College hockey radio announcer featured

[Mike Saffran]

A very nice feature on longtime men’s and women’s hockey college-radio broadcaster Chris Lerch of RIT’S WITR-FM (89.7):

Hockey is a life's work for a Greece man

[aaronread]

Nice article!

And that looks like a Comrex Access in the background of that pic, I believe...?   

[Ed Trefzger]

And that looks like a Comrex Access in the background of that pic, I believe...?   

It is indeed. WITR has equipped it with a Verizon 4G modem, which we've been able to use everywhere except Burlington, VT, where they don't have 4G yet. We were even able to use 4G on the Air Force Academy campus this past weekend. WiFi and ethernet work nicely on it as well.

It replaces a Comrex Vector after many years of reliable service despite some difficulty at a few venues with unreliable POTS.

[aaronread]

Y'know, I was just at an SBE luncheon a few weeks ago with a preso about 3G/4G from Tieline and the takeaway was that things vary wildly depending on where you are in the CONUS.  There are many venues in Los Angeles where never mind 3G, even 4G is too saturated by audience members' smartphones for any reliable connections to be made via AoIP codecs like Tieline's and Comrex's.  Naturally, these are BIG venues with big audiences...like Dodger Stadium.   But even mid-sized venues are rapidly getting problematic for 4G and are useless on 3G.  However, Tieline says that their user reports are that 3G is fading fast for usefulness, but 4G is more widespread than many people think, so it's still pretty viable in a lot of cities.

On a related note, ISDN is a total crapshoot.  Some cities it's still widely available for existing lines but hard to get new ones.  Some it's completely unavailable.  Some it's available and easy to get new lines, too.

The only thing people seem to agree on is that POTS is universally getting harder and harder to secure usable lines for codecs.  Too many "POTS" lines are actually PBX or VoIP and, therefore, near-certainly useless.

PERSONALLY my experience was that from 2007 to 2011, 3G was a real bacon-saver at many of the Div3 venues WHWS did games from.  3G was usually pretty available and, after we got our codec/jitter/buffering settings right, it was quite reliable.  Often moreso than anything else because too few S.I.D.'s really know what telco they've got available at a venue (if there's even a pressbox...not a sure thing at the Division III level) and I can't tell you how many times I was assured of a "POTS line" that turned out to not be actually POTS.   Although more than a few times it turned out to be ethernet-fed VoIP so we just unplugged the phoneset and used the ethernet line right into our Access.  Usually worked great.

I wish S.I.D.'s would be better about that, but I don't begrudge them too much; many have a lot on their plate already, and the technology is changing rapidly.  And the bottom line is that the telco often involves technical details beyond what an S.I.D. should be expected to know.

One last note: oddly enough, while off-campus remotes were too risky, we found that one of the best things our Comrex Vector was for, was doing ON-campus remotes from locations we didn't normally do remotes from.  We had a good relationship with the campus phone guy, so we never had trouble getting true POTS lines patched to the jacks we needed.

[Ed Trefzger]

PERSONALLY my experience was that from 2007 to 2011, 3G was a real bacon-saver at many of the Div3 venues WHWS did games from.  3G was usually pretty available and, after we got our codec/jitter/buffering settings right, it was quite reliable.  Often moreso than anything else because too few S.I.D.'s really know what telco they've got available at a venue (if there's even a pressbox...not a sure thing at the Division III level) and I can't tell you how many times I was assured of a "POTS line" that turned out to not be actually POTS.   Although more than a few times it turned out to be ethernet-fed VoIP so we just unplugged the phoneset and used the ethernet line right into our Access.  Usually worked great.

I wish S.I.D.'s would be better about that, but I don't begrudge them too much; many have a lot on their plate already, and the technology is changing rapidly.  And the bottom line is that the telco often involves technical details beyond what an S.I.D. should be expected to know.

Things are mostly better at the D-I level than what we experienced at D-III. We used to have problems getting enough bandwidth for a digital connection at a couple of locations and had to resort to analog.

Sports information directors at the D-III level are often one-person staffs and sometimes share duties as coaches or administrators, so they are often overworked and underprepared.

When we were dealing with D-III venues, we often had to pay for the installation of a phone line. Some of our toughest times were at the Geneva Recreation Complex before the enclosing of the facility had been completed and a press box constructed. One time, we placed the telco order while the office had ordered a new fax line. The phone company installed our line in the office. When we got to the arena, there was no phone line and the people at the arena would not allow us to use any other line. So we were unable to broadcast. A couple of days later, I got a call from someone in the office there yelling at me because we told the phone company "to put our number on their fax line." Several years later, after the first round of renovations, our phone line was not working -- again after having to place an order -- so Hobart coach Mark Taylor allowed us to use his office phone line. We had 100 feet of phone cable, but that put us standing in the corner at ice level right next to the student section, which was full of rowdy and profane fans, many of whom had smuggled in alcohol.

Word is that things are much better with the really nice new press area there.

[techie2]

Sports remotes are always fun.  I can believe that 3G is getting bad.  We use the Comrex Access to cover high school sports on LPFM in the Dayton, Ohio area.  Had lots of issues with Sprint 3G here where we would have plenty of signal but no data throughput.  Dropping the Comrex down to Ultra Low Bitrate mode didn't even help, the data transmission would just stop cold for 10 seconds or more at a time.  Switching to Verizon 4G made a big difference.  We had one football game in an area that didn't have 4G and had hiccups of about 2-3 seconds every 5 or 10 minutes, but that was still better than before.

Most of the high schools that have wireless connections or data jacks have things locked down tighter than Fort Knox to where the Comrex can't connect out, or they won't even let us on the wi-fi.  We wind up having to rely heavily on cell data as a result.

Aaronread, if you are on a Comrex, could you PM me the buffer settings you are using?  I'd like to compare with what we have and see what else can be tweaked for better reliability. 

As far as the outdoor sports we cover, I think we'll just stick with a Marti when we are close enough to get a clear shot.

[aaronread]

When we were dealing with D-III venues, we often had to pay for the installation of a phone line. Some of our toughest times were at the Geneva Recreation Complex before the enclosing of the facility had been completed and a press box constructed.

WELCOME TO DAH COOLAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!   

I came to HWS/WEOS the fall after they'd just finished enclosing the GRC and putting in that "pressbox", and heard no end of stories about how lucky I was to never have to do a game there when it was still open-air; the last DIII open-air rink in the country, IIRC.  (if not, it's certainly one of the last)   And mind you, the GRC is maybe 200-300ft from the water's edge of the north end of Seneca Lake, which is a mile wide and over 20 miles long.  Between the bitter cold of upstate NY, the gale-force wind off the lake, and the lake-effect snow (both from Seneca Lake itself and - moreso - from Lakes Ontario and Erie) and that was a miserable venue.

It's still rarely above 40 degree in there, but at least there's no wind.  And I got my sportscasters some space heaters and they actually worked pretty well, so all-in-all a definite improvement. 

Anyways, the new "pressbox" is not really a pressbox per se, it's a raised platform that runs pretty much the length of the ice and is above the benches, PA booth, and penalty box.  For MOST of the ice the view is better...except right below the pressbox, where you have to lean forward and peer over the edge.   Not easy with the countertop they've installed.

The home team (WEOS/WHWS) has an ISDN line and, in a pinch, a Marti RPU antenna in place.  I modified the countertop to mount a Telos Zephyr Xstream MXP mixer vertically along with some breakout jack panels for the XLR mics / TRS headphones, plus a locking cabinet door to protect it.   There's also a locking rack cabinet mounted below to the floor, where the headsets, space heaters and other assorted gear are stored inbetween games.   That way we can leave our gear in place all season long and not worry about everyone else who uses the facility.

When I was there, a regular POTS line was installed to a wall jack (same jack the ISDN line was in) right behind the radio "area" of the pressbox.  So the visiting radio guys are right next to the home guys.  It's not a problem those, each "area" is a good 12ft wide so there's plenty of room.  And the Cooler is THUNDEROUSLY loud between echoes off all the glass walls and the PA system that the student operators always overcrank.  And you're right on the ice, too.  It's so loud there is no need for a "crowd mic"...most hypercardioid headset mics pick up just enough room noise.   Anyways, there weren't all that many visiting radio teams but they usually had no troubles with POTS codecs.   Ironically, the bigger problem is internet access; there's wifi in the Cooler's offices but that doesn't reach out to the pressbox worth a damn.  If you want to be able to surf the web and get live stats from the game, you need a 3G or 4G internet card for your laptop; that's what the SID's there use.   Verizon 3G service is excellent in the Cooler thanks to a tower being a block away (next to The Smith Opera House).

Techie2, I don't recall the settings off the top of my head and I don't work there anymore so I can't tell you exactly what the settings were.   However, I remember that mostly what I did was create a "Big Buffer" setting that had the buffering turned WAY up, and I turned on the advanced settings and went through each, one by one, and did everything I could that would increase delay but also increase reliability.  This setting typically meant delays of 5 to 10 seconds (meaning bidirectional conversations were near-impossible) but it also meant that our sportscasts did not have dropouts.

With the "Big Buffer" established, I then experimented with things that would decrease the delay.  Eventually I found some compromises for "Little Buffer" (delay was less than a second, but not much protection against dropouts...to be used when the 'net connection was known to be good...usually wired Ethernet connections on other colleges' campuses) and "Medium Buffer" (delays of 1 to 3 seconds, max...an excellent "middle ground").   I also avoided using the ULB codec (ultra low bandwidth) when I could.  It didn't seem to help much on dropouts but the audio quality was miserable.

More often than not we found that "Big Buffer" was needed whenever we used the 3G connection; it was just too narrow and unstable a pipe for anything else.  But at least it worked.   You'll have to experiment to find what works best for you, but I agree that the default preset settings on the Access - in general - don't provide enough buffering and are prone to dropouts; you've got to dive in and create some new presets for your specific situation.

FWIW, one thing I did was spend a lot of time with my campus IT department for the connection on the STUDIO end of the Access, too.  I found that a lot of what the Access needed were things the IT guys were not familiar with.  There's a couple of pages at the end of the Access manual that were very helpful with that, though.  Eventually we got 128kbps of up AND down bandwidth in a "secured channel" (via QoS) that had all the proper ports open and a static IP assigned; plus a few other details that escape me.   I recall that before I did all that, our Access "worked" but a lot of connections were unstable.  Afterwards, smooth as glass.

Also FWIW, we made extensive use of our Marti 450MHz RPU.  It was great for baseball games at the town field that lacked any internet or phones whatsoever; I set it up with a semi-permanent Marti install in a road case they could just leave in place (in the pressbox) for the summer.  It was ideal because the damn thing just worked.  Flip a switch and it worked.  No muss, no fuss.  I wrote about it here:  http://friedbagels.blogspot.com/2011/11/play-ball-remote-tech-options-for.html

[techie2]

Techie2, I don't recall the settings off the top of my head and I don't work there anymore so I can't tell you exactly what the settings were.   However, I remember that mostly what I did was create a "Big Buffer" setting that had the buffering turned WAY up, and I turned on the advanced settings and went through each, one by one, and did everything I could that would increase delay but also increase reliability.  This setting typically meant delays of 5 to 10 seconds (meaning bidirectional conversations were near-impossible) but it also meant that our sportscasts did not have dropouts.

With the "Big Buffer" established, I then experimented with things that would decrease the delay.  Eventually I found some compromises for "Little Buffer" (delay was less than a second, but not much protection against dropouts...to be used when the 'net connection was known to be good...usually wired Ethernet connections on other colleges' campuses) and "Medium Buffer" (delays of 1 to 3 seconds, max...an excellent "middle ground").   I also avoided using the ULB codec (ultra low bandwidth) when I could.  It didn't seem to help much on dropouts but the audio quality was miserable.

More often than not we found that "Big Buffer" was needed whenever we used the 3G connection; it was just too narrow and unstable a pipe for anything else.  But at least it worked.   You'll have to experiment to find what works best for you, but I agree that the default preset settings on the Access - in general - don't provide enough buffering and are prone to dropouts; you've got to dive in and create some new presets for your specific situation.

FWIW, one thing I did was spend a lot of time with my campus IT department for the connection on the STUDIO end of the Access, too.  I found that a lot of what the Access needed were things the IT guys were not familiar with.  There's a couple of pages at the end of the Access manual that were very helpful with that, though.  Eventually we got 128kbps of up AND down bandwidth in a "secured channel" (via QoS) that had all the proper ports open and a static IP assigned; plus a few other details that escape me.   I recall that before I did all that, our Access "worked" but a lot of connections were unstable.  Afterwards, smooth as glass.

Also FWIW, we made extensive use of our Marti 450MHz RPU.  It was great for baseball games at the town field that lacked any internet or phones whatsoever; I set it up with a semi-permanent Marti install in a road case they could just leave in place (in the pressbox) for the summer.  It was ideal because the damn thing just worked.  Flip a switch and it worked.  No muss, no fuss.  I wrote about it here:  http://friedbagels.blogspot.com/2011/11/play-ball-remote-tech-options-for.html

Thanks, that tells me enough to do some tinkering.  For our cell data settings, I ran a minimum buffer of 1 second, but didn't raise the cap beyond the max of 2 seconds or mess with anything else.  It worked fine that way in 4G areas, but we had intermittent issues at the one out-of-town game where there was no 4G coverage.  It sounds like maybe I need to create an extra setting for those "3G only" areas and allow for a larger buffer. 

In our case, 2-way conversation isn't an issue because we automate the games using a dial-up remote control system.  The cell phone stays dialed up to send the touch tones, receive cueback from the station, and serve as the audio feed of last resort if the Comrex connection dies.  The catch is that the guys have to wait for themselves to play back out of the buffer before firing the break, so their last word or two doesn't get cut off.  I told them to "count to 2" before pressing the button.  A really long buffer might mess with them some, but I'm thinking maybe a minimum of 2 seconds and max of 5 may be a good start for the new "3G Areas" preset.

I haven't messed much with the studio end, but the connection's pretty simple, with just a small-office DSL connection.  I did install a "home run" DSL jack for the modem and used a central filter to isolate it off the other phone jacks to make sure that connection stays solid.  I suppose we could use a QoS router to ensure the Comrex gets priority over all other traffic, but it's not really necessary when there is no one in the office using the internet while the game is on.  I believe I have all the required ports forwarded to the rack unit per the instructions in the back of the manual. 

I think we're going to install a permanent Marti antenna at our home field and leave the transmitter there if there are multiple home games in a row.  The folks there are good about locking up the press box and setting the alarm because they don't want all their expensive PA system parts to walk off.

[aaronread]

In our case, 2-way conversation isn't an issue because we automate the games using a dial-up remote control system.  The cell phone stays dialed up to send the touch tones, receive cueback from the station, and serve as the audio feed of last resort if the Comrex connection dies.  The catch is that the guys have to wait for themselves to play back out of the buffer before firing the break, so their last word or two doesn't get cut off.  I told them to "count to 2" before pressing the button.  A really long buffer might mess with them some, but I'm thinking maybe a minimum of 2 seconds and max of 5 may be a good start for the new "3G Areas" preset.

That's true, it probably will.  And as I mentioned, the "Big Buffer" could and did introduce delays of up to 8 to 10 seconds each way.  Even under normal situations, delays of 4 or 5 seconds were common.  For real-time coordination, that's a lot of delay!

There's ways around that, though.  I think most Comrex gear has the ability to send triggers to the studio unit for contact closure, and the triggers are delayed equally with the audio.  I *think* that's the case...check the manual or call Comrex to be sure, though.

Alternatively, you can load up a netbook computer (they're only $300 or so) with a program like SoundByte and have your sportscasters run all the breaks from the field.  We did that with several of our sports and it worked well; most sports at the DIII level (save for football) don't have many breaks in the action.  Some, like soccer, are pretty much non-stop except for halftime and the occasional injury timeout.

[Dancerev889]

Something we are using to go along with our Philadelphia Wings broadcasts pre and post game show is using the Skype app off of the Ipad.  We bought a Ipad dock which has XRL and quarter inch connections.  It sounds really good.  Plus its in real time.  We are using the Comrex Access for the broadcast itself