[Flying V]

On 12/14/2010 5:44 PM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Flying wrote:
I work in radio and am looking for suggestions, for a new way to do
remote "on location" broadcasts.

In the past, we'd use a transmitter (Marti). But, that's really only
useful for voice.

IS it? If you have a boatanchor M30B, you can get 20-15 Khz response
across the board and remarkably low distortion if you are using the
matching receiver.

Much of the bad rap that Martis get have to do with people using crappy
narrowband scanners as receivers. The things can be remarkably hi-fi
if they are set up and maintained properly.

I have done symphony remotes with a Marti (although I added a control
to disable the limiter).

We're looking for something that would be suitable for broadcasting live
musical performances (classical, jazz, etc.). I realize there is the
internet....but, wouldn't you need something better than a standard
broadband connection? Something more like VOIP? Such connections are
still difficult to get in my area--unless you're on or near the
university campus.

There are plenty of such devices available, and you can see ads for lots
of them in Radio World. For the most part, they work as well as the
connection given them. You can get remarkably good fidelity or remarkably
poor fidelity depending on the connection.

Consequently there are still a lot of people using ISDN circuits for
this. ISDN bandwidth is pretty low, but the bandwidth is guaranteeed,
unlike with an IP connection. However, you now need to get the telco
to install ISDN, which can be easy or hard depending on the circumstances
and the local telco. Again, lots of folks are adverting ISDN boxes with
MUSICAM encoders in them in Radio World and Broadcast Engineering magazines.

What about something that uses 3G/cell technology? Anything there that
might be suitable?

As soon as there is actual 3G technology, we'll let you know.

We're just now starting to look for options, so I have very little
information--so far.

If you're doing a lot of them in one place, you can still get the telephone
company to install 16KC radio loop circuits. They don't want to do it,
they will work really hard not to do it and it will take forever to find
the one person in the business office who knows how to do it. But they
are reliable and can't be jammed (although they can nynex your pair when
you aren't looking and when you go out for a remote you find it's down).

If you have experience in this area, what are you using?

Today, I do concerts "Live Via Nagra Tape Delay." I record it, then drive
over to the station and they play it over the air in almost realtime.
--scott


Hey Scott,

Thanks for your reply! I'm really just getting into this and have very
little experience with live remotes. We typically do as you--record the
concert and play it back later.

We have a pair of RPU's that we've used in the past. I don't recall the
brand/type, but they don't sound very good. That could be due to the
way they're setup, etc. They are quite old, too....so it's time to
replace them. One or the other is always crapping out, just when you
really need it!

We'd like to find something that has better range too, so that we can
travel to area towns for remote broadcasts.

And, since we're not usually in the same place twice, going for
something like ISDN or Radio Loop circuits won't work for us. We
literally need something that we can grab and go.

I know that's asking a lot....but, that's the assignment I've been given.

I'm looking at a Tieline Commander remote unit. It claims to do 15kz
mono, even over POTS. With 2 POTS lines, it claims dual mono/stereo
capability. It also works with cell/IP connections, wi-fi, ISDN and more.

I've never used anything from Tieline, but our chief engineer swears by
the company. (We have used Telos ISDN gear for years and have had great
luck with it!)

Anyway, I have lots more research to do. Thanks again for your reply
and information!

Mike