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CircuitWerkes News
This page contains information about new
CircuitWerkes products, updates or special
promotions that may be valuable to our customers.
All CircuitWerkes products are now, and have
always been, Y2K compliant.
05-15-01 About subaudible tones to control Internet streaming (FTRA & local spot insertion)
We've had several calls from folks interested in controlling their
Internet commercial streams via subaudible tones. This is a handy
way to keep those AFTRA spots off of the Internet. The most frequently
asked question is: Can I just record subaudible tones onto my hard
drive and then replay them, prior to an AFTRA spot, using a SUB-03
to decode them and control the switching of the audio? The answer
is: We don't recommend it because the subaudible encoders do more
than just produce the tones. They must also filter out any subaudible
program content before inserting the tones. If you don't filter
out subaudible content, you risk having those frequencies false
trip your decoder with random audio which could cause you to switch
your feed off accidently, or worse, prematurely turn the feed back
on while the AFTRA spots are still playing. If you are planning
to try this, we suggest that you use 25&35 Hz combo tones to return
your Internet feed to regular programming. Since dual tones are
more robust than single tones, there's far less chance of false
tripping.
On a related
note:
We've been asked about modifying our subaudible encoders and decoders
to use 19 and 27 Hz. This request is apparently related to staying
clear of someone's patent which spells out the use of 25 and 35Hz
tones for Internet streaming control. Given that subaudible tones
have been used for many years for virtually all kinds of controls,
ranging from tapes to modern digital connections, it would seem
that such an "invention" should be obvious and therefore, perhaps
questionable in its validity. However, if you want to avoid possibly
abusing someone's Internet patent, you'll be happy to note that
the SUB-03 decoders can be retuned for 19 & 27 Hz without modification.
The SEN-6 encoders require new firmware which is available from
us at a cost of $25.00. The
SEN-6 will work without retuning its filters, but for best performance
those should be done as well.
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