• Contents for this Newsletter

About This Newsletter
Meeting Announcement
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
Meeting Minutes
Dane County EAS Local Plan Update
Chapter 24 Wins Two Awards
Amateur Radio News
2002 Broadcast Clinic Agenda
SBE Short Circuits
FCC Rulemakings
Certification Exam Session Dates announced for 2003
Chapter Sustaining Members
Return to 2002 Newsletter Archives

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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:

© 2002 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.

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Join us for an exciting and informative program this month by Token Creek Mobile Television, Inc. We will get a tour of the television production truck by John Salzwedel, CEO of Token Creek Mobile Television, Inc. Tom Sibenaller of ROSCOR of WI, will be on hand to demonstrate the GVG Zodiak switcher.

Directions: Take Hwy 113/Hwy 19 one-quater mile east of downtown Waunakee and turn south on Raemisch Road (next to Culver's). Turn left into the driveway for Environmental & Foundation Drilling at 217 Raemisch Road; there may be heavy equipment located in the parking lot.

There are large numbers on the overhead doors of the building. The Token Creek truck will be located inside door #10.

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Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met on Tuesday, August 20, 2002 at Wisconsin Public Television in Madison, Wisconsin for the chapter’s monthly meeting. There were 20 members in attendance, 19 of whom were certified, and one guest.

The meeting was called to order at 7:11 PM by chairman Tom Smith. Vicki Kipp announced that Ken Dixon’s wife had passed away the previous Friday, and a condolence card for Ken was being passed around. The July meeting minutes as published in the newsletter were approved. There was no treasurer’s report.

Steve Zimmerman and Steve Paugh of the program committee reported that the September 18th program will be a tour of the Token Creek Mobile Television truck. They are looking for future program ideas. Tom Smith thanked Denise Maney, Kevin Ruppert and Kevin Peckham for the production of their radio program at the chapter picnic in July.

Newsletter editor Mike Norton announced the deadline for articles for the September issue will be due at midnight, Friday, September 6th. The folding party will be held Wednesday, September 11th at 5:30 PM at WKOW-TV.

Sustaining membership chair Fred Sperry reported recent renewals for Ross Video and Graybar. Chapter 24 continues to have 23 sustaining members.

National liaison Leonard Charles reported that the SBE National meetings will be held October 16-17 in Phoenix. Featured speaker at the awards dinner will be Joanne Denellen of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Election ballots were mailed to all members and are due September 12th. SBE’s resume service, free to members, is online at the sbe.org web site. Membership drive winners were announced. The radio operator’s handbook, originally set for September release, will now be out in December. A certification guide will also come out in December. Tom Smith reported that Zenith’s Gary Sgrignoli will be presenting a DTV seminar at KSTP-TV in St. Paul. The Broadcast Clinic schedule is posted on the sbe24.org web site.

Membership chair Paul Stoffel reported that membership "is doing great." The newsletter mailing list was trimmed, and if someone isn’t receiving a newsletter who should be can contact Paul.

Certification chair Jim Hermanson reported that there has been a recent recertification and two senior exams were taken. The next exam session will be November 8-18, with applications due September 29.

Steve Paugh and Jason Mielke from the DTV web committee reported that they need a current list of stations broadcasting in digital. There was discussion on whether to list stations’ virtual channels or their actual RF channels. A consensus that both should be listed was reached. For the station contact information listings on the web site, station chief engineers should e-mail their addresses to jay@linuxforbroadcasters.com. The digital TV site can be inspected at www.widigital.tv/about.html.

Frequency Coordinator Tom Smith reported that there was nothing new with UW Football coordination. There had been no 2 GHz requests for a race in Oregon as in past years. There is a one-year extension on 2 GHz negotiations with operators in the Mobile Satellite Service. Because of the reorganization of the 2 GHz band, the Milwaukee TV market will follow the Chicago market’s plan. There was a recent problem with WERN’s studio-to-transmitter link on 946 MHz due to co-channel interference from WCJZ.

There was no old business.

In new business, Tom Smith received a letter from the National office stating that Chapter 24 was invited to submit a bid to host the SBE National Convention in 2003. Tom also received notice that Mike Norton won the award for best chapter newsletter (class B), and that Tom had won best frequency coordination award. There was discussion about placing a listing of certified members on the Chapter 24 web site, and placing frequency coordination information on the site. No action was taken. Kerry Maki reported caution with using certain yellow Fluke multimeters for high voltage measurements in that some meters would take several seconds to accurately represent voltages present. Users should check with Fluke to see if their meters were listed as having the problem.

The meeting adjourned at 7:47 PM.

This month’s program was a presentation by Tom Lorenzen and Dean Rosenthal of ADC on "Digital Plant Connectivity."

Thanks to Fred Sperry for arranging the August meeting and program presentation by ADC on Digital Studio Connectivity.

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A local Emergency Alert System (EAS) plan for Dane County was published in July, 2001. Authored by Dave Janda, Dane County Emergency Management, the local plan may be activated in response to local emergencies (catastrophic power outages, floods, civil disorders, industrial accidents) that pose a danger to life or property.

The Dane County EAS local plan currently uses the CEM event code for emergency messages that the Madison NOAA Weather Radio originates as SAME/EAS and Tone Alert messages.

In April, 2002, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new EAS event codes, adding more specificity to local alerts. Janda has begun the process of updating the Dane County EAS local plan, partly to incorporate the additional event codes.

But before we continue this discussion about the local plan, a brief mention about the Wisconsin State EAS Plan is in order. Gary Timm, State Emergency Communications Committee Broadcast Co-Chair, updated the Wisconsin State Plan in May, 2002. The Commission did not approve new event codes for State-level EAS activations, so the State plan will continue to use the CEM event code when issuing a statewide EAS alert. Further, the updated State plan fittingly asks local or county EAS plans to phase out the use of the generic CEM event code in favor of using the new local event codes.

Now back to the Dane County EAS local plan. Janda and Timm recently met with the always helpful and accommodating National Weather Service staff to discuss a couple of proposed updates to the local plan’s procedures for issuing a local alert. Rusty Kapella, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the Sullivan office, estimated the NWS will not integrate the new codes in to the CRS until the end of 2003. The CRS is a computer-based broadcasting console, installed at each NWS office, that automatically translates and schedules written National Weather Service forecasts and warnings into synthesized-voice broadcasts over NOAA Weather Radio. (This date could be loosely tied to the FCC’s EAS Rules change that states all EAS equipment manufactured after August 1, 2003, must have new event codes installed. All EAS equipment replaced/installed after February 1, 2004 must have the new codes installed.)

What now? The Dane County EAS local plan will continue to evolve and adjust to changes, as the State Plan does. Eventually, the new events codes will be used. The NWS CRS will be updated. And broadcasters will have updated their EAS boxes with the necessary updated software and/or ROMs. But for now, broadcasters participating in the Dane County EAS local plan should continue to have their EAS decoders programmed for the CEM Event Code and Location Codes: 055000 and 055025. As indicated in the State EAS plan, allow for Originator Codes: CIV (civil authorities), EAS (broadcaster or cable system) and WXR (Weather Radio).

A reminder that EAS ENCODER UPDATE INFORMATION, last updated August 2002, can be found at http://www.sbe24.org/eas/encode.asp. Information on this web page is researched by Gary Timm.

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The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced the winners of its annual awards program for 2001.

The National SBE has announced that Tom Smith has been selected for Best Chapter Frequency Coordination Effort (Class B) for 2001. Tom has done an exceptional job monitoring Madison area frequency coordination changes and making that information available to frequency users. The award is determined by the greatest and most effective effort toward frequency coordination in a market, service area, and class.

The Chapter 24 Newsletter has also been recognized as the Best Chapter Newsletter (Class B) of 2001, for the fourth consecutive year. The quality of the monthly newsletter produced by editor Mike Norton and the many contributors stands out. The award is given to the best locally published newsletter in its class which provides timely and relevant information about the Chapter in a graphically pleasing and editorially sound manner.

Class awards are determined using the median chapter size as the dividing line between Class A (less than the median) and Class B (greater than the median).

These awards will be presented at the SBE National Awards dinner on October 17 at the Phoenix Civic Plaza Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix, Arizona. The SBE National Convention is being held this year in conjunction with the SBE Chapter 9 Regional Convention and the 50th Annual Arizona Broadcasters Convention.

Congratulations to Tom, Mike, and the rest of Chapter 24!

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• Florida Citizens Band enthusiast William "Rabbit Ears" Flippo will spend a total of 15 months in federal prison—including two months already served—and pay a $25,000 fine for jamming amateur radio communications and transmitting without a license. He’ll also spend a year on supervised probation following his release, during which he cannot own radio gear or firearms. Flippo was convicted in federal court earlier this year on eight misdemeanor counts. Hams were surprised by the severity of the sentence.

"It’s sent a shock wave across the amateur radio and CB communities in South Florida," said Ed Petzolt, K1LNC, who was among the amateurs targeted by Flippo and who testified at his trial. "The CB guys are running for cover. You can buy an illegal CB amplifier pretty cheap right now," he quipped.

• The ARRL is accepting nominations for the annual Bill Leonard, W2SKE, Professional Media Award—a tribute to the late CBS President Bill Leonard, W2SKE. The award will go to a professional journalist whose outstanding coverage in TV, radio, print or multimedia best reflects the enjoyment, importance and public service value of amateur radio. The deadline for entries is December 27, 2002.

Leonard was an avid amateur radio operator and was most active on the air during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1958, Leonard’s contribution to Sports Illustrated, "The Battle of the Hams," covered the "sport" of DX contesting. To this day, the article remains one of the best amateur radio feature stories ever published. Bill Leonard was inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1996.

• Additional cosponsors have signed aboard HR 4720, the bill in Congress aimed at providing relief to amateurs faced with private deed covenants, conditions and restrictions–CC&Rs–in erecting antennas. The list of 18 members of Congress who have agreed to cosponsor the measure includes two amateurs. They are Oregon Republican Greg Walden, WB7OCE—one of the two original cosponsors of HR 4720 with Texas Republican Pete Sessions—and Arkansas Democrat Mike Ross, WD5DVR. Walden and Ross are believed to be the only amateur radio licensees in the US House of Representatives.

New York Democrat Steve Israel introduced HR 4720—the "Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Consistency Act"—on May 14. The measure would require private land-use regulators—such as homeowners’ associations—to "reasonably accommodate" amateur radio communication consistent with the PRB-1 limited federal preemption. PRB-1 now applies only to states and municipalities.

(Excerpts from the American Radio Relay League’s "ARRL Letter")

The SBE HAMNet, or Chapter of the Air, was developed for those ham members who are not in close proximity to a local SBE Chapter. It gives members a monthly chance to get caught up with up-to-date SBE information.

SBE Chapter of the Air takes place on the second Sunday of every month at 0000 GMT (7 PM CDT) and is done by Hal Hostetler, WA7BGX, Net Control.

The published frequency is 14,205 MHz. Occasionally, that frequency is busy and you may need to move up (no more than 10 kHz) to find the SBE meeting.

Some of SBE’s Board members are regular attendees, so your opportunity for comments, suggestions, ideas and complaints are heard by the top of the organization.

Fire up that Ham radio and participate in the SBE Chapter of the Air.

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The 48th annual Broadcasters Clinic will be held October 15-17, 2002, at the Madison Marriott, Madison, WI. This is an excellent opportunity to increase your knowledge on timely broadcast engineering topics.

The cost is $155 for any two days, or $180 to attend all three days of sessions. To register call the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association at 608-255-2600, or 800-256-3986. You can find more information and register online at www.wi-broadcasters.org.

Adjournment...Thanks and see you next year!

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SBE will be shining the spotlight on a number of deserving members and chapters when it holds its annual National Awards Dinner in Phoenix, October 17. Among the award highlights will be the induction of Howard Fine, of Los Angeles, as the Society’s newest Fellow member. Past national president, Richard Rudman, CPBE, recently retired from KFWB radio in Los Angeles, will receive the SBE Lifetime Achievement Award. Other awards presented will include the SBE Engineer of the Year, Educator of the Year, Chapter Website of the Year and Best Regional Convention or Conference.

Joann Donnellan, Media Relations Manager for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, will be the keynote speaker at the SBE National Awards Dinner. Donnellan will speak about the AMBER program, which is gaining widespread acceptance across the country as an effective method of disseminating information quickly to the public about missing children. We are pleased to announce that the SBE National Awards Dinner is sponsored by Leitch, Inc. and the Awards Reception that precedes the dinner is sponsored by TRON-Tek, Inc. Both of these companies have generously supported SBE in this way since the mid-1990’s.

Also on tap for the National meeting on the 17th will be the sixth annual Fellows Luncheon, which has been sponsored by the Scala Division of Kathrein, Inc. since its inception, on the 17th. Later that day will be the Annual SBE Membership Meeting, which includes the induction of the newly elected national officers and board of directors. All events on the 17th will be held at the Civic Plaza Convention Center, in downtown Phoenix.

Tickets for the National Awards Reception and Dinner are just $12 and are available from the SBE National Office by calling Linda at (317) 846-9000 or by e-mail at lgodby@sbe.org. Check, VISA, MasterCard, or American Express are accepted. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis and should be purchased by October 11.

The National Meeting is being held in conjunction with the SBE Chapter 9 Regional Convention and in cooperation with the Arizona Broadcasters Association. The combined events also include the fall SBE Board of Directors Meeting and national Certification Committee meeting on October 16, and broadcast equipment trade show, career fair, and technical presentations on the 17th.

The results of the SBE annual election of officers and members of the Board of Directors will be announced on the SBE web site, www.sbe.org, Friday, September 13. The Board of Tellers will count ballots the night before. All ballots received by 5:00 pm CDT, September 12, will be included in the count.

The first-ever Boston SBE Regional Convention, "BOS-CON" will be held October 29-30 at the Best Western Royal Plaza and Trade Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The event will include a broadcast equipment trade show on October 30 and a full day Ennes Workshop on the 29th. There is no cost to attend the trade show and the Workshop is only $25.

The Ennes Workshop will include speakers from across the country. Jerry C. Whitaker, CPBE, Technical Director at ATSC, will moderate the Workshop. Some of the speakers and their topics include Chris Imlay, SBE General Counsel, who will present on the current state of regulatory issues as they affect broadcast engineers and broadcast facilities. "The Road to Digital Radio" will feature Glynn Waldon from iBiquity. Dave Maxson, from Broadcast Signal Lab, will also discuss digital audio. "The DTV Road Map" will include presentations from Jerry Whitaker on DTV standards, Dr. Richard Chernock of IBM on Basics of ATSC DTV Transport, and Rich Schwartz of Axcera on Completing the DTV Buildout – Designing and Implementing a Single-Channel DTV Network.

You can’t afford to miss this opportunity to hear from some of the experts in broadcast technology today. To register for the Ennes Workshop, call, fax or e-mail Linda Godby at the SBE National Office at (317) 846-9000, fax: (317) 846-9120 or lgodby@sbe.org. Checks should be made payable to SBE. VISA, MasterCard, and American Express will also be accepted.

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The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on whether the FCC has the power to make rules concerning the use of copy protection of digital broadcast television transmissions, and if they should mandate such use.

The FCC is concerned that the transition to DTV may be impeded by the lack of some kind of copy protection ,due to the restriction of the use of some program material from some producers because of the possibility of illegal copies being made and distributed.

The FCC is asking if a copy protection scheme is needed for digital broadcast TV, if programming is in fact being withheld, if it may raise privacy issues, and if a copy protection system would prevent consumers from making personal copies as VCRs and PVRs do now.

They are also asking if the ATSC broadcast flag would make a secure copy prevention system, and if it is upgradeable. The impact on the use of a broadcast flag on existing and future consumer technologies is also questioned.

This action was adopted on August 8, 2002 and released on August 9th. It was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on August 20th on Pages 53,903-53,909. Comments are due on October 30th and replies are due on December 13, 2002.

The FCC has suspended the deadline for one year, the final expiration date of the Phase One 2 GHz band relocation period between Mobile-Satellite Service providers and users of the Broadcast Auxiliary Service. The expiration of the 2 GHz negotiations is now September 6, 2003. The suspension may be shortened or lengthened by the Commission as circumstances warrant.

The MSS Providers are required to negotiate with broadcasters for payment for the conversion of 2 GHz remote pick-up equipment for operation in a reduced 2 GHz remote TV pick-up band. Channels one and two in the band are being reallocated for MSS service, with the FCC looking at other possible allocates for the Spectrum.

The notice is effective as of August 2nd and was adopted on July 31st with release on August 2nd. The notice was published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on August 19, 2002 on pages 53,754-53,756.

The FCC has released rules requiring DTV tuners to be phased in all TVs manufactured by 2007. The FCC claims jurisdiction for implementing the rules under the All Channels Receiver Act of 1962 which required all sets to have UHF tuners. These rules follow a voluntary timetable proposed by Chairman Michael Powell earlier this year.

The FCC will require 50% of all sets with screen sizes 36 inches and larger to meet the rule by July 1, 2004, and 100% of these sets must meet the rule by July 1, 2005.

Sets with a screen size of 25 to 35 inches must meet the 50% rule by July 1, 2005 and meet the 1005 requirement by July 1, 2006.

All Receivers with screen sizes of 13 to 24 inches, and all VCRs and DVD recorders with tuners must meet the 100% requirement by July 1, 2007.

The FCC denied a petition for reconsideration asking for rules setting minimum performance thresholds for DTV receivers.

The FCC said it took into consideration the time needed for redesigning product lines, and price declines in TVs, which make the addition of a DTV tuner more affordable.

Note, that the date which all sets are required to have DTV tuners is July 1, 2007 and the proposed shutdown of the analog system is December 31, 2006. This action was adopted on August 8, 2002.

From the FEDERAL REGISTER (www.access.gpo.gov)

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The SBE National Certification Committee has announced exam session dates for 2003. Check the list below for the exam period that is best for you. For more information about SBE Certification, see your Chapter Certification Chair or contact Linda Godby, Certification Director at the SBE National Office at (317) 846-9000 or lgodby@sbe.org.

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