Aggregator

The author is chairman of Digital Radio Mondiale.

While our lives have been recently stripped to the minimum by a virus, our vocabulary has been suddenly enriched with new words, concepts and acronyms like lockdown, social distancing and work from home, for those who can.

Now work from home has become much more than the bonus it might have been occasionally in the past. The same is true about the current intense virtual socializing, conference calling and distance learning many experience.

When schools closed down hundreds of thousands of children and older students started to use the internet intensely to continue their education. But to do so these students need a computer and access to broadband and secure connections. In addition, we are already experiencing the limitations of WFH. The broadband is not infinite, and neither is spectrum, a rare commodity indeed.

Big players like Netflix and Amazon are already trimming their offerings to save some bits. Providers are also asking us to use this precious commodity with care. Broadband itself is also of different grades, better when glass fiber than copper etc.

And then there is the physical laptop. What if your mother is distance teaching, your father is conference calling, you are distance learning and your siblings are just skyping friends? How many laptops does a household need? Maybe not all these activities are simultaneous but the laptop (and the cell phone, too) are our gateway to a world blighted by an invisible enemy.

And this is where free-to-air radio broadcasting in its digital format can be of real help. Unlike analog radio, digital and certainly using DRM will allow you to use a receiver with a LED color screen, not smaller than what you have on a cell phone.

Photo Credit: Radu Obreja

This screen transforms radio into an aggregating platform that delivers quality audio, no matter which band is used.

In digital DRM, audio is accompanied by data. It offers the possibility of carrying up to two audio channels and one data channel just on one of the existing frequencies. This is different from analog, which delivers just one audio program on the same frequency and no data. Data can be anything: A geometry lesson with drawings, a quiz, a poem, any text or picture or diagram, etc.

And if you use Journaline, an open, internationally standardized data application for advanced text information in digital radio systems, you will get hierarchically structured information, giving users easy and immediate access to topics of interest and in the desired language.

Users can browse all received information — both audio program-related but also program-independent text information — and select what is of interest. Journaline is not DRM specific and works with virtually any broadcast platform (i.e. DAB/DAB+) due to its low transmission bandwidth consumption. It even delivers a “Hot Button” feature that allows broadcasters to trigger backchannel interactivity, such as linking to online websites, initiating phone calls or sending short text messages.

Recently the data carriage feature of DRM was demonstrated during the BES event in India. It provides an easy, cheap, wide-coverage way of delivering public signage. Think of the screens placed in public places. They could be fed from a DRM transmitter with data only (warnings, phone numbers, simple instructions, or stock market information, pictures of politicians, celebrities, heroes etc.). The system is being tested and used in China.

If this is news to you, then my point is made. Digital radio has been introduced over many years and decades patchily. I don’t believe its full potential has been presented in a compelling way, or that it’s been fully explored.

Digital terrestrial broadcasting is limitless in the number of users it can reach with audio but also extra data. The graphic color screen is the big public alert that can save lives or the small blackboard that is available “live” or where previously stored material can be displayed later. If this sounds like a clunky computer service, it probably is. But it is a resilient and cheap service, it does not consume a lot of bandwidth or electricity and it can reach everyone over large areas (when broadcast in DRM shortwave and medium wave) or locally (DRM in the FM band).

Not many people would have imagined three months ago that we can be in the rare and extreme situation many of us are experiencing now. We must soldier on working from home. Information keeps us connected and alive.

Digital radio reaches vast numbers of peoples at the same time without a lot of intervention, delivering so much more than audio. Having it as a backup to internet, in some places, or as a main source of information in others, allowing access when there is no laptop available, is now becoming a necessity. What’s more, DRM digital radio delivers emergency information or disaster warnings over large or local areas, a feature which seems to be rising in importance.

The virus will not be forever among us. But when we get back to  the new normality, we mustn’t forget this lesson about the great possibilities of digital radio. Full digital broadcasts and full-feature digital receivers are a necessity and not a cottage industry any longer.

We need this new and resilient platform called digital radio because in the invisible fight between viruses floating in the air and radio waves reaching us from a lonely transmitter far away, I will always bet on the radio waves.

The post The Unexplored Benefits of Digital Radio appeared first on Radio World.

Bringing together the sound of its 1035 main monitor with 96 kHz processing and integration with its GLM calibration software, Genelec has introduced the 1235A Smart Active Monitor, intended for music, film and post-production studios.

Launched in 1989, the original 1035 was a wall-mountable full-range monitor that was adopted in studios around the world, including Metropolis and Olympic in London and JVC and West Side in Japan.

According to Genelec, the new 1235A has similar frequency response both on and off-axis, and is said to have a wide and stable sweet spot. The 1235A also has a short-term SPL of 130 dB and low-frequency extension down to 29 Hz.

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

The 12.36 cubic foot enclosure of the 1235A matches exactly the dimensions of the 1035, and features dual high-performance 15-inch drivers, dual 5-inch midrange drivers and a low distortion 1-inch throat compression driver. The midrange and tweeter drivers work in conjunction with DCW waveguide technology to produce directivity and consistent imaging.

The 1235A’s remote-mountable RAM XL electronics module contains power amplification, crossovers and processing, with Class D amplification delivering 2,000 W, 800 W and 250 W for the LF, MF and HF drivers respectively. Input connectivity is provided via both analog and AES/EBU digital formats — along with an AES/EBU digital output — and the updated design of the 1235 also delivers a flatter on-axis frequency response and improved noise performance than was possible with the original 1035, according to Genelec.

With GLM software, the 1235A can be configured, controlled and calibrated for the user’s acoustic environment, tailoring the frequency response, level, distance delay and more as needed. GLM allows users of any type of Genelec Smart Active Monitors to create systems to suit all types of stereo, multiple stereo, multichannel or 3D immersive audio formats.

For those who already own 1035A and B monitors, they can be upgraded with the new technology of the 1235A. The upgrade, which includes installation of the new RAM-XL module, brand new drivers and a complete system calibration, can be completed with no structural changes and little downtime.

Info: www.genelecusa.com

 

The post Genelec 1235A Smart Active Monitor and Upgrade Launch appeared first on Radio World.

.

FCC denies Emergency Petition filed by Free Press seeking an inquiry into broadcasters' alleged airing of false information related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

.

.

.

.

.

Rejects Government Investigation into Broadcasters in Favor of a Free Press

The Telos Alliance says the V1.6 update to its Axia Pathfinder Core Pro enables a virtual monitoring and control version of the middleware intended for smaller systems.

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

The new VML version is equipped for 300 connections and has a lower price point to match, as compared to the larger Pathfinder Core Pro VM system. Both options enable broadcasters to discover and ID compatible devices within a Livewire+ AES67 ecosystem and then serve as an AoIP router after determining potential sources and destinations.

Telos says Pathfinder also “can schedule and trigger events, detect audio silence, issue alarms, and instruct failover routing. It even allows the user to create custom screen-based control and monitoring panels.”

Additionally, the company says Pathfinder Core PRO VM and VML could be installed in “hypervisor environments, including VMware, Hyper-V, VirtualBox, Proxmox and Stratus” at off-site data centers.

Info: www.telosalliance.com

 

The post Telos Alliance Adds New Axia Pathfinder Option appeared first on Radio World.

WorldCast Systems’ says that software Version 1.1.5 is now available for the Audemat RDS Encoder.

Version 1.1.5, the company says, offers new communication features for higher flexibility and ease of use. Among these functions, there is the additional backwards compatibility with the previous generation FMB80, which facilitates use of mixed networks and sending of the same set of commands.

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

There are also new capacities for file configuration through FTP, which the firm says, enables compatibility with most third-party automation software, and easier unit configuration with debugging tools integrated for UECP and ASCII commands.

Also new is Version 3.10 for the Audemat FM MC5 FM test and measurement system.

Version 3.10 is compliant with ITU-R SM.1268-5, published in August 2019. This evolution of the recommendation redefines the criteria for validating FM deviation measurements. For an MPX trip measurement to be valid, four criteria are now taken into account, compared to two in the past.

V. 3.10 integrates new measurements as defined by the ITU, such as condition verification before measurements.

In addition to ITU compliancy, the latest software updates aim to improve the user experience. According to WorldCast, these updates include fixed point measurements and a simpler, more complete interface for radio technicians and engineers, as well as a simplification of the analysis of mobile measurement campaigns.

 

Info: www.worldcastsystems.com

The post WorldCast Updates Software appeared first on Radio World.

The FCC at its open meeting later this month will vote on new rules to allow low-power FM stations in the United States the use of directional antennas and FM booster stations.

The FCC’s Report and Order will update the technical rules for low-power FM (LPFM) stations and allow them to take advantage of additional engineering options to improve reception, according to the FCC. The LPFM service is two decades old and has grown to over 2,100 stations.

The commission’s vote on the reforms this month would “increase flexibility while maintaining interference protection and the core LPFM goals of diversity and localism,” according to the FCC.

[Read: COVID-19 Updates: Next FCC Meeting Is Online Only, Format Adaptations & More]

LPFM advocates have been pushing the FCC for technical upgrades to improve reception. The approximate service range of a 100 watt LPFM station is about 3.5 miles, according to the FCC.

The new LPFM rules on directional antenna changes, which are based on a petition from REC Networks, would permit the use of composite directional antennas, as opposed to off the shelf, in certain cases.

Michi Bradley, founder of REC Networks and an LPFM advocate, previously told Radio World the newly proposed rules are “not a carte blanche for all LPFMs” to use directional antennas.

The FCC in its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking last year said it didn’t think the use of DAs will be widespread: “We believe that directional antennas, whether off-the-shelf or custom models, will not be used widely in the LPFM service due to their higher cost and limited necessity. Nevertheless, the use of such antennas could, if properly engineered, provide significant flexibility to LPFM licensees subject to international agreements and to those that must relocate in areas with few available transmitter sites,” according to the FCC.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in a blog post this week pointed out several LPFM radio stations that are providing their communities with up-to-date information during the coronavirus pandemic in this country; specifically mentioning WNQZ(LP) in New Orleans, which has been carrying locally produced public service announcements.

In addition, he wrote: “WOMP(LP) in Cambridge, Ohio, which has been carrying local church services, serving the elderly and low-income Americans who are particularly isolated and lack access to streaming services. And KDRT(LP) in Davis, Calif., which stepped up to serve its community after the local college radio station was forced off the air by the pandemic.”

The FCC’s rulemaking process did draw comments from some observers worried the reforms could bring increased congestion to the FM band. For example, Entercom Communications, in a Notice of Ex Parte Communication, noted during a meeting with FCC Chairman Pai last fall the broadcaster expressed concern that certain modifications to the LPFM technical rules proposed “could bring increased congestion to the FM dial leading to interference to full-power stations.”

The National Association of Broadcasters also wrote about concerns they had with several aspects of the proposed rule changes.

“NAB is concerned that the proposal to allow LPFM licensees expanded use of directional antennas could cause interference to full-service FM stations. We further object to the commission’s proposal to grant a blanket authorization to LPFM operators to use boosters,” NAB wrote in its comments.

The FCC has previously rejected proposals to allow LPFM stations to increase power greater than 100 watts. LPFM advocates, including REC Networks, have previously asked for a 250 watt service (LP250).

The FCC’s April Open Meeting is scheduled for April 23 in Washington.

 

The post FCC Poised to Improve Reception of LPFM Stations appeared first on Radio World.

Hear from three Voice of America radio journalists seeking to provide studio quality sound from home while complying with social distancing best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chet Rhodes Special Project Manager, Studio and Production Operations

Radio World: VOA says the health crisis has “forced Voice of America’s nearly 50 separate newsrooms out of studio facilities and into its journalists’ homes across the world.” Focusing on the radio and audio services for the moment, describe the technical challenges that this raised, and how your team has gone about solving them.

Chet Rhodes: Very early during this crisis we had to send half of our radio staff home that operate the radio studios to self-isolate themselves. Staff from all over VOA stepped up to volunteer to run shows as the organization worked to move programing out of the building. As of today, all radio programming is being done remotely. Staff are producing shows at home or in the field and sending in files to be played out of our automation systems. Live programming, such as top of the hour newscasts, are being done with VOIP technology or over the cell phone network.

RW: What general technology platforms and specific products are you using and how do the pieces plug together?

Rhodes: We use a wide selection of software from Audacity which is free, to all the Adobe products such as Audition and Premiere, which have great audio editing tools.

RW: What has the impact of the crisis been on your air talent and on other staff?

Rhodes: People have been very supportive across the agency in working to keep our staff safe but also continue the mission of broadcasting the news to the global audience. Many on the staff have expressed concerns about safety, but at the same time they are offering suggestions on how to operate in this challenging environment.

RW: What is the strategy of the VOA technology team to react to the coronavirus, as far as its overall operational and technical processes are concerned?

Rhodes: By increasing the use of the use of social media and digital platformsk, VOA has been able to focus on moving people from working in the building to enabling people to work from home and produce content while doing so. Another key is to continue to improve the quality of the remote production for our sophisticated global audience.

RW: How “virtual” can your operations get, and how?

Rhodes: With radio, we can get completely “virtual.” All of our radio services have in place digital platforms to deliver content and by using something radio has used for years — a phone. We can still gather sound from anywhere and get it on the air. We are using streaming, podcasting and social media.

RW: Any specific technical obstacles have you encountered that you have had to solve, other than described above?

Rhodes: Working from the field has always been part of radio production, so in many ways we are going back to the basics; while some staff have not had to work at home at this pace before, staff has had to make sure the home environment, the Wi-Fi, the older home computer was ready to support everything needed. VOA has deployed laptops, and many staff also upgraded home systems.

Jim Stevenson in the D.C. VOA studio

RW: What lessons can other engineers and technical managers learn from what you’ve been doing these past two weeks?

Rhodes: Even with the staff working virtually, a core technical staff is still needed to work in the building to maintain our operations. Plans have been in place for years for various emergencies, we found that some were outdated, others impractical due to the nature of this emergency. Getting decisions made early on by VOA leadership that we would be working to get almost everyone out of our building was important, so we knew from the start the end goal and have been working towards that.

RW: Do you think these infrastructure changes will be permanent in any way?

Rhodes: The ability for people to work at home for broadcasting has been something looked at for a long time. This might accelerate that to give us more workforce flexibility. All the work done to support that remote workflow will likely remain in place in some way.

RW: What else should we know?

Rhodes: People will be overwhelmed during a situation like this. Support them, and provide the best tools you can and using online collaboration software make sure they can have support to learn how to use them quickly. A lot of training will be needed to support new workflows that are developed.

Martha Townes Managing Editor (Internet), East Asia and Pacific Division

RW: Much of the focus in the press release was about how your TV people are setting up remote facilities. Our readership focuses on radio and audio, but your radio teams too probably are “thinking visually” and setting up for on-camera work, yes?

Martha Townes: Because social media is such an important way to engage with our audience, our radio reporters have been “thinking visually” for many years. Our Indonesian, Thai, Lao, Khmer services, for example, regularly take a camera into the radio studio and broadcast their programs live on Facebook.

The shift to working from home has resulted in innovation and ingenuity.

In the absence of sound proof recording booths, our reporters from Korean and Burmese voiced reports in their closet. Our Khmer staff reporting to Cambodia improvised with blankets. VOA Thai replaced their Facebook Live radio show with a hybrid approach. They recorded their program as an mp4 video file that they posted on Facebook. They stripped out the audio from that recording and aired it on their traditional radio broadcast channels.

Lekhena Sreng Reporter, VOA Khmer Service

RW: How has the situation changed your workflow? 

Lekhena Sreng: I see telework in a positive way except the real life social disconnection but we have social media to reconnect us for now. I started working from 5 a.m. in my living room, gathering all the texts and audios from the newscasters, reporters either in DC or Phnom Penh to record using my iPhone, edit the audio using Adobe Premiere, place the combined 60-minute show in our container for radio.

I talked to some of my friends and family, they all can’t tell I did it from living room but thought I go to work every day.

The post VOA Journalists Adapt to COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on Radio World.

Bill Baker

Radio stations and engineers are hearing a lot of questions from U.S. churches and hospitals inquiring whether they can legally set up low-power radio broadcasts to their parking lots. What’s the right answer?

We talked to Bill Baker, whose company Information Station Specialists provides radio solutions for emergencies and events, Traveler’s Information and Highway Advisory Radio and specialized legal unlicensed operations.

Radio World: This seems like a good time to pause and ask generally what the FCC rules allow.

Bill Baker: FCC “Part 15” rules set the parameters for short-range broadcasts, which can contain almost any kind of content and can operate on any standard frequency as long as interference to broadcasters does not result. A license is not required as long as the equipment bears a FCC certification number.

With the advent of international services such as Amazon, it is relatively easy to inadvertently purchase a foreign-made unit, which is quite illegal in the U.S. So the first question a buyer should ask is whether it has a certification sticker on the product. In this regard, purchasing from a U.S.-based manufacturer is usually the safest move.

This kind of communication service can be very effective at a point in which people are 1) in their vehicles, 2) in a slow-moving line of cars or parked and 3) in need of critical information that is pertinent. Virus treatment information can be critical to our physical health just as spiritual encouragement can be critical on a totally level.  Either way, the point of short-range broadcasting is to deliver critical information just when it’s needed most.

RW: Are both FM and AM broadcasts possible?

Baker: Yes. But the reason that AM band FCC Part 15 devices are most often preferred is because per the FCC’s FM Part 15.219 rules, the broadcast distance is so restricted as to make it unusable for more than a few feet. At 100 feet, the signal need to be gone. A drive-through restaurant that has the listener’s car hugging the building perhaps could utilize a FM system of this kind. But most people we talk to require more range to make such a communication system useful.

RW: Your own transmitter product operates under FCC rules Part 15.219, using a 3 meter antenna and 100 mw of power. What other equipment would a user require?

Baker: Short of an audio and a power source, the InfOspot product line provides basically everything else most operators need. You can send line level audio from a sound board or wireless pickup right to the transmitters live input. There is also a voice recorder/player onboard that some COVID test locations use to record messages for a repeating broadcast, on the fly.

RW: What kind of power or range limitations do the operators need to respect, in order to remain within legal limits? You said that there’s a  common misconception about Part 15. Can you explain?  

Baker: You have put your finger right on it. Part 15.219, while limiting the AM transmitter power and antenna/ground length, does not specify a signal intensity limit the way the Part 15 FM rules do. Therefore, it’s not possible to get out of bounds with the signal distance with a system like InfOspot.

RW: What else should we know?
Baker: Most FM Part 15 systems that you see advertised are not legal for use in the U.S. Buyer beware!

The post Low-Power Radio in the Parking Lot: What You Need to Know appeared first on Radio World.

Media Bureau issues Order extending effective date of new truth-in-billing requirements in Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019

.

.

.

.