hurl themselves to make a living. While there are few (precious few) commercial independent operators who do break new music, perform community service and provide a valuable asset to their city of license, the majority of the remaining 87% of radio stations run some sort of repeater/automated format.

In this risk adverse society, which large radio group willing take even small calculated risks?

Who is going to replace Dick Clark and where will that person come from? By the way, God bless Dick Clark but, man, enough already.

Where will the newest crop if disk jockeys come from?

If one wants to hear something new, or at least different, there is no better place to listen than a student run college radio station.

It was in this setting that several college boards had a Eureka! moment when they discovered that those FM licenses were actually worth money. Money! and in not so small amounts in several cases. The collective wisdom being that kids these days don’t listen to radio, nobody will miss those programs anyway. Even so, when Rice University sought to transfer KTRU there was a large backlash from Alumni and the student body. When the University of San Francisco sold KUSF to Entercom, they did so over Christmas break. At Vanderbilt University, the WRVU staff was locked out of the studio. The whole sordid tale can be found in 2011: The Year that College Radio Fought Back and College Radio’s fight for FM.

There are other stations who’s fate is less well known, no doubt.

It is disappointing to see the various college boards deciding that broadcast radio is no longer a desired and to see the campus radio station regarded as an extra curricular activity or so much excess real estate.

There are still many college radio stations in this area that are worth while to listen to, just to hear something other than blended crap, super specialized satellite radio channels, or some personality-less internet stream with computer picked songs.

So kudos to WRPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), WVKR (Vassar College), and others like them for having student run radio stations and not selling out or morphing into the borg like collective that is NPR.

Old Year SWR

Paul Thurst — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:04:12 +0000

This time of year is when we all sit back and asess things that we did in the past 365 or so days. It is called reflection, which is just a civilian term for SWR (Standing Wave Ratio).

Thus, I though I would take a little time and make a few observations about the business, my part in it, and this blog.

1. The business of Radio:

Let us be honest, Radio is not what is used to be. Many times, what it used to be was somewhat of a free for all, wheeler dealer radio station owners cutting corners and making do with less than optimum equipment and staff. And trade, lots and lots of trade. Only in large metropolitan areas did radio stations make enough money to throw it around, but sometimes not even then. Radio was by no means a huge money making operation and therefore, those that worked in mostly it did it as a labor of love. That may or may not have come across on the air. By far, the funnest station I ever listened to was run from a closet, with a sound reinforcement board and the program directors CD collection. What made it so much fun was they had nothing to loose, there were no restraints placed on the staff. Once that on air enthusiasm translated to ratings, then to revenue, the magic was gone and they were just another radio station filling a spot on the dial.

The radio business has fully transitioned from a fun, seat of the pants entertainment operation to a mega money making corporate mentality under the control of mostly non-entertainment types. Even those stations owned by smaller group owners are forced to rely on the tactics developed by the big two in order to stay in business.

Group owners will continue to extract money in whatever way they can until the money train runs off the rails. Then, radio will be replaced by something less.

2. Radio Engineering:

Engineering will continue to grow smaller, with more emphasis on computers, networking, and IT infrastructure. The future distribution of music and program material will take the form of streaming (live events), pod casts (specialty shows) and subscription services. Over the air free radio will become less and less relevant as younger “listeners” trend toward new media. The idea of listeners may be archaic in lieu of “subscribers” or “users.” Thus, in order to remain relevant, broadcast engineers are going to have to keep their skill sets current. I would recommend to anyone getting into the business to get current with routers, routing tables, Cisco equipment and whatnot. The cloud is coming and will rain on all those not adjusted to the new “broadcasting” reality.

3. My part in the business:

A somewhat superannuated broadcast engineer who’s skill set lies mostly within the RF and heavy duty electrical areas, I am going back to college in January. Cicso Network Administrator is the degree I am shooting for, for that is where the local jobs, both in and out of broadcasting will be. Network Administrators are going to be the backbone of cloud computing, those that can configure routing tables will be desired.

That being said, I continue to be involved with larger RF projects and transmitter work. It is fun for me, most of the time. Having to drive two hours,one way on Christmas Eve to fix a backup transmitter, not so much, but those situations tend to be the exception, rather than the rule.

All in all, it is great fun to press the high voltage on button, not knowing if the transmitter will cycle on normally, or put on some type of display.

4. The blog:

This little thing we have here has been fun. I get good response to most articles. I welcome all the comments and the off line e-mails that come my way. My original intent, which is to provoke thought and dialog, remains unchanged. This year, I have delved into areas not covered by the trade magazines, but do have at least some bearing on radio or radio related arts. To that end, there have been several negative responses, which is fine. I don’t pretend to know everything, if you know more, then by all means, speak up. By and large, however, the majority of responses continue to be positive.

I continue to grow the overseas audience, with roughly 36% of the page views coming from non US IP addresses. Persons from The UK, followed by Canada, Netherlands, Australia and Germany are the top five non-US readers of this blog.

So, I will continue to post about things in the coming year. If any of you have any suggestions or requests, shoot me an email of leave a comment.

In the mean time, have a Happy New Year!

The head smasher

Paul Thurst — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:43:47 +0000

I have worked in hundreds of transmitter sites over the years; AM, FM, TV, HF, Two way, Paging, Cellular, etc. So many, I have lost count. The one thing that is always annoying is equipment that is suspended from the ceiling at just the wrong height, AKA: The Head Smasher. It does not matter if warning signs are posted, I’ve seen them marked with black and yellow caution tap, and so on. If it is installed low enough for somebody to hit their head, contusions will result.

3 1/8 inch motorized coax switch mounted

Thus, when it came to install this motorized 3 1/8 inch coax switch, there was only one way to do it. Installing it the other way would result in a head smasher behind the backup transmitter because the ceilings are low. The problem with this style mounting is how to get to the motor and clutch assembly for servicing. There is but one inch of clearance between the top of the coax switch and the transmitter room’s ceiling. If servicing is needed, the entire switch would need to be removed, resulting in lots of extra work and off air time.

3 1/8 inch motorized coax switch cover

So, an idea was formed. Why not cut the switch cover in half and put some hinges on it. The cover itself is made of aluminum. I was able to carefully mark it out and cut it with a jig saw. Then, I attached a set of hinges on the back side and a set of latches on the front. It now opens like a clam shell.

3 1/8 inch coax switch cover modification

Now, when access is needed to either the motor or clutch, the cover can be opened up and removed. Unless the actual RF contact fingers burn out, there should be no need physically removed the switch for servicing.

3 1/8 inch coax switch cover, modified

Cover replaced. This will not have to be removed very often, in fact, I have known some coax switches that never need service. Still, having the ability to quickly get the cover off and do some basic repairs is a good thing.

Good bye UHF RPU, we hardly knew you

Paul Thurst — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:02:20 +0000

As more and more things which use radio are invented, it is inevitable that the limited spectrum will be squeezed. We see this with BPL, which admittedly causes interference on the HF spectrum, however, proponents have deep pockets. Then there are the so called “whitespaces” between active TV channels coveted by broadband providers. Not even the once sacred GPS system is immune interference by other radio systems being implemented by companies who “bought” the radio spectrum in question. Although it is quite beyond me exactly how one can buy or sell radio spectrum. I suppose next they will be selling sunlight and rain.

The next chunk of RF spectrum being repurposed is in the 451-457 MHz range. This has already been eyed by the Department of Homeland Security for on scene data communications networking. However, the latest interested party is the Alfred Mann Foundation, who builds bonic implants. In an interesting twist, one of the plans for the spectrum in question is something called the MMNS (medical micropower network systems). This network would be used to transmit commands from the patient’s spinal cord to prosthetic devices.

Many TV stations use 450-455 MHz band for IFB and cueing. Radio stations use that same spectrum for remote broadcast and telemetry return links from transmitter sites. RPU frequencies used to be very congested, as remote broadcasts were often an additional revenue stream for radio stations. These days, most stations to “cellphone” remotes, e.g. the disk jockey goes out to a store or event and calls it in on his or her cellphone. Some of the more fancy station use POTS codecs like the Comrex blue box or matrix and very few still use ISDN. So the first question is how many broadcasters still use UHF (or even VHF) RPU gear (AKA The Marti)?

The second question is what type of damage or reaction could occur if a UHF RPU interfered with one of these MMNS devices? Some RPU’s use fairly high power levels and directional antennas. But, according to FCC Report and Order on ET Docket 09-36, it is a done deal:

The rules we adopt will allow these new types of MedRadio devices to access 24 megahertz of spectrum in the
413-419 MHz, 426-432 MHz, 438-444 MHz, and 451-457 MHz bands on a secondary basis.

It goes on to say:

Each year, millions of Americans, including injured U.S. soldiers, suffer from spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, strokes, and various neuromusculoskeletal disorders. The devices that we anticipate will operate under our new rules are designed to provide artificial nervous system functions for these patients.

Which is nice. I suppose if someone is at the mall setting up the Marti for a remote and when it gets turned on, Grandpa starts break dancing, one should find another frequency. Do you think the DJ’s or promotions people remember that? No, me neither.

If this keeps up, eventually everything is going to interfere with everything else and nothing will work.

CHU: Time nor tide waits for no man

Paul Thurst — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:28:42 +0000

CHU is a HF time signal station operated by the National Research Council of Canada. It operates 24/7 and announces the hour and minute each minute of every day on frequencies 3,330, 7,850 and 14,670 KHz. This is the Canadian counter part to WWV and WWVH. In the strictest sense of the term, it is a broadcasting station, although many would also classify it as an HF utility station as well. Many countries had HF time signal radio stations at one time, but there are fewer now. Back in the day before GPS, these time signals were critically important to anyone needing coordinated event timing. We used the carrier frequency from WWVH as our frequency standard for test equipment. WWV and WWVH also transmitted a very accurate 1 KHz tone for the same purpose. According to the CHU web site:

Normally CHU’s emission times are accurate to 10^-4 s, with carrier frequency accuracy of 5×10^-12, compared to NRC’s primary clocks, which are usually within 10 microseconds and 1×10^-13 compared to UTC.

Additionally, every minute between 31 and 39 seconds, CHU broadcasts FSK time code with a Bell 103 standard (2225 Hz mark, 2025 Hz space) at 300 bits/second (IRIG time code). This could be used as a backup for GPS time clocks on automation systems, if GPS were to fail for some reason. One would have to write a little software program to decode the hex output and reset the computer clock once per minute accordingly. That should not be too hard. LINUX information and software can be found here. More on CHU time code here.

CHU Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

In my location 3,330 KHz is audible 24/7. That signal is transmitted with a carrier power of 3 KW into a non-directional vertical dipole antenna as is 14,670 KHz. The 7,850 KHz signal is transmitted with a carrier power of 10 KW into the same type antenna.

Canadian Time Signal station CHU, aerial view

There is some discussion of adding an additional time station transmitter in western Canada and of changing the modulation from AM to DRM or at least adding some type of DRM service.

Shortwave Radio picks

Paul Thurst — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:40:32 +0000

Winradio G303i software defined radio, 7490 KHz WBCQ

I enjoy listening to radio, however, there seems to be a dearth of good programming on the conventional frequencies. Somehow, personality-less robo programmed hit music and right wing talk radio just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. Thus, I have taken to listening to the shortwaves. Truth be told, the availability of good programming is dwindling there as well, but good things can still be found. Here is my list of interesting and or entertaining programs found on the shortwave:

Radio Australia International – 9580 KHz mornings from 6-9am EST (11-1400 UTC). There are a variety of good programs on this station including Asia-Pacific, Saturday Night Country and others. Good to listen to with my morning cup of coffee.
WBCQ – Several good selections here including Alan Weiner World Wide (Fridays 8-9pm), World of Radio (Glen Hauser, Thursdays 5:30-6pm), Marion’s Attic (Sunday 5-6pm), Le Show (Harry Shearer, Sundays 7-8pm) Amos n’ Andy (Tuesdays 5-5:30pm). New 41 Meter Frequency 7490 KHz is clearer than previous frequency. 5110 KHz is hit or miss in this location, however Area 51 is worth a listen (Saturdays and Sundays 7-11pm) if reception is good. Check their schedule on line as program time change.
WWCR – 12160 KHz 12-3pm EST (17-2000 UTC) Alex Jones, entertaining if not a bit over the top, tends to rant, makes some good points when calm. Other programs like World Wide Country Radio, The Pat Boone Show, etc are available at various times on various frequencies.
CBC North – 9625 KHz Continuous Sackville feed of CBC Radio One, mostly in English, occasionally in Inuktitut or French. Good for news from the Great White up.
CFRX – 6070 KHz shortwave feed of News/Talk CFRB Toronto. Conservative news talk programming Canadian style, some good trivia games and whatnot.
WEWN – 15610 KHz Catholic Mass (8-9am Sundays) although lately they have been re-runs, which is goddamned annoying.

There are others from overseas, but many of the English broadcasting services are being scaled back or eliminated. A few broadcasts that one is sure to come across when tuning around; The Voice of Russia (bland, predicable, promos sound like they are recorded in the bathroom), Radio Romania (meh), China Radio International (100% propaganda), Radio Havana, Cuba (campy, mildly entertaining in an absurd way), etc.

Pirate Shortwave broadcasters roam around in the 6890-6970 KHz range. They are irregular in schedule, low power and often contain an obscure dialog or some selection of 80′s hair band music. Still, if one has some time, they can be entertaining too.

A good source of information on shortwave broadcasts is Short-wave.info which has a pretty accurate searchable database and a great feature called “Find out what stations are broadcasting on a frequency of (fill in frequency) Now.” That is very helpful for figuring out what a station is without waiting for station ID or if broadcasting in another language.

With winter coming and the sun spot cycle on the upswing, the HF bands should be open for business.

The 80 Amp Circuit Breaker

Paul Thurst — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:06:43 +0000

Just because I can, here are a few pictures of the inside of a rather expensive 80 amp DC rated circuit breaker:

80 amp DC rated circuit breaker open

What is the difference between a DC rated breaker and an AC rated breaker? Good question. Because DC is, well DC, the current is continuous. Once an arc is struck, greater separation is needed between conductors to extinguish the arc. Using an AC breaker in a DC application can lead to an internal arc and fire. That would be a bad outcome.

Just how did the insides get exposed, one might ask? Well, there I was working on a solar installation with said breaker placed on a horizontal surface waiting for installation when somehow it was knocked to the floor, creating a large crack in the side of it. Angry I was because this thing set me back some fifty dollars.

80 amp DC rated circuit breaker closed

This picture shows the breaker closed, the contacts are still under cover to the left of the exposed parts. What is cool is one can get a good idea of how a circuit breaker works. As the current flow increases, the magnetic field around the coil increases. When it reaches the trip point the small steel piece is pulled down, causing the mechanical assembly to unlock and open the contacts.

Old tech stuff that is taken for granted, probably has saved millions of lives since electrical use became widespread.