Archive
Updates & Repairs
Many little things were taken care of this week. Mostly routine. We had another older MGE UPS die on us. Luckily it passed commercial power before complete death. It seems the life on these is not too long and I can see why Eaton-Powerware bought it up and discontinued it. The latest models from Eaton have been much better. I place the unit on the bench after the failure and cleaned it up. I turned on and began to work properly, though it sounded like relays were a bit clunky during the start-up procedure. I let it sit and I am glad I did. Later that night I got a call from the station complaining of excessive beeping. They unplugged it and turned it off. It was indicating a fault once again. Needless to say a new one has been ordered.
I started my planning for my brief visit to the NAB show. I started a list of vendors to visit. I only have 2 days on the floor, so I need to make it count. Topics I have started are remote controls, STLs, and hopefully to crash an automation system. Maybe I will have time to blog some interesting stuff. I will attend the NUG (Nautel User Group) meeting on Sunday. That should be interesting and fun. If time permits I will look at the interactive and T.V. stuff.
Here’s an interesting article in Radio Magazine. We do this all the time. Technology is just way too much fun sometimes. New Options for Remotes
I was going to link an item I found in Radio World Online, but it seems I get a message “Service is unavailable”. I will try later when I think about it.
Have a good weekend and keep with the me on Twitter: Dragonbill
Disable Protexis LIcensing Service (PSIService.exe)
I noticed a warning on my Win7 machine about updating the Protexis Licensing service. I obviously asked myself, “WTF?” It turns out it is a third party service installed by Corel! Those idiots allow a spyware type app to check on DRM. I found a link to disable it and Corel runs fine. I found these instructions to disable it without affecting the application (Corel) that installed it here: My Digital Life
I guess other vendors use this too. I just don’t like information on how my computer is used to be sent to an unknown party. This is my home machine and my wife finds PaintShop a handy little app. I will now add Protexis to my list of things to search for when my computer begins to boot slowly or have other issues.
If you have had some issues with this service I would like to hear about it.
4G, LTE, WTF
Verizon announces 4G rollout, but are any of these US systems really 4G? | ZDNet
So, is there really 4G networks? I saw a Verizon presentation and they call it LTE. Long-term. That is a good cover-up to “we will be expanding and this is expandable”. I look forward to it as the speeds advertised are compelling, but I remain skeptical until the system is rolled out. I really like this article as it references the ITU-R: “According to the ITU-R standard none of these current LTE, HSPA+, or WiMAX network technologies are truly 4G systems”. So, does 4G really exist? I am still not sure. “4G systems are supposed to support data transfer speeds on the order of
100 Mbps and the areas where we are just starting to see this is in
Japan and parts of Europe.” Have you seen 100Mbps on your cellular data network?
I look forward to the day of speed. I know the kids are too so they can get their music, videos, and send their pix and videos faster.
Checking Browsers
I have been playing with browsers in the “free” time. My favorite is still Firefox 3.6.12. What I have looked at is Google Chrome (which I use at work currently), Firefox 4.o beta, and IE 9 beta. Here is what I am finding so far on the betas:
Firefox 4: SLOW. Really SLOW. Now this could be that they are gathering information on “habits” or just work in general, but I have a very difficult time multitasking with this version. I have Google Apps open (or in-house email). If I have some desktop application running, like Access, and then try to browse for information, Firefox just crawls. I don’t know if it is the email checking every so many minutes or what, but I got so annoyed that I stopped using the 4.0 beta. At home I use 3.6.12 and it works just fine.
IE9 beta: Much quicker than expected, I was beginning to like this browser. It was taking me some time to get used to it. I was starting to use it exclusively when in the past I only used it at the Microsoft site only. Then, I clicked on a link and nothing happened. Odd, I thought. Must be something wrong with the site. I switched browsers and the link worked. I went back to IE. Nope. No go on clicking the link. It began to do this more and more. I cleared the cache. Still no good. I checked it with Firefox 3.6.12 and Chrome. No problem. What up Microsoft? I am giving it a rest for a couple of days, then I will try again.
Chrome: Works really well. I feel Google is tracking every move I make, but the browser is working for all my needs at the moment. I am having a hard time dealing with the interface as I cannot find all the settings nor can I find plugins (extensions) that work the way they did in Firefox. I find that annoying because I am annal when it comes to my processes. Currently I have 3 tabs open without issue and I created an application shortcut to my email. I started Last.FM to see how we all play together. So far so good.
This is what I want: I want my Firefox interface with the speed of IE9 and the resource management of Chrome. Can this be done? Anyone?
What browser do you use and why?
12/2: Working with FF 4.0 beta7 again. I tried to administer the Tieline Bridge-IT and I get the following: “Your current browser is not setup to allow the G5 Toolbox to load and run.” I have the proper Java. I have a newer browser. Either Tieline needs to update something, or Firefox has an issue. IE9 brings up a screen “Loading”, but nothing occurs. I did see it start the Java platform, but seems to just hang. Chrome is starts Java. I get an “unverified application warning” and then comes up just fine.
Looks to me like the newer browsers and Java don’t play well together. How are your tests going?
Studio M Continues
We’ve been busy. We took delivery of the studio furniture last week. As of today we are about 85% complete. Almost all the audio is wired and we have a little bit of control to do. All in all, I would say we are on target to be complete by the end of next week if all continues smoothly.
Even though it is a basic studio, it is amazing the amount of cable that is used. We created a split console situation using an SAS SL-24 and SL-8. We have studio monitors, producer monitor, and screener monitor. There is even a monitor for the studio audience when they have one. It is quite a configuration.
Our next task is turning up the ENCO DAD computer, VoxPro, and DAW. We are running two VoxPro controllers on one machine. All are networked. As the main studio and producer will share the same devices we are splitting the computer monitors for them. We intend to KVM one monitor to be the screener software monitor for the main talent. Logistics, my boy.
It is sweet to watch your creation come to life. I see it in the talent’s response. I’ll be satisfied when it is done. I’ll even post some pictures.
Preparing The Studio
We are building a new studio on the cheap. I use cheap as a relative term as it is a tight budget with some high-ticket items, e.g. we picked up our SAS Rubicon SL consoles this week, the studio is an IAC enclosure, the HVAC is a Liebert. After this it is relatively cheap.
First issue will be noise from the HVAC for the producer who participates on the air. We did not have money to “enclose” him. A minor issue, but a concern none-the-less. We have ideas to minimize the noise. Insulation from Home Depot is one of them. The other is my purchase of Primacoustic panels. We will see how this works.
The second issue is sources into the SAS system. I have two RioLinks and I plan to use nearly all inputs and outputs. Though the producer is separate, instead of two independent “rooms” and consoles we are installing a “split” console setup. One SL-24 and one SL-8 essentially creating a 32-channel console. The producer’s SL-8 will have it’s own monitoring controls, but is able to feed air directly and work as a production workstation while on air. We begin configurations next week.
Third issue is lack of multi-pair plenum into the space. 200-feet of plenum 25-pair cable was not in the budget. My solution here is, once again, SAS. As most of the need for the multi-pair is control I opted to install a SAS GPI-1600 in the TOC and utilize the RioLinks’s Optos and relays to control such things as the LED sign controller. The other main item to be controlled is the profanity delay. Now all this information will be on the fiber between the RioLink and 32KD frame.
As this project now moves into the installation stage, we will see where it goes. Would you believe we had to install temporary 4-foot fluorescent fixtures in the studio? If you have read any of my tweets you know the city also bent us over backwards with close to $4k in permit fees. Now that the carpet is in and we are about to receive final inspection from the city I look forward to finishing this thing up. I still have more electrical work to perform and a bit of creativity to come in making everything work smoothly. I hope it is all worth the effort of which I am receiving very little credit.
Tech Notes from the Field 