[BC] Achieving good S/N

[Steve]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Dave.Hultsman at mxbackup01.virtbiz.com>
To: <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2005 1:49 PM
Subject: [BC] Achieving good S/N


> In a message dated 12/24/05 11:50:04 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> shnewman at alaweb.com writes:
> Wow, now that I dig deep into my memory banks
> it's amazing we had 70db s/n on KSFR in 1962!
>
> Steve
>
> *********************
>
> Steve:
>
> Was this figure with stereo  or mono?  I know about your passive
> console. Studio at transmitter or on phone lines?

Dave...to be honest with you it's a figure I was given by the transmitter
maint. guy. I think it was Stereo but could have been mono. I really can't
remember how he did his testing. However, being that we had an audio guy
(freelancer from Ampex) and a transmitter guy (think he was with Lockheed)
I'll bet this was measured at the transmitter. Oh, you asked if our studio
was at the transmitter or hooked via phone lines. We were in downtown San
Francisco using 15Kc loops to Mt. San Bruno. (where most all the TV's and
FM's were at the time) We used Langevin line amps to drive the phone lines.
Now, I distinclty remember turning the transmitter on Saturday and Sunday
mornings (hey I was 17 y.o. and a part-timer board monkey) and that carrier
was dead quiet on the Tannoy's. We were quiet alright. Real quiet. Guess
that's one of the reasons we were 1 out of  7 stations in America to win the
Hi-Fi Stereo Review award for best audio. The owner gave the word perfection
a whole new meaning. :) I think I want to go back to the days of the Conax
FM processors. :) Well, for Classical music formats, anyway. (that was the
format at KSFR) You may have seen my post where I said you couldn't tell the
difference between listening off the turntable or the on-air monitor. It was
really amazing. Bob Orban remembers the station and will attest to what I'm
saying.

Steve