Remote Broadcasts-How do You get There from Here?

Radio stations have done remote broadcasts for years. Every weekend you can hear numerous "remotes" all over the radio dial, clients just love them! There's a lot more to these broadcasts than meets the ear, and with proper planning and preparation, you can cut costs and increase reliability.

What is a "remote"?

Stations have different ideas about what a "remote" actually is, but there is a common thread. All remotes involve "broadcasting" from a remote location for a period of time. It could be something as simple as a call-in from a local car dealership, or something as complex as a broadcast from Paris! In the past, all remote broadcast programming came from the remote site (music, commercials, promos/jingles). This meant that you had to lug all of your music and commercials to the remote site. Talk about a pain in the neck! But now it's the '90s and we do things differently. Music and commercials can be played normally from the station's on-air studio and only the microphone audio has to feed the station from the remote site. This greatly reduces the possibilities of technical problems and doesn't change the quality of your music or commercials.

The Essentials -

You need three things for any remote;
1. A way to get audio from the remote site to your studio
2. A way to communicate with your air studio from the remote site
3. A way to listen to your station from the remote site.
If you have all of these elements, you should be able to pull off a successful remote broadcast.

What flavor remote would you like?

Remotes come in all shapes and sizes, and they really depend on what your actual goal is. The longer the time you are actually on the air from the remote site, the more critical the quality of your remote broadcast, provided the music/commercials are being played from the air studio. For example if you were doing call-ins from the local car dealership, a regular telephone line might be sufficient. If you need better quality than a regular telephone line then you'll have some planning before the remote.
There are two ways of getting your remote-site audio back to the studio; telephone lines (there are many types), and RPU (remote pickup units). RPU systems use transmitters and receivers similar to a station's studio to transmitter link, but they utilize specially allocated frequencies for this purpose. The RPU system allows you to be independent of the telephone company, and it you can setup the remote at a moments notice.

RPU Systems- Positives and Negatives

1. High Quality
2. No telephone Line charges
3. Quick set-up
4. Stereo -or- mono

1. RPU Equipment must be purchased (transmitters/receivers/antennas/masts). You must obtain a license from the FCC for the RPU system. There are a limited number of RPU frequencies available so you will have to coordinate with other stations in your area before applying for an RPU license. In addition, you may be required to share a frequency with another station in your area. There are three different type of RPU channels that will give you different levels of quality:
a. 50 KHZ channel - 50HZ to10.5KHZ
b. 25 KHZ channel - 50HZ to 7.5KHZ
c. 10 KHZ channel - 50HZ to 3.0KHZ
2. You may have to pay monthly tower rental fees for RPU receiver sites
3. RPU systems are subject to interference (possibly malicious interference!)
4. You must usually have line-of-site from the transmit antenna to the RPU receive antenna.
5. You may need multiple receiver sites so you can cover your entire service area.

Telephone lines-

There are two types of telephone lines; "POT" (plain old telephone line), like the kind you have at home, and equalized telephone "loops" or "circuits". The equalized circuits are available in three configurations; 5 KHZ, 8 KHZ, and 15 KHZ. The number refers to the upper frequency response limit of the line. A regular telephone (POT ) line has a frequency response of 300-3KHZ.(no highs and no lows!). The equalized circuits usually have very good low frequency response but have a limit on the upper frequency response. Don't get lost in all of these numbers and letters, the real question is, what circuit is needed for each individual application? A 5 khz circuit is should be o.k. for most AM voice-only remotes, but will be noticeably dull on an FM station. An 8 KHZ circuit will be sufficient for voice/music for AM, and voice-only on FM. The 15 KHZ circuit is really only necessary for remotes requiring stereo music be broadcast from the remote site (you will need two circuits for stereo). Please refer to the application chart.

The Frequency Extender- A truely magical box

How do you improve the quality and frequency response of a regular telephone line? Use a frequency extender. These devices trick the phone line and make "broadcast quality" transmission over regular phone lines a reality. Regular telephone lines are usually readily available and cost much less to install and maintain. Frequency extenders come in three versions; single line, two line and three line. Comrex and Genter have numerous products on the market.

SWITCH 56 - Are You ready for digital?

In many areas of the country there is a new service available called "Switch 56". Each telephone company has their own name for the service, Southern Bell calls the service "Accupulse". The SW 56 circuits are actually high speed data circuits that can be used to send and receive digital audio provided you have the proper adapters and converters . The adapters, called DSU's, are similar to a typical computer modem, and the converters, called CODEC's, do the conversion of analog to digital and digital to analog. Each circuit provides bi-directional 50 -7.5 KHZ frequency response with no audible noise or distortion. If you utilize two SW56 circuits and the proper Codecs/DSU's you can get stereo/50-15 KHZ circuits! Because this technology is new, installation charges can be expensive. This may discourage you from utilizing this service for local one-time remote broadcasts. Check with Comrex and CCS for more information on Switch 56.

Dealing With Ma Bell

Call your telephone company at least one month before your broadcast to order telephone lines or circuits. Have the circuit(s)/lines installed one week before the broadcast and specify that they be disconnected one week after the broadcast. There will usually be an installation charge and a one month minimum usage charge. If there is no access to a regular telephone at the remote site, you might want to order a regular telephone line for communications as well. Installation charges can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the circuit and your telephone company.

Remote Broadcast Transmission Information

RPU or Telco - What's Best for You?

There are only two ways to send your remote broadcast back to the studio, via wire or via radio(RPU). Talk with your engineer and find out how much congestion there is on the RPU frequencies in your area. Take a look at your capital budget, are you willing to commit a large amount of cash to build an RPU system that will be able to cover your service area? Check with the telephone company to see what the installation charges are in your area for the various types of telephone lines. How many remotes are you going to do this year, and how important is the quality of these remote broadcasts? Talk with your equipment dealer to find out exact equipment costs for the systems that we have reviewed. After you have all of the info, you will be able to clearly decide which remote systems are right for you. ** At WLVE we use a combination of 8 KHZ circuits, SW56 circuits, and a 2 line Comrex (frequency extender). **