Archive
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!
Radio Magazine Field Report: Orban 8600
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
Tech Notes from the Field 