Get Ready to Become a Broadcast Engineer - What You Need to Know in less than 15 Minutes!

[@ModelA]

As I enter my 40th year as a Broadcast Engineer, the changes I have seen are mind boggling. From vacuum tube consoles and audio chains to network digital audio all the way from the HDD to the exciter, and the horrible slow transition from king of the world to near death of the AM band. I'm one of the few left who can (and has) designed, built, installed, and maintained AM directional arrays, diplexed transmitters, filters, etc. I have watched my skillset go from "specialized and vital" to "who cares?". I said it a long time ago and Paul McLane published it in RW- "I still love radio, but it stopped loving me back." In the early days, stations took care of me back. Example- I never had to buy new tires for my truck, a GM would ask me if I need anything at least once a week, and if I said "tires", she or he would send me to a tire shop and do a trade deal, and I had tires. Same went for parts or capex projects. Seemed like everything I needed, I had. Didn't always get what I wanted, but always what I needed. And, all I had to worry about was one AM and one FM. Not like today with 8 station clusters! The equipment required routine maintenance but was VERY reliable. And it was fun. Everything came with a schematic, and used regular parts. No firmware, no midnight crash during a forced software update, no consumer-quality computer stuff. Everything in the building was "broadcast quality", and it meant something. Not complaining, just reminiscing. It still beats having to work a "real job" any day.

[@philipgutierrez6913]

In the process of purchasing a mom and pop AM/FM combo. I'm going to be the engineer, ops manager and chief bottle washer. Love the videos.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Awesome! Good luck! Enjoy the experience.

[@senorxrey6429]

It took me getting over my head in projects before I asked for help. It’s not easy, but I learned the hard way. Our colleagues often appear to know it all, so this makes asking for help even more difficult. Thanks for another informative video!

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Indeed. I look at so many of my peers and imposter syndrome kicks in. But many had the opportunity to go to school for it (I didn’t) and I realize they had the opportunity to ask questions of their professors. And I’m discovering that almost every engineer has had a mentor. So, yeah, asking questions is huge and an often overlooked part of career growth. Plus I’m a believer in democratized information. There’s no secret knowledge.

[@daleberg3453]

Great video! As a radio announcer this brought back some memories. One station I worked for had an interesting engineer. He told us to forget the calculated power, and go with the indicated power of 100%. One Sunday night during maintenance he bypassed the processor. In the morning the modulation was over 130%! It caught the attention of the FCC who were passing through town. The FCC official sighted the station for over modulation, and sighted the jocks for running the power at 106%. Then one other story. An engineer was working for a group of four stations. He did something in the equipment room that took all the stations off. This same engineer was at the transmitter, and touched something that through him back against the wall. Pretty big shock! It was amazing he survived. One last one. This same engineer working for another station where I was the PD hooked up the EAS, and somehow reconnected the audio out of phase. He had to leave church to fix the problem. He's not doing any engineering anymore.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Wow!! Yeah there are plenty of engineers who shouldn't be doing engineering.

[@thed8229]

This channel is EXACTLY what I need! New to the game & learning as I go. Freakin awesome.

[@nicholaskalogris9985]

Thank you for providing this tutorial. It does open eyes!

[@neillthornton1149]

Glad to see you are keeping up with the videos! I laughed at printer maintenance... the bane of every IT worker ever.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

I'm trying! Oh gosh yeah, printer maintenance. It was becoming a constant thing at my previous work that we had to fix people's printing issues because we had to all print to a central printer because it was "cheaper" because of the bulk purchase of toner...

[@christophermattox3972]

I love the stories and I love radio broadcasting. I am blind and I know what it’s like to be inside of a broadcast transmitter. I forecast Weather on radio in Macon Georgia. To all of my engineers keep up the great work. My best friend is a chief engineer at WSB in Atlanta.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Thank you for the kind words! WSB is on my list of stations to visit for the channel.

[@Bill_N_ATX]

I remember working to get my Second Class license and studying for my First just in time for the FCC to make a license to operate a broadcast station unnecessary. Fast forward to the 2020s and you too can be the broadcast engineer with little to no training. Absent a SBE certification, there is no way to know if your guy really knows their stuff. And I don’t climb past ten feet either. Let those brave youngsters do that crazy stuff.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

That’s true, there is no barrier to entry anymore. But as an owner/manager you get what you pay for. But sometimes people are pressed into the job and need that helping hand. I believe in helping anyone who wants it. The days of the engineers who keep the secret knowledge dies with them. It leaves a mess for others to clean up. And it’s just plain arrogant and rude. We don’t need more people like that in this world.

[@gregf9160]

I'd imagine you would need an Antenna Rigger to scale a tower and deal with issues there. Those _amazing_ guys scale the most _terrifying_ towers in all weathers. Not a Broadcast Engineer's job. Same with Power Engineers to deal with High Tension faults. Not _generally_ in a Broadcast Engineer's job description, though they will _all_ be completely familiar with all of these issues.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Exactly. But sometimes the job can feel a bit like “you have to deal with X y and Z” and that’s where specialized jobs like tower climbers and electricians come into play. I’m dealing with a fire alarm system at my new job and I’m letting a fire alarm company take care of that. The last thing I want to do is dump a few hundred gallons of water on a data center.

[@TVJAY]

Asking for help is one of the biggest things everyone should take away from this.

[@wesley1983]

Do you measure your output with a calibrated meter? If so is there a certification with the meter? And who do that?? Just asking....

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

If you’re referring to the RF output… the transmitter’s power meter should be calibrated at the factory. Some stations also have something like a Bird wattmeter. That is factory calibrated as well, and you can send it back to get calibrated. Typically the factory will calibrate the meters. Sorry long answer for a short subject.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

What should be calibrated more often is spectrum analyzers and test equipment like that.

[@brandonlogan2600]

Is it advantageous to have a degree in EE for broadcast engineering Jobs? There is a two year broadcasting program I can do but wondering if it would be a waste of time.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

It doesn’t hurt. Working for a company that contracts with a bunch of broadcasters, it would be beneficial to have that EE degree.

[@brandonlogan2600]

@TheBroadcastEngineer Thanks for Answering! For real I was stuck trying to decide if I should do that 2 year brodcasting program or get the EE degree because of the subject matter and versatility. I want to do both just wanted to see how i could, now I see. Thanks so much 💯.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

The broadcasting program will be more geared toward the production and on air side probably. Really where broadcast is heading is into the IT world.

[@brandonlogan2600]

@TheBroadcastEngineer I heard that, and It's happening rapidly too, I think Dante and black magic were one the big changes since covid. There's so many things being required now it's almost like a choose your own adventure on where to start your training and education.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

@brandonlogan2600 Indeed. I know when I was at the job in California the majority of my job became IT centric. Here in Colorado, if it’s not fixing the physical plant it’s IT related stuff.

[@SimonBurrill-n7b]

how much does it cost to become one?

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Time. Find a good mentor. SBE has a program for mentorship.

[@w8lvradio]

I heard maintenance is about keeping black flies out of the plenium, mice, bees, wasps, and down South? Alligators who like warm places and come up to the building from the swampy radial fields. And Copper Thieves...

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

And snakes in the west... and black widows... the copper thieves are the worst.

[@w8lvradio]

@@TheBroadcastEngineer It brings a tear to my eye when someone has to remove a toasted and therefore "former" Copper Thief from their premises, and more so when one is found underneath a vehicle: A "former" "practitioner" of catalytic converter "recycling." All the Best! 73 DE W8LV BILL

[@ns219000]

I was surprised to learn that the FCC requires a permit to be OFF the air. I can imagine a heavily armed squad of government goons bursting into the transmitter building, just to turn all the equipment on.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

They won't do that, but they will revoke a license or fine the licensee.

[@andydelle4509]

How on Earth can an IT guy, typically with zero electronics knowledge, maintain a broadcast transmitter? From my 40 year POV in this industry, a good broadcast engineer can learn and understand the IT technology much faster and deeper than an IT guy attempting to learn broadcast engineering.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

Are you willing to learn and ask questions? Then yes, any IT guy can.

[@andydelle4509]

@@TheBroadcastEngineer Yes, if learning means a good foundation in electronics.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

I didn’t hav one when I entered.

[@TheBroadcastEngineer]

And from my 23 year POV I’ve seen far too many broadcast engineers ignore IT and choose not to learn it. Hence it comes back to being willing to learn something new and having a mentor to help teach it.

[@andydelle4509]

@@TheBroadcastEngineer That's fine, but did you learn the material? I think you did.