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Is this sustainable?
Paul McLane Editor in Chief
year or two ago, sustainability seemed to be on everyone’s lips. The NAB launched an awards program around it. Financial analysts pressed CEOs during investor calls to spell out their plans. Companies like iHeartMedia published sustainability reports on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies.
Radio World’s latest free ebook explores the topic of sustainability, and I hope you’ll read it and share your thoughts.
Barbara H. Lange, co-founder and producer of the Media Tech Sustainability Series and program director of the NAB Show Excellence in Sustainability Awards, offers her insights.
We describe how stations in Texas and Rhode Island have embraced solar. I share examples from around the radio world about how companies are positioning themselves as sustainable.
Consultant Florian Rotberg addresses trends in AV business segments in a story from our sister publication Installation. And our sponsors Emily Lindner of TruNorth and Gregory Mercier of WorldCast Systems provide very interesting insights.
But it’s easy to be dubious. As Lindner told me in our interview, interest in the subject across the economy seems to have ebbed in the past year, while in radio specifically, many organizations are more concerned about immediate survival than on developing good eco-practices. Meanwhile the problem of “greenwashing” is evident in all business sectors. When a company promotes downsizing of facilities, is that environmentally responsible or is it putting a brave face on a painful business necessity? Or both?
I’m interested in your opinions, always, so write me at radioworld@ futurenet.com. Meantime please do check out the new ebook at http://
FCC Approves Asymmetric Sidebands, With a Caveat
The FCC will allow digital FM stations to originate their HD Radio transmissions at different power levels on the upper and lower digital sidebands without having to request experimental authorization. But for now it will not allow stations on 107.1 to 107.9 MHz to do so because of concerns raised by aviation stakeholders.
Previously the FCC has required the same power on both sidebands, limiting an FM station’s digital power to what was needed to protect the adjacent-channel analog station most susceptible to interference, regardless of whether there was a need to limit power on the other sideband. Supporters of asymmetry argued that allowing a calculation of maximum allowable power on a per-sideband basis would allow stations to optimize digital coverage while still protecting analog stations on adjacent channels.
permissible digital power. This would expand the number of stations that can broadcast at higher levels. It has not yet acted on that change, opting for now just to proceed with the asymmetry issue.
The aviation industry has expressed concerns about the effect of any increases in digital power. The Air Line Pilots Association and General Aviation Manufacturers Association generally have pushed for a larger “safety net” to protect aviation operations. The Aeronautical Radio Navigation Spectrum is in the 108.0–117.95 MHz band. The parties have been working with the NAB and Xperi on studies to ensure that airline navigation systems are protected against interference.
The commission said it heard considerable support for that. With the rule change, a digital FM station will only need to notify the FCC of asymmetric sideband operation by filing a form in the Licensing and Management System database.
Meanwhile the commission has also been considering changes to the formula used by FM stations to determine their overall maximum
The aviation groups convinced the commission to hold off for now on allowing unlimited asymmetric sidebands at the upper end of the FM band. HD Radio parent company Xperi supported the provisional exemption. “This will provide prompt relief to most stations exploring ways to improve service while still allowing FM stations operating on Channels 296–300 to request experimental authorizations,” Xperi wrote.
Writer
Nick Langan
The author is operations manager at Villanova University’s 89.1 WXVU in Villanova, Pa., and a lifelong radio enthusiast, with a special interest in long-distance FM signal reception.
Wilner honored by Vermont Association of Broadcasters
For five decades he has climbed mountains to serve Northern
LAbove Ira Wilner at the transmitter site for WINQ(FM) and WSNI(FM) on West Hill in Keene, N.H. There are four transmitters there, two main and two backups. He was logged into a GatesAir HD Radio Importer unit.
New England stations
ongtime broadcast engineer Ira Wilner is being honored with the 2024 Distinguished Service Award by the Vermont Association of Broadcasters. He’ll be recognized at VAB’s annual Hall of Fame & Awards Gala in November.
“For 50 years, Ira Wilner has been a respected broadcast engineer who has left an indelible mark on dozens of radio and television stations around Vermont and New Hampshire,” VAB stated in its announcement.
In 1950 when he was growing up in New York City, his parents owned one of the first TV sets on the block, a tabletop Magnavox. “The TV repairman was almost a house guest,” Wilner quipped.
His first full-time job was as a college lab technician at Queens College, where he also attended classes. A
formational experience for him was signing on the school’s carrier-current broadcast station.
He also vividly recalls playing a digitized recording of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass on a Xerox Sigma 7 research computer for his fellow computer department staffers. “Everyone in the room cheered.”
The sound emanated from a pair of Acoustic Research AR-3a speakers and a Harman/Kardon Citation Twelve audio amplifier attached to a 6-foot rack with a lab-grade D/A converter. The nine-channel data tape with the song was digitized for the college by Bell Labs.
“Today your smartphone can do it without breaking a sweat,” he said.
Attending an electronic music symposium at Dartmouth College, Wilner discovered the White Mountains of New
Hampshire; they were among the reasons he and his wife left New York for the greener pastures of New England.
He launched his engineering career in 1977 performing contract-based work under the name Wilner Associates. Among his first clients were the Vermont AM and FM combos of WTSA in Brattleboro and WCFR in Springfield.
“Passionate cheerleader”
“Whether it’s trekking up difficult trails midwinter or flooded swamps in monsoon season to restore transmission systems, or converting analog control rooms to digital without disturbing programming, Ira does what needs to be done to keep broadcast stations operating because he is dedicated to serving the public and helping his colleagues do their work as easily as possible,” the VAB wrote about him.
“Ira is always willing to help other broadcast professionals, even the competition. Whether it’s sharing his vast knowledge and experience, troubleshooting issues or assisting getting a station back on the air after an equipment failure, Ira is a passionate cheerleader for broadcasting.”
For the past two decades he has been chief engineer of the Monadnock Media Group of Saga Communications — which has a stable of AM and FM stations around Brattleboro and nearby Keene, N.H. — while retaining his contract clients.
“The timing was great with my daughter going off to college,” he said of Leah’s acceptance to Smith College. Wilner enjoyed a great relationship with Saga CEO Ed Christian, who was once himself an engineer. Christian died in 2022.
Among Wilner’s recent accomplishments was putting eight FM translators on the air for Saga’s Brattleboro/ Keene HD subchannels and AM properties in 2018. He was able to incur minimal antenna tower downtime by feeding programming via bidirectional digital STLs licensed in the 6 GHz band.
“When I need an additional audio signal on our system, it’s as simple as adding a pair of audio codecs,” he said of the setup, “plug and play with Ethernet patch cords.”
An engineering journey in Vermont would not be complete without encountering Mount Mansfield, the lofty 4,395-foot peak that stands highest in the Green Mountains.
Wilner is well versed with the home of Class C FM signals WVPS and WEZF. He recalls an incident in the 1990s when he needed to take measurements of WVPS’ sister station WVPR, part of the Vermont Public Radio network. WVPS feeds WVPR, and to do the measurements, Wilner needed to silence WVPS. Rather than take it off the air completely, he left the transmitter on, with no audio except for its stereo pilot.
Several days later, Wilner received a call from the FCC. About 75 miles from the summit of Mount Mansfield was
Montreal-Dorval International Airport, and technicians there were complaining about an unmodulated signal on 107.9 causing interference with equipment that the airport used in the aviation band.
Wilner recalled that some delicate negotiations were going on at the time between the U.S. State Department and Canadian government. Not wanting to rock the boat, he said, the FCC added an unusual condition to WVPS’ license. The station could never broadcast dead air while radiating an FM signal. But Wilner kept moving onward and he has worked closely with VPR, orchestrating multiple studio rollouts for the statewide radio network.
2,000 reels in his pocket
Wilner can spin many anecdotes and success stories. By identifying applicants that had been placed into a mutually exclusive (MX) pool but who were no longer interested in obtaining an FM license, he was able to help WOOL(FM) in Bellows Falls secure one. He assisted in putting WVEW(LP) in Brattleboro and WFVR(LP) in South Royalton on the air; he worked with the state Department of Transportation to establish two LPFM travelers’ radio stations in central and northern Vermont.
When the FCC implemented the 6 kW ERP Class A FM maximum, Wilner was able to persuade the commission to grant a power increase to 96.7 WTSA(FM). It agreed to permit the 3 kW ERP station, which had been operating at a lower HAAT than the Class A maximum, to go to 5.2 kW ERP to gain back the coverage area it would have had at 100 meters height.
He co-wrote the original Vermont EAS plan, helped design the state’s original EAS network with Vermont Emergency Management, and serves on the State Emergency Communications Committee. He also led the build of WNNE(TV)’s studios in White River Junction, Vt.
In his spare time, Wilner (W1IRA) is a repeater trustee for the West River Radio Club in Windham County. One of its repeaters resides on a tower owned by Saga. He is an ARRL volunteer exam coordinator and also volunteers for the theatrical group Wild Goose Players. He is fond of photography, dating to when his father bought him an Ansco Box Camera in 1953.
A member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Wilner said he has thoroughly enjoyed mentoring people he has met, from the chief cook and bottler washer at a small-town Vermont station to on-air DJs who have an affinity for the engineering side of radio.
And he takes pleasure in seeing how much audio had changed since he cut his proverbial teeth on reel-to-reel audio tape. “When I started out, a 10-1/2-inch reel could record one hour of programming with a little background hiss at –60 dBFS,” Wilner said. “Today, I can carry over 2,000 10-inch reels worth of noise-free audio on a 3/4-inchsquare, 2 terabyte memory card.”
Above Ira Wilner
El-Dinary expects further uptake of HD Radio
In the U.S., the technology “is woven into the fabric of listener engagement”
AIt has been 22 years since the FCC approved in-band on-channel digital broadcasting in the United States. How would you assess the state of the HD Radio rollout here?
Ashruf El-Dinary: extensive rollout in rated markets around the U.S. and the automotive industry. Currently with 105 million cars on the road and counting, HD Radio is now woven into the fabric of listener engagement with over-the-air radio. It has elevated radio with peer-level features (images, song titles, etc.), compared to satellite and streaming competitors.
We always anticipated that HD Radio adoption would happen in multiple stages. Initially, the hybrid analog/digital transition would occur in major markets, as we have seen. The next milestone is to increase HD Radio station rollout in secondary and rural markets. The final stage would be full adoption by stations of digital services.
What is the state of HD Radio in Mexico and Canada, and in what other countries is it starting to grow?
El-Dinary: HD Radio continues to grow in Canada and Mexico. The recent announcement from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada formalized the technical specification for HD Radio in Canada. This document removes the experimental status, clarifies the country’s system parameters, and gives the broadcast industry confidence that HD Radio is the solution for the market. In 2023, over 50% of new cars sold in Canada included HD Radio. With this recent publication, we expect this to grow in the coming years.
In Mexico, the technical specification has been in place with regulatory approval for 13 years. Since then, the market has grown, servicing more than 51 million people. Upcoming frequency auctions in Mexico will grow the number of HD Radio stations in the next few years.
We see a lot of growth potential in South America, so that is where our next expansion in the Americas will be.
radioworld.com/ ebooks
International broadcasters invest in visiting the NAB Show every year, because they see the impact that HD Radio has had on the North America market. In the past few years, many broadcasters from South American countries have approached us to inquire about field
India represents a large potential market. Where does the FM decisionmaking process stand and what do you hope
India is a large, developing market for digital radio. We have been talking to broadcasters across the country about the benefits of HD Radio services. Both government radio (All India Radio) and private broadcasters see the potential for transforming the last analog service to digital. That would represent over 800 transmitters across
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has stated that radio stations can use their current spectrum authorization for digital services. This year we anticipate a more comprehensive Digital Radio Policy for India outlining more technical and regulatory details.
Will the sunsetting of FM accelerate around the world?
El-Dinary: FM stations are facing competition from the rise of streaming services, podcasts and other platforms. However, FM stations have local reach, free access to information across socio-economic groups, and efficient emergency alerting services. And consumers are still wanting radio to anchor their in-vehicle experience.
According to the “Connected Car Entertainment Trends” report released by DTS Inc. [earlier this year], AM/FM radio is the most popular form of audio entertainment for music listening (69%), compared to music streaming (53%) and satellite radio (30%).
That said, there are regional differences in radio operations. In Europe, we have seen stations transitioning from FM to DAB+ operations. Government initiatives for national broadcast networks have driven must of that transition. Radio in the Americas is different as it has many more independent stations.
So while some regions may see a reduction of FM operations, it would not be universal.
Get a grip on that strip
Rolf Taylor shares an affordable controller for RGB LED lighting John Bisset
CPBE
The author is in his 34th 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.
I’ve received a number of comments about LED strip lighting applications for both studios and transmitter sites. As you implement these to spiff up your rooms, send me pictures! Remember, if you are SBE certified, being published in a national trade like Radio World counts toward your recertification.
Send your tips Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email johnpbisset@ gmail.com.
Rocket Engineering and Consulting Principal Rolf Taylor found a small controller for use with RGB LED strips. This is for basic non-addressable strips, not the more exotic addressable type. They’re shown in the first two photos. You can find them by searching “D-mini 3Key RGB LED Controller” on eBay, Amazon or the direct from China site of your choice.
As is often the case with such mass-produced products, there are many variants to choose from and no obvious part numbering scheme. However, the low price means you haven’t lost a lot of money, if you purchase the wrong type.
The controller Rolf selected accepts up to 24 VDC (the correct supply voltage used is determined by the LED strip you are using). It has a four-pin socket for the output and bare leads for the input. There are variations with USB or coaxial input connectors, and a variety of output styles. The cost for these was $5.74 for 10.
Using the push buttons on the controller assembly, as seen in the closeup, you can choose a fixed color, or you can select a fading sequence that moves through a sequence of colors, at an adjustable speed. Rolf used the cable that comes with a header so it can connect to male or female four-pin sockets. This assembly also has a clever solderless clamp that accepts the pads on the LED circuit board directly. The cables cost 70 cents each. Rolf adds that for a few dollars more, you can buy controllers with RF- or IR-remote functionality.
Remember that these assemblies are for use with basic RGB strings where all LEDs would be the same color at a given time. And note that there are very similar controllers for addressable LED strings. These will probably have SP002E, WS2812 or WS2811 or the word “Pixels” or “Addressable” as part of the description.
If you are interested in “chaser” type sequences you can get those controllers too, but you will need the right LED strips in order for the strip to perform properly; WS2812 or WS2812B seem to be the most common.
Above
An inexpensive LED controller, as shown on Amazon.
Right Closeup of the controller and the connector.
Rolf has been doing a bit of a deep dive into LED strips recently. He has made large LED audio meters and says his Christmas tree this year will be a huge stereo meter consisting of 90 LEDs per channel!
Check that concrete anchor
In his “Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes” newsletter, Larry Wilkins of the Alabama Broadcasters Association reminds engineers to visit each guy anchor foundation. (You are doing quarterly tower inspections, right?)
One thing to look for is that safety cables have been installed through each of the guy turnbuckles. These cables keep the turnbuckles from twisting during heavy wind. They also discourage vandalism.
While you are at the anchor point, inspect the concrete anchor for cracks. You may need to clear off grass or dirt growing atop the concrete, but do spend the extra time. A crack in concrete can fill with water; if it freezes, the crack may expand.
If you discover cracks, pour dry concrete into the crack, and use a brush to work it inside. Then apply water slowly until the concrete is soaked. Be careful not to wash concrete out of the crack as you add the water.
These are the kind of maintenance tips you’ll find in Larry’s free e-newsletter. To subscribe, send an email to lwilkins@al-ba.com
Save your knees
I’ve mentioned that you can use folded sheets of bubble wrap to make a cushioned pad, so you can kneel or sit more comfortably on the floor of a studio or transmitter shack.
I recently saw an inexpensive alternative, a thick kneeling pad made by Husky and available online or at Home Depot. It costs about $30, but its cushioning does an excellent job.
Shop around and you’ll find other options for kneeling mats as well as pads to wear on your knees, from brands like Rhino, Gorilla Grip and DeWalt, generally in the $15 to $30 range. But I see that Harbor Freight lists one for around $7. If you have experience with a specific kneeling pad or mat that you like, drop me a line.
Frank’s adjustable power supply
When he’s not repairing broadcast gear, Newman-Kees consultant Frank Hertel is searching online for great bargains. When he sent me this one, I thought there was a typo when it came to the price.
How about a 3 to 36 VDC adjustable power supply for under $5! Yes, it’s made off-shore and available from Ali Express. But especially for a contract engineer, an
Above Save your knees with this rugged pad from Husky.
adjustable supply for that price is amazing. Go to www. aliexpress.us and type “3 36v power adapter adjustable” in the search block.
Important resource for AM stations
Let me be blunt: If you aren’t a SBE member, you are missing the boat.
To cite just one example: The society has released its “AM Broadcast Station Self-Inspection Guide,” which is free to members. Compiled in coordination with the NAB, it joins the FM and TV editions that were released this past April (and which Randy Stine wrote about in the Sept. 11 issue of Radio World).
These guides were developed to replace FCC selfinspection checklists that were published in the 1990s but hadn’t been updated in many years. The new guides provide recommended practices to ensure regulatory compliance. All three can be downloaded by society members from www.sbe.org. Go to the Legislative/ Regulatory and Resources tab.
A new AM facility in SoCal
Who would build a new AM facility in 2024?
KWRM, owned by EDI Media, is licensed to Corona, Calif., and serves San Bernardino-Riverside and Los Angeles on 1370 kHz. It operated for many decades from a five-tower array but the site was eclipsed by highway construction, bumping EDI out three years ago. The company could not find a diplex partner, so the station has been off the air since.
Now EDI plans to bring the station back from a site leased from the County of San Bernardino.
Due to its size, shape and proximity to Chino Airport, the station is using a single 100-foot tower, an umbrella flared-skirt system designed by Dr. Bobby Cox of Kintronic Labs and Ben Dawson, P.E., of Hatfield & Dawson. The station will switch from full-time directional to full-time nondirectional and will reduce power from the previously licensed 5 kW day/2.5 kW night to 950 Watts day/200 Watts night.
Right
Station and county representatives met to define the site’s layout in 2023. Shown from left: Lyle Ballard of San Bernardino County Real Estate and Services Department; James Su, president of EDI Inc., the licensee of KWRM Radio; Chief Project Engineer Bob Burnham, holding layout stakes; Lina Li of EDI; and Sophie O’Neill of Tower Engineering Professionals.
“Ownership is aiming programming at an ethnic audience served by very little competition in the Los Angeles area, and was not deterred by the unavailability of an FM translator,” said Lowell Homburger of Abernat, Roxben & Boggs, who has been helping EDI President James Su with aspects of the project. In September he expected the station to go on the air in a few weeks.
To learn more about the project and its complexities, see the Radio World ebook “Awesome RF Buildouts” available at radioworld.com/ebooks
Here are the “Best of Show” winners at IBC
The Radio World “Best of Show” Awards were given at IBC. They recognize outstanding broadcast products and solutions on display. Factors taken into account include quality and relevance of the product; design and build quality; business/operational benefits; innovation in concept/design/delivery; technical excellence; costeffectiveness; and game-changing ability.
Participating companies pay a fee to enter. Not all nominated products are winners. Our sister brands TVBEurope, TV Tech and Installation also each announce lists of winners.
DEVA Broadcast DB7002 Professional FM/DAB/DAB+ Monitoring Receiver
Todor Ivanov, shown, and his team equipped this box with two independent tuners, one for FM and one for DAB/DAB+. It offers support for Program Associated Data as well as all standard bitrates and VBR, and automatically displays live metadata. It provides detailed measurement of signal parameters as well as two built-in loggers with 24 channels apiece.
AEQ Solaris Codec
This high-density multi-channel audio codec, designed for multiple STL links, broadcast networks and remote contributions, has lots of the latest codec features. It’s available with eight bidirectional stereo channels and can be upgraded in groups of eight channels, to reach a maximum of 64 channels in a single 1U rack unit. In the booth are Miguel Sancho, Roberto Tejero, Monica de la Fuente, Ignacio Alonso, Ricardo Villanueva and Guadalupe Lopez.
ENCO SPECai Ad Creation Platform with voice cloning
SPECai is an ad creation platform that allows sales teams to create localized spec ads on demand in seconds in front of clients. Now it has a customizable cloning feature that replicates the voice of the client, air talent or other presenter. Ken Frommert celebrates the win.
Jutel RadioMan Sports Radio and Lamppu Solution
An innovative sports radio package with RadioMan6 and ClipperAI cloudbased services. It simplifies creation of sports events and team-focused radio stations for FM, web broadcasts and team websites. It is compatible with laptops, tablets and the RadioMan Lamppu mobile connection. Jorma Kivelä and Olli-Pekka Lukkarinen were in the booth.
IBC Show
Orban Optimod 5750
HD Processor
Cost-effective independent processing for HD2 channels is provided by this new box from Orban, based on its popular 5750 model. The 1RU hardware unit offers processing for FM analog as well as DAB+, streaming, HD1 and HD2. Shown are Peter Lee and Peter van Beusekom.
Telos Alliance Axia StudioCore and StudioEdge
Here are two fresh in-studio AoIP products. One is the new integrated engine for Axia iQ, Radius, RAQ and DESQ mixing consoles; the other is a high-density I/O device to complement the Axia xNode family of products. They share a hardware platform designed for maximum flexibility and I/O capacity. In the booth are Marty Sacks, Cam Eicher, Luca La Rosa and Scott Stiefel.
RFE Broadcast XC Series Automatic Changeover Unit
The company’s newest automatic changeover unit is for N+1 transmitter system management. It can be configured in a structure from 2+1 up to 6+1 transmitters; the system monitors them and, in case of a fault, replaces the problem with an aux, following priority rules. The series is compatible with common RF coaxial switches so it can be used with non-RFE-branded systems. Pictured are Sara De Sensi, Elena Ditadi and Francesco Policastrese.
Telos Alliance Omnia Forza FM Audio Processing Software for FM+HD
The latest member of the Forza family of software processors made its European debut. It is delivered as a software container that can be run on an on-premises COTS server or on a cloud-hosted platform such as AWS, bringing Omnia fiveband FM audio processing to the virtual realm. Celebrating are Max Pandini, Marty Sacks, Scott Stiefel and Cam Eicher.
Wheatstone WheatNet Blade 4 with new transport protocol
The company’s fourth generation WheatNet IP I/O unit continues to build on its intelligent AoIP network with the addition of the new transport protocol Reliable Internet Stream Transport. Darrin Paley and Jay Tyler are shown in a fisheye-lens view.
Xperi DTS AutoStage 2024
An AI-powered, global media entertainment platform that brings a content-first media experience across radio, audio, video and now gaming to digital cockpits in cars. George Cernat is behind the wheel.
Wheatstone Automation Plug-In for Entry-Level
DMX AoIP System
With the addition of the WheatNet IP automation control protocol (ACI), the DMX console system is plug-in ready for full control of major playout and automation systems as well as WheatNet IP elements and other third-party partner brands. Darrin Paley and Jay Tyler are in the booth.
WorldCast Systems
APTmpx Software
A tool for modern broadcasters seeking a high-performance MPX solution that is simple to implement and economically accessible. It is compatible with APT hardware codecs, APTs virtual codec and Ecreso FM AiO Series transmitters. Shown are Christophe Poulain and Hartmut Foerster.
Zixi Intelligent Data Platform
Employs advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence to decipher the extensive stream data traversing intricate media supply chains. John Wastcoat is shown.
Writer
James Careless Longtime contributor wrote here recently about softwaredefined radio listening.
The whimsical world of novelty radios
“They’re colorful, small and often quite clever”
Elegant wood-encased tube radios that look like antique furniture. Plastic-encased transistors that mimic cigarette packs, Coke bottles, measuring tapes, and spray cans of WD-40 along with so many other form factors.
Collectively, they comprise the Two Ages of Novelty Radios — times that have passed but are not forgotten.
For the record: “A novelty radio is a radio that was designed with a unique theme in mind,” said Kallie Zieman, collections manager at the Pavek Museum in St. Louis Park, Minn. She manages the museum’s electronics communications collection. “A novelty radio can be shaped like another object or used to advertise a product or brand.”
John Ellsworth, founding director of the Vintage Radio and Communications Museum in Windsor, Conn., said, “The history of novelty radios goes back to the beginning of radio. The definition of novelty is anything that’s unusual or different.”
The First Age: Passing for furniture
You might say that the first age of novelty radios occurred in the 1920s and 1930s, when the medium itself was still novel. Receivers were big and bulky, thanks to their use of glass tubes, heavy metal transformers and chassis, and other large components.
To make radios integrate into the home decor of the time, radio manufacturers such as Atwater-Kent, Crosley, Philco and Zenith housed their industrial workings inside elegant wood-veneer cabinets. The goal was to make radios as beautiful to see as they were to hear.
“When radio first hit homes, it was a status symbol to have one,” Ellsworth said. “That’s why the ‘big furniture’ era came about. People would put the radio in their living room in a very prominent point of honor, so that they could invite all their friends over and brag and say, ‘I got a newfangled radio.’”
Not everyone wanted radios to stand out. This is why some radios of that era were designed to blend into their settings unobtrusively, hidden in copies of 17th century “Winthrop desks” and other antique-style furniture.
“Back in the early 1920s in the battery radio era — before Edward Rogers
Steven Garcia Photography/Courtesy Pavek Museum
Vintage Radio and Communications Museum
Radio Collectibles
invented an AC tube that allowed radios to be plugged into wall sockets — they were making speakers to look like lamps and lampshades,” said Ellsworth. “But this trend really took off in the 1930s in the form of grandfather clock radios, of which we have about five in the collection. Each one looks just like a grandfather clock — but they have a radio built into them.”
By the 1940s, the home market was saturated by cathedral/consoles and stealth radios’ This motivated some manufacturers to offer eye-catching radios that screamed for attention, like the whimsical 1941 Majestic Melody Cruiser. Found in both the Pavek and Vintage Radio collections, “it is shaped like a ship,” Zieman said. To be precise, the Majestic Melody Cruiser looks like someone’s grandfather took their standard wooden tabletop radio and grafted a bow, stern, three metal masts, metal sails, and aluminum rigging — which doubles as an antenna — onto it. The resultant Melody Cruiser is a bit weird, but it works.
Second Age: Endless possibilities
The end of the 1950s ushered in the second age of novelty radios.
“Advances in plastics and the invention of the transistor allowed novelty radios to become smaller, more brightly colored and cheaper to buy,” said Zieman. “I’d say their heyday was the 1960s to the 1980s, when radio was still a
Vintage Radio and Communications Museum
Radio Collectibles
common household electronic, and they were easy and cheap to make.”
Thanks to mass production and the far lower cost of their components compared to tube sets, transistor radios had become incredibly cheap to produce. This, plus the ability of creative manufacturers to fit radios into all kinds of custom plastic cases, led to an explosion in novelty radio production.
“They were primarily and widely used for advertising,” Ellsworth said. “This is why we have a whole cabinet full of novelty radios from that era. One looks like a Stanley tape measure, another is a Green Giant Niblets Corn box, and many others are styled to look like Coke bottles, WD-40 spray cans, shampoo bottles and even a giant Champion spark plug.
Of course, not all novelty radios were devoted to advertising. Some were designed for the sheer fun of it, embedding transistor radios inside model cars, toy guns, mock microphones with radio station flags, characters from Peanuts and Sesame Street, almost anything that people could think up.
The decline and rise of novelty radios
Search the internet today, and one soon finds lots of vintage novelty radios for sale. But companies who make new models are harder to find — although some like EverythingPromo.com do exist.
“And we’ve got three transistor radios that are the same size and appearance as cigarette packs: Chesterfield, Marlboro and Viceroy. The top opens just like a cigarette pack used to, and there’s your controls for the radio.”
Both Kallie Zieman and John Ellsworth agree that novelty radios went into decline after the 1980s. So what happened? “I’d say their production dropped when physical radio sales in general majorly declined in the 1990s to the 2000s,” replied Zieman. “Since fewer people were buying radios, there wasn’t an incentive to continue making them at the rate they were before. It also didn’t make sense for a company to advertise their product in novelty radio form if fewer people were using radios.”
Ellsworth said, “There’s so many other modes of communication these days Radio is not the prominent form of communication anymore, especially AM radio. So the overall impact of a novelty radio isn’t there anymore, because it’s not the main focus of communication anymore.”
Yet vintage novelty radios are appealing. “Their designs are so unique,” said Zieman. “And
Vintage Radio and Communications Museum
Steven Garcia Photography/Courtesy Pavek Museum
Radio Collectibles
“Big console radios are going for a dime a dozen at our swap meets. It’s the smaller tabletops and novelty radios that are hot-button items that sell. ”
you don’t have to specifically be a radio collector to collect novelty radios — depending on the theme of the radio or the brand it represents, other types of collectors may find them interesting.
“For example, a collector of Coca-Cola products might desire to add a novelty radio shaped like a Coke bottle to their collection, even if they do not listen to the radio. Plus massproduced novelty radios are cheap to buy today, allowing more people to participate in collecting them.”
Said Ellsworth, “Big console radios are going for a dime a dozen at our swap meets. It’s the smaller tabletops and novelty radios that are hot-button items that sell. In particular, novelty transistor radios are very collectible because they’re colorful, small and often quite clever. For instance, we’ve got a set of binoculars with a built-in radio. It has a very specific purpose: When you go to watch the game live and you don’t like the on-site announcer but you do like the local radio coverage, you can tune it in on your binoculars.”
Steven Garcia Photography/ Courtesy Pavek Museum
Vintage Radio and Communications Museum
Writer
David Bialik Consultant; co-chair
of the AES Technical Committee for Broadcast and Online Delivery; and chair of the Metadata and Streaming Working Group at the NRSC. He is former director of stream operations for CBS Radio and Entercom.
Fix common problems in audio streaming
Here are resources that may be helpful in your work
Recently I was asked by a radio executive to assess his station’s stream and suggest improvements. Listeners had been complaining about it.
Audience reaction affects ratings and revenue, so of course this situation had to be taken seriously.
One common complaint had to do with the station’s mobile app, which had a habit of crashing and timing out after a period of time. But it was an issue for the app developer, not engineering, so I have set it aside for this discussion.
But the listeners were also complaining about commercial insertion. Their timing wasn’t right. Ads started late. Or they chopped off the end of a song or other content.
The ads are triggered by metadata, so we inspected the triggers (or “cue points”) to make sure they were arriving properly. We checked them at the output of the playback system, then at the pre-encoder, at the post-encoder (at the CDN) and at the player.
The encoder used by the station allowed for metadata to be delayed. By experimenting with metadata delay settings in the station’s encoder, we were able through trial and error to correct the issue.
Elisaveta Ivanova/Getty
Writer
Michael Baldauf
The author wrote recently about things engineers learn the hard way.
Streaming offers “radio wannabes” a way to start
The next time someone asks the question, you might share the following thoughts
Your phone rings. The caller is interested in starting a small local radio station and they’ve been referred to you by a mutual acquaintance. How can they get started?
I hear this question a lot from radio “wannabes.” Maybe you do, too. The query triggers a mental checklist, which you share with the broadcast hopeful: “Are you familiar with paths to identify a broadcast opportunity and pursue a construction permit? Have you investigated stations that might be for sale? Do you have an FCC attorney? Have you looked into lowpower FM? Do you have a budget for the equipment to put a station on the air? Do you have a sensible broadcast business model or funding development plan?”
Even the most basic questions tend to produce a rather short conversation, and the caller is never heard from again. This leaves both of you vaguely disappointed. But starting an FCC-licensed radio station can be daunting to the average person once they understand what’s involved.
Yet individuals who dream about starting a station no longer have to be satisfied with this dead end. The best way to do so does not even require a frequency or a license.
For very little money up front, the internet has become an excellent radio station incubator.
This isn’t news, of course. Audio streaming has been around long enough that it hardly even qualifies as a new medium. And yes, an online-only station may not qualify as “radio” in the over-the-air sense.
Yet I still hear from “radio wannabes” quite often. The idea of radio retains a magical aura for many people. And when we meet someone who has a passion for creating good, entertaining audio content in a radio format, we should encourage them to try it where the stakes are low and the bar to entry is even lower.
I’m not here to offer a detailed primer, but the next time someone asks the question, you might share the following thoughts.
There are so many advantages to starting on the internet that it is difficult to list them all. The software needed to get started can be free. Simple automation for 24/7 operation can be done with one of several available free or inexpensive software packages. Setup for streaming their content can be done easily with free downloads of Winamp and Shoutcast.
Winamp is an all-purpose media player that can play back many different types of audio. Shoutcast is a service that streams audio over the internet to media players that are incorporated into almost all devices. The internet is loaded with videos to help your caller learn how to stream their “radio” station.
Your new friend will need to have access to the internet and a resource to allow the single stream coming out of their streaming computer to be heard by many listeners. How much will it cost to stream the station? The two most common choices are to be charged by listener or to pay a flat monthly fee. The streaming service may offer some savings if it can add ads into the station stream. I advise my callers to look for a streaming provider that has a reasonable monthly charge to accommodate hundreds or thousands of users. One example is Asura Hosting, which
Right WinAmp and Shoutcast tools on the author’s screen.
Streaming Radio
has plans for less than $15 per month; they have excellent customer service and will help with the configuration.
Once registered, the streaming service will email your person a Host Address, Port Number and Password, which they will enter in fields in their Shoutcast software. Listener access to the stream will be through a link provided by the streaming service. This link is typically put behind a “click here to listen” button on the new station’s webpage, or used to set up access through smart speakers, but the link will also work in typical internet browsers.
Setup for Amazon Alexa can be completed by hiring someone through http://fiverr.com for as little as $25. (On the site, search for Alexa Skills.)
A computer that runs Windows 10 is sufficient for streaming, though Windows 11 would be better for long-term support from Microsoft. Some streamers are using computers that cost as little as $50 through www. shopgoodwill.com. I prefer using separate computers, one for the automation software, one for the streaming.
A detailed discussion of music licensing and copyright is beyond the scope of this article, but you should encourage your caller to explore the royalty and legal considerations that apply to a small streamer.
There are blanket licenses that allow usage of copyrighted music for streaming stations. Generally, the cost is based on the number of listeners to the station, which is tracked in the Shoutcast software.
Licensing expectations vary from country to country. For example, if an internet radio station in the United States is
playing Swedish music, the artists are probably not covered under a blanket license from a U.S. company.
Also, there are different rules for internet radio stations to play in various countries. It may be necessary to use the filters in the Shoutcast software to block listeners from certain countries from accessing the stream.
One useful source of information is live365.com. They will help with the entire process of creating and distributing a station, including handling the necessary licensing for stations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., though the service can be expensive. (At https://live365.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Resource tab to find a useful article titled “How to Start a Radio Station.”)
Also encourage your caller to give careful thought to what they actually want to accomplish with their station. Many start with only a vague concept and have given little or no practical thought to how they will sustain it for the long term. But again, such issues can be worked out as the internet station grows.
Social-savvy station operators can build global listenership through TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. If an online station is successful, perhaps it will lead the owner to seek out a broadcast license. Or they’ll like what they’ve built and realize that this easy, affordable, online format is sufficient.
Monetizing an online radio station also is also a topic for another day. My point today is that the next time the phone rings, you can offer the caller encouragement to jump in. Audio streaming offers an easy starting point for a “wannabe” who wishes to explore the creative process that is radio.
A suggestion to improve Chuck Gloman’s cable
Connecting the headphone output of a mobile device to the turntable input of a tube radio
Thanks for the article by Chuck Gloman in the Sept. 11 issue that describes how to connect MP3 players to the turntable input of old tube radios (“Create an MP3-to-Phono Cable”).
As a collector and restorer of such devices, I really appreciate that this topic is being discussed. In countries like ours (Switzerland), for example, all AM stations have already been switched off, and the FM transmitters will soon be taken out of service, so that there will be no other solution for the layman to play his old radio than to connect a modern player.
It is of course true that many older tube radios are not stereophonic and therefore only have a turntable input for a mono sound source. In order to obtain such a onechannel sound signal, the author proposes a two-pole 1/8-inch jack plug (Tip = Audio, Ring = Ground) and plugs it into the stereo output socket of his MP3 player. This socket is for the exclusive use of three-pole jack plugs with tip (left audio), ring (right audio) and shaft (ground). If you insert a two-pole jack plug, its tip connects to the left output channel but the shaft connects to both the right channel and ground of the output jack.
This has the following disadvantages: First, the MP3 player’s built-in right-channel output amplifier stage is shorted to ground. This can lead to higher power consumption and higher operating temperature of the player and increased distortion also in the left channel.
Writer Nicolin Salis
The
Synaudcon.
Second, the sound signal arriving at the record player input of the old radio consists only of the left channel of the sound source. The right channel and therefore practically half of the original event are missing. This results in an unsatisfactory reproduction.
The author rightly observes that most MP3 sources (and smartphones, I might add), when connecting the headphone output with a standard cable to the record player input of the old radio, produce no sound or only a very quiet one. He suspects the cause to be an “impedance mismatch.”
An impedance mismatch usually means that the output impedance is too high compared to the input impedance of the destination and that the output amplifier stage of
“In our case an impedance mismatch cannot be the reason why no sound can be heard.
Tech Tips
the sound source is overloaded, distorted, automatically switched off or even destroyed.
In the present constellation, however, there is no such mismatch: The output impedance of the sound source is very low (a few ohms at most), and the input impedance of the record player input of the old radio is very high impedance (at least 100,000 ohms). As soon as the input impedance of a consumer is at least 10x higher than the output impedance of the sound source, there is no impedance mismatch. So in our case an impedance mismatch cannot be the reason why no sound can be heard.
Chuck Gloman Replies
Mr. Salis is very well informed, and his reasoning valid. I have since replaced the two-pole male 3.5 mm plug with a three-pole, for the exact reasons he stated. Adding two additional 33-ohm resistors to the mix is beneficial and well-illustrated in his drawing.
I’ve learned almost everything from professionals who are much more knowledgeable than I am, and I’m continuing to learn. Thank you, Mr. Salis, for pointing to an improvement to my initial concept. This is the first step in building a better mousetrap.
Readers’ Forum
EAS Has a New Code. So What?
The new code for Missing and Endangered Persons is essentially an adult version of an Amber Alert. What does this mean to your station? Will you be interrupting programming to carry lots of MEP EAS alerts?
Probably not.
EAS is designed for public emergencies. Tragic as a missing person may be, is a missing person a public emergency? Probably not.
The new code is designed for use when a missing endangered person doesn’t fit the requirements for Amber Alerts — generally, when the person is no longer a child. But how often do we carry Amber Alerts? In 2023, 185 were issued. The Child Crime Prevention & Safety Center reports that approximately 840,000 children are reported missing each year. That’s about one Amber Alert for every 4,500 missing children.
So, should we expect many EAS MEP alerts? Probably not. When anyone goes missing, their loved ones and their relatives almost always consider them endangered. Should
The actual reason is that in many mobile devices the headphone amplifier output stages detect whether a load is connected. Headphones have a low impedance (often 32 ohms). Only when such a low-resistance load is detected at the headphone output does it even switch on. However, the turntable input of an old tube radio has such a high impedance that the load is not recognized by the player and the player therefore does not emit the sound signal but remains silent or very quiet.
From the above it follows that a connecting cable between the headphone output of a modern mobile device and the mono turntable input of a tube radio must meet the following requirements:
a. The left and right stereo channels of the source must be mixed together to mono.
b. The mixing must be done in such a way that the two output channels do not interfere with each other (i.e. the channels must not simply be connected together).
c. Each of the source’s two output channels of the source on the headphone jack must detect an impedance of around 32 ohms in order to be activated.
I have drawn a corresponding cable in the accompanying schematic [shown on the previous page].
we expect an EAS program interruption every time one of these tragically missing persons is reported? According to a recent insider’s survey of subscribers to the Society of Broadcast Engineers national EAS listserv, the answer is a resounding “No!”
EAS alerts are only supposed to be issued when there is actionable information about a public emergency. We’ve seen and heard far too many Amber Alerts lacking real information. Far too many have contained phrases like “The license number is unknown. The direction of travel is unknown. The color of the car is unknown.” This is not actionable information. This is not helpful.
This has led many broadcasters to decline to carry many Amber Alerts. Likely most won’t carry MEP alerts, unless they somehow constitute a public emergency.
How to submit
Radio World welcomes comment on all relevant topics. Email radioworld@ futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.
I won’t even go into Silver Alerts, designed to help find endangered, wandering, often senile senior citizens. Silver Alerts were introduced nationally in 2009. I’ll bet your station has almost never launched one — and that you’ve almost never even heard one!
Missing and endangered persons are a true tragedy. We must do a better job of protecting all our citizens. But will the EAS MEP prove to be a meaningful part of the solution? Probably not.
