Taking the show on the road
As technology has progressed, broadcasters have found ways to use improved technologies in unique ways to make remote broadcasts sound as good as being in the studio, but with the convenience of lighter and more flexible equipment.
Big, but not so easy
Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans would seem to be the last place to originate a coast-to-coast broadcast for New Year's Eve. The city of New Orleans and NPR felt differently, and the pressure was on to prepare for the event.
Out and About
Useful items to simplify remotes.
Portable affordable
When Chris Wygal joined WRVL, his goals were to improve the home-crowd ambience, put a pre-game crew on the concourse of the stadium, make the station's sideline reports easy to hook up and get the game in stereo back to the station. But how was he going do this with a budget that left little room for sports broadcasting?
Field Report: Comrex BRIC
On an unseasonably warm and sunny New England day, the Comrex engineering team set forth boldly to test BRIC on as many publicly available hotspots as possible.
Field Report: Audio TX STL-IP
With telephone companies less willing to support dedicated equalized broadcast lines, and in some areas reluctant to setup new ISDN service, the challenges for getting audio from here to there are becoming greater. So what can you do?
Reliable Connections
While remotes and live events are the primary use, many stations are using POTS and ISDN codecs for back-up STLs and other itinerant applications.
The end of ISDN?
When the project began, Nassau New Hampshire ordered five ISDN and POTS codecs. Now Verizon says that ISDN is not available.
Surround takes to the airwaves
KUVO broadcast three-time Grammy-winner Dianne Reeves with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) live using a Harris Neustar 5225 downmix system. The event marked the first regular use of a surround broadcast in IBOC.
Field Report: Telos Systems Zephyr Xport
The Xport can transmit audio via POTS or ISDN to a studio-located ISDN Zephyr codec. Kirk Chestnut provides a review.
The 2004 NBA Finals on Lakers Radio KLAC
Feeding a network of 16 English-language stations in California, Nevada and New Mexico with a remote broadcast almost every other night during the basketball season, KLAC has honed its process.
Field Report: Musicam USA Netstar 500
WLIU reviews the audio codec for its remote needs.
The Alphabet Soup of Codecs
The term codec describes the function of encoding and decoding audio to pass through a defined data path. In radio, this term carries a more specific
Field Report: Comrex Matrix GSM module
WHMS makes a mobile remote simple with GSM service and Comrex Matrix codec.
Field Report: Audio TX Multiplex
The Aduio TX Multiplex application provides the ability to broadcast multiple audio channels over a LAN.
Field Report: AudioTX Communicator
The AudioTX Communicator is a software-based codec that runs on any Windows PC.
Field Report: Tieline Technology Patriot
The Patriot from Tieline Technology delivers bi-directional 15kHz mono audio over a standard phone line using its special codec and a custom-made modem to provide solid performance.
Sending audio was never this easy
The term codec is now widely used in circles well beyond radio and broadcasting. The ISDN codec changed the way radio stations held remote broadcasts.
What's in an ISDN interface?
An explanation of the various terms used for ISDN codecs.
Predictive audio encoding
Subband Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation is a non-perceptual method for reducing the bit rate of linear pulse code modulation encoded audio in real time. There are three commercial equipment options are available when adopting this method of compression.
Field Report: AEQ Eagle and Swing
With ISDN phone lines becoming commonplace just about anywhere in the world, broadcasters have come to rely on them to deliver high-quality audio from remote locations and events back to their studio.
New Products (Feb 2003)
Sierra Automated Systems - Riolink | AEQ - Swing and Eagle | ATI - AMM200
When the show takes to the road
Take advantage of the compact size and power of current equipment to make remotes painless.
Say goodbye to the weakest link
Now that the FCC has accepted IBOC, we will see even more improvements as sites are updated with digital exciters and solid-state transmitters. With all of these advances in technology, don't overlook what can become the weak link: the method used to get the audio from one location to another.
On Location: Old-time Radio In a Modern Era
It's time for The Mighty Wurlitzer Radio Hour program to originate live on WCLV-AM and FM from the home of the John Milton Williams Museum of Radio Broadcasting History.
