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Growing Percentage of Audio Listening Now Happens on Mobile
More listening is being done on mobile devices than ever before.
According to new research by Edison Research as part of its Share of Ear report, 30% of all audio listening in the U.S. is now being done on a mobile device by those aged 13 and older. This is an increase of 67% since 2014 when Edison began tracking audio consumption among Americans.
While listening to traditional AM/FM radio still accounts for the largest share of audio consumed, the gap between traditional radio and mobile devices is closing. In 2014, 31 percentage points separated the two; in 2021 the two are only separated by two percentage points.
[Read: Share of Listening to Podcasting Hits All-Time High]
Among younger age groups, audio consumption through mobile devices has already surpassed traditional radio receivers. Among those aged 13 to 34, 46% of total daily audio consumption is done on a mobile device while 20% is done on a traditional AM/FM radio receiver.
One potential reason: the coronavirus pandemic caused many Americans to spend more time consuming audio at home in 2020 and less time consuming in-car audio, which has been the prime location for listening to a traditional AM/FM receiver.
“Mobile devices, particularly of course the phone, have been gaining on the traditional radio receiver as the primary listening device for as long as we have been measuring Share of Ear, but with the disruptions of the last year the gap has narrowed dramatically,” said Edison Research President Larry Rosin. “As fewer people have a standard radio receiver in their homes these days, naturally more listening comes through digital devices.”
Edison noted that these statistics speak to the device only, not the audio product being delivered by the device. This is important to clarify because mobile devices can deliver a wide range of audio products, including radio station programming, the report said.
Edison plans to conduct additional data analysis later this year to see if these audio habits remain in a post-quarantine world.
The Share of Ear study is released quarterly and is designed to be a nationally representative study of Americans aged 13 and older to measure their time spent listening to audio sources. The research study asks respondents to complete a 24-hour diary of their audio listening on an assigned day with diaries completed both online and by mail.
The post Growing Percentage of Audio Listening Now Happens on Mobile appeared first on Radio World.
Going Under the Hood at the “Under the Hood” Show
The author is co-host of the syndicated “Under the Hood” radio show.
The car-centric talk show I am a co-host for, “Under The Hood,” had been using the studios of Midwest Communications for over 20 years.
The studios were good but we wanted to have our own home with custom features. A place to hang the collected memories of 30 years on the wall and grow with a full video system installed for broadcast to social media and a possible local TV network.
The scope of the project was a complete ground-up build of a new studio beginning with an empty room.
The show operates on a limited budget like many radio pioneers have had to deal with and so you have to improvise. This meant doing the work in-house. Our team consists of the three hosts and a producer, without an on-staff engineer. I happened have a background in pro sound electronics as well as automotive so I became the point man and had to familiarize myself with what it takes to build a modern radio/podcast/video studio.
The new studios are located in rural Garretson, S.D., amongst the cows and corn some 15 miles from Sioux Falls, S.D. in the nationally-known Nordstrom’s Auto Recycling complex. The massive facility was built in 2019 with a dedicated 800 square-foot upper room sound-insulated for the purpose of a radio studio.
The studio is based around an Audioarts Lightning 16-channel console fed by Electro-Voice RE20 microphones running through a Symetrix Jupiter 8 processor.
Calls are handled using a Backbone Networks IP phone software system. It’s the same company that provided the LUCI software we use. It has worked very well for us.
The microphone booms are all Compass from Blue. They have integrated tally lights for the talent.
Chris Carter, left, drives “Under the Hood.” He is operating an Audioarts Lightning console. Russ Evans is in the background.We use Denon DN-300RMKII rack-mounted solid-state media recorders to capture the audio for later use on podcast and the live signal is sent through a Barix Exstreamer 500 to the live stations.
Fully automated video switching is provided by way of a Insoft HDVMixer. This system is a hands-off voice activated switching system which allows us to stream to most any social media channel. Cameras are AViPAS 1080P installed in six positions.
LED accent lighting is installed behind the wall sound panels and Neewer 660 fixtures provide the video lighting.
Since we are a call-in car talk show we wanted the caller’s sound to be as clean as possible and ran the caller’s audio through the Jupiter processor. This allows us to get an automatic clean-up and level on the incoming calls.
We broadcast to over 240 stations and do a podcast but the streaming is important to. We had a challenge getting the audio on the stream to the level we wanted and, in the end, we found our solution by running the audio from the board out through the processor before it feeds the stream and that did the trick.
“Under The Hood” has been on the air for over 30 years, 19 with the current hosts. We look to have a good run of at least 20 more years before we hang it up, if ever. We are always actively looking for new markets to air the show to continue to provide free automotive advice to listeners as well as provide a solid platform for stations to place automotive advertisers on.
Left to right, Shannon Nordstrom, Chris Carter and Russ Evans.The post Going Under the Hood at the “Under the Hood” Show appeared first on Radio World.
Wall Street Sinks As Treasury Yields Climb
Tech stocks paced a wave of declines on Wall Street Wednesday, as the Chair of the Federal Reserve declined to say whether or not the Central Bank will work to put a kibosh on inflationary pressure.
Media stocks were caught up in the dips.
Among the bigger decliners is Salem Media Group, down 34 cents to $2.47 after the company posted lower Q4 2020 adjusted EBITDA.
Also off sharply: Beasley Broadcast Group and iHeartMedia.
How To Gauge The Real State of a Station’s Technical Facilities
Cavell, Mertz & Associates President Garrison Cavell and Garvey Schubert Barer attorney Erwin Krasnow have made suggestions on assessing station potential from the technical side and deciphering station coverage maps, and have then explored treasures that might be found in cyberspace and by poking through the stacks of station paperwork in various Media Information Bureau columns appearing at RBR+TVBR. Today, they take a look at tire kicking.Please Login to view this premium content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
LPTV/TV Translators: Here’s Your Transition Date Reminder
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FCC’s Media Bureau is reminding all low power television and TV translator stations that the digital transition date — when stations must terminate all analog television operations — is fast approaching.
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Rosemary Mercedes Exits Univision’s Communications Team
Updated at 3:10pm Eastern
For 15 years, she was the go-to person for all of the corporate-level communication from Univision Communications, the multimedia giant focused on Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanics that is now under majority ownership of ForgeLight LLC and Searchlight Capital Partners.
With that shift in control, several changes transpired. Wade Davis replaced Vince Sadusky as CEO. Steve Mandala was fired, with Donna Speciale brought in to the C-Suite.
Now, big changes have come to the corporate communications team.
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Scripps Stations To Explore ‘Hidden Bias of Good People’
The E.W. Scripps Company has agreed to broadcast a commercial-free special across its local stations next week in a move it hopes will “spark a national dialogue around implicit bias while advancing conversations at the local level in the 41 markets where it operates.”
“Each of us have experiences and backgrounds that shape how we think and how we interact with the world around us,” explains Scripps Local Media President Brian Lawlor. “As a steward of the public airwaves with a station footprint that reaches into nearly a quarter of U.S. TV households, Scripps has a powerful platform from which we can help facilitate critical conversations about the implicit biases we all carry and what they mean for how we connect with one another.
Bryant T. Marks, Ph.D.With that, every market where Scripps has a station will air the 60-minute special, “Hidden Bias of Good People,” hosted by Dr. Bryant T. Marks, Ph.D.
“We’re proud to bring this special with Dr. Marks to our viewers in every market in order to provide a safe space for these discussions – neighbor to neighbor – about identity and bias,” Lawlor said.
Dr. Marks is the founder and chief equity officer of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity.
Scripps notes that the TV special is “interactive and conversational, with a goal of helping viewers understand the unconscious biases we all carry based on our upbringings and environments. Implicit, or unconscious, bias refers to attitudes and beliefs that occur outside of our conscious awareness and control.”
Marks has provided training to police departments and to executives and professionals in educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and local and federal government agencies, among others.
In addition to airing the special, Scripps’ local TV stations are producing multiplatform content to aid viewers in engaging with the topic of implicit bias. Planned content includes an in-depth series on race relations and stories examining the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion to employers and job seekers.
Scripps TV stations also will host Facebook Live discussions and Zoom Q&As with local experts.
Enjoy 100 InFOCUS Podcasts To Choose From!
The RBR+TVBR InFOCUS Podcast on Tuesday celebrated its 100th episode, as Editor-in-Chief Adam R Jacobson conducted an exclusive interview with Colorado Broadcasters Association President/CEO Justin Sasso to learn more about the key topics the CBA is addressing in Washington, D.C. for radio and TV station owners in the Mile High State.
Among them: ATSC 3.0 transition in a state with weather and terrain challenges, and the ongoing fight for radio with respect to royalty fees. The discussion came just 24 hours after GMR sent a take it-or-leave it letter to radio stations regarding a new nine-month interim license, effective April 1, that includes a 20% rate hike.
Didn’t hear the podcast? Easily do so from our new embedded player at RBR.com!
Coming March 9: Jay Prasad, Chief Strategy Officer at LiveRamp TV, discusses his expectations for TV advertising ahead of the 2021-2022 Upfronts.
And, to access the other 99 episodes of the InFOCUS Podcast, presented by DOT.FM, just click here!
Digital, Publishing Dollars Boost Salem In Q4
LOS ANGELES — Salem Media Group, the Camarillo, Calif.-based company known for conservative Talk radio stations branded as “The Answer” and a host of sibling radio properties devoted to Christian music and teaching, has successfully turned its financial fortunes from severely shaking to solid and growth-filled.
How did Salem accomplish this in the fourth quarter? Its just-released earnings report shows it comes down to two non-broadcast segments.
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A Privacy-Focused Addressable Ad Platform? Here’s One To Consider
LOS ANGELES — It is owned in part by NBCUniversal, Charter Communications and ViacomCBS and is known for its privacy-focused audience connectivity, collaboration, and authentication platform.
Now, it is leveraging TransUnion’s portfolio of identity and data-driven audience products, focused on privacy-focused identity, data modeling, audience creation and activation.
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Beebe Bounces to iHeart Indy
iHeartMedia has announced that Kristy Beebe, formerly region senior vice president of sales for the Kentucky-Indiana Metro, has been promoted to market president for Indianapolis. That market consists of iHeartMedia Indianapolis owns and operates WFBQ(FM), WOLT(FM and HD2), WZRL(FM) and WNDE(AM).
She will report to iHeartMedia Kentucky-Indiana Metro President Ear Jones.
Beebe has also worked iHeartMedia properties in Toledo, Ohio and Louisville, Ky.
Send your people news to radioworld@futurenet.com
The post Beebe Bounces to iHeart Indy appeared first on Radio World.
Sinclair Stock Up As Reduction-In-Force News Surfaces
As of 11:37am Eastern, Sinclair Broadcast Group shares were trading at $35.98, up 23 cents from Wednesday. Consider it icing on the cake for a company that has seen significant share growth since late October.
Still, Sinclair’s fiscal health is far from perfect. That could explain why the Baltimore-based company is engaging in a reduction in force impacting 5% of its employee roster — including those at its headquarters.
According to the Baltimore Sun, nearly 600 jobs will be culled across the U.S. by Sinclair; the company has not issued any formal statement on the reduction in force effort.
Why? “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt across all sectors of the economy, something that can have a profound impact on a company as diversified as ours,” the company said in a statement to the daily newspaper.
While its unusual for a media company squarely focused on visual media and not audio media, which has seen big staff furloughs and layoffs due to the novel coronavirus, to blame COVID-19 for layoffs, Sinclair is unique among its peers: it invested heavily in the ex-FOX regional sports networks. With no live sports across much of 2020, viewership — and advertising support — plummeted.
That, it appears, has contributed to the fiscal challenges fueling the layoffs about to transpire.
“In response to this, we are currently undergoing enterprise-wide reductions across our workforce, including corporate headquarters, to ensure we are well-positioned for future success,” the statement to the Sun said.
Sinclair’s full-time roster of employees numbers 9,211. Additionally, the company has 2,219 part-timers who are on contract and not considered employees.
Sinclair’s Q4 2020 performance was good: Earnings per share exceeded Wall Street analyst estimates, while revenue came in line with forecasts. However, the RSN arm of Sinclair, battered by COVID-19, is its most underperforming segment. Distribution revenue for Local Sports dipped to $513 million from $724 million, as advertising slid to $14 million from $60 million.
Did Ex-Westwood One Employees Engage In Patent Theft?
Knowledge of trade secrets, and their possible use for technology at another company, is a serious matter. It extends across multiple industries, including Radio.
Just ask Cumulus Media‘s national radio arm Westwood One. On Tuesday, it filed a lawsuit against an operation that provides 24/7 music radio programming with national talent and custom content.
Patent infringement is the crux of the matter.
As first shared by RBR+TVBR via Twitter late Wednesday, Westwood One filed a complaint for patent infringement against Local Radio Networks (LRN).
The filing was made March 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. Specifically, Westwood One claims LRN infringed on patent numbers 7,860,448 (Methods and Computer Programs for Localizing Broadcast Content) and 7,412,203 (Systems, Methods and Apparatus for Operating a Broadcast Network).
In the complaint, WWO accuses LRN of infringing on the “Methods and Computer Programs” patent “by making, using, selling, offering for sale, and/or importing its Radio Velocity Control computer hardware and software technology.”
Westwood One explains that the LRN Program “is a system that comprises several components: a Voice Tracker tool, an LRN Portal, a server, and a cloud storage site, each with its own code.”
Thus, in the view of the Cumulus-owned WWO, Radio Velocity Control is comprised of much of what Westwood One holds a patent for.
How could LRN gain explicit knowledge of the elements of the “Methods and Computer Programs for Localizing Broadcast Content” patent?
Former Westwood One employees went to work for LRN and shared the information with their new employer, it seems.
Patrick CrockerThe complaint fingers LRN VP/Programming Operations Chris Reeves, who was VP/Operations at Westwood One from July 2009 until joining LRN in July 2017; Jonathon Steele, Director of Programming Operations at LRN from July 2017 who was previously a Westwood One Operations Manager; LRN Director of Creative Services/Voice Talent Chris Hatton; LRN VP of Regional Affiliate Sales Matt Caldaronello, who joined in January 2019 after serving for nearly 13 years as WWO’s VP of Affiliate Management; and EVP/Operations Patrick Crocker, who came on board at LRN in June 2019 after 23 years and 4 months at WWO, exiting as SVP/Affiliate Management.
In a statement released March 3 to the media, LRN said the claims “are legally and factually baseless” and that it “intends to vigorously defend against those claims.”
LRN was launched by Steve Swick in 2015 and, it claims, developed and uses its own technology.
“Six years after LRN’s successful launch in 2015, Westwood One is apparently giving up on trying to fairly compete and instead is trying to now use the courts to do what its programmers, engineers and affiliate sales people could not do,” the LRN statement reads, concluding that LRN “will not be bullied by a corporate radio Wall Street giant.”
In the complaint, Westwood asserts LRN knew about the alleged infringement since May 2020, when LRN was sent a cease and desist letter from WWO.
Similar claims are being made by WWO regarding the “Systems, Methods and Apparatus for Operating a Broadcast Network” patent. That’s because LRN has a software program that informs customers it delivers maximum custom localization and station owner control — an alleged infringement of WWO’s proprietary technology.
Skyview Networks, which distributes LRN’s music formats, is not involved in the lawsuit.
— Additional reporting by Ed Ryan and Rob Dumke
GMR Deals Radio A Royalty Royal Flush: Pay More, Or No Play
When it comes to its tactics for bringing those responsible for some of the music heard across the radio dial, there’s perhaps no rights organization more brash than the Irving Azoff-founded Global Music Rights (GMR).
GMR has been a thorn in the side of the Radio industry for years, with ongoing litigation with the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) a top story in 2019 and 2020.
Now, the powerful artists and publishers’ rights organization that’s tangled with the RMLC for five years is taking a page straight out of the Mafia film Goodfellas by handing Radio a “pay up, or else” approach to its new licensing agreements set to commence April 1.
As first reported by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink, GMR — which represents a wide swath of writers and publishers ranging from Billy Joel and Bob Seger to current pop stars Ava Max and Drake — has issued communication to radio stations that air music in its library that their current licensing agreements expire on March 31.
The new deal is straight out of Mission: Impossible, if not reminiscent of the Goodfellas character Henry Hill’s description of how his mafiosos go about collecting payments from those who owe money. On April 1, a nine-month interim licensing agreement would start. But, a 20% royalty increase comes with the signing of a new deal.
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Radio industry, which has seen sequential improvements in its quarterly earnings since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic some 11 months ago. Still, most publicly traded radio broadcasting companies have carefully balanced cash on hand and their debt leverage by moving forward with a reduction in force. At iHeartMedia, the industry’s largest audio media company, job losses came after an infamous January 2021 employee reduction effort — one that was never reported by iHeartMedia-owned trade publication Inside Radio.
The hardball tactics GMR is taking came without any input or negotiation from the RMLC, Radio Ink reports.
And, GMR’s unilateral royalty rise comes as its court battle with RMLC has been delayed due to the pandemic, creating a legal back log. The discovery process in the groups’ case is not set to conclude until the end of 2021.
A PRE-COVID GUNSLINGER
On February 17, 2020, one month before the novel coronavirus sent most of the U.S. into a pandemic-fueled lockdown, GMR and RMLC engaged in a war of words over who was in the wrong with respect to the litigation and where the court was heading.
In GMR’s view, Judge Terry Hatter Jr. of the Central District of California “dealt a significant defeat” to the alliance of radio broadcasting companies known as the RMLC, “denying its attempts” to dismiss the lawsuit.
However, what GMR’s public relations veteran Larry Solters didn’t mention is that, should RMLC be able to prove the facts it is alleging, then GMR is the entity that is “an illegal cartel,” RMLC said at the time.
Meanwhile, the fight between GMR and the RMLC won the support of the Trump-era Justice Department. In late December 2019, DOJ urged a federal court to reject attempts by the Nashville-based RMLC “to misconstrue the laws that prohibit its illegal, price-fixing, cartel behavior.”
That statement came after GMR in October 2019 sued Entravision Communications for non-payment of royalties for music played — according to GMR — on English-language Rocker KFRQ-FM in Harlingen, Tex.; Classic Rocker KOFX-FM in El Paso; Hot AC KVLY-FM “107.9 MIX FM” in McAllen-Brownsville; and Los Angeles stations KDLD-FM “Súper Estrella Clásica” and simulcast KLYY-FM/KSSE-FM “José” from January 2017.
The GMR letter to Radio became known on the same day SoundCloud introduced what it is calling “fan-powered royalties — a fairer and more transparent way for artists to earn money on SoundCloud.”
It is designed to assist independent artists whose livelihoods were greatly crippled by COVID-19, with a lack of live performances eating into earnings in a major way.
“With fan-powered royalties, money made from listeners goes directly to the artists they listen to,” SoundCloud explained. “This equitable payout model is what independent artists across the industry have been asking for, and as an artist-first platform, we’re excited to be the first music company to roll it out.”
The fan-powered royalties go into effect April 1 for “Pro Unlimited” subscribers in the Premier monetization program and Repost by SoundCloud artists, including those in Repost Select.
How does it work? “The more fans listen on SoundCloud, and listen to your music, the more you get paid,” it explains.
Under the old model, money from dedicated fans went into a giant pool paid out to artists based on their share of total streams — a model, SoundCloud says, “mostly benefits mega stars.”
Hand-Held Audio: The New Wave For Non-Video Consumption
We all do it. In fact, our editor is doing it right now.
Music, and spoken word content such as a news report, is more than ever being consumed by U.S. consumers over a smartphone.
New data from Edison Research only confirms the trend.
Listening on a mobile device now accounts for 30% of all time spent listening to audio by those age 13+ in the U.S.
That’s an impressive 67% increase from 2014, the latest Share of Ear report from Edison Research finds.
As Edison notes, the gap between listening on a traditional radio receiver and a mobile device among those ages 13 and higher has narrowed remarkably quickly since 2014. In fact, 31 percentage points separated the two in 2014 and only five percentage points separate the two today, it says.
Nevertheless, the traditional AM/FM radio receiver — largely in the automobile — still accounts for the largest share of audio consumed.
Of course, that percentage has decreased the most since the survey began, and now accounts for a mere 35% of all audio consumption, compared to 49% in 2014.
Mobile devices have already surpassed traditional radio receivers in the younger age groups.
Among those age 13-34, 46% of total daily audio consumption is done on a mobile device; 20% is done on a traditional AM/FM radio receiver, possibly because younger drivers tend to have older automobiles without today’s connected car accessories such as Bluetooth and USB connectors.
Edison stresses that these statistics speak to device only, and not the audio product that is delivered by the device.
Mobile devices can deliver a wide range of audio products, including radio station programming.
“Mobile devices, particularly of course the phone, have been gaining on the traditional radio receiver as the primary listening device for as long as we have been measuring Share of Ear, but with the disruptions of the last year the gap has narrowed dramatically,” said Edison Research President Larry Rosin. “As fewer people have a standard radio receiver in their homes these days, naturally more listening comes through digital devices.”
COVID-19 disruptions meant Americans spent more time consuming audio at home in 2020 and less time consuming audio in-car, the prime location for listening to a traditional AM/FM receiver. This, Rosin added, could explain some of the change in the past year.
“Further data analysis in the coming year will be needed to see if these audio habits remain post-quarantine,” he said.
How the Share of Ear® study is conducted: Edison Research conducts a nationally representative study of Americans ages 13 and older to measure their time spent listening to audio sources. Respondents complete a 24-hour diary of their audio listening on an assigned day. Diaries are completed both online and by-mail using a paper diary. Diaries are offered in both English and Spanish. The Share of Ear study is released quarterly and is available on a subscription basis.
Workbench: Archived Tip Saves Time and Money
Justin McClure owns Jam Broadcasting, licensee of four stations located about an hour’s drive northwest of San Antonio. He recently tuned into one of his stations only to hear the dreaded sound of a quiet carrier.
He went to the site and as he unlocked the door he sniffed for that dreaded burnt electronics scent, but smelled nothing out of the ordinary.
Looking over the equipment rack, he noticed that his Optimod 8200 was flashing like a disco light.
Justin diagnosed that his 15 VDC linear supply was working as it should, but the +12, –12and +5 VDC supplies were having issues.
He was just about to order a replacement supply when he thought of doing an internet search. It led him to a tip by broadcast engineer Gary Morgan in a 2013 Workbench article!
“I love that people take the time to post these simple fixes,” he told us. “I sat down and followed Gary’s instructions, and it works like a charm.”
The ATX replacement supply that Justin chose did not have the color-coded wires described in Gary’s submission, so he had to use the ATX pinout to identify the correct voltages. No problem, because he had all the instruments on his workbench, as shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1: Getting ready to trace voltages on the new supply and to modify the Molex plug.A couple of hours later, he wired the ATX supply wires to the Molex plug (shown in Fig. 2) and the processor was back up and sounding good.
Fig. 2: The Molex wiring is complete.The completed modification is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3: The completed supply modification is ready for reinstallation of the processor.To retrieve the original pictures, Justin turned to the Internet Archive to find a screenshot of the Radio World website. Bookmark it: https://web.archive.org/. More than 500 billion web pages reside at the site, which is also known as the Way Back Internet Machine.
Justin says the site has saved him a handful of times when he needed specific information. It also contains older versions of software, should you need them.
Thanks to Gary Morgan for the original submission and to Justin for the update.
More FLIRI received word from several engineers regarding the Feb. 17 Workbench tip from Dan Gunter, principal of Alabama Broadcast Services LLC. Dan wrote about using a FLIR smartphone plugin to view overheated components.
Readers will recall Dan had intended to check a possible heating issue with a capacitor in a backup transmitter harmonic trap, but that he got sidetracked when he found a defective fan in an adjacent transmitter that was on the air.
Dan’s tip outlined how he replaced the fan, but there was no mention of the original issue: the suspected overheating capacitor in the backup transmitter.
Dan writes that like so many contract guys, he has been buried with work. By the time he got back to the aux, the transmitter wouldn’t even make 100W.
Since this was a shunt capacitor in the third harmonic trap, there was nowhere near enough current at 100W to attempt to heat up that capacitor. Dan replaced it, and the rig was running fine.
At another site, Dan used his FLIR to identify a bad breaker or questionable wire connection feeding a TWR tower lighting system. What was amazing was that the increased temperature was noted through the cover of the breaker panel!
Closer inspection seems to indicate a weak breaker, as it has started tripping after every power outage at the site, possibly because it cannot handle the surge current when everything in the building restarts simultaneously.
Dan is not ruling out problems with the bonding of the wires to the breaker terminals, so he will be taking IR images before replacing the breaker, and also making sure the breaker wires are clean, secure, and treated with Noalox brand anti-oxidant conductive grease before taking “after” pictures.
Noalox is manufactured by Ideal. A 4-ounce bottle is under $10 at Home Depot or Amazon.
As Dan makes repairs, he will keep readers informed.
Genset ResetNew England contract engineer Stephanie Donnell enjoyed the generator maintenance tips that David Morgan of Sinclair TeleCable offered. She adds an additional tip that may save you a trip to a remote transmitter site.
If you have a generator that’s new enough to have a digital controller but does not include some means of remotely monitoring the various status and fault conditions, there is usually no remote means to reset the faults via remote control.
One way around this problem is to add a simple way to reset a fault, so the generator will start. A solution is to install a relay with the N.C. (Normally Closed) contacts wired in-line with the 12 VDC that operates the controller board. When the relay is actuated by a command from your Burk or other type of site controller, the relay will momentarily interrupt the 12 VDC that operates the controller board and clear the fault.
Keep in mind, this is not a perfect solution; the interruption will also clear the run time counter, and you will have no way of knowing what the particular fault condition was.
But as long as the fault was not a continuing “fatal” level fault, this modification will buy you a little time, and the generator should restart. It will keep things on the air and allow you to schedule time to safely get to the site and investigate the situation further.
Just as Gary’s tip helped Justin, your submission to Workbench helps your fellow engineers. Join us in helping Workbench readers solve problems by sending your tips to johnpbisset@gmail.com.
The post Workbench: Archived Tip Saves Time and Money appeared first on Radio World.