bonacci honored
engineering Extra
February 7, 2018
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In-Depth Technology for Radio Engineers
AM Improvement, Times Three How “moving” the licensed communities of three stations provided improved service in Miami
◗project journal by Benjamin F. Dawson, P.E.
The author is a senior engineer for Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers, with more than 60 years’ experience in the broadcast and RF engineering field. He has written numerous papers on antenna, propagation and spectrum allocation matters. Over a period of several years, Actualidad Media Group LLC purchased three AM stations in the Miami area. The three had somewhat overlapping coverage and were on closely spaced frequencies, but their coverage was not ideal. • W URN 1020 kHz Kendall, Fla. (south of Miami)
• WLVJ 1040 kHz Boynton Beach, Fla. (north of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) • WMYM 990 kHz Miami (limited power and highly directional)
But the 2017 AFCCE Luddy Award winner has more yet to contribute to the FCC. Page 22
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$5.00
The first question asked after the last of the three acquisitions was about the possible improvement of one or more of the station facilities as stand-alone projects. The analysis quickly led to the realization that moving the frequencies of operation of the stations would allow much greater benefits than individual
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radioworld.com changes or power increases. This led to consideration of the regulatory restrictions on changes or improvements of AM stations, since any applications would have to propose minor changes, as no AM major change filing window seemed likely. Any possible changes would have to be compatible with the existing AM spectrum in south Florida, which is very congested. (continued on page 14)
Improvement of the service of one or more of these stations was highly desirable. The principal owners of Actualidad have been long-term clients of both Hatfield & Dawson and duTreil, Lundin & Rackley, and so when improvement prospects were considered, they engaged the long-established dTR/H&D Joint Venture (“JV”) of the two firms to examine the possibilities. While the JV normally does work internationally, the firms occasionally collaborate through it on interesting or large-scale domestic projects as well. The project engineers were Ron Rackley and Ben Dawson. Overall project management was by Actualidad President/CEO/Partner Adib Eden and VP of Engineering Jose Zerpa.
Fig. 1: Miami urbanized area
en gi n e e r i n g e xt r a Vol. 42, No. 4
February 7, 2018
Next Issue of Radio World February 14, 2018 Next Issue of Engineering Extra April 18, 2018 Website: www.radioworld.com | Email: rwee@nbmedia.com Telephone: (703) 852-4600 | Business Fax: (703) 852-4583 Facebook: RadioWorldMagazine | Twitter: @radioworld_news For address changes and subscription renewal, please visit radioworld.com and click on the “Subscription” button. To submit letters or story proposals, to request writer’s guidelines, or for other editorial matters, email the editor at radioworld@nbmedia.com.
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from the tech editor A New Tool for the Broadcast Engineer Small unmanned aircraft systems offer a lot for tower maintenance
Editorial Staff Editor in Chief, U.S. Paul J. McLane Technical Editor, RWEE W.C. “Cris” Alexander Production Editor, RWEE Karen Lee Gear & Technology Editor Brett Moss Technical AdviserS Thomas R. McGinley, Doug Irwin CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Emily Reigart Contributing Editor John Bisset Web Editor Michael Balderston International editor in chief Marguerite Clark Editorial Contributors W.C. Alexander, Susan Ashworth, Dave Beasing, James Careless, Harry Cole, Ken Deutsch, Mark Durenberger, Charles Fitch, Christopher Friesen, Travis Gilmour, Donna Halper, Craig Johnston, Alan Jurison, Paul Kaminski, John Kean, Peter King, Larry Langford, Mark Lapidus, Daniel Mansergh, John Merli, Jim Peck, Mark Persons, Stephen M. Poole, Carl Lindemann, James O’Neal, Rich Rarey, John Schneider, Randy Stine, James G. Withers, Tom Vernon Administration & Production Publisher John Casey Editorial Director Paul J. McLane Production Manager Karen Lee Advertising Coordinator Caroline Freeland Audience Development Vice President | Corporate Director of Audience Development Meg Estevez Circulation Manager Kwentin Keenan associate Circulation manager Michele Fonville subscriptions Radio World, P.O. Box 282, Lowell, MA 01853 Telephone: 888-266-5828 (USA only 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. EST) 978-667-0352 (Outside the US) Fax: 978-671-0460 WebSite: www.myRWNews.com Email: newbay@computerfulfillment.com corporate NewBay Media LLC resident and CEO Steve Palm Chief Financial Officer Paul Mastronardi Chief Revenue Officer Tom Rousseau Chief Content Officer Joe Territo Controller Rick Ng Vice President of Digital Media Robert Ames Video /Broadcast Group EVP/Content and Business Operations Carmel King Vice President of sales/group publisher Eric Trabb Advertising Sales Representatives US REGIONAL & CANADA: John Casey, jcasey@nbmedia.com T: 212-378-0400, ext. 512 | F: 330-247-1288 US REGIONAL: Michele Inderrieden, minderrieden@nbmedia.com T: 212-378-0400, ext. 523 | F: 301-234-6303 Europe, Africa & Middle East: Raffaella Calabrese, rcalabrese@nbmedia.com T: +39-320-891-1938 | F: +39-02-700-436-999 LATIN America: Susana Saibene, susana.saibene@gmail.com T: +34-607-31-40-71 Japan: Eiji Yoshikawa, callems@world.odn.ne.jp T: +81-3-3327-5759 | F: +81-3-3322-7933 Asia-Pacific: Wengong Wang, wwg@imaschina.com T: +86-755-83862930/40/50 | F: +86-755-83862920 Classifieds: Michele Inderrieden, minderrieden@nbmedia.com T: 212-378-0400, ext. 523 | F: 301-234-6303 Radio World Founded by Stevan B. Dana Radio World (ISSN: 0274-8541) is published bi-weekly with additional issues in February, April, June, August, October and December by NewBay Media, LLC, 28 East 28th Street, New York, NY 10016. Phone: (703) 852-4600, Fax: (703) 852-4582. Periodicals postage rates are paid at New York, NY 10079 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Radio World, P.O. Box 282, Lowell, MA 01853. REPRINTS: For custom reprints & eprints, please contact our reprints coordinator at Wright’s Media: 877-652-5295 or NewBay@wrightsmedia.com List Rental: 914-368-1024, jganis@meritdirect.com Globe graphic ©iStockphoto.com / Edward Grajeda Copyright 2018 by NewBay Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA
A well-equipped drone can provide an engineer with a lot of information on a tower or antenna. by Cris Alexander
Once in a while, a new tool comes onto the scene that makes a big difference in the way we operate. I’ve seen this a number of times in my 40+ year career in broadcast engineering. One that comes to mind immediately is the operating impedance bridge. Before we had the OIB, we pretty much had to guess at the driving point impedances of directional array elements, and as such, we had to design our systems to operate with elevated VSWR and a lot of adjustment range in the matching networks. Then along came the OIB, and suddenly we were able to get a look under the hood — with the engine running! We could measure and know what those driving point impedances were and could nail the match on the transmission lines, improving bandwidth, stability and reliability of our AM directional arrays. Nowadays, the OIB is ubiquitous and we take it for granted. Some might even look down their nose at it, since we have such great modeling tools and vector network analyzers, but the bottom line is that the OIB is the only device we have that lets us measure an impedance in an AM system under power. Sure, I have VNAs and modeling tools, but I’ve also got an OIB and I’m not afraid to use it. Another relatively new tool is coming into use right now, and it’s one that, like the OIB, lets broadcast engineers see
something that they could not observe without it. I’m talking about the small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) or “drone.”
GREAT SHOTS ROUTINE
Anyone who is a fan of the many great reality shows on Discovery and other television networks has seen the transformation that the GoPro camera and sUAS have brought about. With these two devices, often used together, the producers now routinely get great shots that would have been impossible or prohibitively expensive in the past. Once in a while, I see a scene where it’s fairly certain the GoPro camera was damaged or destroyed in the process of getting a shot, but the microSD card (obviously) survived. There’s no way producers would take such risks with any other cameras. And of course they get those great aerial shots that in times past would have required use of manned rotary wing aircraft. Some shots would have been impossible even with a helicopter because the rotor wash would have affected the shot. Not so with the drone. It is small, light, unobtrusive and is able to get in really close with very little or no impact on the environment around it. I just love those “hero shots” in the opening credits of “Gold Rush” where a drone is flown right at and over the main characters, often coming within a few feet to get the desired effect. That capability has brought drones
into common use in broadcast newsgathering. Every year at the NAB Show, I enjoy watching the drone product demonstrations, and every year I notice the trend: smaller, lighter and more capable. Those same characteristics are beginning to bring drone technology into the broadcast engineering arena, specifically in the area of tower and antenna inspections.
EASING TOWER TASKS
Broadcast engineers who are tasked with the care and feeding of antenna towers, antennas, transmission lines and tower-mounted electronics, have long been at a disadvantage in these endeavors. They had to rely on the eyes and hands of others, often ironworkers or (continued on page 4)
this issue February 7, 2018 AM Improvement, Times Three. . . . . . . 1 A New Tool for the Broadcast Engineer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Alfred Carlton Gilbert: An Unsung Radio Pioneer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Good, the Bad and the Noisy. . . . 18 Backup Transmitter Sites — Tales of Woe, Sorrow and Lamentations. . . 20 Marketplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Bonacci Honored (But He Ain’t Done Yet). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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RadioWorld engineering extra
drone (continued from page 3)
other non-technical tradesmen with little or no knowledge of what makes antennas, transmission lines and other tower-mounted radio/TV infrastructure tick. The drone is starting to change that. While a drone can’t install antennas, align microwave paths, hang transmission line or replace antennamounted microwave radios, they can do a lot in the preparation for those tasks. For example, a tower can be “mapped” in short order using a drone. This is the first step in optimizing an antenna, designing a directional FM antenna or doing a structural analysis. In the past, a climber had to spend hours on the tower taking photos and making notes. Now, a licensed sUAS pilot can run the drone up and down the tower faces while shooting high-resolution video, stopping to take still photographs of areas of interest. This same process can be used in preparation for an antenna installation. The high-resolution video and photographs can be used to “scout” the mounting location, looking for likely attachment points and crossmembers, guy attachments, transmission lines, conduits and other appurtenances that might interfere with the antenna mounting. If the leg diameters are known (from factory structural drawings), measurements can even be scaled off of high-resolution straight-on photographs. It’s easy to see how a preliminary climb can be eliminated altogether. In some of my own drone photographs and videos, I discovered that indicator lights and diagnostic displays can often be viewed, giving the engineer some clues to a problem with a microwave radio, for example. Is
Tower climber/engineer Derek Jackson repairs a lightning rod on the top of a 375-foot tower near Denver International Airport in a drone photo. Drones let engineers on the ground see what they have never been able to see before.
it getting power? Is it getting Ethernet? Does it have a link with the other end? Often there are external indications of these things, and knowing them can help the engineer resolve the problem, perhaps from the ground. At the very least, this information can better prepare the tower worker who may have to go up to replace a radio, cable or power supply. How often do towers get inspected as a rule? Annually? Every two years? With a properly equipped drone, the engineer responsible for a tower could do a thorough visual inspection at whatever interval is desired, certainly much more frequently than an expensive inspection climb might be done. Trouble with loose hardware, broken transmission line and conduit brackets/clamps, coax connections, tower light fixtures and paint can be
detected very early on, likely making repairs feasible as opposed to more expensive replacement. As you can probably tell, I am excited about this new tool I have at my disposal. I have my FAA Remote Pilot certificate with Small Unmanned Aircraft System rating, so I’m legal to fly our drone commercially for all these purposes. Getting licensed isn’t all that hard or expensive, and you can get a well-equipped sUAS for about a quarter of the cost of an OIB. My guess is that it won’t be long before drones in the broadcast engineer’s toolbox are just as ubiquitous. And take it from me, they are a lot more fun to use. Cris Alexander, CPBE, AMD, DRB, is director of engineering of Crawford Broadcasting Co.
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Roots of radio
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February 7, 2018
Alfred Carlton Gilbert: An Unsung Radio Pioneer The “Erector Set” man was also a broadcaster and set manufacturer by James O’Neal
If you were a child of the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s (or perhaps even later if you had an older sibling) and are reading this, it’s likely that you owned or at least played with an A.C. Gilbert Erector Set. Alfred Carlton Gilbert “invented” this educational toy more than a century ago. Gilbert was also known for other such items including chemistry sets, microscopes, kits for casting “tin” soldiers and even an atomic energy lab. However, few know of his involvement in early radio broadcasting. During his lifetime, Gilbert amassed some 150 patents and had been head of a very successful company, but he hadn’t out to be an inventor. Early in his life, he developed something of an obsession for sports and physical fitness, as well as prestidigitation. The former led to lettering in several Yale University athletic teams, and an Olympic Gold Medal for pole vaulting in 1908. Gilbert took a medical degree from Yale in 1909, but rather curiously, never intended to become a doctor, preferring instead to support his family by giving magic shows and selling parlor trick magic sets.
RADIO’S GROUND FLOOR
Gilbert’s place in radio history is best explained via a short journey through the origins and founding of his toy company, which have their roots in one of several train trips that Gilbert made around 1911 between home base in New Haven, Conn., and New York City, where stores were marketing magic sets. The New Haven rail line was “going green” then, moving from coal-fired locomotives to electric propulsion. According to his own account, Gilbert experienced some amount of fascination in watching the steel girders and beams being assembled into supports for the overhead catenary to be used by the next-gen train engines. After arriving home from one these trips, he sketched out several girder shapes in miniature on thin cardboard, cut them out, and the next day delivered these to a New Haven machine shop that fabricated them in thin steel. Gilbert’s creation was introduced as a new entry in the catalog of magic sets, and soon became a best seller. The World War helped to further anchor the Erector Set’s place in toy stores and in the hearts of young people and their
for fellow hams. After the U.S. entry into WWI, Tuska served in the Army’s Signal Corps, further increasing his knowledge of radio.).
WCJ TAKES TO THE AIR
In addition to building receivers, Gilbert decided to try his hand in broadcasting and applied to the Department of Commerce for a station license. The Oct. 1, 1921 edition of the “Radio Service Bulletin” reflects his pioneering status in this field, with the call sign WCJ being issued to Gilbert along with his “limited commercial license.” The pioneering nature of Gilbert’s new enterprise is reinforced as his license issuance appears in the same grouping as that of Westinghouse’s Boston station, WBZ. In fact, WCJ was the first commercial station to be licensed in Connecticut, and the sixth in the United States. (continued on page 8)
A.C. Gilbert “state-of-the-art” educational toys such as this model 4004-T “Wireless Telegraph Set” signaled the company’s entry into the Radio Age. It was part of the 1920 Gilbert product lineup, and sold for $5 (more than $60 in today’s money).
parents, as Germany had been a major source of toys and the war brought a halt to imports into the United States from this direction. The “Great War” also opened another door for Gilbert and his creations — radio. Commercial use of “Hertzian Waves” had begun during the first decade of the 20th century, but this was basically limited to ship-to-shore communications. During the war, radio rapidly matured, becoming an indispensable part of the military tool kit. Gilbert, always looking for new ideas for his line of educational toys, recognized radio’s potential and the rapidly growing interest in it by young and old alike. As Gilbert had no skill or experience in radio, he enlisted the skills of another Connecticutite, Clarence Tuska, in the design of his sets and in the writing of instruction manuals to accompany them. (During the 1910s, Tuska had established a reputation as a “radio expert.” He was an avid experimenter and amateur radio operator, and was the founder of “QST,” a magazine Right: One of the few surviving Gilbert #4016 crystal sets. This example is owned by the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, Conn.
Courtesy National Museum of American History. Photography by Harold Dorwin
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gilbert (continued from page 6)
In a 1954 autobiography (See reference [1] at the end of this article), Gilbert described his company’s entry into radio: “Our first real radio sets were what they all were in those days — crystal sets with headphones. We originally intended them to be just toy sets for boys to put together and operate, but when the vacuum tube came into use, our sets were the equal of almost any on the market and were bought by many grownups. The manuals accompanying our sets, written by Clarence Tuska under my direction, were really models of instruction is a new and complicated field.”
A.C. Gilbert went on the air from his Blatchley Avenue factory location via this large flattop antenna. A 125-foot tower was erected to support one end, while the other was anchored to an existing smokestack.
worth a small fortune a decade later. But we became involved in litigation over our use of vacuum tubes … I felt sure that we would win out in time, and the owners of the patents under which we operated insisted that we would win. But litigation, meanwhile, cost a great deal of money in legal fees and I could see no end to it. “But with all the costs and time of lawsuits added to the fact that we were getting away from the fields we had set for ourselves, I decided we should get clear of the whole thing and return to the business we really knew. “I just gave the whole thing to Tuska — all our rights and everything.”
did so, but after a few weeks Gilbert and I disagreed. He was applying toy manufacturing practice to an amateur radio receiver, and I was not able to convince him he was wrong. Finally, I told him he was wasting money paying me for advice he would not use. He told me he was the best judge of wasting money. Yes, but I [could] not afford to waste my time.” Douglas notes that Tuska served as a consultant to Gilbert until 1923, about a year after he had established his own company, and that Tuska featured Gilbert receivers in his own catalog, even though the companies weren’t linked on a business basis. [2]
THE GILBERT RADIO RECEIVERS — AND A MYSTERY!
This Oct. 1, 1921 U.S. government “Radio Service Bulletin” indicates that Gilbert was issued a “Limited Commercial” station license and assigned the call letters “WCJ” at about the same time that Westinghouse’s WBZ was licensed.
Gilbert observed that with the return of Tuska to civilian live, his company’s focus on radio-related activities increased, leading to the establishment of a transmitting station at the factory. “As early as 1920 we were broadcasting from our plant in New Haven, although at first our transmission was in wireless code. Under the name of ‘Gilbert Radio Press,’ we sent out regular news reports. “When voice transmission began to come in, we were among the first to broadcast. We were on the air only a few hours a day, of course, and our programs were of uneven quality, to say the least. In addition to news broadcasts, we had quartets made up of people in the plant, speakers from Yale and other well-known guests, and whatever the more imaginative people in the country could dream up. In other words, our station was just like all the other stations in those days. We had built the transmitter ourselves, and we had strength if not accuracy. We blasted everything else off the air for miles around and had a hard time keeping it steady on our supposed frequency. But none of this bothered the listeners of those pioneer days. They were delighted to hear anything — even a garbled sound — from a new station somewhere.” Even though WCJ was quite popular, it was a shortlived enterprise primarily due to patent litigation. “After a few years we gave up on our radio business — broadcasting as well as manufacturing,” he said. “Why? Well, the assets of great value were not of any value yet. The broadcasting license would have been
In his autobiography, Gilbert stated that his company produced a fairly large number of radio receivers and associated items, and that he was also a pioneer in transitioning receivers from “breadboard” assemblages of tubes, coils and capacitors to enclosed models that could be classified as “furniture.” “During the early twenties, we listed dozens of wireless and radio items in our catalogs, from parts, antennas and tubes to complete receivers and transmitters. The most significant thing about them was this — we were the first concern in the country to put our sets in cabinets. Up to that time and for quite a few years afterward, most sets were uncovered and open, for people seemed to like to look at all the apparatus they were trying to operate. We put our sets in nice-looking wooden cases with attractive fronts, and were a few years ahead of the public in doing it. I still think I was one of the first to see that radio sets would become pieces of furniture in the living room.” It is not known, however, just how long Gilbert pursued this particular venture, or even if such sets were offered for sale to the general public. The late radio historian Alan Douglas, in his otherwise very comprehensive three-volume “Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s,” fails to list Gilbert. However, the “C. D. Tuska” listing more than makes up for the omission with the intermingling of Gilbert receiver ads and pictures among strictly-Tuska models. Douglas also includes a letter penned by Tuska in which he relates his experiences working as a consultant for Gilbert both before and after the war. Tuska, mentions among other things, working on a wartime trench radio for Gilbert, and his own version of the eventual parting of the ways with the educational toy manufacturer. “I left him [to enter military service] with the understanding that I would see him when I returned. I
Gilbert’s place in radio history is best explained via a short journey through the origins and founding of his toy company. The Germany-based “Radio Museum” website lists a number of Gilbert radio products, and offers a picture of the model 4023 (http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/ acgilbert_radio_ frequency_receiver_4023.html) to substantiate Gilbert’s claim about a cabinet receiver. Lloyd McIntyre, a serious Gilbert collector, and the individual responsible for the Huntington, W. Va. Museum of Radio and Technology’s extensive A. C. Gilbert product display, is personally aware of a couple of production tube sets, and offered speculation as to why examples of these haven’t surfaced. “Gilbert did offer a cabinet model, the 4023,” said McIntyre. “It was a TRF set housed in a cabinet. It looked very neat. Gilbert may not have built these; they may have been purchased from a sub-manufacturer. Actually, the radio looks totally out of place with the other sets he produced; it’s way too sophisticated. The set may never have been produced in any quantity, as Gilbert’s real interest was in developing educational toys.” McIntyre also offered an explanation as to why there are so few Gilbert radios in the hands of collectors, aside from the crystal set (which, as noted, is itself quite a rare item). (continued on page 10)
The Eli Whitney Museum
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gilbert (continued from page 8)
“We don’t really know for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised that some of these sets that do show up were prototypes. Factory employees may have taken these [one of a kind] prototypes home and handed them down to others.” While WCJ was on the air, Gilbert, who was strangely prescient when it came to radio, envisioned a way to use the nascent media to promote his company’s products. This was long before the regular appearance of commercial announcements and other ploys for putting radio on a paying basis. The project began in 1922 with the company turning a railroad coach car as a mobile showroom, not only for Gilbert educational toys, but also for radio demonstrations. As described by Gilbert: “We hired a regular railroad car from the New Haven Railroad, pulled everything out of the inside and refitted and redecorated it completely, then painted the outside like the gaudiest circus car you ever saw. We fixed up shelves and display cases and installed our best Erector models in all their glory.” Gilbert stated that the car went on the road in 1922, with the same sort of itinerary and buildup that a circus might use. An advance man placed ads in newspapers in towns in which stops were scheduled, and arrangements were made with retailers of Gilbert products in those cities to offer free tickets for admission to the car. According to Gilbert: “The car attracted a tremendous amount of attention right from the start. Newspaper reporters and photographers came down to meet it when it arrived in town and was shunted to a convenient siding. Boys and girls flocked to the store by the thousands to get the free tickets.”
The Eli Whitney Museum
THE RADIO CAR
In the early 1920s, Gilbert’s “Radio Car” (aka the “Circus Car”) provided many children (and their parents) with their first radio experience.
However, as this was the time of broadcast radio’s infancy, Gilbert Erector and chemistry sets weren’t the only draw. “But the feature of the show was reception of a broadcast direct from the plant in New Haven. This was exciting stuff.… It was something new, and very few of them had ever seen radio sets, let alone listened to a broadcast. The transmission of a voice over the air was still considered mysterious and miraculous, and people didn’t quite believe it who had not actually heard it. They loved it!”
NOT QUITE HONEST
Gilbert noted that reception of his radio station was no problem as long as the car was within reasonable proximity of New Haven; however, once it was as far out as Boston or Albany, WCJ didn’t deliver enough signal to overcome the noise. “… [T]he feeble receivers of those days just couldn’t pick up the signals from our transmitter in New Haven.” So as not to disappoint the throngs of youngsters (and their parents) wanting to witness the miracle of radio, Gilbert came up with a scheme to make such a thing possible even when the car was far out in the hinterlands (it made stops in cities and towns as far away as Michigan and Ohio). “The stunt [radio broadcast reception] had made such a big hit during the first few weeks that we could not imagine giving it up just because we traveled beyond range,” said Gilbert. He went on to admit some underhandedness in which one of the individuals traveling with the car hid out in the coach’s rest room, and taking his cue from a watch, originated a closed-circuit “broadcast” for the benefit of those wanting to experience radio. The script (a newscast) was sent in advance via Western Union and mirrored what was actually being broadcast at WCJ. “It wasn’t quite honest, of course, but it made a wonderful show,” admitted Gilbert. “If you could have seen the wide shining eyes of those boys and girls, you wouldn’t have deprived them of the thrill for anything.” He further admitted that these faked “broadcasts” became something of a joke among employees, as some poor soul had to be locked in the washroom for hours at a time and no one else could use the facility.
li Wh
This one-tube set was featured in the Gilbert toy catalog.
itney
Muse um
PIONEERING IN ANOTHER DIRECTION
The E
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The Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, Conn., located only a few miles from Gilbert’s New Haven manufacturing facility, showcases a large number of Gilbert products, and its curator, William Brown, is something of a Gilbert scholar, having amassed a (continued on page 12)
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gilbert (continued from page 10)
large amount of information about the entrepreneur’s life and times. Brown suggests that in addition to visualizing radio as a scientific marvel and communications tool, Gilbert was likely the first individual to truly appreciate and understand radio’s place in marketing. “In reading the conventional history of radio, people don’t know that there will be advertising on radio in 1922,” Brown said. “The conventional wisdom is that the first advertising on radio was [for] some real estate concern …, but most assuredly the first-ever broadcast for children that involves the prospect of their buying something — which is the beginning of radio advertising — is Gilbert’s and [came] in 1922.” Even though Gilbert eventually ended the train car tours and surrendered his broadcasting license, he remained acutely aware of the power of the new medium in delivering commercial messages to mass audiences. Brown noted that a within a few years after WCJ signed off for the last time, Gilbert was again in front of the William Brown microphone. “He goes to New York, NBC, and does a sports talk show there,” said Brown, explaining that this was a natural for Gilbert, as he was a life-long athlete. “There’s a fairly famous picture of him with Babe Ruth [in one of the broadcasts]. He knows that Babe Ruth will draw people and that endorsement of his products will be an immensely valuable sales tool.” Brown noted that Gilbert continued the weekly NBC broadcasts for some time, and that he also did broadcasts on a regular basis at New Haven station WELI.
DEATH BY TELEVISION
Even though the A.C. Gilbert company survived well beyond its founder’s exit from broadcasting and radio, it eventually fell victim to declining sales and shut its doors for the last time in 1967, six years after the death of its founder. Rather ironically, the downfall of the giant educational toy business may be attributable to technological
RadioWorldMagazine
February 7, 2018
changes within the broadcasting industry. Curator Brown offers his thoughts on this. “I would argue that there are two epochs of American toy,” said Brown. “There is the Gilbert epoch that goes from 1913 or 1914 to 1954, and the Disney epoch, which goes from 1954 to now and forever.” Brown observed that by 1954, the new medium of television had a nationHuntington, W.Va. Museum of Radio and Technology collection
RadioWorld engineering extra |
The Gilbert Company penned this letter in early 1923 to a young WCJ listener in North Carolina who wanted to know why he could no longer receive the station.
wide reach and an increasing number of media consumers, including children, were moving away from radio listening to TV viewing. “Gilbert toys are ‘radio’ toys,” said Brown. “It’s not like you can sit there and watch television and do what an Erector Set requires, which is concentrate on an elaborate multistep visual process resolution. You can do that and listen to the radio, but you can’t do that with television.” Brown opined that television shows targeted at young people, particularly those produced by Disney, sounded the death knell for Gilbert’s business. “Like Gilbert, at first, Disney thought you needed to give thoughtful serious content to people and he did amazing nature shows and he did future-oriented shows, but eventually [he realized] that he [could] put almost anything on television and get an audience.” Brown stated that Gilbert’s business began a downward slide in 1954 and this continued as the TV industry grew.
The Eli Whitney Museum
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Alfred C. Gilbert, right, is seen in a radio studio setting with baseball great Babe Ruth. Gilbert continued his involvement in broadcasting long after his own station went dark.
“It failed from 1954 on,” he said. “It was not obvious at first, but they stopped growing in 1954, and they never quite understand television advertising.” The last reminder of the A.C. Gilbert Company’s early entry into radio broadcasting was obliterated during the early morning hours of Jan. 8, 1978, when high winds toppled the 125-foot
mast used to support one end of WCJ’s flattop antenna. The tower remains blocked nearby north-south Amtrak lines until workers could cut the landmark it into pieces and dispose of it as scrap metal [3]. James O’Neal is a frequent contributor to Radio World who often writes about the history of broadcast technology.
REFERENCES [1] G ilbert, A.C. and McClintock, Marshal, “The Man Who Lives In Paradise,” 1954, Heimburger House Publishing Co., Forest Park, Ill., pp. 166-169. [2] Douglas, Alan, “Radio Manufacturers of the 1920s – Vol. 3,” Vestal Press, Vestal, N.Y.’ p. 201. [3] W atson, Bruce, “The Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made,” 2002, Penguin Books, New York; pp. 183, 184.
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RadioWorld engineering extra |
@radioworld_news
am improvement (continued from page 1)
RadioWorldMagazine
February 7, 2018
Fig. 2: The Kendall site, typical of the three
There was significant existing contour overlap of each of the three with other stations, in considerable measure caused by the 1991 first-adjacent channel rule change from 0 to 6 dB. South Florida is very close to Cuba and several other Caribbean countries. Propagation paths to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. are over salt water for considerable distances. What kind of changes seemed possible under these circumstances? Which frequency would give the best Miami market coverage? Could changes avoid new tower construction or moves of existing towers? Could applications be made that avoided any rule waiver requirements?
ALLOCATION CONSTRAINTS
The most restrictive allocation constraints for the stations were reviewed. Daytime, 990 was limited by 980 Pompano Beach and 990 Orlando. 1020 was limited by 1000 Jupiter and 1020 Grand Turk. 1040 was limited by 1020 Pinellas Park, but daytime power was already 25 kW, with substantial radiation south toward Miami. Nighttime, each of the three had similar incoming nighttime calculated interference levels, although 1020 suffered interference from Cuba. While calculation of allowable day and night interference (or overlap) conditions to other U.S. stations is straightforward (even if sometimes pretty complex), the circumstances of protection to foreign stations can be very confusing. The ITU Region
2 RJ-81 “Rio” Agreement does not always govern because Cuba is not signatory, the Dominican Republic is not signatory, and several other Caribbean countries are not signatory but “generally” use the RJ-81 standards. The FCC “CDBS” database is sometimes incorrect about foreign stations, with bad data, missing data and multiple entries; the International Telecommunications Union data is the correct legal data when it conflicts with the CDBS. After extensive analysis, the best improvement plan was determined to be a change of frequencies — a three-
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station frequency migration: Move 1040 to Miami, move 990 to Kendall, and move 1020 to Boynton Beach. 1040 kHz appeared to be the best choice for Miami. It had the least significant limitations, and the daytime operation was already at high power. Because 1020 and 1040 could not have 5 mV/m overlap, the best location for 1020 was Boynton Beach — further from Miami than Kendall. 990 Kendall was not a limitation on the use of 1040 in Miami, as the two frequencies are 50 kHz separated. But the possible move of frequencies puzzle was: How to change Miami
from 990 to 1040 and how to resolve possible 1020 - 1040 conflict? This required research to obtain all of the measured conductivity reports that might be applicable from the FCC files, and a careful analysis of just which foreign stations required protection, in addition, of course, to meeting all the domestic allocation rules.
A CREATIVE SOLUTION
The commission’s “Rural Radio” rules make many kinds of station changes very difficult. Because 990 kHz and 1040 kHz are not mutually exclusive, changing a station from one to the other would be a major change, prohibited except during a filing window. The last major change window was in 2004, and there was no hope in sight of a new one. The FCC has strict rules against contingent applications as well, with only one very specific exception. “… the Commission will accept two or more applications filed by existing AM licensees for modification of facilities that are contingent upon granting of both, if granting such contingent applications will reduce interference to one or more AM stations or will otherwise increase the area of interference free service.” (47 CFR §73.3517) We had to determine how to resolve the “Rural Radio” restrictions, which in essence serve to make station moveins and other possible station location changes very difficult or even impossible. We discovered that all three cities, Miami, Kendall, Boynton Beach, are in (continued on page 16)
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Fig. 3: 990 Kendall improvement
am improvement (continued from page 14)
the same urbanized area! And the Rural Radio rules do allow changes from one community to another within the same urbanized area. See Fig 1 on page 1. So, each station could move — change community of license — without conflicting with the Rural Radio restrictions. And no rule waivers would be required, so long as some interference reduction occurred to meet the contingent application rule! But what were the physical requirements? Each of the three stations employed a relatively complex antenna — six tower arrays in Miami and Kendall, and a four-tower array in Boynton Beach. A rigorous analysis of the allocation and coverage requirements was made, and day and night radiation patterns designed for each of the three stations at its “new” location. See Fig 2. In each case, the new antenna patterns were created with no requirements
Fig. 4: 1020 Boynton Beach improvement
Fig. 5: 1040 Miami improvement
for additional towers or for tower relocation. See Figs 3–5. The contingent application rule requires interference reduction, but all the other FCC allocation rule had to be met: • No increase in overlap to other domestic stations daytime. • No increase to 25 percent RSS interference to other domestic stations nighttime. • Although the contingent application rule requires at least one case of interference reduction, in this case interference was reduced to all three. • FCC policies do not require analysis of interference from Cuban or Dominican Republic stations because they are not signatory to the RJ-81 Agreement. • But we cannot increase interference to assignments contained in the ITU Master Frequency File, including those in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
Fig. 6 shows an example of what we came up with. The applications were prepared and filed, and the construction permit grants were made very promptly, since no rule waivers were required. The physical changes necessary to implement the construction permits at the three sites varied. At Kendall, only a few components were changed, and the ATUs and phasor readjusted. At Boynton Beach, Fig. 7: Project manager and engineers confer about space the ATUs and phasor were replaced, and limitations at the Miami site.
Fig. 6: Interference reduction example
a new modular transmitter building was installed. At Miami, the existing 5 kW phasor and ATUs were completely rebuilt. A new minimal parts count phasor design allowed 50 kW operation in what had formerly been a 5 kW phasor. See Fig. 7. The uniqueness of this project really didn’t involve any unusual allocation or facilities engineering. Its unique char-
acteristics were primarily the careful technical and procedural analysis and design to allow the changes with minimal administrative process — no waivers of FCC rules, no tower construction, no local permitting problems. The result: Improved service for all three stations. Comment on this or any article to rwee@nbmedia.com.
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fundamentals Editor’s Note: In this issue, we start a multi-part series on small generators, a key item in the toolbox of broadcasting that is not just gaining in importance but coming close to being invaluable. Buc Fitch and I have spent a lot of time, energy and effort on this series because these little power plants have great relevance in the reliability of our stations. For such a small machine, a mountain of detail is involved in their selection and operation, and since no detail is too small to not nail down tightly when it comes to the optimal operation of our stations, these power sources are worthy of our focus. In our article discussions, we were reminded that at the turn of the millennium, now nearly 20 years back, all sorts of retrospective rhetoric concerning technology was voiced. Endless debate filled the air to identify and highlight the great engineering inventions and related issues of the previous 1,000 years. Amidst all that rhetoric, the undebatable, on the tech side, as the greatest game changer, was the discovery of electricity. To be even more precise, the real event over the previous century was the expansive availability and affordable pricing of utility power throughout America and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world. Frankly, electric power was the principle driver of
RadioWorld engineering extra the America we have today. Our dependence on power is extremely highlighted when we have a power failure. We’ve all had that sinking feeling when the lights go out. The Department of Energy, in a 2008 calculation, informs us that America loses north of $150 billion annually from outages, and undoubtedly the situation is getting worse a decade later. Besides squirrels shorting to ground various high-voltage feeds, one can add completely man-made catastrophes causing disruptions. For example, the outer banks of North Carolina recently suffered a sustained outage so bad that emergency officials called for an evacuation. The cause: errors of a construction crew disrupting the main feed — lights out! Just add in the recent painful power crises in Puerto Rico and southeast Texas … we all have the picture. Our power dependence is so great that the regional and national power “grid” systems are targets for our enemies to disrupt and debilitate, creating chaos and social catastrophe when the power is turned off. A vivid preview of a national level disruption event happened in the Northeast, where Buc lives, with the big ice storm of 2011. The distribution system was so severely damaged that power was out for a week at Buc’s home and for weeks in some locations, since the utilities had to wait for replacement
February 7, 2018
poles from Mexico. Massive storm damage in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in late 2017 are additional illustrative catastrophes. Civilization starts breaking down almost immediately as cell site batteries are exhausted or difficultto-reach generators run out of fuel. Cable systems and internet distribution, even Wi-Fi, progressively drops off over time as the dark nights continue. People dust off battery-powered radios to receive updates, but more so, just to feel connected. A real truism, highlighted in this period, is that the foundation, probably the essential footings of emergency communication in these challenging moments, are the radio stations of America. Many of the stations that were on the air through these periods were running on generators both big and small. To serve our listeners in these critical times, one cannot have too much power backup. Temporary studios, hop sites, remote vehicles, auxiliary transmitters and now translators operating in tandem with or even in place of the main AM, all can be handled by a small generator, the essential topic of these articles. Hopefully this information will be helpful to you, your decisions and your station operation. Please let us know what you think! — Cris
The Good, the Bad and the Noisy Small power generators, Part 1: The big picture of the small end of power generation by Charles S. “Buc” Fitch
Small generators are characterized generally in that they are most often powered by a single cylinder engine using an Otto/four-cycle configuration with gasoline as fuel, operating at 3,600 RPM. Further, in portable units (carry or roll about), their power capability is 10 kW or less, contrasted to permanently installed small units, which are in the 25 kW or less capability. Generating electricity through a mechanical process was first recognized by Faraday in 1851, when he passed a magnet through a coil of wire. Sliding the magnet in caused his primitive galvanometer to move first one way, and pulling it out caused the meter to move to the opposite voltage polarity. Increasing the strength of the magnet or enlarging the coil by turns increased the fields, hence the power available — all important concepts. “Modern” generators are really no different, and whether you move the coil or the magnet (or both in the unusual compound generator), that’s still how it is done. In elegant simplicity, what we have, then, is a small engine directly connected to an alternator, although the devil, as usual, is truly in the details. Keeping with a KISS philosophy — in the typical generator, the magnet spins (the rotor) and power is taken from a stationary coil (the stator). As our goal is to replicate as closely as possible the commercial power we use, the typical output is 120/240 volt at 60 Hz.
A two-pole alternator (north and south to make an alteration) turning at 3,600 RPM accomplishes this requirement. The math works out to be: 3,600 RPM divided by 60 seconds equals 60 Hz. If we have a deluxe long-run or continuous-duty unit, these are most often 4-pole configuration alternators running at 1,800 RPM.
What we have, then, is a small engine directly connected to an alternator, although the devil, as usual, is truly in the details. Fig. 1: A Fundamental Alternator
Many major generator manufacturers supply small units in 25, 50 and 400 Hz frequencies, which use unique speeds of 1,500, 1,600, 2,400, 2,600 or 3,000 RPM, depending on the alternator configuration and the gearing. 3,600 RPM in small, one-cylinder engines is the sweet spot for fuel economy and power output, but not MTBF nor torque. Functionally, a pair of bar magnets is wrapped in a coil of wire to form the rotor. To minimize mass and enhance efficiency, this “field coil” is wrapped tightly around the magnets. The field induced by a DC voltage maximizes the magnetic field and thus the induced current in the stator. The DC voltage is coupled to the field coil by slip ring brushes tracking/riding on insulated shaft rings (see Fig. 1).
INERTIA
That addresses the voltage and frequency concerns, but what about varying load, which is recognized as varying current demand? Let us digress for a moment and consider two elements of related motion physics: inertia and momentum. In the instant case, inertia is the resistance of the mass of the rotor to change velocity, and momentum is the resistance of the rotor’s mass to not change its velocity. These factors are important, as any change in velocity will affect frequency and the available power output from any generator. Simply put, small generators are challenged to stay on speed, and hence frequency, with varying loads. Not only do we need to be concerned with just the
February 7, 2018
rotor mass, but also the force fields presented against it. Let’s take the extreme case: no load to full load. With little load on the generator, the impedance of the load is very high — infinite in the case of an open circuit. So very little current flow is required, and in compensation, very little energy is needed to overcome the counter magnetism of the coil. Full load then puts a low impedance on the coil, and hence more currents flow and more energy from the engine is needed to supply the energy needed for the power supplied/required. So, the design engineer then must decide how much variation in frequency can be tolerated and how fast the correction has to be. Tradeoffs are inevitable
radioworld.com | RadioWorld engineering extra
and compromises are involved. A critical number in this design is the available horsepower. The typical engine on a 5 kW generator is between about 9 and 11 horsepower. The calculation is somewhat complex, but for the first of many times we will encounter that issue with small generators — you get what you pay for. The dynamic response to changing loads is helped by more horsepower, which you pay for! Other pragmatic details are involved, such as selecting a notably overbore engine (stroke length is less than piston width) to close the torque window.
REGULATION
Concurrent with frequency regulation is voltage regulation. Think of this
WHAT’S THAT SMELL — A DISCUSSION OF FUEL As noted, most small generators use gasoline as fuel. Why? A plethora of pragmatic reasons: • Ubiquitous availability • Convenient storage and handling • High caloric output • Ease of engine starting • Good shelf life • Comparatively higher gravimetric energy density (GED), which is the reducing of the factors of weight, volume, energy calories per unit etc. to a single number. See the chart below.
This last quality of GED is quite interesting, and a reflection of our new perception and evaluation of the total energy picture. Reviewing energy not in a microcosm but in the big systemic vision, we evaluate the total continuing cost of moving energy from source to use. A related example in this discussion is the difference between a small generator powered by gasoline or LP. Gasoline has a better value of GED than LP. Why? Gasoline has a higher quantity of calories per comparable unit with a lower volume and far less investment in storage and delivery handling. As a side note, home heating from heavy oil came into vogue from a similar analysis — highest calories in the most dense, smallest volume, which reduces transportation costs, historically lowest cost per calorie, and reduced safety concerns, as heating oil #2 has very low volatility compared to gasoline or kerosene, etc. Admiral Halsey converted the U.S. Navy from coal to oil using a similar GED analysis in the 1930s. More on fuels focusing on choice and storage in the next edition.
generator as a rotary transformer. If the output is on frequency, the voltage should be close to the desired 120/240 with that voltage only varying with the surge impedance of the windings. The size of the wire (copper is our friend) and the size of the coils lowers the surge impedance effect. Once again, you get what you pay for. That surge impedance factor can produce another undesirable circumstance, and that is sine wave distortion. Caught in between all these factors is the quality of the generated waveform. As you can readily see, speed con-
trol is critical and is maintained by the engine’s speed governor. Governors on the small engines we’re considering are usually air-vane type or mechanical, reading the tachometer (in RPM) or crankcase pressure. Some professionalgrade units even have electronic (smart) speed regulators that work in conjunction with the voltage applied to the rotor winding for improved voltage and frequency control. The designer has to make choices for the scheme he chooses, the speed of adjustment response, the damping (continued on page 21)
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first person Backup Transmitter Sites — Tales of Woe, Sorrow and Lamentations
RadioWorld engineering extra
A backup site of any kind can take the pressure off in times of disaster by Dennis L. Sloatman
I have been the “beneficiary” of three tower “events” over the course of a 48-year career. By “event,” I mean a summary collapse of one of my FM towers. And of course, by “summary collapse,” I mean that such an event was unexpected. In one case, the collapse was as the result of a furious (suspected) F4 tornado, which brought our 1,500-foot (457-meter) tower down in an instant, creating, without warning, a twisted mass of metal scrap. As is customary for many radio stations, the site was well-equipped with main and backup transmitters, main and backup antennas, main and backup STL systems and a well-maintained generator plant with a week’s supply of fuel. All this “good stuff” tends to lull management (and some broadcast engineers) into a kind of “we’re all set and have checked all the boxes” mindset and a false sense of well-being. I say to you from personal experience, that sense of well-being can come to an abrupt end when a “tower event” happens to you.
THE FIVE Ps
Let me share a saying from my aviation vocation: “Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance” — also known amongst pilots as the “Five Ps.” In the case of the tornado-initiated tower collapse, we were under (as the reader might well imagine) a great deal of stress and pressure from several levels of management to “get us back on the air.” We really had no plan in place, hav-
Tower felled by vandals, WAEB, Allentown, Pa., 2009. Courtesy Scott Fybush
ing been lulled into the aforementioned false sense of security. After all, we had a solid site with good backup systems and a site which had been well maintained, so events such as an F4 tornado just don’t enter into one’s thinking — particularly after many years of troublefree operation! It was a gut-wrenching 24 hours, no fooling about that. As it turned out, I “rigged” a Harris exciter and Harris FM25K IPA at one of our other sites by the end of the day and got program audio to the site using some auxiliary channels on an existing STL. Also, I will not neglect to mention the physical labor of singlehandedly moving a large section of 4-inch rigid line in order to connect the “emergency transmitter” to the wideband port of the combiner at the emergency site. By the end of the long day, we were on the air at 1,500 feet and 250 watts (what we would call a “fill-in” translator
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Nothing, but nothing, beats an alternate site you can “flip on” with a mouse click or a phone call. today). It was a better than white noise solution — about all it was. I suspect the reader would rightfully consider what I just described as sort of a nightmare scenario, and yes, no kidding, it was. I mentioned that I had three towers fall during the course of my career. One was in a small market and was so long ago I scarcely can recall much detail,
February 7, 2018
but the other was, no doubt about it, memorable. We had a tower in the Mojave Desert while I was working in L.A., which collapsed at around 11 PM on a Saturday night in the Antelope Valley (known for its impressive winds). It’s difficult to find the words to describe what I felt as I observed (with a high-powered flashlight) the 440-foot tower folded over at the 150-foot level, swaying (and groaning) in the fierce winds late at night in the desert. Many thoughts go through your mind, such as what now? How am I going to deal with this? And, what if the remaining section of tower crashes to the ground overnight? Such times as these are when you are certain you are the “Chief Engineer.” The lot of would-be CEs sort of “lie low” when a tower collapses. Doug Irwin and I spent the remainder of our weekend scrambling around the desert doing a bit of this and that in order to get that station back on-air.
BACK IT UP
Most importantly, what we learn from these experiences is: Nothing, but nothing, beats an alternate site you can “flip on” with a mouse click or a phone call. Even if your backup site is of significantly lower power (and coverage), it can be a huge, huge stress reducer as it serves to get you back on the air immediately. With a backup site, spots are cleared and obligations met while you set about to plan for restoration of full service, which can take several months and even years. The “tornado tower” I spoke of took two full years to be completed such that we could occupy and use the site, due to local government red-tape (amusingly, the county assured us of a “fast track”). So, the point of all of this is, find some way, any way, to build up some sort of alternate site for your stations. Perhaps capital for a fully-outfitted “N+1” site that the “big boys” have isn’t in the cards for you. I have found using high-power exciters or removedfrom-service exciters coupled with a nolonger-used IPA and a Barix box or old composite STL, will be as good as gold when the main site goes down. Perhaps you’re moving to a better site but can maintain the old site as a backup. Perhaps you can mount a broadband two-bay low-cost antenna at your studio building. Be creative and get your management to realize just what can happen and ask them to consider how they will react when the tower falls and it might be two years before restoration of full service. Dennis Sloatman is the vice president of engineering for Summit Media.
February 7, 2018
radioworld.com | RadioWorld engineering extra
generators (continued from page 19)
factors, etc. All of this plays into overall performance satisfaction. In light of all of the above, you should understand that inexpensive (read, cheap) small generators do not do well with varying loads. Regulation aside, the flux density of the waveform is quite often distorted, which translates into a less than sinusoidal perfection. In a past RW Certification Corner article, we discussed the various AC waveform distortions and how AC power transfer is measured essentially in equivalent power to a workable quantity of DC power. This equivalency is why a generator with a horrendously distorted sine wave can still run electric heaters and power lightbulbs without issue. However, that same ugly waveform, when it encounters transformer windings or a capacitor in the first filter of a switching supply, produces all sorts of undesirable results. Charles “Buc” Fitch, P.E. is a registered professional consultant engineer, senior member of the SBE, lifetime CPBE with AMD, licensed electrical contractor, former station owner and former director of engineering. SECOND CHANCE
A ENG INEE RING EXTR
AUGUST 9, 2017
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headquarters in Fig.1: MARC Radio Group the programming is Gainesville, Fla. From here, AM and FM station sites. transmitted to its seven
consequent Lightning strikes and disrupt the power surges can seriously Considering operations of a radio station. often remote the tall structures and station, locations of a radio broadcast
more than lightning can and does strike strikes, it can once. Each time that it and cost thoucause a station to go dark
equipment damage. and groundA well-designed bonding the likeliing system can greatly reduce the strike and hood of damage, isolate majority of the reduce the costs for the lightning strikes. lightning It is possible to design using certain protection into a system well-established best practices.on power One of the leading experts protection is quality and lightning & Systems John West Sr. of Power Inc. West is a Innovations of Tampa with a reputawell-known consultant problems tion for rectifying electrical tions and at broadcast, telecommunica has speHe computer-based facilities. of lightning cial expertise in the area a consultant strikes, not surprising for based in central Florida.
sands in repairs. of the If the lightning protection in areas susradio station is inadequate equipment ceptible to thunderstorms, lightning to damage and outages due basis. strikes can occur on a frequent be done can You might think nothing They can be about lightning strikes. or acts of God; written off as bad luck poorlya However, and that may be true. significantly designed electrical system and magcontributes to the likelihood extent of the nitude of the problem and
MARC RADIO GROUP
a poorly As an example of how can be recondesigned electrical system from lightfigured to reduce outages case of the ing strikes, consider the in MARC Radio Group, headquartered Gainesville (Fig. 1). of freWest was called in because costthat were quent lightning strikes in electrical ing thousands of dollars Something had repairs and lost revenues. outages caused to be done! Electrical were shutting by the lightning strikes were forced down operations. Listeners some did not to change the channel and seven stations, tune in again. The group’s 6) (continued on page
7/31/17 10:43 AM
RWEE Aug 9_2017_CS5.indd
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Six times a year, a select readership made up of technology executives and engineers enjoys RW Engineering Extra and its DIY technical tips, hard-core engineering content, white papers and career guidance. You can be part of the team that creates this specialized content! Tech Editor Cris Alexander welcomes your ideas for articles. Email him with a description of your proposed story at rwee@nbmedia.com.
Fig. 2: A typical small generator, in this case a 7.5 kW two-cylinder 120/240-volt single-phase Coleman.
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Newsmaker Bonacci Honored (But He Ain’t Done Yet)
RadioWorld engineering extra
by Scott Fybush
When the FCC’s Rodolfo (“Rudy”) Bonacci learned he was the 2017 recipient of the E. Noel Luddy Award from the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers, he wanted to make one thing clear: “This isn’t a lifetime achievement award!” At just 45 years old, the 23-year veteran of the FCC is one of the younger winners of the award, which honors meritorious service to the telecommunications industry, and he wants to be clear: He’s looking forward to many more years of service at the commission, where he serves as assistant division chief, engineering in the Audio Division. In an RWEE interview, Bonacci admitted that he didn’t necessarily expect to make the FCC his lifetime career when he joined the agency in 1994 as a newly-minted electrical engineering graduate from the University of Maryland. He’d been working part-time in a completely different branch of government — at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s instrumentation and sensing lab in Beltsville, Md. — and envisioned a career in business. “I was dreaming of being a CEO.” Along the way, though, Bonacci went to a career fair before graduation, where the FCC was recruiting for trainees. At the time, many new commission hires were sent to Norfolk, Va. for training, where they would choose the divisions that most interested them before being sent to headquarters in Washington. “But alas, I didn’t make it,” Bonacci recalls. “Instead, I got a call in July after I graduated. They said they didn’t want me to go to Norfolk. They wanted me to go straight to Washington, to the Audio Division.” Upon arriving at the commission, Bonacci was immediately assigned to start learning about the FM rules (“We were the FM Branch at the time, Audio Services Division”), which at first meant cracking the books to read up on the rules, since his boss, James Bradshaw, was on vacation when Bonacci came to work. At the time, there were more engineers on staff — “I think we’re down to 15, 16 engineers total, when we used to have 10 guys just doing FM when I started” — and yet, Bonacci recalls, applications took much longer to make their way through the FCC process. “Back in 1994–95, we used to have four-month processing goals for minor change applications, and
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AFCCE Luddy Award Winner Rudy Bonacci
now we’re down to 30 days,” he recalls. “We used to need 24 hours just to make changes to an authorization because it would go to a printer in the basement and we had to wait to pick it up.” Bonacci takes pride in many of the ways in which his staff has streamlined its processes even as new challenges have continually been thrown their way. “One of the big flips was low-power FM becoming so prominent, and then the translators,” he said. “We used to have a separate auxiliary services branch — Tom English used to be the translator team. And then when Jim Bradshaw took over translators, it became one big thing. The prominence of translators was something we couldn’t have envisioned.” Bonacci’s tenure at the Audio Division included the big shift from open FM applications to auctions. “That first auction was big, 200, 250 stations, and we tried to turn them around quickly. There was a lot of excitement,” he recalls. “But as the years have gone by, we don’t see as many big-time bids,” now that most of the prime allocations have been filled. That maturation of the FM band has meant that work on full-power stations has slowed down over the years. “We’ve had three retirees in a row,” he notes. “I used to supervise seven folks and now I’m down to four, so in terms of people doing FM work, it’s going to be less.”
LOOSENING UP
What’s a typical day for Bonacci? “My work involves day-to-day processing and reviewing what people submit to me. Nowadays it’s a lot of phone calls and emails, helping people figure out what’s a rule-compliant application, and then there’s all the side stuff, working on a new (LMS) database and trying to fix the old (CDBS) one,” he says. That, as it turns out, is a big reason why AFCCE
February 7, 2018
honored Bonacci — an honor he accepted not only for himself but on behalf of his team. “We work together, we still do. Nobody’s on an island by themselves,” he says. And across the Audio Division there’s been a focus on becoming more available to talk with consulting engineers and lawyers. “We used to be pretty strict,” he recalls, “letterwriters only, nervous about what was said in calls. Over the years we’ve tried to become more helpful. It helps us in the long run because we get more applications we can process to completion, we can send out fewer deficiency letters and we can be more efficient in our processing.” Bonacci credits much of that improvement to the consulting and engineering community that works with the FCC, as well. “We help them so they can help us,” he says. “So we don’t see a lot of unusual waiver requests and things like that, that have an uphill battle to get granted. I guess we don’t see so many applications with basic errors. On FM, they usually have an attorney and a consulting engineer working with them. We’ve been doing this for a while, and they’ve been doing this for a while, so they know what will be granted and what won’t. It works for everybody. They get what they want.” The exception? “Normally the problems arise when people don’t use the consultants, when they try to do it on their own,” Bonacci says.
ON THEIR TOES
Looking ahead to his next few years at the FCC, Bonacci sees some big changes coming. There’s the logistical challenge of making his second big physical move, this time from the FCC’s current offices at the Portals in southwest Washington to a new home in northeast D.C. Administratively, Bonacci’s boss, Audio Division Chief Peter Doyle, has retired from full-time work, succeeded by Al Shuldiner, whose selection was announced in January. “In terms of what I do, I get asked questions about upcoming auction windows,” Bonacci says. “People are always asking about the next noncommercial educational FM windows — the last one was in 2010, and before that was 2007.” Other changes Bonacci says could come to his plate in the years to come include new policies for dealing with complaints about interference from FM translators, an issue NAB has been lobbying on. There’s also the transition away from the aging CDBS database to an audio version of the LMS database that TV licensees now use. “We have a goal of Oct. 1,” Bonacci says, “but I don’t know if they’re going to implement things along the way. CDBS has been around for a while and I know the consultants kind of like it and the attorneys do too, but there are some elements that are getting out of date.” And who knows what else may come down the pike for those of us who deal with the Audio Division on a regular basis? “We always tell the consultants we keep you on your toes,” Bonacci says. “I’m not sure what’s next but we’ll be ready to go. There’s less of us here, but we manage to keep everything moving.” Scott Fybush is a long-time contributor to Radio World.
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