This Week in Radio Tech HD

Engineers are usually the unsung heroes of Broadcasting. But Mark and Paula Persons have set a high bar for professionalism in our industry. They were both inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame and join us to talk about it. Did you know that Mark never wore blue jeans to work - not even at transmitter sites? And Paula’s keen accounting and PR skills made the most of Mark’s efforts...

In late September, 2024, hurricane Helene hit parts of Florida and caused wind damage and severe flooding in Georgia, South Carolina, and especially Western North Carolina. Hurricane Milton hit Florida in October, 2025, causing even more damage there. In both storms, electricity was knocked out, cell phone service disrupted, and Internet was down for many. In these disasters, local and regional ra...

Most broadcast engineers love a good project - especially when planning and resources overlap to enable a worthy outcome. But even solid “enablement” requires an engaged and knowledgeable engineer to guide the project’s moving parts, seeing the project through, and making sure the outcome fits the goal. That’s where Aaron Cox comes in. Aaron appreciates a good project - even a complex one - and he...

TWiRT is on location at a Nashville radio station - Jazzy 88, WFSK-FM. Rick Durham is a provider of managed IT services in Middle Tennessee. He’s also the engineer for WFSK-FM. WFSK is preparing for their annual fundraising event, where they broadcast live from the parking lot and take drive through donations while interviewing numerous Nashville dignitaries and music artists. We also spend a few...

Lee Melton is one of those semi-crazy radio guys that we know and love. And many of us wanted to BE that guy! Lee’s career started at KFI, Los Angeles, and he’s been at about 25 radio stations, even building a couple in Southeast Texas. Some have called him “The Kind of Radio Trade-Outs” while many others called him a friendly and fun voice on the radio. Lee’s radio recollections inspire plenty of...

Sometimes we originate a TWiRT episode from a newly-built radio studio. Today, however, we’re visiting beautiful studios that are under construction. Bill Jackson works with K-Love, a nationwide Christian radio group. He’s in charge of the design and build-out of a couple dozen radio studios, podcast rooms, edit, and news booths. Bill is absolutely maximizing Audio over IP technology throughout. L...

The Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) was created around 1989 to aid the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in making sure all broadcast operations are in compliance and to help stations understand the rules in a one-on-one setting. In the beginning, the ABIP inspectors were retired FCC engineers. As the program began to expand around the country, other engineers were recruited...

The rise of AI-generated lyrics and music is giving engineers something to chuckle about. But could this “easy creativity” inspire other engineering solutions? Kirk drew a comparison with photographer Jeremy Cowart and his use of an LED wall to produce 60 different portraits in 60 seconds. Anthony Kuzub, an engineer at CBC in Canada, pointed out the AI that’s involved with lighting a new studio, m...

Most every piece of equipment we use, or software we depend on began with an idea and a dream - a dream to help ourselves and others do their jobs better, faster, easier. Or perhaps to provide a service, or improve an existing one. Paul Stewart started Summit Technology Group with this motivation in mind as well. Paul and his company provide software and services with new features, conveniences, a...

The CCBE conference encompasses two days of professional broadcast engineering career development. This includes carefully-chosen paper presentations, an expo hall, and an awards dinner and ceremony honoring leaders in the broadcast engineering profession. We got to meet with and converse with leaders in the Central Canadian Broadcast Engineers group, plus Canadian engineers and leading equipment...

Have you wondered what goes on at the Network Operations Center of a satellite distribution network? We sure have, and our good friend, Marcos O’Rourke, joins us to talk about it. Marcos is now the Engineering Manager at Linkup Communications. We’ve followed Linkup’s rising star in the satellite communications business and watched as this company has grown to serve a lot of the broadcast industry....

It’s Radio Convention season and we’re bringing some of the Alabama Broadcasters Convention to you. Live from the Renaissance Ross Bridge Resort, we’re meeting with engineers and radio equipment reps as this ABA Convention draws to a close. One of our highlights is visiting with Steven Westbrook from the Alabama Historical Radio Society. We also get cameo appearances from Bob Mayben, Jeff Welton,...