Every election night, we always see an uptick in QGoLive usage across the country, and last night was no exception.
As usual, news powerhouse KYW’s fleet of reporters were out in full force. Here’s an example where Bureau Chief David Madden gives an update on the polls in South Jersey, filing a live report with anchor Ian Bush.
KYW’s Ian Bush
KYW’s David Madden
Election night is a good reminder of QGoLive’s powerful ability to have an unlimited number of reporters in cue. For remote-heavy events including severe weather and election coverage, the anchor or board operator at the studio simply clicks on the picture or name of the reporter to be on air – and they’re live! Everyone connected to the receiver can hear pre-delay audio, so there’s no confusion when it’s their turn.
The day finally came to take the Winnebago out on her first journey over 100 miles since I bought her. The destination: Oklahoma. Since my folks have been so instrumental in this restoration process, I figured they had earned their ticked aboard the vehicle. The three of us set out from Wichita, KS around 1 p.m. after performing the final checks and loading everything in. The plan was simply to spend the night in an RV park in Oklahoma and come back the next day (Sunday). After a trip to the gas station and topping off the aux tank (17 gallons), we were on our way!
The primary purpose of this trip besides testing out the rest of the on-board systems was actually to get the flat spots out of the tires, which had developed from the vehicle sitting so long. At certain speeds, the flat spots create a shimmy that’s quite noticeable. I’m happy to report it was successfully reduced, although we still have some work to do on that regard.
We opted to take old US 81 (which turns into US 177 near the Oklahoma border) instead of the Kansas Turnpike for obvious reasons including speed, since we didn’t plan on going over 60 miles per hour on this trip. It’s a good reminder to anyone unfamiliar with these vehicles that they are loud! Almost as loud, in fact, as the cockpit of a Cessna 182.
Several hours later, we arrived at the Cedar Valley RV Park in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The Winnebago certainly stood out among a sea of nondescript Jaycos and Fleetwoods. This was actually my first time setting foot in a dedicated RV park (as opposed to a “trailer park” which has more modular homes). Despite the number of campers (close to 80), it was very quiet and people kept to themselves. Some were obviously planning to stay the winter as they had everything insulated and 420 lb propane tanks outside their vehicles. One thing the average person might overlook is your RV water supply during the winter. Each site has a spigot, and people get creative with ways of insulating their fresh water supply lines. It did not get below freezing while we were there, but a sign at the front desk reminded visitors to top off their fresh tanks and disconnect hoses if they don’t have a way of insulating the spigots, as it can cost $200 to replace them.
After fresh and wastewater connections were made in addition to 30 amp electrical service, meal preparations could commence. The Indian galley is equipped with a 3-burner Coleman stove and oven, double sink, microwave and 3-way power Norcold refrigerator. All were put to the test this trip and performed well.
James, Steve and Karen Copeland eat their first hot meal in the RV
The food didn’t turn out too bad either. Not long after, it was time to fire up the Coleman furnace and turn in for the night. Tomorrow was Sunday and none of us were quite expecting what would happen the next day.
To find out, stay tuned for PART 2 of The Maiden Voyage – coming soon!
WHLF in South Boston, Virginia uses QGoLive to broadcast weekly services from the Main Street First Baptist Church. QGoLive is a great option for live church service remotes and in the case of the First Baptist Church we even worked directly with their A/V director to make sure the quality of the audio was optimized for broadcast. Give a listen to this nice selection from their Sunday service and let us know if we can assist your station with setting up QGoLive at a house of worship.
The radio studio inside the Winnebago is, without a doubt, the icing on the cake. It’s certainly what I’ve been most looking forward to, and the materials have come from far and wide. The studio is located where one of the twin beds used to be, which came out long ago. The hot water heater and a wheel well is located under the desk, plus some plumbing – all very manageable to box in. The desk surface is 1/2 inch medium density fiberboard. The top is finished with a layer of Formica. With all the right tools, the Formica was surprisingly easy to install and the adhesive is truly amazing stuff.
You’ll notice the perforated acoustic ceiling tiles pictured below. Those were a staple of radio studio construction for years, yet are rather hard to find now. From what I can tell, there’s only one company, Classic Acoustical, still making these tiles and you need to buy a large quantity. I was fortunate enough to reclaim these tiles from a dumpster outside Eisenhower Hall on the K-State campus months ago when it was being remodeled, so they are without a doubt the oldest parts of the RV, being from 1951. They did require some touching up, which I accomplished with a combination of ceiling paint and flat white spray paint. Not all the tiles have been installed yet, so look for another update in the coming weeks.
We still need to finish the structure under the desk, but the shelf over the desk is largely finished and wired. I scored some vintage-looking 12 volt LED lights that cast a nice warm glow over the studio, plus a fluorescent-type LED fixture – all of which can be controlled independently. Everything performed great during the WLHA Halloween Special, which was the inaugural broadcast for the studio.
Many more projects are coming up, including a test road trip. Stay tuned!
The floor is finally finished, and there was much rejoicing! I decided to go with EZ Click Luxury Savannah Oak flooring. I had originally picked out some flooring that did not click together and required adhesive plus renting a 100-pound roller. The more I thought about it and researched, the less I liked the idea of putting adhesive on the subfloor. Many folks putting new floors in RVs are going with the “floating” floor idea, which is what this is. There’s no adhesive, you just leave a 1/4 inch gap on all sides and put quarter round around the edges, and it works great! I’m very happy with this decision.
It took a solid day to install the flooring and do most of the quarter round, as most straight runs around the perimeter are less than a foot. The dinette was also rebuilt and all the cushions were washed and re-stuffed before everything was reinstalled over the new floor. Now that these basics are done, curtains can be installed and the very exciting studio project can begin!
The interior of the vehicle is quickly taking shape after months of prep. Before the new flooring could be installed, a few more items had to be completed, including fixing one section of wall that had some water damage from the window. Since no structural damage had taken place and the damage was old, we simply sanded the wood flush and installed a piece of paneling over the old wall with adhesive and fasteners. The results were pretty dramatic, as you see in the image above.
Next, the floor had to be prepped for the EZ Click flooring. Generally, not much prep other than sanding is required, but we went ahead and put some stain on the subfloor in case it does get wet in the future.
Next week, we’ll have a full flooring update and show the finished product. (You can see a sneak peek in the first photo, juxtaposed with the original green shag, which will thankfully be hidden by the dinette when it’s reinstalled.)
The interior of the vehicle is quickly taking shape after months of prep. Before the new flooring could be installed, a few more items had to be completed, including fixing one section of wall that had some water damage from the window. Since no structural damage had taken place and the damage was old, we simply sanded the wood flush and installed a piece of paneling over the old wall with adhesive and fasteners. The results were pretty dramatic, as you see in the image above.