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Remote Broadcast Access

Newsletter Issue 2

Inside this issue:

Comrex Comments

by Lynn Distler
President, Comrex Corporation

The new Vector POTS codec has hit the market running. Our first production run is now spread around the world, from China to Australia to Slovenia to Fargo, ND. We figure that the "acid test" for any piece of broadcast gear is to be part of the fast-moving rental fleet at Silver Lake Audio. Our lead article shows that the Vector has passed this test with flying colors.

We started development on the Vector in September ‘97. The first production units shipped 9/2/98 — only two weeks off our original estimate. Considering the revolutionary design and complexity of the Vector, even we were amazed at what we had accomplished. The credit has to go to each Comrex employee. Everyone pitched in, wearing as many hats as was necessary to get the job done.

Which brings me to an announcement I am very proud to make: Earlier this year, we established an ESOP and Comrex Corporation is now an "Employee Owned" company. Comrex employees average over 10 years with the company. They are dedicated and knowledgeable and deserve to have a stake in the company they have helped to build.

Vector at the Country Music Awards

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Silver Lake Audio is based in Rockville Center, NY and serves the broadcast community by providing remote broadcast equipment for rental. Silver Lake has always had a full line of Comrex equipment in their rental fleet, including frequency extenders, ISDN codecs, and HotLine POTS codecs. Naturally, Silver Lake purchased some of the first new Vector POTS codecs off the production line and WKKO in Toledo is glad that they did. Just days before WKKO was to cover the Country Music Awards in Nashville, they discovered that they could not get an ISDN line installed in time for the event. The only thing available was POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service.)

An emergency call was placed to Steve Kirsch of Silver Lake Audio. Steve suggested the new Vector as their best bet. At first WKKO was reluctant to cover an event of this magnitude on POTS, but they were out of options. Kirsch volunteered to send them a unit overnight so that they could evaluate it before making such an important decision. The PD and station brass gathered around the Vector and decided that the Country Music Awards could go on. The Vector 15 kHz audio sounded great. "They were thrilled with the unit...but most of all, I was impressed," states Kirsch. "We tested the Vectors and we really liked them — right out of the box. They are very easy for a nontechnical person to operate."

By chance, Steve Richards of the BBC happened to be visiting Silver Lake Audio on the same day that the test with WKKO was occurring. He couldn’t believe the quality. He was looking for ways to deliver "The Essential Millennium" — a day-long worldwide dance party that the BBC plans to broadcast live on December 31st, 1999 from 12 sites around the world. Richards saw the Vector as a potential solution to many difficulties that this complex remote might create. The Vector could make an ideal backup for the ISDN lines. Kirsch comments, "He was blown away by this thing. It was fun to watch! We dialed into the Comrex test number. He flipped. He has already asked me to provide Vectors for many of the millennium sites."

In Nashville the Vectors delivered! Chief Engineer Charles Sell was pleased, "WKKO ran three days straight, 8 hours a day, solid from Nashville and the audio quality was great!" Afternoon jock Harvey Steele was equally impressed. "Several people didn’t know if we were in Nashville or not... Everyone was raving back in Toledo about how good it sounds," said Steele. u

Silver Lake Audio can be reached at 516-763-1776 or via email at SLAudio@AOL.com

UPDATE: Telco Status in China

We often get calls from customers who wish to travel with Comrex gear and are wondering about quality of the telephone networks around the world. We pass on information we’ve received from other users, but when traveling ourselves we also try to get a feel for the quality of the lines wherever we are. Recently Tom Hartnett, Comrex VP of Engineering, completed a visit to China and issued this report:

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The most striking thing you notice in China is the incredible acceleration of growth. Almost every city block in Beijing has a new building being constructed, and traffic in the city makes U.S. traffic jams pale in comparison. The telecommunications networks in China are trying to meet the challenge of serving this unprecedented expansion of their market. Wireless services are extremely popular, and most business people carry digital cellular phones or pagers. This may have as much to do with mobility as the ability of Chinese Telecom to deliver the required number of new phone lines.

ISDN is available but is in its infancy. Some broadcasters we visited had ISDN codecs, but expressed frustration at the inability to connect outside their particular city. International connections are difficult and expensive. This makes POTS codecs an attractive alternative for high quality audio backhaul.

Within China, we experienced good results with our Hotline and Vector POTS codecs. In Beijing, local calls could complete at 28.8 kb/s easily, and connections were quite stable. The HotLine and Vector were used by CNR (Chinese National Radio) to cover the Da Lin Fashion Festival. Transmission was sent from Da Lin to Beijing, about 1000 Km away. They achieved a solid 24 kb/s connect rate and broadcast for several hours.

Our results dialing back to the U.S. were less exciting. We were able to complete stable connect rates no higher than 12 kb/s on our POTS codecs. At this very low rate, the Vector’s superior audio coding capability gives it a significant advantage in audio quality.

With the ongoing deployment of digital telecommunications within China and increased deployment of intercontinental fiber-optic cable, we expect the status of telecommunications in China to get better. And the one sense you get by visiting China is that when it happens, it will be very fast.

Note: We heard similar comments from various networks after they recently covered the President’s visit to China. For a reprint of a Radio World article about the China trip, send us your snail mail address or fax number.

Affordable Full-Service News

wtkr.gif (10566 bytes)Like most of his fellow radio news directors, Dave Morgan, of Sinclair Communications’ WNIS/WTAR in Norfolk, VA does not work with an unlimited budget. In order to provide the level of news coverage required by his AM stations’ News/Talk formats, Morgan has implemented an innovative solution. For the past several months, customized news feeds are being provided to his stations throughout the day by the news staff at WTKR-TV, located a mile away.

In researching delivery options, WNIS found that equalized lines were prohibitively expensive. The ideal solution turned out to be a Centrex based ISDN line from Bell Atlantic. In this configuration, the ISDN line at WTKR-TV is simply an extension of the ISDN line at WNIS and is kept up full time —with no extra usage charges. At the TV station, a former 8’x7’ closet has been transformed by Morgan into a compact studio and includes a Comrex Nexus ISDN codec. Morgan chose the Nexus because he needed low-delay, high quality audio. The delay issue was critical because both WNIS and WTAR broadcast with a 10-second delay, so monitoring off air was not a possibility. Pre-delay return audio is sent back to WTKR and the minimal 6 mS delay of the Nexus allows the feeds to be cued up seamlessly in real-time. Morgan also wanted better than standard 7.5 kHz G.722 audio so he uses the 15 kHz "turbo" mode in the Nexus to deliver "great fidelity" with the same low delay.

The ISDN arrangement with WTKR has provided some unexpected bonuses. For example, when Hurricane Bonnie hit this summer, Morgan’s stations picked up WTKR’s full time coverage. At the height of the storm, Bonnie knocked WTKR’s transmitter off the air for two hours, but coverage continued through the ISDN line—with WNIS/WTAR serving as the TV station’s link to the outside world. Morgan also uses the Nexus to send feeds to other CBS affiliates upon request. Morgan sums up his opinion of the Nexus as "a perfect solution...sounds great, is easy to use and is attractively priced."

HotLine Travels with "Hugs Not Drugs®"

"We wouldn’t be on the radio if it weren’t for Comrex," Ed Shaw says emphatically. With the Comrex HotLine POTS codec, Ruth and Ed Shaw deliver the antidrug and alcohol "Hugs not Drugs®" message of their nonprofit organization, Family Life International, Inc., all over the world. The Ruth and Ed Shaw Show is heard in 95 countries and hundreds of cities in the U.S. via Talk America Radio Network and Cable Radio Network. The upbeat, spirited format of their show is mixed with celebrity interviews and a touch of local flavor from wherever they may be doing their weekly three hour broadcast.

Ed says, "the HotLine gives us total flexibility in our schedule ... we never have to think about setting up a show because we don’t need an ISDN line." The HotLine works on a single plain telephone line so Ruth and Ed can deliver their show from just about anywhere. The Shaws have broadcast all over the United States including the Hawaiian Islands. They have also done their show in the British Virgin Islands (see picture page 4), Singapore, and even the Borneo Rainforest. Ruth and Ed love the HotLine because they "don’t have to go into the confines of a studio." They simply take the HotLine everywhere they go.

In fact, the Shaws never let anything get in the way of their three hour talk show. Even the weddings of their children could not stop Ruth and Ed from broadcasting! The Shaws plan to continue their world tour, spending Christmas in New York, then moving on to Scotland, London, and Ireland. Future travels include the Superbowl, the Cannes Film Festival, the Indianapolis 500, and Germany’s Oktoberfest. The Ruth and Ed Shaw Show has become a "traveling minstrel show on wheels, airplane, or by sea"— thanks to the HotLine.

hugs.gif (27358 bytes)Ruth and Ed Shaw have dedicated their lives to fighting drug and alcohol abuse around the world. Their talk show is only part of the amazing work that Family Life International, Inc. does. To learn more about this organization, the Shaws may be contacted in Delray Beach, Florida at 561-266-9600 or HUGSNOTDRUGS@prodigy.net.

 

TechTips

by John Andrews, Tech Support

ZAP!

The HotLine uses a very nice external power supply that provides regulated 5 volts DC. Since this voltage is applied directly to some big, expensive chips on the main circuit board, it is critical that only a Comrex HotLine power supply be used. A higher voltage supply will likely damage these components, requiring replacement of the whole main board.

HotLines with serial numbers greater than 1019 (247 for HotRacks) have overvoltage protection which will protect the main board from use of an incorrect power supply.

If you have HotLines with lower serial numbers, you may want to contact Comrex to arrange to have your units upgraded. The only exception would be HotLines repaired or upgraded since June 30, 1998, or main boards replaced since September, 1997.

Comrex will do these upgrades free of charge for labor or materials. Return shipping will be free if we can ship via UPS Ground. If you need faster shipping, just provide your Federal Express or UPS number.

Check your serial numbers — this upgrade could save you big bucks if some part-timer does a really creative remote setup!

FYI Y2K

It’s obvious that many of our customers are thinking about Year 2000 Compliance (Y2K) issues. We have answered quite a few phone calls and faxes on the subject. We are happy to do so, but you may save us both some time by reading the following:

All Comrex products (old and new) are Y2K compliant! They achieve this compliance because they do not accept, use, or provide time or date information. A brick is Y2K compliant for the very same reasons. It does its job without knowing the time or day. Comrex stuff is a whole lot cooler than bricks, of course — and infinitely more useful on a remote broadcast.

We are taking the Year 2000 issue very seriously, and are investing a lot of time and money to assure that the facilities we use to make, market and service our products will survive this date change.

Again, we are happy to complete your questionnaires, particularly if you provide some option to indicate that the product just plain doesn’t know the date!