Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

December 1, 2025 View as Webpage

Avoiding Cyberattacks

A special notice has been issued by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau division of the Federal Communications Commission.

This notice is issued in response to the recent string of cyber intrusions against various radio broadcasters that resulted in the broadcast of obscene materials and the misuse of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) Attention Signal.

It appears that these recent hacks were caused by a compromised studio-transmitter link (STL) — the broadcast equipment that carries program content from the studio to remote transmitters—with threat actors often accessing improperly secured Barix equipment and reconfiguring it to receive attacker-controlled audio in lieu of station programming.

Affected stations broadcast to the public an attacker-inserted audio stream that includes an actual or simulated Attention Signal and EAS alert tones, as well as obscene language, and other inappropriate material.



Broadcasters are urged to Install software security patches issued by the equipment manufacturer as soon as they become available, regularly change passwords to promote continued security, ensure systems are behind network firewalls, and utilize VPNs that are configured to limit remote management access to only authorized devices.

The Importance of a UPS

 The primary duty of a broadcast engineer is to create and maintain a ‘quality program stream’ for the consumer. Maintaining includes ensuring the stream is still available even when commercial power is interrupted. 

First line of defense is the uninterruptible power system, or UPS. A properly designed UPS not only serves as a backup AC source that supplies power to station equipment when the primary power source fails, but also prevents corruption of station PC programs or hard drives caused by short electric utility outages or transients. A station PC equipped with a UPS generally will have better data collection reliability and continuity over the long term compared to one without a UPS. 

When selecting UPS units first determine the maximum load that the unit will have to handle, then purchase a USP with a higher VA (volt-amperes) or wattage than needed.



A UPS is rated according to its operating voltage and capacity in terms of apparent power (volt-amperes, VA) and real power (watts, W). The volt-amperes rating determines the number of amperes that can be drawn from the UPS at its rated voltage whereas the wattage rating determines the amount of real power that it can deliver. The two ratings are related by the load power factor (PF), which typically is 0.6. For example, if the rating of a UPS is 1000 VA and 0.6 PF, the maximum real load that it can serve is 600 W.

Properly selected and maintained UPS units are a valuable asset to your operations.

ABA Engineering Webinar

The final ABA Engineering Webinar for 2025 is scheduled for Tuesday, December 16th, commencing at 10:00 AM Central Time.

We are pleased to announce that the special guest for this session will be SBE President Kevin Trueblood. He will address the significance of engineers embracing lifelong learning and discuss the Society of Broadcast Engineers’ role in supporting this pursuit. Additionally, he will outline the array of services provided by the SBE and share objectives for 2026.



Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for this informative webinar at 10:00 AM Central on Tuesday, December 16th. Registration is available online here.

Back to the Basics

This week's Back to the Basics explores a procedure that, while no longer mandated by the FCC, remains highly significant. The Annual Audio Proof required radio stations to conduct yearly measurements of frequency response and distortion from the console all the way to the transmitter output.

Engineers must deliver high-quality transmissions because audiences have many choices and will quickly switch if standards slip. Regaining listeners after they leave is challenging.



It is important to “listen” to your station. Not just to see if you are on the air, but the quality remains high.

ABA Engineering Academy

We now have the schedule set for the Radio and Television engineering classes during 2026. The Radio classes will be held the weeks of February 23 – 27 and September 28 – October 2. Television classes will be held the weeks of March 23 -27 and October 26 – 30.

These classes give beginners a technical overview of broadcast engineering, while experienced engineers use them to refresh their knowledge and stay current with new technology.

Each class covers basic electronics, analog and digital audio, video creation, RF systems, antennas, along with basic studio operations and FCC Rules. The classes are offered at no charge by the Alabama Broadcasters Association. On Fridays we offer the opportunity to take the SBE Certified Broadcast Technologist exam. The SBE has a charge for the exam. It is not required to take the exam to attend the class.



You can view the weekly schedule of topics and register for the classes by visiting the ABA Engineering Class website.

Pro Audio –  Unclutter You Mix            

Mix engineers for both live sound and recording should be careful not to crowd too much into the mix. This is akin to trying to pack 100,000 fans into a football stadium that only seats 75,000.

Becky Pell, writing in the latest edition of Church Sound said “In a world of ever-increasing complexity and access to exciting technology it’s easy to over-complicate matters.

Certainly, the tools we now have available solve many problems, open up creative possibilities, and save time. However, there’s also the potential to get lost in a sea of “toys” and lose sight of our objective as sound engineers – to create a pleasant-sounding mix that’s easy to play along to because it contains the appropriate amounts of the musical information required.

If we succumb to temptation to “fix it in the mix” rather than addressing root principles, fundamental steps that would actually solve problems can be missed. In effect we can end up trying to wallpaper the house before the foundations are firm or dress a gaping wound with a Band-Aid.

Even experienced engineers can be served by reconsidering the basics, which, over time, become our second nature. Remember ‘It’s What Comes Out of the Speakers that Counts’.

Becky is a two-time winner of the Monitor Engineer of the Year award. Read her article here.

Earl has his Priporities