[BC] Future of Radio Eng. /was/ Computer based audio

[Phil Alexander]

On 16 Feb 2006 at 9:24, Tom Bosscher wrote:

> Phil Alexander wrote:
> > However, in a few more years, the entire studio plant
> > will belong to computer jocks and software will rule.
> > 
> > IMHO the only real broadcast engineering will be RF
> > transmission engineering, and AM will still require
> > the individual, customized solutions.
> 
> 	Depends on what your definition of "IS" is. All stations will continue 
> to require the services of a qualified BROADCAST engineer. Not an IT 
> person. As with life, the role of the broadcast engineer has evolved. If 
> you don't teach yourself the new methods, you are left behind.

At the Tx, yes. But at the studio, where studios are separate, real
engineers will IMHO become as extinct as Dodo birds - with the exception
of construction/buildout which will probably fall to contractor.

> 	Do we need to have local SBE sessions showing the new kids how to phase 
> align cart machines? I don't think so. But we did 20 years ago.

Actually, with no mechanical equipment except for worksurfaces and
keyboards, I doubt there is anything in the studio that will need
engineering attention.

> 	Do we need to have Kirk Harnack come to our fair city to show us the 
> Axia system. Of course. (and we have!)

No question about it, and that is the tip of the iceberg of the audio
as data network of the future. When Axia or its progeny reaches the
third generation, there will be nothing to do except box or card
swapping, and by that time, diagnostics should be built in so any
fool can pull out card #17 (or whatever) and replace it.
> 
> 	The average IT dude will have no idea how to interface any 
> console/router equipment with the EAS box. 

If we HAVE an EAS box, it goes in the line to the Tx, possibly AT
the Tx and the interfacing will be plug and play at either the AES
(now) or IP (future) level.

> No idea how to install a separate and isolated on air switcher 
> to select between two server/routing systems.

Yes, there may be contractors who install new buildouts, just
as contractors do phone systems and major office IT installs now.

> 	Broadcast engineering today has become, in addition to the necessary RF 
> work, a "How do I get Box A to talk to Box B" systems approach. This is 
> total foreign to the IT folks. All of their boxes talk to just their boxes.

Axia, better than anything else on the market IMHO, shows the way to 
the end of these compatibility problems. Everything has an IP addy
and all else is a software problem. (Or router config, but that is
essentially a variation on the IT same theme.

> 	In IT work, there is no "thinking outside the box". Most broadcast 
> engineers on this list don't think outside the box. They kick the box 
> out of the way! They do what has to be done. Those who do neither 
> deserve no income.

Which is why broadcast engineers make SO much more income than IT
people I suppose? No, I think the difference is we tend to think
in hardware while they think almost entirely in software. And,
the studio world of the future will, with the exception of 
construction, be a software world IMHO.

> 	To me, I am doing broadcast engineering when I can tell the GM's and 
> PD's, that "Yes, I can do that". Keep in mind it is a service job. To 
> think that broadcast engineering will become only "RF transmission 
> engineering" is very short sighted, and income reducing. 

All jobs are "service" jobs, Tom. We give better service than others,
that's all. When was the last time a computer jock answered a 3 AM call?

> I plan to be still working in broadcast engineering ten years from 
> now, and I won't be relegated to just RF engineering.

Nothing says you can't become an IT guy too, but when you do, you
may find inviting opportunities lie outside broadcasting. Yes, there
will be one or two areas where IP audio will diverge slightly from
standard IP data, IOW mixing, but this is not so foreign that IT
types can't learn it easily.

OTOH, IBOC is going to make RF engineering MUCH more demanding. It 
is an area of broadcasting where an IT guy has no background for
comprehending the work. Requirements for "maintaining the envelope"
may well become the EB's greatest treasure trove. Those who don't
desire to become regular contributors will need true broadcast
engineers. And AM plants, especially older AM plants that are
profitable operations ... quite a few of those will need real
engineering, not IP plug-n-play. ;-)

The future is bright, but changes from what we have known as radio
for the past 75 years are already HUGE, simply huge, and more to 
come IMHO.


Phil Alexander, CSRE, AMD
Broadcast Engineering Services and Technology 
(a Div. of Advanced Parts Corporation) 
Ph. (317) 335-2065   FAX (317) 335-9037





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