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Reef Broadcasting, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

Time concept image courtesy GettyImages/DigiPub

Nautel and Telos Alliance are collaborating on what they describe as a new approach to HD Radio time alignment.

They say the solution, demonstrated this week in a webinar, eliminates alignment issues “completely” by locking the FM and HD1 outputs from the audio processor through the rest of the HD Radio air chain into the transmitter.

Omnia Product Manager Geoff Steadman at Telos Alliance is quoted in the announcement saying that many vendors have engineered “complex solutions with add-on or built-in receivers that generate correction signals to attempt to minimize blending issues.” But he said such solutions can affect the signal by covering up delay drifts.

Nautel CTO Philipp Schmid said, “Our solution locks the FM and HD1 outputs at the audio processor, and keeps them locked as they pass through the remainder of the HD Radio air-chain right into the transmitter. No extra boxes, additional audio codecs, radio receivers or correction methods are needed, and the Nautel/Telos Alliance solution utilizes proven ‘Made for Radio’ standards including MPX, µMPX, and E2X.”

The solution, he said, allows a station’s HD Radio equipment to be “location-agnostic,” located either at the transmitter or the studio, without needing external time synch.

In the webinar, the companies showed Telos Alliance Omnia Enterprise 9s high-density audio processing software, Gen4 Importer/Exporter and Nautel technology running on a Nautel HD MultiCast+.

Nautel Head of Marketing John Whyte pointed out the open environment of the latter product and said the company plans to develop products based on these technologies. Nautel also announced support on HD MultiCast+ for the Telos Alliance Omnia Enterprise 9, which centralizes audio processing and virtualizes operation. It’s a tool for high-density server-based systems for customers with a large volume of signals to process.

The post Nautel, Telos Tout “New Approach” to Time Alignment appeared first on Radio World.

KPLC’s crumpled broadcast tower. Photo: Zack Fradella

Two broadcast towers in Lake Charles, La., have been damaged as a result of Hurricane Laura, which made landfall in the early hours of Aug. 27.

There have been multiple reports of damages to the broadcast tower of KPLC-TV, the area’s NBC affiliate, with pictures showing portions of the tower having collapsed. Some reports are indicating there was damage to the STL (studio to transmitter link) and ENG, but that the main tower was OK.

In addition, a representative from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters confirmed that the LPTV station KSWL-TV, a CBS affiliate, has reported that its tower fell on top of its building.

TV Technology reached out to both KPLC and KSWL to confirm details, but has not received word from either station at the time of publication.

LAB said that it is still gathering information on any other damages.

Reports indicate that wind speeds hit a high of 150 miles per hour when it first made landfall.

This is a developing story. Radio World’s sister publication TV Technology will update as events warrant.

The post Hurricane Laura Downs Two Towers in Louisiana appeared first on Radio World.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — I am the chief engineer for Interlochen Public Radio and the co-owner of Nemosity Enterprises LLC with my wife Tina Marie. At Nemosity Enterprises we focus on broadcast engineering contracting and consulting and I am responsible for 14 FM transmitter sites, studios and facilities across Northern Lower Michigan.

I began my career as a ground radio repairman in the United States Marine Corps and worked nearly 20 years in television news stations. Four years ago, I made the switch to radio and nothing has felt more like “coming home” than that career move.

New Installation

My latest project involved Blarney Stone Broadcasting, dramatically expanding the reach of rock and roll station WQON(FM) 100.3 MHz. Q100 is now a combination of WQON, WWMN(FM) 106.3 MHz and WYPV(FM) 94.5 MHz, with live studios in Traverse City and Grayling, Mich. The three FM transmitter sites cover most of the northwestern and central Lower Peninsula (LP) of Michigan.

I’ve worked with Tieline products since 2016 and they are some of the most intuitive, flexible and reliable products I’ve had the pleasure of using. The uptime, ease of operation, flexibility and reliability have been second to none. So when I heard about this new project, I knew Tieline codecs would be ideal as the backbone of this new radio group.

Jerry and Sheryl Coyne own Blarney Stone Broadcasting, and the audience ebbs and flows between 300,000 and 450,000 people, with numbers highest June through September. I presented two options to the director of programming and all-round station guru JJ Rowell. JJ has worked there for years and knows the day-to-day operations better than most. His input and direction was invaluable and he agreed that Tieline codecs would provide flexibility for years to come.

At that time I had three Genie Distribution codecs running two stereo pairs to two sites codecs we use for Interlochen Public Radio, and one Genie and three Bridge-IT XTRAs for Baraga Catholic Radio, which was subsequently sold to Relevant Radio out of Green Bay, Wis. The Blarney Stone Broadcasting project involved installation of a Genie Distribution and three Bridge-IT Pro codecs. The Genie connects using a 3x stereo program configuration.

The Genie at Interlochen has been so reliable in sending two stereo audio streams to the transmitter sites, the budget for putting in a redundant system could be spent on other equipment.

For the new Blarney Stone Broadcasting project, Tieline’s Report-IT mobile app is also important. With smartphone or tablet we can use this codec app to make it possible to broadcast high-quality audio for local sporting events anywhere we have a cellular internet connection with very minimal gear to haul around. The days of packing a carload of equipment to get live local sports on the air are over.

Reliable IP Streaming

Without IP technology joining the Blarney Stone stations would be all but impossible. If you want an IP-based codec system that is reliable and easy to set up and install, Tieline is that system. Installing a reliable, high-quality STL path over IP makes my job easier and less expensive than microwave path studies, licensing, installation and equipment costs. The quality is so good that we use the microwave STL as a Tieline backup at Interlochen Public Radio’s main broadcast site in Traverse City, Mich.

Opus Stereo at 256 kb is my preference for quality and sound; however bandwidth can be a challenge in some areas. Sometimes we dial Opus back to 96 kb if need be or select one of the many other codecs available to tailor each site’s connection. We prefer adaptive jitter buffer settings, which allow packet movement to ebb and flow depending on network load, and use fixed settings if required.

Verizon, AT&T, fiber, local wireless ISPs and Charter Spectrum Cable all play a part in data delivery. Cradlepoint broadband routers with dual SIMs for Verizon and AT&T are also used at some sites. Some have a fiber WAN connection for redundancy and reliability. The biggest challenge in our area is broadband connectivity at some remote transmitter locations. While the terrain makes a tower site attractive because of its height and location, it tends to make fiber installs very expensive, unless one of the main players, Verizon or AT&T are on that site already.

The Tieline codecs are rock-solid, one of the determining factors in choosing Tieline. It takes a major network failure to lose connectivity, and as soon as that network is restored, it comes right back and reconnects automagically.

The Toolbox web-GUI is ideal for configuring multiple peer-to-peer connections and provides the ability to adjust audio matrix routing. This makes adjustments and codec management simple and effective.

I believe the future of broadcasting is in streaming. Streaming content from an IP-based system can be more reliable than satellite distribution. This facilitates having multiple paths, providers and avenues to pull your content. With a satellite system it either works or it doesn’t. And when the Michigan winter rolls in and a foot or two of fresh snow covers your satellite dish, it doesn’t.

Remote control, remote operation and streaming delivery of content are the future. I believe everyone should plan for streaming taking over most content delivery to the station and listeners. I have a feeling Tieline will play a major role in that future, at least for me and my clients.

Radio World User Reports are testimonial articles intended to help readers understand why a colleague chose a particular product to solve a technical situation.

For information, contact Dawn Shewmaker at Tieline in Indiana at 1-317-845-8000. For international contact Charlie Gawley at Tieline in Western Australia at 61-8-9413-2000 or visit www.tieline.com.

The post User Report: Genie Is Magic for Blarney Stone Broadcasting appeared first on Radio World.

SM-WQNU, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

SM-WRKA, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

Townsquare Media of Evansville/Owensboro, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

L.M. Communications, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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SM-WVEZ, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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MB seeks comment on a request from APTS/PBS to waive the requirement for NCE translator stations to email a baseline carriage notice to MVPDs

Floyd County Broadcasters Company, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

SM-WSFR, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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Encore Communications, Inc. enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

L.M. Communications of Kentucky, LLC enters into Consent Decree to Resolve Political File Investigation

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GatesAir is coming out with two new Intraplex IP Links that it says “move the brand into new designs and applications.”

The two AoIP products were announced by Ted Lantz, vice president and general manager, radio and Intraplex products.

GatesAir Flexiva FAX. The IP Link 100e integrates into this exciter.

The IP Link 100e is an Intraplex plug-in card that receives FM and digital radio content within GatesAir Flexiva transmitters.

Lantz said the module also establishes a foundation to integrate audio processing and additional air chain applications later.

“The module is added to Flexiva FAX exciters to reliably receive and feed AES-67 and other audio over IP formats direct to the exciter,” the company said.

“The smaller, integrated form factor reduces the cost of using Intraplex audio over IP transport at the transmitter site since no separate hardware codec is required, and frees a 1RU equipment rack slot for auxiliary equipment,” it said.

The module includes Dynamic Stream Splicing software. It sends multiple identical streams over the same network or two separate paths; each stream borrows data from companion streams to avoid service interruptions from packet loss.

“The IP Link 100e also supports the SRT (secure reliable transport) protocol and provides failover service to Icecast or locally stored audio for optimal reliability. The module also provides storage for program content and full duplex capability, allowing engineers to monitor signals off-air.”

IP Link 100c

Also new is the IP Link 100c, a hardware codec for remote contribution and standard STL IP connections that is notable for its small half-rack package.

Applications include remotes, studio-to-studio links, STL service backup and delivery to Icecast streaming servers. It comes with a DC power supply.

The company will introduce them as part of the IBC Showcase virtual conference coming in September.

[Related: “SBS FM Stations See Efficiency With GatesAir”]

The post New Intraplex IP Links Include a Flexiva Plug-In appeared first on Radio World.