[BC] Radio satellite services

[tpt at literock93r.com]

Saw this on the other message board I'm sure Bill Bowin won't mind if  
I copy his excellent report over to this board.

I'm sure, as he notes, these timetables are subject to change,  
especially with ABC/Citadel, since they seem to have some financial  
indigestion after swallowing the ABC radio stations.  However, gives  
us guidance as to how much $$ to put into the old Starguides.

Also raises some questions.  The Starguides have their faults, but  
having a maximum of six different feeds available from one receiver  
has certain advantages.

Here's Bill's report...


Being an engineer for several talk radio stations and subsequently "knee
deep" in satellite distribution system replacements, here's what I've
learned so far:

Per Pete Cipriano of ABC Satellite Services, 4/08:

ABC is in "Phase 1" right now, which is scheduled to end July 8. All ABC
owned or originated programming is on the X-Digital platform except for
their 24hour (typically music) formats. ABC is hoping to include ESPN in
Phase 1, but as of today they're not quite ready. After July 8, all ABC
programming must be received via the X-Digital receiver. Pete admits that
they're still "experimenting and learning" so this date is subject to
change.

Phase 2 starts on July 8 and runs through sometime in October. During this
phase, all the 24 hour formats will be switched over.

Phase 3 starts in October, but doesn't have a firm end date. During this
phase all other programming, primarily the shows that ABC uplinks for other
program providers change over. They haven't set an end date for this phase
or for the Starguide system, but Pete indicated that they would _like_ to be
done by the end of the year. He does admit that there's a good chance that
the conversion will drag well into 2009.

Currently only one port (Port A) per station is programmable. You cannot set
up one port to provide one program and another port for a second program
unless you have a another set of call letters with ABC affiliation. Shows
can be played back in real time or delayed for later broadcast, complete
with contact closures.

[????--TPT--On our AC station the ABC news is fed separately--just  
another card in the SG now. Also, we carry two ABC music formats & use  
two receivers--each has the other feed as a backup programmed in on a  
different port.  So much for redundancy...TPT out]

I first installed an X-Digital receiver in June of '07 and all it did until
mid-March was convert electricity into heat. ABC competed their scheduling
software and updated the firmware around 3/22/08. All the plugs, audio and
closures, are SG compatible and the transition was fairly painless. However,
the old "service" names that we're accustomed to seeing on the SG receivers
don't match those on the ABC X-Digital programming pages. It may take some
experimentation or a phone call to ABC to determine how the new names
correspond with your shows or news network(s).

Per Troy Shoemaker of Clear Channel Satellite Services, 3/08:

Virtex stopped manufacturing Starguide receivers in August of 2007. However,
they're still supporting them and Clear Channel/Premiere has no plan to
abandon the Starguide platform. In fact, they're anticipating a flood of SG
receivers on the used market as other providers change technologies. CCSS is
selling a version of the X-Digital ( XDS-Pro4-SG) with firmware that allows
it to receive SG transmissions, but the whole receiver has to run in either
the X-Digital mode or the SG mode. No mix & match. Receivers purchased from
CCSS can be permissioned (by CCSS, no less) for ABC programming.

Per Dee Perkins of Westwood One, 5/08:

Westwood One did indeed begin shipping Media Access Exchange (MAX) receivers
in mid-April, but only to a handful (100 or so) affiliates that receive
sports programming on the older two channel IDC receivers. Once they get all
these affiliates switched, they plan to turn off the older IDC carrier and
fire up the new carrier which will contain the rest of the WWOne programming
for the MAX platform.

I installed a MAX receiver a couple of weeks ago. I found the front panel
menu system more difficult to navigate than any receiver that I've ever
encountered. Fortunately the receiver did run. As of this morning, I'm still
hearing nothing but Dee Perkins running test audio and contact closures. The
audio connectors are different than the IDC two channel receiver, but are SG
compatible. How fortunate. The receiver also comes with a nice little
multi-tool, which isn't needed for installation. WWOne is claiming direct
Axia compatibility down the road.

The Christian Radio Consortium (CRC, aka Ambassador or Focus) has developed
their own platform called Amb-os. It appears to be built by a contract
manufacturer. It's basically a satellite FTP system that like X-Digital, can
be programmed to output any program at specific time. However, it offers a
unique feature in that it can be set up to play back a program based on a
contact closure. It also comes with software to automatically rename files
and dump them into a folder in your automation system or computer editor.

I installed one of these receivers last week. The RF portion worked, but I
couldn't get the LAN to work to save my life. The receiver does contain a
hard drive, but fortunately the bootup time is similar to a Starguide and
certainly much less than a Wegener I-Pump. The audio connectors are XLR. I
guess they felt they had to be different.

Remember, YMMV. This information seems to change almost daily. If you talk
to someone else at your network, you may get a different story...

Bill Bowin
Columbus, OH