The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource

... edited by Barry Mishkind - the Eclectic Engineer

This Week’s Newsletter

Greetings from your broadcast friends out on the Desert…
This is BDR Newsletter 816, Volume 16, #36 for April 9, 2025

WINTER SURE IS NOT OVER IN SOME PLACES
Sadly another tower was lost last week to the ice from the storm. WPHN/Gaylord, MI had their tower North of Atlanta, MI taken down by ice. It has been an unfortunate year: Last year, there was a fire at the site. (Thanks Bill Harrier)

DELETE, DELETE, DELETE
As the comment period for ideas on updating the FCC Rules is starting to close, the NAB has continued pushing to lift ownership limits. And HC2 Broadcasting has asked to use their LPTV stations for 5G data only – no OTA TV/

THAT WAS NAB THAT WAS WHAT IT WAS
This week we will take a few minutes to talk about the NAB Show and some of the things seen. Join us at our usual time: 2 PM Eastern tomorrow (Thursday). The request for the link is at www.theBDR.net/TLG/


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


HERB SQUIRE HAS PASSED AWAY
He was 80 when Herb Squire passed away. A major fixture in New York City radio, Squire was involved in improving the listening experience as well as ensuring the RF plants were operating as good as possible.

NWS TRANSLATION SERVICE ENDS
The National Weather Service contract with a company to do translation of weather alerts into various languages has expired and the translation stopped at this time.


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

 

Some recent articles of interest:

    More newsy items here

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

     
     MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

    For those who have been, you know the NAB is a huge exposition with a lot to see and limited time to see it all.

    This year, a lot of the manufacturers held back a bit on new products, given the world economy, but there were more than a few things to see.

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    Shively Antennas debuted their EmPowered remote data and control app, an encrypted data stream that will allow the user to see what is going on at the site.

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    Lawo and Axel Audio both continued what is a trend: Building more integrated a features into the consoles and creating a system that is easier to use. Users can access the program chain from anywhere in the world. Axel also has built a complete telephone system into their Oxygen3000 console, from caller info to mix-minus.

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    Need lots of storage? Try OWC. Their B24 system can handle, are you ready?, some thing like 2.8 Petabytes. Feel free to save everything.

    Then, you ask, “how can I find anything?” Axel.io (a different company from Axel Audio) uses AI (and you knew we’d get to AI, right?) to curate the content of everything from spots to podcasts. Other AI uses ranged from voice manipulation to many ways to manage data and even take notes in real time. Remember how “sampling” became a “thing?” AI now can take a same of video, audio, or anything really, and build everything from a picture to a whole program with minimal input from users.

    = = =

    … and there was a lot more. We plan to explore some of that in the coming weeks.

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

     


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

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

                        • 8 years ago (4/13/17) the US dropped the “Mother of all Bombs” (MOAB) on ISIS’ tunnel complex in Afghanistan.
                        • 15 years ago (4/3/10) Apple released the first iPad.
                        • 16 years ago (4/8/09) Somali pirates highack the Maersk Alabama ship.
                        • 51 years ago (4/8/74) Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record.
                        • 55 years ago (4/11/70) Apollo 13 was launched to the Moon.
                        • 74 years ago (4/5/51) the Rosenbergs were sentenced to death for spying.
                        • 80 years ago (4/12/45) FDR died during WWII.
                        • 113 years ago (4/10/1912) Titanic left Southampton on its tragic journey.
                        • 123 years ago (4/14/1902) the first J.C. Penny store opened.
                        • 129 years ago (4/6/1896) the first modern Olympics was held in Athens.
                        • 159 years ago (4/10/1866), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City.
                        • 160 years ago (4/9/1865) Robert E. Lee surrendered, ending the Civil War.
                        • 164 years ago (4/12/1861) The US Civil War began. as Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter.
                        • 197 years ago (4/14/1828) Noah Webster first published his American Dictionary of the English Language.

                        … and 392 years ago (4/12/1633) Galileo was accused of heresy.


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

                           

                          MIDWEEK BONUS

                          You have heard of “one hit wonders” …. but here is a guy who has charted “two hit wonders!“

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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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                                Now … some extra stuff .. some important … some just interesting.

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