Locality Switch

The weekend starts tomorrow; that means only one thing – an Outside Broadcast from Castle Towers shopping centre. I’m really excited – this is the first OB they’ve let me do since Australia Day, so I’m rip-roaring to go! To make it better, we’re using some new technology (well, new to us, at least!).

The whole broadcast will be encoded into an Ogg Vorbis stream by EdCast, and then sent over a borrowed 3G connection back to our studios where it will go to air. This is the first time I’ve done this, so I’m excited, to say the least. It’s a four hour broadcast, so this will be a great chance to test everything out.

How do I know it will work? I’ve been trying this for weeks, broadcasting to myself over the 3G modem back to a PC at the station. I’ve been able to broadcast for quite some time, before being interrupted (usually by the smell of dinner). This whole thing is actually pretty good, and I don’t expect any trouble.

The real questions are, “what could go wrong?” and “what can I do to prevent/fix it?”. Here’s a couple of scenarios:

• People at the studios can’t access the feed. This could happen, if they misplace my instructions or something bad happens to the computer in the studio. To cover for this, I’ve got remote access to one of the PCs, so I can do it all by myself, if need be
• The internet at the studios drops out. This does happen every so often, so I’ve ensured that people at the studio have access to the modem, so it can be power-cycled
• No 3G reception; This would be dreadful. However, I’ve tested the site extensively, and there is full signal strength – hopefully this won’t occur.
• Laptop at the site breaks; I’ll be taking my MacBook which can run Windows, just in case

If you’ve got some free time tomorrow morning and live in the Castle Hill area of NSW, please come down and say hello. It would be great to catch up with you. I’ll be there for a 10am broadcast, running until 2pm. Full details are on the 2CCR Website.

With the CBF now accepting applications for the Audio over IP Outside Broadcast grant, I thought I would put together a hypothetical outside broadcast rig. Is it possible to put together a complete rig within the limits of this budget? We’ll soon find out.

This isn’t just the computer and 3G modem – this is my attempt to fit all the essentials into a rig (computer, modem, mixer, as well as PA gear). Let’s see if I can juggle it. All prices are for information only, and will probably change before the end of the week.

Laptop: Compaq Presario CQ60-210TU (Dick Smith Electronics – $748.00)

3G Modem: Huawei E1762 (Exetel – $145.00)

Mixer: Yamaha MG102C ($269.00 RRP)

Amp: Behringer EP2000 ($529.00)

Speakers: 2x Behringer B212XL ($275.00 each)

Microphone: Sennheiser E816 ($129.00)

Total: $2370.00 This leaves $130 to spend on some accessories (e.g. mic cables, stands, etc.)

So, this is pretty much the cheapest rig I could piece together. Remember, you may have some bits and pieces lying around, such as a computer and some better mics. Also, I have assumed that we will be using free software on the PC.

I don’t really like the Mixer, speakers, or microphone in the above rig. We can do much better than that cheap stuff!

What happens if we up the budget a bit? Let’s say, $4000. Here’s what I would do:

Laptop: Compaq Presario CQ60-210TU (Dick Smith Electronics – $748.00)

3G Modem: Huawei E1762 (Exetel – $145.00)

Mixer: Yamaha MG124CX ($566.00)

Speakers: 2x Yamaha R112 ($449.00 each)

Amp: Yamaha P2500S ($699.00)

Wireless Mic: Shure PG2/PG58 ($599.00)

Total: $3755.00 Leaving $245.00 for accessories

That’s much nicer. Now we have a proper mixer with faders, rather than cheap pots, as well as a wireless mic and some nicer speakers and amp.

What if we decide we want a full two way audio link, so you can have chats with the people in the studio? We’ll need something like the offering from AudioTX, coming in at a bit below $5000 (based on some rough calculations, only).

Finally, remember that I haven’t included any ongoing costs, such as the 3G connection charges. That will cost extra, but I don’t think you can claim these ongoing charges from the grant.

Can we get a full OB rig for less than $2500? Yes we can! Is the equipment ideal? Not quite, but it will work and will allow you to establish a regular presence in the community. What I suggest is that stations get the core equipment from this grant, and then buy the rest from additional station funds (or perhaps do some fund raising or a sponsorship drive to raise the cash).

(For the record, many of the prices on this page came from Turramurra Music‘s website. I have no hesitations in recommending them as a great place to buy PA gear from.)

The Community Broadcasting Foundation announced in their July 2009 Email Newsletter that they would soon be offering grants for IP based Outside Broadcast equipment. Well, it’s finally arrived. Here’s the details.

Any long term or temporary community station without any existing IP OB equipment may apply for the grant of up to $2,500. This opportunity is only open this year, so if you miss the 12th October 2009 deadline for submissions, then there is the chance you may never be able to apply for this type of grant.

Taking a look through the application form, you are asked how many OBs you did in 2009, and are asked to list the last five OBs you have performed. While it does say “if applicable” next to this bit, my guess is that stations with a previous history of OBs will be given priority.

The application form has a table with different categories of items, with a place to write in your quoted amount for each of the ones you are applying for. Categories include notebook computers, USB modems, Mixing consoles, Microphones, Audio interfaces and most curiously, Audio Streaming Software.

The Audio Streaming Software category is either badly worded, or implies that they don’t want to fund hardware solutions. It looks like AudioTX and Tieline are out of the question. I suppose this isn’t surprising, as the OB-over-IP Manual released by the CBF didn’t really cover any hardware solutions (or any open source software packages, either!).

What does this grant opportunity mean for the sector? It means that it may now be possible for many stations to move away from POTS codecs and leased lines which have been used for traditional outside broadcasts, and move towards IP equipment over 3G connections. It will allow for much more programming freedom, and will possibly allow for more OBs to occur.

Easier and cheaper OBs will hopefully allow for more community interaction and involvement, and that’s what we’re here for. Right?

During work experience, I was able to get very familiar with the Axia Audio-over-IP Studios. From my knowledge, there aren’t any that many stations using Axia studios, and I don’t even remember seeing them at SMPTE09, so their choice to invest in this brand was interesting to me.

However, there was a very valid reason they chose this brand over, say, Logiteck or Klotz. With either of these alternate brands (and others, I believe), the audio is all connect directly into the studio engines via I/O cards.

What happens if you have an audio source which needs to be used in multiple studios? You can access the audio over the network no matter what studio it is connected into, but if the studio with the audio for that feed connected into it needs to be brought offline, or perhaps restarted, you loose access to that source.

How do these companies suggest you get around this issue? Distribution amplifiers – run the audio into each studio’s engine through a DA. Hang on! Isn’t the point of Audio-over-IP equipment to avoid all of that thick multi-pair cable which is so expensive and takes extra time to install?

Let’s take a look at how Axia does it: no audio is actually connected into the studio engine. It all is connected into Audio Nodes, which are basically a 1RU device which hooks into your audio network via a single run of Cat6, and has some analog inputs and outputs on the back. All of that audio is now available on the network, to be accessed wherever you desire.

The end result: if you need to turn off a whole studio, you don’t risk taking any station-wide audio off the network. You also don’t need any multi pair cable into each studio, and DAs.

The problem I think the other manufacturers are facing is old thinking. (Actually, this is what the technical manager at Hope 103.2 described it as – and I agree with him). They are using the old methodology of all audio being connected into the studio, rather than having it connected into anywhere on the network. I can’t blame them for thinking like this – studios have been doing this for years, why change it for digital, right?

Why would you want to stick with this old approach when it’s obvious that this node approach of Axia’s is better thinking? By the way, it’s not as if Axia came up with this approach – computer networks have been doing this for ages.

Let’s move forwards and adapt new ways of thinking. Let’s be agents of change.

(I don’t mean to bag out Logiteck or Klotz. I spoke to both of them at SMPTE09, and they are great people. However, I believe that perhaps they are using the wrong techniques for this digital studio revolution.)

Spring is coming soon, and in The Hills, we celebrate with the Orange Blossom Festival – it’s an annual festival encompassing over forty events over a two week period.

2CCR FM is the local broadcaster for this area, so it’s our duty to broadcast as much of this as we can. With the festival official community opening on the 12th September, we have only a month to get our act together. Luckily, our first meeting was last night.

I’m hoping to broadcast at least five or so of these events, mainly the outdoor fetes and markets they are holding. The general nature of these outdoor fetes means there is no phone line available, meaning we can pot any POTS codecs away (not that we ever owned a pair!). I’m hoping for Audio-over-IP all the way, man! (Using open-source software, such as IceCast)

I won’t go into the details of our meeting right now – I’ll reveal bits and pieces as the days go on.

However, here’s a few key things which I hope to work on for the festival to ensure we really reach out to our community, and make the most of it:

• Full OBs – not just live crosses The presenters, music, etc. should all come live from the venue to capture the full spirit of the event
• Heaps of people I don’t want a half-heated attempt from anyone; we need swarms of our people dresses up in the polo shirt mingling with the crowds of onlookers
• Heaps of Interviews Quick chats on-air with members of the public, as well as longer interviews with interesting people
• Particular focus on membership and sponsorship We need to make sure we talk with interested people to sign them up as members; the same goes for potential sponsors – it needs to be viable
• Heaps of brochures No one should walk past us without getting one of our fancy glossy brochures

It’s going to be a long journey to get the results I dream of, but I know we can make it. The key to making this work, in my opinion, is to make sure we involve as many people as possible from the start. When the meeting was called, I made sure I called heaps of people to confirm they could come (never rely on a mass email for anything!). That is a start, but that needs to keep happening throughout this whole thing.

Wish us luck! (And if you want to help, email me!)

The Community Broadcasting Foundation has just announced in their July 2009 Update that they will soon be introducing grants for IP-Based Outside Broadcast equipment. Here’s the full announcement:

If your station would like to do outside broadcasts (OBs) using the internet, you will soon have the opportunity to apply for up to $2,500 toward IP-based OB equipment through CBOnline grants. These grants will be available only during 2009/10 – with applications closing on Monday 12 October 2009.

If you’re new to IP-based OBs and need some ideas for how to go about it, download the Mobile Broadcasting for Community Radio Stations Manual. It describes what options are available and whether IP-based OBs are suitable for your station.

This is fantastic! I’ll start putting my application together ASAP. While I couldn’t put together a full OB rig (kitted out with proper PA gear, outboard processing, UHF mics, etc.) for under $2,500 it would certainly buy the basics any station would need to get started. And that, I believe, is what this grant is about – getting stations started.

The part I find most interesting about this announcement is the Mobile Broadcasting for Community Radio Stations Manual. Let me say first that this is a great idea, publishing a concise manual to give stations a run down 0f how to perform an IP-based OB. It’s the right idea, but I think it has been executed in the wrong way.

The part that was unexpected and disturbing to me was that proprietary software was used for all of the examples! NCH’s Broadwave was pretty much used exclusively for the streaming, and Hamachi’s Log Me In was used for remote computer access. Both proprietry pieces of software, and both require you to buy a licence (they both have limited free versions, but it’s a licencing minefield).

While there is nothing wrong with each of these pieces of software, and I don’t blame them for using them as an example, mention should have been made of the open source alternatives. Shoutcast or Icecast are both massively popular pieces of software which allow you to stream stably for long periods of time. Shoutcast is closed source, but 100% free, and Icecast is 100% open source. I know they both work incredibly well because I use them both on a regular basis.

As far as remote access goes, I thought VNC would have been the option of choice. It’s open source, has a massive community around it, and is also easy to get running.

There was an appendix which made a brief mention of other streaming solutions. On this list I found NCH VRS (a logging program, not even proper streaming!), Real Producer Basic, VLC, Audio TX Communicator (a hardware solution), Ustream and Ubroadcast. At least mention was made of one open source piece of software, that being VLC.

The CBF is on the right path in producing this manual, but surly community radio should be trying out the open source products before dishing out cash to companies for proprietary software. It would be great if this manual could be revised to include mention of open source software.