Don't become a statistic
There are many lists extant of precautions to take before working with high voltage pieces of equipment. Lethal incidents may be more often caused by completely unexpected circumstances than from pure, careless accidents.
RF filters
Radio-engineering work is very involved with filters of one kind or another. The science of broadcasting depends on the correct passage of various frequencies through differing pieces of equipment. Some frequencies are in the audio range and others are in the RF domain.
LEDs Are Here to Stay
Tower lighting requirements, which are specified in part 17 of the Commission’s rules, sometimes come as a financial shock.
The alphabet soup of broadcast engineering
When the early pioneers such as Alexanderson, Fessenden and Marconi commenced the production of non-ionizing radiation no one limited their RF levels, blamed their antenna towers for the deaths of migrant birds, or complained about ugly towers spoiling picturesque views.
Living with your license
Your new or latest station license has arrived. How you deal with it can have a huge effect on your future.
The road to antenna maintenance
Before any useful maintenance can be performed it is essential to know how a system is supposed to operate and also know the licensed operating parameters. A copy of the latest proof of performance and the current license are a good place to start.
FM antennas and radiation
New construction can distort an AM station's anticipated service contour. This primer reviews the basics of antennas and RF propagation.
Tower inspection and climbing
At one time, tower climbing and inspections were something that everyone and anyone could do. In today's safety-conscious world, it pays to play by the rules and do it right.
Three phases are better than one
On the surface, three-phase operation may appear to be a lot more complicated than single-phase work.
Engineering assistance
Today's broadcast engineer has a much easier row to hoe than his counterpart in the middle to latter part of the 20th century.
Transmission lines
While they seem simple enough, transmission lines are actually very complex in nature. Their size, length and type are all important considerations when designing an RF system.
The mystery of negative towers
While negative towers are not as frequently used in directional antenna array designs, they can still be found in use. What exactly is a negative tower, and what does it do that is so different from a normal tower?
The details of EIA/TIA 222 Rev. G
The new specification's table of contents lists 15 main topics or objectives, each of which may have as many as eight subsections.
The Doherty linear amplifier
When first developed, the Doherty amplifier gained a reputation for difficulty in adjustment and consistent operation. Since then, it has proven to be a stable and reliable transmitter design.
Installing AM IBOC
The basic installation of an AM IBOC transmitter is similar to that for an FM IBOC installation with varying exceptions required by the different system
FM IBOC site preparation
What steps should you take when constructing a new facility for IBOC?
Maintaining directional antennas
The directional antenna system is a unique balance of art and science. Keeping it in top operating condition will preserve the system's efficiency and likely keep it in compliance with the FCC.
Phasors and ATUs
The phasor is not the frightening cabinet of horrors that some engineers consider it to be. While it may seem daunting, a basic understanding of its operation will make maintenance of the antenna system much easier.
Measuring Modulation
The closer the correlation between the modulating signal and the instantaneous value of the modulated carrier wave the better the quality of the eventual reproduction of the audio signal.
Electronic feedback
Most of the radio transmitters in use today depend on feedback, negative or positive, for their successful operation.
Antenna currents and field strength
Sometimes we lose sight of the relationship between current in an antenna and the resulting field strength value.
Concerning combiners
Until the advent of FM, combiners were rarely required. After FM was introduced, the need for a method of feeding two or more FM frequencies into a single
The IBOC FM waveform
The IBOC system for FM as developed by Ibiquity is a fascinating engineering feat.
IBOC antennas
Despite the hiatus in nighttime operation for AM IBOC, antenna research is continuing in an effort to comply with the FCC's existing requirements of two antennas for FM IBOC, and develop a system using one antenna that will satisfy the FCC's requirements.
Staying neutral
Because of inductive and capacitive circuits, it is often easy for undesired and usually unwanted oscillations to be generated in an amplifier stage. Neutralization is important to keep these systems at maximum efficiency.
