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NAB Insider – March 16, 2004

NAB Insider – March 16, 2004

Mar 1, 2004 12:00 PM

Index:

  • NAB Crystal Radio Awards Finalists Announced
  • How’s Your Knowledge of the Las Vegas Area?
  • Middle Atlantic Products DWR series
  • Manhattan Production Music Live Trax
  • Pearl Microphone Labs CT40 and DT40
  • Sennheiser Electronics Evolution Wireless G2
  • Sonifex RB-DSS10 and RB-SS10
  • Soundcraft USA Gigrac
  • Staco Energy Products Firstline
  • Studio Networks Solutions SANmp
  • Belden Wire and Cable Access Control Banana Peel
  • Broadcast Warehouse DSPX
  • SBE Holds EAS Meeting
  • The New Media Professionals Conference
  • Plan a Day Trip
  • Staying in Town
  • Las Vegas Trivia Answers

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News from the Convention

NAB Crystal Radio AwardsFinalists Announced

Forty finalists for the NAB Crystal Radio Awards competition were announced by the National Association of Broadcasters. Since 1987, the NAB Crystal Radio Awards have recognized radio stations for their outstanding year-round community service efforts. The finalists are:

KBHP Bemidji, MN
KDFC San Francisco, CA
KEEY Minneapolis, MN
KFOG San Francisco, CA
KFOR Lincoln, NE
KGBI Omaha, NE
KGO San Francisco, CA
KLOS Los Angeles, CA
KLVI Beaumont, TX
KRRO Sioux Falls, SD
KSTP-FM Minneapolis, MN
KSTZ Des Moines, IA
KTCZ Minneapolis, MN
KTRR Windsor, CO
KUAD Windsor, CO
KUZZ-AM Bakersfield, CA
KYW Philadelphia, PA
WBAB Long Island, NY
WBIG-FM Washington, DC
WCMT-AM Martin, TNWDEL Wilmington, DE
WDRV Chicago, IL
WEZL Charleston, SC
WGHT Pompton Lakes, NJ
WGRD Grand Rapids, MI
WHAM Rochester, NY
WHUR Washington, DC
WICO-FM Salisbury, MD
WJBC Bloomington, IL
WLUP Chicago, IL
WSTW Wilmington, DE
WSYR Syracuse, NY
WTMX Chicago, IL
WTOP-AM Washington, DC
WUPE Pittsfield, MA
WUSL Philadelphia, PA
WVXA Rogers City, MI
WVXU Cincinnati, OH
WWKI Kokomo, IN
WWZZ Washington, DC

The Finalists will be honored and 10 Crystal Radio Award winners will be announced during the Radio Luncheon at NAB2004 on Tuesday, April 20. The luncheon will also feature a performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, whose radio program, Music and the Spoken Word, is being inducted into NAB’s Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

The finalists were selected by a panel of judges representing broadcasting, community service organizations and public relations firms.

Do You Know…?

How’s your knowledge of the Las Vegas area?

Take our little quiz and find out.

Twenty-five miles south of Las Vegas, in an area known as Primm, there is a roller coaster that for a few years was the highest and fastest anywhere. What is its name?
A. Superman
B. Cyclone
C. Mumba
D. Desperado

The Sahara Hotel once had which of the following comedians as its vice president of entertainment?
A. Jerry Seinfeld
B. Rich Little
C. Buddy Hackett
D. Jerry Lewis

What is the name of the hotel that incorporates the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi River?
A. Hilton Tower
B. Stupak’s Stump
C. Tropicana Tower
D. Stratosphere

The strip is technically not in Las Vegas. It is in an unincorporated part of Clark County called _________ ?
A. Lincoln
B. Regent
C. Paradise
D. Nye

The answers appear below.

New Products from the Floor

Middle Atlantic Products DWRseries

Booth SL4302

This wall-mount cabinet features the Tool-Free Quick-Mount System, permitting commercial A/V professionals to easily and quickly mount the center section to the backpan on the job site. Advanced cable management capabilities are also a feature of the series, which comes in usable depths of 15″, 20″ and 24″. Two pairs of fully adjustable rackrail can be recessed to allow cable managers to be rack mounted. The series features lacing points throughout the center section and backpan, knockouts for Middle Atlantic Products universal connector panels, which can accommodate BNC, XLR and other connectors, as well as a large laser knockout in the backpan for the easily removable 12-1/2″ x 12-1/2″ pull-box sized opening for cable passage.

Manhattan Production Music LiveTrax

Booth C2935

Containing music performed strictly by live studio musicians, no synthesizers or samples, the genres in this library span everything from rock to orchestral, and new CDs will be continually created and distributed to clients. The library will be available for blanket and laser-drop music licensing, depending on the project. In addition, some CDs will feature full songs with lyrics, allowing for a more soundtrack-like feel. This will give music users songs to license that will be less expensive than licensing songs from major labels.

Pearl Microphone Labs CT40 andDT40

Booth N1300

The CT40 and DT40 tube microphones from Pearl Microphone Labs combine the classic Pearl rectangular dual capsule and a Nuvistor vacuum tube resulting in a flat, yet warm sound. The CT40 has a fixed cardioid pattern while the DT40 can be configured for five patterns to accommodate different recording situations. Both models are supplied with flight case, power supply, cable and shock-mount. The mic specifications are a sensitivity of 28mVPa; a frequency response from 20Hz to 25kHz and an impedance of 200 ohms.

Sennheiser Electronics EvolutionWireless G2

Booth N2812

This second-generation mic offers broader switching bandwidth (3MHz), which in turn creates 1,440 channels available to the user. The bodypack transmitters and mobile receivers have been reduced in size by about 30 percent. The scan function automatically searches for free channels. A pilot tone squelch ensures that the transmitter microphone can be switched on and off without noise. The unit also offers a new battery concept: The body-pack transmitters and mobile receivers are powered by two AA-size cells to ensure a longer operating time and stable RF performance.

Sonifex RB-DSS10 and RB-SS10

Booth C5236

The RB-DSS10 10-way digital source select unit is a 1RU 24-bit/96kHz capable device that produces an AES/EBU and S/PDIF level digital audio output from 10 selectable AES/EBU or S/PDIF digital input signals. The unit will also route remote signal inputs through the remote connector to the selected input source. The RB-SS10 10-way analog source select/mixer unit is similar to the RB-DSS10, but has analog audio inputs and outputs, and can also mix the inputs to the output as well as route them.

Soundcraft USA Gigrac

Booth N1018A

This integrated mixer-amplifier features eight input channels. The first four inputs are mono mic or line inputs. Input five through eight accept mono or stereo sources. Each input has a two-band equalizer. There is a seven-band master graphic equalizer on the output as well as a selection of preset digital effects. The model 300 has a single 300W power amp while the model 600 has two 300W power amps. The lid of the unit’s road-ready case is designed to stow microphones and cables. The mixer can be removed from its case for fixed installations. It occupies 4RU.

Staco Energy Products Firstline

Booth C1211

Protecting against voltage fluctuations, brownout conditions, harmonics and transient surges, this system offers low maintenance requirements and built-in diagnostic tools. The system isolates the connected load from the primary ac supply, protecting it from voltage sags, high voltage spikes, transients and frequency variations. The unit can be configured for any 208, 400 or 480 Vac application. It can handle an input voltage range of +/- 20 percent, while holding output a tight regulation of +/-0.5 percent for balanced loads and +/-3 percent for unbalanced loads. It has a total harmonic distortion of less than 3 percent for linear loads, and less than 5 percent for non-linear loads. It also regulates frequency to a stringent +/-0.05 percent.

Studio Networks Solutions SANmp

Booth SL1762

This multi-platform software allows workstations with different operating systems to concurrently access information from a storage area network. In addition, this product is easy to implement and maintain because it does not require a server or Ethernet connection. Some features found in this product are the ability to easily configure and manage the storage network, set access privileges at the user level, and share and access audio, video and graphics files from a centralized storage location. Another benefit is the ability to integrate Mac OS and Windows workstations, regardless of whether the systems are running Nuendo, Sonic HD, Final Cut Pro, Pyramix, Avid or Pro Tools.

Belden Wire and Cable Access ControlBanana Peel

Booth C3351

These composite cables use two innovations: the elimination of the overall jacket and the use of color coding and application printing on the four cables, which are features that are ideal for fixed installations. Because there’s no overall jacket to strip, a whole step in the termination process is eliminated. Short circuits, typically caused by contact with the center conductor while stripping off the outer jacket, can also be prevented. The cables are available in both Plenum-rated and Riser-rated versions. The individual cable jackets are sequentially marked at two-foot intervals and the cables are available in 1000 ft/305m put-ups.

Broadcast Warehouse DSPX

Booth N1710

The DSPX is a fully featured FM, AM, digital radio and Internet streaming digital-audio processor. Using multi-band DSP technology, the processor offers a versatile and powerful tool in creating a loud punchy on-air presence. The unit is driven by an eight-bit micro-controller that controls an array of specialized analog and digital circuits. These include 24-bit A/D and D/A converters, analog level control circuitry, 18 x 24-bit DSPs, an Ethernet port, a trigger port, two RS-232 ports, 200 LEDs (metering), an LCD screen, two sample rate converters, a headphone jack and memory devices to hold the software and firmware. The company will give away a gold-plated version of the DSPX at the convention. A winner will be picked at the booth on Wednesday afternoon.

Convention Events

SBE Holds EAS Meeting

On Monday, April 19 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Society of Broadcast Engineers EAS Committee will hold a meeting in room N255 in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

There are several featured speakers for the meeting.

Mark Allen, president of the Washington State Association of Broadcasters, is also Washington State’s leader for the AMBER program. He has been a driving force the AMBER Web Portal project, and he will share the latest information about this system.

Richard Rudman, an active member in the Partnership for Public Warning systems, will provide an update on the PPW with its recommendations for changes and improvements to EAS.

Ben Green with the State of California will talk about the Emergency Digital Information Service (EDIS), which is proving successful in California.

SBE membership is not required to attend the meeting.

Session Highlights

The New Media ProfessionalsConference

Designed to showcase ideas based on new media technologies and applications, this session will focus on the value of these technologies through case study presentations, workshops, panel sessions and high-level keynotes. The presentations will demonstrate how a wide variety of industries are utilizing new media creation and distribution platforms to improve efficiencies, generate new business and increase revenue. This year�s conference focuses on streaming media plus the latest new media technologies and advanced applications.

Sunday, April 18 Topics
Online Secrets to Build Your Brand; MPEG – Advanced Video Coding and Beyond; Using IP Video Conferencing for E-learning; Best Practices for Distance Learning in a Satellite Environment; LifeStage Demographics – How Your Audiences Really Live and Use Media; Streaming Media in Operation Iraqi Freedom; Profitable Partnerships – Broadcast; Cable; Telco.

Monday, April 19 Topics The High-Def Desktop; Everything You Wanted to Know About Satellites But Were Afraid to Ask; New Media Visions for the Future; Digital Rights Management Forum; New Media Reception.

Tuesday, April 20 Topics
Emerging Content, Emerging Devices, Emerging Business Models; All Information is Not Created Equal: Consumer Privacy in the New Media Age; Disruption in Television: The Threat and Opportunity of Industry-changing Innovation; Next Generation Advertising; Interfaces, Media and Services in the Broadband Digital World; New Technologies for Digital Media; The Changing Face of Broadcasting; Rapid Deployment of Streaming Media in a Corporate Environment; A Day in the Life of a Consumer – Targeting Customers Using Daypart Analysis.

Wednesday, April 21 Topics
Effective New Media Marketing Strategies; Year of the PVR; Wireless Broadband; On-Demand Computing for Entertainment and Broadcasting; Wi-Fi as a Broadcasting Tool; The Business of Streaming Media; Dude, Where�s My Audience?; Copyright for Creatives – Strategies for Content Providers.

Thursday, April 22 Topics
Web-based Channel Surfing; The Dawn of the Narrowcasting Age; Business Is Ready for Webcasting.

Out and About in Las Vegas

Plan a Day Trip

While there are lots of things to do in Las Vegas and surrounding communities, perhaps you would like to get away from the bright lights and spend a little more time doing it. There are three national parks within an easy drive with an overnight stay.

Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah is approximately 270 miles northeast of Las Vegas. On the way you can also visit Zion National Park. This area also features lava flows and scenery aplenty.

The Grand Canyon is located 278 miles southeast of Las Vegas. The South Rim is open all year. The North Rim opens in mid-May.

Death Valley National Park is about 140 miles from Las Vegas. This can be visited in a single day if you are pressed for time.

Staying in Town

Tired of visiting the top of the Stratosphere and watching the fountains at the Bellagio? Here are some new ideas to try.

The Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum at McCarran International Airport is perched on the walkway above the airport’s baggage claim area. The museum’s first exhibit was unveiled in October 1993. Its existence stems largely from an offer by Peg Crockett, whose husband, George, founded Alamo Airport, McCarran’s predecessor, and Alamo Airways, one of the city’s pioneering commercial airlines. Exhibits at the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum depict Southern Nevada’s airborne history, including the role aviation played in the development of Las Vegas.

The Chinatown Plaza on Spring Mountain Road, west of the Strip, features Asian art, jewelry and restaurants. This is the first master-planned Chinatown in America, and it was designed in the style of the Tong Dynasty.

Ethel M Chocolates will hit you in the sweet tooth. Located seven miles from the Strip, it features a factory tour, through which you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the candy-making process. You can taste test samples after the tour.

Did You Know…?

How is your knowledge of Las Vegas trivia?

  • The roller coaster in Primm is called the Desperado. The other named roller coasters are in other states.
  • The Sahara Hotel once employed Buddy Hackett as its vice president of entertainment.
  • The hotel with the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi River is the Stratosphere. If you missed this you are always looking at the ground.
  • The Las Vegas strip is not actually in Las Vegas, but in an unincorporated part of Clark County called Paradise.
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