My Internship days as a Broadcast technician: "What do we do behind TV and radio programs?"

The summer season has just started here in the Philippines. During this time, students in universities usually take internships as a part of the educational training program while other people bask by the beach. And it is really an enjoyable and a remarkable experience. I could tell that it is indeed, because I had my internship last year. So, I just want to share my experience as trainee in a TV and Radio Broadcasting Company. It is an experience that I want to share especially to the students who will soon take their internship this year.

Before starting as an apprentice, I had already imagined myself in the workplace. I believe that in order for my dreams to thrive, I must have goals, first. These goals are my objectives that will be my guiding path so, I can succeed in this endeavor.

My objectives before my training were to be trained on the technical tasks that are necessary on the daily TV and radio operations; to be oriented on the controls of the equipments used in the TV and radio broadcasting; to be exposed to a working environment suitable for learning, especially on the technical aspects of broadcasting operations; and to be acquainted on the proper work ethics as future professionals.

I was working from 9 to 5 pm, Mondays to Fridays. I have tried working on a Saturday in April for the annual station maintenance. The annual station maintenance includes the maintenance of AM and TV transmitters and the repair of the defects of a few electronic equipments used on the operations of the station. I was happy that we got the chance to participate in there. As an apprentice, I was assigned to work closely with all the tenure radio and TV broadcast technicians. I had the privilege to work for radio and TV broadcasting operations. To have a prior knowledge on the broadcasting operations, I studied the posted block diagrams of TV and radio operations of our company.

^{_{My fellow Interns, one of the station's tenure radio broadcaster (Ka Jeffrox) and our chief technician (Mr. Noel Almerida)}}
On our actual training, I was trained to man a live radio program on the technician’s booth. Two days after I started my training, I was trusted to man a live radio program with minor supervisions. To man a live radio program, I must be able to know the controls of the master mixer.All the audio outputs that are heard on radio receivers depends on who are manning the master mixer. Moreover, I must also learn the softwares the are used like the OTS software. The OTS software is the widely used audio player and mixer in all FM radio stations nationwide in the Philippines. Alongside my fellow trainees, I also monitored the operations on the AM and TV transmitter many times in a day to ensure its performance. The parameters involved in the hourly operations monitoring are forward and reflected voltage reading, power amplifier dc voltage check, rf drive and antenna null reading, temperature control (21 degrees Celsius), and 3 phase AC voltage reading and others.

To be a great electronics engineer someday, I believe that I should not be well-rounded only to the theoretical concepts in Engineering but I must also be technically skillful.

During my training, there were also times when I faced some failures at work - like when I forgot to record some live radio programs and encounter technical difficulties while I am manning a live radio program. However, I managed to correct my mistakes by making sure that I may not commit them by the next time. It was also my reason why I suggested a popup reminder so I can remind myself next time while I was still on my training. The nerve that I get when I was still beginning to man a live radio program made me forget some important things. For the technical difficulties, I managed to overcome them by asking assistance from our helpful broadcast technicians. And as they helped me, the technical difficulties that I was experiencing, lessened because I tried my best to remember their instructions. Before realizing it, they eventually disappeared.

My best experience on my on-the-job training will be the times whenever I man a live radio program. These are the most challenging part of my training and I like it. I was nearly panicking when I man a live radio program, by myself, for the first time. But eventually, I learnt to love it as I master it. It really flutters my heart whenever our broadcast technicians commend us for working with less supervision.

The internship may be one of the most challenging part of a student’s life and it could also be a turning point for them, whether they would love or hate their chosen degree more. Personally, being able to be exposed to a technical job related to Electronics and Communications Engineering made me love more that degree, which I had recently finished.

After that, I have finally realized my calling – to become a successful electronics engineer someday.

^{_{All the Interns from our university on our last day on the training.}}

The best advice that I could give to all the students who will be taking their internship is to set their goals, first. It is something that will guide you as you start working. Without goals, you will lose your interest in whatever you do.