Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on codecs and STLs.
Leighton Media, based in St. Cloud, Minn., owns approximately three dozen radio stations in Minnesota and North Dakota, and has expanded into multimedia marketing.
“Instead of having to make multiple stops for traditional radio, digital and promotional marketing, the client leaves it to us to manage a strategy for their brand,” said Tony Abfalter, the company’s director of engineering and IT.
[Related: “Leighton Media Opens New Studios in Detroit Lakes”]
Abfalter became familiar with Comrex from his work for Entercom in the Milwaukee and Madison markets. Now in his role at Leighton, Abfalter frequently has deployed Comrex products, including many Opals and BRIC-Links.
The bulk of Leighton Media’s remote broadcasts involve high school athletics. Abfalter said that in one of its markets, it’s not uncommon for all four of its stations to be covering sports on the same night.
For remote broadcasts, Leighton deploys various Comrex Access Portable models, including its latest Access NX. Out in the field, the units are paired with Comrex’s CrossLock VPN technology which allows for multi-network usage and real-time management.
Leighton also uses Comrex’s Switchboard Traversal Server, which operates as an address book and makes connections between Comrex IP codecs easier over the internet. Abfalter praised the ability to manage the server remotely and assign a codec out in the field. “It is so much better than having to manually program each codec,” he said.
Abfalter relies on Comrex BRIC-Links for Leighton’s STLs. Used in conjunction with a few older models that have been running steadily, Abfalter likes the addition of front-panel controls to the latest BRIC-Link III. “We send three or four programs from our St. Cloud market out to other stations, and we use the buttons to trigger contact closures,” he said.
With all of his stations now using AoIP systems, Abfalter has also installed Access MultiRack, a multi-channel IP audio codec capable of five simultaneous stereo connections. It is AES67-compatible and integrates with Wheat-Net.
Reflecting on his initial experience with Comrex equipment in Wisconsin, Abfalter emphasized his current reliance on their products at Leighton.
“The BRIC-Links and Access units have saved my bacon so many times in my career it’s not even funny,” he said.
