Although Broadcast Sciences provides a very broad and comprehensive range of services, there are some that we willfully, and respectfully, avoid performing:

Equipment Sales

We believe that our clients’ interests are best served when the consultants and engineers who are making design decisions, including writing bid specs or recommending specific brands or models of equipment, are independent of those supplying the equipment. Broadcast Sciences has longstanding relationships with many of the largest broadcast equipment manufacturers and vendors through whom we can obtain discounts for our clients, but we are not in the business of selling equipment. Broadcast Sciences is first and foremost a professional service-oriented company, not an equipment reseller.

Band-Aid Engineering

We will occasionally get a call from a potential client asking us to complete a project or perform a task in a manner that is far below industry standards or those of good engineering practice, or even worse, involves doing something that could potentially pose a safety hazard. Usually such requests are motivated by the customer’s desire to spend the least amount of money possible, regardless of the future, potentially much higher, costs associated with re-doing it “the right way” at a later time. In such situations, we respectfully and politely avoid taking on such projects.

Broadcast Sciences’ prides itself on craftsmanship and providing a superior product to our clients; we won’t compromise our principles solely for the sake of making a quick buck.

“The Plumber” (Emergencies Only)

Once every few months it seems that we received an inquiry from a prospective client who wants to know if they can call us for emergencies only. They are not interested in routine site visits or checkups, or in correcting any problems that are already known to exist. They have no desire to have periodic measurements made to ensure compliance. They just want to have someone to call on when the station goes off the air. These have become known as "plumber" calls.

“The Plumber” is a reference to how many homeowners ignore their plumbing until there is a major problem. They don’t have their plumbing checked on a regular basis. They ignore small drips and leaks, and assume that the hot water heater is going to last forever. They generally pay no attention to their plumbing until a pipe breaks in the middle of the night, resulting in water waist-deep in the basement. It isn’t until that point that plumbing suddenly becomes of importance and warrants their attention. After finding the Yellow Pages, dialing frantically, and finally finding a plumber willing to take their call at 3AM, they then become upset when the plumber tells them what his or her emergency overtime rate is. In the end, the money saved by not performing preventative maintenance regularly s a very small fraction of the amount that ends up being spent on major repairs due to water damage. This is the kind of situation we try to avoid through proper preventative maintenance, scheduled site visits, FCC-required measurements, and compliance reviews.

While we would never refuse to respond to a call for help from any broadcaster or fellow engineer in an emergency, whether under contract or not, we firmly believe that contract engineering should be a proactive, rather than reactive, service, and as such, we avoid entering into emergency-only "plumber" contracts.