Engineer's Corner

So there's big news on the engineering front here at RIPR: we're partnering with MVYradio (formerly heard on WMVY 92.7FM on the Vineyard) to put MVYradio content on our 102.7HD2 digital signal in South County, and in turn it's being simulcast on the 96.5FM analog signal in Newport.

By Aaron Read

Providence, RI – This week on the Engineer's Corner we talk about power. Not so much "fight the" as "emergency backup"! In fact, this week we're installing a new power generator for our 88.1FM (WELH) transmitter facility. You might've noticed we had issues with a lack of reliable power for almost three days during Hurricane Sandy; we had a generator but it just didn't have the features and capacity we needed.

So in advance of winter storms, falling trees, rime ice and downed power lines, we're putting in a Kohler RES14a propane generator with three 100lb tanks. Yes, the same company that makes excellent faucets for your kitchen, also makes excellent generators, believe it or not.

By Aaron Read

Providence, RI – Audio purists refer to it as the scourge of music, but AUDIO PROCESSING is a critical part of any radio station's transmitter. An audio processor typically accomplishes several goals:

By Aaron Read

By Aaron Read

Providence, RI – This week on the Engineer's Corner we talk SOLAR OUTAGES. I know, it sounds like the next (terrible) Michael Bay movie but it's really far more benign.

It has to do with our satellite downlink from NPR. We have a hefty 13-foot-diameter satellite dish, located in North Providence; there's no room for it at One Union Station! It points to "Galaxy 16," a telecommunications satellite in "geostationary" orbit that all NPR stations use.

By Aaron Read

PROVIDENCE, RI – A common tech support request I get is for help with our stream/webcast from our listeners. The "digital illuminati" often like to claim that the web will mean the death of radio any day now, but streaming is still decidedly more complex and more tricky than radio's "push button, turn knob, get programming" simplicity.

By Aaron Read

Providence, RI – This is a test. This is a test of the Emergency Engineer's Corner. It is only a test.

Those iconic words, coupled with the tell-tale "brraaaaap... brraaaaap...brraaaaap" data tones, are widely known as the EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM, or EAS. Like its predecessors the Emergency Broadcast System and CONELRAD (CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation), EAS is - at its core - a means by which the US Government can disseminate emergency information to the public at large in a short amount of time.