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The Media Bureau grants a request for an extension of the reply comment date in MB Docket 19-363

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Dave Burns has died.

According to an obituary on Legacy.com, Burns was 76 and died after a short illness. He is shown in the accompanying photo from his Facebook page.

Readers who were active in the industry’s equipment supply industry of the 1980s and 1990s will remember Burns from his tenure in sales and marketing.

According to earlier RW coverage, Burns began his career as a salesman for Roy Ridge at Allied Broadcast Equipment, which later was known as Harris Allied and eventually Harris Corp.’s Broadcast Division. He also worked as a consultant to several companies, and in 2002 joined Klotz Digital America as director of broadcast business development.

In retirement he remained passionate about radio in retirement and was active in online communities.

[See a photo Burns submitted in 2013 to RW in “Here’s Looking (Up) at You, WLW”]

According to Legacy.com, Burns died Tuesday at Hospice of Southwest Ohio. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.stegallberheideorr.com.

 

The post Dave Burns Dies, Was Retired Broadcast Tech Sales Exec appeared first on Radio World.

Broadcast engineers are often found to be obsessed with time, likely because they are surrounded by time-critical tasks. Many a radio broadcast engineer has programmed an automation system schedule built around precise time program clocks that outlines and controls the content broadcast throughout the day. Precise in this case is defined to the second, with time synchronization often provided by a trusted network program content source.

Gettyimages/maomage

And of course the all-familiar FCC-required legal station ID during the top of the hour window. The broadcast engineer in the joint radio and TV station likely has distributed SMPTE time code throughout the broadcast facility with the intention of locking video tape recordings to a precise and consistent time reference for editing purposes or simply synchronizing control room clocks.

Precise accuracy is defined to the sub-second or video frame rate. As the broadcast facility infrastructure, whether radio or TV, has migrated to an Information Technology (IT) environment and infrastructure, precise time references such as the Internet Protocol (IP), Network Time Protocol (NTP) and the Precise Time Protocol (PTP) have emerged. Precise in terms of accuracy to 1 mS for NTP.

Time references existed long before the first broadcast stations. The sun might be considered our first time reference standard for the local community, with 12 noon defined as occurring when the sun was directly overhead.

Many communities relied on local time synchronization provided by a dominant community member. I grew up in a small east Texas town where you could count on the local “steam whistle” from the refinery to sound at 8 a.m., 12 noon and 5 p.m.

RAILROAD TIME

In the mid-1860s, Western Union utilized its nationwide telegraph system to distribute time signaling from the U.S. Navy Observatory (USNO) in Washington, D.C. The observatory used precise celestial optical observation to establish a time standard reference. This same time reference was first used to synchronize clocks in the railroad system, bringing some order to what was often described as a continuous state of confusion between “railroad” time and the local community time. The nationwide telegraph system became dedicated for time distribution just before the top of each hour.

The establishment of 24 worldwide time zones setting our familiar time zones with each referenced the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) was stated as “humanizing time.”

In some communities, one could find Western Union synchronized clocks in corporate offices, schools, banks and public venues that were connected by “clock loop circuits,” providing synchronization at the top of each hour. The time synchronization signal consisted of an established sequence of 1-click-per-second clicks of the telegraph sounder across the nationwide telegraph system a few seconds before the hour. After a pause, the final click or “mark” signal originated a local reset signal to drive a solenoid in the clock, resetting the clock time to the current top of the hour.

History indicates that this fee-based nationwide standardized clock time system remained in service into the ’70s but faded away as the telegraph as a delivery medium and Western Union faded away. Today, a Western Union railroad clock manufactured by the Self Winding Clock Company is considered a cherished technology collector’s item by many.

AT THE TONE, THE TIME IS…

And of course the broadcast engineer is familiar with the precise time and frequency information broadcast by WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado and WWVH in Kauai, Hawaii on a variety of frequencies ranging from 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz utilizing 1/2-wave antennas. These time and frequency reference broadcasts provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) utilize multiple cesium atomic clocks for precise time and frequency accuracy. Many a broadcast engineer has utilized the precise 10 MHz WWV broadcast as a frequency reference to calibrate or verify their local frequency counter.

The legacy broadcast engineer may have had a master clock utilizing a WWV or WWVH receiver as the time reference. The military Inter-Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) type H time code format broadcast by WWV or WWVH was the only openly available time reference standard before Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) were available. WWVB, also in Colorado and adjacent to the WWV stations, broadcasts a 1 bit-per-second time code on 60 kHz that is responsible for keeping an estimated 50,000,000 consumer timepieces automatically synchronized. That $19.95 “atomic” clock on your kitchen wall relies on WWVB for its time synchronization.

Today, a GNSS-based time master clock is an integral component of the broadcast technical plant. The Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation operated by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) is one of several worldwide GNSS systems in operation. GPS utilizes multiple Cesium Beam or Hydrogen Maser atomic clock references provided by the USNO.

Whereas the system was primarily developed for navigation applications, the system can be used to provide a precise reference to a disciplined oscillator in the local master clocks by reception of several GPS satellite time signals providing facility time and system timing information.

GPS system accuracy is often quoted in terms of location accuracy such as a minimum of 4 meters for civilian applications which receive a coarse-acquisition (C/A) code on 1575.42 MHz. Military GPS (referred to as PPS) uses the civilian frequency plus a second signal on 1227.60 MHz to reduce radio path degradation caused by atmospheric disturbances. With regards to a time reference, accurate time information can be determined to the microsecond level.

The GPS-based master clock references in a broadcast facility are capable of supplying time references in several formats ranging from the SMPTE time code, to NTP and PTP, and to several General Purpose Output (GPO) interfaces. These GPO output interfaces are typically Transistor-Transistor-Logic (TTL) based signals in formats including one pulse per second (1PPS) and top-of-hour (TOH) pulse.

Facility distribution allows a single reference to supply time information to a variety of devices throughout the facility in lieu of each device containing its own time standard based reference. In addition, a 10 MHz frequency reference is often provided by these references and is useful to check calibration of the stations frequency-measuring devices.

The 1PPS and TOH outputs have been used to synchronize other devices in the broadcast plant such as early automation systems. The GPS-based master clocks provide time in the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format. UTC may also be referred to as solar time.

SMPTE time code, known as SMPTE 12M-2, can be found in two formats: Longitudinal (LTC) or Vertical-Interval (VITC). Time is presented in the format of hours:minutes:seconds:frame or HH:MM:SS:FF and is represented by 32-bit binary coded decimal (BCD) number identifying an individual frame of video.

In order to correct for the 29.97 frames per second rate of color NTSC, drop-frame (DF) time code is commonly used. It is typically represented as HH;MM;SS;FF with the semicolon indicating the drop-frame mode. The name is often misleading, as no frames of video are actually dropped. Instead a few time codes are dropped in order to match up the timecode with clock time.

The broadcast facility today likely relies on NTP for time synchronization among a diversity of IP-based host devices. NTP is defined as time synchronization over a packet-switched network or today’s common IP network. Now in version 4 (NTPv4) as defined by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Request for Comments (RFC) 5905 provides accuracy to 1 mS. NTP is considered one of the core IP protocols and utilizes TCP/UDP port 123 as assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and an IPv4 multicast address of 224.0.1.1.

A NEW AND ECONOMICAL OPTION

For many, NTP is an excellent (and now economically implemented) approach to time sync devices in the broadcast plant, such as an automation system components, network content sources, the control room clock and of course all IT-oriented devices. Development of improvements continues today with enhancements specifically in the area of network security.

NTP was developed as a client-server application utilizing a complex algorithm to determine a precise time reference accounting for variable packet network time delays. The client on a host device calculates a time offset and the round-trip-delay from one or more time reference sources.

A peer-to-peer mode is also supported where a peer node can consider another peer node as a time reference.

The NTP client utilizes the familiar Bellman-Ford shortest path spanning tree algorithm to calculate and in turn minimize the delay to the reference time server. NTP clients have been developed for all mainstream computer operating systems, and thus are available for a wide range of host devices. In the Unix/Linux environment, the client is implemented as the daemon “ntpd,” and as a service in the Windows operating system. The Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) defined by RFC 2030 was developed as a simplified version of NTP and is often found in embedded systems where less demanding time synchronization is required.

NTP is based upon a hierarchical or layered scheme of time references described as a Stratum level ranging from 1–16. A Stratum 0 clock is defined as a high-precision reference clock and is not connected to the network as it only serves as a reference. It is simply a high-precision reference standard.

A Stratum 1 clock is directly connected (wired or RF path) to a Stratum 0 reference and is in turn utilized to synchronize lower level clocks. A Stratum 16 clock is considered an unsynchronized clock as is often a clock that has lost network connectivity to its reference source.

The Stratum n description refers to the device distance from the reference source rather than an indication of an actual time accuracy. In reality a Stratum 3 clock may be the most accurate, as this level can be synchronized with multiple Stratum 2 clocks which are referenced to multiple Stratum 1 clocks, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1: Stratum Levels

NTP utilizes the Unix time epoch. The Unix epoch, also known as POSIX time or Unix time, is based upon the number of seconds occurring since January 1, 1970 as each day consists as 86,400 seconds. Unix time is represented by a signed 32-bit numerical integer string such as “1560862759.”

The Internet provides ample time conversion utilities. The current Unix integer time string can be found at https://time.is/Unix_time_now. However, NTP utilizes a modified method of storing the time integer value. Sixty-four bits are used to create an NTP timestamp by assigning 32 bits for the second storage and 32 bits for the fractional second.

A DIFFERENT “Y2K” BUG?

Looking ahead, the use of a signed 32-bit time storage unit creates a problem upon reaching Jan. 19, 2038, as an integer overflow occurs and the time becomes a negative integer and begins counting backwards. This often is referred to as the “Y2K38” problem. Most if not all operating systems have corrected for this problem by adopting a 64-bit storage registers.

NTP has a similar roll-over issue occurring in February 2036. However, the impact is not felt to be as severe since NTP time determination is based upon time-stamp differences rather than an absolute value. Future NTP versions will likely extend the timestamp value to 128-bits. Today, it is not clear as to what the final recommended solution(s) may be.

Yet another enhancement to NTP is PTP. Maybe not found in the radio station environment today, it is worth being aware of. PTP is defined under the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1588 standard now implemented in version 2 or IEEE-1588-2008. PTP is master-slave architecture similar to NTP, but provides accuracy in the sub-second range.

IEEE 1588 is used in utilized in network applications where accuracy is required beyond the capabilities of NTP such as industrial automation and financial transaction markets. It has become commonplace in IP-based TV networks such as the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) ST-2110 standard. PTP is designed for local area networks requiring accuracy in the sub-nanosecond range.

PTP utilizes a synchronization master as the root time reference referred to as the “grandmaster” clock. The grandmaster derives its reference from a Stratum 0 source such as the GPS satellite constellation. A “slave” clock in turn derives a time reference from the grandmaster. Boundary clocks may be present, which in turn relay time information to other segments of a network.

The PTP standard utilizes UDP messages to convey time reference information between devices on the network with IPv4 multicast addresses 224.0.0.129 and 224.0.0.107 registered for message exchange. Master clocks can be obtained that serve as both NTP and PTP time references.

A common challenge in many broadcast facilities is providing NTP time services across multiple isolated IP networks or subnets in the facility. These individual isolated networks are often built with Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) segments and utilize private IP address space. The multiple subnets are used to segment or isolate critical broadcast network functions into layers or zones.

NTP time information can be shared across multiple networks by a sometimes elaborate means of static Network Address Translation (NAT) and Access Control Lists (ACL) in a Layer 3 router to control inter-subnet interoperability from a cybersecurity standpoint. The use of an ACL allows only NTP packets to be exchanged between the individual subnets.

I have found that a better approach is to use an individual NTP time server for each network subnet. This approach is now feasible from an economic standpoint as a NTP server can be purchased for less than $300 such as the TimeMachines TM1000A GPS NTP Network Time Server. A single outdoor GPS antenna and multi-port signal splitter provide a GPS antenna connection to each time server. The more industrious engineer can roll his own time server with an OEM GPS receiver, a Raspberry Pi, and some open-source software. Each time server is configured for each network subnet required such as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2: Example of multiple time servers for dedicated subnets sharing a common antenna (note the lower right combination NTP / PTP time server).

No wonder the broadcast engineer is often obsessed with time when his or her day is often defined in terms of seconds, frames, milliseconds and even microseconds. The broadcast engineer’s Apple “iWatch” as shown in Fig. 3 is considered a Stratum 2 reference, as Apple maintains a network of fifteen (15) Stratum 1 time servers worldwide.

Fig. 3: The iWatch is a Stratum 2 Reference Clock.

By the way, you did ask what time it is. This column was submitted to the editor at precisely 1568613600 prior to the deadline of 1569412740.

Wayne M. Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, DRB, CBNE is associate director, Educational Broadcast Services at Texas A&M University and director of engineering at KAMU TV and FM. He also is president of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and a past recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award.

The post Do You Know What Time It Is? appeared first on Radio World.

It’s a New Year’s tradition: the arrival of a new Radio World Source Book & Directory!

Some folks have asked me why Radio World still creates a printed and online directory. Well, even as we head into the third decade of the 21st century, it turns out that equipment buyers and sellers

still want to find one another, and that buyers are always looking for ways to streamline the process of researching equipment and buying it. Although you or I can find any website with a quick Google search, there’s something both simple and effective about having a directory, particularly a hard copy, right at hand — especially if it gives a succinct summary of what that company does and how to contact them, something not all websites do well.

So here’s your latest resource for professionals working in the U.S. radio broadcasting industry. The companies listed here are those that responded to our solicitations toward the end of 2019. You’ll find respondents listed alphabetically in the Vendor & Product Directory section starting on page 15.

Companies also tell us the type of hardware or service they offer; find those categories in the Supplier Cross Index starting on page 12.

On pages 4–11, sponsors highlight key products in the Profiles in Excellence section. Starting on page 33 are sponsored reprints of product stories that originally appeared in Radio World in recent months.

Radio World believes in the importance of a vibrant technology supplier marketplace. We appreciate all of the companies listed, and in particular those that advertise in Radio World, because they make it possible for us to continue to serve you. I hope you’ll find this directory of companies useful throughout the coming year.

The post 2020 Radio World Source Book and Directory appeared first on Radio World.

Pirate radio, console trends, MaxxKonnect Wireless … as usual, we bring you tons of great stuff in your new issue. And a special feature for history lovers: As the radio industry gets ready to celebrate stations that have been around for 100 years, John Schneider explains why KJR Seattle may deserve top billing.

Read it online here.

RADIO LISTENING
C. Crane Offers Up a Premium Portable

For less than $90, here’s a top-of-the-line radio receiver for that “special someone.”

TECHNOLOGY
Running a Radio Station Inside a Tesla 3

Soundware Norway offered an unusual demo using the car’s web browser.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

• How NOT to Repair Tower Fencing
• Buyer’s Guide: Antennas, Transmission Support, Power Protection
• You Can’t Fix Stoopid

The post Inside the Dec.18. Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

Broadcast engineering personnel need to be aware of hazards associated with proximity to sources of RF energy such as pictured here.

COLUMBIA, Md. — By his own admission, Richard Tell has climbed lots of broadcast towers, gotten himself exposed to some really intense radio frequency fields, suffered RF burns and on occasion has even (accidentally) burned out “some fancy test equipment,” but “never to my knowledge experienced a health effect from my work in RF fields, except for the burns.”

Tell, now 75, and an industry expert in the effects of RF radiation on the human body, shared some of his experiences and deep knowledge of the subject at an RF safety seminar put together by the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore SBE chapters under the auspices of Fred Williard, an officer of the D.C. chapter, and hosted by Rohde & Schwarz at their North American headquarters and training facility.

Tell’s presentation—“Staying Safe in RF Fields”—was tailored to provide broadcast engineering personnel and others involved in RF work with the knowledge they need to stay safe and prevent injury. The free day-long course attracted transmitter operators, station and broadcast group personnel, consulting engineers, network employees, two-way radio service technicians, government and military employees, amateur radio operators and even a SiriusXM satellite radio representative from as far away as New York and Richmond, Va.

Richard Tell

Tell, an IEEE Life Fellow and chair of RF safety-related committees within IEEE, spent some 20 years with the federal government, working for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, and later serving as chief of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Electromagnetics Branch, and providing technical support to the FCC when that agency was setting new rules for human exposure to RF fields.

His 52-year-long career not only includes laboratory work and computer modeling, but also plenty of “hands-on” experience—including purposefully subjecting himself to RF currents—that makes him uniquely qualified to impart knowledge and field inquiries into this sometimes rather gray area of radio and TV station operations.

WHERE THE DANGER LIES

In setting the stage for the “practical” portion of his presentation, Tell provided a definition of “MPE,” or Maximum Permissible Exposure (“according to the FCC, this is the amount of field exposure outside the body that is considered safe”), and “SAR,” or Specific Absorption Rate (“the rate at which RF is absorbed in the body, and which is the basis for our safety standards”).

He also distinguished between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation—terms that confuse many lay people and even some professionals. Ionizing radiation occurs when there’s sufficient energy to remove electrons from an atom typically associated with very penetrating radiations, such as x-ray and gamma; non-ionizing refers to any other type of electromagnetic radiation, including the radio frequency spectrum.

“Radio waves do not have sufficient energy to ionize atoms,” said Tell, assuring course attendees that this was not something they had to worry about. “RF fields are not the same as ionizing radiation. They cannot ionize tissue, and unlike ionizing radiation, the biological effects are not cumulative.”

Tell explained that aside from burns suffered from contacting RF-energized conductors, the greatest effect of radio waves on living organisms was heating of tissues, noting that 60 years of research on the effects of RF exposure has established, among other things, that when RF levels fall below a certain threshold, there is no measurable effect on human bodies. Such research has also established a useful “threshold” for what constitutes an excessive RF level.

“The most sensitive and reliable indicator of an established and potentially adverse biological effect of RF radiation exposure has been behavioral disruption of a learned task in laboratory animals,” said Tell. “Their performance ‘slacks off’ because they are ‘warming up’ and less inclined to do what they were trained to do.”

[Strickland Taught the Industry About RF Safety]

He noted that the threshold for such behavior modification began at a SAR of about 4W per kilogram of body weight, and that this exposure level had been extrapolated to humans and adopted by the FCC in its regulations limiting exposure. Tell stated that a safety factor of 10 is used to constitute what is considered “safe,” with 50 times less exposure being “safer than safe.”

Tell said that in calculating what a “0.4W/kg safe” exposure would be for a 180-pound individual, it amounts to 33W distributed within the tissues. He noted that the normal metabolic rate for humans at rest is about 105W.

Some 40 individuals from radio and television operations, government agencies, consulting firms, and other enterprises involving exposure to RF radiation traveled from as far away as New York to the Washington, D.C./Baltimore suburb of Columbia, Md. to learn more about safeguarding themselves at transmitter sites.

“When RF energy is delivered to a lossy material such as body tissue, it produces heating of those tissues,” he said. “Elimination of heating of the body is the primary objective of most safety regulations today.”

Tell observed that the effects of RF on the body are not uniform, with some areas being heated more than others, and that this heating is frequency-dependent, as humans resonate at around 65 MHz.

About 40 people from radio and television operations, government agencies, consulting firms, and other enterprises working in RF attended the day-long seminar.

About 40 people from radio and television operations, government agencies, consulting firms, and other enterprises working in RF attended the day-long seminar.

“FCC exposure limits are based on limiting the rate at which RF energy is absorbed in terms of watts per kilogram of body mass so that you don’t warm up,” said Tell. “A hazardous level of exposure is reached when you begin to warm up from the RF energy impinging on your body.

“The ‘take-home’ here is that if you feel warmer than you suspect would be normal, back off and ensure that your exposure is within the accepted limits.”

PROTECTIVE MEASURES

Tell noted that portable “clip-on” RF monitors, while not necessarily precise indicators, do provide “early warning” information that is useful in flagging what may lead to excessive exposure in RF environments. He also provided some tips for proper use of such monitoring devices, as well as suggestions for mitigating one’s exposure.

“Always wear an RF monitor on the front of your shirt; it should face the antennas generating the radiation you’ll be exposed to,” said Tell. “The difference between front and back can amount to a factor of 16 at 100 MHz. If the monitor sounds only occasionally that’s not a problem. If it’s steady, then it’s time to get out of the area.

“If you have to work close to a high-power antenna, use a personal monitor to determine if the area is below the exposure level; if not, the transmitter must be shut down and locked/tagged out, especially if it’s remotely operated. Take the lockout key with you until all work is completed and the system can be returned to normal operation.”

Other tips include staying behind directional antennas when doing tower work and exercising care when working around non-directional radiators.

“You cannot hide behind an omnidirectional antenna like you can a dish, a Yagi or a panel antenna,” Tell said.

He observed that there were some cases where broadcast operations could not be interrupted and doing work around such transmission sites called for operating with reduced power or wearing a protective body suit and hood designed to attenuate RF exposure to the body.

“Such a suit greatly reduces RF exposure,” said Tell. “But always remember that the suit does not make you into Superman.”

The post Staying Safe Around RF: An Industry Expert Tells All appeared first on Radio World.

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The Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics have released more details about Auction 106. The upcoming sell-off will offer 130 construction permits in the FM broadcast service, including 34 that were available from previous auctions. 

Bidding will begin April 28, the commission says. The auction will be conducted in “a simultaneous multiple round format,” meaning all CPs will be available for bidding in the first stage, and the FCC may or may not decide to transition to Stage Two based on bidding activity. A minimum of 80% of activity will be required in Stage One, and it will jump to 95% if the auction progresses to Stage Two.  

In Auction 106, the commission will calculate an initial minimum acceptable bid, and once a provisional bid is placed for a CP, that amount will become the new minimum acceptable bid. Then, the FCC bidding system will determine the eight additional bid amounts by multiplying the minimum acceptable bid amount by the additional bid increment percentage of 5%. 

In order to break any potential ties, the FCC says its system will assign a pseudo-random number to each bid submitted, and in case of a draw, the assigned numbers will break the tie by making the highest the winner the tiebreaker. 

The simultaneous stopping rule will be in place during Auction 106; therefore all CPs will be available to bid on until the auction is complete. The Media Bureau listed five different ways that this rule could play out; they can be found on page 38.

[New FM Construction Permit Auction Set for April 2020]

The commission cautions that “Failure to maintain the requisite activity level will result in the use of an activity rule waiver, if any remain, or a reduction in the bidder’s eligibility.” Each bidder will begin the auction with three activity waivers. However, participants should be confident that they can actually pay for that CP. The FCC says it will not allow bid withdrawals in Auction 106.

Whether or not broadcasters plan to bid, all should be aware that the Media Bureau says it will not accept FM commercial and noncommercial educational minor change applications from Jan. 29 at noon through Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. (ET), which is the period when prospective bidders must file the Auction 106 Form 175. According to Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey, the freeze will be enacted in order to “protect the reference coordinates of each of the allotments” to be sold in Auction 106. 

Another important date to note is March 20, which is the deadline to wire the upfront payments required to participate in Auction 106. In this announcement, the FCC called attention to the fact that seven allotments will have reduced upfront payments of only $750. However, “An applicant that is a former defaulter … must pay an upfront payments 50% greater than that required” of other applicants; current defaulters may not participate.

The commission says it will notify qualified bidders of their status 10 days before the April 24 mock auction in order to prepare bidders for the real deal. For those who want even more information, an auction tutorial will be available online no later than Jan. 22. 

Read the full document (DA 19-1256) and attachments to refresh your memory on auction procedures.

The post FCC Announces Dates for Auction 106 appeared first on Radio World.

Calling it unfinished business from seven years ago, the NAB and NPR joined Xperi, parent company of HD Radio, in asking the FCC to allow FM stations to operate with asymmetric sideband power levels without going through the hoops of asking for experimental authority.

They have asked the FCC to initiate a rulemaking to that end, saying it would advance the nation’s voluntary deployment of digital radio and improve digital FM service for listeners.

Though HD Radio is on the rise across the nation, more can be achieved if the FCC is willing to revise its technical rules when it comes to standard use of asymmetric sideband operation, according to the NAB, NPR and Xperi in a recent filing.

They cite the number of radio stations that have been converted to digital broadcasts — some 2,500 stations offering more than 2,190 additional multicast channels HD Radio. By authorizing asymmetric sideband operation on a routine basis, stations would be able to maximize HD Radio service coverage areas to replicate their analog as much as possible within existing digital power limits, the organizations told the FCC.

In the FCC’s First Report and Order in the digital radio proceeding, the commission authorized FM stations to operate with digital effective radiated power equal to 1% of analog power (or -20 dBc). That was modified in 2010 when all FM IBOC stations received authority to operate at -14 dBc. Today, the accepted current formula uses symmetric sidebands for all calculations, which the filers said eliminates a viable path for many stations to increase power on at least one sideband.

[Read: Xperi Seeks Bigger Role in Alerting]

Even though there was little opposition to permanent authorization of asymmetric digital sideband operation in a previous comment cycle in 2012, the FCC has taken no further action on the matter, the filers said.

“As the commission considers the next steps toward its goal of creating an all- digital radio broadcast environment, it can strengthen the existing digital radio ecosystem and facilitate the continued growth of digital radio by addressing an important matter left unresolved in the prior rulemaking,” the three said.

“Authorization of asymmetric sidebands will help stations improve reception of HD Radio services at minimal cost to them or to the commission.”

 

 

The post NAB and NPR Press FCC to Allow Asymmetric Sidebands appeared first on Radio World.

Podcasts continue to be a hot commodity, and analytics company Podtrac is keeping score of the most popular U.S. podcasts. The November 2019 numbers are out now — take a look to see if your favorite podcast made the top 20.

News podcasts feature heavily on this list with “The Daily” (produced by the New York Times) and “Up First” from NPR regularly ranked #1 and #2, respectively. Additionally, “Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood,” a celebrity news podcast, debuted on the list this month at #5, pushing “The Ben Shapiro Show” down one slot.

Many of the podcasts on the list could be described accurately as “radio on demand” because they are repurposed versions of programs that also air on broadcast FM, including “This American Life” (#4), “The Ben Shapiro Show” (#6, )“Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” (#9), and “Fresh Air” (#14).

Note that broadcasters also dominate the publishers on the list, with eight of the 20 from NPR alone. iHeartMedia produces the #3 ranked “Stuff You Should Know;” WNYC Radio produces “RadioLab” (#15); PRX produces “TED Talks Daily” (#18); and NBC News produces “Dateline NBC” (#20).

The Podtrac Top 20 Podcasts ranking is based on unique monthly audience.

 

The post News Podcasts Maintain Podcast Popularity appeared first on Radio World.

Fig. 1: Searching for warmth, this critter met its end inside a transmitter.

Jim Leedham’s Broadcast Electronics FM35T transmitter was down, although the station air signal was protected by a backup. As he drove to the site, Jim ran through the scenarios of what he might find, as most engineers do. 

Once on site, Jim killed the breakers, shorted the components and with a strong trouble lamp looked inside. It didn’t take long to find something that didn’t belong, as you will see in Fig. 1. He quickly removed the intruder and restored the rig to the air. 

The rest of Jim’s time was spent seeking to improve his rodent prevention. He plugged a couple of cable pass-throughs at the base of the transmitter. He also inspected the floor and racks for droppings, which would indicate a larger infestation. None found, he spread mothballs and mouse bait to guard against future intruders. 

This is the season when rodents seek the comfort of a building. A few steps now can ensure they don’t choose your transmitter building.

*** Fig. 2: Mice “Walk the Plank” in this commercially available mouse trap.

While we’re on the subject of rodent infestation: Wolfram Engineering principal engineer Greg Muir read about the DIY rat trap we described in October. He says he recently discovered a similar “trap” for rodents at one of the sites he maintains. 

As pictured in Fig. 2, a “plank” is mounted on a pivot shaft near the edge of a bucket. This plank is held in a horizontal position by a weak magnet, placed underneath, just before the pivot shaft. The unsuspecting mouse heads up the ramp (Fig. 3) and walks out onto the plank to get to the peanut butter. The magnet separates from its keeper, and the plank gives way, dumping the mouse into the water in the bottom of the bucket. 

Fig. 3: The plank tips as the mouse approaches the peanut butter bait.

The assembly appears to be a commercially-made item; the Home Depot bucket may suggest the source. Greg says that this rig was in place for a few months and never did dunk a mouse (even though the traditional mouse bait, located in other parts of the room, effectively did its job). 

Greg theorizes that the local mice may have served on board ships at some point, and knew full well what a mutiny meant! Arrrrrr, matey.

For sites where traps can be checked daily, Radio World editor Paul McLane prefers humane traps and recommends you Google “humane mouse trap.” 

***

From Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes — a free e-newsletter from the Alabama Association of Broadcasters, authored by Larry Wilkins, past recipient of the Radio World Excellence in Engineering Award — comes this reminder: By now, all stations should have updated their EAS equipment to handle IPAWS messages correctly. 

The deadline was Nov. 8; however, some stations may have taken advantage of what they consider a “60-day extension.” The FCC did not issue an extension, but Part 11 of the rules has always contained a paragraph noting that if an EAS device is not operating normally, the station could operate for up to 60 days while correcting the problem. Larry warns that this is not a reason for delaying your upgrade.

***

Special project engineer and Radio World colleague Dan Slentz is a wealth of broadcast solutions, many of them at low- or no-cost. Dan found a radio news service that provides news content to stations at no charge, while encouraging financial support donations.

Public News Service delivers one newscast per  day, updating it if something is breaking. The six-minute newscast has a three- minute “clean out point” with the cue, “This is PNS.” 

They also offer both state and regional stories and actualities. The best part, they stay “content neutral,” meaning no “pro” or “anti” anyone. Find it at www.publicnewsservice.org.

*** Fig. 4: The Tempest, supported by crowdfunding, promises “AI-powered weather forecasting” in an easy-to-use package for your home or facility.

Modern advances allow ordinary folks to install weather stations on their own property. With the advent of smart technology, a company named Weatherflow plans soon to ship its latest weather system, called Tempest. 

The Tempest promises to use artificial intelligence to provide accurate, up-to-date weather information and may be helpful at operations where conditions can “turn on a dime.” Two things that set this instrument apart are that it is solar-powered and that it is compact, about the size of a camping lantern. It’s also wireless, so no cabling is necessary. 

Google “Weatherflow Tempest.” It is scheduled to be available in retail in April, with early crowdfunding backers seeing theirs sooner. (If you haven’t yet participated in a crowdfunding venture, read up on how they work first.) 

See other interesting products (like a tiny wind meter you plug into your smartphone) at weatherflow.com. Current products from the company are available on Amazon.

***

The Society of Broadcast Engineers is promoting a mentoring program for new engineers. Radio World and Workbench heartily support that goal. If you haven’t already, please consider joining SBE, and then inquire about how you can help.

Also, you can mentor others and earn SBE recertification credit by sharing tips here in the pages of Workbench. Send tips and high-resolution photos to johnpbisset@gmail.com.

John Bisset has spent 50 years in the broadcasting industry and is still learning. He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance. He holds CPBE certification with the SBE and is a past recipient of the society’s Educator of the Year Award.

The post Don’t Let Mice Kill Your Transmitter appeared first on Radio World.

Michael McEwen addresses the crowd.

The North American Broadcasters Association wants radio stations to “strongly consider” adopting HD Radio hybrid IBOC mode and to participate in national and international discussions about how migrations to all-digital transmission could work. 

The association further hopes that the radio industry will support internet-based content for use by the other type of “hybrid” receivers coming to the market — those that can tune over-the-air broadcasts while also interfacing with the internet.

As Radio World has reported, a paper published this year titled “The Value Proposition of Radio in a Connected World” by a working group of the NABA Radio Committee assessed the North American radio industry and explored major issues facing practitioners in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Topics included IP delivery, connected cars, the role of metadata and issues surrounding digital transmission.

A session at the recent IBC Show in Amsterdam discussed the report further.

ALL DIGITAL

NABA Director-General Michael McEwen said, “We recommend all radio broadcasters implement a hybrid IBOC broadcast mode and offer station and network content through as many paths as possible, while emphasizing over-the-air content.” 

McEwen called on the entire industry to jointly define criteria for all-digital migration decisions and to promote regular licenses, rather than experimental ones, for all-digital radio transmission.

In the session, he reviewed recent market research about U.S. listener habits, describing the popularity and healthy status of radio, and momentum for early adopters of a hybrid approach. 

A recent Infinite Dial report from Edison Research and Triton Digital, he said, confirms that broadcast radio is by far the favorite audio source in the car, with 81% of U.S. drivers age 18+ listening to “linear” radio emissions, while “owned” digital music scores 45%, CDs 43%, online radio 28%, podcasts 26% and satellite radio 22%.

Looking at listening trends, over three years linear radio usage is almost stable, as are owned digital music and satellite radio.

The decline of CD players is evident in that report, with CDs losing about 9 points over two years (from 52% in 2017 to 43% in 2019). Online radio is advancing, if not at an irresistible pace (26% in 2017 to 28% in 2019), as are podcasts, which jumped from 19% two years ago to 26% this year.

SOLID FOUNDATION

The strength of radio’s appeal, specifically in cars, is suggested by another report, “Techsurvey 2019” from Jacobs Media. In 2019, 91% of respondents were listening to AM/FM radio for more than 1 hour per day. (Techsurvey gathers data from a pool of radio listeners, so its results should be read as providing insight into behaviors among radio listeners rather than consumers at large.)

FM radio leads the list of can’t-do-without features when buying a new car: 80% of the respondents indicated FM radio as their top priority, followed by Bluetooth and aux-in. Smart speakers are experiencing a dramatic popularity rise, gaining 6 points from 21% in 2018 to 27% in 2019. 

Listening to AM/FM stations is the most popular activity people ask their smart speakers for. The graphic is from Edison Research’s “Share of Ear” via Westwood One.

The radio industry plays a noticeable role in this success, McEwen said, since AM/FM radio scores the best result among the smart speaker audience share: 18%, followed by Amazon Music (17%) and Pandora (13%), according to the “Share of Ear” report from Edison Research. 

While the most common use of smart speakers is answering general questions (28%), a quarter of smart speaker owners listen to music from AM/FM radio on their devices, and a remarkable 15% listen to news or talk from AM/FM stations.

HYBRID APPROACH

McEwen discussed the presence and possible future scenarios for radio in dashboards. “The radio tuner is less prominent in the car,” he said. “The question I have is: Where is the radio button on the car dashboard? It’s a huge issue for us.” 

Broadcast radio remains the most popular audio source in U.S. cars. The slide is from the “Infinite Dial” report by Edison Research and Triton Digital.

He said NABA is studying “strategies on how to get radio’s prominence back to the car and how to re-engage North American in-car listeners.”

In his opinion, internet-based content created with hybrid (over-the-air plus internet) receivers encourages automakers to add the technology; so, he said, the time has come to step on the throttle of hybrid adoption for both linear and non-linear consumption. 

He also emphasized the importance of metadata in any hybrid scenario. NABA recommends stations adopt at least static metadata, but preferably dynamic metadata, and then assess their audiences’ behavior to fully understand the potential benefit of the technology. 

DYNAMIC METADATA

Making metadata visible to listeners requires work for station personnel and technology investment for the station. So why do it? 

McEwen said data analytics show that enhanced content means more listening. Emmis Broadcasting has publicly shared information about monthly listener minutes compared with station use of metadata. (The data was gathered from millions of listening hours by users of the NextRadio mobile app before the company ended support for that initiative.) 

Comparison of monthly listening figures between radio stations using static vs. dynamic metadata as gathered by NextRadio in 2016 and 2017.

According to the data, listeners spent more time with stations that supplied at least a static logo than those that did not. Listeners spent even more time with stations supplying dynamic metadata than those that only supplied static metadata: from 52% to 64% extra minutes.

McEwen also recommend resources from NAB, found at www.nab.org/innovation/digitalDashboard.asp, as a valuable source for best practices around metadata and in-car listening.

He concluded by saying a key purpose of NABA will be seeking consensus among the North America broadcast community about how to preserve radio’s prominence in the automotive dashboard. Its goals include defining technical requisites for radio and audio in the car dashboard as well as common requisites for hybrid radio and metadata. 

“Those three projects are ongoing,” McEwen explained “and we will share the results at the NAB Show next April at our Future of Radio and Audio Symposium.”

Davide Moro reports on the industry for Radio World from Bergamo, Italy.

The post NABA Urges North American Radio to Look Ahead appeared first on Radio World.

Bob Crane

In the history of affordable AM/FM portable radios, there have been few that combine sensitivity (the ability to reliably receive distant stations) with selectivity (the ability to separate them for clear, intelligible listening). Even fewer AM/FM portables have combined those characteristics with great sound, the most notable being the legendary GE Superadio/Superadio II series of the 1980s and early 1990s. (Many used Superadios are selling above their original list prices on eBay today.)

The new $89.99 CCRadio-EP PRO belongs to this exclusive club. Created by Bob Crane, long-time radio innovator/retailer and owner of the C. Crane Co., the CCRadio-EP PRO combines AM/FM sensitivity, selectivity and great sound in a large, analog-style radio receiver, complete with a large illuminated “slide rule” tuning dial. 

The CCRadio-EP PRO retails for $89.99.

Although the CCRadio-EP PRO looks like old-tech analog, it is anything but. Inside this 20th century-style case is the brain of a very 21st century digital radio.

A DECEPTIVE SIMPLICITY

At first glance, the CCRadio-EP PRO doesn’t look like a premium AM/FM portable. There’s a lot of unused space on its main front panel, like the blank dashboard of a economy car whose owner wouldn’t spring for an AM radio.

This uncluttered simplicity is misleading because the CCRadio-EP PRO is a sophisticated receiver. The deceptive appearance was a deliberate choice, driven by Crane’s core market for this radio: “It is somewhat embarrassing, but the original CCRadio-EP was made for my mother,” he said. “She painted with watercolors and drove until she was 90, but a digital radio was one thing she did not want to invest her valuable time in to learn.”

Now one mother is not enough to base a product launch on. However, when it came to the CCRadio-EP PRO, “We presumed there were a modest amount of radio listeners in the same boat,” Crane said.

“This radio was designed as a gift to radio lovers who want radio listening to be easy or uncomplicated or simple,” he added. In this way, “it has a similar position in the market as the older models of the GE Superadio.”

THE NITTY-GRITTY Internal componentry

Built as an enhanced version of C. Crane’s CCRadio-EP analog AM/FM radio, the CCRadio-EP PRO is contained inside a grey plastic case (with black trim) measuring 11.4 inches wide by 7.3 high and 2.75 wide. It comes with a 5-inch speaker and high-fidelity amplifier. Sound can be heard in mono through the front speaker, or stereo (for FM only) through earbuds or headsets.

Because he prefers analog technology, Bob Crane didn’t want to go digital with this new mode. But he had no choice.

“The analog chipset we used in the first model was not available anymore,” Crane told Radio World. “Analog chips are generally not manufactured anymore. We also lost our ferrite antenna manufacturer at same time. Changing chipsets is sometimes challenging but finding a new ferrite manufacturer was positively chilling.”

This knob allows for directionally tweaking the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna. “We actually have a total of five coils on the ferrite devoted to AM reception,” said Bob Crane.

The top of the CCRadio-EP PRO has an extendable FM whip antenna plus power and display light buttons. (Being able to turn off the display light saves battery power and keeps from disturbing others at night.) There is also a flip-up handle that locks in place for easy carrying. The CCRadio-EP PRO is powered by an included 6V AC adaptor, or four D batteries.

The CCRadio-EP PRO’s speaker is on the left side of the front panel; the audio controls on the lower right side. These controls are the FM stereo/FM/AM switch for selecting bands, bass and treble knobs for adjusting audio quality and the wide/narrow bandwidth switch for the AM band. (This last switch is central to the CCRadio-EP PRO’s outstanding AM sensitivity. The narrow setting filters out adjacent AM stations to improve selectivity.) The large horizontal tuning display is at the top right side of the front panel.

[Read:  Windup Radio Inventor Trevor Baylis Changed Life for Many]

On the right side end of the CCRadio-EP PRO is the large tuning knob, the AM Fine Tuning knob (for directionally tweaking the built-in C. Crane-patented Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna) and the volume knob. 

“We actually have a total of five coils on the ferrite devoted to AM reception,” said Crane. “Four coils take advantage of the magnetic north/south axis of ferrite for a 3 dB boost over a typical AM antenna with one coil. The fifth coil is for the external AM antenna interface.”

On the left side end are located a headphone jack, a line input jack that allows the CCRadio-EP PRO to serve as an amplified speaker for a connected music player/smartphone, and the AC adaptor power jack. 

Finally, the back panel of the CCRadio-EP PRO contains ports to attach a two-wire AM and/or coaxial-style FM external antenna, an Internal/external antenna switch, a 9 kHz/10 kHz tuning step switch (for using this radio in countries with 9 kHz spacing between AM stations rather than the 10 kHz gaps of the United States), and the battery compartment door. 

The company estimates that the CCRadio-EP PRO will run for up to 300 hours on D cell batteries, if the display light is kept off.

AM TV-STYLE PERFORMANCE

Back in 2010, I measured the crowded nighttime AM radio landscape in my hometown of Ottawa, Canada, using the stock AM/FM receiver inside my 2006 Mazda MPV minivan (which is still on the road today). Available at https://tinyurl.com/rw-am-dx, the test showed that U.S. AM stations such as WSB-750 Atlanta (935 miles away) can be received in Ottawa at night, when AM signals propagate over the horizon due to bouncing off the ionosphere.

I certainly expected the CCRadio-EP PRO to be even more sensitive than the Mazda’s AM radio, and it did not disappoint. The AM band on the CCRadio-EP PRO was jammed at night. But thanks to this radio’s wide/narrow filter set to the narrow setting (you lose a bit of audio range using the Narrow filter in exchange for eliminating adjacent channel overlap), the CCRadio-EP PRO was never overloaded. Scanning across the AM band in narrow mode was like flipping channels on a television set. The selectivity was that good.

Meanwhile, the AM fine tuning knob allowed me to boost a selected AM station’s power and clarity (as did rotating the radio on its horizontal axis to improve directional reception). In cases where two radio stations were on the same channel, I was able to tune one out in favor of the other. (Granted, AM signals did fade in and out, which is due to the nature of AM propagation at night.)

The most impressive proof of the CCRadio-EP PRO’s selectivity was its ability to separate New York’s WCBS(AM) on 880 from Chicago’s WLS(AM) on 890. WCBS is a powerhouse in Ottawa at night, even coming in occasionally during the day if the atmospheric conditions are right. On other radios, WLS would be drowned out by WCBS. On the CCRadio-EP PRO, WLS punched through.

FM STEREO SURPRISE

I assumed that the CCRadio-EP PRO’s FM performance would be excellent, and again this radio did not disappoint. It received and separated lots of FM stations effortlessly, even without the whip antenna extended.

The big surprise was how different each FM music station sounded on the ear buds. Depending on the era that the song was recorded in, the frequency separations varied widely. Some songs in stereo had the highs and lows congregated together. Others had the bass guitar on the far side of the left channel (or so it seemed to this listener), and the drums far on the right.

The CCRadio-EP PRO is what it promises to be, and more. For $89.99, C. Crane Co. has created a top-of-the-line AM/FM receiver that makes radio listening fun again, all driven by Bob Crane’s undying love for this medium, and for his mother.

Comment on this or any story to radioworld@futurenet.com.

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