ACCESS Holds Court at the US Open

Flushing, Queens, NY--

12 September 2007

Andy Taylor – KTTS-FM

2330 West Grand

Springfield, MO 65802

Thank you COMREX!

Thanks to a stroke of luck, for the past six-years - on top of screwing around from 5a to 10a on KTTS-FM in Springfield, Missouri - I've also been known as "The Voice" of the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam tennis tournament of the year. Each year, from my perch in Lower Broadcast from Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, I curse the antiquated gear we've used for daily broadcast...[curses deleted by Comrex!] :-)

Can you tell I'm anything but technologically savvy?

Anyway...for awhile now, I've been reading about the assortment of clean-sounding, high-bandwidth technology soon-to-be available for broadcast over the internet, and when I heard about the Comrex ACCESS, I was dying for a test-run. Thanks to COMREX's generosity, my wish came true during the 2007 U.S. Open...

...and what a GREAT piece of gear - and easy to operate!

I am an idiot. Ask anyone who knows me. Thankfully, my engineer in Springfield set-up the ACCESS Receiver in the studio, and I checked the light-weight, compact ACCESS Portable onto my Laguardia-bound flight.

Upon arrival, I simply connected the ACCESS Portable to an I.T. approved United States Tennis Association T1-line, added a new remote, typed in the destination I.P. address for the ACCESS receiver - and BLAM, I was instantaneously connected to the KTTS-studio with high-bandwidth, crystal-clear sounding audio...Needless to say, it was a little alarming for those who had no idea I was test-driving the ACCESS Portable, because it sounded like I was IN THE STUDIO.

Not only does the ACCESS audio sound clear, broadcasting through an I.P. address - but it also freed-up the studio's phone line, so that I could record phone calls with the crew in the studio, without having to endure the steps of conferencing lines. I'm not kidding when I say - listeners who had no idea I was two-thousand miles away, also had no clue that I wasn't even in the studio each weekday morning...to them, it sounded like I was right there in Springfield. What a plus!

With the ACCESS Portable Mixer, I was able to use multiple microphones for guests, and I was able to pre-produce audio for the show, so I could play it cleanly, real-time while we were on the air - all while remaining "miced-up" with the show. Could you have made this any easier for me?

Thank you again, Comrex - for the ACCESS technology, the multiple profile audio options, flexibility of set-up (this thing even works well with Wi-Fi when it's receiving a strong-signal), ease of use (for idiots like myself), but most importantly, for granting my wish of clean-sounding audio during the 3-weeks that the U.S. Open dominates my existence.

I'm loving me the Comrex ACCESS!

- Andy Taylor / KTTS-FM in Springfield, MO / USTA P.A. Guy at the U.S. Open

ACCESS Ideal for Idol!

Dallas, TX -- The pop culture phenonmenon, American Idol, setup camp in Dallas, Texas as Idol wannabes crammed into the long and torturous lines forming outside of Texas Stadium. Eager to display their talent for the producers inside, the potential contestants were just as eager to perform for the throngs of media on the outside. Nationally syndicated morning host, Kidd Kraddick, sent his cast members, Taylor and JC, into the fray to capture the excitement.

Armed with an ACCESS Portable Stereo BRIC IP codec, Taylor and JC interviewed the patient masses, some of whom had been waiting in line for two days for a 15 second chance to impress Idol producers. Using an AT&T 3G BroadbandConnect card plugged directly in the ACCESS Portable, Kraddick's crew was able to interact with the rest of the morning show back in the studio as well as sample some of the vocal abilities of Idol hopefuls.

Says Kraddick, "Credit the Comrex Access with opening all kinds of doors for our show. Since we’re nationally syndicated, we can no longer accept cell-phone audio for on the street bits, etc. The portability and amazing audio quality of the Access has made so many more bits possible that we could have never done in the past."

There were no engineers, remote trucks or pneumatic masts required on-site for the broadcast. Junior Kraddick staffer, Ryan, was briefly trained on the ACCESS Portable and sent out with JC and Taylor to handle the unit for the broadcast.

An estimated 12,000 people showed up at Texas Stadium for a chance to be on the popular TV Show.

Remote Broadcast "Unleashed" in Richmond

At Comrex we love great remotes and we love our animals, too! So you can imagine how giddy we were to receive the great story below from our friends at WDYL in Richmond, VA! In the midst of the allegations of illegal dog fighting, Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Michael Vick was scheduled to make an appearance for arraignment at a Richmond courthouse on August 26th. Enter Sludge and a few other "strays" from the Morning Sludge on Richmond's "Y 101 New Rock"!

Jon Bennett, Director of Engineering for Cox Radio Richmond sent us the details:

"This morning, our morning show team from WDYL was outfitted in dog outfits and did a live morning show broadcast from the front of the courthouse in downtown Richmond.

This was all to do with the Vick controversy and he coming in to the courthouse.

The live broadcast lasted for four hours straight using our new Comrex Access Portable and an EVDO card.

The morning show team was ecstatic with the system performance.

Sludge, the morning show host said, 'We could have not done the show with any other system.

We had total mobility to move freely around with the crowd.'

See the coverage on CNN, ESPN, WSB-TV Our COX Sister station in Atlanta and Inrich.com.

They were inundated with interviews from the many media sources on the scene.

Jon Bennett and Jeff Tharp, COX Radio Richmond

This was all made possible with the technology and expertise

provided by the Comrex Access system.

Also see the stations web site www.y101rocks.com

Thank You!

Kindest Regards,

jb

Jon Bennett CPBE

Director of Engineering – Richmond

COX Radio Inc.

Richmond VA

ACCESS Portable - Very Popular with the Ladies!!!

I mean, it must be the ACCESS that is attracting all of those beautiful women, right? We're pretty sure it's not the guy (although he doesn't seem to mind.)



Anyway, pictured here is Comrex employee, Chris Crump working hard. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. I am optimistic that when Christopher comes up for air, he will have a look at this blog and appropriately edit this story to tell you where he was, and what he was doing. (Aside from the obvious, that is. :o)

Chris Crump (in defense!) adds: "Wow! Tough crowd! But as a truly dedicated professional and seasoned "road warrior" I'm used to being misunderstood. My life on the road is NOT ALWAYS this glamorous! But at the recent Latin American Broadcast Show '07 in Miami, FL, ACCESS certainly attracted the attention of broadcasters (and supermodels) from Panama, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and several other South American nations. There were even a few broadcasters visiting from Spain! My colleagues, pictured above, served as "technical consultants" and translators for some of the more challenging dialects that were represented by conference attendees. Sandra and Lisset (to my left) were particularly helpful in explaining the features of the ACCESS Portable as well as our other products on display.

Now, if only I can convince my bosses that I needed Spanish-speaking technical consultants for the South Dakota Broadcasters Show..."