Radio World 1320 - May 6th, 2026

Welcome to the

May 6th, 2026 issue of Radio World

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From Mic to Antenna. And Everything in Between.

MaxxKonnect Technical Services is the company broadcasters call when it has to work. From LPFM’s to major-market groups, MKts delivers end-to-end engineering services that keep signals clean, studios reliable, and stations on the air. te systems, sy ystems, support sup pport local We don’t just install gear — we integrate y become bec come failures. When Wh hen n it it has has engineers, and solve problems before they os att MaxxKonnect Technical. to be done right the first time, call the pros

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Technology & news for radio decision makers

radioworld.com | May 6 | $5.00

Snapshots from our industry’s annual spring convocation!

Family affair

WCON in Georgia has been a standout example of family-owned broadcasting for 73 years.

Is that a cable spool?

Frank Hertel turns a piece of broadcast trash into some useful furniture.

Buyer’s Guide

©NAB

Learn about five leading systems integrators and installers.

END TO END SOLUTIONS FOR THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY (844) 45-RADIO | SUMMITTECHGROUP.COM

Vol. 50 No. 10 | May 6 2026 www.radioworld.com FOLLOW US www.twitter.com/radioworld_news www.facebook.com/RadioWorldMagazine www.linkedin.com/company/radio-world-futureplc CONTENT Managing Director, Content & Editor in Chief Paul J. McLane, paul.mclane@futurenet.com, 845-414-6105 Content Producer Nick Langan, nicholas.langan@futurenet.com Technical Advisors W.C. “Cris” Alexander, Thomas R. McGinley, Doug Irwin Contributors: Michael Baldauf, David Bialik, John Bisset, Edwin Bukont, James Careless, Ken Deutsch, Todd Dixon, Mark Durenberger, Charles Fitch, Donna Halper, William Harrison, Alan Jurison, Paul Kaminski, John Kean, Mark Lapidus, James O’Neal, Jim Peck, Mark Persons, Jeremy Preece, John Schneider, Gregg Skall, Dan Slentz, Randy Stine, Tom Vernon, Chris Wygal Production Manager Nicole Schilling Senior Design Director Lisa McIntosh Senior Art Editor Will Shum ADVERTISING SALES Senior Business Director & Publisher, Radio World John Casey, john.casey@futurenet.com, 845-678-3839 Advertising EMEA Raffaella Calabrese, raffaella.calabrese@futurenet.com, +39 348 229 3293 SUBSCRIBER CUSTOMER SERVICE To subscribe, change your address, or check on your current account status, go to www.radioworld.com and click on Subscribe, email futureplc@computerfulfillment.com, call 888-266-5828, or write P.O. Box 254, Lowell, MA 01853.

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Embrace the visual Key findings from Quu’s latest dashboard study

A

s you know, I’m a fan of the work that Quu has done into how radio stations are displayed in the infotainment systems of top-selling cars in the United States.

Now the company has published its third annual report, drawing conclusions from what a Quu representative experienced when he actually sat in all of those car models this past winter.

Paul Quu’s business is to sell technology that helps stations McLane display ads and program messages, and this research is Editor in Chief intended to support what it does.

But the findings go beyond Quu’s self-interest. Any responsible radio manager should be digging down to look at the photos of these dashboards to understand how drivers and passengers experience stations visually. And now our industry has three years of data sets and can identify trends.

A key finding is that screens are everywhere in the vehicle now. They’re not just in the center stack of the dashboard but directly in front of the driver and passenger and in the back seat. In fact 68% of the 100 top new models sold in America now display information on not one but multiple screens.

“The days of radio thinking we’re an audio medium? We’ve got to get over that,” said Quu CEO Steve Newberry, who owns stations himself.

“People are used to visual interactions, and now that screens are so prevalent in the automobile, we’re just kidding ourselves if we don’t recognize that radio must embrace the visual.”

Another finding is that infotainment systems have become more familiar and intuitive. Carmakers have learned from the success of devices like iPhones that

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THIS ISSUE NAB SHOW

Photos from the NAB Show are found throughout this issue.

NEWS 3

From the Editor

6

It’s a family affair at WCON

FEATURES 12

Allow us to address the chair

18

Sci-fi goes for 42 years at WUSB(FM)

BUYER’S GUIDE 22

Systems integrators and installers

From the Editor they need to make it easier for people of all ages and tech knowledge to navigate.

That said, while AM and FM reception remains available in all of the 100 top-selling cars (a pleasant surprise in itself), radio increasingly is harder to find amid all the options and menu layers.

“The challenge isn’t availability,” said Newberry. “It’s discoverability.”

While this argues for good visuals, he continued: “Just my opinion but this is less a technical issue, it’s really a content issue. We’ve got to have content that makes people want to find us.”

“ ” Now that screens are so prevalent in the automobile, we’re just kidding ourselves if we don’t recognize that radio must embrace the visual.

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The study also found that earning the “last touch” matters more than ever. This echoes a finding last year that stations should aim to be the source the driver is listening to when they turn the car off so it’s the one that pops up when they come back.

More findings: Almost three-quarters of the 100 top selling cars in America now have HD Radio, and about a quarter are equipped with DTS AutoStage.

“I still think there’s a real business case for stations to look to add HD Radio as well as DTS AutoStage,” Newberry said. “There’s money to be made with HD, whether it’s feeding translators, adding alternative channels or using it for visual ad displays.”

Meanwhile the percentage of cars with SiriusXM actually has dipped since last year. And while Android Audo and Apple CarPlay continue to be well supported, the number of models with streaming apps built right into the vehicle is now 53%, a dramatic jump from 20% just two years ago. The future lies in integrated functionality.

You can read the report at https://quureport.com. Do take the time as well to open the “See the Data” button, choose a car model and drill down into the results, including the photos at the bottom. This report continues to be an eye-opener.

Comment on this or any story. Email me at radioworld@ futurenet.com.

NAB Show in Photos

NAB Show in Photos

Lanyards ready for attendees.

Joy Villaluz, Christopher Kaplon and Merlin Sarmiento explore the new show logo.

Copyright NAB

John Garziglia

Brent Whelan of GatesAir speaks to students attending through the NAB Leadership Foundation Technology Apprenticeship Program and NAB PILOT’s NextGen TV Fellowship

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This aisle in the Central Hall led to a concentration of broadcast tech exhibitors.

Jim Peck

Jim Peck

Radio World honored Andy Gladding, center, recipient of our Excellence in Engineering Award.

He’s with Publisher John Casey and Editor in Chief Paul McLane.

Jim Peck

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Local Radio

6 Writer

It’s a family affair at WCON “Out in the community people know us. If you’re not doing that, then you should be”

Elle Kehres The author wrote the recent story “Should We Kick the FCC to the Curb?”

N

estled away in Cornelia, Ga., about an hour drive northeast of bustling Atlanta, WCON(AM/FM) has been a standout example of family-owned broadcasting for 73 years.

Owned and operated by Habersham Broadcasting, WCON reaches metro Atlanta as well as into parts of North and South Carolina and Tennessee. The station’s crew consists of 15 mostly part-time employees, half of whom are related by blood or marriage.

Taking to the airwaves in 1953 and today branded as “107.7 The Breeze” along with its FM translator, WCON(AM) has a soft AC format broadcasting 1,000 watts from its tower site one county over, 15 minutes from WCON’s recently-revamped studios.

WCON-FM, “93.3 My Country,” went on the air in 1965.

Broadcasting 100 kW, it’s one of the region’s largest radio signals, reaching approximately 5 million people.

Hyper-programmed for Habersham and Banks County, My Country plays classic ’80s and ’90s country tunes with a

healthy dose of local sports mixed in, including broadcasts of Atlanta Braves games.

Family ties

The AM station was founded in 1953. John Foster joined the staff while he was in high school, and eight years later, Foster and his wife Bobbie bought the station, effectively changing John’s title from DJ to owner. (He also has served as a state senator.)

WCON(FM) went on the air in 1965 as a Class A station and was upgraded to a C2 with 50 kW of power in 1989.

In 2015, WCON increased its power to 100 kW with a Nautel GV40 transmitter, covering all of northeast Georgia and portions of the Carolinas and Tennessee. In 2019, the station flipped from a blend of country and southern gospel music to classic country, rebranding to My Country 99.3.

John and Bobbie Foster were inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2015, credited with growing WCON(FM) from a small Class A to a

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Local Radio

Above WCON’s My Country 99.3 studio pre- and post-renovation.

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Below right Brothers David (left) and Clayton Foster work the booth covering Habersham Central Raiders football.

WCON is “The Voice of the Raiders.”

powerhouse. The husband-and-wife team were married for 63 years before she passed away in 2021.

Today, John and Bobbie’s legacy continues, with sons David and Clayton Foster taking over the family business. David mostly sells; Clayton handles the day-to-day operations; and, at 91 years of age in April, John continues to run a tight ship, coming into work every day to record the message for WCON’s call-in weather service.

It would also be amiss not to mention honorary family member Rev. Billy Burrell, who began hosting WCON’s “Sunshine Melodies” morning show in 1959. After a whopping 63 years at the station, Burrell retired in 2022 at age 92.

Clayton, whose technical title is VP of operations for Habersham Broadcasting, said: “Billy Burrell was an integral part of the station for so many years. He had a morning devotion, hosted the birthday party, opened the barn door and kept his audience informed on so many levels. His impact on the community is still felt even though he’s been off the air for three-plus years.”

Clayton has two grown kids with his wife of 25 years, Kim, who plays an active role in the family business. Kim started at WCON in 2016 when the station switched over to a new automation system. “I had no clue what I was getting into,” she said of the time. Today, Kim still manages traffic in addition to Habersham’s accounting needs.

“” I think that radio is here to stay. I really do. But if you don’t change, you won’t make it.

Studio upgrades

WCON has made major improvements to its four studios, gutting them over the course of three years during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We did it because everything was falling apart,” said Clayton. “It had been so long since there were any upgrades that it was really in need of it.”

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Local Radio

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Above Habersham Broadcasting owns WCON’s AM/FM signal 107.7 The Breeze (1450 kHz) and HD signal My Country 99.3.

Right John Foster, right, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

During renovation, Habersham built new custom cabinetry and digitized its operations, transitioning to AoIP. The company also converted a storage closet into a fifth studio and created a rack room out of the station’s old record library.

Clayton did the design work, and Habersham methodically made these upgrades over several years, paying for everything in cash. He said one of his biggest accomplishments is that WCON never had to go off the air during these upgrades.

“You wouldn’t know what we were doing, because you couldn’t tell. Everything was seamless,” he said.

Being a radio history buff, Clayton took a lot of the station’s old equipment and made a small museum out of it.

“It’s got some old record players, our original transmitter, original board bikes, on-air signs, speakers and clocks,” said Clayton. “It’s pretty cool.”

The equipment in the upgraded studios and control room include Wheatstone IP-16 boards, Telos VX Prime+ VoIP phone systems, Shure SM7B microphones and Yamaha HS8 speakers.

Local impact

Some might say WCON’s staff spends more time out of the studio than in it.

The station prides itself on its community outreach; it can be seen at Fourth of July parades, local 5K or 10K races, county fairs, Chamber of Commerce events and, of course, hometown football games.

You’d be hard-pressed to find another group that’s called as many high school football games as the team at WCON has. Since 1970, WCON’s 99.3 has been the voice of Habersham Central Raiders football. Leading WCON’s football coverage is David Foster, who has called exactly 400 games over the course of 39 years. Brother Clayton is just a few games behind him, with 390 games in 38 years.

It has been my job for many years to turn off the stadium lights. radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Local Radio

Above A studio photo from 1965.

Left After renovation, WCON’s studio was named after the Rev. Billy A. Burrell.

“David does the play-by-play and produces the show, I do the engineering, and my wife and I take care of the stats during the game,” said Clayton. “We are usually the first to get to the game and the last to leave. It has been my job for many years to turn off the stadium lights.”

A local broadcaster through and through, Clayton’s favorite country artist is Little Big Town, whose vocalist Kimberly Schlapman was born and raised in Cornelia, where WCON is based. For that reason, he makes sure Little Big Town gets plenty of airtime.

“We’ve got really good disc jockeys — or digital jockeys as we like to call them. It’s all local and we get out a lot,” said Clayton. “Out in the community people know us. If you’re not doing that, then you should be.”

WCON isn’t just a visible presence in its community, it also is made accessible online via podcasting (My Country 99.3), a YouTube channel and streaming.

Clayton said: “I think that radio is here to stay. I really do.

But if you don’t change, you won’t make it. So we’re doing all we can to keep up.”

Right and Below WCON’s “museum,” curated by Clayton Foster, features radio memorabilia and equipment, including an old radio beacon that used to sit atop WCON’s original tower. What a desk lamp!

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

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Workbench

John Bisset CPBE The author is in his 35th year of writing Workbench.

He handles western U.S. radio sales for the Telos Alliance and is a past recipient of the SBE’s Educator of the Year Award.

Tips Please

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Workbench submissions qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@ gmail.com.

Allow us to address the chair Frank Hertel’s latest DIY projects are clever and useful

E Above Frank’s two DIY tables. One holds a BE transmitter!

very station seems to have stuff like old cable spools and rag-tag office chairs lying around, often to be found at the transmitter site.

Eventually, someone gets around to cleaning house and it’s Dumpster Time.

But that isn’t always the case.

Frank Hertel tells us that awhile back, an engineering friend jokingly dropped off a 4-foot cable reel and remarked: “I thought you could use this. Besides, it wouldn’t fit in our dumpster.”

The spool sat for a while in Frank’s workshop. Eventually he decided to do something with it.

An old idea came back to mind: Put some swivel casters on one end to create a bottom and reshape the base so there would be room for feet. Then add a 48-inch round

top made of plywood, creating a work surface that has strength and covers the bolt heads.

Frank used a Forstner drill bit to create pocket holes in the plywood to nest the protruding bolt heads on the spool.

A set of Forstner bits costs about $10 at Harbor Freight.

Then he covered the plywood top with 1/8-inch tempered Masonite, yielding a rugged, useful rollaround worktable. You can see it on the left in the first photo.

Another friend brought him a heavily used office chair.

(Frank seems to attract such offers.) Not being sure if this was a joke, Frank accepted it in good humor. But the only salvageable things about it were the wheels and support post. The rest of the chair was destined for the dumpster.

Having had good results converting the cable spool to a rolling worktable, he used the carriage and post assembly

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Workbench Right The decrepit office chair.

Far right From top: The salvageable office chair base assembly; the 30inch plywood circle with countersunk support bolts visible; the “belly” circle is in place, atop four pieces of conduit; and the completed rolling worktable with the larger top attached.

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from the decrepit office chair to create a second rolling worktable that also has a rotating “carousel” surface thanks to the original chair’s base.

Construction was straightforward. He took a scrap piece of 3/4-inch plywood and cut it into a 30-inch circle, then fastened it where the seat had been mounted. This would serve as a “belly” support plate for a finished top.

Four pieces of 1-inch conduit, each 7 inches long, were used to achieve the desired work height; they’re visible at right. Four 10-inch x 3/8-inch carriage bolts secure the conduit.

As in the first project, be sure to countersink the heads of the carriage bolts into the 30-inch circle of plywood.

Frank then sandwiched the 30-inch circle with a 36inch circle of 3/4-inch plywood, creating a smooth, flat work surface. He fastened this larger circle by shooting drywall screws through the smaller circle from the bottom. No screws are visible when the top circle is fastened this way.

The final rolling worktable, with rotatable top, is pictured at right. The 36-inch top has been covered with 1/8-inch tempered Masonite.

Frank notes that most office chairs have a comfort feature with the ability to rock forward and back. Be sure to lock this rocking feature so that your surface will not tip forward or backward, dumping your work on the floor!

You can defeat it by welding the rocking assembly in a level plane or bolting the rocking pivot in place.

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

NAB Show in Photos

Jim Peck

The APRE Scholarship Fund supports live and virtual attendance to the Public Radio Engineering Conference. Recipients included (clockwise from top) Griffin Hall, Viridian Haugen, Bill Dahlstrom (moderator and Meritorious Service Award recipient), Joe Barron, Keith Rozendal, Timothy Krupka and Justin Thompson.

Jim Peck

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RadioPlayer brought a 1965 Mustang with a dash powered

by Radioplayer InCar. Tommy Gaustad said U.S. broadcasters can use it to launch branded apps directly into car dashboards.

John Garziglia

John Garziglia

Copyright NAB

Townsquare’s Media Chief Product and Technology Officer Sun Sachs, left, at the Small/Medium-Market Radio Forum spoke about how AI and other tech can drive revenue. Neuroscientist Poppy Crum keynoted the Broadcast Engineering & IT Conference.

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Xperi announced a premium subscription tier for broadcasters to access expanded data available from the DTS AutoStage platform. Joe D’Angelo hugs a globe celebrating the growing number of cars in various markets.

NAB Show in Photos Copyright NAB

Pausing at the Broadcasters General Store booth are James Glogowski of LifeBridge Media Group, Ted Schober of Radiotechniques Engineering, Scott Spillers of Paravel Systems and Scott Foster of Salem Media.

Commissioner Olivia Trusty gave a talk titled “Finding the Angel of Public Interest.” She said, “Because broadcasters have accepted public interest responsibilities as part of their licenses, they occupy a unique place in the media ecosystem. That makes it critical for the FCC to ensure that broadcasters not only survive in today’s competitive environment, but thrive.”

John Garziglia

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Radio Programming Writer

Nick Langan Read that author’s “Signal Spot” column at radioworld. com/tech-andgear/nickssignal-spot.

John Griffin/Stony Brook University

Sci-fi goes for 42 years at WUSB(FM)

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For Howard Margolin, “Destinies” can be traced to a bedroom in East Northport, N.Y.

O Above Howard Margolin in a photo illustration by John Griffin for Stony Brook University.

n Feb. 9, 1976, two Long Island, N.Y., elementary school kids, Howard Margolin and Steve Benzer, met, and they eventually bonded over a shared love of radio.

Six years later, that friendship pulled them into a scene straight out of science fiction itself.

They discovered a backyard pirate FM station called WRAR, “Rebel Alliance Radio,” run by Preston Nichols. Its 400-watt signal, beamed from a shed in Nichols’ yard, carried music across the island.

Nichols would later gain notoriety for the Camp Hero conspiracy

theories in his co-authored book, “The Montauk Project.” (He died in 2018.)

The boys were so captivated they reached out to Nichols directly.

He agreed to sell them a two-watt transmitter — but only after they proved themselves with an on-air shift at WRAR. “We had to prove our worth,” Margolin recalled. They passed the test, and, on March 18, 1982, launched WOHM, “Resistance Radio,” from Benzer’s bedroom in East Northport.

“I think we had 250 albums between the two of us, and Steve’s girlfriend loaned us some records,” Margolin said.

The friends spun music, cracked jokes

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

and played at being broadcasters. “We used to give the legal ID as ‘WOHM, Smithtown, New York.’ When I asked Steve why we were saying Smithtown, he replied, ‘because it’s not East Northport.’”

WOHM lasted only for five months, ending when Benzer’s family moved to Texas. He would later launch Expert Broadcast Electronics, currently providing engineering services to U.S. stations.

Margolin stayed behind on Long Island and enrolled at Stony Brook University as a biology major. Drawn to the campus station 90.1 WUSB(FM), he joined through the “Science Fiction Forum” — the oldest student organization at Stony Brook.

Radio Programming Theater of the mind

A fellow student invited Margolin to read a short story on air — WUSB had been licensed at its 90.1 FM dial position for about seven years by then — and with a theater background, Margolin jumped at the chance.

He also carried memories of evenings spent listening to “Golden Age” radio dramas “The Shadow,” “The Green Hornet” and “The Lone Ranger” on 106.7 WRVR(FM), after his father told him about listening to those shows when he was a child in the 1930s and 1940s.

So when the opportunity came to perform science fiction on the radio, Margolin said, “It was a no-brainer.”

That spark grew into “Destinies — The Voice of Science Fiction.”

Created by Gary Halada and Mike Botwin and now in its 43rd year, it stands as one of radio’s longestrunning science fiction programs.

Jon C. Manzo

In fact, as far as Margolin knows, Destinies is the second-longest running show of its kind in the world.

The first is “Hour of the Wolf” on New York’s 99.5 WBAI(FM).

Margolin joined the cast in March 1984 and remains the producer and host to this day.

Vision by day, ears by night

After graduating Stony Brook, Margolin became a full-time optometrist, but Stony Brook allows both students and graduates to continue their WUSB shifts. For example, Jim Wiener, who has been with the station since 1969, back when it operated as an AM carrier

Above In 1988, Howard Margolin interviewed actor Sylvester McCoy for “Destinies.”

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Radio Programming

Leonard J. Provenzano

Above Howard Margolin and a reunion of some of his writer guests in 2023. From left: Margolin, Drew Henriksen, Patrick Thomas, Roy Mauritsen and Keith R.A. DeCandido.

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Right Howard Margolin, in 2011, at WUSB(FM)’s studios at Stony Brook University.

current station, still hosts a show on the station.

“I think there’s a lot of people either that get bit by the bug and do it fulltime, or the best of both worlds and do it as a little non-paying side-hustle,” Margolin said.

By the fall of 1985, Destinies would take the Friday at 11:30 p.m. slot, where it has been since.

A renovation of the Stony Brook student union building in 2017 forced WUSB to move its studios.

To keep Destinies going, Margolin began producing the show on his

home computer, employing newer technologies like Audacity editing software and a USB microphone.

“I bought a foam cover on eBay for 75 cents,” he remembered.

By the time the pandemic hit in 2020, he had already pivoted to home production, only going into the studio for live broadcasts. Ironically, more than 35 years after his pirate days, he was again doing radio from a bedroom set-up.

Since 1984, he has worked with a film review team that helps him discuss the latest sci-fi flicks.

Dave Campfield, an independent filmmaker, has been on the team since 2019, along with his producing partner, Justin Paul, who joined in 2022.

Audrey Dettmering has been with him since 2006. “Captain” Phil Merkel, who joined the review team in 2005, began archiving the show later that year.

Now, Merkel, who lives in West Coxsackie, N.Y., assists WUSB’s remote broadcasting setup, and he hosts two WUSB offerings of his own, “Captain Phil’s Planet” and “Friday Night Freeform.”

Intensive planning

Destinies regularly features segments such as “Dear Cthulhu,” a collaboration with author Patrick Thomas. Thomas writes a satirical advice column from the perspective of Cthulhu, the elder god from H.P. Lovecraft’s mythology.

Listeners “write in” with their problems — the letters are actually

by Thomas — some serious, some absurd. Margolin reads the letters while Thomas provides answers as the “carnivorous elder god.”

Margolin gets to play a new character each month, from a five-year-old girl to a British woman whose boyfriend built a hydrogen dirigible in their backyard.

His optometry life usually stays separate from Destinies, but sometimes the link is too obvious.

When his patient Christina M. Rau

Radio Programming mentioned she wrote “science fiction feminist poetry,” she became a regular contributor.

Each month, for the past five years, he has taken one of Rau’s poems and mixed it with music to present on air.

Margolin’s preparation for each show is meticulous. “Everything I say is written out,” he said.

The show also includes memorials for those in the sci-fi genre who have recently passed and celebrations for milestones in film history.

Long Island sci-fi radio

Does science fiction translate to the radio?

In many ways, Margolin said, it’s the perfect medium. After all, it’s an oral art form.

The platform has allowed Margolin to interview the likes of Adam West and Stan Lee. When an author is on the show, he often has them read a passage from their book.

To make it more dynamic, Margolin will read the dialogue for a secondary character, creating a back-and-forth narrative rather than a single person narrating. “It’s much more interesting for the listener that way.”

Perhaps his favorite subject was Julius Schwartz, editor of “Superman” comics from 1971–1986.

“I grew up reading his comics,” he said. They would end up becoming friends. Schwartz passed in 2004.

He recalled another opportunity to talk with Richard Matheson, the author of “I Am Legend,” “The Shrinking Man” and “Somewhere in Time.”

Another legendary figure he spoke to, was musical satirist Tom Lehrer, who recently passed at the age of 97.

Redefining the Standard in HD Radio Monitoring

College radio connection

As he approached the 42nd anniversary of his involvement with Destinies this past March, Margolin still has plenty of passion for his labor of love.

He’s seen many faces come and go. Today, the WUSB program that follows Destinies is hosted by two Stony Brook undergraduates born in 2004.

But, as is the beauty of college radio: Margolin explained they “speak the same language about film review” despite the generation gap. The two shows will often fill a “crossover” segment with back-andforth banter.

It all goes back to those days when he and Steve ran WOHM out of a Long Island bedroom.

“It’s been 44 years since we ran our pirate station,” Margolin said. “He’s making a living out of it, and for me, it’s my creative outlet.”

Comment on this or any article. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

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Systems Integrators & Installers About Buyer’s Guide

The Buyer’s Guide section appears in every other issue, focusing on a particular category of equipment and services.

It is intended to help buyers know what’s on the market and gain insight into how their peers are using such products.

22

Tech Update Broadcast Tech Direct Offers Specialized Expertise Broadcast Tech Direct LLC, founded by Richard Gerlovich, was established to support the evolving technical needs of U.S. radio broadcasters.

The company provides comprehensive technical services and systems integration. Gerlovich is a veteran engineer with 30 years of experience including leadership roles at iHeartMedia and Cox Media Group.

“As stations transition to remote production and sophisticated AoIP platforms, Broadcast Tech Direct offers the specialized expertise needed to bridge resource gaps and manage large-scale equipment rollouts,” it states.

Gerlovich said their goal is to ensure that even the smallest stations have access to highlevel engineering expertise.

The firm offers systems integration including full-scale installation of automated playout systems like WideOrbit, NexGen and PlayoutOne as well as AoIP routing platforms such as Wheatstone, Axia and SAS. It also does professional installation and maintenance for Nautel and GatesAir transmitters, as well as FCC Richard Gerlovich technical compliance auditing and field strength measurement reporting.

And it manages the signal chain to ensure integration between modern studio workflows and high-power RF transmission.

Beyond field engineering, the company provides facility design, project

management and business continuity planning to keep stations on the air.

Gerlovich is vice chairman of SBE Chapter 105 in Houston and a member of the Texas Association of Broadcasters’s Tech Sessions Planning Committee.

Info: www.broadcasttechdirect.com

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Buyer’s Guide

Tech Update Wavelength Technical Solutions: “A Trusted Partner” Wavelength Technical Solutions says it provides comprehensive broadcast engineering services designed to help stations get on the air, stay on the air and sound their best.

“One of our key offerings is project management and consulting, where we partner with stations that are planning upgrades, new builds, or facility moves,” said founder and Chief Engineer Jeremy Preece, CPBE DRB. “We help station management with the heavy lifting of preparing FCC applications, identifying new sites, sourcing installation crews and selecting cost‑effective transmission systems.”

Wavelength Technical also provides service, maintenance and support for

broadcast facilities throughout California, ranging from routine visits to keep operations running smoothly to repairs and full system installations.

“Remote support is available, too,” Preece adds. “We can jump on a call with staff and, using remote desktop tools, often resolve issues without sending an engineer to the site.

It leads to faster resolution and significant cost savings. Several clients outside our normal coverage area rely on this service.”

In addition to engineering support, Wavelength Technical Solutions is a retailer of broadcast hardware. “We sell most major brands and are very competitive on pricing.

Our goal is always to help stations get the right equipment for their needs at the best possible value.”

Jeremy Preece

Info: www.wavelengthtechnical.com

23

Buyer’s Guide

Tech Update E2TS: Using Technology to Enable Creators

Ed Bukont programs new Axia gear at Salem Media Group’s facility in Columbus, Ohio.

E2 Technical Services LLC is an integration services and support company founded by Edwin Bukont.

“Our strengths are project management, systems design and integration, testing, AoIP, custom solutions and remote support,” he said. E2 also has experience in video and visual radio systems, which are of increasing use in radio.

“We often work with a client’s existing technical resources. This may not even be an engineer, rather the OM, IT and AV specialties, trades, other integrators, manufacturers and vendors.”

Principle certifications include NetGear, QSC/Q-SYS, Dante, Avixa CTS/ANP, SBE and Axia/Livewire.

E2 has offered services and support via remote access for more than a decade.

“To address travel-related concerns, we may look at a client’s systems via remote access tools and then generate certain deliverables including documentation and pre-engineering of equipment, making time on site more plug and play that design onthe-fly at customer’s expense.”

24

Scott Spillers, Salem Media Group

Added shipping costs are offset by savings in travel. E2 calls this “packaging the integration.” It also has a small AoIP sandbox test lab.

“We provide training for what we build and training in technologies, sometimes for specific product lines. Our service as an integrator has value in knowing what has to happen between technologies,” he said.

Bukont said E2 tries to engineer beyond the wiring and tech. “As Telos founder Steve Church once put it, we want to be known not as engineers but as artists in the application of science.”

Info: www.e2techserv.com

Tech Update Second Opinion Supports an Industry in Flux “The technical landscape of the radio industry is in a constant state of flux, and our integration services are structured to adapt seamlessly to these ongoing developments,” said Gregory Dahl, CPBE, founder of Second Opinion Communications.

It offers a range of support from basic consulting to fully managed turnkey solutions.

For example, at KUFM in Missoula, Mont., it helped with significant enhancements to master control and CTRL-A studios, establishing a robust AoIP system and replacing old infrastructure.

The integration was executed through a structured, three-phase process that included comprehensive assessment, removal of legacy gear, installation of new equipment and operational testing for CTRL-A to become the station’s primary broadcast hub.

KMBQ-FM in Wasilla, Alaska, had relied for years on a Continental transmitter that used a phase rotator to convert single-phase power to three-phase. As the transmitter began to fail, it was replaced with a Nautel NVLT 20 kW transmitter configured for single-phase power.

Second Opinion worked to create an environment that allowed for streamlined electrical and RF management in the station’s new RF facility. Working with station co-owner Marty Bumstead, it also migrated audio and network connections from the old building and

upgraded the grounding to enhance reliability and safety.

And Second Opinion was deeply involved with an integration project for Lotus Broadcast in Las Vegas. It included the replacement of audio consoles in nine studios, which necessitated a unified strategy that accommodated customized configurations for every studio and assured seamless transitions to a centralized backup studio.

That project later expanded to include significant upgrades to TOC equipment and improved wiring management. It also involved installation of 6 and 11 GHz microwave systems, upgrades to automation platforms, transmitter replacements and the integration of AM transmission systems.

Email: gregorydahl@secondopinioncomm.com

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

Buyer’s Guide

Tech Update TPR Adopts Inrush Shared Support Model Inrush Broadcast Services began working with Texas Public Radio in 2025, and by early 2026 that relationship had evolved into what the firm calls an Inrush Member Station.

Inrush notes that stations are doing more than ever, making operations more complex, but with leaner teams. “The Inrush Member Station (IMS) model is meant to address that reality,” said SVP, Emerging Technologies Shaun Dolan.

“It is not simply contract engineering and not just emergency support. It is an ongoing relationship that gives a station access to a broader technical team in a way that most stations would find difficult to replicate internally.”

For TPR, Inrush helped organize access to systems, bringing greater consistency to logs and records, and providing a clearer path for troubleshooting and dayto-day support.

Strategic improvements included updates at the Galm Road transmitter site

(shown) serving KPAC(FM) and KSTX(FM), implementing additional monitoring and control systems, new audio processing, enhanced PPM insertion and HD Radio deployment.

Other improvements included refining TPR’s implementation of WideOrbit automation and its integration with Axia Pathfinder Core PRO. Inrush helped simplify internal workflows, while deploying advanced PFCP panels to monitor operations.

“Inrush did not just complete discrete tasks or even projects at Texas Public Radio. It helped reduce the number of problems the organization is likely to encounter in the future,” Dolan said.

“As radio infrastructure continues to evolve, the challenge is less about any one piece of equipment and more about how everything fits together, and who is responsible for keeping it running.”

Info: https://inru.sh/

25

NAB Show in Photos Jim Peck

Beasley station KCYE(FM) 102.7 Coyote Country used a browser-based interface of the cloud-powered WideOrbit Aurora platform to broadcast live from the show over two days.

Shawn Stevens is PD and morning host.

Dan Geisler talks with Sean Edwards in the American Amplifier Technologies booth. AAT featured the EmPower Controller VNA platform, which combines intelligent SNMP-based remote monitoring, site automation and an integrated vector network analyzer.

Jim Peck

John Garziglia

26

Mike McVay and Kelly Orchard signed copies of their new book “Flipping the Format on the Fear of Failure.”

It aims to help radio professionals build resilience and lead with confidence.

Jim Peck

A large display highlights virtual capabilities of the Lawo diamond mixer.

Harold Price of Sage Alerting Systems demoed a virtualized EAS system at the Orban booth, using next-generation EAS software hosted on a small industrial PC. Advocates hope virtual EAS technology will be allowed by the FCC.

Jim Peck

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

NAB Show in Photos Broadcast Electronics recently was acquired by an ownership group led by CEO Rich Redmond, left, and majority investor The Alzana Group.

John Danner, right, is Alzana’s CEO.

Copyright NAB Jim Peck

Commissioner Anna Gomez moderated a panel discussion on the government’s role in ensuring that news outlets avoid bias, whether real or perceived, including the controversial practice of “jawboning” by regulators.

27

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radioworld.com | May 6 2026

8/29/23 6:00 PM

NAB Show in Photos Copyright NAB

NAB Engineering Achievement Award recipients Harvey Arnold and Bert Goldman, center, pose with past honorees. From left: Paul Shulins, Jim Stenberg, Doug Lung, Ashruf El-Dinary, Mark Aitken, Harvey Arnold, Bert Goldman, Tom Jones, Merrill Weiss, Frank Foti, Ben Dawson, Dennis Wallace.

John Garziglia

SCMS is celebrating 50 years. Bob Cauthen cuts the cake.

Helping to mark America’s big upcoming anniversary, Jeronimo Terife of Christian Media Group writes on a wall that invited attendees to “Add Your Voice to the Next 250 Years.”

29

Jim Peck

Bill Dahlstrom received the APRE Engineering Achievement Award from the Association of Public Radio Engineers. He celebrated with his son David Dahlstrom and daughter Samantha Callisto, to the left, and his wife Rosanne Dahlstrom.

Jim Peck

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

NAB Show in Photos

Nic Blomstrand of Kintronic Labs is working on a “game-changing replacement” for mica capacitors, particularly for situations where costs are a concern.

Lightning is the single biggest cause of failures of mica capacitors, which are expensive to replace.

Jim Peck

Society of Broadcast Engineers Communications Director Chriss Scherer and Education Director Cathy Orosz greet visitors.

Jim Peck

Jim Peck

Radio World’s Nick Langan and John Casey assist Paul McLane, right, in using a slingshot to fling T-shirts into the crowd at the Nautel Radio Technology Forum.

Valerie Geller, left, promoted her book “Beyond Powerful Radio.” She’s with Tamara OrbánMikus, who holds an earlier edition of Geller’s book published in Hungarian.

30

Jim Peck

A golf outing that also memorializes broadcast technology sales exec Scott Beeler is an ongoing tradition.

Jim Peck

radioworld.com | May 6 2026

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