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Looking for resources and articles on setting up a radio studio!!

D

dspxscott

Hi Guys

The title say's it all. A few people have asked advice on this topic and there is no point in reinventing the wheel when the net has it there. Any pointers would be appreciated.

Regards
Scott
 
Sounds like a great project but I don't have a candidate article to offer this morning. So much of what I see on the topic are "fluff" pieces showing pretty and neat studios, but offering very little in the way of WHY the design works, and what UNIQUE locations of features were included in the designs. This could turn out to be a very productive thread.
 
Ok, I'll kick it off.

Put the computor monitors on the right ( most people are right handed)

same goes for mike booms

Mount the monitors at table level if possible to prevent cricked necks

If possible place other mikes than the board op's on the opposite side of the board so the op is looking across the board at guests not left or right

Don't place secondary monitors ( local tv station monitor, weather radar etc) on your work surface place them on the wall in front of you.

Use rounded edges on your table tops, sharp edges eventually get hooked by clothing etc and the table liminite gets torn off the edges and corners

Don't use long earphone cables you'll either get tangled or forget about it and clothsline yourself.

Give guests independant gain for their headphones.

Tie circut grounds on the receiving end but not on the sending end at first then if you get hum or rf try switching or tieing both ends.

Do not loop your grounds instead star ground to a central point

That's just some stuff from the top of my head
 
ellenparks said:
Tie circut grounds on the receiving end but not on the sending end at first then if you get hum or rf try switching or tieing both ends.
Click to expand...

All very excellent suggestions. I believe, however, that conventional wisdom is to tie grounds at the source where impedance is lowest and to leave the destination floating. If that does not work, be prepared to reverse grounding or tie on both ends, as has already been well suggested.

I would add:

Make the on-air console as clean and simple as possible. Avoid mixers with eq and other adjustments because people fiddle with the knobs and foul up the sound.

Use a console with at least two stereo busses.

Always make sure analog gear, like the mixer, has complete documentation, including schematics.

If automation is used, decide if the console will be the "gatekeeper" or if that will be job of the automation system. The most common configuration is to have the automation feed the console but either way is valid and each has its advantages.
 
Kmagrill said:
If automation is used, decide if the console will be the "gatekeeper" or if that will be job of the automation system. The most common configuration is to have the automation feed the console but either way is valid and each has its advantages.
Click to expand...

If the console is the gatekeeper, be prepared to work late nights should it ever need service. And if the power supply in it goes "poof", be prepared to be off the air until it's fixed. In the 10+ years I have been doing this, I use the automation switcher as the gatekeeper. It serves several purposes, the two main ones are that it allows you to work on the console without the station going off the air, and it opens up the control room for other uses when it's not being used to broadcast. When I get a quote on an automation system, I always get two switchers in the quote. Main and backup. In the grand scheme of things, an extra $300 switcher is a lot better than the station being off the air for a console problem.
 
Extra switching is a good idea. Have the ability to put either console or automation directly on the air as well as production room, if you have one.

Use a silence sensor with a backup audio source to auto-switch to the air in case the main audio stops.
 
Here's a couple of links from "RCA Broadcast News", parts 1 and 2 of a series on building a radio station:

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RCA-Broadcast-News/RCA-BC-132-com.pdf

http://americanradiohistory.com/Archive-RCA-Broadcast-News/RCA-BC-134-1967-Jun.pdf

Part 3 is not available, it seems.

I received a set of all three reprints from RCA back when I was first starting to dream of working in radio and TV...these are from 1967, but still give some good, solid basics. And, the rest of the issues have some great remembrances.
 
The "Gatekeeper" discussion really depends on how much live programming will be used. If your using satellite programming most of the time, use the switcher as the gatekeeper. If you are doing a lot of live programming, you need to have the console as the gatekeeper. That gives you the ability to cross-fade, run bumper music lower, open the mic at will, etc.

I always put things like mic processors and audio switchers at the far end of the studio, away from the knob twiddlers. If you put it near the DJ, they will either mess with it or accidentally bump it. I only put the CD players, Mini disc, etc. on the desktop.

If possible, stub your console inputs and output out to punch blocks. It will save wear and tear on your console when things get added and removed.

I'll add more as I think of them...
 
Lazy J said:
The "Gatekeeper" discussion really depends on how much live programming will be used. If your using satellite programming most of the time, use the switcher as the gatekeeper. If you are doing a lot of live programming, you need to have the console as the gatekeeper. That gives you the ability to cross-fade, run bumper music lower, open the mic at will, etc.
Click to expand...

Run automation computer outputs to your console and switcher...best of both worlds. DA optional but reccomended.
 
Kmagrill said:
I believe, however, that conventional wisdom is to tie grounds at the source where impedance is lowest and to leave the destination floating.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about that. I've seen it both ways, but it seems to me that what I've seen most often from console manufacturers is more along the line of what Ellen said- ground the shield at the destination end and leave the sources floating.

That being said, none of that is "conventional wisdom" anymore. Unshielded Cat-5 terminated on Krone blocks is the way we've been doing it for about 10 years now, in some pretty big markets.

One Krone block will do 25 pairs on each side. You can get a lot of connections that way in a small area. Just make sure all your audio is balanced. The cable is for digital, but it's perfectly appropriate for analog. It come in single pair, dual pair, and 25 pair from all the broadcast supply houses.
 
I built and then moved a studio and found that an analog console with RJ45 connections in and out makes the whole operation easier and faster. Just label and document everything and it's easy to make changes or add things in the future. That, and I used good old XLR plugs so that the ops manager can easily be talked through a gatekeeper swap if the console was to fail (I'm a casual contractor for them as needed but I do give them phone support). Since they are using Arrakis for automation (not my choice) and are live about 8 hours daily I opted for the Radio Systems Millennium console to be the gatekeeper though at another station I contract for the Broadcast Tools switcher paired with Nex Gen has that role as they are nearly exclusively on satellite. The other consideration is how much future-proofing you can do. The first studio I mentioned is an all sports station and over the past two years they have more than tripled the amount of different content they are carrying. By adding wiring on the front end I have been able to make the additions they needed painlessly for all of us with a few punch downs and some new labels.
 
Using BT as the gatekeeper has saved me many times as my auto can be accessed via the web. I also am now using Netswitch to set feeds to on air, stream, our State networks, and so on.

What is anyone doing with the web as far as video? After setting the system up years ago as a radio studio the use of video on air and internet simulcast has talent asking to be seated next to each other rather than across.
 
Kmagrill said:
ellenparks said:
Tie circut grounds on the receiving end but not on the sending end at first then if you get hum or rf try switching or tieing both ends.
Click to expand...
If automation is used, decide if the console will be the "gatekeeper" or if that will be job of the automation system. The most common configuration is to have the automation feed the console but either way is valid and each has its advantages.
Click to expand...

We use consoles at 'gatekeepers' with no problems. I guess because we use nice (AudioArts) boards, it is never a problem for us.

Audiovault would be equally reliable as a gatekeeper.

The real reason I am posting is that it is odd how many times the word gatekeeper has been used with me over the last week. Someone dumbed down some Programming to help me understand an AV bug that BE fixed for me with a gatekeeper scenario... Then, a friend said something about being a gatekeeper of sorts. Then this thread... I feel like I'm in the matrix, lol.

Happy 2012 folks.

To the OP, if you are building a studio, build an AES room... Less cable, no ground loop hum, simple life. It just adds the requirement of a master clock. Or an AES DA can do if you want to go cheap.
 
Slightly off topic, I am reminded of a story from radio school.
In the 60's, some station moved to a large downtown building and took over some abandoned space.
An unused large tile bathroom on another floor was set up with speakers and microphone and used as the reverb tank.
It was locked up and used for a while until one day, someone, somehow figured out how to get
into said restroom and the audience was treated to the sounds of this room in functional use.
 
Tom Wells said:
Slightly off topic, I am reminded of a story from radio school.
In the 60's, some station moved to a large downtown building and took over some abandoned space.
An unused large tile bathroom on another floor was set up with speakers and microphone and used as the reverb tank.
It was locked up and used for a while until one day, someone, somehow figured out how to get
into said restroom and the audience was treated to the sounds of this room in functional use.
Click to expand...

I hope the poor soul didn't have explosive diarrhea.
 
I have a setup thats slightly different but much preferred for the owner that I do a lot of work for:

We have a pair of relays in the audio path, NC side goes to output of BT switcher, NO side goes to the PGM out on console. I use 4pdt relays, one for each channel, double up the contacts so in the event a contact doesnt contact properly, the audio path is still there. Also, all relays are in sockets mounted on DIN rail for easy service.

This works great so production and maintenance can be done in control rooms without affecting what goes on air, one station is 100% satellite, the other is satellite except live mornings and high school sports.

I have not seen this done anywhere else, however here the owner specifically requested it to be done this way.
 
Double contacts are almost magic. :)

I now wonder if that reverb tank story was here or Valpo Tech, either way I believe it. :D
 
stephend2 said:
I have not seen this done anywhere else, however here the owner specifically requested it to be done this way.
Click to expand...

And if your relays fail? Yes, I understand wanting to conform to the wishes of the one who signs your check, but that way is just adding another, unnecessary, point of failure into the chain. In a pinch, I have paralleled off the input to the console and run another input to the BT switcher. That's not the ideal method since it changes the impedance of the inputs. I would try to calmly explain to him why the relay method isn't the ideal way of doing it. And if that doesn't convince him, oh well at least you tried.
 
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