Meetings are held on the last Thursday of every month.

 

Next meeting:

BE's New Line of Solid-State FM Transmitters

 

Who: Criss Onan - Broadcast Electronics

 

What: BE's new line of solid-state FM transmitters

 

Where: UNO Chicago Bar & Grill, 287 Washington Street, One Newton Place, Newton,  MA (see their web site for directions.)

 

When: Thursday, June 24, 2010, Noon

 

And: It's a FREE lunch (thanks to Broadcast Electronics)!

 

RSVP: Ann Scalcione - (617) 787-7051, or email to aescalcione@cbs.com

 

Details:  Broadcast Electronics' new line of low power (1 kW - 5 kW) solid state FM transmitters, with advanced features including frequency agility, scalable output power, IP enabled and HD-compatible.  Criss Onan, Senior Eastern Regional Sales Manager at Broadcast Electronics, will have a STX-1 transmitter shell (enclosure with knobs, switches, etc., less innards) for you to see.

 

Please make your reservation right away so we can get a count for the restaurant.  

Remember that SBE meetings and programs are open to all - members and non-members alike!  Invite your colleagues - just let us know they're coming.

 

Meetings are held on the last Thursday of every month.

...and beyond:

 

TBD

 

...previous meetings:

 

May 27, 2010

Did I just hear someone say "tape was easier?"  Well, sometimes file-based commercial delivery and ingest do get a little messy.  Today, master control operators have to deal with various delivery services, methods, file formats, codecs, transcoders, electronic dub lists, and the magic word that can hopefully tie it all together: metadata.  But the processes involved are far from uniform.  Cris Nuernberg from Floripa Integration discussed this topic and introduced ideas and solutions that may enhance operations at individual stations.  Perhaps it's time to provide the correct tools and standard procedures that can properly hand traffic back to the Traffic department.  What if operators could open one system and all spots were there, waiting for them?  That would be easier than tape!  http://floripaintegration.com/r/N6c2q0I

May 8, 2010

A special monthly meeting was held on a Saturday, open exclusively to SBE members, for a tour of the United States Air Force PavePAWS radar station on Cape Cod.  Very special thanks go out to Lt. Colonel Max E. Lantz II, Commander, 6th Warning Squadron Cape Cod Air Force Station, Captain Philip Menchaca and Barbara Burnett, who worked for several months to coordinate this tour for our group. The fact that Colonel Lantz, Capt. Menchaca, and the other escorts gave up free time on a weekend for the tour is sincerely appreciated.

March 25, 2010

Jim Latimer of Symetrix discussed the technology aspects of audio processing and gave a comprehensive demonstration of the latest AirTools products, including the brand new Multiband Processor 2m, and the Voice Processor 2x.

 

February 25, 2010

“Hear Factor” focuses on understanding the need for loudness metering and control in television audio, from original content creation, to ingest, to final transmission.  It also demonstrates some of the “gotchas” of metadata including DIALNORM, and how stations can use upmixing of stereo to surround so that their sound doesn’t collapse when transitioning from network to local programming.

 

Don Cardone, from Linear Acoustic, gave a presentation that examined the reasoning behind the recently published ATSC Recommended Practice A/85, “Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television,” and revealed simple and effective means for broadcast facilities to implement the practices.  The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM) legislation H.R.1084 and S.2847 passed by the U.S. House and pending in the Senate directly references A/85, mandating the FCC to enforce the recommended practices.

January 28, 2010

Keith Pelletier, Director of Engineering, SPX/Dielectric, gave a presentation on IBOC implementation for FM stations.  He focused on specific data relative to the isolation required between the analog and digital systems, and discussed common amplification and high level combining techniques.

November 12, 2009

New England Broadcast and Cable Expo, DCU Center, Worcester, MA.

September 24, 2009

T-Mobile recently launched UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service) services in the Boston area under their FCC AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) E block license (2140-2145 MHz).  They are currently preparing for continued growth in the FCC AWS A block spectrum, which is directly adjacent to channel A7r at the upper end of the 2 GHz ENG band.  Kevin Glassman and Dan Wilson from T-Mobile described the special steps T-Mobile is taking to minimize ENG interference, and shared their field trial and implementation experiences. They also outlined their AWS program and roll-out timetable for the Boston area.

June 25, 2009

Chris Regan, North American Sales Manager, APT Limited, took a look at private IP links, Metropolitan Ethernet links, and the first wide scale North American deployment of MPLS virtual network links for IP audio distribution. 

 

By now most of us have heard about IP audio and many are beginning to deploy it in various ways.  The majority of deployments so far have accepted compromises in order to achieve specific goals, such as better remote access (for remotes), or to achieve connections at the lowest possible cost (for low cost backup or repeater STLs).  However, when you have read about Audio over IP you will have noted that a frequent caveat is that circuits with proper Quality of Service (QoS) are recommended for pro-grade applications.

 

The application of these network technologies for high quality compromise-free distribution of audio were explained in detail.  In addition, these technologies were contrasted with the IP techniques designed to work over compromised networks and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach were discussed.

May 28, 2009

Dennis Heymans of Myat, Incorporated discussed a number of new technologies and solutions for broadcast transmission. His talk included: 

  • The IBOC “LO-LOSS SOLUTION” —  a new and unique high level combining filter with extremely low transmission loss and better overall efficiency for the station.

  • Mobile Media Filters — This is the hot new world of DVB-H transmission at 700 MHz and L-Band.

  • New developments in DTV filters — You may remember that Myat pioneered temperature compensated dual mode DTV filters that need no cooling fans or thermal jackets. They didn’t stop there, and Dennis will bring us up to date on this and other developments in radio and TV systems.

Founded in the 1950’s, Myat Incorporated has grown to be a well known leader in transmission line systems and components, and is the only transmission system company that remains under its founding management.

April 30, 2009

Karl Graebener, regional sales manager of Canare Cable, discussed the new SMPTE 311 HFO (Hybrid Fiber Optic) connector for cameras and CCUs.  Canare has a series of in-wall (and equipment rack) HFO panels that allow for the simple integration of the new connector into a facility.  Additionally they provide HFO camera cables, HFO breakout assemblies, an HFO tester and the CLEPTOP HFO cleaning sticks.  Virtually all new arenas and stadiums (including the new Yankees Stadium and the Mets Citi Field) are installing HFO infrastructure.  Additionally the majority of new HD Mobile Trucks built over the last year are HFO interconnected throughout.

 

Another product line discussed was a Single Mode Fiber Optic system.  Canare has a series or EO/OE (Electrical to Optical/Optical to Electrical) cards that enable the transport of HD/SDI/ASI, AES audio, RS-422/232 and Ethernet over single mode fiber connections.  Up to 16 of these signals can be multiplexed onto one single mode fiber.  Canare has three different sized card cage/power supplies for these cards to allow for flexibility in deployment.

March 26, 2009

This month's presentation explored the current state of DTV Translators and how they are being utilized.  The FCC recently allowed full service stations to apply for “gap filler” translators. This ruling was discussed along with the fundamental technical elements that make up modern DTV translation.  Program System Information Protocol (PSIP) was also discussed as it relates to DTV translators and LPTV stations along with some interesting applications.

Scott Barella has been involved in the broadcast industry since 1977. He has a strong background in product development, systems design and architecture, construction, integration and television station operations.  He has worked at six different television stations over his career and is now acting Vice President of Technology and Business Development for LARCAN, a leading global transmitter manufacturing company, headquartered near Toronto.  Before joining LARCAN, Mr. Barella was Vice President of Engineering for Burst Communications for six years and led the company’s Broadcast Systems Integration division.  Prior to Burst he was the Chief Engineer of the Broadcast Operations and Engineering Department at the AT&T Digital Media Centers (now Comcast).  Scott also served as the Chief Engineer for 3 years at KCNC Television, a CBS owned and operated station in Denver, where he led the station’s technical efforts with several innovative station engineering projects, including one that won the station a 1999 engineering Emmy award for the use of the first digital microwave system in helicopters.  Scott holds a B.S. degree in Radio and Television Broadcast from the University of Wyoming.  He is the current SBE Chairman for the Denver local Chapter 48.  He is also a published writer for industry trade journals including TV Technology and Broadcast Engineering.

February 5, 2009

This month's meeting consisted of a special tour of the new WGBH studio facility.  In June of 2007, WGBH and WGBX began broadcasting from their brand-new facilities in Brighton.  A multi-year project, this 343,000 square-foot new location houses the two television stations as well as WGBH-FM. Special thanks to Mike Foti, Dave St. Onge and WGBH for their time and generosity in hosting the event.

December 4, 2008

Whodunit? Floripa Integration can add much needed flexibility and accountability to file-based workflows.

File-based workflows don't always (if ever) generate accountability.  In its simplest form, file-based workflows revolve around a "drop folder" monitored by a transcoding server.  This situation does not make use of available metadata, eliminate typos, or add accountability.  When things go wrong, managers often find themselves asking around for the answer to "whodunit?"

Cambridge-based Floripa Integration introduced two of its products, DLogger and DubCentral, and discussed SD/HD file-based workflow, commercial and promo distribution/ingestion, and the significance and applications of technologies such as BXF and AFD.

DubCentral offers a complete video ingestion workflow for commercials and promos by integrating with traffic systems, catch servers, transcoding software, and automation systems.  When needed, DubCentral allows operators to easily up/down convert video, remap audio channels, and manage ancillary data (without having to create new transcoder profiles or factories).  Together with Floripa's PromoBox, DubCentral creates a distribution and automatic ingest solution for promos and commercials produced in-house.  More at http://floripaintegration.com/r/o767J3A.

DLogger combines, in a single location, years of asrun logs, traffic schedules, operator sign on/off, discrepancies, and closed captioning notifications.  Some of DLogger's features include: multi-channel, multi-timezone, web-based color-coded asrun logs; real-time recon and warning system; and search across date ranges by house number, ISCI code, Ad-Id, or title.  Volicon customers can benefit from a tight integration with Observer for broadcast monitoring and review.  More at http://floripaintegration.com/r/R7d2E.  

November 6, 2008

Since the earliest days of commercial television the quest to control TV broadcast levels has never wavered.  While the signal complexity and diversity of the program material has evolved the radical changes in loudness are still the number one viewer complaint. Ed Simeone, Chairman of TC Electronic, presented the historical background of loudness control and demonstrated the latest technology based upon the BS1770 recommendations.

September 25, 2008

Hirschmann Mission-Critical Ethernet systems.  Hirschmann offers Ethernet equipment that works in the environments others can't – equipment exposed to harsh weather, dusty and hot building cores, bumpy and noisy broadcast trucks, and mobile onsite equipment.

Jon Judson, Regional Sales Manager-Northeast presented an overview of Hirschmann's products, with an eye toward showing how to ensure the valuable broadcast signal will reach newsrooms even while covering  hurricanes and other disasters. Hirschmann is a division of Belden, Inc.

June 26, 2008

Arbitron is beginning the roll-out of its new PPM system of audience measurement in the Boston region.  They are presently "live" with PPM in Philadelphia and Houston, and are installing PPM in markets including Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. 

The Arbitron Portable People MeterTM system uses a passive audience measurement device - about the size of a small cell phone - to track media exposure.  Carried throughout the day by randomly selected survey participants, the PPMTM device can track when and where they listen to radio as well as how they interact with other forms of media and entertainment.  The PPMTM detects inaudible codes embedded in the 1kHz to 3kHz portion of broadcast audio.  It is also equipped with a motion sensor, a patented quality control feature unique to the system, which allows Arbitron to confirm the compliance of the PPMTM survey participants every day.  At the end of each day, the survey participant places the meter in a docking station that extracts the codes and sends the data to Arbitron. 

One of the first important steps in bringing PPMTM to Boston is informing the engineers in the market about PPMTM encoding.  For this, an SBE meeting is an ideal forum.  The presentation included a demo of the system, examples of the equipment, Q&A, etc.

May, 2008

Ken Freed, New England District Sales Manager for JVC, gave a presentation about JVC's ProHD line of cameras.  JVC has a range of HD products for ENG and studio applications at the most cost effective price points in the history of our industry.  As a result, for the first time JVC HD products are “on the air” in major markets every night.  The reasons for this success come from JVC's understanding of MPEG and from advanced mathematics in their cameras along with their implementation of native HD as 1280x720p60.  JVC's effective low-bandwidth native HD implementation is a perfect fit for the Native File Workflow model evolving in 2008 as mid-market stations anticipate the costs of their HD build-outs.  

April, 2008

John Wood, Director of Technology, Microwave Radio Corporation, presented MRC's take on the new technologies that will allow TV stations to send audio, video, and data from their ENG truck to the studio using IP file transfer techniques.

March, 2008

With the broadcast market looking to capitalize on multiple distribution schemes including off-air, cable interface, and multicast, the ability to monitor, manage and troubleshoot across these technologies is more than not getting caught with your pants down.  It’s good business.  As engineers, you need to get to the bottom of a revenue interrupting problem fast whether the issue is in your plant, or if it comes to you from outside.

 

Dave Musil of Sencore presented the MSA1850-P.  The media service analyzer interfaces ASI/310M, 8VSB/QAM, and IP.  You can remotely access the unit using a simple web browser from anywhere on the web.  You see at a glance the health of all your programs.  This portable unit goes to the problem and can analyze three streams simultaneously: one in monitor mode, two in the background.  That means the unit watches your back when you are not present, logging and recording for failure levels you parameterize for TR101290, bit rate and physical layer issues.

 

About Sencore

Started in 1951, Sencore Electronics designs, manufactures, sells and services world class electronic test equipment and operational gear.  Its communications division deals exclusively with compressed media solutions.  They offer the most popular receiver/decoder in the market, digital streamers used by major retailers all over the US, and MPEG, RF and IP test, monitor and analysis tools from the very inexpensive to powerful lab instruments.

February, 2008

Doug Thompson from RCS discussed radio station automation and its integration with three of RCS’s products...

 

Radio Visualized - Enhance your station's programming on the air, in the car, on the Web and on a hand-held device with RCS RADIOSHOW. Use today's latest technology to reach more listeners in more ways.

 

 

 

HD Radio Importation - The RCS HD Importer enables advanced HD radio capabilities, like multicasting and data-casting. As a stand-alone module, it can work with any automation system and integrates seamlessly with NexGen.

 

 

 

Interactive Web Streaming - iSelector is a personalized online player, streaming the custom content provided by a radio station or record label directly to each of your listeners. 

 
 

 

January, 2008

More and more, broadcasters find ourselves immersed in an IT environment, and a very complex network structure.  This month Ipswitch, Inc. showed how WhatsUp Gold v11 can help us be proactive in the way that we manage a complex and mission critical broadcasting network infrastructure!

Ipswitch develops and markets software products and services for businesses worldwide.  More than 100 million people use Ipswitch software to monitor their networks with Ipswitch WhatsUp Gold, transfer files over the Internet using the market-leading Ipswitch WS_FTP Professional client and Ipswitch WS_FTP Server and communicate via IMail Server.

WhatsUp Gold v11 - award winning network monitoring software - delivers on its two promises of blending network monitoring and comprehensive windows-based application management with ease of use, allowing broadcast engineers and IT managers to turn network data into actionable business information like trending analysis and resource planning guidance.

WhatsUp Gold v11:

  • Discovers IP based network devices and maps them

  • Allows for manual input of non-standard IP devices and virtualized devices

  • Includes full SNMP and WMI monitoring out of the box without the need for agents

  • Notifies you of state changes for all or specific device, interface or process monitors

  • Includes Drag and Drop MIB support for all SNMP and WMI devices and applications

  • Gathers real-time and trending network information for technical and business reporting

  • Uses the concept of a workspace to focus the busy admin on what is important

  • Is the Industry’s best web application for remote, mobile administrators

 For more info prior to the meeting, check out the Ipswitch web site at: http://www.ipswitch.com/

December, 2007

Telos Systems.

September/October, 2007

The Sixth Annual BOS-CON Trade Show and Ennes Workshop was held on October 4th and 5th.

June, 2007

Jim Tronolone of PatchAmp described the new PatchAmp Lite system, which:

  • Frees up valuable RU’s by eliminating rack space required for DA’s

  • Eliminates cabling from DA trays to Patchpanels

  • Speeds up integration

  • Less than half the weight of traditional DA’s wired to patch panels

  • Very low power consumption (75 Watts per loaded frame)

  • Electrically superior to traditional cabled systems

  • Reduces jitter

  • All external signals are equalized and reclocked at all patch points

  • Increases system reliability and eliminates cabling errors

May, 2007

TAMUZ is a leading international manufacturer of LCD Broadcast Monitoring Solutions, with a portfolio that includes a full range of sizes and designs, including:
 

  • Full HD monitors from 15.4“W up to 82“W

  • Rack mountable monitors from 7“W up to 19“W

  • Desktop monitors from 12“ up to 42“W

  • Stackable monitors for monitor walls from 24“W up to 82“W

  • Portable monitors from 7“W up to 10“

  • Preview monitors, rack mountable, from 4“ up to 8.4“

  • All monitors operate with the same type of OSD and electronics

  • All monitors remote controllable via Ethernet or RS232
     

Ray Kalo, President, Tamuz America, discussed:
 

  • AAC, Automatic Alignment and Calibration, using PM 5639/T probe.  The only LCD manufacturer offering built-in complete quick disconnect calibration tools with all monitors

  • LSM124WHD 24" Full HD monitor.  The only monitor that passed 100% of EBU's recommendations among six other manufacturers.

  • FLM117WHD, 17" with three HDSDI inputs

  • Dual 9" with three HDSDI inputs

  • SoapBox portable HD test generator
     

April, 2007

Microwave Advances is a local, independent manufacturing and repair facility for microwave radios.  New products include a high stability 23 gHz rebuild kit that complies with new FCC rule changes so you won't have to buy a new radio, and the MicroSynth, a hand-held microwave signal generator.  Erik Stromsted discuss his and his company's background and described the services they provide.  Solid state sources, RF power amps, and LNA upconverters, downconverters, and YIG synthesizers are their specialty.

March, 2007

PESA-from Com-Tech to QuStream, a journey from the Midwest, to Spain, and back again.  Distributed Audio Routing - More sources and destinations, less real estate.  CWDM Fiber transport-Bringing different routers together.  Fiber to copper, copper to fiber, without the external frames.  Fortel - Beyond the Y-688: more glue, smaller space.  All this and more from Keith Andoos, Northeast Sales Manager of QuStream.

February, 2007

A few years ago, the message was to build a 1.5 Gb/s infrastructure even if you were only planning on a 270 Mb/s SDI system.  This allowed easy migration to HD when required and affordable.  HD is now common.  It is time again to think about doubling the bandwidth of your video infrastructure.  SMPTE 424 supports 1080P video formats and uses 3 Gb/s video transport.  So, now is the time to start thinking about a 3 Gb/s plant.  Randy Hall, Senior Systems Engineer at NVISION covered some of the aspects of implementing 3 Gb/s data rates in their video routing products and video systems, and what may exist beyond 3 Gb/s.

January, 2007

Can you use Category 5 or enhanced versions (5e, 6) to carry analog and digital audio?  Or analog or digital video?  How about S-video, RGB or VGA?  Or broadband/CATV?  Of course you can!  For some applications, baluns are required.  Exactly how to use it, and when not to use it was discussed by Steve Lampen of Belden.

November/December, 2006

Peter Burk, from Burk Technology, gave a presentation on the ARC Plus, a next-generation transmitter remote control system for full-time, multi-site or dial-up operation. Taking advantage of the scalability of IP, the ARC Plus connects an unlimited number of sites, each with up to 256 channels of metering status and command. Access the entire system from the front panel of any unit, take control using a Web-browser or PC software, or dial in to your system over the phone. With ARC-16 backwards compatibility, the ARC Plus allows broadcasters to advance their facility management operation incrementally, protecting the station’s hardware investment.

October, 2006

Robert Yankowitz, RF Systems Manager for the Boston CBS television stations and WBZ-AM, presented a quick tour of the WBZ transmitter site in Hull (with photographs of that historic site), and discussed theory and practice of AM directional antennas, including several methods of calculating their patterns.  You can download his calculation spreadsheet here (837k).  Please note this Excel file contains macros, which may result in a security warning.

September, 2006

BOS-CON!  This year's Ennes Workshop/Regional Trade Show was a great success.

June, 2006

PAETEC Communications is an Integrated Communications provider currently serving 1400 customers in New England.  It is a privately held company with 500 million dollars in revenue and 14 quarters of net income position status.  The topic of conversation surrounded the services PAETEC provides to the Florida Radio Market Community.  Guest speakers were members of the South Florida PAETEC Office, and they gave an overview the services currently provided to 37 radio stations in South Florida.

  

These include:

  • AM and FM

  • Clear Channel

  • Jefferson Pilot

  • Universal Radio

  • Cox Radio

  • Radio - One

 

May, 2006

Two of the bigger buzz words around NAB this year were HD-ENG, and IP over ENG. One of our own local companies, Microwave Radio Communications gave a presentation on these subjects at the annual NAB engineering breakfast.  MRC graciously agreed to give this presentation at our monthly meeting for May.  John Wood, director of technology at MRC, covered the latest advances in ENG and HD-ENG technology, including camera back transmitters, diversity receivers, alternate modulation methods, and FTP over ENG.

April, 2006

Network operators are quickly discovering that carrier-grade Ethernet offers the flexibility, scalability, performance, and reliability needed to deliver a full range of applications - VOIP, HD video, data, multimedia - to business and enterprise customers.
 

Bryan Smith from Expedient presented a session exploring the current state of technology to extend the full range of Ethernet functionality present in the LAN to the MAN and the WAN. He not only presented the latest approaches in extending this technology, but also offered real-life examples of deployments using Ethernet over copper, wireless, fiber, and bonded T1.

March, 2006

Cedric Taylor from Mackay Communications presented an overview of Inmarsat’s BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) service.  BGAN allows broadcasters to send broadcast quality voice, data and video from remote locations at a lower cost.  BGAN provides integrated voice, high-speed data, fax and IP (Internet Protocol) channels for large files and video in a single compact package.  BGAN allows broadcasters to access information, and send high quality voice and broadband data from almost any location.  With a single BGAN terminal, broadcasters can simultaneously make a call, download or send data, and access the internet. BGAN terminals can support single or multiple users, and they can also support external devices such as telephones and hands-free headsets.  Broadcasters are using BGAN for remote broadcasts and emergency communications, and the technology can benefit both radio and television operations.

February, 2006

Panasonic is the industry leader in the development of Solid State removable memory technology for broadcast and production acquisition in SD and HD formats.  The P2 platform is a format independent architecture that currently uses DVCPRO, DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO HD recording formats for seamless integration into existing environments. The P2 platform along with the surrounding support products and workflow methodologies was the subject of a very interesting presentation by Bill Kennedy.

January, 2006

David "Shack" Haralambou of By Request Communications gave a quick, comprehensive overview of the nexus digital audio routing and interconnect system, using redundant fiber-optic interconnections, manufactured by Stage Tec.  The nexus system uses time-domain multiplexing to combine and route audio, which allows a very high density of crosspoints in a small physical size.  The system can be expanded to handle up to a 4095x4095 matrix, all in a single rack, or distributed over an area spanning distances up to 60 miles.

November/December, 2005

John Bisset, local sales manager for Broadcast Electronics is one of the most well known and respected names in radio, with many years of experience in the business.  John presented an in-depth update on HD radio, aka IBOC, along with a first look a new ultra compact 50 kW AM transmitter.  

October, 2005

BOS-CON!  This year's Fourth Annual Regional Trade Show/Ennes Workshop in Marlboro, MA, was a another great success.

September, 2005

Ken Dillard of Statmon briefly covered the history of remote management with a careful analysis of the way we do things now.  More importantly, he covered what to look for and what your expectations should be as you make the transition to a software based product, which brings all of the diverse systems and devices in your enterprise under control, in a single easy to use and configure interface.

Summer, 2005

For the last four years, Larry Bloomfield has traveled the country with the Taste of NAB Road Show in an effort to provide technical updates to the radio and television engineering community from a select group of manufacturers, based on new developments that were seen at NAB.

This year, Larry's technical discussion included new items from:

Aja Video Systems
ESE - Precision Timing
Henry Engineering - Audio Accessories
InPhase Technology - Holographic Based Storage Media
Larcan - TV & FM Transmitters
Leader Instruments - Test and Measurement
Leitch Technology - Video Distribution
Ligos Corporation - MPEG Encoding and Transcoding
Modulation Sciences - Radio & TV Processing and Monitoring
Orban CRL - Audio Processing
Omneon Video Networks - Media Servers
Riedel Communications - Intercom, Digital Audio, and Radio
Sundance Digital - Broadcast Automation
Tektronix - Test & Measurement Equipment

Many thanks to WCVB for their generosity in providing the venue for this year's show.

For more information on the Taste of NAB show go to http://www.tech-notes.tv/

June, 2005

SONY has been a visible leader in the development of MXF, which is being widely accepted as the standard for interchanging media and metadata.  The standard is also promoted by the Pro-MPEG forum, the EBU, and the AAF Association.  MXF allows the user to store metadata and media-data in one file and/or stream.  This is achieved by "wrapping up" all data (media and metadata) in a standardized, hierarchical way.

May, 2005

The 2 GHz BAS transition was clearly one of the hottest issues at NAB.  This month, Wolf Coach, one of our own local companies, provided some very interesting facts relative to the current Nextel plan for inventory verifications and upgrades.  The program gave station engineers and managers a clear understanding of what will and will not be covered in ENG trucks and portable units. 

April, 2005

Comsearch gave us some insight on frequency coordination issues, traps, and problems as they relate to both radio and television related microwave and two way systems, and how to avoid them.

March, 2005

Mike Simon of Rohde & Schwarz discussed 8-VSB measurements at the DTV Transmitter facility, and highlighted the usefulness of a specific Rohde & Schwarz 8-VSB measurement server solution (EFA-NET), which offers unique measurements opportunities and functionality not previously available to broadcasters.  Mike provided a good mix of basic 8-VSB theory, with an example of a current Rohde & Schwarz 8-VSB measurement solution used in the industry.

February, 2005

Peter Fasciano, a well known and respected authority in broadcast production, and one of the founders of Avid, shared his thoughts on the state of the art in server-based video systems.  He discussed storage planning issues; how much you will need, and how to deal with latency and bandwidth issues.

Avid has become the world leader in digital media creation tools.  Today, most of what we see and hear - 90% of primetime television shows, 85% of feature films, 80% of commercials, and nearly all of the chart-topping pop music hits - are made using Avid products.

January, 2005

Dennis Heymans from Myat gave us an update on RF transmission technology and products for radio and television, including DTV and IBOC.  For over 50 years, Myat has been a recognized leader in rigid transmission line components and accessories.  Dennis Heymans, Director of Sales at the Myat RF Filter Division in Portland, ME, and known by most of us for having many years of experience in RF systems, gave us the latest update on ways to get more in, and more out of an RF system, including a virtual tour of the new Myat installation at Four Times Square in Manhattan.

October, 2004

BOS-CON!  This year's Ennes Workshop/Regional Trade Show was a great success.  With over 120 exhibitors and 55% more attendees than last year the show was the biggest and best to date.

September, 2004

Keith Andoos presented Omneon VideoNetwork's unique server solution.

Omneon combines the best of both IT and broadcast, and is the most scalable and flexible server on the market today.  Developed by Don Craig, one of the designers of the original Tektronix Profile, the Omneon server operates free of motherboards and operating system drives.  The server is completely modular and can be upgraded while powered-up.
 

August, 2004

We were fortunate indeed to have one of our better known local companies, Microwave Radio Communications, as our guest presenter.  Dan McIntyre, Vice President of Sales and Marketing provided insight into the issues television broadcasters face in light of the 2 GHz Broadcast Auxiliary relocation, and what to do about it.  This is a complex and changing subject with new information constantly coming to light.  

 

With decades of experience, and a global view of the ENG market, MRC is in an excellent position to help broadcaster through this difficult period.  Dan's talk included a discussion of the new FCC rules, plus a technology update on what is available to meet them. 

July, 2004

A Taste of NAB 2004 Road Show

 

www.Tech-Notes.TV

(Not associated with the National Association of Broadcasters.)

 

This was an EDUCATIONAL event to bring a taste of what happened at NAB 2004 to those who couldn't make it.

 

The show was open to any and all organizations including: 

                              Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineering

                              Audio Engineering Society

                              Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

                              Order of the Iron Test Pattern

 

Equipment and literature featured are from:

                               ASACA

                               Cobalt Digital Inc.

                               ESE

                               InPhase Technologies

                               Leader Instruments Corporation

                               LightningMaster Corporation

                               Maxell Corporation of America

                               Quartz Electronics, Incorporated

                               Ridel

                               Sasem Co., Ltd.

                               Sony Electronics, Incorporated

                               Sundance Digital, Incorporated

 

Each item displayed was discussed and its strong points mentioned.  This "Taste of NAB" presentation fills a great need for stations, networks and individuals who couldn't go to the NAB convention. 

 

This was a GREAT chance to see new products right here at home.

June, 2004

Ray Thompson of EMC gave an informative presentation of his company's high-capacity disk storage systems:

 

Information Lifecycle Management for Broadcast - manage your media from online to archive...

ONLINE

  • Clariion Line of online Storage solutions including the newly announced AX100 low end Clariion storage solution

  • 7th generation Clariion storage solution

  • Network Attached Storage solutions (offering no single point of failure for broadcast)

 

NEAR LINE

  • Clariion Disk library solutions - designed for near online

 

ARCHIVE

  • Centera - Scalable to petabytes - store your media on disk - for long retention periods with faster retrieval times and at a cost comparable to tape solutions

  • Uses RAIN (Redundant Array of Independent Nodes)

 

SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT

  • Legato - EMC recently purchase Legato

  • Avalon IDM (Independent Data Manager)

  • Documentum - and VM Ware (server virtualization)

 

May, 2004

Caterpillar and Southworth-Milton, the local authorized Caterpillar dealer, presented a new type of system for power conditioning and backup power requirements for for the broadcasting industry.  The session included a discussion of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) using state-of-the-art kinetic power cell technology.

 

POWER QUALITY BASICS:

  • What is Power Quality

  • Industry Study on Power Quality

  • Batteries: "The Weak Link"

CAT UPS SYSTEM:

  • New Patented Kinetic Power Cell Technology

  • Functionality of Flywheel Based UPS System

  • Voltage Regulation, Power Factor Improvement and Harmonic Cancellation

  • Models, Features & Options

CONTINUOUS POWER SYSTEMS

  • Operation Sequence

  • Normal Operation

  • Brief Power Outage

  • Extended Power Outage

  • Performance

APPLICATION IN BROADCASTING INDUSTRY

  • Challenges posed by FCC driving digital signal

  • UPS performance during "Crowbar" event

  • Customer testimonial

  • Experience in North America

 

For more information please contact:

Robb Homolka

Caterpillar Inc.

Electric Power Sales Manager

Hartford District

175 Powder Forest Drive

Weatogue, CT  06089

Office...860-658-3415

Fax...860-651-4118

Mobile...860-463-5912

email Homolka_Robb_R@CAT.COM

April, 2004

Comrex,  the makers of the best POTS codecs and phone hybrids showed their new cellular phone codec that can transmit 7kHz audio through a cell phone!


Comrex's new GSM Module plugs into a Matrix codec and gives the user freedom to produce remotes without worrying about dropping in a phone line, ordering an ISDN line, or getting his RPU blown out of the water because of frequency congestion.

 

Thanks to Comrex and Kris Bobo for picking up the tab for the lunch and for giving an interesting and informative presentation.   You can learn more about this new product at http://www.comrex.com/matrix_codec.htm.  For more information, contact Comrex at info@comrex.com.

 

March, 2004

Many thanks to our very own Bill Gould and Moseley for a great program last month on the new bi-directional unlicensed data link for STL systems.  This is some great technology at a VERY affordable price!  If you didn't get to the meeting give Bill a call and he get you the info.  Bill's number is: (978) 373-6303 or you can email him at bgould@moseleysb.com.
 

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