Transcript 2010cbi-aaronread-sportsremotes

Remote Radio
Broadcast Solutions
for Sports & Live Events
Aaron Read : WEOS & WHWS
Making your broadcast sound like the pros…or
BETTER: the pros and cons!
Download these slides: www.friedbagels.com/cbi/
College Broadcasters, Inc – Fall 2010 Conference
Universal Truths
More options, better quality
 Less reliability, more confusion
 You need: Backups! Backups!
Backups! Backups! Backups!
 Never rely entirely what
anyone at the remote site tells
you!
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Whad’ya Got Now?
 “Zercom Max-Z”
sound familiar?
 Similar phone hybrid?
 Durable, fairly reliable
 Lousy audio quality
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Upgrading to the modern age
 POTS-based
codecs
Comrex, Tieline
 IP-based
technology
Comrex, Tieline, APT-X, Barix, etc
Webcast / Skype
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POTS Codecs
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Plain Old Telephone Service
Reliable, but require POTS lines
 PBX or VoIP no good.
Think “fax machine” or “computer
modem”. Can be hard to get viable lines!
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Sound pretty good, low delay
Comrex (Access, Bluebox, Vector, Hotline),
Telos (Xport), Tieline (Commander, iMix),
Mayah (C11n1)
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IP Codecs
 Becoming de
facto standard
 Work over public internet
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Wifi, wired ethernet, 3G cellphone
Some offer iPhone/Android apps
Comrex Access / Tieline iMix G3 or Commander G3 /
Telos Zephyr Z/IP / AudioTX STL-IP / Musicam Suprima
/ APT Worldcast / AEQ Phoenix Mobile / Marti Digital
Cellcast
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Laptops & Skype
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Latest Skype codecs = near CD quality. Delay is
much reduced.
A netbook is light, portable & $300. Skype is
free. Just add a 3G network card.
 Theoretically – Skype on a smartphone works, too!
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Some stations use laptops with webcasts
(WinMedia Enc) and time their breaks carefully
back to the studio (b/c of delay)
Major advantage w/ campus I.T. security!
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More on laptops
A
$250 headset (i.e. AT BPHS-1) and a
Shure X2B XLR-to-USB adapter makes a
great external mixer substitute for oneman sportscasting.
 If you need an external mixer, Conex
FJ700 is good. Old Comrex Buddy on
eBay? Cheap Behringer with outboard
headphone amp?
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Barix Boxes
 Somewhat
unique
 Dedicated H/W stream mp3
 Fairly cheap (< $500 pair)
 Great for point-to-point on
campus
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Other methods: ISDN
Integrated Systems Digital Network
 Uses
special digital phone lines
 Mature, reliable, high-quality but
old and being phased out
 Commonly used by NPR
 Expensive ($3k - $5k pair)
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Marti RPU: Remote Pickup Unit
Requires a special license, may
be hard to get in metro areas.
 ~30w FM xmitter @ 450MHz
 Line-of-sight, zero-delay, oneway audio
 Mature, reliable, simple …but
expensive
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Fiber Optic solutions
 Good
for campus connections
 CD quality audio, near-zero delay
 VERY reliable, supported by I.T.
 Expensive ($3k per xceiver pair)
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Going Old School: plain POTS
 On
a budget?
 Need dirt-simple tech?
 Don’t care about audio quality?
 POTS can be for you!
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Plain POTS – tips & tricks
Test ahead of time
 Work with campus I.T.
 Get a good coupler/hybrid
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 JK Audio, Conex, Circuitwerks
 Look into a Bluetooth-based coupler
to a cellphone (Conex, JK Audio) or a
handset hybrid (works with any office
phone, not just POTS)
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Number one problem!
AUDIO LEVELS OVERLOADING!
 Sportscasters get excited, shout, distort,
can’t understand a thing.
 Invest in a limiter on the headsets
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 Rolls CL151
 Behringer MDX2600
 Presonus COMP16
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Even just a -10 or -20dB in-line pad helps!
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Few other things…
 Crowd mic =
always good
 Ref mic = good (for some sports)
 Live Stats – pros / cons
 Buddy System (PBP + Color Comm)
 Halftime shows – don’t play music
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WEOS/WHWS Case Study
Couldn’t reliably get in-studio engineers
 Connected a spare Burk ARC-16 remote
control to our Logitek Numix/Remora mix
board system
 Sportscasters put themselves on-air using
cellphone!
 Use a netbook with Soundbyte to play
intro/outros, underwriting, promos, etc
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Download these slides: www.friedbagels.com/cbi/
Soundbyte (Audio Playback)
 BlackCatSystems.com
 One-touch
playback of
specific cuts or one cut
from a playlist.
 Little buggy at times,
but overall very easy
to use and powerful
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Tools in the Toolbox
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WEOS does ~ 175 live events/spots every year. Often two at once
(WEOS & WHWS) So we have SEVERAL tools at our disposal.
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Comrex Access: Boswell Field, Cozzens Field, McCooey Field, Bristol Gym,
lectures @ Albright Auditorium, live concerts from The Smith, and many
sports games on the road.
Comrex Vector: McCooey Field, many sports games on the road.
Fiber: (via old Comrex Buddy Mixer) Boswell Field, Bristol Gym.
Fiber: STL, also incoming RPU feeds from the RX antennas.
Barix Boxes: lectures @ Geneva Room, City Council meetings, lectures @ MPR
in Student Center.
Telos Xstream ISDN: Geneva City Ice Rink, The Smith Opera House.
Marti RPU: commencement, random remotes (Congressman’s speech),
random on-campus events, hockey backup.
Total count? 1 Access, 1 Vector, 1 Xstream ISDN, 1 Zephyr Portable ISDN, 2 Marti
RPU’s, 3 Barix boxes, 5 Fiber links (4 permanent, 1 floating)
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Q&A – plus some URL’s for you!
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www.comrex.com
www.telos-systems.com
www.tieline.com
www.aptx.com
www.musicamusa.com
www.audiotx.com
www.shoutcast.com
www.lightwavesys.com
www.martielectronics.com
www.aeqbroadcast.com
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www.jkaudio.com
www.rolls.com
www.bswusa.com
www.zZounds.com
www.presonus.com
www.fring.com
www.skype.com
blackcatsystems.com
www.friedbagels.com/blog
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Aaron’s blog – contact him here
www.friedbagels.com/cbi/
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