Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

December 8, 2025 View as Webpage

 Legendary Tower Comes Down

Cumulus owned WJOX-AM (690) Birmingham AL had to bring down their 540 foot tower due to structural issues. The tower was erected in May of 1957 by Deep South Broadcasting owned by the Brennan family. Deep South owned four 50,000 watt AM stations stretching from Chattanooga TN to Jacksonville FL.

When these stations went on the air, they did so with transmitters and towers designed and built by the Deep South engineering department.

Chief Engineer Frank Giardina said the station is still on the air operating at reduced power from the second tower, part of their nighttime directional system.

Reviewing the FCC Rules

Questions frequently arise about how often transmitter sites should be inspected. Although FCC rules do not mandate a specific inspection schedule, part 73.1580 provides guidance:

“Each AM, FM, TV and Class A TV station licensee or permittee must conduct periodic complete inspections of the transmitting system and all required monitors to ensure proper station operation.”

Proper station operation involves maintaining and operating the broadcast station in a manner which complies with the technical rules set forth by the FCC and in accordance with the terms of the station authorization.

Most importantly, a written record of these inspections along with any repairs or adjustments made, should be kept in a “Transmitter Maintenance” log.

Although a maintenance log is not an FCC requirement, it is a valuable resource for both the station engineer and to prove to an FCC or alternative inspector that the transmission system has been inspected in a timely manner.



Transmission System Operation rules are spelled out in FCC Rules part 73.1350.

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.

The first webinar for the new year will be held on Tuesday January 16^th, 2026. It will feature a discussion concerning recent cyber-attacks on radio stations and ways to help prevent these attacks.  Special guest will be Wayne Pecena, IT director Texas A&M University. 

Back to the Basics - Understanding Decibels

Decibel is used to make comparisons between two measures, as such is not an absolute quantity.

The decibel scale is also logarithmic, not linear.

Logarithms are useful because extremely large and extremely small numbers are easier to express. The difference between the two numbers is not related to the numbers themselves. The advent of the scientific calculator has made the use of logarithms very easy.

The equation by which a precise value of power gain in decibels may be determined from the power ratio, P2/P1. The equation is: Gain (dB) = 10 x log10(P2/P1).

Although we stated at the beginning that decibels are used to make comparisons between two measures, as such is not an absolute quantity. They can represent a specific level when one of the levels is a reference number. In audio we often see these levels….

dBu represents the level compared to the voltage level  0.775 Volts RMS with an unloaded, open circuit, source (u = unloaded).

dBm represents the power level compared to 1 mWatt. This is a level compared to 0.775 Volts RMS across a 600 Ohm load impedance. Note that this is a measurement of power, not a measurement of voltage.



When working with digital audio we use dBFS which is the level relative to digital full scale. 0 dBFS is the maximum level allowed before clipping occurs. At this level all the bits in the digital word are one’s thus any audio higher than that will cause severe distortion in the analog to digital converter.  

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.

Alternative Broadcast Inspections

The ABA is setting up the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP) inspection schedule for 2026.

If your station has participated in the inspection program over the last few years, we encourage engineers to check the expiration date on the Certificate of Compliance. 

Should your certification be expired or will expire in 2026 contact the ABA to schedule a new inspection. If your station has never participated in the program, now is a good time to get on the inspection schedule. 

Current Alabama Broadcasters Association member stations receive the inspection for free, except for inspector travel expenses.



The inspector plans to be in the following areas over the first few months of 2026.

January Dothan area

February Florence area

March Huntsville area

Scheduling inspections while the inspector is in your area will help save on travel expenses.

Pro Audio –  Have set Procedures 

When task with setting up a sound system in an unfamiliar venue, where do you start?

It doesn’t matter if it is a corporate event with 50 people or a concert with 5,000, always start with evaluating the room.

The size of the room. where will the audience be seated, and finishes. Checking all these items first will aid in speaker placement. Often due to size and seating layout it may give a better overall coverage to use back fills instead of trying to push a lot of sound from the front. Don’t forget you may need to delay the fills.

The purpose of the event is also important. Conferences need systems for speech intelligibility, while live music concerts require high-fidelity music reproduction.

Sometimes in corporate events additional audio sources may be part of the presentation. In those cases, the presenter will need a monitor. Proper placement and level are important items here.

Finally, don’t neglect to tune the system to the room and ring out any monitors.

Earl's Thought for the Day