Archive
National EAS or EAN
In the industry you can see the comments fly on Twitter, Facebook, and any other media outlet. Here we had audio. It started good, but progressively got worse. We are just a follower in the lot, so we received, relayed, and rejoined regular programming without issue. I am disappointed in the audio quality. I also find the comments of those who did not receive any audio to be disturbing. Considering all the hype, what do you think was overlooked in the planning of this event?
Studio B Complete, NexGen Install Continues
2 1/2 days and the production studio is back in service. SAS Rubicon installed. No issues there except for the basic neuron misfires one has when over worked. Change the address on that module you moved! Doh! Anyways, I digress. Installed we are running and we even have audio from NexGen in the room. I don’t think I’ve had a smoother console install and equipment swap. Even the reduction of the hole in the furniture went smooth.
We continue to beat out NexGen. We can get audio out of the thing, but we are fighting these KVM extenders. Labeled Dell FX-100s, they are not supported by Dell. They work when they work, but when a little change happens, like a reboot of computer, you have to reconfigure them. Thanks RCS for selling us those. We will beat it down, though. We always do.
More later.
Tech Week Review: I’m Tired
This week was a full week if there ever was one. We managed to dodge a bullet in the power department, survived another AT&T T1 failure, rebounded from an RCS mess, and finished the first steps of a studio upgrade.
Power. We take it for granted. A normal facility would have enough available capacity to grow. Here we do neither. This is tied into our RCS NexGen installation where we had to add a server room to accommodate the hardware intensive system. (not our choice, but we do what we do.) The facility was built in the mid-80’s for two stations. Today it house 4 stations, a minimal amount of production space, and a tech center that was expanded to handle the PPM equipment. The tech panel is connected to a generator and is only capable of 40 Amps, max. The limit is the generator which we cannot do anything about, yet (future project and story will accompany it), at 12.5kW. We are max-ed out on the panel with only 5 Amps of headroom on two phases and 0 Amps on the third phase. With a bit of juggling and shedding non-critical equipment, racks, and even production rooms, we managed to fire up all 18 server class computers and their peripheral equipment. Mr. Goldberg would be proud of this accomplishment.
Since I dropped the RCS NexGen mess into this and it is associated with this hell, we received the equipment and it was NOT configured with IP addresses which we were told was done. We were also not given instructions on the Dell FX100 KVM extenders which even Dell does not support. We ended up finding out that Dell re-brands them under the model FX100 and they actually come from a Canadian company of which our IT dude contacted. We find they are obsolete and no longer manufactured. He did receive instructions and got them to work! We can now proceed on learning how this beast runs and begin to deploy such beast.
On that note, in conjunction with the RCS project we are upgraded a production room. It is finally getting equipped with a SAS Rubicon console. Finally all our main facilities will be on the same system. This was a project that has been postponed for 3 years! I had the furniture modified to accommodate the smaller frame, a PR&E/Harris Legacy console was removed, and a new Rubicon 16 installed. The console was up and running by the end of the day as I pre-configured it between the other headaches of the week. All we need to do is finish connecting peripherals and attend to details. I am the resident expert on SAS having installed 8 consoles in our facility, one configured as a split-console. One issue that has arisen in this installation is the Telos Console Director. The display starts out good, but then messes up. Operation is not an issue, just the display. Next week begins with a call to Telos to see what I can do to verify anything unusual. I know the cable from the I/O to the director is good and I know the Desktop Director works just fine. Interesting that I seem to have issues with Console Directors. I still have no resolve on my other two that just go stupid and shut down. A mystery that needs solving!
In the middle of this fun was our routine T1 outage from our friendly folks at AT&T. This came in the middle of our power management project. We finally got to deal with a tech that knew what he was doing. He was baffled by the fact that the circuit was down hard for 2 hours with no signs of problems before or after in the logs. He proceeded to tear out the circuit and test all the way back to the CO. He found 80 Volts of cross-battery and had new pairs assigned. Let’s see how long we go this time. This circuit has issues at least 3-4 months, and each time AT&T says it tests good.
I did manage to make it to the SBE meeting to hear what Nautel has to offer in the future. Now there is a company I have not problems with at the moment.
I continue the installation of the Burk ARC Plus system as time permits. All projects are running together now and two of our stations have gone into live broadcast mode. We do the best we can to cover everything, it just means we delay projects to accommodate them.
On that note, it was tiring this week. It took time off today and spent time with my daughter. We attack next week and fit all in everything in between 3 live broadcasts. Busy is good, it just makes it difficult to do it right and in the time allotted. Have a great weekend!
Tablets: For Once The iPad Wins
I see the light, I think. Here is a major difference between the iPad and Android tablets: VPN. The iPad handles IPSec inherently while the Android does not. One must root an Android to get a VPN client that can do IPSec, and then that does not always work.
I did a comparison yesterday between the two. I found my Android VPN client can make the connection, access the page I wanted at work, but failed to log me in through the browser. I set up the iPad and did the same steps, and I was able to access the web source and log in. Why would one pass the information and one not? Thoughts?
In stores I have lookd at the Android VPN clients built into devices and none have IPSec. Even my HTC Thunderbolt does not provide it. Is this a manufacturing thing? Does Cisco not want to expand to more users? Because of this the Android tablets are a bit less desirable for business. Then, again, I am writing on an Android tablet now.
I could go on and on why I like Androids, but this VPN thing bugged me the must. Oh, I must say the battery life on the iPad is bad, very bad. If I used it for work, I bet it would not last a fraction of a day.
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The Week of Power Outages
One week ago I was working for 10 hours due to a power outage. Cut right into that 3-day weekend. Cable fried. A new one, too. Thursday-Friday we had to endure 12+ hours of no power due to a mistake and poor systems. Cut right into my day off.
These are only some of the things we endure as broadcast engineers. NOC techs and the like understand. We do what we can to keep systems alive when there is no hope in doing such tasks.
Now what is the likely hood that we will experience another prolonged outage in the near future? I hope we got most of them out of our system by now. Of course it is now the reality of owners to decide whether they will invest in better infrastructure or not. Let’s see where this goes!
Hope your week will be better!
9/11 We Remember
Everyone must have posted how we remember what happened 10 years ago. I remember. I watched it live. It was stunning. It was heart-wrenching.
We remember. God Bless.
Telos, I Have A Problem
Telos,
I have a problem with a Console Director. I have had this problem for over 2 years now. I have sent the Console Director back for evaluation. You said no problem found. I continue to have problems with it. I get calls at all hours and I explain how to reset it. I am annoyed.
The problem is the Console Director goes dead. Totally blank. To get it back we unplug the Console Director and plug it back in. It is good to go for another random amount of time. We have changed ports on the Studio I/O. We added an in-line power supply. We swapped it with a different room. Ah, a Studio I/O issue? Oh, swapped that too. Power issues? New UPS.
I have a new issue that points to the Studio I/O. It spontaneously reboots at random times. Power supply swap. Odd, I have done that before. Problem persists.
I have 7 Studio I/O units and 5 Console Directors. Two of the CDs experience this issue stated. Yes, the second one has gone back, too. No problem found. No other issues with I/Os.
Can anyone draw a line on how all the parts work together? 2101 Hub, I/O, and Console Director? By the way, I have several Desktop Directors that have no issues, even the one in this particular studio. Another twist. No issue with the Desktop Director.
All this leads to frustration, annoyance, and bewilderment. Anyone out there ever experience something like this? Is it time to consider a new product? A different manufacturer?
If I ever figure this out, I will surely follow up. And don’t call me Surely.
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Impatient Futurist: Forget 3D Screens—We Need 3D Audio, Like in Real Life
Impatient Futurist: Forget 3D Screens—We Need 3D Audio, Like in Real Life – http://pulse.me/s/UJx1
I agree with this person. Audio quality has slipped since the advent of digital music everywhere. I am asked constantly why I care so much about my on-air quality while others don’t. My answer is because I care.
Do you care?
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When The Economy Attacks
This was a tough week. The economy strikes again. I witnessed the layoff of 13 full-time employees and a handful of part-time employees. All good people. It seems every radio group has now seen what the economy has done, and we all must take up the slack as we move forward. Even with this tragic event, there is work to be done. In my case a lot.
This week I went live with our new Sage ENDECs. I have the air chain switching setup within the SAS router and all the handheld RC-1 controllers work. I now need to implement automation control, but that is up in limbo as we wait to see if and when we get our new system. I will have a temporary solution within the next couple of weeks.
On that note I am not impressed by the input controls of the ENDEC. There are 5 inputs to use, but you can’t use them the way you want. Sage gives you schemes to use them the way they think they should be used. I have called and expressed my concerns, but they go unheard. The main headache is their required 1 second closure for the box to work properly. Anything less and it acts different and creates a gotcha. The SAS closures are roughly 300ms. Using Scheme 1 instead of a RWT it starts a 15 minute hold timer before running the test. Not very intuitive. Why we cannot program how the inputs work is beyond me, especially since the box is network accessible. And the answer is yes, I am looking for ways to “hack” in and control the box via something other than their web GUI.
I also cleaned up a Harris/PR&E Impulse console. I had to order a handful of new switches. I must stress if coffee is spilt into a console, just tell us. I was able to clean things up on the PC board and luckily the solder pads were intact. I was suspect of the ribbon cable connector. I used Deoxit and made sure all the contacts got burnished. I sparyed air through to get any extra residue and cleaner out of the connector. The console is up and running for morning show production. Now if I could drop a little SAS Rubicon in there….
Now that this stress week is over I can attack details and do some digging. Some days I wish I could program so hacking wasn’t such a chore. At least it is fun to dig!
Have a good weekend.
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Summary of Life
Oh there is so much to write about. I’ve been on vacation, and now back this week to much to do. Twitter has been good for updates. I sure would like to drill down and give you guys some substance, but here we are summarizing the fun we have had this week.
HVAC. Finally, after 6 or so years, we have air conditioning at our Class A transmitter site. The R2D2 type units just were not cutting it and when I had the vendor out to get the quote, one of the units would not stay on. Now that the new unit is in, the room is consistent and hopefully will be much cleaner as it is a closed system. We had a Fujitsu 2.5 ton split system installed. It is quiet; almost too quiet. The residence at the house will appreciate that. It is rated at 19 SEARS, so it is efficient. Let’s see how efficient over time. Check that off the list.
I received my RF load for a station that had one under-sized since the HD installation. That needs to go. The thing showed up the day before I left on vacation. I will squeeze that in shortly. Should be straight forward. Of course I plan on making the project a bit more complicated as the RF coax switch on that station needs to be rotated 90 degrees as the interlocks do not line up properly with the controller, position-wise. Now that will be fun. Drop switch, rotate it, and make plumb again.
New Avaya phone system was installed. Some minor adjustments are required, but we had the first phones up and running 1 hour after the old system was turned off. We’re good. I congratulate the IT dude on his planning and the folks at GSolutionz for providing a good installation experience. Can’t wait to play with the new features. I do have one thing we are attempting to solve: Connecting the system to the Telos 2101. I have Green, but I do not have the numbers and the two systems are not quite talking with each other. I’m waiting for a call from Telos now (been 2 hours already) on the error codes that are showing so I can get the techs to adjust the Avaya to provide what Telos needs. Anyone else connect a phones system to the Telos? Any luck, trouble, solutions?
I continue to find the time to run tests and evaluate the Orban 8600. Stay tuned for a user report somewhere. Hint: I like it. Now will Omnia step up and let me dig on that one?
I continue to rotate 6 year old Aphex 230 processors through as they fail. All the same vintage and all getting capacitors replaced. I am still not told which ones, but at least I know they get recalibrated when sent in for service. Believe it or not, one unit had a tube replaced. I need to dig up the type and get a couple replacements in house. My oldest is 7 years old.
Keeping busy is good. Makes the days fly by. If there is a subject you would like to hear about, let me know. I appreciate all comments, good and bad.
Have a great 4th of July weekend!
Tech Notes from the Field 