Lesson 6. Facilities, Engineering, and Operations

Basics of the Board

The LION’s AudioArts D 70 on air board is a state of the art digital broadcast console
Each element of the studio (mic, CD player, music computer) is controlled by a “channel” on the board
Each channel consists of:
- volume fader (called a pot short for potentiometer)
- on/off buttons
- a cue button
- a set of buttons (output buses) controlling the destination of where the sound goes
- an A/B switch.
The station uses a computer program that allows DJs to access our liners, promos, other pre produced audio, and a lot of our music – this “live assist” software is called iMediaPix.

Transmitter & EAS (Emergency Alert System) Log

Use Page One of the Log to sign in at the beginning of your shift and sign out at the end
Page Two records Meter Readings, call the WKPS transmitter and gauge its output in watts
Page Three is used to record the time of any EAS warnings or Amber Alerts EAS – Emergency Alert System; statewide system for weather warnings Amber Alert – State warnings issued via EAS about missing children

Engineering

The LION’s FM signal is broadcast by a transmitter on the roof of the now former Business Administration Building (BAB), located at the NW corner of campus.
The audio signal produced using the studio equipment is first routed through a series of devices rack mounted in an equipment tower inside the studio (the airchain)
The airchain includes:
- an Airtools digital delay that allows DJs to “dump” accidental profanity before it goes out over the air (The LION is always on a 10 second delay, except during live sports broadcasts)
- An audio signal processor called a Compellor
The signal then travels from the airchain to BAB via a copper wire connection * The LION is currently petitioning Penn State to provide a more reliable/durable, high quality fiber optic cable for the studio to transmitter connection
An Optimod digital audio processor fine tunes the signal at the transmitter site.
The signal is sent out over the State College airwaves via a roof mounted antenna.
An antenna on the roof of Hub picks up the signal and feeds 2 different tuners via coax: 1 in the film room which feeds our webcast computers, the other our studio rack mounted Logger/Skimmer Computer to record the air feed.
Logger: 24/7 continuous recording, low bit rate mp3. Skimmer: higher bit rate mp3, select recording when mics are on.

Phone Lines