Please note that in my post I didn't say Blade or Node. I said CORE switch. Big difference.
Even when you plug in a studio switch to a trunk port on the Core switch and on Wheatstone system, you get a few seconds of Garble. In my post I was talking about the Core Cisco switch used with these systems to connect the studios and in some instances Blades. The Core switch can take 10-15 minutes to boot up and start passing traffic. During that time you are thinking about the old analog days when that didn.t happen.
I have run large Axia and Wheatstone systems I know a little about them. I regularly log in at least once a weekend to check the health of a Wheatstone installation with three Cisco switches making up the "Core Switch." I have 15 Cisco switches in studios that plug into the Trunk ports on the Core Switch, so I have seen the various ways the system "Hiccups."
KCBS is Audacy I think that plant is Axia but not sure, they could have switched to Wheatstone. Since it looks like it was just KCBS and not the other stations in the cluster, kinda does rule out the Core Switch needing a reboot Axia or Wheatstone. Going down further the guessing Rabbit Hole. If Axia maybe Pathfinder going down? If Wheatstone maybe a Blade or Studio Switch going down, back to the Core issue for the KCBS side.
The Jumbled audio manifest itself differently on Axia and Wheatstone. Axia when there was a major failure the audio you could understand but popping in and out then gone until the switch was happy, Axia can also have issue if Pathfinder locks up. I haven't worked with an up to date Axia system in 4 years so things may have changed with Pathfinder, but the Core Switch still needs time to come up. Wheatstone you get a very weird Jumbled audio when you plug a studio switch back into a Core Trunk port that is random on what it affects, but it can take every station in a cluster off the air for a few (about 10) seconds with this Jumbled audio. That's why we don't reconnect a studio switch to the Core during Drive and usually after 6pm.
If you have a small Wheatsone set up with a small Core switch or just one main switch for both Studios you may not experience some of these issues because the Cisco switch can re index faster and adds fewer routes than a system that has 15 remote studio switches going back to the Core and a total Blade count of 65. Your Blades may even boot faster since they are entering a smaller environment. In the one I work with it is just under 2 minutes.
Yes I have played Blade bingo during drive and rebooted a mic blade. One time I was a winner, the second time was a Sh*t show. Things you think about when rebooting a Blade. Hmm did I select the right blade...sh#t didn't have my glasses on. when you push a configuration or firmware update you always have you finger crossed.
IP based systems are great and do away with punch blocks and cross connects, cross connects are all in software now. I'm sure it made it easier for iHeart to switch the base ball game to KFI when KLAC was having their DA messed with. IP based systems introduce new challenges in their management.
It is great being able to login from home and see the whole Wheatstone system, make adjustments and fix most issues.
