Studio M Goes Live!
This morning we went live from Studio M at 6:00am PDT. The transition went smooth. The combination of automation conditions, cross-point control, and humans came together and we did it!
As you may have guessed or if you read the blog, we are an SAS house. This studio consists of a Rubicon SL-24 & a Rubicon SL-8 in a split console configuration. We currently use the Enco DAD system on which we run an older version (long story). We have 3 touch monitors on this computer, one extended to the producer. We have the Audio VoxPro with 2 controllers, 2 monitors. Call screener appears on 3 monitors.
It flies. We like it. Now I get to do my job. More later. Gotta run!
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.
R.I.P. Elliott
Elliott Klein passed away last Sunday. I’ve been in shock for the last week. It still is amazing and sudden. It doesn’t seem real. I consider Elliott a good friend and colleague. My wife and I stayed with Elliott and Nancy for a couple of days. It was great. As my wife is a baseball fan, we went to a game during our stay. It was memorable. We would attempt to connect whenever I was in Phoenix; unfortunately the last couple of trips out there did not coincide with Elliott’s schedule. I am disappointed now, but I also understand as he was a busy man. He will be missed.
My last talk with Elliott I called just to catch up. He was in Florida! Crazy. He had just arrived. It was a short call. He called back when he was able. We discussed some stuff and made sure we would hook up on our next trip. Things change. I guess we will not be able to visit with you next trip, Elliott, but we will think of you.
Life is too short, so don’t waste it on the mundane. Move on folks. Remember those that have influenced you, but do not wait for it to come to you, go out and get what you want. Elliott did that.
Pursued….
It is not everyday one gets called by a headhunter. It makes you feel good. It also means that there are those out there looking, and in particular, they are looking at you. For what, you are not sure until they dig. I received three calls on this one. What I did discover is the limitations of what us Chief Engineers in radio face: People Management.
That is correct. Due to the size of most engineering staffs, we do not get to manage people that often. I spin it as managing people that even remotely touch the equipment we service and whom we deal with everyday. Even so, this does not rate to well. Here, I have one assistant. One. How does this help get you to that level of five? Ten? I would like to hear from you on that one. If you are lucky and work for a bit larger company there is that chance of a market DOE or region; maybe even company wide. It could be a long wait. In any case, it is tough to gain such experience, but we keep trying.
Being in such a position I wonder how does one gain this ability to manage others. Most of my career I have either been a department of one or had one assistant. I have some training under my belt from those career resources provided by the company, though now-a-days few and far between. I have read books like the very popular 7 Habits… and even Ken Blanchard of which the latest I have read is Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager. This one is great for improving your self image and ability to self lead, a necessary “skill” in today’s workforce. Yet, again, book learning does not gain much.
The only area left is how you work with others at your facility. I do not wish to elaborate the strange culture that sprouted here, but let me just say that if anyone asks who the chief engineer is, they will answer with a different name, and from my observation this stems from the technical structure created due to the last GM and CE. In any case, most of us get along quite well with the staff. but it is agreed that we are all not the Type-A people person that some employers seek. Keep up the staff relations, though. It will keep you around.
When it came to project management, I scored high. Extremely high considering the “client” of said headhunter is NOT radio. Also IT or networking skills. Actually it was not the skills as I just mentioned that was the block. Many of us have the skills. Also prized is the ability to keep up and show that you are able to implement new technologies. Even though most stories in the trades makes me roll my eyes, it pays off to glance over them. There are some technologies that we must live with even though they may not be the best. I find that browsing across trades of different, but similar industries helps with innovative thought processes. Definitely keep that up.
In addition, a plus, is writing ability. Whether it be documentation or writing that proposal, it is good to keep up on writing skills. I have written documentation, I have written manuals, and I have written training materials, not because I had to, but because I knew it was important. I have made an easy to access engineering website for us with necessary online forms and some other information; it is getting the staff to read it and use it that is difficult. “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.”
I hope this personal experience helps light some bulbs in your head. You never know, you may get that call. If you do, good luck!
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.
Class Action: AT&T, Apple.
Apple, AT&T Monopoly Abuse Suit is Granted Class Action Status
An interesting read for those watching this exclusivity stuff.
Interesting Approach to Digital Media
WOR to lanuch a digital, on-line only, station. I find this an intriguing use of resources. Why? How many GM’s and owners are afraid to “lose” audience to other media? Many! They are afraid they will lose ratings. Guess what folks you need to re-think how you make money and ratings is not among them. If Buckley can make money running a stream, then I think they can make money on radio without relying on ratings. Re-train advertisers on what they are buying: Points? Ratings? Product? Content?
Do you buy from a Target or a Walmart because of ratings and how they rank in some way? No. You buy from them because they have what you want or need at a competitive price.
What do advertisers “need”? Ratings? No, they need an audience and a brand which to attach.
Reading List
Ever wonder what people are reading or has in their “cue” to read? Here are a couple of lists for you. Can you say ADD?
On my desk right now: Magazines (trade)
- Technology Review. Published by MIT.
- Radio.
- Radio-Guide.
- OSP, How-To Network Solutions.
- Network World
- Computer World
- Information Week
Books I’m reading on Kindle:
- Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Objective
- Self Leadership and the One Minute Manger
- Network Warrior
- The Man Who Loved China
- China: Land of Dragons and Emperors
Magazine @ Home:
- Wired
Online:
- Radio World
- Redmond Magazine
and some others I don’t quite remember at the moment.
So, what do you read?
Since HVAC is on the mind…..
New Air Conditioner Conquers All Climates, Saves Up To 90% Energy
Now where is all this when I need it most? Very interesting read.
Harris Flexstar Update 6/17/2010
So for all waiting with baited breath on an update regarding the Flexstar situation here. I installed a beta update to the “loaner” Flexstar exciter back in May. Guess what? We’ve been on the air continuously since the update and the diversity delay has be quite stable. Check with Harris and try to get an idea of when they plan to release this version. I thought it would be this month, but I have not heard anything. Then again I usually have to ask for stuff.
What have we done? I do not recall what I wrote before and am too lazy to look back. We changed back to a UDP stream from the TCP. The bottleneck that was being experienced the Flexstar did not like. We forced our Intraplex T-1 NIC (network interface card) to 10/Full on both ends. On the managed switch we made the port feeding the Intraplex 10/Full also. At the transmitter site we decided to take a variable out and feed from the Intraplex to the exciter directly, using a cross-over cable, and set the exciter NIC to 10/Full. This all dropped the jitter down. I recently became aware of someone who discovered that their DS-64NC card in the Intraplex was causing T1 issues. Once replaced they stabilized.
I have been monitoring and checking every 3 to 4 days on the diversity delay. Still good. Mask is great. I feel that we have moved in the right direction. Now of course this is a loaner exciter, so I still wonder what happened to our last exciter and what physically may have happened. I strongly suspect that this current “loaner” will be come our “permanent”, but no word yet.
A little digging on this part sure has gone a long way. Now we just need to close the project. That will happen when the release of the Exgine and Flexstar application are released.
I really hope this has helped some of you out there get your boxes on track!
Tech Notes from the Field 