TWiRT 679 - Engineering Teamwork with Mike Spry

Can a team of engineers resolve thousands of engineering trouble tickets each month, and do it efficiently and keep with good engineering practice? iHeartMedia is doing it and Mike Sprysenski is leading that team. From an office in Orlando, Mike Spry and a team of radio engineers and IT professionals resolve engineering issues at nearly 900 radio stations, keeping those stations on-the-air. Many issues are even handled preemptively, before they affect what the public is hearing over the air or online. Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack discuss this approach with Mike on this episode of TWiRT.

Show Notes:
Chris Tarr likes SNMP hardware interfaces from https://denkovi.com/

Guest:
Mike Sprysenski - CPBE, Engineering Response Team Lead, iHeartMedia Technology Solutions Center

Hosts:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

 
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TWiRT 679 - Engineering Teamwork with Mike Spry

TWiRT 678 - Good Engineering Practice with Jim Offerdahl

The benefits of thoughtful and careful broadcast engineering cannot be overstated.  Indeed, Jim Offerdahl, thought carefully about our offer to be on TWiRT for over 10 years! And, with some encouragement from Angry Audio’s Mike Dosch, we’re delighted that Jim is finally sitting in the TWiRT Guest Chair!  We’re talking with Jim about his particular style of serving radio stations effectively and reliably. He’s sharing some tips and favorite equipment for monitoring and troubleshooting today’s transmission systems, plus letting us in on his part-time mayoral career in Fosston, Minnesota.  Stay tuned until the end of the show when Jim is making an announcement about expanding Radio Gearheads! 

Show Notes:
Radio Gearheads - Broadcast Engineering and Equipment
Jim likes the Burk Arc Plus Touch broadcast remote control & monitoring system

Guest:
Jim Offerdahl - Senior Broadcast Engineer at Radio Gearheads and Mayor of Fosston, Minn.

Host:
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

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TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

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TWiRT 678 - Good Engineering Practice with Jim Offerdahl

TWiRT 677 - Local AM Radio with Beth Mann

What use is a low-wattage, AM radio station in a town of 2,000 residents?  Indeed, the whole county population is just over 12,200. Is AM radio viable there?  With 500 watts daytime and 18 watts at night what can a new owner do to revive such a station?  Beth Mann, President/CEO of Edge Media Group, wanted to bring WEKT back to a rightful stature in this small, Western Kentucky town.  Beth grew up in Elkton, across from the original WEKT studio and transmitter.  Now she, along with her “digital- and future-oriented” staff are putting WEKT at full throttle with local news, local sports, local weather, and appearances to promote the station on-air and online. On this episode of TWiRT, she along with Josh Claussen and Bill Booth describe the technical operation, but more importantly the community involvement that’s driving Elkton’s embrace of WEKT, resulting in advertising and renewed revenue.  

Show Notes:
Edge Media Group is using Riverside.FM as a remote audio connection service for sports and other outside broadcasts.
WEKT’s new studio features an Axia iQx audio console, and they use Wide Orbit automation.
Kirk mentioned that he has used the WKDZ Live Weather Cams on some TV weathercasts of WSMV-TV in Nashville.

Guests:
Beth Mann - President/CEO at Edge Media Group
Bill Booth - Operations Manager at Edge Media Group
Josh Claussen - Program Director at WEKT

Hosts:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

 
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TWiRT 677 - Local AM Radio with Beth Mann

TWiRT 676 - The Best Support is No Need for It with Rolf Taylor

Rolf Taylor describes himself as a Lover of Audio, Tinkerer, Broadcast Engineer, Support Engineer and Product Manager, Telco Guru, and Researcher and Writer.  As Rolf’s longtime friend, Kirk Harnack can attest to each of those appellations. Rolf joins us on this “Festivus” episode of TWiRT, though we spend most of our time on making product usage and support better, and just a few minutes on the “airing of grievances”.  

Guest:
Rolf Taylor - Broadcast Engineer at CACI International Inc

Host:
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

 
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TWiRT 676 - The Best Support is No Need for It with Rolf Taylor

TWiRT 675 - Public Radio in Rural Alaska with Paul Walker

As Chris Tarr points out, Paul B. Walker, Jr. is probably the most enthusiastic supporter of local radio service and programming.  Paul is the Program Director at KSKO-FM in McGrath, Alaska, but he wears almost every hat required for running a full-service FM Public Radio station.  Many TWiRT fans know of Paul through the Facebook group he started, “I Take Pictures of Transmitter Sites.”  Chris Tarr and Kirk Harnack talk with Paul about the challenges of broadcasting in rural Alaska, including antenna icing, Internet service, STL connections to outlying villages’ FM transmitters, and even the occasional “moose fade”.    

Show Notes:
Paul does just about everything at KSKO-FM, McGrath, Alaska
The KSKO-FM high-quality web stream is here.

We think Reeve Air Alaska is pretty interesting as the way to get around in rural Alaska.
An interactive, real-time map of Starlink satellites is here.

Guest:
Paul B. Walker, Jr. - Program Director (and much more) at KSKO 89.5 McGrath, Alaska

Hosts:
Chris Tarr - Group Director of Engineering at Magnum.Media
Kirk Harnack, The Telos Alliance, Delta Radio, Star94.3, & South Seas Broadcasting

Follow TWiRT on Twitter and on Facebook

TWiRT is brought to you by:
Nautel’s new GV2 FM transmitters are here - chock full of features!
Broadcasters General Store, with outstanding service, saving, and support. Online at BGS.cc. 

Broadcast Bionics - making radio smarter with Bionic Studio, visual radio, and social media tools at Bionic.radio.
Angry Audio and the new Rave analog audio mixing console.
The new MaxxKonnect Broadcast U.192 MPX USB Soundcard - The first purpose-built broadcast-quality USB sound card with native MPX output.

 
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TWiRT 675 - Public Radio in Rural Alaska with Paul Walker