Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

March 2, 2026 View as Webpage

March Required Monthly (RMT) Test

The March Required Monthly Test (RMT) for Alabama is scheduled for this Thursday March 5^th at 11:15 AM. Engineers are encouraged to verify before the test that all your monitor sources on the EAS unit are operating properly with clear audio.

We still have stations around the state that are not receiving and relaying the RMT as required by FCC rules. Don’t forget to review the station log weekly.



If you have any problems with your EAS unit receiving required test or alerts, contact the Alabama SECC for assistance.

ABA Engineering Academy

The ABA Engineering Academy held their Radio Engineering Class last week with students from around the country.

A great group of 17 radio engineers from 8 different states were in attendance.

Our next class will be Television Engineering scheduled for the week of March 23^rd – 27^th. The fall schedule will include Radio Engineering scheduled for September 28th - October 2nd. The television class is scheduled for October 26^th – 30^th.

Special note: Due to rising costs, the ABA has instituted a $100 fee for out-of-state attendees beginning with the fall classes. 

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. 



A daily schedule of subjects and online registration is available here

Reviewing the FCC Rules – Transmitter Control Systems.

From time to time, we still find stations operating without an operational remote transmitter control system.



The personnel designated by the licensee to control the transmitter must have the capability to turn the transmitter off at all times or include an alternate method of taking control of the transmitter which can terminate the station's operation within 3 minutes. See 73.1350(b)(2).  

In general, the licensee or permittee must correct any malfunction which could cause interference or turn the transmitter off within 3 hours of the malfunction. Some malfunctions, however, must be corrected within 3 minutes. Examples of situations requiring termination within 3 minutes are operations posing a threat to life or property, or that is likely to significantly disrupt operations of other stations (such as spurious emissions or operations substantially at variance from the authorized radiation pattern), unless the power is sufficiently reduced in that period to eliminate any excess radiation.

Back to the Basics - A clean transmitter site is key item in Preventive maintenance.

It’s easy to think of cleaning as a cosmetic issue, but at a transmitter facility, it’s a matter of preventing failures.

Dust, dirt, and debris are the enemies of electronic components. Dust acts as an insulator, preventing heat from dissipating properly. This leads to component overheating and premature failure. Conductive dust (potentially containing metal particles) can create pathways for arcing and short circuits, potentially causing catastrophic damage.

In addition to equipment issues a dirty facility creates a safety issue. A dirty facility attracts pests. Rats, snakes and insects can create nests in sensitive areas.



Maintenance should include regularly replacing air filters with HVAC systems and any equipment with internal filters. Sweeping or vacuuming the floor area (make sure to use a vacuum with Hepa filters).

A Early Reminder of Issues and Programs dates coming up

April 10 is the deadline by which all full-power radio and TV stations (as well as Class A TV stations), both commercial and noncommercial, must upload to their OPIFs their Quarterly Issues/Program lists for the second quarter of 2026.

Now is the time to begin to get items together to include in the first quarter report.

It is important that these be timely uploaded to your public file, as the untimely uploads of these documents probably have resulted in more fines in the last decade than for any other violation of the FCC’s rules.

Pro Audio – Get it Right at the Source

We have mentioned this important item before, but when properly installing a new sound system, it could sound worse than the old system.

This is the problem of a good PA; it simply makes things louder. A poorly implemented PA also makes things louder but typically muddles it up with all sorts of room reflections, phase canceling and missing frequencies. While that doesn’t sound good, it can cover a multitude of sins.

There seems to be this theory going around that it doesn’t matter what the source sounds like, it can magically be made better with the application of EQ and gates and compression now that every digital console has that on every channel. Maybe add some plugins for good measure.



The reality is, these things are simply damage control.

March 8th Don't Forget!