Studio Technology · Broadcast Systems · Network Engineering

Live has
no retakes.

I'm Halen Jolley, Chief Engineer for a nine-station radio cluster at Connoisseur Media and an SBE Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer. For 9+ years I've built and run the technology behind live production: studio audio-over-IP, Cisco networks, remote broadcasts over cellular and satellite, OBS production and outage response. I want to bring that to the biggest productions on the internet.

See My Projects Résumé (PDF)
cluster-health.sh
$ ./health --cluster san-antonio
✔ stations on-air          9/9
✔ livewire multicast/IGMP  stable
✔ EtherChannel uplinks     UP
✔ satellite receivers      9/9 locked
✔ HD Radio exporter        synced
✔ remote: starlink + LTE   failover armed
✔ comrex codec            connected
✔ grafana alerts firing    0
$ ▋
0Broadcast, IT & network engineering
0Radio stations under my engineering
0Staff supported, incl. execs & on-air talent
0Endpoints managed with Intune & SCCM

What I bring

Broadcast engineering is production tech that never gets a day off. Here's how my background maps to this role.

📡

Field connectivity

Remote broadcasts over Teltonika cellular routers and Starlink, with Comrex codec transport and SRT video. I get a stable link out of locations that weren't built for one.

🎥

Live production & streaming

OBS Studio with Lua scene automation, multi-camera HDMI capture, SRT workflows and studio signal routing for live podcast, video and radio production.

🔀

Production networks

Cisco Catalyst 3850 / 2960-X, VLAN segmentation, multicast/IGMP, Spanning Tree and EtherChannel, running Axia Livewire audio-over-IP where a dropped packet goes out on air.

🧭

Scoping & communication

I scope infrastructure projects and turn complex needs into clear steps for producers, remote staff, vendors and venue IT teams, then document the deployment.

🚨

Outage response

I'm the primary escalation for power, facility, transmitter and network incidents. I restore service, get backups running and coordinate vendors under deadline.

🤖

Automation & AI

Lua, Python, PowerShell and Bash, a Prometheus + Grafana monitoring stack, and a working AI app built on the OpenAI API. If I do a task twice by hand, I script it.

Selected projects

Real work from the studio, the field and my own builds.

Live Production

Automated multi-camera production

Problem: Live podcast and video shows needed someone switching cameras by hand for every speaker change.

Built: A Lua scene switcher for OBS with configurable mic thresholds, debounce, silence timers, scene lockouts and bumper/commercial logic.

Result: Camera selection runs itself during live production, with no operator needed on the switcher.

OBS StudioLuaMulti-cam
Remote Contribution

Remote broadcast & video into the studio

Problem: Getting remote audio and camera feeds back to a central studio reliably, from wherever the show is.

Built: Production workflows integrating Comrex remote audio, SRT video transport and OBS ingest, with cellular and satellite connectivity planned for each site.

Result: Remote feeds land in studio operations as normal multi-input production sources.

ComrexSRTOBSStarlinkTeltonika
Network Resilience

Keeping audio-over-IP on air

Problem: Disruptions on the Axia Livewire audio network, where any network hiccup is audible on air.

Built: Traced the faults with switch diagnostics, VLAN and EtherChannel inspection, IGMP/multicast analysis and physical isolation, then made changes without taking stations down.

Result: Production audio paths restored and protected, with every change coordinated safely.

Cisco CatalystAxia LivewireIGMPEtherChannel
Monitoring

Radio monitoring platform

Problem: No single view of the health of stations, satellite receivers, PPM encoders and the network.

Built: A real-time monitoring platform using Docker, Prometheus, Grafana and Lua, with infrastructure defined in Terraform.

Result: Problems surface on a dashboard before they reach listeners.

PrometheusGrafanaDockerTerraform
Facility Continuity

HD Radio & facility continuity

Problem: A new HD Radio signal path to bring up, plus facility failures that threatened broadcasts.

Built: Integrated an FMXi 4G exporter and E2X network path, ran backup broadcast operations during failures, and planned UPS improvements.

Result: HD Radio synchronization and link issues fixed, and a plan in place to reduce outages during power transfers.

HD RadioFMXi / E2XUPS / power
Full-Stack App · Live

Online guitar academy platform

Problem: A guitar academy needed one site to sell lessons, schedule students across timezones, teach live video lessons and pay its teachers, without stitching together a pile of separate subscription tools.

Built: A Next.js + TypeScript app in Docker on Fly.io. It has Stripe checkout that verifies every payment against Stripe and handles disputes, in-browser WebRTC lesson rooms with a high-fidelity "music audio" mode, and group classes on Cloudflare Realtime. Access is role-based (owner, teacher, student), passwords are hashed with scrypt, logins are rate-limited and emails are verified. It runs a queued email system with retries and backs up nightly to Cloudflare R2.

Result: Live at icaropaiva.com, handling booking, payments, video lessons and monthly teacher payouts, with a checkout built around EU, UK and Brazilian consumer law.

Next.jsTypeScriptStripeWebRTCSQLiteFly.ioCloudflare R2

Live site: icaropaiva.com →

AI Integration

AI-powered résumé optimizer

Problem: Tailoring a résumé to each job description takes hours of manual rewriting.

Built: A working Flask web app that takes a résumé and a job description, calls the OpenAI API to generate a tailored draft, and exports the document.

Result: A tested AI workflow, built end to end: input handling, model calls and document output.

PythonFlaskOpenAI API

How I'd scope a shoot

A sample one-page scope for a hypothetical idea. It's the plan-for-failure thinking I use in broadcast, applied to a production.

SCOPE · DRAFT v1

"Contestants live 72 hours in a remote cabin, with a 24/7 livestream"

Requirements

  • 24/7 outbound stream, 1080p60, target ≥ 99.5% uptime
  • 8 fixed cameras + 2 roaming, all feeds recorded on site as backup
  • Crew Wi-Fi for ~30 devices, kept separate from production traffic
  • Comms between base camp and the cabin, which is ~400 m away

Proposed build

  • WAN: Starlink + Teltonika cellular, failover policy, SRT to cloud ingest
  • Point-to-point wireless link to base camp; PoE switch at the cabin
  • VLANs: production / crew / management; IGMP snooping on camera VLAN
  • OBS with Lua auto-switching overnight; Grafana watching every link

Timeline

  • T-14d Site survey, signal test, gear list locked
  • T-7d Full rig built and burn-in tested at HQ
  • T-2d Load-in, network up, 24 h soak test
  • T+1d Teardown, loaner check-in, closeout notes

Risks → mitigations

  • Weather blocks Starlink → cellular failover + local recording
  • Power loss → UPS on network core, generator hookup
  • Single operator overnight → Grafana alerts to on-call phone
  • Stream key leak → rotated keys, access restricted by role
Budget: line-item estimate, rent vs. buy noted per item IT staffing: 2 on-site (rotating shifts) + 1 remote on-call

Automation I've built

Tools I wrote myself, not just tools I've used.

obs/auto_switcher.lua
-- Simplified example of the switching logic
function on_tick()
  local mic = loudest_mic(THRESHOLD_DB)
  if mic and held_for(mic, DEBOUNCE_MS)
     and not scene_locked() then
    switch_to(camera_for(mic))
  elseif silence_for() > SILENCE_MS then
    switch_to("Wide Shot")
  end
  if break_due() then play_bumper() end
end

  • OBS auto scene switcher (Lua)

    Switches cameras automatically from mic levels, with debounce, silence timers, scene lockouts and bumper/commercial logic.

  • AI résumé optimizer (Flask + OpenAI API)

    A web app that rewrites a résumé for a specific job description using an LLM and exports the result.

  • Radio monitoring platform

    Docker, Prometheus, Grafana and Lua for real-time broadcast and network health monitoring, with infrastructure in Terraform.

  • Grocery price data pipeline (Python + Supabase)

    Scheduled GitHub Actions jobs pull store locations and prices from the Kroger API (OAuth token caching, call counting to stay under rate limits) into a Postgres database on Supabase with an append-only price history. OpenStreetMap data maps the stores and restaurants.

    Live site: getcheapereats.com →   View on GitHub →

  • PowerShell admin tooling

    Automated backups, deployments, remote app installs, user setup and security scans across hundreds of endpoints.

Stack

Production & AV

OBS StudioLua scene automationMulti-camera HDMI captureSRTComrexAxia LivewirePathfinderElement consolesWideOrbitHD Radio

Networks & Connectivity

Cisco Catalyst 3850 / 2960-XVLANsMulticast / IGMPSTPEtherChannelVPNsSonicWallCisco ASAPalo AltoDHCP / DNSTeltonika cellularStarlink

Systems & Endpoint

Windows ServerActive DirectoryVMwareHyper-VIntuneSCCMLinuxDocker

Monitoring & Automation

PrometheusGrafanaSNMPSolarWindsPowerShellBashLuaPythonFlaskOpenAI APITerraformGitGitHub ActionsSQL / PostgreSQLSupabaseREST APIs / OAuth

Web & Cloud

Next.jsTypeScriptStripeWebRTCSQLiteFly.ioVercelCloudflare (DNS, R2, Realtime)Resend

Experience

  1. Oct 2023 to present · San Antonio, TX

    Chief Engineer · Connoisseur Media (formerly Alpha Media)

    Lead engineering and technical operations for a nine-station broadcast cluster, and serve as primary escalation for studios, network infrastructure, RF transmission, automation and remote broadcasts. Support Axia Livewire, Element, Pathfinder, WideOrbit and Comrex workflows. Engineer remote connectivity over cellular and satellite. Restore service during power, facility, transmitter and network incidents. Scope infrastructure upgrades such as HD Radio integration and power redundancy.

  2. Sep 2021 to Sep 2023 · Portland, OR

    Network Administrator I · Alpha Media

    Administered enterprise and broadcast networking for 2,000+ staff, including executives and on-air talent: switches, VPNs, SonicWall firewalls, Active Directory and site infrastructure. Automated backups and deployments with PowerShell. Promoted to Chief Engineer.

  3. May 2019 to Jan 2021 · Portland, OR

    Junior Systems Administrator · CorVel Corporation

    Supported Windows enterprise systems, Active Directory, endpoint administration and virtualization across 500+ endpoints. Built PowerShell tools to automate admin workflows.

  4. Apr 2017 to Oct 2018 · Wilsonville, OR

    Junior Network Administrator · Mentor Graphics / Siemens EDA

    Supported corporate network operations, Cisco connectivity and endpoint troubleshooting, and assisted with infrastructure changes.

SBE Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer (CBRE) CompTIA Network+ CompTIA A+ Cisco CCENT Oregon Tech: Cybersecurity & CS coursework

Ready for shoot day.

Based in San Antonio, TX. Comfortable with shoot-driven hours and travel when a production needs it.

✉ halendfj@gmail.com LinkedIn GitHub Résumé