Herb Squire, a longtime radio engineer, has passed away. He was 80.
Squire’s career included work for many stations in New York City. According to a 2015 AES New York profile, his first broadcast role was at WPAC(AM/FM) in Patchogue, N.Y., as a teenager. Beginning in the late 1960s, he was an engineer for WOR(AM), then was chief engineer at WHN(AM), WQXR(FM) and WQEW(AM).
Most recently, he worked as vice president of engineering and operations for DSI RF Systems and provided consultant-based services for New York Public Radio.
Many engineers will remember his talk at the 1993 NAB Show, where he warned that the combination of two or more data compression schemes in a broadcast audio chain could significantly degrade overall audio quality.
He later would perform tests of various codecs through AM and FM IBOC systems for DSI.
With that company, he also assisted with the development of a master antenna atop the Conde Nast Building at 4 Times Square, following the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
David Bialik, MediaCo director of engineering-New York, said, “Herb Squire was a font of knowledge. He would help any engineer and answer any questions. Also he knew broadcast history, so he could tell you what was tried before. He would go out of his way for anybody. Personally I called him on various emergencies and he would calmly help, no matter the time or day. He has spoken to AES and SBE groups on multiple occasions. His last time was helping the AES on the 80th anniversary of the ‘War of the Worlds’ broadcast.
“Most of all I lost a friend.”
SBE Chapter 15 said that services for Squire will be held on Thursday at noon at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, N.J.