Modern Remote Control & Monitoring for Radio and TV Broadcasters November Seattle SBE Meeting Presenter: Paul Shulins, VP/CTO – Burk Technology Matt Leland, Director of Sales – Burk Technology Wednesday November 14, 2018 Page 1 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Burk Technology • Founded in 1985 • Our Sole focus is remote control and monitoring for mission critical applications • Broadcast Market Leader • Recognized innovator • Antenna Monitoring and Protection • Land Mobile Radio Page 2 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved How to get the most out of your modern remote control system • Consolidate monitoring and control for all remote site functions • Manage national, regional and local market Network Operations Centers • Dynamically calculate and monitor virtual channels • Use autonomous capabilities to react to status changes without human intervention • Manage alarms efficiently Page 3 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Consolidate Site Monitoring and Control Tower & RF Systems Security GPIO GPIO SNMP SNMP SNMP Environment Power systems Air Chain GPIO Transmitters Page 4 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Network Operations Centers • Industry consolidation presents a new opportunity for centralized control and monitoring of multiple sites that are geographically diverse. • IP based remote control solutions enable one operator to monitor and control hundreds of sites from a single location. Page 5 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Local Market NOC Page 6 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved National NOC Page 7 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved The Power of Virtual Channels Definition: A virtual channel is a remote control channel who's value can determined by other channels using simple mathematical formulas or Boolean logic. Two types of virtual channels: • Analog • Status Page 8 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display Transmitter Efficiency • % = 100 ( / ( )) • % = 100 ( / ( )) ∗ ∗ • % = 100 / / ∗ ∗ • Let Analog Channel #1= Measured PA KV • Let Analog Channel∗ #2= Measured PA Amps • Let Analog Channel #3= Measured Pwr KW • Define Virtual Channel #4 to be calculated PA % Transmitter Efficiency Page 9 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display Transmitter Efficiency / / % = 100 ∗ % = 100 ∗ 10.0 KW / 9.200 KV / 1.55 % = 70.1 Page 10 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Dynamically Calculated Efficiency With dynamically calculated efficiency you are able to: • Graph the efficiency over time • Alarm on changes in efficiency • Predict potential failures • Recognize metering problems • Proactively order new tubes only when needed Page 11 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display Indirect Power • = • Let Analog Channel #1 = Measured PA KV ∗ ∗ • Let Analog Channel #2 = Measured PA Amps • Let = published transmitter efficiency factor • Define Virtual Channel #5 to be calculated indirect power Page 12 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display Indirect Power Indirect Power = PA volts * PA amps * Efficiency Factor = 1 Amps 71 = 10 18 9.20 ∗ .56 ∗ . KW Page 13 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Dynamically Calculated Indirect Power With dynamically calculated indirect power you are able to: • Confirm direct power meter readings • Estimate power output without a direct power meter • Confirm ongoing compliance with FCC power limits Page 14 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display VSWR • (Roh Reflection Coefficient)=SQRT(reflected power/forward power) • = (1 + )/(1 - ) • Let Analog Channel #129 = Measured Forward Power in Watts • Let Analog Channel #130 = Measured Reflected Power in Watts • Define Virtual Channel #131 to be the calculated Value of • Define Virtual Channel #132 to be calculated VSWR Page 15 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display VSWR =SQRT(reflected power/forward power) =SQRT(60 watts/10,400- watts) =.0759 VSWR=(1+.0759)/(1 .0759) VSWR=1.0759/.9241 VSWR=1.16:1 Page 16 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Dynamically Calculated VSWR With dynamically calculated VSWR you are able to: • Alarm on changes in VSWR before they affect operations • Graph VSWR over time • Automatically turn on de-icing equipment early Page 17 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display Heat Rise • Heat Rise=Exhaust Air Temperature-Supply Air Temperature • Let Analog Channel #153 = Measured Supply Air Temperature • Let Analog Channel #154 = Measured Exhaust Air Temperature • Define Virtual Channel #155 to be calculated Heat Rise Page 18 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Calculate and Display Heat Rise °F °F °F Supply Air Temperature=72 Exhaust Air Temperature= 125 Heat Rise=53 Page 19 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Dynamically Calculated Heat Rise With dynamically calculated Heat Rise you are able to: • Detect changes in transmitter efficiency • Detect subtle changes in airflow • Replace air blowers before they fail Page 20 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Display power for the transmitter feeding the antenna • Let Analog Channel 158 = Transmitter A Forward power • Let Analog Channel 159 = Transmitter B Forward power • Let Status Channel 158 = RF Coax Switch Status Position A • Let Status Channel 159 = RF Coax Switch Status Position B • Define Virtual Channel 160 to be On Air Transmitter Power Page 21 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Display Power for the transmitter feeding the antenna On-Air Pwr = (TXA Pwr * Coax Pos A) + (TXB Pwr * Coax Pos B) Page 22 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Automated Site Functions • Automated functions respond immediately to off-air events • Switch transmitters based on loss of RF • Switch audio source based on silence sense or loss of PPM encoding detection • Energizing antenna de-icing equipment based on environmental conditions Page 23 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Automated Functions Using Flowcharts • Intuitive expression of logic • Graphical editing Page 24 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Schedule Calendar Events • AM Directional station pattern changes • Mute tower light alarms during daylight hours Page 25 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Practical uses of timed functions • Keep Track of tube life • Monitor elapsed time for tower light illumination • Measure daily run times for nitrogen generators • Track AC generator run time • Look at total run times for transmitters Page 26 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Alarm Rollups • Multiple Alarms may come in simultaneously • Need to determine the root cause • Ability to suppress “effect” alarms in order to see and understand the root cause of the problem Page 27 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Alarm Rollups Power failure may cause: • Silence Sense • PPM Alarms • Utility Power Low Voltage • Utility Power loss of phase • UPS alarm • Transmitter RF Alarm • Generator Start Alarm Page 28 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Repetitive Alarms Example: STL Signal strength during periods of heavy rain or other temporary conditions where the critical parameter is on the “hairy edge” of exceeding the threshold or changing state rapidly Solutions: • Define a “re-arm delay period” • Disable the alarm for a period of time Page 29 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Antenna Site Monitoring and Protection Page 30 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Six Seattle Class C FM stations were knocked off the air Thursday morning, November 8 when a Tiger Mountain master antenna suffered major fire damage. Damage appeared to be confined to the antenna array on the tower and the transmitter buildings below were undamaged. iHeart stations KZOK 102.5 KBKS 106.1 KJAQ 96.5 20 miles east of Seattle Hubbard stations Elevation of 2800 feet KNUC 98.9 The master antenna is a 32-bay array KQMV 92.5 Self-supporting 300-foot tower Entercom The combined RF power 150 kW KSWD 94.1.. Built in 1999 by American Tower. Antenna Site Monitoring and Protection • The popularity of common antennas and combiners continues to increase. • The TV Repack causes logical and convenient rebuild opportunities to include installation of protection equipment. • Technology for detecting RF faults keeps getting better and faster. • Often these system are combined with interlock protection for RF Patch Panels and complex RF switching matrices. Page 32 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Antenna Site Monitoring and Protection • Accurately measure true RMS forward and reflected RF power levels and calculate VSWR more than 100 times per second. • Hard relay interlocking – Remove RF energy from combiner and antenna system in less than 100mS to protect RF equipment. Page 33 | Copyright 2018. Burk Technology. All rights reserved Antenna Site Monitoring and Protection • Real time data available from a live web page, updated every 10 seconds • Individual reports of each station’s antenna utilization generated and emailed monthly • Daily email summary reports • Text and email alarm notifications for out-of-tolerance power levels, room temperatures, transmission line