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7 The Failsafe Gadget Explained A Typical Applicaon 8
The most dreaded words in radio...
There are a host of things that can induce panic at a radio station. A dip in the
ratings. The espresso machine in the break room taking a dirt nap. Someone from
sales driving the engineering van. A promotions event involving a helicopter and
turkeys. But none quite as chilling as the words “Dead Air.”
Dead air can result from malfunctioning equipment to air talent getting locked out
of the building after a botched attempt at a convenience store run. Regardless,
dead air almost always occurs in the dead of night, and we thought it would be
nice to have a way to deal with these off-air emergencies without being dragged
out of a warm bed. Enter the Failsafe Gadget.
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At its core, the Failsafe Gadget is a stereo A/B switch - but with an important twist.
When it detects silence on its primary input, it automagically feeds its output with
audio from a secondary input such as a looping CD player, a portable music
player, or a backup automation computer. You decide what threshold constitutes
silence, how long the gadget waits before switching sources, and whether or not
it switches back to the primary source by itself when audio is restored. It can even
start the backup audio source or trigger an alarm when silence is detected.
In the event of a power failure, a relay bypass circuit routes the backup audio to
the output (as a loss of power to the Failsafe Gadget likely means a loss of power
to the main audio source). Be sure your backup source is fed from a UPS or a
different circuit to take advantage of this feature.
Alternatively, you get set up the Failsafe Gadget so that the presence of a signal
(rather than the absence of one) sets things into motion by feeding the primary
audio into the B input and routing the override audio into the A input. When audio
appears on the (normally quiet) A side, it interrupts the B side audio. When the A
side goes quiet, the B side once again feeds the output. This can be useful for
inserting emergency audio or for interrupting regular programming from a remote
event during unattended operation.
Of course, you can bypass the sensor and manually switch between two audio
sources for programs that only need automatic switching during unattended
segments with either the front panel buttons or remotely using the logic port.
Failsafe Gadget set up to replace missing audio.
Failsafe Gadget set up to insert external audio.
Primary Audio Source
Secondary Audio Source
To STL
DESIGNED IN NASHVILLE, MANUFACTURED IN CHINA.
PN 991009
SN 00001
ANGRYAUDIO.COM
LOGIC
OUTPUT RL
INPUT B RLINPUT A RL
To STL
REMOTE SWITCH
Primary Audio Source
Secondary Audio Source
DESIGNED IN NASHVILLE, MANUFACTURED IN CHINA.
PN 991009
SN 00001
ANGRYAUDIO.COM
LOGIC
OUTPUT RL
INPUT B RLINPUT A RL