This Week In Radio Tech (TWiRT)

We’re tackling a question every broadcast engineer faces: should you buy new equipment, or can used gear deliver the performance and value you need? We’re on location inside the MaxxKonnect used equipment warehouse in Birmingham, Alabama, where Josh Bohn gives us a firsthand tour of aisles packed with everything from mic preamps to full transmitters. We also hear from Adam Robinson on the financial tradeoffs, and Mike Hutchens on real-world engineering use cases where used equipment makes solid technical and operational sense. Whether you’re planning a new build, a backup system, or a budget-conscious upgrade, this episode offers...

On this episode of This Week in Radio Tech, we dive into the practical side of regulatory readiness with Ched Keiler, who joins us to discuss the SBE Self-Inspection Guides. Developed by the Society of Broadcast Engineers in partnership with the NAB and industry experts, these guides are quickly becoming essential tools for ensuring FCC compliance across AM, FM, LPFM, and television facilities. Ched walks us through how to effectively use these guides, what a proper self-inspection process looks like, and how both engineers and station management can benefit from a structured approach to compliance. With strong early adoption and...

Episode 791 of This Week in Radio Tech features broadcast engineer and entrepreneur Matt Lightner, President of Lightner Electronics, Inc. Matt shares practical insights from years of designing and building radio studios for individual stations, clusters, and network facilities, along with lessons learned from transmitter site installations in the field. We also explore how his company has expanded into corporate audio-visual system integration—an area where A-V and broadcast engineering practices often overlap. Finally, Matt talks about applying engineering discipline and business strategy to radio station ownership, now operating nine stations in Central Pennsylvania. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about engineering, inte...

Kirk Harnack is joined by frequent co-host and longtime broadcast engineer **Chris ‘Doc' Tarr for a fun and practical conversation about “Doc-isms.” These are the short, memorable sayings that Chris has developed over years of troubleshooting transmitters, studio gear, and broadcast workflows under pressure. Each phrase—like “Work the problem,” “Just think in reverse,” and “We’re […]

In this episode, Kirk Harnack is joined by Adrian Berkovits, creator of Prism, a new audio distribution ecosystem designed for modern radio networks. Michael Dosch of Angry Audio also joins the conversation to unpack the hardware and real-world functionality that makes this new model possible. For over 40 years, radio broadcasters have relied on satellite distribution for network audio—news, sports, talk shows, and even full music formats. But today, C-Band spectrum is being squeezed by cellular services, while Internet delivery has become remarkably reliable—especially when used in aggregate. The result is a fundamental shift in how audio and metadata can...

Join Kirk Harnack for an informative preview of the SBE Ennes Workshop at NAB 2026! In this episode, "TWiRT 788," we sit down with workshop organizers David Bialik and Fred Willard for an exclusive look at the valuable, career-building sessions planned for broadcast engineers. Learn about the essential topics and technical deep-dives coming to Las Vegas on April 21 & 22. Get all the details on why you need to attend these popular sessions in the North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the NAB Show. Don't miss this insider's guide to advancing your career in radio technology! In this episode we also...

This Week in Radio Tech, Episode 787 features Ernest Jones, Director of Technical Operations for Audacy’s Atlanta radio stations—one of the largest radio markets in the country. Ernest shares his journey from mix DJ to IT specialist to broadcast engineer, describing how his passion for audio processing, amateur radio, and DXing shaped his technical career. He explains how learning IT and RF engineering evolved in parallel through both his ham radio hobby and hands-on station work. Ernest also recounts returning to a small-town AM station he once co-owned to install a new transmitter, finally retiring a venerable old RCA tube...

Episode 786 of This Week in Radio Tech dives into the real-world engineering challenges and recoveries following a severe ice storm that slammed Mississippi, Tennessee, and northern Alabama. Host Kirk Harnack is joined by Stan Carter of K-LOVE and Air1 as well as Gibson Pritchard, Director of Engineering at Nashville’s WTVF NewsChannel 5, for a candid discussion of what actually failed—and what held up—when trees, power lines, and ice took their toll. Firsthand reports from transmitter sites that rode through the storm with minimal RF issues, others that relied heavily on generators, and the logistics of keeping fuel flowing day af...

Episode 785 of This Week in Radio Tech tackles the very real challenges broadcasters are facing as severe winter weather sweeps across the Southeast and pushes toward the Northeast. In this episode, a panel of seasoned engineers from MaxxKonnect share hard-won lessons on preparing transmitter sites—and recovering them—when ice, snow, and extreme cold take stations off the air. Drawing on firsthand, boots-on-the-ground experiences, they discuss what worked, what failed, and what they’d do differently next time. While the focus is largely on transmitter facilities, much of the guidance applies just as well to studios and supporting infrastructure. If you wa...

On this episode of This Week in Radio Tech, Kirk Harnack is joined by broadcast engineer Aaron Read of L and R Broadcast Services, formerly with Rhode Island Public Radio. Aaron shares thoughtful, experience-based insights on how broadcast engineers play a direct role in establishing—and sometimes unintentionally eroding—listener trust, and why that trust remains one of radio’s greatest strengths. The conversation also dives into Aaron’s practical “Tip of the Week,” focusing on securing Barix codecs and other IP audio devices, including why built-in security features and proper password discipline matter. Aaron strongly advocates for using site-to-site VPNs to prot...

Episode 783 of This Week in Radio Tech features Chris Tarr, now a Field Engineer for K-LOVE, responsible for dozens of transmitters carrying the K-LOVE and Air1 networks. Chris shares how K-LOVE uses smart technologies, standardized procedures, and thoughtful system design to maximize engineering efficiency while reliably serving a nationwide audience. He also offers insight into the workflows and best practices he’s learned from the experienced K-LOVE engineering team, with particular appreciation for the support of the Network Operations Center (NOC). Throughout the conversation, Chris reflects on working with an “attitude of gratitude” and how the culture within K-LOVE engineering and pr...

This Week in Radio Tech episode 782 features Michael Adams joining Kirk Harnack to discuss Rapid Response Radio, a new organization focused on fast, resilient communications when they are needed most. Building on the proven success of First Response Radio, Mike explains how today’s audio and transmission technology has enabled a dramatically smaller, lighter, airline-carry-on-sized broadcast kit. These compact systems make it possible to deploy pop-up FM radio stations quickly in disaster zones and areas where infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed. From natural disasters to war-torn regions, Rapid Response Radio provides a practical way to restore vital information flow to...