Editing Airchain

{{Short description|Route of audiovisual signals}}In [[broadcast engineering]] for radio or television, the '''airchain''' or '''transmission chain''' (UK) (sometimes '''air chain''' (US) or just '''chain''' (UK)) is the path or route an [[Sound reproduction|audio]] or [[video]] [[signal]] takes on its way through a [[radio station]] or [[television station]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahern |first=Steve |title=Making Radio: A Practical Guide to Working in Radio in the Digital Age |date=July 25, 2020 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781000257793 |at=Chapter 19 - THE TRANSMISSION CHAIN, subsection THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM |chapter=}}</ref>

The airchain begins with [[camera]]s, [[microphone]]s, [[CD player]]s, [[phonograph|turntable]]s, [[telephone hybrid]]s, [[video tape recorder]]s, [[satellite]] and other [[remote broadcast|remote]] feeds, and other input devices in the [[studio]] and [[control room]].  These feed into a [[mixing console]], possibly via a router.  The output then goes to an [[audio processor]], and finally to the [[transmitter]], [[feedline]], and [[antenna (electronics)|antenna]].  Often, there is a [[studio-transmitter link]] via [[radio]] or [[broadband]] [[Leased line|dedicated circuit]] (usually [[T-carrier|T1]] or [[T-carrier|E1]] line).  

The airchain may be all-[[analog signal|analogue]], all-[[Digital data|digital]], or most likely some hybrid of the two.

All-analog airchains typically use cables terminated in [[XLR connector|XLR]] connectors between each device. All-digital airchains also often use XLR connectors, except carrying [[AES/EBU]] digital audio instead. Alternatively, some digital airchains have significant portions of audio carried over [[TCP/IP]], in which case [[Ethernet]] is used.{{Cn|date=May 2024}}

==References==
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[[Category:Broadcast engineering]]


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