About This NewsletterMeeting AnnouncementUpcoming Meeting ScheduleMeeting MinutesNews From The Chapter ChairProposed Rulemaking Could Change All Spectrum AllocationsCheck On Your Broadcast Auxiliary LicensesAmateur Radio NewsFCC Holds forums On It's FutureWWW.SBE24.ORGSBE Short CircuitsTelcom Industry NewsCertification UpdateFCC RulemakingsWBA Workshop To Be Held In JulyEmployment OpportunityChapter Sustaining MembersReturn to Chapter 24 Newsletter Page The Chapter 24 Newsletter is published monthly by Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers; Madison, Wisconsin. Original hard copy edited by Mike Norton on Pagemaker 5.0. Submissions of interest to the broadcast technical community are welcome. You can make your submissions by e-mail to:
Information and/or articles are also accepted by US Mail. Please address them to:
SBE Chapter 24 Newsletter Editor
2029 Greenway Cross #11
Madison, WI 53713-3000
Please submit text file on DOS or Windows 3.5" floppy diskette if possible.
Steve Paugh is the editor for the Electronic Version of this Newsletter uploaded monthly onto SBE Chapter 24's web page.
Thanks to Leonard Charles for his work on the Chapter 24 WWW page and electronic newsletter.
Contributors this month:
Lloyd Berg
Leonard Charles
Jim Hermanson
Neal McLain
John Poray
Kevin Ruppert
Tom Smith
Tom Weeden
© 1999 by SBE Chapter 24. Views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the Society, its officers, or its members. SBE Chapter 24 regrets, but is not liable for, any omissions or errors. The Chapter 24 Newsletter is published twelve times per year. Other SBE Chapters are permitted to use excerpts if attributed to the original author, sources, and SBE Chapter 24.
Thank you to WKOW-TV for providing copying and folding facilities for the Chapter 24 newsletter!
Thank you to WISC-TV for maintaining the web server for the Chapter 24 Web page!
This month's program will consist of an open forum on issues relevant to both the local and national broadcast engineering communities. We will also discuss some of te planning underway for te Broadcasters clinic and SBE National Meeting. Watch the listserver and web page for more information.
Visitors and guests are welcome at all of our SBE meetings!
Tentative Program Subjects
Submitted by Lloyd Berg, Secretary
Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met on Thursday, May 20, 1999, at the WISC-TV studios. There were 18 members and three guests in attendance, 16 hold SBE certifications.
The meeting was Chaired by Kevin Ruppert, who called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Kevin announced that the local board is currently working on our annual awards nominations and also with the upcoming National SBE Convention that will be held in Madison later this year. He also announced the appointment of Denise Maney as the new Program coordinator.
The April Meeting Minutes were approved as published.
Newsletter Editor, Mike Norton, announced that the June newsletter deadline is Friday June 4, and that the folding party will be the following Wednesday at 5:30 pm at WKOW-TV.
Certification, Jim Hermanson, announced that local certification exams would be given in mid-June. He also said that the deadline for registration for the next opportunity to take exams is in July.
Frequency coordinator, Tom Smith, announced that the NFL has obtained a nationwide license for their various RF activities, including "Coach’s Communications Channels".
National Liaison, Leonard Charles, announced the slate for National SBE officers and board members. Details will be in the May-June Signal, and the election will follow in August. "Member at Large" nominations are still open.
WMTV Chief Engineer, Tom Weeden, introduced two guests from Pulsant Technology, Joel Schloesser and John Klang. They are interested in working with local broadcasters in the development of a software package for cabling and record keeping. Tom also announced that WMTV has just installed a Sony MAV-70 video file server.
WISC-TV Chief Engineer, Leonard Charles, announced that Jim Hermanson would be joining his staff in June.
Kevin closed the business portion of the meeting at 7:33 PM, and turned things over to Neal McLain, engineer with CTI, who presented a detailed program on EAS for cable TV.
As I begin my term as Chapter 24 chair, I want to write a few words to thank everyone for the support that they have shown me in the 1999 election, as well as over the years that I have been involved with SBE.
It is easy to forget how important it is to belong to an organization that provides the kind of professional support and educational opportunities that SBE does. We here in Madison are very lucky to have a chapter that is as active and healthy as Chapter 24 is. Our newsletter continues to provide valuable information to the readers. Monthly meeting programs keep members up to date on important professional topics. Our involvement with the Broadcaster’s Clinic and other seminars through the year are well known in the broadcast community.
I want, as Chair, to continue to take advantage of the resources that have made the Chapter such a success. I also want to make sure that Chapter 24 continues to grow and thrive. I feel it is important to get new people involved in SBE as well as to ask those who have already done a lot for the Chapter to continue to "step up to the plate" and work on Chapter efforts.
Efforts such as "New Member Night" and "Student Member Night" are, in my opinion, going to be increasingly important to the Society. I would like to see us emphasize these types of efforts to make sure that we continue to have fresh ideas and a group of people that remains interested and committed to serve the needs of the Chapter.
Once again, thanks to the members, and especially the elected officers and appointed committees that have agreed to serve in 1999. Let’s have a great year!
The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that could change how all spectrum is allocated and how licenses are granted. They have made a number of proposals that would expand their authority to use auctions to determine who gets granted licenses to use various parts of the radio spectrum. This docket is titled Revised Competitive Bidding Authority and the docket numbers are, WT Docket No. 99-87, RM-9332, FCC 99-52.
When Congress gave the FCC the authority to conduct auctions to determine winners of contested licenses, the auctions were to be limited to cases where several applicants were contesting the grant of exclusive use of a frequency as in the case of broadcasting, or for a band of frequencies in a specific geographic area such as PCS. Except for broadcasting, the contested frequencies to be auctioned were also limited to those used for subscription services such as wireless phones or Pay TV services such as MMDS or DBS.
Services that could not be auctioned included frequencies that were to be used by private non-subscription services, such as those used by governments and business for internal communications. These services would include two-way land mobile and private point to point microwave. These frequencies are usually granted on a first come basis and are non-exclusive and shared with the aid of some kind of coordination method.
The FCC is now proposing that these and most other previously non-auctionable frequencies now be auctioned. One method that the FCC is proposing is that these frequencies be made exclusive by changing the way they are allocated. They would allocate blocks of these frequencies to geographic areas across the country. Then licenses would be auctioned for these blocks with the winner getting the right to lease these frequencies to other users. In this scenario, ABC Taxi who needs a frequency to contact it’s cabs or XYZ Manufacturing that needs a microwave to transmit data and phone between plants on opposite sides of town would be required to go to these licenses to get a frequency to use, instead of the FCC. The licenses for these blocks of frequencies would be call Band Manager Licenses. Public safety frequencies would be exempt from auctions.
In this notice, the FCC has made proposals that could require all or nearly all spectrum not used by government or public safety to be auctioned to and controlled by private parties.
Mobile Radio Technology, a mobile radio industry magazine, printed an editorial in May and its legal columnist wrote an article in the June issue calling for industry reaction to the notice. A couple of their complaints are that the FCC is trying to ignore its duty and place control of all spectrum in the hands of a few large corporations. They claim that it will be impossible for small business to compete in this environment.
This notice was adopted on March 19, 1999 and released on March 25, 1999. It was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on May 3, 1999 on pages 23,571-23,590. Comments are due on July 2, 1999 and replies are due on August 2, 1999.
From The FEDERAL REGISTER (www.access.gpo.gov) and MOBILE RADIO TECHNOLOGY (www.mrtmag.com)
The FCC has made broadcast auxiliary data available on the Web as part of its Universal Licensing System implementation. As part of the implementation of ULS, the FCC would like all broadcast licenses to review their data and notify the FCC of any errors by July 1, 1999. The FCC released the request for this review on May 7, 1999.
To access the database via the Internet, go to http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/database_info.html and click on "Search the Wireless Databases Online. You will find a menu that allows you to search by a number of methods.
These methods include searches by frequency, county, and a number of other methods. The client/child site works well, as all that is needed is the broadcast stations call letters to find it’s auxiliary information. The full database can be downloaded in a series of zip files.
If any of the information is incorrect or missing, a copy of the license should be sent to the FCC with missing information clearly noted.
They should be sent to:
Federal Communications Commission(From FCC Release)
• Amateur Radio will be back on board when the Great Circus Train makes its annual run between Baraboo and Milwaukee this summer. Last summer, the hams were left at the station after the circus train’s sponsor, Circus World Museum, cited "severe space limitations" and opted to accept an offer of communication services from a cellular provider. This year, special event station W9R will operate on HF from aboard the train during its annual journey, July 2-5. Current plans call for operation on the 40-, 20-, and 15-meter bands. Members of the West Allis Radio Amateur Club will operate special event station W9C from the show grounds once the train reaches Milwaukee. Ham radio first rode the rails with the circus train in 1965. Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members aboard help handle communication along the route and, once in Milwaukee, at the show grounds and for the circus parade. (Thanks to Jim Romelfanger, K9ZZ, Baraboo)
• The next Space Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX) mission—and the only one scheduled for 1999—could launch July 22 aboard shuttle mission STS-93. However, that date is said to be still "under review." STS-93, which will carry the Chandra Observatory into orbit, has been delayed several times already. The STS-93 Mission Commander is Eileen M. Collins, KD5EDS. Also aboard will be Mission Specialist Michel Tognini, KD5EJZ, and Mission Specialist Catherine G. Coleman, KC5ZTH. Students at five schools—in Texas, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Florida—are on the list to talk to the STS-93 crew via Amateur Radio.
• Terry Sterman, W9DIA, the founder of Milwaukee’s Amateur Electronic Supply, died March 30. Sterman was first licensed in 1953 and worked in his father’s TV and electronics parts store as a teenager in Fond du Lac. He founded AES in 1957 when he was just 18. Sterman passed away at age 60 after being in ill health for several years. AES changed hands last year and is now owned by Amateur Electronic Supply LLC.
(Excerpts from "The ARRL Letter" and June 1999 "QST" Magazine)
SBE Chapter of the Air:
HamNet meets the second Sunday of each month at 0000 GMT on 14.205 MHz. Hal Hostetler WA7BGX is the Control Station. Any amateur operator is welcome and encouraged to participate.
The FCC is holding a number of forums or EN BANC meetings on both its future, and the future methods of managing the spectrum. Two meetings have been held, with two more to be held in June.
On April 6th, the FCC held it’s first meeting to discuss spectrum management. The meeting was broken up into three panels, with the first panel being made up of FCC staffers. They presented a number of slide shows on the fundamentals of spectrum management discussing allocations, international conflicts, band sharing, and methods of granting of licenses, including the use of comparative hearings, lotteries, and auctions.
The second panel was called SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT TODAY: WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T WORK. This panel consisted of a number of representatives of industry including representatives of the NAB, unlicensed Part 15 users, and Motorola. Michael Kennedy of Motorola discussed problems with allocations as they pertain to international users. He commented on the fact that frequency allocations for many services vary from the U.S. to other nations. Because of the frequency allocation differences, users of such things as PCS phones are unable to use them around the world. Other speakers made similar statements. Henry Rivera representing a Part 15 user asked that the FCC consider Part 15 users in their allocation processes. Phil Salas of Alcatel commented on spectrum for new services and their impact on existing users. Lynn Claudy of the NAB opposed the FCC’s approach to spectrum management, mentioning the proposed low-power FM service.
The third panel was on NEW APPROACHES TO SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT, and consisted of representatives from policy institutes with a couple of representatives from industry. This group discussed ideas on how the spectrum shall be treated. Some proposed that the spectrum should be considered as property with ownership rights or should other economic models be used. Professor Eli Noam of Columbia University suggested that spectrum was like the ocean, which cannot be owned, and the FCC should not be involved in making allocations of it. Kalle Kontson of IIT Research Institute suggested that the spectrum not be allocated but take advantage of new technology and be treated like giant wireless LAN system.
The second meeting that the FCC held is the first of a series of three that the FCC is holding on A NEW FCC FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. This meeting was held on May 20th and was made up of 24 panelist from industry. The second meeting in this series will be held on June 2nd and the panel will represent consumers and state and local governments. The last meeting will be held on June 11th and the panel will be experts representing the academic community and other organizations.
The May 20th and June 2nd meetings were divided into three sessions;
Session 1: What Should the FCC’s Role be in the 21st Century,
Session 2: How Can the FCC Work More Efficiently and Effectively to Deliver Services to the Public
Session 3: How Should the FCC be structured in the Communications Marketplace Future.
With the pressure from Congress to make changes to the FCC, these meetings may have an impact on the decisions on proposals it makes to Congress for reauthorization of its authority.
The FCC is posting lists of participants and some of the transcripts from these meetings on its web site. There may be a 10-day wait in the posting of the transcripts. There is also a Real Audio feed of these meetings which is archived. The public can add their comments by e-mailing newfcc@fcc.gov
From FCC Releases and Transcripts. (www.fcc.gov)
Have you checked the web site lately? There have been some recent changes to the Chapter 24 site.
We have added a Technical Papers section from the main menu. To date, this section contains Neal McLain’s entire series of newsletter articles entitled Geostationary Orbits. This section is intended to contain any technical writings from SBE members. If you have written a paper, article, or series of articles that you would like to share, please forward it to the Chapter’s webmaster for inclusion on the site.
Also recently added is a Newsletter Archive area from the main menu. If you fancy yourself a historian, Chapter newsletters dating back to 1995 can be browsed direct from the site.
Another goal for this year is to create a Historical Records section. This section will provide a means to look up your meeting attendance records on line. This will be especially helpful when re-certifying. The ability to generate a historical listing of all the monthly meeting topics as far back as our historical database goes will also be available by year’s end.
So, if you have not been on the site lately, check out <www.sbe24.org>. As always, any suggestions you may have for the site are welcome.
NON-RENEWING MEMBERS DROPPED IN JULY
As required by SBE By-laws, any member who has not renewed his or her membership by June 30, will be dropped from the rolls in early July. He or she will not receive future issues of the SBE SIGNAL or the ballot for national elections in August. Dropped members will also not be eligible for Certification, seminar and book discounts, be able to access the Job Line or get group insurance benefits, among other benefits.
Chapter Chairmen are receiving their current chapter roster with this issue of Short Circuits. You can check for those members in your area which have not renewed by looking at the renewal date on the report. Anyone who still has 1999 as a renewal date has not yet renewed membership. Please encourage those members to renew by the deadline and help keep SBE a strong and important voice in broadcasting.
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE COMES TO A CLOSE
The 1999 SBE Membership Drive, "One New Member," ended May 31. Many new members were recruited by current members. The drawing for the Grand Prize, a trip to Madison, Wisconsin for the SBE National Meeting and the Broadcasters Clinic in October, will be Saturday, June 19 during the meeting of the SBE Executive Committee in Cleveland, Ohio. Many other prizes will also be awarded as well. All members who have recruited one or more new members will receive vouchers good for $5 off their 2000 SBE membership renewal. Members can earn a maximum of five vouchers, or $25 off their 2000 dues.
CANDIDATE SLATE ANNOUNCED
Richard Farquhar, CPBE, SBE Nominations Chairman, announced the slate of candidates who will run for the Board of Directors and for four officer positions later this summer. Candidates must be SBE certified at an engineering level and be members in good standing. They agree to participate in Board and/or Executive Committee meetings and represent the full membership.
Officer candidates are as follows: For President James (Andy) Butler, CPBE Alexandria, VA For Vice President Richard L. Edwards, CPBE Coral Springs, FL Larry J. Wilkins, CPBE Montgomery, AL For Secretary Barry Thomas, CSRE Los Angeles, CA For Treasurer John A. Batson, CPBE Birmingham, AL.
Candidates for six seats on the Board include: Roger Bishop, CSTE Indianapolis, IN Tom Daniels CPBE Ft. Worth, TX Dane Ericksen, P.E., CSRTE San Francisco, CA Clay Freinwald, CPBE Seattle, WA R. Dale Gehman, CPBE Akron, PA Ralph R. Hogan, CPBE Pullman, WA Keith Kintner, CPBE Los Angeles, CA Steve Levine, CEV Pasadena, CA Vinny Lopez, CEV Syracuse, NY Chriss Scherer, CSRE Overland Park, KS Tom Weber, CPBE Indianapolis, IN
Additional details about these candidates will be provided in a special ballot mailing to all voting members.
CABLE TV MUST-CARRY RULES CHANGE
The FCC recently adopted a Report and Order affecting the definition of television station "markets" as they apply to the cable television "must-carry" rules. Effective January 1, 2000, the market area will be the "Designated Market Area" (DMA) as specified in the 1997-98 DMA Market and Demographic Rank Report published by Nielsen Media Research. This change will affect only commercial television stations; non-commercial educational television stations continue to have must-carry rights within their Grade B contours.
SO WHAT'S A "MARKET"?
The definition of a "market," as it applies to commercial television broadcast stations, is significant to both broadcasters and cable television operators. Within its market, a station has two rights with respect to cable television systems located in, or partly in, its market: "must-carry" and "retransmission-consent." These rights are defined as follows:
Each station has the authority to elect, on a system-by-system basis, which of these two rights it wishes to invoke with respect to each individual cable system. The first election took place in 1993; subsequent elections occur at three-year intervals. This year, 1999, is once again an election year; the final elections must be made by October.
THE 1993 MARKET DEFINITIONS
The must-carry/retransmission-consent rights were established by Congress as part of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. The FCC rules which implemented this act established the following market definitions:
Satellite-delivered "superstations," such as WGN-TV, have these same rights within (but only within) their home markets. These rules apply even to home-market cable systems which pick up the satellite feed.
THE 1999 MARKET DEFINITIONS
As a result of the FCC's order, the Nielsen DMA will become the basis for market definitions in all 50 states commencing with the 1999 must-carry/retransmission-consent election cycle. Like ADIs, DMAs generally follow county lines, but again, large counties may be split between two markets.
The switch from ADIs to DMAs will result in boundary shifts in several markets, including Madison. According the FCC's Report and Order, the Madison market will gain two counties (Grant and Juneau) which means it should end up like this:
This doesn't necessarily mean, however, that Madison stations will automatically gain must-carry rights over all cable systems in those two counties. The FCC established two transition rules to mitigate the disruption which might occur if a cable system were forced to drop one set of stations and add another set. In the FCC's words, "... one of the principal goals in this proceeding is to reduce channel line-up disruptions whenever possible."
Subject to several conditions, the transition rules are:
In a May 5th letter to Chapter Certification Chairs, SBE National President Terry Baun updated us on the latest developments of the Program of Certification. 1999 is called the "Year of Certification". Several developments in the Program are occurring. The following is a condensed version of his letter.
First, each chapter is being asked to hold a "Certification Night" program this year. A PowerPoint™ presentation is prepared and is available use at the meeting. If possible, a member of the National Certification Committee will attend the chapter meeting. In Madison, our chapter plans to hold this meeting at the August chapter meeting. Watch the newsletter for further details.
Second, in March, over 6000 personalized letters were sent to Radio and Television Station General Managers, promoting the value of SBE-Certified engineering and urging them to encourage their technical staff to become certified.
Third, the National Certification Committee listened to requests for a computer-based sample test. A new series of Sample Tests are available on computer disks from the National Office. Each diskette contains 100+ questions to aid in preparing for the certification examination. The disks are available for $25 plus $2 shipping & handling.
Fourth, the Millennium Certification Project is allowing Radio and Television engineers formerly certified as Broadcast Technologist, Broadcast Engineer, or Senior Broadcast Engineer to regain Certification without taking another examination. A simplified application contains a narrative, which details the applicant’s knowledge and experience in broadcast technology over the past several years. Those who once held certification as a Professional Broadcast Engineer and allowed it to lapse will not be able to directly re-certify as a CPBE. However, one can re-certify at the Senior Broadcast Engineer level and then obtain CPBE certification at a later date by going through the normal CPBE application process.
Fifth, this year marks the first year of offering additional exam sessions at the local Chapter. Exams are now given locally four times per year. This doubles the number of local exam sessions per year.
Sixth, in January, the National Certification Committee set forth an aggressive agenda.
• Starting in the year 2000, 25% of the exams will contain questions pertaining to digital technology. The sample exams will be upgraded to reflect this change.
• A new level of certification, Broadcast Networking Technologist, will be offered in the year 2000. This certification is aimed at mastery of the basics of computer networking, particularly as it pertains to audio and video servers. It is designed to show the applicant’s knowledge of the fundamentals of LAN hardware, configuration and wiring.
• The SBE Certified School listing recently went through a review. The revised SBE Certified School list is an excellent resource for prospective students who wish to study broadcast technology.
• A CD-ROM is being developed to provide applicants with a comprehensive Study Guide for Certification. It is written in HTML code so that it will be readable on more than one computer platform.
PROPOSED
DA 99-940; Report No. AUC-99-25-A (Auction No. 25)
Closed Broadcast Auctions Scheduled for September 28, 1999; Comment Sought on Reserve Prices or Minimum opening Bids and other Auction Procedural Issues
The FCC has set a date for the start of auctions for the currently contested construction permits for new broadcast stations. The FCC has 265 contested broadcast frequencies that were frozen due to a number of court decisions pertaining to the application process. They will start to auction them on September 28, 1999. This notice set the minimum opening bids, bid increments, bid withdrawal, activity and closing rules.
Starting bids for TV stations were determined by a formula based on type of service to be provided, market size, industry cash flow data, and broadcast station transactions. Radio was based on service and class of facility, population served, and recent broadcast station transactions. The FCC did not publish the formulas.
The opening bids for TV stations start from $160,000 to $2,480,000, with FM radio going from $16,000 to $250,000, AM radio from $7,500 to $150,000, Low-power TV from $5,000 to $140,000 and FM translators from $1,000 to $3,000. The starting bid for an application for a Low-power TV on Channel 38 for Madison was listed for $60,000.
The bids will have to be raised in increments of 10% of the high bid from the previous round.
Comments were due on this notice on June 1, 1999 and replies are due on June 14, 1999. This notice was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on June 1, 1999 on pages 29,312-29,315. The full notice was released on May 17, 1999 and was on the FCC web site on the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau instead of the Mass Media Bureau.
WT Docket NO. 99-16 Services to be Auctioned in the 746-764 and 776-794 Mhz Bands
The FCC is seeking comment on the adoption of service rules for the band of frequencies that were allocated for TV channels 60-62 and 65-67. The FCC is proposing that the band could be used for a combination of broadcast, and non-broadcast services such as datacasting and mobile services.
This notice was released on May 13, 1999.
FINAL ACTION
MM Docket No. 99-25, RM-9208, RM-9242
Creation of a Low Power Radio Service
The FCC has extended the Comment period for June 2, 1999 to August 2, 1999 and replies were extended from July 1, 1999 to September 1, 1999. This is the second extension with the original comment date having been April 12, 1999 and replies were originally due on May 12, 1999.
The Extension was requested by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio and the National Association of Broadcasters.
This notice was adopted and released on May 20, 1999.
WT Docket No. 98-160, FCC 99-45
1998 Biennial Regulatory Review
The FCC has announced that it is closing the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s reference facility in Gettysburg, PA. The reason the FCC closed the facility was because of lack of usage and that most of the information was available on the FCC web site and at the FCC’s reference facility in Washington.
This action was adopted and released on March 24, 1999 and will be effective on July 20, 1999. The notice was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on May 28, 1999.
From The FEDERAL REGISTER (www.access.gpo.gov) and the FCC Web Site (www.fcc.gov)
Join your colleagues at the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association's Summer convention, as the WBA and the Society of Broadcast Engineers present a full day of technical sessions.
WBA ENGINEERING WORKSHOP
Wednesday, July 14, 1999AGENDA
12:00 Noon SBE Regional Luncheon & Meeting -- The Low Power FM Proposal. (Lynn Claudy, NAB)
2:00 p.m. Y2K For Broadcast Procrastinators. (Clif Groth, Marathon Media, Leonard Charles, WISC-TV, Cynthia Curran, Cumulus Media)6:30 p.m. Convention Opening Night Banquet And Fund-Raising Auction.
For information on registration, contact the WBA office at (608) 255-2600 or (800) 236-1WBA.
Location: Colorado or northern California (your choice).
Description: Design and development of next generation RF products, including Apex derivatives and new low power platform designs. Continually improve product performance as well as design spin-off products to meet new customer’s needs. Provide technical supervision to support personnel and be responsible for the administration duties of a small group. Handle complex engineering assignments and field application support with little supervision. Work with Reliability, Quality, Test Engineering and customers as necessary.
Experience/Skills Required: BSEE and/or equivalent years of experience in RF design engineering; prefer 5+ years of related design engineering experience; knowledge in process design; area of expertise is generally betweeen and including AM and FM broadcast bands (500kHz - 107MHz) and TV broadcast bands (50MHz - 800MHz); ability to communicate in speech and writing; experience in Type II and III level projects; good understanding of ECO process; RF solid-state amplifier knowledge.
Salary: Wide open.
Contact: Charlie Wirt, phone: (512) 255-5518, or e-mail resume to: charliejazz@yahoo.com
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