Radio World

This article originally appeared in the Nov. 19, 2014, issue of Radio World and was posted on this website Nov. 26, 2014, a nice Thanksgiving treat. See More of John’s Schneider’s Roots of Radio.

A St. Louis Post-Dispatch employee reads the facsimile newspaper received over W9XZY. An RCA printer is shown. The black roller at the top contains the used carbon paper after the page has been printed. Wide World Photo, 1938.

In the beginning, there were newspapers.

And then radio arrived, challenging the newspapers’ journalistic monopoly.

At first, many newspapers fought the new competitor, refusing to print radio news or program schedules. But some went in the opposite direction, deciding to operate their own radio stations to augment their businesses. And finally, a few brave pioneering publications went even farther: They tried to deliver their newspapers via radio facsimile.

In the early 1930s, radio facsimile looked like the dream application for newspapers. They could use their own local radio stations to deliver newspapers directly to consumers during overnight hours. It would eliminate the cost of printing and distribution and shift those costs onto consumers, who would provide their own printers and paper.

A home user receives a Detroit News bulletin from WWJ on her Finch facsimile printer, 1938. Courtesy of the Detroit News archives.

This led several radio stations and newspapers to experiment with facsimile transmission during the late 1930s.

THE FINCH SYSTEM
The person most responsible for this technology was William G. H. Finch. He worked for the International News Service and set up their first teletype circuits between New York, Chicago and Havana. He became interested in facsimile machines and eventually amassed hundreds of patents.

In 1935, he established Finch Telecommunications Laboratories to build and market his system. Although RCA had already developed a facsimile system, it was only focused on its commercial possibilities. Finch envisioned the delivery of newspapers to the public via radio facsimile.

The Finch system circumvented RCA’s patents in several ways.

First, image details were transmitted by varying the amplitude of an audio tone, instead of its frequency.

An example of a news bulletin received on the Finch system.

Second, it recreated the image by generating an electric current at the tip of a stylus to trace the image onto thermally sensitive paper (the origins of the thermal paper still used by cash registers today). Synchronization between the transmitter and receiver used the 60 Hz line frequency. The Finch scanning head focused a pinpoint scanning spot on the document. A motor moved the scanner across the page while another motor advanced the page at the end of each scanning line. Low-frequency sync pulses were inserted at the end of each line. The result was an audio signal that could be fed into any conventional AM transmitter.

Finch receivers sold for $125 and were housed in a one-foot-square wooden box that could be connected to the speaker of any radio receiver. The images were drawn onto a continuous roll of thermal paper 5 inches wide that sold for one dollar and would last about a week. The process was slow, taking about 20 minutes to print a 12-inch page, but a timer was used to capture the transmissions from a local AM station during overnight hours. Six hours overnight was enough time to print a six-page, two-column news bulletin.

Several stations received FCC permission in 1937 and 1938 to experiment with the Finch system. The first was KSTP in St. Paul, Minn. It was followed by WHO in Des Moines, Iowa; WGH in Newport News, Va.; WOR in New York; WGN in Chicago; WHK in Cleveland; WSM in Nashville, Tenn.; and WWJ in Detroit.

McClatchy Newspapers published the Radio Bee over KFBK in Sacramento and KMJ in Fresno, Calif. It required a staff of seven to produce the radio newspaper, and McClatchy bought 100 Finch receivers to distribute to listeners.

RCA ADAPTS
RCA, sensing it had missed an opportunity, quickly adapted its system for use by broadcasters.

The RCA Radio Facsimile system was displayed in the RCA Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, 1939.

The RCA system went into operation overnights on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s station KSD in St. Louis in 1937. By late the following year, the service moved to an experimental ultra-high-frequency station, W9XZY, transmitting on 31,600 kHz with 100 watts. It had a range of about 20 miles. By using a dedicated transmitter for facsimile, the transmissions could be made during daytime hours, and so the Post-Dispatch transmissions now took place at 2 p.m. Also, ultrahigh frequencies were less susceptible to radio static, which greatly disrupted the received image quality. RCA provided 15 receivers for the experiment, placing them at Washington University and in St. Louis area homes.

The receivers sold for $260 each and combined an ultra-high frequency receiver and facsimile printer into a single cabinet that had no controls or adjustments — the user simply kept the receiver supplied with rolls of carbon paper and white printing paper. RCA also demonstrated its facsimile system at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, transmitting special “Radiopress” bulletins daily over WOR.

CROSLEY GETS IN THE GAME
At the same world’s fair, Crosley Radio Corp. surprised everyone by introducing its own facsimile machine called the “Reado,” with two models selling for $60 and $80. (A timer to turn the unit overnight cost an additional $10.)

A Crosley Reado with a shortwave receiver and Finch facsimile printer (removed from its cabinet) at WWJ in Detroit, 1940. Courtesy of the Detroit News archives.

Powel Crosley had licensed the Finch technology and made some changes to reduce the cost. He produced an initial stock of 500 units and made plans to turn out up to 1,000 units a day. He began Reado facsimile transmissions during overnight hours over 500,000-watt WLW, which continued until 1942.

Most radio facsimile transmissions soon shifted from the AM band to the ultrahigh frequencies. About a dozen of these experimental stations were built, including the Milwaukee Journal station WTMJ, which transmitted over W9XAF.

Nonetheless, it soon became clear that radio facsimile was a technological dead end.

An engineer at W9XZY in St. Louis prepares an RCA scanner for the transmission of a news bulletin in 1938 in this photo from the author’s collection.

Despite all the promotion and hype, the public had neither asked for, nor cared about, the technology.

Receivers were expensive, suffered from frequent paper jams and outages, and were subject to content loss due to static.

To make matters worse, there were two incompatible standards fighting for market dominance.

Further, advertisers didn’t want to risk their money on the new medium, preferring the safety of traditional media.

The World War II paper shortages caused most facsimile stations to cease operations, and when the war was over, it was all but forgotten in the rush to build the new television industry. An attempt to bring it back on the FM band found no takers.

William Finch’s company went into bankruptcy in 1952, and RCA eventually took over many of his patents. Finch died in Florida in 1990 at the age of 93.

John Schneider is a lifelong radio history researcher. Write the author at jschneid93@gmail.com. See other photos from his collection. Click on the Roots of Radio tab atradioworld.comunder Columns.

The post A Look Back at the Radio Newspaper of the Air appeared first on Radio World.

Oh, by the way, about that NAL? You can toss that …

The Federal Communications Commission has canceled a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture issued to Carlos Lopez in relation to two FM translators in Texas.

As we reported earlier, the commission was planning a $3,000 penalty because the license renewal forms for the translators in Conroe and South Padre Island were due April 1 but not received until late May.

Now, the FCC says it had “overlooked the fact that the commission first issued licenses for the stations on May 14, 2021.” Thus it was impossible for Lopez to file for renewal by April 1.

“Given this and the fact that the licensee filed the renewal applications prior to expiration of the stations’ licenses, we find that cancellation of the NAL is appropriate,” it said.

Hey, it’s not called a notice of apparent liability for nuthin…

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With nine weeks to go, IBC Show organizers have unveiled their plans to hold a hybrid event in December.

Following the reduction in COVID restrictions announced by the Dutch government earlier this month, organizers say they are “heading in the right direction” in terms of the physical event. “We are focusing on delivering an absolutely safe event,” CEO Mike Crimp told a media briefing.

While the rules around social distancing and wearing of masks have been relaxed, the IBC exhibition will include signs asking attendees to respect everyone’s preferences if they should want to continue with the measures.

The exhibition will also implement a “festival-style” perimeter fence, and include checks on vaccinations status, as well as recent COVID test status. Attendees from non-EU countries (such as the U.K. and U.S.) will be able to gain access to the Netherlands with a negative PCR test, but organizers suggest they check both their own government and the Dutch government’s websites in the run-up to the event.

In terms of the digital side of the event, this year’s content program will be free for everyone to access whether they are in Amsterdam or at home, the first time this has happened in the event’s history.

IBC Digital is a hybrid platform that will run in tandem with the live event, and enable users to watch content, schedule online meetings with exhibitors and other attendees, review exhibitor profiles, and invite colleagues to live meetings.

IBC 2021 takes place Dec. 3–6 at the RAI in Amsterdam.

 

The post “We Are Confident. We Are Not Complacent”: IBC Unveils Plans for Hybrid Event appeared first on Radio World.

Volkswagen Australia added DAB+ digital radio across most of its 2022 vehicle lineup.

The announcement came from industry body Commercial Radio Australia.

“All Volkswagen passenger and commercial vehicles in Australia will offer DAB+ with the exception of the base model grades of its van and ‘ute’ range,” CRA announced. It said models with DAB+ will include the Golf and T-Cross SUV.

[Read: Warner to Step Down at Commercial Radio Australia]

DAB+ is on air in five major metro markets and four other cities, and there are plans to add it to the Gold Coast.

CEO Joan Warner said the number of new vehicles in Australia with DAB+ had increased by 420,000 in the first half of 2021.

“The number of new vehicles sold with DAB+ was up by 25% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. This is good news for radio listeners who will benefit from the extra station choice, reliability and ease of use of digital technology,” she said in the announcement.

She added that 76% of new vehicles sold in Australia come with DAB+ from the factory and that 4.1 million new vehicles have been sold with DAB+ to June 2021.

 

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Microphone maker Shure is filling out the nooks and crannies of its microphone lineup. The latest is the MV7X.

While it has the readily recognizable shape of its well-known broadcast veteran cousin, the SM7B, the MV7X is aimed at the podcaster market, though Shure feels that broadcasters, streamers and musicians would also find it of interest.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

It is a dynamic cardioid mic with an XLR connector mounted on the rear. Its output is analog thus requiring a preamp or digital audio converter.

Shure specs the MV7X at 50 Hz–16 kHz. It has a metal body like the SM7B and its sister, the MV7. It ships with an adjustable yoke. Price: $179.

Send your new equipment news to radioworld@futurenet.com.

Info: www.shure.com

 

The post Shure Ships Podcast Microphone appeared first on Radio World.

Programs for a KNMC event this month as shown in a station social media post.

Student-run noncommercial radio stations still must adhere to the FCC’s rules. The case of a college station in Montana reminds us of that afresh.

The Audio Division of the Media Bureau said it has reached a consent decree with Montana State University Northern, the licensee of KNMC(FM) in Havre, Mont., over compliance with FCC rules for filing for license renewal and maintaining an online public file.

The license renewal should have been filed by Dec. 1, 2020, but was not filed until four months later. The commission also said the station had failed to place any issues and programs lists in its online public file before this April.

In the consent decree, the school stipulates that it violated the rules and will pay a penalty of $500. It will also put in place a compliance plan that makes sure the violations don’t happen again.

If it seems like the station is getting off easier than others might, it’s because the commission has a policy about certain cases that involve first-time violations by student-run NCE radio stations. In such situations it may offer a consent decree with terms like those that KNMC agreed to.

KNMC was started by English and speech instructor W.E. “Bill” Lisenby in the early 1950s and came to the FM dial in 1978.

The post College Station Signs FCC Consent Decree appeared first on Radio World.

Neutrik USA said Charlotte, N.C., will now be its centralized hub for the Americas.

It also is changing its name to reflect what it called a dramatic expansion. It will be called Neutrik Americas.

“The goal of this organizational shift is to provide centralized operation for the Americas, with the benefit of consolidated sales and support for the entire region,” it stated in the announcement, adding that it expects to be able to offer greater responsiveness for customers.

“As part of this expansion, Neutrik Americas now offers multilingual sales and support services.” It will offer

English, Spanish, Portuguese and French language support from its Charlotte headquarters.

The announcement was made by Peter Milbery, president of Neutrik Americas, who noted that the company moved to Charlotte in at a location near the Charlotte Douglas International Airport “to accommodate the logistics of this expanded territory.”

Neutrik Americas remains a  subsidiary of Neutrik AG and member of the Neutrik Group.

The post Neutrik USA Is Now Neutrik Americas appeared first on Radio World.

Learn how to find wahoo and kingfish using SiriusXM.

Meet SBE’s next president Andrea Cummis, the society’s first female president.

Find out why Xperi is interested in the Internet of Things.

And read about recent automation and traffic products from companies like Arrakis, ENCO, Smarts, BE, AEQ, Music1, NewsBoss, NextKast, WideOrbit and others.

Read the issue.

The post Inside the Sept. 29, 2021 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

The Texas Association of Broadcasters is supporting a lawsuit that challenges a prohibition against using drones in newsgathering in that state.

The lawsuit, filed last November, is by a Texas news photographer. It challenges the constitutionality of Chapter 423 of the Texas Government Code, which “broadly prohibits the use of drones by journalists in public airspace, yet arbitrarily exempts other members of the public from those proscriptions,” the brief argues.

TAB said the law is a “speaker-based regulation” that discriminates against the press and violates the U.S. Constitution by harming the free flow of newsworthy information to the public.

TAB said it was joined in filing the amicus brief by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 44 additional entities, including multiple station groups, the National Association of Broadcasters and other industry advocates.

“The brief outlines the public benefit of the technology when used for newsgathering, its similarity to other technologies such as news helicopters, and how the restrictions in state law constrain the devices’ use in newsgathering while permitting other, non-journalist speakers to deploy the devices at will.”

TAB said action in the case is expected this fall or winter.

Read the brief

 

The post Texas Broadcasters Speak Up Against Drone Restriction appeared first on Radio World.

A number of organizations that support EEO in broadcasting would like the FCC to consider nine proposals to help improve compliance and enforcement.

Their proposals are in a filing that was coordinated by the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council.

The FCC has open a further notice of proposed rulemaking in which it is taking comments about the collection of data to understand broadcast EEO trends by race and gender.

It wants fresh comments about the required collection of data on FCC Form 395-B, the broadcast station Annual Employment Report.

That form is intended to gather workforce composition data from broadcasters every year; but it has not been collected for two decades. The process was suspended in 2001 because of a legal ruling, and resumption was delayed in 2004 over issues involving confidentiality of the employment data. Those issues remain unresolved.

The EEO supporters told the FCC that resumption of data collection “would serve invaluable public purposes” but that this is not the only element that needs to be considered.

They asked the FCC to consider:

1. Requiring certifications that job postings preceded hiring decisions;
2. Auditing reform, “which includes increasing audit frequency and randomly selecting some audited units for more thorough review encompassing applicant interviewing and employee selection”;
3. Auditing of employment units that received EEOC probable cause determinations;
4. Opening “a fact-finding, non-content-based investigation … into the abysmal levels of minority employment in radio news”;
5. Providing whistleblower protections, including a confidential phone number and protections against retaliation;
6. Developing and disseminating compliance tools, such as an EEO Primer, Best Practices, FAQs and Model EEO Programs;
7. Extending EEO scrutiny to cover promotion, retention, training and mentoring;
8. Extending proactive EEO enforcement to high-tech companies, in cooperation with the EEOC; and
9. Consolidating all anti-discrimination compliance and regulatory enforcement (to include advertising, transactional, procurement and employment discrimination) in a new Civil Rights Section of the Employment Bureau.

The 38 organizations participating in the filing include the NAACP, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the National Action Network, the Hispanic Federation and the National Bar Association.

The groups made particular note of a proposal to have the Enforcement Bureau examine whether a licensee, having been found to have violated the broad outreach elements of the EEO rule, may also have violated its core nondiscrimination obligation.

“It is hornbook law that EEO statistics should be considered as part of a tribunal’s consideration of whether a respondent company engaged in discrimination,” they wrote.

“As the commission has long held, excessive use of word-of-mouth recruitment by members of a station’s homogeneous staff is inherently discriminatory and could be disqualifying. If such a case arises, one piece of evidence that should be available to the Enforcement Bureau staff is data on the racial and gender composition of those whose ‘mouths’ are doing the ‘word of mouth’ recruitment.

“Broadcasting must not become the only industry in the country that is immune from the obligation to produce data that is useful to a finder of fact in determining whether an employer may have engaged in a discriminatory scheme.”

The post EEO Supporters Lay Out Their Wish List appeared first on Radio World.

This 40-watt amp from Monoprice has microSD and USB ports hidden under its lower lip.

Broadcast engineer Dan Slentz writes that when he was a teen working at WJER(AM/FM), the chief engineer had a speaker in each room wired with multiple 70-volt audio lines to a rotating switch and volume control. “You could listen to the AM station, FM station or any of the three production rooms,” he said.

Being 70 V, the audio quality wasn’t especially great, but when you were working after hours and you went into a room, you could monitor Air or what was going on. Dan says every station he has ever worked at had audio monitoring in the bathrooms. Even at CBS station WLVQ, “QFM” in Columbus, where the bathroom was in a public area down the hall, all occupants of the ninth floor of Nationwide Tower 2 could listen to QFM or Z-rock FM.

Dan recently visited the Monoprice website, www.monoprice.com. He loves it for its really good cables with lifetime warranty, and he says you can find other cool items on the site, like the old MCM Electronics used to have.

One such item was this 40-watt, wall-mount amplifier with a touchscreen, Bluetooth, auxiliary inputs and USB and microSD slots. The amp even has an infrared remote control. And it provides an FM receiver and stereo output.

Touchscreen controls

Dan notes that of course, this is made offshore. But all this comes in a compact footprint and costs only $120.

The top image shows the USB and microSD slots on the underside of the module, and the wiring connections are shown below.

Connectors on the Monoprice unit.

If it’s time to retire your old 70-volt speaker wiring or you’re thinking of adding a speaker monitor system, this module might be the solution. Consider mounting it in the breakroom, reception area or in your bathrooms. Use Monoprice product #36375. (As of mid-September the unit was listed as out of stock at the Monoprice website, with a November ETA.)

Sound Screw

If you’re planning new studio construction next year, you may want to discuss with your architect or acoustic consultant the newly released acoustic Sound Screw, developed in Sweden.

Imagine a screw, the “head” of which is separated from the threaded body with a coiled spring. It’s an inexpensive method of reducing vibration from joists into the drywall, as the spring dampens the vibration transfer.

Although it is only available in Sweden at the moment, Akoustos AB is approaching companies outside Sweden to license its technology.The company says that in lab tests, a 9 dB reduction of sound transfer was measured. This calculates to about half the perceived sound transferred using traditional drywall screws to hold sheet rock panels.

Check out www.akoustos.se.

Keep fans quiet

In an age when nearly everything seems to be in short supply, you may be tempted to substitute a fan in a piece of equipment. All fine and good, but contract engineer Stephanie Donnell has a caution if you’re installing a DC “brushless” fan in this situation. It could result in an EMC noise issue due to the current pulses generated by the driver circuit that operates the field coils of the fan motor.

EMC, electromagnetic compatibility, refers to the interaction of equipment with its electromagnetic environment and other devices. These electromagnetic fields could result in something that sounds like spark plug noise. You can correct this by adding a simple R/C filter on the fan’s “+” voltage lead.

Another tip involving muffin fans is to use models rated for 220 VAC but run them at 110. This is helpful in a situation where you need to improve ambient cooling around any equipment but where you don’t want a fan that produces a miniature hurricane or the noise associated with high-speed operation. Stephanie has used 220 V fans over the years to help cool everything from a very old computer to a Larcan-TTC TV translator.

Stephanie also saw Steve Tuzeneu’s recent tip about discouraging bees from nesting in satellite feed-horns. She adds that WD-40 brand spray lubricant works great for dealing with bees. We may not always have a can of flying insect spray, but who doesn’t have a can of WD-40 handy?

John Bisset, CPBE, has spent over 50 years in the broadcasting industry, and is in his 31st year writing Workbench. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award. Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@gmail.com. 

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This is one in a series of occasional articles about how to get the most out of popular radio broadcast products.

David Bialik consults to StreamGuys.

How the content might look on a mobile device.

When I was working for radio.com, producers for the news and sport stations all wanted a rewind feature on the mobile app.

These producers were hearing from listeners who enjoy the rewind functionality of live video platforms like TiVo and video on-demand platforms like Netflix, and they wanted similar functionality for their radio stations.

With rewind controls, a user can play the content they missed or replay content for clarity. Dr. Who would be perplexed with this timey-whimey issue.

StreamGuys kept this user experience in mind when they developed SGrewind. This service allows the listeners to use a “scrubbing feature” within the audio app.

The scrubbing can be configured to go back to the previous segment or to go back in timed increments.

If you are streaming a sport, you are giving the audience their own “instant replay.” Listeners of a talk show may want to re-listen to the last person who spoke. How many times have you listened to the news and want to hear a story again for clarification?

My favorite use is to “rewind” and hear the weather or traffic again.

Not to worry, you do not have to get Mr. Peabody and the Wayback machine. SGrewind is relatively easy to set up.

You do not need to be using StreamGuys as your live streaming CDN (though I am sure they would not mind if you already a customer). You can send them the same encoded source as your live stream.

StreamGuys will provide you a graphical user interface to configure how SGrewind will work and what your audience will be able to do.

They will then do their SGrewind magic, encoding the stream and sending it out.

The SGRewind Management Module is web-based.

They will work with your development team (if you have one) to enable the rewind feature on your player or they can provide a turnkey, rewind-capable player for your website.

Yes, I have simplified the process here, but SGrewind can add a nice feature for your streaming audience to use and make your streams look unique to potential advertisers. And isn’t that what it is all about?

Suggest a product to be featured in our “How to Get the Most Out of” series. Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

Related:

“Five Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do in Zetta”

“How to Get the Most Out of Your Remote Control”

 

 

The post How to Get the Most Out of SGrewind appeared first on Radio World.

Classic105 morning host Mike Mondo at the helm of the crystalClear console.

Kenya’s Radio Africa Group has taken a liking to Lawo equipment, recently choosing it for Kiss100 FM broadcast station and its Classic105 streaming station.

The Nairobi-based radio and TV broadcaster installed a Rɘlay PC-based virtual mixer at Kiss100 FM. After that proved successful, the company says, it turned back to Lawo to upgrade Classic105.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

That led to the selection of a Lawo’s crystalClear “glass” touchscreen mixer. Included in that package are the VisTool virtual radio studio builder software and a Compact Engine, a 1RU mixing engine with AoIP audio interfaces and DSP audio processing. According to a release it was the first installation in East Africa of such equipment.

Lawo distributor and systems integrator BYCE Broadcast provided the equipment and services.

Radio Africa Group Technical Manager Philip Keter said, “We are happy with Lawo virtual consoles … We have had Kiss100 FM using Lawo Rɘlay mixing for more than one year now, and we have not experienced any downtime.”

Send news for Who’s Buying What to radioworld@futurenet.com.

He added, “We are even more excited about crystalClear; the presenters love its robustness, flexibility, and agility. It is not only easy to operate but actually helps enhance creativity!”

 

The post CrystalClear in Kenya appeared first on Radio World.

A broadcaster in Texas is facing a fine for not filing license renewal applications for two FM translators on time.

Carlos Lopez is licensee of the translators in Conroe and South Padre Island. License renewal forms were due by April 1 but were not received at the FCC until late May.

[Read: Expired Licenses Lead to $7,000 Forfeiture for FM Translator]

The commission says Lopez didn’t provide an explanation, so it has issued a notice of apparent liability for $3,000, which he has 30 days to pay or challenge.

Because he did file before the licenses actually expired, and because the FCC isn’t aware of any other problems, it said it plans to grant the renewal applications once the forfeiture proceeding is completed.

 

The post Two Texas Translators Face an FCC Penalty appeared first on Radio World.

Ryan Seacrest, one of the brightest stars in iHeartMedia’s talent constellation, has signed on for a new contract.

Describing him as an “unmatched creative talent,” the company said: “The three-year contract extends through Dec.31, 2025, during which time Seacrest will celebrate 30 years as one of the most recognized and respected names not just within iHeartMedia, but throughout the entire media and entertainment industry.”

In the announcement, Seacrest called the decision a “no-brainer.”

The agreement was negotiated by Jeff Refold, COO/CFO of Ryan Seacrest Enterprises, and Jonathan West of Latham & Watkins. Its value was not announced.

iHeart noted that Seacrest started in radio as a teenager at WSTR(FM) in Atlanta before he went to Los Angeles. “Since then, Seacrest has built a reputation as one of media’s most trusted voices, cultivating a genuine connection — and powerful relationships — with consumers, advertisers, and America’s biggest stars, and is a true brand ambassador for iHeartMedia.”

He will continue to host and produce his morning drive show for iHeartMedia’s 102.7 KIIS-FM, the syndicated “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” and “American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest.”

iHeart says Seacrest is an important voice to its top management in planning major initiatives and tentpole events, and he will continue that advisory capacity.

In radio circles Seacrest also is known as a benefactor for children’s hospitals. His foundation builds broadcast media centers named Seacrest Studios in pediatric hospitals for patients to explore radio, TV and new media.

The post Seacrest Re-ups With iHeart, Calls It a “No Brainer” appeared first on Radio World.

Fig. 1: The Neewer NW-700 provides excellent performance and costs less than $15.

This article originally appeared in the Feb. 8, 2017, edition of Radio World Engineering Extra and was posted on this website Feb. 9, 2017.  If you like this content you should subscribe to Radio World Engineering Extra.

In two articles thus far (RW Engineering Extra, Aug. 10 and Oct. 19, 2016), we’ve traced the origins of electret condenser microphones to their externally-polarized ancestor, patented in 1916.

One hundred years later, modern materials and manufacturing have made electret condenser mikes cheap and plentiful — and with careful design electret audio performance can rival the best of their powered cousins. In this chapter, we’ll examine the anatomy of the circuitry following electrets and how they affect the sound output.

For our study, I picked a Neewer model NW-700 “Professional Studio Broadcasting & Recording Condenser Microphone,” which at the time of writing is listed at only $14.70 by the manufacturer, including a web shock mount and cable, shown in Fig. 1. Neewer was kind to let us share some of the NW-700 schematic, which we examine below.

Fig. 2: Inside the Neewer NW-700.

As discussed previously, all condenser microphones generate a small voltage as their diaphragm changes capacitance in an electric field, when moved by sound pressure waves.

Externally-polarized mikes charge the diaphragm/backplate condenser through a resistor from a source of 40 to 200 volts, as shown on the left in Fig. 3.

Because the capacitance is very low (around 50 picofarad, ±30 pF), the resistor forms an R/C network that rolls off the low frequencies. The resistor must have a value of hundreds of megaohms to avoid a cutoff in the bass range.

One advantage an electret has is its intrinsic charge, which eliminates the charging resistor, as shown on in Fig. 3. Either way, a fixed charge is maintained across the capacitor.

For a charge Q, the expression is: = 0 x 0

0 is the capsule capacitance, and 0 is the capsule capacitance.

The output voltage change of a condenser microphone is expressed as the fixed voltage times the relative change in capacity:

where Ct is the variation in capacity due to sound pressure.

It is not unusual for electret microphones to have a rated output of –40 dB relative to 1 volt measured at sound pressure of 1 Pascal (Pa), which is 94 dB SPL. The signal level produced by an electret element under these conditions is calculated to be:

An orchestra may produce an SPL of more than 105 dB, but loud musical instruments such as horns and drums could easily produce a local SPL of 115 dB when closely miked. That is 21 dB above the reference 1 Pascal, which multiplies the output to:

This voltage is an average of the signal envelope — but the peaks of the waveform are greater. Assuming the ratio between the signal peaks and the average is 10 dB, the peak signal level could reach:

That is arguably a big signal for the transimpedance amplifier!

Fig. 3: The basic parts of a condenser microphone. Left, using an external power supply, and right, a self-charged electret with the impedance converter. (Click here to enlarge.)

Let’s look at what may happen, beginning at the electret microphone as shown in the right diagram of Fig. 3. Nearly all electret microphone capsules have a junction-type field effect transistor (JFET) inside the case, to convert the extremely high impedance of the electret element to a useful value for the following circuitry.

Electric charges in JFETs flow through a semiconducting channel between source and drain terminals that is exclusively voltage-controlled. Unlike bipolar transistors, JFETs do not require a biasing current (although, as we will see they benefit from optimum terminal voltages). The JFET also has a potentially higher gain (transconductance) than the MOSFET, as well as lower flicker noise, making them well-suited to the microphone element’s weak signal.

CIRCUIT SIMULATION
To evaluate the microphone’s transimpedance amplifier and the following stages, I used circuit simulator software. It may be a little unconventional to do this study in software rather than with test instrumentation, but this came about because I was hand-drawing the internal circuits of several microphones and the simulator allowed me to check configuration of some unlabeled parts. (In one case, it helped me determine that a transistor’s emitter and collector had to be reversed and changed from NPN to PNP.)

The simulator I chose is Qucs, the “Quite Universal Circuit Simulator,” an open-source electronics circuit simulator software available on the Internet at http://qucs.sourceforge.net under GPL. Qucs supports a large list of analog and digital components with parameter values that can be applied to circuits to study DC voltages, AC performance, including noise and transient analysis, and more.

Fig. 4: Qucs circuit simulation of the impedance converter. (Click here to enlarge.)

Starting with the transimpedance converter, Qucs demonstrates some powerful analysis. Fig. 4 shows the circuit with an AC voltage source in substitution for the electret condenser. Note that a 100 picofarad capacitor is placed in series to represent the element’s real capacitance. The AC has been set to a 1 kHz sine wave at 0.25 volts peak. The meter icon shows a series current of 1.6 milliamps through the 2.2 kohm resistor tied to the 2N3685 JFET drain when supplied with 5 volts.

Two test points: “in” and “D_out” are shown in the Qucs chart to the right. (This is a transient measurement with DC voltages, so the AC simulation is deactivated.) The input signal is shown in red, producing a 0.25 volt sinusoid. The output at the JFET drain is shown in blue, with some gain but also with a large distortion to the waveform. The waveform is inverted, and the negative half is distorted because the signal input voltage drove the JFET’s gate positive, and an N-channel JFET is linear only for a range signal voltages that are negative, relative to the source terminal.

Fig. 5: Added components to operate the JFET gate at a more suitable voltage; the calculated waveform shows reduced distortion. (Click here to enlarge.)

One of the simplest ways to correct the signal voltage issue is by self-biasing, that is, raising the source voltage through as series resistor to ground, as shown in Fig. 5. R5 raises the voltage at the source terminal to 0.86V in this example, while a very large 1 gigohm resistor holds the gate voltage to 8.4mV. A bypass capacitor, C3, holds the voltage on R5 steady across the audio range. (These component values are for illustration and are not optimized.)

Self-biasing lowers the JFET’s distortion, and approximately doubles the gain in this example — but at the cost of a larger component count. Considering that electret microphone capsules often must be as small as possible, as well as low in cost, designers often forego these components. This illustrates a compromise for designers, but fortunately, high acoustic levels are probably not an issue in consumer applications, such as telephones, and they may be avoided to some extent in studio recordings by microphone placement.

Fig. 6: The audio path section of the NW-700 with a simulated electret microphone signal applied to the impedance converter and a phantom power supply. (Click here to enlarge.)

Fig. 6 shows part of the Neewer NW-700 microphone (as I traced it, less the voltage regulator section). Similar circuit designs are used in the many low-priced “studio” microphones on the market. In this case, the electret capsule’s JFET, J1, is pulled up to a regulated DC line (approximately 8.5 volts) and connected through an R/C high-pass network to a transistor stage T1, with a biphase output. This furnishes a balanced differential output for external studio preamps.

On the right, the NW-700 provides the balanced output through an XLR connector at the base of the mike. To “power” our example, a 48 volt DC battery is assumed, which is connected through resistors to Pins 2 and 3 of the XLR connector. A resistor value of 6.8k ohms is a standard value for 48 volt “phantom” systems, although many preamps supply lower voltages and may use lower resistor values.

The phantom power is connected through an R/C bypass network to a pair of emitter-follower transistors, T3 and T4, which provide approximately unity gain and have a low source impedance to the lines. The common point of the two transistors is tied to the voltage regulator, which provides the regulated and filtered DC for the input stages.

Fig. 7: Output at XLR Pins 2 and 3 as determined by Qucs with a 100mV input at 1 kHz. (Click here to enlarge.)

Qucs can provide a variety of AC systems analysis. In Fig. 7, a 0.1V (100mV) signal is applied through a 50 pF capacitor (simulating the assumed capacitance of a small-diaphragm electret element) to the JFET impedance converter. The output from Pins 2 and 3 of the XLR are charted as red and blue waveforms. The vertical scale is in volts, and the voltage offset, because of phantom power, runs at approximately 24.6V. In this simulation, there is slightly less output from Pin 2 than from Pin 3. However, this is unlikely to affect the noise rejection as that depends primarily on the common-mode rejection of the external preamplifier and not the normal-mode difference in signal between the lines.

IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE

Fig. 8: End-to-end frequency response from Pins 2 and 3; x-axis from 10 Hz to 20 kHz and y-axis in volts AC. (Click here to enlarge.)

Qucs supports predicted frequency response of the system, as shown in Fig. 8. As shown by the “ac simulation” data on Fig. 6, the simulator was configured for a logarithmic sweep from 1 Hz to 20 kHz in 2001 steps. Fig. 8 shows the sweep displayed from 10 Hz to 20 kHz. The frequency response is shown on linear vertical scale in volts, so a difference between 0.25V to 0.5V is ±3 dB.

It is apparent that the response is effectively flat from 100 Hz to the top of the range, and is down approximately 3 dB at 30 Hz. Of course, this excludes the frequency response of the electret microphone, and we know from the previous part of this series [Oct. 18, 2017, issue] that directional small diaphragm capsules have an intrinsic frequency tilt that is generally uncorrectable below 100 Hz due to limitations in acoustic filter techniques. However, this rolloff is offset by proximity effect at closer distances, so pickup of voices and instruments at a foot or so is reasonably well-balanced, tonally.

Recordings made with the NW-700 are generally quite good. On symphonic recordings made on high stands, there is noticeable low-frequency rolloff, but this was easily compensated with equalization during post-recording edit. The noise level of the NW-700 is not as good as expensive microphones (those costing 10 to 100X more) but it is acceptable, even for orchestral recording.

If you are interested in a sample recording with this microphone, visit this link on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/john-kean-314785812/20160213-rachmaninov-3m26s

This 3.5-minute recording was made with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra at the George Washington Masonic Temple auditorium in February 2016. It was recorded with a crossed-cardioid configuration in 24-bit/48 kHz sampling and transcoded to 16-bit/44.1 kHz in Audacity, with only LF equalization. The acoustics are not ideal, as the mics had to be placed on a low stand at the front of the seating area, but the recording gives you an idea of what the NW-700 can deliver.

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John Kean joined National Public Radio in 1980 after being chief engineer for a San Diego commercial FM station. In 1986 he joined Jules Cohen and Associates, and then Moffet, Larson and Johnson. He returned to NPR in 2004 to help establish NPR Labs and retired in 2015. Today he works with Cavell Mertz and Associates and performs audio consulting in private practice as Kean Consultants LLC.

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WZRH’s downed tower in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

This year’s hurricanes and wildfires are prompting the FCC to closely examine the protocols it uses to gather communications infrastructure information from broadcasters and others following a natural disaster or unpredictable disaster.

The FCC this week will consider an item that could make it mandatory for broadcasters to report outages following natural disasters, according to a draft of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. That would be a change from the current Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS), which makes such submissions voluntary.

The draft notice seeks comment on ways to improve DIRS and the overall reliability and resiliency of communications networks during emergencies.

[Read: Rosenworcel Gives CSRIC Its New Charge]

The FCC established the web-based DIRS in 2007 following Hurricane Katrina. During times of emergency, DIRS enables broadcasters to report service degradations and request assistance if necessary. Typically the FCC compiles the data and provides network status information to federal emergency management officials as well as publishes reports of restoration information without company-identifying information.

The commission uses the information gathered through DIRS and the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) to develop situational awareness during communications outages and analyze outage trends, such as an increasing trend in network disruptions caused by power outages.

Some of the questions the draft rulemaking proceeding asks are whether DIRS reporting should be made mandatory, what kind of burden that mandatory reporting would place on broadcast stations and whether the burden of mandatory reporting would impede a station’s coverage of the emergency.

Other questions posed in the draft proposal ask if the FCC has the legal authority to mandate such reporting and consideration of what penalties could be imposed for failing to report.

The draft notice, which specifically mentions Hurricane Ida and the damage it did to the Gulf Coast region in late August, also seeks comment on ways to mitigate the effects of power outages on communications network operations in the aftermath of disasters.

The loss of power following Hurricane Ida in is specifically addressed in the draft proposal. The FCC says especially hard hit were cell tower sites that lacked backup power infrastructure.

“NORS and DIRS data collected by the commission in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida and other recent disaster events reveal that a lack of commercial power at key equipment and facilities is the single biggest reason why communications networks transmitting 911 service and related emergency information fail in the aftermath of disaster events,” the draft proposal say. “For example, the commission’s DIRS data show that the majority of cell site outages in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ida’s central disaster region were due to a lack of commercial power availability.”

[Read: Big Louisiana Radio Tower Comes Down in Ida]

In fact, the FCC is considering backup power requirements for DIRS and NORS participants, according to the proposal. “To the extent that the commission were to adopt backup power requirements, providers subject to them, potentially including cable providers, direct broadcast satellite providers, satellite digital audio radio service, TV and radio broadcasters, Commercial Mobile Radio Service and other wireless service providers,” according to the FCC release.

The commission says it is mindful that providers subject to any new rules will incur costs should the proposals be adopted,” according to the draft notice.

The FCC believes the increasing frequency of natural disasters is reason enough to examine the resiliency of the communications grid across the country, according to the draft proposal.

“If the current trend continues without corrective action, the frequency of outages will worsen in coming years as the nation experiences disaster events of increasing severity, duration, and impact, including hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires,” the draft NPRM says.

FCC Acting Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel is visiting Baton Rouge, La., on Wednesday to survey firsthand Hurricane Ida recovery efforts.

Supporting resilient infrastructure has never been more important. The FCC is committed to supporting recovery efforts and doing all we can to help restore communications networks as quickly as possible,” Rosenworcel said in a press release. “I look forward to traveling to Louisiana to learn firsthand what worked, what didn’t, and where the FCC can do better.”

The FCC will consider the draft NPRM at its Sept. 30 open meeting. A comment period will commence following publication of the NPRM in the Federal Register.

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Fred Weinberg and friend in a photo from LinkedIn.

Broadcaster Fred Weinberg has died at age 69.

The CEO of USA Radio Networks passed away on Thursday, according to his obituary, which described him as one of the industry’s “more colorful” owners.

He or his company owned or operated stations in Oklahoma, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and Minnesota. He purchased USA Radio Networks in 2018; the company produces and syndicates radio programming.

Born in New Mexico, Weinberg grew up in Illinois, where he flew with the Civil Air Patrol and worked as a stringer for the Peoria Journal Star. According to the obituary he got involved with WCBU, the campus radio station at Bradley University, and became station manager.

His friend Janet Bro, COO of USA, wrote in an email that Weinberg’s father was dean of engineering at Bradley University and fired his son from the position of station manager, saying he should go buy his own station. “So he did and never looked back.”

According to his obituary, “He took a detour from broadcasting in 1975 for careers at the Penny Press Peoria Newspaper, EF Hutton and ownership of Three Worlds Disco. He tried his hand in the oil business and did a stint with ABC TV before deciding to get back into the business he loved: radio. Fred also published the Penny Press Nevada, a conservative weekly online newspaper, and worked with the Nevada Republican Party in his spare time.”

The obituary recalls that Weinberg “stood up for the rights of small station owners. One of his proudest moments was successfully defending a lawsuit from Arbitron.”

The post Fred Weinberg Dies, Was CEO of USA Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Sanford Williams

At the FCC, Sanford Williams will take a senior leadership position in the Office of Managing Director as its deputy managing director.

He most recently was director of the commission’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities.

Succeeding him in the latter role is Joy Ragsdale, who currently is field counsel in the Enforcement Bureau.

The announcement was made by FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. She said both have put in years of service at the commission.

Joy Ragsdale

As head of OCBO, Williams “spearheaded work to promote digital empowerment, inclusion, equity and diversity in the tech sector.”

At the Enforcement Bureau, Joy Ragsdale worked with field agents on various investigations including broadcast station operations, EAS regulation and pirate radio.

Williams will also continue as a special advisor to Rosenworcel.

The post Williams, Ragsdale Promoted at FCC appeared first on Radio World.

The above screen grab shows the status of Marketron services as of Monday morning Sept. 25. See current status by clicking the image.

Marketron says service has been restored to all of its traffic customers, following the ransomware attack that took its platforms down the weekend before last.

Those customers now have access to all of the data that was in the platform as of Saturday morning Sept. 18.

“Some business services, such as electronic invoicing and payments remain impacted; however, customers should be able to build to conduct their traffic operations. Our teams remain focused on fully restoring all services,” Vice President of Growth Marketing Bo Bandy wrote in an email on Sept. 25.

The image above shows the Marketron service status board as of Monday morning Sept. 25.

The company has posted a series of recommendations for clients whose service has been restored.

Bandy also said Marketron has hired forensic investigators and cybersecurity firms “to stand up an entirely new network environment, a gold standard in recovery from a security perspective. With the assistance of our third-party specialists, a state-of-the-art end point detection and response tool has been deployed to the environment, which is continuously monitored around the clock by security professionals.”

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