Barry Mishkind

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 863, Volume 17, #30 for February 25, 2026

YEARLY LEAPING TIME JUST AHEAD
Daylight Saving Time this year steals an hour of your sleep starting on March 8th at 2 AM this year. Legacy gear may still be in use at some stations, so it is worth a check to see if you power/pattern controller is “ready.” What else do you have that could be affected
by the time shift?

THE WINDOW WILL OPEN
You can expect the NCE FM translator window – the first ever – to open late this year. Some stations are already checking to see what can be found in their area. While the FCC has not yet finalized the rules nor set a date, it does have plans to limit applications to 10 per entity, fewer for LPFMs. In general, the Commission is seeking comments to �prevent gamesmanship and ensure fair access to licenses.�

AN AUDIO TOOLBOX – AND MORE
We focus our attention this week on “Audio Management Solutions Including Active, Passive and Broadcast Transmission Systems.” Our presenter will be Bob Tarsio of Broadcast Devices, discussing and showing their three classes of audio products, including the feature rich Audio Toolbox series of digital/analog/composite I/O, a line of passive relay switchers, and an FM transmission product line. Of course, there will be a Q&A opportunity.

Join us Thursday at 2 PM Eastern /11 AM Pacific, and let us learn things. The link request is, as usual, at www.theBDR.net/TLG/ Yes, you can see us on YouTube live – but joining us on zoom makes it easier to ask questions and discuss issues.


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

 

NRSC TIME!
While there is no one date, remember, you have to do an NRSC for each AM station once a year, with no more than 14 months intervening. Want to know more? Check out this article from Norm Laramee. Also worth a look is the article James Boyd did for us.
Bottom line: get your arrangements set now and you could save a lot of money by being on a technician’s route. Need to know whom to call? That info is right here.

UNDERSTANDING THE TUBE REBUILDING ISSUES
Reid Brandon, a long time Eimac employee until he retired, has produced an interesting history of the broadcast industry tube-rebuilding. While it may or may not lead you to a new rebuilder to keep your tube transmitter on the air, you will understand the situation better.

THE C-BAND FIGHT CONTINUES
As readers delve into the comments made to the FCC, which is wrestling with the mandate from Congress to auction off at least 100 MHz of what is left of the C-Band, we find quite a wide variety of positions. The NAB says the FCC should just settle for the 100 MHz taken from the frequencies broadcasters use. On the other size, all the major US cellular companies are pushing hard to get that last 80 MHz – they want the whole C-Band. Mark Johnson did offer some points for broadcasters to consider.

ATSC 3.0 ROADBLOACK?
According to the NAB, the move to ATSC 3.0 will be extremely slow, perhaps fatally, if there are holdups in mandating ATSC 3.0 in new televisions, and set a sunset date for ATSC 1.0. The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) feels the same. One the other side, the Consumer Electronics Industry says it is “too soon” and widespread consumer demand for ATSC 3.0 TVs is not yet strong enough  for manufacturers to default to ATSC 3.0, much less 4k video.

FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON
A recent survey disclosed that – surprise – nearly 50% of radio stations say finding a broadcast engineer is one of their greatest challenges.

… OR ANYONE
The changes in the nature of broadcast work has led to some startling statistics, including how, in many places the Fast Food industry is paying more for workers than broadcast air talent. No wonder 82% of air workers feel unappreciated – taken for granted by management/ownership.

NON-CONFORMING SITES
Does your tower sit on land with an non-conforming wavier? A number of those tower built in the late 40’s and 50’s are reaching an end-of-life, only for the station to discover that they cannot replace the tower and are losing their sites due to zoning changes. The point is for stations to know/negotiate with the local zoning board long before tower replacement couold become a factor.

BUT CAN YOU SEE?
The latest snow storm (cyclone) with the extensive power outages brings to mind something that should be in your car/truck – a flashlight. Yes, your cellphone likely has a light in it, but if you are out troubleshooting a real problem, do you want to be constantly moving the phone from your ear to the issue? Or, worse, would you want the cellphone battery to run down? Just a reminder – put a flashlight in the vehicle! Even better, inside the building have a battery-based light available (one you can turn on, so the battery will not die before you get there!).

FM IN ENGLAND IMPERILED
Reports from the other side of the pond indicate the government is leaning toward ending analog FM in the next three to ten years. According to the regulators, digital listening has been steading increasing. No mandatory switch-off is yet set, but the writing is on the wall, so to speak.

AN EXPOSED DATABASE HAD 3 BILLION RECORDS
Everyone needs to periodically assess their cyber security. This is a constant refrain. We hear about breeches in network security at big companies and wonder if they will affect us. But consider: just like the data consolidators that seem to know a lot about us – and feed us personalized ads – if we have any web exposure, bad guy consolidators also build huge databases – like the recently discovered one with 3 billion records, including Social Security numbers. This database was taken offline in January, but you can be sure there are others.

FOR SALE
Do you have an AM stereo exciter that you would like to sell? Or perhaps you could use an Arrakis DARC Surface 8 ASIO (USB) Studio Console System, or any of the other items available on the For Sale page.


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

 

Here are some of the more recent items of interest:

Here are some of the more recent items of interest:

Here are some of the more recent items of interest:

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

                       
                       MANUFACTURERS’ NEWS

                      Getting ready for NAB?  We will be featuring booth numbers and Free Floor Pass codes here starting next week.

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                      Nautel has announced the first two comprehensive training sessions to take place in Nautel�s new Training Center, which was completed in the fall of 2025. For 2026, each course will last three days and will cover FM transmitters, AM transmitters, and RF technology essentials, with a focus on direct, hands-on transmitter operation. The sessions will held June 14 � 17 and September 14 � 16, 2026. For more information or to register for a Nautel RF Basics course, visit https://support.nautel.com/training .

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                      The Telos Alliance                       announced a critical software update for its Linear Acoustic AERO series television audio processors. The new software, V3.32.47, contains the most current Nielsen watermark encoding library to address a known issue for the NAES VI (NW/N6) encoder, which will reset its timestamp on January 1, 2027, causing it to report incorrect information to Nielsen.

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                      Only a few days left for Broadcast Electronics February sale on their refurbished FXi250W digital exciters and transmitters. Just $1999, including shipping in the US, until Feb 28th. Contact dvance@bdcast.com or jmyers@bdcast.com

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

                       

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

                        • 2 year ago (2/23/24) Beyonc� became first Black woman to top Billboard country music chart with single “Texas Hold ‘Em.“
                        • 28 years ago (2/28/98) Celine Dion got a #1 hit from the movie Titanic with “My Heart Will Go On.“
                        • 29 years ago (2/23/97) The Spice Girls got in everyone’s head with their #1 hit “Wannabe.“
                        • 31 years ago (2/24/95) Frank Sinatra made his last public performance.
                        • 33 years ago (2/27/93) Whitney Houston’s sone “I Will Always Love You” hit #14 for the 14th week.
                        • 42 years ago (2/24/84) Van Halen jumped to #1 with “Jump” for five weeks.
                        • 43 years ago (2/28/83) the final episode of M*A*S*H was broadcast. 77% of all viewers saw it.
                        • 46 years ago (2/27/80) the first and only Grammy Award for Disco went to …. *
                        • 53 years ago (2/24/73) Roberta Flack started five weeks at #1 with “Killing Me Softly with His Song.“
                        • 55 years ago (2/27/71) three months after she died, Janis Joplin’s album “Pearl” hit #1.
                        • 60 years ago (2/26/66) Nancy Sinatra walked all the way up to #1 with “These Boots Are Made for Walking.”

                        … and along time ago, in a galaxy far, far away … oh, sorry, got carried away! Never mind!

                        Here are a few other “newsy” items of interest:

                        • 33 years ago (2/26/93) the World Trade Center bombing kills six, injures more than 1,000. (Not 9/11!)
                        • 33 years ago (2/28/93) a gun battle broke out that led to fire and death of Branch Davidians at Waco.
                        • 26 years ago (2/28/90) the ARPANET was decommissioned, becoming the Internet.
                        • 54 years ago (2/17/72) the VW Beetle overtook the Ford Model T as world’s best-selling car.
                        • 65 years ago (2/25/64) Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, defeated Sonny Liston to win his first world heavyweight title.
                        • 73 years ago (2/28/53) scientists first discovered the chemical structure of DNA.
                        • 91 years ago (2/26/35) Robert Watson-Watt demonstrated RADAR for the first time.
                        • 107 years ago (2/26/19) the Grand Canyon National Park was established.
                        • 223 years ago (2/24/1803) Marbury v. Madison establishes principle of judicial review in US.

                        … and 571 years ago (2/23/1455) the Gutenberg Bible was published.


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

                                             

                                            * It took Wilson 7 months to finish this recording.

                                            MIDWEEK BONUS

                                            AAs numerous as stars in the sky? On January 30 2026, SpaceX filed an application with the FCC for a megaconstellation of up to one million satellites to power data centres in space. The idea of data centers in space is tempting – to get rid of the energy drain on land, but here is the frightening part. If satellites stopped collision avoidance manoeuvres, the latest data shows we can expect a major collision in 3.8 days. Curious: More info here.


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                                            barry