LOCAL FM BROADCAST OF SPORTING EVENTS IN DUBOIS COUNTY
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n5ims
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While in the past, most local stations used a Marti unit to send the remote signal to the studio for broadcast. These were generally in the VHF-Hi range, but some used UHF. They quickly migrated to using telephone lines for the broadcasts since the Marti units only worked for very local remotes and they needed the phone equipment to handle out of town games anyway. Now those broadcasts are sent over the internet to allow a full two-way signal (IFB where the studio can tell the announcer that the commercial break will happen during the next timeout) with the studio instructions are heard by the announcers but not broadcast over the air.
You could try scanning the bands to see if they still use the older technology or even visit one of their broadcasts to see what their broadcast van looks like. If it has a pneumatic mast with a beam antenna on the top you might have some luck (use your scanner's "close call" to find the frequency) but using a beam will limit where that signal can be picked up (you'll need to be along the path between the van and the studio). The beams may have it so you can listen to some but not others since the path is different. Good luck!
You could try scanning the bands to see if they still use the older technology or even visit one of their broadcasts to see what their broadcast van looks like. If it has a pneumatic mast with a beam antenna on the top you might have some luck (use your scanner's "close call" to find the frequency) but using a beam will limit where that signal can be picked up (you'll need to be along the path between the van and the studio). The beams may have it so you can listen to some but not others since the path is different. Good luck!
Just curious what you ended up finding out about this? Here in my area the local AM/FM Translator station still uses their Marti for home high school football broadcasts (and possibly basketball too, I never go to those so I haven't tried it). I usually take my BCT125AT to the games and listen to the radio broadcast that way so I can get the chatter between breaks, etc. The one thing I haven't been able to pick up is their sideline reporter. I can hear him when he's on air of course. It looks like a typical two-way radio with a normal microphone attached, but I haven't been able to locate the frequency using Close Call, or searching. I'm going to take my SDS100 to the next game and try that. the only thing I can think of is he must be using a unit on some frequency outside the range of the scanner.
The rest of the time they use a cellular hotspot with a professional broadcast quality codec program for Windows that relays the audio over the internet connection. It is much better than the old phone line and Comrex ISDN days.
The rest of the time they use a cellular hotspot with a professional broadcast quality codec program for Windows that relays the audio over the internet connection. It is much better than the old phone line and Comrex ISDN days.
n5ims
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Often these are specialized wireless microphone devices that use digital or spread-spectrum transmission and are generally not monitorable. The device used has both a channel for the microphone and one for the earpiece so the sideline person can hear the person in the booth, get queues, and keep up with what they're saying so their reports are current and will flow with that from the folks in the booth. The duplex method also allows the booth to ask questions in real time of the sideline reporter and have them answer them smoothly. That said, if the station still uses a Marti unit, it may be a simple wireless microphone and a radio tuned to the station's broadcast for the back feed to the sideline reporter. This method can be problematic if the station has a HD signal since that generally has even the normal signal delayed so when an HD receiver drops the HD signal, it can switch back to the normal signal and the delay on the normal signal makes this sound smooth.
I think you're most likely right on the type of device in this case. I did notice last week that it seemed like at one point the reporter reached down for a small button and pushed it so that he could talk to the booth. The main microphone was still in his hand as well, and whatever was said didn't come through on any of the two feeds I've picked up at the games. They most likely have upgraded because I know many years ago they really struggled at some road games to even get the signal to stretch across the field to the press boxes without some static and breakup.
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