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

[DANA PUOPOLO]

See, that's my major problem in a nutshell with broadcast engineering these
days.

They expect you to not only fix the transmitters, STL's, consoles, etc. but
NOW they also demand you fix the printers, sales workstations, telephone
system, web and file server, etc. etc., ad nauseum. And GOD FORBID the
Internet go down for over 30 seconds! What WILL these sales persons do without
being able to check personal email or go onto ebay to check their bids and
snipe!

If I'm expected to wear two hats and do two jobs, then I should be PAID for
doing two jobs. In my last position I had to rebuild a DX-50 that had been
badly abused. Part of this involved repairing and updating EVERY RF module
(there are like 140 of them!). During the three days this took, my cell rang
no less then 40 times with problems from sales, traffic, etc., DEMANDING that
I drop everything and RUN to fix their problem(s). The studio was 12 miles
away. One BIG problem that I HAD to respond to immediately was the traffic
printer not working. The problem was that they had put around 250 sheets of
paper into it. There was a sticker right on the paper tray (put there by HP)
that said: "CAUTION! Do not put more then 150 sheets of paper into this
tray!"

Like I said, if I'm going to waste two hours of my day fixing CRAP like this
(and having to go back and stay over late at the transmitter finishing what I
was doing), then I should be PAID for doing it...and NO not just my regular
salary - it wasn't even up to market rate WITHOUT all this computer crap!

Another job had the sales department playing musical cubicles every other day.
I must have spent eight hours a week re-programming the phone system and
moving computers for these clowns. One guy moved his cubicle three times in a
week!

When you're a "one man band", there's simply NO TIME to do all this crap
work!

I was hired to be a Chief Engineer, NOT an office repair person!

-D



------ Original Message ------
Received: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 10:10:38 AM PST
From: "Steve" <shnewman at alaweb.com>
To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Subject: Re: [BC] Future of Radio Eng. /was/ Computer based audio

Add to your learning curve understanding and speaking fluent Chinese!

Steve Newman
Steve Walker Productions
Opp, AL  36467
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sid Schweiger 
  To: broadcast at radiolists.net 
  Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 11:55 AM
  Subject: Re: [BC] Future of Radio Eng. /was/ Computer based audio


  >>In IT work, there is no "thinking outside the box".<<

  Listen here, sonny.  (I've always wanted to say that.  Gack.  I guess it
  really is true...you do eventually become your parents.)

  This is one IT manager with over 35 years of broadcast engineering under
  his belt, and you couldn't be more wrong.  If you read some computer
  industry periodicals (and I'm not talking about the consumer pap like PC
  World or PC Magazine, although they are good for some things) you see IT
  managers doing the exact same sort of problem solving and innovation
  that broadcast engineers do, every single day.  In fact, with government
  regulation of businesses on the increase, IT is deeply involved in
  addressing most, if not all, of the issues businesses have with
  regulatory compliance.  None of these solutions appear in textbooks, nor
  are there the equivalent of Elmers in IT because as a discipline it
  hasn't been around for long enough.  Solutions have to be invented, and
  it's happening every day.

  And as for broadcast engineers, those who don't learn IT *now* are soon
  going to be out of work...permanently.  I see the equipment arriving at
  work, and almost all of it now contains something that wasn't there when
  I started in broadcasting...an Ethernet port.  We're now testing the new
  Comrex box which does remotes over the public Internet, and the sound
  quality is outstanding.  The Audemat-Aztec HDRadio monitoring equipment
  has Ethernet connections and an embedded web page interface.  Burk
  remote controls are now ported to PC software via serial port
  connections.  I could go on, but I think it's self-evident that the two
  disciplines are merging rapidly.



  Sid Schweiger
  IT Manager, Entercom Boston LLC
  WAAF - WEEI AM/FM - WMKK - WRKO - WVEI
  20 Guest St / 3d Floor
  Boston MA  02135-2040
  Phone: 617-779-5369
  Fax: 617-779-5379
  E-Mail: sid at wrko.com

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_______________________________________________
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