Archive
Burk: ARCPlus, PlusConnect-NV, and AutoLoad Plus
There is something very satisfying when helping a fellow engineer solve an issue. It is also nice to think that a manufacturer would recommend making the contact due to past experience with their equipment and associated equipment. In this case Nautel directed said engineer to make contact since I am familiar with the NV line of transmitters and the Burk ARCPlus line of products. In fact, the Nautel tech sent me the initial email, then everything flowed from there. Apparently, and I knew this, there is a multiplier issue with Burk and meter readings of the Nautel NV series transmitters via the PlusConnect device.
A while back I noticed after a firmware update that I was no longer getting the proper Reflected Power reading from my transmitters. I have 2 NV20s. No changes of decimal places seemed to make a difference. Working with Burk technicians we determined there was a multiplier issue withing the system. As a work-around we used an unused channel to take the reading, and then used a Virtual source on the channel on which all my units displayed the readings (ARCPlus, AutoPilot Plus, etc). This solution worked and all was good. I assumed that any future update would correct this issue.
Then came this contact. I immediately recognized the situation as being similar. Reflected Power reading and this time Reject Power. I suggested to do the work-around and see if it made a difference. I was glad to hear from him this morning that it did, but he had another channel that was doing something odd, the PA Temp reading was a 4 digit number and changing the decimal places in AutoLoad made the reading go out of range; the dreaded 99.99 reading. As this was not a channel I normally monitor, I gave it a shot to see what I would get. Sure enough the raw reading was coming back as 3613 and 3684 on my respective transmitters. I thought that this was a good number, but the decimal place was off, so I changed the decimal setting in AutoLoad. Sure enough the ARCPlus was now reading 99.99! I tried a decimal setting of 000.0 from 00.00 and then I got a -999.9! Sure enough there is an issue with a multiplier. In this case it was TOO BIG, so I decided to take the raw reading on a spare channel. I then changed the metering channel I wanted to read to a Virtual source and divided the raw reading by 100 which displayed the result of 36.13 for the first transmitter. As it is a temperature in unites of Celsius, this reading on a reject is good.
Phew. Of course I called Burk and filled them in. Off to the programmers to see what is up. In any case, if you have a setup like this and your reading is too low and you know what it should look like, the solution is to create a channel that is a virtual source. In my case the expression entered: M256*1000. Translated to take meter reading on Channel 256 and multiply by 1000. On the PA temp the expression entered for the virtual source: M255/100. Translates to take the meter reading on Channel 255 and divide it by 100.
If you have this issue, fix it by doing this manual multiplier/divider thinking. All you are doing is what the program should be doing when changing the decimal places setting. Burk is aware of this issue. As I copied my Nautel contact, they are aware of this issue, too. Happy troubleshooting!
Cheers!
FCC Shutdown
On Tuesday I was following up on some “action items” from last week’s meetings. I got most of my research done and took a break. Got back and no FCC.gov. Sigh.
I started to put my work together and found I needed more info. I guess it will have to wait until after my vacation.
Many out there are wondering why and automated site, in most, is not up and running. Well, I heard in the halls that at some locations, in this case a commissary, that all items were put on sale, cheap. By the end of the day ALL freezers and refrigerators were being unplugged! I guess when you shut down, you shut down.
So if you are wondering why these automated systems are down the most likely cause is they are actually turned off! Save money on power, too. The next question is how many servers will not come back to life when power is restored? I guess we will find out soon enough.
Cheers!
The Future
I just wanted to solicit any thoughts on the the future of Radio. Television is OK, too, but I work radio. I want to know what you think about hardware, programming, and how they will interact in the future. Send email or reply to this blog.
Email: bill at eisenhamerengineering dot com.
Over the last few months I’ve been thinking about this subject. Seeing some of the recent moves by companies like Cumulus makes me more sure of what I see.
Clear your mind. Think outside the world as you know it. If you want to discuss and/or collaborate, contact me. This should be quite the exercise. Traditionalist need not apply.
ESE ES-102 Surprise
So, we’ve had this ESE master clock for some time now. It’s an ES-102 GPS Master Clock with time code output for our console clocks and PPM equipment. The clock was purchased years ago under the watch of another engineer. I received email on Sunday that the clocks were doing some weird things. Weird? One called out for “Help 4” and another email stated it was jumping between 2:01 and garbage. Then I received an email that all was good again. Then…. You get the picture. I responded thanking for the info and I’ll check it on Monday. Not a pressing item, but then more emails about the behavior. I decided to call and get more details. Same report, but it was working at that time.
Come Monday I enter the shop and take a look a the clock: 2:01. Nice. GPS LED lock is green, so it was receiving signal. I do a power reset as that is one of the first things I do. It goes through the cycle and the correct time appears. GPS locks. All is good for about 10 minutes, then 2:01. Head scratching. I pull the box from the rack and open it up. I like opening up boxes. What do I find inside? A battery. I never knew it had a battery. Being the good engineer that I think I am, I remove the battery and test it; 2.02V, not 6V as stated on the battery. OK, battery is bad, but is this the problem? I install the unit sans battery and plug it in. Now the time is correct and GPS lock. I wait. And I wait some more. I go out and get my morning coffee. I come back and it is still right on time. Conclusion: Dead battery causes some weird stuff.
I head out and purchase a replacement battery. The store only had 2 left. It is a rectangular looking thing with F2 spade connectors, and rechargeable. Call it a baby UPS battery. I swapped it out, put the unit back in service and all is good. I now have a note for the ES-102 to check the battery again in 4 years; I may do it sooner, but the specs in the manual says 4.
When your equipment is having a bit of a spasm, check for the obvious stuff first. I know this is basic how-to information, but it is always worth refreshing. I know some who would dig in and start replacing caps, IC’s, or just freak out and throw the thing away. Using good technical troubleshooting skills will save time and money. Refine and refresh your skills. In my case a good process of elimination procedure pin-pointed and solved the trouble quickly and resulted in an easy repair.
Happy troubleshooting!
Cheers.
Equipment Testing Is Fun
I like to test equipment. I like to see if something does as advertised. I also like to see if it fits into our broadcast environment and whether it should be recommended to others. Though time consuming, some days or weeks are free to have fun. Let’s do it!
As posted in my Tweets, I got the play with the new Tieline Technology Merlin Plus codec. I had two things that piqued my interest: 6 mono simultaneous IP streams and the Opus algorithm. The box proved worthy on both accounts. I await a blog post from yours truly on the Tieline blog. As soon as it appears I will link to it.
Next on the bench is a continued test on the 25-Seven PDM. I’ve had the precision delay awhile and have been testing it for HD diversity delay control. I had a couple of suggestions. Well, since then, they made the changes. These changes required a firmware update. That firmware updated required a hardware change. So, I sent the test box back, it got it’s guts replaced, the firmware updated, and now it is burning in on the bench. I soon will be poking at it to make sure it does what I expect it to do. I will write more on that when I get it back in service.
In the past I’ve done Field Reports for Radio Magazine and Radio World. I hope those who have equipment they want to test out in the field read this because I enjoy poking at the new stuff. Now only if I can afford to purchase some of these things! That’s a whole different story.
If you have any equipment that you are interested in learning about, please ask, and I will give you my honest opinion.
Have a great weekend.
Cheers!
What Apps Do You Use?
Happy Friday All!
Yeah, this is some filler stuff, but it crossed my mind and I wonder what apps you use for your work. There are some apps that I use daily, and others are available when I need them. All my apps are Android as I use a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone and an Asus tablet. If you have i-apps, I bet you have some good one there. So, here is my list:
DroidEdit Pro: This is on my tablet. I use this to edit web pages on the fly and as a text editor if necessary. The pro version has FTP support built into the app and if you use Dropbox (I don’t) it will connect with that.
ElectroDroid: I use this as a reference. Comes in very handy. If I see myself using it more I will purchase the full, pro, version.
Evernote: Daily use. I love this service. The app works well, though I think their interface can be a bit better. It syncs to all my devices, so I am a happy camper. Having notes that I take at the office available at a transmitter site has been invaluable. I’ve had calls while out and about and I have the information handy. Invaluable.
GPS Essentials: A new app I am playing with is handy. Compass and GPS information. Still in the eval stage.
HootSuite: Yup, this is where I post to my Twitter feed and catch up on those I follow. I do not use Facebook that much, so that part doesn’t help. Now if they added a Google+ feed that would be awesome.
OpenSignal: We do a lot of 4G LTE broadcasts. Yes, we do. We have one today. When out in the field checking on broadcast sites, I whip out the phone and use this app to tell me all the information about where the cell tower I’m connected with is, whether it’s 3G or 4G, data rate, voice quality, and mapping. This app has improved over the years and continues to serve as a useful tool.
RealCalc Plus: Paid version of RealCalc. This is a very handy scientific calculator. If I do not have my trusting HP with me, this fills in nicely.
Report-IT: Of course I had to add this. We are a Tieline shop for our remote codecs. This app we have on our Apples and Androids. It has saved us much time and effort on some multi-location, single venue events.
RF Terrain Profile: I just found this one and testing the free version. This looks useful for a quick evaluation of STL paths. It gives you the profile of the path and you can add a link budget. The paid version allows import and export to a KML file for use in Google maps/Earth. It shows the first Fresnel zone on the profile.
SatelliteAR: I had this about 4 devices ago. This is an awesome satellite tracker, finder, and then some. I use it to track the ISS, too! If you need a rough way to point a satellite dish, this will help tremendously.
Shush!: How many meetings do you go into and set your phone to vibrate or silence? How many times do you forget you did that? This app is awesome. You use your phone’s volume control and set either silence or vibrate. Then you set the time, e.g. 2 hours, and click Shush! After 2 hours, the phone will go back to normal volume settings.
Smith Chart Matching Calc: I have not had a real use for this, but it doesn’t hurt to have in the arsenal, especially if you work on AM arrays.
Splashtop2 Remote Desktop: A great find by our IT dude. Remotely access all your necessary computers via phone or tablet and operate them as if you were sitting right there in front of the machine. I can check up on our main remote control computer for an overall look, access my Importers, and of course my work desktop if I need something on that. Good stuff.
Ulysse Gizmo: Another GPS compass that I’ve use for years and it just gets better with upgraded devices as the GPS receivers in said devices get better. Compass, speedometer, GPS status, bubble level, clinometer, magnetometer, map viewer, etc. With this you don’t need to carrier that GPS device with you any longer.
Weatherbug: I keep bouncing between weather apps, but always come back to this one. I would settle on Weather Underground, but that one seems to really slow my device, so back to this. The upgraded interface is nice and covers all my weather needs.
WolframAlpha: Just becuse! Have you every used this? It is very cool and fun, in a geek way. Check it out.
I have the whole Google Suite thing going for me, too. All the obvious with GMail and Maps, but I also use Voice and Sky Map. I just started getting into the Google Now thing. So far it is pretty good, but very basic. Not the most useful stuff, yet. I know they will start tracking me more as I use it.
There you have it. A bunch of apps that I have on my Android devices that help with my work. I know there are others, so feel free to suggest more. I’m always looking for improvements and upgrades.
Cheers!
Where’s My Alesis iO Mix?
Earlier this year well right before the NAB convention to be exact, we placed an order for an Aleis iO Mix 4-channel mixer for the iPad. We wanted to test it out thinking it would be an interesting fit for live recording and possible remote broadcast applications. I found out yesterday that Alesis has not even started production. It is on their website, iO Mix 4-Channel Audio Interface. No product?
Here is how I understand the story: Alesis builds a “prototype” and displays the product at the NAMM convention in January. They post it on their website. They wait for interest in said product. If there is enough interest, then they will run production on it.
I call BS on this approach and on Alesis. Would it make more sense to run a limited number and get some in the field? Would it not make sense to have people use it and determine if there is a future in the product? How can I talk to a manufacturer about maybe letting the software of the mixer integrate with their app for a very small, and possibly beautiful, remote broadcast package?
Waiting a few months for a product is bad enough, but to wait for something they may not even make is absurd. It almost feels like I am being ripped off. If you have manged to see this product or know of it, I sure would like to hear from you. What uses do you foresee if someone actually made something like this?
Cheers!
NAB Show from the Field
I am back at work and recounting what my feelings are about the NAB show. Of course all of this is from the floor perspective as I do not have the money to attend all the fancy talks or events. I usually get all that stuff later, so maybe I can read something interesting and relay my thoughts on them later. As for the show, for me it was mediocre in a good way.
Let’s talk first of the show itself as this is the mediocre aspect. As I am in radio, yes I admit it, the much to do about nothing TV and video is not high on my list. Don’t get me wrong as there are really cool things going on in the video and TV, it is not my main focus. With that in mind all the hype is on video and TV with very little on radio, and all of it is the SAME propaganda. Does anyone ask if it is really relevant? Do I care about 4k TV and video? No. I wear glasses and much of it is wasted on me. I’m not even a 3D fan as it is far from realistic and plain lame. Personally I would rather see more pertinent, realistic things on both sides, radio and TV like IP technology (which was there) and transport. How to make it happen. The sessions cover the details of these things, but it would be nice to see and talk in a booth on how it works. I’m an hands on guy, so “feeling” it gives me a better idea of how well it may work in the real world. On that note, what did I find cool?
Let’s start with the Radio Magazine’s Pick Hits (in no particular order)
1. DEVA Broadcast DB4004. FM Radio Monitoring Receiver. Yup, that is exactly what it is. Too many features to write up, so visit the website. I like the measurements with history. WEB and FTP, so there is a NIC installed. Web browser is embedded as is the FTP server. Email alerts, SNMP. Almost everything is configurable. I talked with Todor Ivanov, GM, and he was very passionate about his products. It shows. Now if iBiquity will talk with him it will be HD ready. He is prepared and ready to roll with it as soon as the love comes.2. Nautel. I attended the Nautel Users Group on Sunday and was introduced to the new Omnia Direct for the NV transmitters. Yes, digital composite direct from the Omnia 11 to the NV. All NV’s shipped with version 4.0 firmware is capable, any upgraded to version 4.0 will be ready. Speaking of that, version 4.0 firmware will ship soon. I talked with Kevin, customer service manager, and I expect it soon to test on “older” rigs (my 4 year old NV20’s). I look forward to trying that out.
Did I mention they introduced a new TV transmitter?
3. Tieline. The latest from Tieline is the Merlin Plus IP Codec capable of doing 6 simultaneous remotes. Place one at your studio and have up to 6 simultaneous mono remotes. Did I mention just 1 box at the studio? Connect with Report-IT and/or your G3 Field Units or iMixes. Not a bad idea for facilities that do a lot of off site live stuff.
In addition to this product, Tieline is also incorporating Opus codec technology. The standard is open source, so no licensing fee. Great for the end user.
4. Audion Labs VoxPro 5. I put this here because I am a VoxPro plant. It works. Air talent likes it and low maintenance. Look for version 5 to be released this summer.
5. Arctic Palm Datacasting. I like this product. I want this product, but I can’t get it just yet. Send your data to RDS, HD, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Look for the Artist Experience if/when this gets going. It supports TagStation now. I think this is a great product for a centralized data distribution point. Stations that simulcast should take note.
6. Elenos. A new 3kW transmitter in 2RU with excellent efficiency. Anyone else? Though FM only, the digital modulator is ready for HD once the details with iBiquity is worked out. As a company, Elenos is another one that shows extreme passion for what they do. They are proud of their products and they will SHOW you. They will also talk with you and LISTEN.
Last, and least, is what is up with the new Harris Broadcast logo? I’ve asked this and I got many of the same response. I’m not sure what it represents (a TV?), but my first impression was a little more reactive. In any case, Harris does have a major presence and continues to build good product. One drawback is they are trying to do everything, and to me that doesn’t work. A certain “alliance” comes to mind.
Many of the products out there are good. So, from that aspect the show was good. I still wonder about HD radio. As any who reads my blog or follows me on Twitter or Google+, I’m not a huge fan. I do have 4 signals in HD and we started our HD2 with more to come. What bothers me is I know of 3 instances where I was told point blank that they (manufacturers) are waiting for iBiquity. Either to give approval or help to find the proper solution. If the company that owns the standard is dragging, do you want or need to wait?
I also felt that on the floor there was a lack of passion. I know of a few companies that are very passionate, as mentioned above, but many that are there because they need to show their wares. I also felt as if the cold shoulder was being given out freely this year. One booth, well know name, dismissed my presence. No one made an effort to talk. Come to think of it, there were a couple of booths like this. This is so wrong for many reasons, so beware expecting business or repeat business. Radio is so into themselves I feel that if you are the outspoken or outcast, there is not place for you. Could this be part of the radio industry problem?
On a cool note, if you wandered back and saw the DJI booth, you saw a very cool product. Drones! The small Phantom is ready to fly and ready to hold your GoPro Hero camera. The S800 is an 8-rotor job that accommodates a camera gimbal with 3-axis stability. One may ask why so cool? I mentioned to two engineers what I think this would be great for an engineer: basic tower inspection. If you need a quick look at a tower or antenna, fly one of these things up (need to check on range) and take pictures. Analyze on the ground and then determine if you need to hire a crew to get more details or repair an issue. I want to test to see if one of these can fly within the RF environment or at reduced power. In any case, cool product, and potential good use.
I do look forward to next year. I also made notes on what I think I should or will study up on as it becomes some prevalent to the industry. Most of the technology is IP. I have much more to learn on that. I’ll continue to update all I learn as I gather information. Till next year’s NAB show, see you in the social media space and the blog!
Cheers.
An Importer Upgrade: Lesson’s Learned
A couple of weeks ago I decided to pursue an upgrade to our Nautel Export+ and Importers. For those not in the U.S., this is the equipment that makes our HD Radio channels work, or digital radio. The old Exporter and the Exporter+ units upgraded just fine. It really isn’t that difficult. The Importers were a bit different.
My upgrade worked out well. First I had to update from Windows XP SP2 to SP3. Well, the boxes are so old I had to find an executable upgrade package on the TechNet site. I found it and it worked. Why did Windows Update not work? As mentioned the boxes were so old and all automatic updates are disabled due to the fact that the software used for HD Radio does not get the continuing testing required to keep up with OS changes. The Nautel version 4.4.7 update specifies Win XP SP3. The most time consuming part was using Windows Update to get all the current, laugh here, patches. Done.
Importer update: This was straight forward too. I skipped a version, 4.2.1, past 4.3.1, to 4.4.7. All installed well and even my BTC (Broadcast Traffic Consortium) station came up just fine. As we were pursuing an HD2 channel, I looked closely at the Capture Client for the secondary service and discovered that the second audio card was not there! My brain started to wonder what happened. The OS saw it and the Orban PC Remote software saw the two audio cards. Now what?
After a reinstall of the 4.4.7 software, the reinstall of the Orban audio card drivers, and more checks to see what I may have missed, I did not get anywhere. I contacted Nautel and this stumped them. I decided to contact iBiquity. They heard of some issue with the Orban PC1100 cards, but did not have an answer. I contacted Orban and they did not have an immediate answer. More suggestions of removing and reinstalling drivers and software. I decided to dig a bit more.
At no time did anyone mention the PC1100 version. I visited the Orban website and checked the download section. I discovered at some point the software and drivers for the PC1100 audio cards was updated. I usually keep up on updates, but, again, with HD stuff you do not touch it unless instructed to or forced to. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I downloaded the software and installed in on a machine where the Importer services have not been required. It worked! I notified all parties involved. Everyone assumed that this update was applied. Well, again, I do not apply any updates unless there is a confirmed reason when it comes to the iBiquity equipment. It is mentioned in all their documentation that automated updates and any other updates be cleared first. Well, a bulletin or something could have been issued with the latest requirements and no one would have had to worry about this update.
I updated the other two Importers and all audio cards are seen and work. Lesson learned. Update that audio card and drivers if you have not done so. This applies to anyone with a box that is at least 3 years old or older. I see that Orban now has the PC1101 audio card out. This is 2 audio cards in one. Anyone have experience with this one?
Lessons are learned, and we keep learning everyday. Keep your stuff updated within reason! Hopefully my little exercise will help others not fall into this little trap. Have a great weekend!
Cheers!
Playing with HD 2
Well, I will start by saying I am not a huge fan of the HD technology for digital radio here in the U.S. I see all this progress on all digital DRM and DRM+, but I do not, and have not follow it that much. I do believe the future is an all digital solution, but what type and when is not clear. In any case, as an engineer we are at the whim of either programming or some corporate mandate. This week it is at the whim of programming wanting to utilize an HD2 channel.
First, as I know some other mandates are coming down the pike, I decided to update all my Exporters and Importers to the latest software/firmware. Believe it or not it was not that difficult. Over the years it seems to have gotten a bit more stream-lined. The thing that makes me laugh is that, just now, the Importer software supports Windows XP SP3, so I had to update the machines from SP2 to SP3. Since SP2 is no longer really supported, I had to download from Microsoft a update executable to SP3. Once installed all the Windows Update stuff started working again. My question is will any of this stuff work on Windows 7 or 8, or will it go to a Linux based OS like the Exporters? I guess I will know and learn about that some day!
To add to the complexity, the HD 2 will be run on our simulcast stations, so I first attacked the main and got that running. I then performed the configurations for the simulcast station. All works pretty well I might add, but I did discover an oddity. When configuring the Capture client for the second station, I noticed that I had one, and only one choice of sound card. This made me wondered how I would know if I have my audio feeding the “right” one. I did a bit of digging and everyone says that if there are two sound cards, they should show up in the list to be selected. That is definitely not the case on ANY of the Importers I have with that software and version. All have 2 sound cards. No where can I find in any configuration where the capture client gets its information on sound cards. The Windows OS shows both, the Orban software shows both, but not the iBiquity stuff. When I receive a definitive answer I will follow up with a note.
So, I had to determine which is the “right” sound card. Yes, the station is “out of range” to monitor HD at the studios, so the only test would be to feed audio to both cards, get to a receive location, and then disconnect one to determine which is correct. Logic prevailed as I chose the proper one initially. Now if this programmer goes nuts and wants an HD3, well, then we have a new issue: How to get the second sound card to feed that stream. I guess I will cross that bridge when we get there. For now, things are ready to roll when the programmer decides to pull the trigger.
My conclusion is nothing is easy or intuitive with HD and the iBiquity hoops we jump through to make this work. Some day I will gather my thoughts and post what my future of radio will look like in the fully digital world.
Cheers!
Tech Notes from the Field 