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Exterior: Some Radio stations are housed in their own buildings. Others, because of financial reasons or geographic considerations,
can be found in skyscrapers, strip malls, and other locations.
Microwave Relay: Many Radio stations do not have their actual transmitter and broadcast tower on the same property
as the studios. The tower above is a microwave relay tower. The signal is sent by microwave to a similar microwave receptor
on the grounds where the transmitter and tower are. It is then converted into a signal that is broadcast to the general public.
It is not uncommon for a Radio station's studios to be located 10, 15 even 30 miles away from the actual transmitter and tower.
You'll notice there are several microwave dishes on this tower. That's because it is relaying signals for several different
Radio stations.
Satellite Dishes: Many Radio stations, especially those which air syndicated radio shows , receive these programs
via satellite. The signal is fed into the Radio station's control room where it travels through a console, also known as a
" board", and is then sent to the transmitter.
Studio: Today's typical broadcast studio
at a Radio station consists of a console, microphones, computers, cd players and some
even still use "carts". Although you might find some scattered about, few studios anymore
have turntables or use vinyl records.
Studio: This is a view of the console or
board. The two screens directly ahead control the Radio station. Everything in this system is digital and stored on a hard
drive including songs, commercials, promos, etc.
The computer on the right is hooked up to the Internet and also includes
software for editing phone calls. The long rectangular object directly below this computer's keyboard is a phone interface for answering incoming lines. Below the console, you can see a flexible keyboard, two mouses and the red box is a remote control for the phone call
editing software. Once a phone call is ready for playback, the DJ can just press the play button on the red remote instead
of using the mouse to click a software control.
Console or Board: This is where all the
sound sources are mixed before being sent to the transmitter. Each slider, sometimes knowns as a "pot" on older boards, controls the volume of one sound source: microphone, cd player, digital recorder, network feed, etc. Each slider channel has an
on/off switch at the bottom and various switches at the top which can divert to more than one destination. A VU meter, such as the square box-like area toward the top of the console with the
two green horizontal lines (center top), shows the operator the level of sound output. The top horizontal line is the left
channel and the bottom line is the right channel.
Microphone: Most Radio stations have an
assortment of microphones. Some microphones are especially designed for voice and on-air work. Often,
these microphones will also have wind-screens over them, as this one does. The wind-screen keeps extraneous
noise to a minimum such as the sound of breath blowing into the microphone or the sound of a "popping" "P". (Popping Ps occur
when a person pronounces a word with a hard "P" in it and in the process, expels a pocket of air that hits the microphone
creating undesired noise.)
Production: Besides
the On-Air studio, every Radio station has a Production studio (overseen by the Production Director) where commercials are
assembled, music is recorded; promotional announcements are created, etc.
The production studio is more of a workhorse studio and generally aesthetics are less
an issue than functionality. Notice the special soundproofing on the walls (upper right)
In this picture,
the monitor in the center is for the recording computer. The black rectangular object on the right is actually this studio's
"console" or mixer. The inset on the bottom left is CD player and other misc. controls and the inset in the upper left is
a studio speaker.
Analog VS.
Digital: Today's modern Radio station has moved away from analog recording in favor of digital recording. On top
is an old-style analog tape deck which recorded magnetic impulses on recording tape that was fed from left-to-right from reels.
Below, is a digital editor, this
one by 360systems. The audio is recorded on a hard drive where it is edited, stored and played back. For multitrack applications, broadcasters favor
newer software tools likeCoolEdit (Shareware) and ProTools (Free for MAC or PC).
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