dude, i so want a pat on the back [radio]
Despite my resolution to the contrary, I find myself back at the radio station less than a week after my last visit, once again engineering a sports broadcast. And I'm posting while on duty because I want a pat on the back.
Why? Because:
I found out I'd definitely have to work this game this afternoon, when the sports guy reported that he couldn't find anyone else. So I rushed home from work, so I could pick up the car from my dad, so I wouldn't have to take the train back home later. My dad met me at the train station and then I dropped him back home and raced back here, as much as one can race in rush hour traffic. Managed to arrive a few minutes before the engineer even called. It was good that I had some extra time because I walked into a station full of people doing not just a live show, but a live band in-studio.
There were so many people around and so much chaos on the patch bay (cords running from everything to everything else) that I decided to set up to broadcast from Studio B just so I could avoid them all. But we'll come back to that later.
Once the engineer did call, we experienced the dread Technical Difficulties. The engineer gave me one number that didn't work. I got the "No Carrier" message when I tried to dial in, and then the vector disconnected. He then gave me another number that didn't work. Then he learned that he was looking at the wrong outlet and had accidentally given me ISDN numbers. So he gave me a third number... that didn't work. This time the line was screwed up. The tech guys finally fixed it, he gave me another number, and we were ready to go. Almost.
Now it was time for me to rush around trying to load up the sports intro track on the digicart machine. And I couldn't figure out how to do it from Studio B. So, I said to the on-air guy, "Can you help me set up the cart and then transfer control to Studio B?"
The answer was "Yeah... I don't know how to do that."
Really?
Well, yeah, really.
So I set up the cart and started it running. Pushed the button on the Studio A board to release control of the on-air programming. Then rushed into Studio B, listened for the end of the intro track, then pushed the button in Studio B that allows one to take over control of the on-air programming. And I did it ALL BY MYSELF!!!!
Not one engineer in the station to help save my ass by double-checking the technical difficulties with the vector, or double-checking my Studio B patches, or whispering in my ear the process of how to switch between studios. I also set up to record the broadcast on the computer in Studio B, which I've never done before, and no one helped me with that either.
I feel terribly accomplished.
Why? Because:
I found out I'd definitely have to work this game this afternoon, when the sports guy reported that he couldn't find anyone else. So I rushed home from work, so I could pick up the car from my dad, so I wouldn't have to take the train back home later. My dad met me at the train station and then I dropped him back home and raced back here, as much as one can race in rush hour traffic. Managed to arrive a few minutes before the engineer even called. It was good that I had some extra time because I walked into a station full of people doing not just a live show, but a live band in-studio.
There were so many people around and so much chaos on the patch bay (cords running from everything to everything else) that I decided to set up to broadcast from Studio B just so I could avoid them all. But we'll come back to that later.
Once the engineer did call, we experienced the dread Technical Difficulties. The engineer gave me one number that didn't work. I got the "No Carrier" message when I tried to dial in, and then the vector disconnected. He then gave me another number that didn't work. Then he learned that he was looking at the wrong outlet and had accidentally given me ISDN numbers. So he gave me a third number... that didn't work. This time the line was screwed up. The tech guys finally fixed it, he gave me another number, and we were ready to go. Almost.
Now it was time for me to rush around trying to load up the sports intro track on the digicart machine. And I couldn't figure out how to do it from Studio B. So, I said to the on-air guy, "Can you help me set up the cart and then transfer control to Studio B?"
The answer was "Yeah... I don't know how to do that."
Really?
Well, yeah, really.
So I set up the cart and started it running. Pushed the button on the Studio A board to release control of the on-air programming. Then rushed into Studio B, listened for the end of the intro track, then pushed the button in Studio B that allows one to take over control of the on-air programming. And I did it ALL BY MYSELF!!!!
Not one engineer in the station to help save my ass by double-checking the technical difficulties with the vector, or double-checking my Studio B patches, or whispering in my ear the process of how to switch between studios. I also set up to record the broadcast on the computer in Studio B, which I've never done before, and no one helped me with that either.
I feel terribly accomplished.