Many of the things technical people deal with have names or origins that are not necessarily clear or have been forgotten. This is one of a series answering the question: Why is it? In this installment, why is the coax impedance in broadcast usually 50 Ohms. Although there are different impedances needed for […]

Computers have come a long way in the past 40 years. Interactive applications can show quite a bit about how an antenna will perform. Yet, real world measurements and field checks can sometimes provide a surprise or two. Learning more and being able to visualize how antennas radiate can go a long way […]

Most engineers think of Cat 5 and Cat 6 cable as useful for data and control, but not audio. Sometimes, the thinking is that the lack of shielding means the cable is not very useful for clean audio. But, as Steve Lampen explains the history of Category cables, you may want to think […]

Most broadcaster engineers try hard to present a signal as clean as possible, so the listener can hear the audio as close to the way the artist intended. However, it takes hard work, especially on the program audio to be successful. Even small differences in the audio as it moves though the program […]

Give a broadcast engineer a piece of gear and the first thing he wants to do is open it up and find out what is inside. Then the next thing is to find out what he can do with the product – even things not intended originally by the manufacturer. This time Dana […]

Directional Antennas (DAs) can be a big mystery for some until they discover that with a little algebra, the basic concepts are fairly easy to understand. But when you mention negative towers, many folks just do not know how to grasp the concept – perhaps thinking of towers that go down into the […]

Over the years, Ron Nott has helped many stations solve transmission issues. Sometimes, he finds the unipole to be the right solution – even for a directional antenna. AM broadcasters have been using the folded unipole now for well over than five decades, providing a good track record as to its efficacy. For […]

It has been ten years since the HD Radio (aka IBOC) rollout began in earnest. Since then, two distinct camps have developed; one camp is running it, the other eschewing it as a solution looking for a problem. Few seem to be in the middle. Now, after a […]

We live in an exciting time of human history. Science and technology can do things that were just Science Fiction a few years ago. The Bell System Technical Journals archives show how many of our modern technologies developed and how engineers overcame various obstacles. Within the last six months or so the entire […]

Ever try to explain to a non-technical person just how radio works? Fortunately, Ron Nott kindly relates how radio technology was explained by some of the greatest brains in history. Maybe this will help you, too! Einstein Explains Radio In the late teens and early 1920s, there were two things occurring. Albert […]