About This NewsletterMeeting AnnouncementUpcoming Meeting ScheduleMeeting MinutesJohn Poray to Attend March MeetingBroadband Networks- Part 29Chapter Elections- Call For NominationsAmateur Radio NewsSBE Short CircuitsChapter 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
5174 Anton Dr. #15
Madison, WI 53719-4201
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
Neal McLain
Steve Paugh
John Poray
Fred Sperry
Tom Weeden
© 1998 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 include information from SBE Executive director John Poray, who will update the chapter on some information from a national level. Also, we will spend some time discussing the upcoming SBE DTV demonstration at the UW-Engineering Expo.
Visitors and guests are welcome at all of our SBE meetings!
Meeting Schedule TBD
Check our Web page for updated schedule:
http://www.sbe24.org
Submitted by Lloyd Berg, Secretary
The February 1999 meeting of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Chapter 24, Madison Wisconsin, met at WNWC-AM/FM on Medical Circle in Madison, WI. on Tuesday, February 23. Our host was Mark Croom, WNWC Chief Engineer.
There were 19 members and two guests present, 15 were certified. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by Chair Fred Sperry.
The January minutes were approved as published in the February newsletter. Treasurer, Stan Search, reported our checkbook is balanced and in the black.
Fred reported 26 sustaining members.
Certification, Jim Hermanson, reported that local SBE exams were given on February 10th. He also announced the SBE’s Millennium Reinstatement of Certification opportunity was now available to any SBE member who had failed to renew.
National Liaison, Leonard Charles, announced that the SBE has filed comments with the FCC regarding reallocation of the 2 GHz band. That the Ennes workshop will be moved to Wednesday, April 21st at the NAB convention. Nominations for National SBE offices are now open, and that the SBE’s "Leadership Skills" seminar will be held in June.
Steve Paugh and Craig Bluschke spoke about the upcoming DTV demonstration at the UW Engineering Expo. Set-up will be on April 15th.
It was announced that Leonard Charles has just become the new Chief Engineer of WISC-TV.
The business meeting was adjourned at 7:55 PM.
A program on Y2K problems and preparations was presented by Madison Gas and Electric.
Chapter 24 will be honored with a visit from SBE National Executive Director John Poray at our March 23rd Chapter meeting. John will be visiting Madison to meet that afternoon with Broadcaster’s Clinic Chair Don Borchart, the Marriott Hotel and a small contingent from Chapter 24. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss plans for the upcoming SBE National Meeting that will take place in October in conjunction with the Broadcaster’s Clinic and Upper Midwest Regional SBE Meeting.
John plans to give us a brief update from the National level at our Chapter meeting. If you have any questions about the SBE at the National level, this will be a great opportunity to talk directly with the person who is probably best able to answer them.
In addition to John’s National update, we also plan to spend some time discussing the upcoming SBE DTV demo at the UW-Engineering Expo April 16th – 18th. In addition to covering the logistics of this event, we will also discuss any proposed changes to the 50 DTV questions document Steve Paugh drafted and distributed at our February meeting (if you weren’t at this meeting and would like a copy, please contact Steve at WISC-TV). This document will be distributed to the public at the UW-Engineering Expo. For this reason, Steve wants to be sure that the content is as accurate as possible.
I think you will agree that Steve has done an excellent job putting this document together, and it will no doubt serve to answer many questions the general public has regarding DTV. Please help out with this project by taking the time to review this document and bring any changes with you to our March meeting.
Please see the enclosed flyer for details regarding the time and location of the March meeting and plan to join us.
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"It is an antenna that it parabolic in the vertical
plane and circular in the orthogonal plane. There is a locus
of feed positions that exist at one half the distance of the
radius of the circle. Using this characteristic permits wide
angle scanning by just moving the feed point.
"[This] antenna was erected in about 1965 [near] Merced,
California, a CATV system owned and operated by General
Electric Cablevision until 1986. The screen was about 90 feet
high and 360 feet long. The radius of the torus was about 100
feet. The screen was centered on San Francisco and several
antennas were placed along the locus of feed positions to
cover all the Bay Area signals. The support structure
consisted of steel towers with the appropriate curvature and
the screen was constructed using horizontal, stretched steel
wire. The screen was difficult to see and soon became dubbed
'the bird catcher.' It also had a tendency to 'sing' during
high winds.
"The torus was the main source of Bay Area signals for a
number of years, and later served as back-up to the CARS
microwave system that replaced it."
This reflector still stands to this day, although the San Francisco stations are now imported into Merced by microwave, and the torus serves only as a backup. The feed point is still oriented toward Mt. San Bruno, site of the KTVU (Fox, Channel 2) and KQED-TV (PBS, Channel 9) transmitters.---------------------------------This series will resume in May, with the discussion of the FCC rules governing cable television signal quality. Among other things, we'll discuss the meaning of an "adequate" off-air signal.
This is the second call for nominations for interested members to run for a Chapter 24 elected office. In April we will hold elections for Chapter Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. If you are interested in running for an office, running for re-election, or know of a worthy candidate, please contact any of the nomination committee members.
Please send us a brief resume if you wish to run for office. The resume will be included with the ballot materials sent to the membership with the April Newsletter. The committee members are Steve Paugh (Chair) 277-5139 (spaugh@wisctv.com), Jim Hermanson 836-8340 (jmh@execpc.com) and Denise Maney 277-8001 (sloop26@aol.com).
Candidates must be current with their SBE membership and be available for the monthly meetings. A modest time commitment and a desire to serve the chapter are the only qualifications required!
The FCC has issued an Experimental Radio Service license to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) to permit two-way tests in the vicinity of 5 MHz, the most likely site of the next amateur HF band. The experimental license callsign of WA2XSY was issued January 8. It will be shared among 15 amateurs in various parts of the US and the Caribbean to conduct experimental two-way radioteletype and single-sideband transmissions from 5.100 to 5.450 MHz. Even though two studies by the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) include an allocation at 5 MHz among future spectrum needs for the Amateur Radio Service, the subject is not likely to win an allocation at a World Radiocommunication Conference for several years.
The FCC’s newest amateur radio enforcer, Riley Hollingsworth (a ham himself, K4ZDH), is making himself highly visible lately. On January 13, he showed up on the air on the 75 meter band to break into an on-air argument, then stayed on the frequency to discuss FCC enforcement issues. Hollingsworth has recently stepped up FCC enforcement, fining and sending warning letters to several hams who were in violation of the rules.
April 22 will be Amateur Radio Operator Recognition Day in Wisconsin. A proclamation has been approved, and there will be a ceremony in March for Governor Tommy Thompson to officially sign the proclamation. The ceremony, recognizing Amateur Radio’s role in emergency preparedness and response, will be in conjunction with the April Tornado Awareness Week proclamation.
(Excerpts from March 1999 "QST" Magazine and "The ARRL Letter")
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.
MEMBERS GET DISCOUNTED NAB REGISTRATION
Once again, SBE members get a great discount on registration for the NAB Convention in Las Vegas. SBE members will get the NAB Member rate off the full conference fee. This is a savings of $330, six times the cost of one-year of SBE membership!
If you haven’t received registration material direct from NAB, call them at (800) 424-8806 and request that one is sent to you.
MILLENNIUM PROJECT OFFERS OPPORTUNITY TO GET LAPSED CERTIFICATION BACK
SBE is now offering a limited time opportunity to those who have let their SBE Certification drop. The "Millennium Certification Project" will continue from now through December 31, 1999. This opportunity offers anyone who has allowed his or her SBE Certification to drop, to apply for certification reinstatement without taking another exam.
Applicants are required to complete a two-page application and submit it to the National Certification Committee explaining how they have maintained their knowledge and enhanced their experience in broadcast technology over the past several years. Applications will be reviewed by members of the National Certification Committee, who will apply essentially the same recertification criteria that would be applied to non-lapsed certification holders.
Past holders of Certified Broadcast Technologist, Certified Broadcast Engineer and Certified Senior Broadcast Engineer certifications are eligible. Past holders of Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer may also apply but will recertify at the Senior level. Following recertification at the Senior level, former CPBE’s may apply for certification at the CPBE level.
A flat $99 fee is required with the application. It does not include membership in SBE, which is optional, though very much encouraged. Non-members wishing to become a member of SBE should include an additional $55 (one year’s membership dues) with their application.
To get a Millennium Certification Project application, see your Chapter Certification Chairman or contact Linda Godby-Emerick, Certification Director at the SBE National Office, at (317) 253-1640 or lgodby@sbe.org.
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