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Audio equipment
Power - All the audio equipment is powered on with the big switch at the top right of the 19" rack. The red light by the switch is lit when the power is on. Turn off the power switch when you leave.
Block diagram
The studio is connected to the outside world through:
a standard phone line, for phone-ins)
a digital phone line (ISDN) to send your sound to KGNU's Boulder studios, or directly to the AM transmitter
a computer network, for internet access, and access to KGNU's internal computer network
The heart of the studio is its mixer.
It receives sound from:
3 players: mini-disc, 2 CD players, and a phone interface
4 microphones
an AM radio receiver to hear KGNU'sd on-air signal
It sends sound to:
the mini disc recorder, to record it
the computer, to record it and edit it
the ISDN interface, to broadcast it
Mixer
The mixer is very simple, but it does most of what we need. Many functions are not needed, so they are disabled (knobs removed, glued).
To avoid problems, don't unplug anything, don't change the setting of controls that don't have knobs.
You only have to deal with the following:
8 LEVEL knobs to set the volume of an input
The CTRL ROOM / PHONES knob for the headphones volume
The AIR MON / NORMAL pushbutton to select what you hear in the headphones
Leave everything else alone
If you do change any of the settings that you shouldn't change, your bad. Also, remember to put them back the way they were.
If someone else changed something and didn't fix it, note that all connectors are marked, so you should be able to reconnect things as they should have kept. Also, note that each adjustment without a knob is marked with the way it should be set.
Inputs
Each input source has its own LEVEL knob to set the volume, and to fade in and out.
There is no cueing on the mixer, sorry. You can cue CDs by plugging headphones directly into the CD players.
Mind your levels! Look at the green / yellow / red LEDs on the right side. The green LEDs should be mostly lit, and the yellow ones should light part of the time. If not, adjust the LEVEL knob for that source. If you see the red LEDs light-up, it's way too loud!
There is no way to play the sound from the ISDN or from the computer into the mixer
Mikes
Don't bang the table. Keep your guests from doing so.
Speak straight into the mike, about 4 inches from it.
A lot of noise comes in from outside. There's not much we can do. If you're about to record or broadcast, make sure that people outside are aware of it.
Players
Mini-disc
Insert a Mini-Disc into the Mini-Disc player. The label goes on top, and the metal band goes on the left
Select the track to play by rotating the knob on the right
Press the PLAY button (right pointing triangle) to start playing
When done, press the STOP button (filled square) to stop playing
CD players
Insert the CD
Select the track to play with the 11 numbered buttons. For track 10 and up, use the "10+" button. For example, for track 23, press the "10+" button twice, then the "3" button.
Press the PLAY button (right pointing triangle) to start playing
To see "Time Remaining", press the "TIME" button
If the display shows "Sleep", press PAUSE to wake it up
Phone
The white phone has 2 uses: general use, and to record or broadcast calls
The phone number is: 303-825-0619
.
For long distance calls, you must dial a code after the phone number
To record or broadcast calls:
Use the white phone to dial the number of the person you want to record, or answer the phone when they call you
When ready, press the ON button in the PHONE unit (bottom unit in the rack). The white phone will stop working. Hang-up the white phone
You will hear the caller in your headsets, plugged into the mixer. Set the volume of the sound from the caller with the PHONE knob on the mixer. Mind your sound levels!
Speak into the main microphone and the caller will hear you. Set the volume of your voice with the MIKE knob on the mixer. Mind your sound levels!
When done, press the OFF button in the PHONE unit. The white phone will start working again.
Outputs
Recording
To Mini-Disc
Insert a Mini-Disc into the Mini-Disc player. The label goes on top, and the metal band goes on the left
Press the REC button (red dot)
Press the LEVEL / DISPLAY button (to the left of the display) to check the input levels
When ready to start, press the PLAY button (right pointing triangle) to start recording
When done, press the STOP button (filled square) to stop recording
Trouble? see the troubleshooting section below
To computer
Click the AUDACITY icon (blue headsets over a yellow circle) in the tool bar, bottom left of the screen. The Audacity window will open
Settings should be OK by default. However, someone may have changed them and not restored them. So check:
The "Project rate (Hz)" (bottom right corner) should be 44100. If not, click the pop-up and select 44100
The default should be Stereo. Do Control-P, and note that, in the middle of the dialog that pops-up, "Channels" is set for "2 (Stereo)". If not, change it. Click OK
Click the Record button (big round button at the top with a red circle). A pair of tracks appears, and the computer starts recording.
External
To phone
To ISDN
The ISDN interface (Telos Zephyr Xstream) lets you send sound from Denver to the Boulder studios or to the AM transmitter.
To the KGNU studios in Boulder (any studio can receive it)
In Boulder: set-up the Xstream, by pressing "AUTO", "2", "4", "AUTO"
In Denver: On the Xstream, press "AUTO", "0", "0", "AUTO"
Both places: the 2 Xstreams will connect to each other, and make 2 "blip" sounds
In Boulder: pot-up the ISDN channel on the console (any studio)
Either place: when done, press the "DROP" button on the Xstream, 2 times, wait for the "burp" sound, press "DROP" 2 more times
To the KGNU AM 1390 transmitter
In Boulder: hang-up the call from Boulder to the AM transmitter: on the black Zephyr, press the "DROP" button, 4 times
On the ISDN interface, press "Auto Dial", "2", "Auto Dial"
In Denver: On the Xstream, press "AUTO", "0", "1", "AUTO"
You are on the air in Denver
In Denver: when done, press the "DROP" button on the Xstream, 2 times, wait for the "burp" sound, press "DROP" 2 more times
In Boulder: resume broadcast from Boulder: on the black Zephyr, press the "AUTO" button, 2 times
Our ISDN numbers: 303-534-9511 and 303-534-9574
Audio Monitoring
Mixer
You monitor the output of the mixer with headsets plugged into the mixer's "PHONES" jack. There is no way of monitoring through speakers, sorry.
KGNU
You monitor the KGNU 1390 AM signal by
plugging the headsets to the "Air Monitor Receiver", or
plugging the headsets to the mixer's "PHONES" jack and punching the button in the mixer labeled "IN:AIR MON / OUT: NORMAL"
Note: do not monitor the 1390 AM signal while on the air. There's a 6 second delay between what you say or play, and when it comes back to you: it will drive you crazy. Instead, monitor the output of the mixer, directly.
Computer
You monitor the output of the computer by
plugging a headset in the computer's headset jack, or
through the speakers on eitehr side of the computer monitor
Various items control the volume:
volume control
power switch on the right speaker
Digital editing
Open an audio file with Audacity
Troubleshooting
Mini-Disc recording silence
Press the INPUT button. Every time you press it, the display will alternate between "Digital In" and "Analog In". When it says "Analog In", don't press the button any further.
No sound from computer
First plug headsets into the headset jack, on the front of the computer and check if there's sound. If not:
Check the Volume icon in the tray, at the bottom right of the screen
Click the blue button with a white arrow at the bottom right
You'll see an icon that looks like a loud-speaker
Click it. The Volume tool will pop-up
Check that the volume is not all the way down
Check that the Mute check-box is not checked
Check the Volume Control Panel
Double-click the speaker icon in the tray (see above). The Volume Control Panel will open
Make sure all the volume controls are all the way up
If the problem is when you play in I-Tunes, check its volume control at the top-right
Headphones are OK, but no sound from the speakers? Check:
Headsets are plugged into the computer, on the front panel
Power switch on the right speaker is off
If there's no blue light on the right speaker, its power cord is unplugged (wall-mount transformer plugged to power strip)
Volume control on the right speaker is all the way down
Green 1/8 stereo plug is not plugged into green jack in the back of the computer
ISDN Zephyr Xstream won't dial out
If the last person didn't drop a call, before shutting down the power to the rack, the ISDN will be remain in a bad state.
Press the SYSTEM button (under the display) 4 times. The display will show "Reboot..."
Press the SEL button
Press the Down Arrow button to select OK
Press the SEL button
The ISDN will reboot
Press the TEL button (under the display)
Wait for the display to show "Line 1: Ready // Line 2: Ready"
The ISDN at KGNU-Boulder may not be set-up right.
Ask someone at KGNU-Boulder to check that:
The ISDN there is not still used on another call
The ISDN there is set for L3 Stereo / L3 / 64 kbps, 48 khz
The source selector is set for the right sudio whose sound you want to hear
The ISDN may have forgotten the phone numbers of the Boulder Studio ISDN
The Boulder Studio ISDN numbers are: 1-303-441-0254 and 303-441-2903
Computer equipment
Instant Messaging
Use Instant Messaging (IM) to communicate between the Red Studio in Boulder and the Denver Studio
Both in Denver and in Boulder: Double-click the Google Talk icon on the desktop
In the window that opens ("Google Talk"), click kgnu.boulder (in Denver) or kgnu.denver (in boulder)
A smaller window opens. Close the first, bigger window ("Google Talk")
Type in the text field at the bottom of the small window
What you type, and what they type, appears in this small window