Difference between pages "First Generation Computing Loggers" and "Engineering"

Revision as of 11:20, 17 October 2016

Engineering Team

Maintains URY's audio and broadcast hardware. Also oversees building infrastructure and general maintenance.

Constitution
Created	???
Defined	Here
Roles	Chief Engineer Assistant Chief Engineer

Contacts
General Enquiries	engineering@ury.org.uk
Get Involved	engineering@ury.org.uk
Head of Team	chief.engineer@ury.org.uk

Engineering Team is the URY team responsible for maintaining URY's broadcast equipment and providing suitable set-ups for outside broadcasting, live sessions, or anything else you can think of really. If it handles analogue or digital audio and isn't a computer, its probably ours!

What do we do?

From the moment a sound leaves anything (a computer, vinyl, human, cassette, instrument, etc) to the moment it goes in to a computer for streaming, we are responsible for it! Whether that's in the studio, a session recording, the transmission (Tx) cupboard in stores or at an Outside Broadcast (OB), it's our issue.

Studio 1

The main broadcasting studio, S1 was last re-built in 2011 with the support of Alumni funding (YuFund). The mixing desk is a Sonifex S2 split-chassis broadcast desk. There are: 5 mics; 2 vinyl decks; 2 CDJs; 2 CD players; 4 aux inputs; a telephone channel with jack input (for a smartphone); 3 BAPs channels (from the presenter PC); a guest PC input; a presenter PC input. For visualisation, there are also 2 HD ready cameras and 2 LED lights.

S1 is home to the Tardis. This contains all the outboard stuff used in the studio, including a RedNet 2; compression; patch panels; headphone distribution; Wil's Black Box; sonifex power; black magic (visualisation); speaker amps.

Studio 2

Primarily used for recording, S2 was last re-built in 2012. The mixing desk is a Sonifex Sovereign broadcasting desk with custom modifications. There are: 3 mic; 2 aux inputs; 3 BAPs channels (from the presenter PC); a disconnected telephone channel.

S2 is home to the Blue Box. This contains a RedNet 2 (under construction); compression; patch panels; sonifex power; a speaker amp.

Production Office

The production office is also the main office of URY. Day-to-day it is used by any member of the station as a space to plan shows, meet with other members or get some work done. At the far end is a production PC and mixing desk. These can be used for recording sessions, jingles, clips, etc. The desk is a Yamaha 01v96i digital sound desk with a MY-16AUD Dante expansion card. This is connected via USB and analogue cabling to the PC. It also has inputs from both office wall-PCs, the studios, the CD player, and a patch panel in S2.

Transmission

URY is broadcast across campus on 1350AM. Our output is also streamed online at ury.org.uk, on radio player, iTunes radio, etc. The engineering team is responsible for getting the audio output to 1350AM and to the stream server for computing to stream. This all happens in the transmission (Tx) cupboard located in stores. Access to this is restricted to only the Head of Computing and Chief Engineer due to our licence, however they can grant access to anyone except the station manager.

The Tx cupboard contains a Radica transmitter and compressor, some outboard compression, a RedNet 3 and a Scarlett 18i20 (USB audio interface). It also contains a number of servers and computers.

The transmitter is connected underground to a Radica tuner and the antenna (out the back of Vanbrugh Kitchen).

The bits between them all...

Currently in progress is a digital audio system to connect the studios, office, jukebox and Tx cupboard together. The system being used is an AoIP (Audio over IP) network, which sits within the URY network managed by Computing. We are using a protocol called Dante, which is developed by Audinate. In order to access this network, we have a number of RedNet devices spread throughout the building. The Yamaha desk in the office is also Dante enabled.

RedNet 2

Placed in S1 and S2, the '2' is a 16 in, 16 out A-D and D-A.

RedNet 3

Located in the Tx cupboard, the '3' is a digital interface, with up to 32 channels via ADAT fibre optical, AES or SPDIF.

RedNet 4

Floating between S2 and OBs, the '4' is an 8 channel mic pre.

More Detail

This network can be controlled using Dante Controller and the RedNet devices are controlled with RedNet Control. There is also a page further detailing our set-up at URY: URY's Dante Network.

Outside Broadcasts

Our Outside Broadcast (OB) kit is ever-changing, and varies for every OB to suit the needs of the event. The main part is a Rhino wheeled flight case with table sides. Inside this is the majority of kit required for a simple studio style set up. This includes: a Soundcraft Spirit M12 mixing desk; Focusrite OctoPre (donated by Stephen Clarke in 2015); T.Bone Radio Mic Receivers; a Behringer 4-chan Headphone Amp; a Behringer 4-chan Compressor; OB PC; a Speaker Amp. The rhino was originally conceived by Tom Haines in 2011/12. It has been reorganised a number of times since then.

Also included in a standard OB are 3 AKG dynamic microphones (only 2 are set up usually); 2 speakers and various mic and speaker stands. Finally, there are 3 banners and 2 wife's (floor standing banners). They are the wife of the station manager.

Stores

Stores contains a variety of kit, some of which is currently in use, some of which is ancient and doesn't work. There is a lot of history in this room. To the left is the music store, which contains a library of records and CDs which the Head of Music is responsible for. The main section contains the URY rolling shelves. These were acquired from CS when it moved to Hes East. The rear shelf is reserved for computing hardware. The rest is Engineering. the very back shelf also has some paints and can be accessed by one person getting into the Tx cupboard, another rolling the shelf as far forward as possible (with no stuff in the way) and the Tx cupboard door being opened again (this will now be behind the shelf).

Broadcast Engineering

Many of the engineers that come through URY will have experience in live or studio audio engineering. Whilst broadcast is not very different from these, there are a few minor differences to be aware of.

Broadcast Desks

Whilst on a standard mixing desk, the fader will go from -∞ to either +4 or +10, a broadcast desk will max at 0, and further adjustment should be done using the trim knob. This is to make it so, when presenting, the fader can be opened to 'full' quickly and easily by the presenter without causing distortion issues.

The broadcast desks in URY are modular, so each channel strip is its own individual module. This allows for custom layout and input design. The modules are connected together using a ribbon cable. The 2 desks are the Sonifex S2 and Sonifex Sovereign.

Recent History

Members (past and present)

Chief Engineers

2016 - present: Marco Bolt
2015 - 2016: James Rudge
2014 - 2015: Adam Brain
2013 - 2014: Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke
2012 - 2013: Tom Haines
2012 (summer): Wil Bennet
2010 - 2012: Luke Sarjant & Wil Bennet
2009 - 2010: Clement Sun
2008 - 2009: Dylan Jones
2006 - 2008: Matt Gray
2006 (spring): Jonny Hardman
2004 - 2006: Iain Kelly
2003 - 2004: Matt Fullerton
2003: Terence Withers
2001 - 2003: Philip Stewart
1997 - 2000: Jonathan Ledbury
1996 - 1998: Paul Burns
1996 - 1997: Dave Stevenson
1993 - 1994: Mark Patrick
1993 - 1994: Alistair MacDonald

Assistant Chief Engineers

2016 - present: Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke & Timothy Pilbeam
2015 - 2016: Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke & Marco Bolt
2014 - 2015: Andy Durant & James Rudge
2013 - 2014: Andy Durant & Tom Haines
2013 (summer): Andy Durant & Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke
2012 - 2013: Wil Bennet & Andy Durant
2011 - 2012: Tom Haines & Jonathan Rees
2010 - 2011: Launrence Hobden
2006 (summer): Matt Gray
2004 - 2005: Jonny Hardman
2003 - 2004: Terence Withers
2002 - 2003: Matt Fullerton
2001 - 2002: Adam Leith & Jonathan Aitken
1995 - 1996: Wim Roose

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The First Generation Computing Loggers, more formally known back in their prime as logger1.ury.york.ac.uk and logger2.ury.york.ac.uk, are two servers known as achieving amazing feats during their time in production, the most notable of which being that they were first put into use in the 1998-1999 (?) academic year by a team including [[Jon Dye]], [[Simon Hildrew]], [[Mat Fortune]], [[Alan Raison]] and [[Gavin Atkinson]].
+{{Team
+  |tstyle={{Teamstyle Engineering}}
+  |name=Engineering Team
+  |logo=
+  |brief=Maintains URY's audio and broadcast hardware. Also oversees building infrastructure and general maintenance.
+  |csec=[[Constitution|Here]]
+  |roles=[[Chief Engineer]]<br />[[Assistant Chief Engineer]]
+  |teammail=engineering@ury.org.uk
+  |freshermail=engineering@ury.org.uk
+  |hotmail=chief.engineer@ury.org.uk
+}}
+'''Engineering Team''' is the URY team responsible for maintaining URY's broadcast equipment and providing suitable set-ups for outside broadcasting, live sessions, or anything else you can think of really. If it handles analogue or digital audio and isn't a computer, its probably ours!
-== Pre-Computing Loggers ==
+==What do we do?==
-Before we implemented a digital log recording system using hard disks, all our output was logged using VHS tapes that were changed every 12 hours by a dedicated committee position. The name of this position is currently difficult to retrieve due to it being before the days of digital committee management, but it is well known that [[James Brookes]] held the position for some time.
+From the moment a sound leaves anything (a computer, vinyl, human, cassette, instrument, etc) to the moment it goes in to a computer for streaming, we are responsible for it! Whether that's in the studio, a session recording, the transmission (Tx) cupboard in stores or at an Outside Broadcast (OB), it's our issue.
-Multiple boxes of these tapes still exist in URY's [[stores]], although playback of any of these has not been attempted in living history. With the increasing proliferation of "Computers" in everyday life, it was decided that maybe there was a way of automating this historic task.
+===Studio 1===
+The main broadcasting studio, S1 was last re-built in 2011 with the support of Alumni funding (YuFund). The mixing desk is a [[Sonifex S2]] split-chassis broadcast desk. There are: 5 mics; 2 vinyl decks; 2 CDJs; 2 CD players; 4 aux inputs; a telephone channel with jack input (for a smartphone); 3 BAPs channels (from the presenter PC); a guest PC input; a presenter PC input. For visualisation, there are also 2 HD ready cameras and 2 LED lights.
-== Introducing logger[12] ==
+S1 is home to the Tardis. This contains all the outboard stuff used in the studio, including a RedNet 2; compression; patch panels; headphone distribution; Wil's Black Box; sonifex power; black magic (visualisation); speaker amps.
-When specifying the hardware specification of the loggers, with advice from [[Tom Whitehouse]] (serious, try and find a wiki page *without* his name on it), two systems were build with similar overall power, but with hardware sources as different as possible to reduce the possibility of a design flaw in one causing a failure in another. Word has it that these were built was cheaply as possible, hence the use of AT-style motherboards and cases (complete with DIN keyboard port) in the late 90's.
-=== Specifications of logger1 ===
+===Studio 2===
-* Operating System: FreeBSD 5.2-RC (Installed 2003)
+Primarily used for recording, S2 was last re-built in 2012. The mixing desk is a Sonifex Sovereign broadcasting desk with custom modifications. There are: 3 mic; 2 aux inputs; 3 BAPs channels (from the presenter PC); a disconnected telephone channel.
-* Processor: AMD-K6 3D (350.80MHz)
-* Cores: 1
-* Architecture: i386
-* Memory: 27MB available (32MB installed)
-* PSU: xxW AT power supply
-* HDD: 40GB (8379 Power-On Hours)
-''Last known updating advice for this server: "Don't update this server. It works just fine."''
+S2 is home to the Blue Box. This contains a RedNet 2 (under construction); compression; patch panels; sonifex power; a speaker amp.
-=== Specifications of logger2 ===
+===Production Office===
-* Operating System: Debian 2.4.18-1-k6 (Installed 2004)
-* Processor: AMD-K6 3D (350.80MHz)
-* Cores: 1
-* Architecture: i386
-* Memory: 29.8MB available (32MB installed)
-* PSU: xxW AT power supply
-* HDD: 40GB
-''Last known updating advice for this server: "Don't update this server. It works just fine."''
+The production office is also the main office of URY. Day-to-day it is used by any member of the station as a space to plan shows, meet with other members or get some work done. At the far end is a production PC and mixing desk. These can be used for recording sessions, jingles, clips, etc. The desk is a Yamaha 01v96i digital sound desk with a MY-16AUD Dante expansion card. This is connected via USB and analogue cabling to the PC. It also has inputs from both office wall-PCs, the studios, the CD player, and a patch panel in S2.
-== The Second Coming of Digital Logging ==
+===Transmission===
-In Summer 2012, a plan was devised to start decommissioning these then 12-year-old devices. Due to the need for something that was provably highly stable (at least 42 days continuous service runtime), it took the next two academic years to reach a point where the replacement devices, uryred and uryblue (see [[Second Generation Computing Loggers]]), were considered stable enough to prepare turning off loggers 1 and 2.
-A date was set for Friday, Week 10 of the Summer Term 2013/4, as it was the end of an academic year and also team veteran [[Lloyd Wallis]]'s last day in York (and birthday). It would be a ceremonial event where the loggers would be considered no longer mission-critical to our operations. However, as this was a short time before many components reached 10 years uptime, it was decided that they would likely be kept running (albeit not necessarily doing much) until that milestone was reached.
+URY is broadcast across campus on 1350AM. Our output is also streamed online at ury.org.uk, on radio player, iTunes radio, etc. The engineering team is responsible for getting the audio output to 1350AM and to the stream server for [[computing]] to stream. This all happens in the transmission (Tx) cupboard located in stores. Access to this is restricted to only the Head of Computing and Chief Engineer due to our licence, however they can grant access to anyone except the station manager.
-On Wednesday, Week 10 (25/06/2014), it was discovered that logger1 was not as healthy as was hoped - his PSU fan had failed and he was running hot. As a result, the decommissioning was brought forward to that evening.
+The Tx cupboard contains a Radica transmitter and compressor, some outboard compression, a RedNet 3 and a Scarlett 18i20 (USB audio interface). It also contains a number of servers and computers.
-Amusingly, logger2 then outlived one of the replacements when uryblue's motherboard packed up without warning in Spring 2015. After some arguing with ebuyer about the length of warranty, some partial refund was acquired, and in true logger style, the cheapest possible motherboard was acquired to repair uryblue.
+The transmitter is connected underground to a Radica tuner and the antenna (out the back of Vanbrugh Kitchen).
-Finally, on Friday 15 July 2016, logger2 was halted for the last time by [[Anthony Williams]] and [[Andy Durant]], in full academic gownery for it was their graduation. It had been suffering from a failing network card for some weeks prior to this and it was finally decided to lay it to rest rather than repair. logger2 was then delivered to [[Gavin Atkinson]] in his office.
+===The bits between them all...===
-== Trivia ==
+Currently in progress is a digital audio system to connect the studios, office, jukebox and Tx cupboard together. The system being used is an AoIP (Audio over IP) network, which sits within the URY network managed by [[Computing]]. We are using a protocol called [https://www.audinate.com/solutions/dante-overview Dante], which is developed by [https://www.audinate.com/ Audinate]. In order to access this network, we have a number of [http://uk.focusrite.com/ethernet-audio-interfaces/rednet RedNet] devices spread throughout the building. The Yamaha desk in the office is also Dante enabled.
-* In Summer 2011/12, an eighth birthday cake was made for logger2's disk installation date. It was enjoyed at a station meeting, and a poem was written in a birthday card for him. Someone should transcribe this.
-[[Category:Computing]]
+====RedNet 2====
+Placed in S1 and S2, the '2' is a 16 in, 16 out A-D and D-A.
+====RedNet 3====
+Located in the Tx cupboard, the '3' is a digital interface, with up to 32 channels via ADAT fibre optical, AES or SPDIF.
+====RedNet 4====
+Floating between S2 and OBs, the '4' is an 8 channel mic pre.
+====More Detail====
+This network can be controlled using [[Dante Controller]] and the RedNet devices are controlled with [[RedNet Control]]. There is also a page further detailing our set-up at URY: [[URY's Dante Network]].
+===Outside Broadcasts===
+Our Outside Broadcast (OB) kit is ever-changing, and varies for every OB to suit the needs of the event. The main part is a Rhino wheeled flight case with table sides. Inside this is the majority of kit required for a simple studio style set up. This includes: a Soundcraft Spirit M12 mixing desk; Focusrite OctoPre (donated by [[Stephen Clarke]] in 2015); T.Bone Radio Mic Receivers; a Behringer 4-chan Headphone Amp; a Behringer 4-chan Compressor; OB PC; a Speaker Amp. The rhino was originally conceived by [[Tom Haines]] in 2011/12. It has been reorganised a number of times since then.
+Also included in a standard OB are 3 AKG dynamic microphones (only 2 are set up usually); 2 speakers and various mic and speaker stands. Finally, there are 3 banners and 2 wife's (floor standing banners). They are the wife of the station manager.
+===Stores===
+Stores contains a variety of kit, some of which is currently in use, some of which is ancient and doesn't work. There is a lot of history in this room. To the left is the music store, which contains a library of records and CDs which the Head of Music is responsible for. The main section contains the URY rolling shelves. These were acquired from CS when it moved to Hes East. The rear shelf is reserved for computing hardware. The rest is Engineering. the very back shelf also has some paints and can be accessed by one person getting into the Tx cupboard, another rolling the shelf as far forward as possible (with no stuff in the way) and the Tx cupboard door being opened again (this will now be behind the shelf).
+==Broadcast Engineering==
+Many of the engineers that come through URY will have experience in live or studio audio engineering. Whilst broadcast is not very different from these, there are a few minor differences to be aware of.
+====Broadcast Desks====
+Whilst on a standard mixing desk, the fader will go from -∞ to either +4 or +10, a broadcast desk will max at 0, and further adjustment should be done using the trim knob. This is to make it so, when presenting, the fader can be opened to 'full' quickly and easily by the presenter without causing distortion issues.
+The broadcast desks in URY are modular, so each channel strip is its own individual module. This allows for custom layout and input design. The modules are connected together using a ribbon cable. The 2 desks are the [[Sonifex S2]] and [[Sonifex Sovereign]].
+==Recent History==
+==Members (past and present)==
+===Chief Engineers===
+* ''2016 - present'': [[Marco Bolt]]
+* ''2015 - 2016'': [[James Rudge]]
+* ''2014 - 2015'': [[Adam Brain]]
+* ''2013 - 2014'': [[Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke]]
+* ''2012 - 2013'': [[Tom Haines]]
+* ''2012 (summer)'': [[Wil Bennet]]
+* ''2010 - 2012'': [[Luke Sarjant]] & [[Wil Bennet]]
+* ''2009 - 2010'': [[Clement Sun]]
+* ''2008 - 2009'': [[Dylan Jones]]
+* ''2006 - 2008'': [[Matt Gray]]
+* ''2006 (spring)'': [[Jonny Hardman]]
+* ''2004 - 2006'': [[Iain Kelly]]
+* ''2003 - 2004'': [[Matt Fullerton]]
+* ''2003'': [[Terence Withers]]
+* ''2001 - 2003'': [[Philip Stewart]]
+* ''1997 - 2000'': [[Jonathan Ledbury]]
+* ''1996 - 1998'': [[Paul Burns]]
+* ''1996 - 1997'': [[Dave Stevenson]]
+* ''1993 - 1994'': [[Mark Patrick]]
+* ''1993 - 1994'': [[Alistair MacDonald]]
+===Assistant Chief Engineers===
+* ''2016 - present'': [[Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke]] & [[Timothy Pilbeam]]
+* ''2015 - 2016'': [[Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke]] & [[Marco Bolt]]
+* ''2014 - 2015'': [[Andy Durant]] & [[James Rudge]]
+* ''2013 - 2014'': [[Andy Durant]] & [[Tom Haines]]
+* ''2013 (summer)'': [[Andy Durant]] & [[Stephen 'Stevo' Clarke]]
+* ''2012 - 2013'': [[Wil Bennet]] & [[Andy Durant]]
+* ''2011 - 2012'': [[Tom Haines]] & [[Jonathan Rees]]
+* ''2010 - 2011'': [[Launrence Hobden]]
+* ''2006 (summer)'': [[Matt Gray]]
+* ''2004 - 2005'': [[Jonny Hardman]]
+* ''2003 - 2004'': [[Terence Withers]]
+* ''2002 - 2003'': [[Matt Fullerton]]
+* ''2001 - 2002'': [[Adam Leith]] & [[Jonathan Aitken]]
+* ''1995 - 1996'': [[Wim Roose]]