MyBridge Radio Network Deploys Gateways for STLs:
Since September 2012, I have been the engineer/tech/IT person for the MyBridge Radio Network overseeing 2 studio locations, 8 full power FMs, a directional AM daytimer, and 11 translators across Nebraska, and soon another AM with an FM translator. We launched a new Spanish format in 2021 on our first AM and a couple of the translators. We also were granted new permits during the FCC NCE window, to expand our reach into both the Hispanic and English audiences in Nebraska with 7 licenses approved.
With two networks scattered over 500 miles from end-to-end, 900mhz STLs are out. KU band satellite has a high price of entry and monthly cost. We’re also in the Midwest – it snows here – and dishes lose signal because of it. Those sites aren’t easy to get to in the snow and ice. IP delivery has become much more reliable, and at a lower overall cost.
Connection reliability is everything. At the tower, I don’t need a bunch of bandwidth. I just need the connection to be there all the time, and not take hundreds of milliseconds to get there. Until recently we had deployed 10 pairs of point-to-point Tieline Bridge-ITs, but we recently purchased 2 Tieline Gateway 16 channel codecs to facilitate our expanding network.
Each Gateway will feed 8 stereo connections to our full power stations and translators. Currently 5 are on-the-air from one of the Gateways. As we are an Axia Livewire facility, and the Gateway natively supports Livewire+, once we work through automation reconfiguration for our local and regional breakaways, the second Gateway will replace 8 Bridge-ITs at the studio which are currently fed audio by xNodes. The Bridge-ITs will be repurposed as tower site codecs for our newly acquired licenses.
At the studio we use two independent fiber providers, each following a different path to our facility. We’ve also added redundant providers at our tower sites. In some cases that meant building a private wireless IP link into town where another provider was available; others necessitated cellular data links as backup.
On the codec side, we looked for the ability to handle multiple ISP connections, both at the studio and transmitter sites and handle ISP’s that have metered data. Plus, we needed a way to interface with our automation so we could simulcast across some or all of the remote stations, regionally feed several stations, and even program them independently from the rest of the network. And be reliable! All codecs either establish the tower connections using SmartStream PLUS redundant streaming using two different ISP connections, or if the tower site has a metered connection, the remote site connects back to the studio, with the remote router handling failover if the primary ISP goes down.
We also use a pair of Bridge-ITs between studio locations, with one of the members of our Morning Conversation participating from halfway across the state. Another Bridge-IT at the studio facilitates Report-IT and remote broadcasts connections.
With Gateway and Bridge-IT codecs configuration is intuitive and they just work. I’m the one doing the configuration and STL side of things – and for my staff they find them very easy to operate. We love the Tieline Toolbox GUI and it’s nice to have some front panel indicators and control, even if we never have to push any of the buttons after initial install. We use Tieline’s auto jitter settings with AAC encoding at the highest connection the link can handle. The codecs are very reliable and we have had no issues that couldn’t be traced to a network/ISP issue. We don’t like to just look at the lowest price tag at time of purchase, but also what the long-term costs are. Our experience with Tieline IP codecs for over 15 years, and a good reputation among other engineers, all figure into that overall cost.
Want to know more?
For more information on Gateway, Gateway 4, and ViA codecs visit www.tieline.com/products or contact Tieline sales:
- For USA, Canada & Latin America contact: sales@tieline.com
- For Australia and International: info@tieline.com
For more information on Tieline Gateway codecs visit www.tieline.com/gateway
(“MyBridge Deploys Gateways for STLs” first published in April 2023)
