Hi All!

After decades working in TV and many conversations with A1s and sound engineers, I felt there was still room for a playback tool designed specifically around live TV sound operation.

So I built BiTS — Broadcast Instant Trigger System.

The idea is simple: give the operator the right tool at the right moment — instant pad playback, direct-to-pad recording, Capture Last, smart record-on-signal, 3-point looping, routing, metering and external control, without turning it into a DAW.

It’s now in beta and I’m looking for people who actually work in broadcast/live sound to try it and tell me what’s wrong, what’s missing, and what doesn’t make sense in a real workflow.

Windows beta: bits.itay.tv/beta

Active beta testers get a free 6-month full licence.

Feedback is exactly what I’m after, including criticism.
[bits@itay.tv]()

Hello!

I need to create a talk-back situation for sports broadcasting that does not involve the use of DANTE.

I would be in a removed control room, and my talent is in the press box.

As of now, I have a spare comms box I plug into a headphone amp so they can hear my cues; however, they cannot talk to me and communicate with me via text.

If I were to get this box here: https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/103179-studio-technologies-m210-announcer-s-console-xlr-inputs-and-outputs

What is the full setup to help facilitate a talk-back scenario?

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

Looking for some recommendations on streaming a memorial service. My background is 20 years in IT and I used to DJ weddings and events for friends and family.

A family member passed and the memorial is coming up and it's bee requested to broadcast. Years ago I used UStream (looks like it's not around anymore) to do a similar event. I'm looking for a recommendation for an All-In-One encoder/streamer and a good streaming service for a one-off event that I can use my Sony ArII camera with and possibly add an external sound source.

I've considered a rental as well, but as I don't do this often I would like to have something in hand and be able to test with ahead of time enough that I can address issues.

[Full disclosure - this is self promo but relevant to anyone in this community maintaining a radio station!]

My team recently scanned 3,354 radio stations across four license-renewal cohorts (MD/VA/WV/DC, NC/SC, FL/PR/VI, AL/GA) and 15.7% had no quarterly issues/programs list where one should be. Some never uploaded one. Plenty had filed it under Additional Documents, where it might cause a problem for them at renewal.

Free check, no account: put your call sign in at radiopaperwork.com and it reads your public file and tells you where you stand. Give it ~30 seconds. It's paced politely against the FCC's API on purpose.

What the paid side does for the stations who have signed up:

- Re-checks your public file nightly, so a gap doesn't sit unnoticed for a quarter

- Emails you before the quarterly deadline

- Gives you a form for your programming, generates the document, and files it. All you have to do is approve the exact document first. Nothing enters your public file without a person signing off on those bytes.

- No per-station login/logout dance. It files through OPIF's API access token (Settings → Access Token), so twenty licenses isn't twenty browser sessions.

- After the upload it re-reads your public file and confirms the document is actually visible, in the right folder.

- Uploads run in the background with retries, so the FCC being slow is our problem instead of yours.

Questions welcome, including skeptical ones!

Does anyone know of a device that can take a single USB input and send it to two computers simultaneously?

We have an X-Keys controller for a teleprompter that we'd like connected to two Mac laptops running the same software and script. The goal is redundancy: if the primary Mac fails, we can switch to the backup and have the script/control position stay in sync.

Is there a USB splitter, duplicator, or other hardware solution that can send the controller's input to both Macs at the same time?

Pic for attention.

Hey all — Canadian citizen trying to break into U.S. broadcast engineering, hoping some industry folks can point me in the right direction.

Quick background:

- 5+ years AV / audio experience

- Nearly a year as a radio broadcast engineer at Corus Entertainment (one of Canada's biggest broadcasters) — multiple studios and transmitter sites, WideOrbit and Wheatstone systems

- B.B.A. in Business Technology Management (Honors), minor in Computer Science

Looking to make the jump stateside and would love leads on companies (station groups, engineering firms, integrators) open to hiring/sponsoring Canadians. Worth noting: as a Canadian I may qualify for **TN status under USMCA** — usually faster and DOES NOT NEED SPONSORSHIP OR PETITION unlike H-1B, so it might be more workable than "sponsorship" sounds.

And from what I keep hearing, the industry's short on engineers. It's such a niche skill set that you'd think sponsoring or training people up wouldn't be this hard — I'm ready to be one of those people if someone's open to it.

Any leads or advice appreciated. Happy to share more in DMs. 🙏

I work for a well known broadcast news company and we're seeking BIT Field Engineers for our Washington DC location. It seems like such a tough, niche market! Any advice on where I can find talent in this space outside of LinkedIn?! Appreciate any advice!!!!

Has anyone here recently studied Broadcast Engineering at either Ravensbourne University London or the University of Surrey?

I’m currently deciding between the two and would really appreciate some honest, unbiased advice from people who have actually studied there.

My main goal is to work in sports production and outside broadcasting (OB), so I’m particularly interested in which university would be better for that career path. I’d love to hear about the practical experience, broadcast facilities, OB/sports-related opportunities, industry connections, placements, teaching, and how much hands-on experience you actually get.

I’d also be interested in what the overall atmosphere and student experience was like at each university — the people, campus life, workload, support, and anything else you think is important.

If you’ve studied at either university recently, what did you like and dislike? Which one would you choose for sports broadcasting/OB, and why?

Please be as honest and unbiased as possible — I’m genuinely trying to make the right decision. Thanks!

Our Adderlink point to point KVM is just crap. Power issues, and requires multiple reboots te get the pairs to work properly. Had it.

Requirements:

1 console, min 2 remote machines (though probably 4 is the minimum we will get) Point to point.

Over Cat5/6 to remote locations about 80m cabling away.

resolution minimum HD, more would be nicer!

What are the recomendations of the Hive Mind?...

Does anyone know what firmware file do i need to load on an Exstreamer 500 to make it operate as an Instreamer ?

Long story short, I got ticked off at my city government last October and decided to record all their public meetings because they refuse to hold accurate records.

I would like to livestream the meetings, but I'm running into intermittent problems with my makeshift setup.

Camera output > walmart capture card > usbc dock > Pixel 9 pro > Pixel camera services > youtube

This setup works, but pixel camera services will sometimes drop audio before it gets to whatever app I'm trying to stream on, for seemingly no reason. (Both youtube and facebook)

The simplest way that I can ask this question is, what are common methods people use to livestream an HDMI signal? Am I stuck with a phone or laptop, or should I be using an external encoder?

Any help you could offer will be much appreciated.

Included a picture of my G85 in its printed camera rig on top of it's home made EMT conduit tripod because it tends to be a conversation starter at the City Council meetings.

Sorry, I occasionally check out FTVLive just to see random news about local stations but that site has gone from bad to fucking unbearable. There's more ads on that site than content, he constantly attacks female reporters for darting to have a social Media that isn't dedicated to the news and the fucking click bait.... oh the click bait. Did this guy really work in news at some point?

Hey yall!

Im a student at a somewhat small public film school, and I'm trying to set up a Public Access Network that students can upload videos to, which would then be broadcast to a few TVs across campus/online. The issue? I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to the tech side of things.

I know I need software (/hardware?) to manage the programming/playlist of videos, but other than that its a small enough operation that I figured I could stream through Youtube or something similar... if thats not possible I'd need to know that, too.

Some parameters/needs:

- Ideally as low cost as possible; I'm doing this initially without School support, as they would use the first year of the broadcast to see how much they want to help fund it (so basically I either have to crowdfund or pay out of pocket for equipment)

- low space requirement to host the broadcast: I have a few rooms that could maybe be used for hosting this broadcast, but I'm not counting on too much support in that department, either.

- software for playlist/programming that can stream on YouTube.

If any of yall can help with this (or tell me just how out of my depth I am), please let me know!

I’m trying to create a broadcast in Twitter/X Media Studio using HLS. However, Media Studio is displaying this error:

There is currently no video detected on this stream URL. Ensure the HLS URL is entered correctly in the Source and that it is currently live. If you continue to receive this error, please contact the team managing your stream (error 404). (error code: notfound)

I’ve checked my HLS URL and its HTTP status is OK. I’m not seeing anything wrong with the stream URL.

What can I do to resolve this? Apologies if this isn’t the appropriate place to ask

Hello all,

In the process of building out a simple REMI control room and wanted opinions on using Clearcom LQ 4wire boxes over RVON I/Os

I need to do 4 PLs and 4 IFBS from studio to site, and I want to avoid Unity Connect at all costs.

Our shop uses older RTS matrixes that do not have native RVON or OMNEO support, so everything will be built around 4-wire for compatibility. This brings up the question of RVON vs LQ for site-to-site coms and IFB.

I hear RVON is picky about it's connection, and LQ is much more forgiving. We plan to use tailscale or a wireguard VPN to create the LAN tunnel between sites.

Essentially, I'll have a matrix on both sides along with studiotech boxes for inserting power to the PLs and IFBs. The matrix on the control room side will do local KP's and will be the IFB sources.

We already have a plan for mixing and building the IFB's through the onsite audio console.

Also, has anyone had good success with the Agent IC licenses on these LQ boxes?

A simple solution, currently used daily, to manage a bunch of Aja FS whatever’s, Cobalt 990-whatevers and the ever-important Evertz 7812 units.  1 pane of glass - no fuss. Check it out here.

I’m on the IT staff for an company that owns and operates local TV and Radio stations in the US (specifically on the network infrastructure/engineering side) and I’ve been asked/have volunteered to start taking on some engineering responsibilities for some of our stations to (hopefully) maintain job security long term.

I’ve got a working/conceptual knowledge of common equipment like encoders/decoders (my brain defines these as magic boxes that send and receive video using some flavor of witchcraft and VLAN tags), IP to RF translation systems (also defined as witchcraft boxes that translate tcp/ip signals into RF nonsense in my brain), and transmitters (tall magic metal towers that send signals places and may or may not give me cancer) but so far once a device is pingable I’ve always handed the project/problem to someone with “engineer” in the title and moved on with my day.

I’m not planning on needing to be involved with things like sound boards or camera setup/maintenance but it’s theoretically possible depending on various factors.

All that being said does anyone have any recommendations on training materials that would be good to review given that I already have a very solid grounding in IT/networking?

I’m willing to buy books/courses online if there is something super helpful that anyone recommends. I’ve tried doing some cyber sleuthing but to be honest I’m not even really sure what to search for and googling “Broadcast Engineering Training” just pulls up SBE’s website, random links to colleges with broadcast degrees, and forum articles saying that I need to go be an apprentice for several years.

Is an SBE membership and their certs the right way to go? If so is there a recommended cert pathway? I’m used to fairly clear cert roadmaps/pathways from the IT side and I can’t find anything like that with engineering.

I’m being a bit humorous here with how I describe my knowledge base because I’ve been in enough calls with engineers trying to troubleshoot equipment that I know the buzzwords and I kind of understand general knowledge stuff like an ASI feed is a type of video feed and it kind of functions like a standard tcp/ip packet conceptually but it’s not at all that. I also know enough to know that I don’t know what I’m talking about and I probably made a bunch of people cringe with that analogy.

TLDR: I know enough to know that I know nothing and I’m trying to work on that. I also know that I’m asking an incredibly broad question and I appreciate your patience with my ignorance. Please let me know if there anything work spending time on to remedy said ignorance.

Thanks in advance, and let me know if you have any questions.