Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 851, Volume 17, #18 for December 3, 2025

BAD STORMS
One can certainly conclude Winter arrived with all it fury. The upper-Midwest got a lot weather! Thousands of post-Thanksgiving air flights were cancelled, and a tower in Winona, MN was lost, taking five stations (two full power and three translators) off. Fortunately, the tech staff was able to get the full power stations back up very quickly. The bent tower, in an inverted “V” shape can be seen on the KWMN facebook page.

CODERED PROBLEMS
Not a good week for EAS issues: A number of areas have reported CodeRED – used by some cities and counties – is having troubles/interruptions. Some officials have said the problem is a cyber-attack on the system’s vendor, including users and passwords. The ransomware attack caused a system shutdown, with the vendor reportedly trying to rebuild the system on a newer infrastructure.

NO ZOMBIES, BUT PRETTY BAD
The was no zombie attack, but for two stations it was enough to get some very nasty audio on the air, including an EAS set of tones (although the tones were way out of date). At least one other station reported the hack, which did not get on the air. The FCC issued a Public Notice urging stations to secure their STL codecs. Curiously, at least one hack seems to have occurred on a unit where the user/password had been changed.

LOOK AT SECURITY NOW, THEN BUDGET
First things, first. Given the recent news, a review of security protocols is always important. Is your gear “visible?” Can you secure it better? That may tie into your budget goals for 2026. IP security, transmitter site, and studio site security are all important, especially with the reduced staffing at many stations. Where should your attention be focused? Take a moment and join us on Thursday, when Jeff Welton of Nautel helps identify and discuss key points. 

Join us at 2 PM Eastern on Thursday / 11 AM Pacific. You will learn things! link request: www.thebdr.net/TLG/

NOTE:  ARIZONA PRESENTATION TIME IS NOW NOON.

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

WINTERIZING
You do not need a severe storm like me mentioned above to suggest double checking how the integrity of your buildings and towers fare. In addition to ensuring the buildings have no openings for weather to invade, how are your tower fences doing? And, if bad storms, it is possible for a tree branch, for example, to suddenly impact a guy wire – or three. Regular checks may save your tower from failing.

IS YOUR UPS GOING TO HOLD UP?
Every piece of gear will eventually need attention, if not replacement. The batteries in your UPS units are no exception, although they often are forgotten until they remind us by a failure. Another thought: is your UPS the right size? We once saw a kilowatt AM station fed by a UPS where the engineer complained it did not make power. As we checked, the 1 kW UPS was undersized for two reasons: (1) AM stations need more than 20% more power to make the sidebands, and (2) while calculating the Volts times Amps, users also need to remember the Power Factor,

LPFM IN COLOMBUS, OH SEEKS LICENSEE
The founder/operator/president of a LPFM in Columbus, OH (second-largest city in the Midwest) has passed away. Do you know of anyone who would like its License? If so, please email JohnBroomall@Yahoo.com

MORE TV STATIONS REQUIRED TO DO AUDIO DESCRIPTION
The FCC Media Bureau has noted that on January 1st, 2026, TV station in markets 111 through 120 will now be required to put audio descriptions into effect. (Each year, and additional 10 markets are added to the list, until all TV stations are included.

THE WAYBACK MACHINE GETS NICKED
If you are a fan of the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive, which just passed archiving a Trillion pages of websites, including the BDR and oldradio.com, you probably go looking from time to time to see how sites have progress over the years. Even some sites that are no longer live can be found, with varying levels of information. Unfortunately, the Archive.org site just lost a legal battle regarding the Open Library, and had to remove half a million books. Nevertheless, the founder says he is continuing the mission to preserve web sites and more.

FOR SALE
A Kintronic contactor and some 19″ Steel racks are new on the Buy/Sell page. Also, someone is seeking an old 1 kW transmitter for a museum relationship. These and other items are at https://www.thebdr.net/buy-and-sell/

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

Some recent articles of interest:

• Inside the EmPower: Intelligent Control – Matt Rigdon
• Resisting the Spam Flood – Mike Langner
• Is It Really EOL for Windows 10? – Barry Mishkind
• Join the Lunch Gathering – Thursday 2 PM Eastern
• Enforcement Watch – FM station spur on ATC channel
• Critter Control – Jeff Welton
• Why is 50 Ohms the Standard? – Barry Mishkind
• The Evolution of Broadcast Technology – Ron Schacht
• Planning Your Studio Before You Build – Gordon Carter
• Dana’s Daily Deals

More newsy items here…

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 
MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

As Lawo‘s 55th Anniversary year comes to a close, they are holding a special promotion for their HOME Multiviewer. Using their  special anniversary Multiviewer promotion will transform your 1RU server into the ultimate monitoring experience.

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Broadcast Depot is featuring Axel Tech’s Oxygen consoles.

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StreamGuys wants to help stations get the benefits of their Barix Reflector service, so for the next couple of quarters, they have a special deal – the reflector service is priced 40% off, on a year’s contract.

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Samsung has unveiled a tri-fold cellphone, to be delivered in Korea first, in the US next year.  (After years of phone getting thinner, this should be interesting!)

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

Do You Remember? This week in history:
Broadcast related items:

• 3 years ago (12/6/22) Motley Crue actually end their final Farewell concert. They had done it tour yearly since 2004.
• 27 years ago (12/5/98) Sonny Bono dies in a skiing accident.
• 27 years ago (12/5/98) the Dancing Baby appears on Ally McBeal to the tune of “Hooked on a Feeling.” *
• 30 years ago (12/1/95) the FCC eliminated the Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit.
• 43 years ago (11/30/82) Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was released, becoming the best selling album in the world.
• 45 years ago (12/5/80) “Flash Gordon,” the movie, with a theme song by Queen.
• 46 years ago (12/3/79) Eleven people were killed in a stampede outside the Who concert in Cincinnati.
• (WKRP in Cinncinnati devoted a story line to the incident.)
• 53 years ago (12/2/72) The Temptations earned their final #1 hit with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone.“
• 56 years ago (12/6/69) the Altamont Festival ended the 60s in violence.
• 56 years ago (12/6/69) Steams “Na Na Hey Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye” hit #1. **
• 60 years ago (12/4/65) The Byrds’ hit #1 for three weeks with “Turn, Turn, Turn,” a song Pete Seeger adapted from Ecclesiastes.
• 87 years ago (12/6/38) W9XZY in St. Louis experimented with delivering newspapers by FAX transmissions.

… and 102 years ago (12/6/1923) the first presidential address on US radio. Which President? *******

Here are some other historical events of interest:

• 24 years ago (12/2/01) Rising out of a major corporate scandal, Enron filed for bankruptcy.
• 58 years ago (12/3/67) The first successful heart transplant was accomplished.
• 70 years ago (12/1/55) Rosa Parks is jailed in Montgomery AL for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus.

… and 141 years ago (12/6/1884) the nine-inch aluminum pyramid topped off the Washington Monument in the DC.

May we please recommend this fine company which supports the BDR – and you!

 

* ooga chaka!

** The group “Steam” was actually made up to support a studio cut.   The steam went out of Steam shortly after.

*** Calvin Coolidge was the first president to deliver an address to the nation via radio.

MIDWEEK BONUS

As you probably know, there has been a resurgence of interest in vinyl records – you know, with analog audio. But did you know the latest? A 4-inch single, which plays at 33 1/3. It comes from a company called Tiny Vinyl.

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Does it seem like your money does not go as far as it used to? Here is a scary look – check out when inflation really took hold.

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PLEASE INVITE A FRIEND
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TELL US WHAT’S WHAT
There are so many areas into which we would like to expand, but it is feedback from you that helps us decided where to go first. Are you interested in a certain piece of gear or technology? Let us know. Even better, would you be willing to do a user report and share your experience?

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We sure do appreciate you spending time with our Newsletter. And even more so when you recommend us to your colleagues and friends.

barry

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Yes … you might have seen it before, but we should do this: some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

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