[BC] Re: No More Remotes

[Xmitters@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/3/2007 7:04:21 PM Central Daylight Time, 
broadcast-request at radiolists.net writes:


> We never do two remotes at the same time on the same station.  It's not
> unusual to do more than one station at the same time from the same place, in
> which case they usually get two complete setups.  We have a full time remote
> coordinator and 8 part time setup techs.  The Remote coordinator personally
> checks each location before it is used, and spot checks them as time permits
> to see that they are still OK.  He handles most of the problem calls so I
> rarely have to.  We also have 5 remote vehicles, two billboards and a sky
> dancer generator/balloon trailer for our remotes.
>     The talent is expected to be as original in the remote as at the
> studio, but only occasionally do a remote during their air shift.  It's
> usually during another talents shift and that adds to the entertainment
> value.  Part timers handle the board when a talent does a remote during
> their regular shift.
> Bill
> 
> 
> Bill:

It sounds like your station has the appropriate commitment of resources to do 
remotes correctly. Your staff and management are to be congratulated. I 
started to drool when you mentioned that you have eight remote techs AND a remote 
coordinator. 

The train wreaks that I have seen most often is, Management initially decides 
that the chief should setr up all of the remotes. Then they realize that 
things are not getting done at the transmitter and studio and decide to make the 
air staff do remotes. Then the air staff screws up a remote at a major 
advertizer and decides that an actual rempote tech is needed. They then hir someone 
for 5 bucks an hour, can barely read and follow directions, yet somehow is able 
to cram a pl-259 connector nto a female N connector, or runs the mast up 
without the antenna up there, or drives off from the remote venue with the mast 
extended. The best one I saw is, the mas was dropped when the tech left the 
remote. It was a hot summer day. The air valve was reclosed on the mast before he 
left the remote. By the time he got back to the station, the mast started to 
come up just a tad. When he went to bark thevan in the garage, BOINK, off came 
the first five feet of mast, and the garage door was badlydamaged. 

The capable staff to do these things right, is not cheap. Methinks 
thatremotes are not for everyone for these reasons. However, my funniest stories over my 
30 years have to do with remotes. The best one happened to me. This was a 
Wil-burt mast, I was working in the station parking lot, tightening up all of 
those collars at the various mast levels. This was after I replaced the bad 
sections due to the situaton above, snappong off a couple sections parking the van. 
I had the mast almost all the way up,  dual yagi and feedline in place, the 
mast went up very violentlu for the last two feet. In so doing, that last 
collar right where the mast protrudes from the roof, gave way. The mast launched 
like a Russian intercontinental Ballistic missile and had a damed impressive 
trajectory until it reached the end of the RG-8 feedline. The whole thing then 
vell to the ground. This happened just as the General Manager was pulling into 
the lot to begin his workday. He came running over, asking if I was OK, 'cause 
it looked like  the mast hit me. I told him that I was OK and that I have 
heard of premature ejaculation, but this is ridiculous. He was then ROTFLHAO. Good 
start for the day and a great topic for the Christmas party that year. 


Jeff Glass, BSEE CSRE
Chief Engineer
WNIU WNIJ
Northern Illinois University
My Dell 2650 Win2000 SPA AOL 7.0


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