Archives

Feed Line
In the March 2 issue, author Buc Fitch discussed field intensity measurement methodology. Here, Cris Alexander expands on Fitch's discussion of ND surveys.

An Alternative to Traditional STL
In the Coming Years, the ISM Band May Well Become a De Facto Broadcast Auxiliary Band

Be Militant About Reradiation
You Can Takes Steps to Protect AM Antennas Against Reradiating Structures

Proper Installation Ensures Long Life
Little thought is given to proper transmission line installation in many cases. A bag of cable ties or a box of Wraplock in the tower rigger's pouch is deemed sufficient to secure the line to the tower. Most radio engineers have seen transmission line installations where little more than electrical tape or cable ties were used to secure the line.

Finding Suitable Transmission Line
A broadcast engineer designing an FM transmission system has a number of choices for transmission line size and type ... The factors that enter into this decision are transmitter power, line length and antenna gain. All three factors are somewhat variable.

Rigid vs. Semi-Flexible Line
In the case of FM antenna systems, there generally are two choices for transmission line types: rigid and semi-flexible.

Overshoots and Close-In Coverage
In this segment, we will discuss methods of dealing with the problem of overshooting the target coverage area and problems with close-in coverage.

Antenna Gain vs. Transmitter Power
How many bays do I need in my antenna and how much transmitter power do I need? These questions often do not have hard and fast answers ... This is the second in a series of articles about FM transmission systems.

Understanding FM Systems: A New Series
With this article, we begin an in-depth look at FM transmission systems.

Shared Use of Transmitter Sites
For the past several months, we have taken a hard look at just about all the aspects of co-locating broadcast transmitting facilities with other broadcast and non-broadcast transmitting facilities.

Cleveland's Unusual Frequency Swap
Classical Station WCLV(FM) Lives on, and Upgrades Its Facilities to Digital
by Ken R.

At RFA, Putting R-Boss to Work
The Technical Staff at Radio Free Asia Spearheads an Open-Source Approach That Can Help Your Station - for Free
by Tom Vernon

XM Radio's Music Is Massive
by Craig Johnston
While much of the wonder over satellite radio focused on orbiting transmitters and how 100 channels can be received by moving vehicles, big hurdles also had to be crossed down here on the ground.

'JazzSet' Explores High-Res Audio: by Paul McLane
In May, the NPR program "JazzSet With Dee Dee Bridgewater" will feature a recording of the Count Basie Orchestra at the 1,380-seat University of Michigan Power Center in Ann Arbor. The program will be aired by 140 stations to approximately 200,000 listeners.

In Search of Access Equality, by Richard E. Butler
In the April 11 issue of Radio World, I read the guest commentary "It’s Radio, Jim, But Not as We Know It" by Quentin Howard, which provided some interesting generic insights but fell away on some critical elements.

Digital Phasor for AM Directionals, by Mario Hieb, CPBE
AM radio transmission technologies have changed greatly over the years. Transistors have replaced vacuum tubes; Heliax cable has replaced open transmission line.

KUVO Builds All-Digital Jazz Oasis, by Scott Fybush
Facility Upgrade Helps a Denver Station Pursue Cultural Diversity and Lots of Live Programming
Public radio listeners in Denver get something most of us don’t: a lot of live jazz music on the radio, thanks to KUVO(FM).

The Future of Bitcasting, by David Maxson
"Someday we’ll be broadcasters of bits." Glynn Walden, then of USA Digital Radio, said this to me in 1995. But over the past decade we have seen a lot of "datacasting" ideas come and go with little success, and they have given us a healthy suspicion of every datacasting fad that comes along.

It’s Radio, Jim, But Not as We Know It : by Quentin Howard
Who would dare predict the future in print? Nostradamus for one. And me. I predict that analog FM and AM radio will appear a pretty thin offering in 10 years’ time when compared to other media and delivery platforms emerging now and yet to come.

WorldSpace Up and Running : by Grant Goddard
One Listener’s Opinion of the AsiaStar Satellite Radio Service, From Poolside in Bangalore, India

Delivering Signals to the DAB Transmitter : by Dave Youell
In early 1999, CHUM radio was granted DAB licenses for its two stations, CFUN(AM) and CHQM(FM), in Vancouver. The two signals had to be delivered from the studios in Vancouver to the CBC transmitter site on Mount Seymour in North Vancouver

The soft rock station makes plenty of headlines. This year it celebrates 35 years as an independently owned station -- unusual if not unique in the top five markets.