• Contents for this Newsletter

About This Newsletter
Meeting Announcement
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
Meeting Minutes
Music At 78 RPM
FCC Holds First Localism Hearing
Special Event On November 11
Chapter 24 Bylaws Vote Planned
SBE Seeks Review Of Denial Of PCN Stay
Amateur Radio News
FCC Rulemakings
Local Legals
Employment Opportunity
Chapter Sustaining Members
Return to 2003 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:

© 2003 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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Doug Hinahara, sales director for the Masstech Group, will discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the ever increasing presence of file-based video in television facilities. He will use Masstech products as examples of new approaches and solutions that will allow broadcasters to address these challenges. Doug will give a presentation on their unique approach to station automation and streaming video techniques.

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Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met on Wednesday, October 15, 2003 at the Marriott - Madison West. The National SBE membership meeting was held as part of the National SBE Meeting in Madison.

The schedule of EAS RWT and RMT times to be sent on Wisconsin Public Radio is listed on the web. It can be found at: www.wpr.org/eas

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There seems to be a special attraction for some of us to old, outdated technology. I’m certainly one of those people. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in consumer technology of the past. As a youngster, 78-RPM records and the outdated machines that played them fascinated me. It started with listening to polka records at my grandmother’s house. (Remember, this is Wisconsin!)

Later, my uncle and dad bought a Victrola from a neighbor with the idea of restoring the finish to enjoy it as a piece of furniture. After deciding that the restoration would not be worth the effort, they gave up and left the machine and its contents of old records with my grandmother. I later inherited the machine.

I was delighted to own one of the first, mass-market home entertainment devices, the Victrola. Before there were record players, people who could afford such a luxury item had a piano, music box, or even a player piano in their homes. But none of those had the allure of being able to actually hear Al Jolson, Louis Armstrong or the Sousa band playing in your living room!

Before there were Victrolas, most record players were made in the style known as a "gramophone." This is the classic machine with the brass, tulip shaped horn coming off of the pickup arm, and a small wooden cabinet to house the turntable mechanism. After making many "Talking Machines" of this style, The Victor Company decided in 1906 that people would spend even more money to have a phonograph that had the horn enclosed in an attractive cabinet that could become a valued piece of furniture. Thus, this first real home entertainment center became welcome into living rooms everywhere.

Victrolas were produced with the classic, hand cranked turntable mechanism as well as electric motors as more and more homes became wired with power. Some of the later, premium hand cranked Victrolas had clockwork type regulators, which provided amazingly precise speed control.

Now, some history on the "format" of 78’s. There are really two basic types of 78-RPM records. There are acoustic recordings and "electrical" (what an engineer would call "electronic") recordings. The Victrola was designed and built to play the acoustic ones. Acoustic records are made without the advantage of microphones or amplifiers of any kind. The performers had to gather around a large horn, similar to the type you would find on a gramophone. The large horn acts as a magnifier of the sound to bring enough energy to the cutting stylus to cut the grove. Recording technicians obviously had to make sure there was not too much energy there or the stylus would cut into the adjacent grove. Too little "deviation" and the signal recorded would not overcome the enormous surface noise found in this early technology (a lesson in signal to noise ratio). More on surface noise later.

The deviation allowed by the stylus mechanism of the Victrola is really quite small compared to later electronic pickups. Therefore, a well-produced electronic recording cannot really be played on a Victrola without causing a certain amount of distortion. Victrolas have a diaphragm connected to the needle that vibrates as the record is played. The sound from the diaphragm goes through the arm, and then out the horn. This diaphragm is vibrated harder then it was originally designed to when most electronic records are played, producing the distortion. This being said, the surface noise and limited frequency range of 1910’s technology do not really provide a high fidelity listening experience anyway. In a way, you have to wear a different set of ears to enjoy a Victrola. I am not what you would call a "golden ears" engineer, so it is easy for me to put away the critical listening judgement that I might use in my job and just enjoy hearing recorded music from artists the way someone would have in 1917.

It was not until 1925 that technology had developed to allow electronic records as well as talking motion pictures. Now, amplification of audio signals was possible, using microphones and powered cutting lathes. Engineers understand the difference between magnification and amplification. In amplification, a local, external energy source is used to provide an output that is much larger then the power available in the original source. The output signal is a scaled-up or "amplified" version of the original input. Magnification, on the other hand, is the process of concentrating all of the available energy into a small spot, like a magnifying glass.

A prominent tool manufacturer has an accessory for their small screwdrivers with a name that annoys this writer. It is a handle that fits over the smaller handle of the drivers to give the user a better grip. It is called a "torque amplifier." Every engineer who has one in his tool kit knows that it is really a "torque magnifier," because no external energy source is being added to make it easier to turn the screw! But, I deviate.

In order to play records, everyone knows that you need to have a stylus or "needle." The term "needle" probably comes from the early days of the phonograph when the stylus was nothing more then a steel needle! The Victrola uses either steel or bamboo needles. The steel needles are good for about 3 to 4 plays, if you don’t want to risk damage to your records! I tried unsuccessfully to find the bamboo needles that I remembered from my childhood. Bamboo gives the Victrola a mellower, quieter sound. Steel needles sound loud and crisp.

Unlike 50 years ago, you can’t just go to a record store to buy steel needles. I had to find a good source for new needles. A mail order house was the key. I ordered several dozen Pfanstiehl steel needles, which I hoped would last me for a while.

Let me state right now that I am by no means a record collector, although I do have a few records that I particularly enjoy. I probably don’t have the discipline needed to organize and arrange the records that I own, let alone know what records to buy, where to find them, and what price is fair for them. I just know what I like and own some of it!

I did feel the "need to archive" records that I owned. Maybe it was the engineer in me needing to preserve order and document history! I knew that each time I played them, even with a brand new needle, I was wearing the 78’s out. Even though some of them were almost 100 years old, I knew deep down inside that each time there would be a little less signal and a little more noise.

I wanted to put them on a format that would last forever. (Or at least for a very long time. We know now that there is no recording format that would never eventually break down.) So, I started with some of the classic acoustic 78’s that I carefully stored in the Victrola cabinet. Some of the ones I enjoy most are marches, a form of music that was very popular in the early 1900’s. (I decided by this time that I had enough polkas!) I even have a great recording of "On Wisconsin" on the Columbia label that still has a signal to noise ratio just slightly above 1.

Because these are acoustic recordings, I wanted to reproduce them in the authentic manner – on the Victrola. Playing them on a turntable with an electronic pickup just didn’t seem right. It occurred to me right away that the Victrola did not have a "line out" connector, so I was going to need to use a microphone to record the 78’s. (In the early days of radio, the very first disc jockey shows were done by micing a Victrola with a carbon mic.) I went to my friend, Kevin Peckham. I knew he would be able to help.

Kevin lent me a couple of mics to use. I decided to record the 78’s on a ¼ track tape deck so that I could edit, EQ, and otherwise alter the recording before committing to CD or mini disc. The next decision was how to properly mic the Victrola. Because it is strictly an acoustic devise, I needed to decide whether or not to mic the room that the Victrola was in, or keep the mic close so that only the sound of the Victrola would be recorded without any of the environment. I decided to do both.

The Victrola lives in my living room, which has pretty good acoustics. It is carpeted and has window curtains. Anyway, moving the Victrola to another room would have been difficult. It is a large cabinet and has about 50 pounds of records stored in it. I decided this would be a good place to make the recordings.

One of the mics was set close to the horn of the machine; the other was about five feet away so that the natural reverb of the room would also be captured. Five feet is really too close for the optimum listening distance of the Victrola. To tell you the honest truth, if you were this close, you would be hearing too much of the harsh, noisy sounds of this reproduction system. One of the main goals of its designers seemed to have been to make the Victrola as loud as possible to try to overcome the signal to noise problems. That works if you sit across the room, where the hard edges are a little more tolerable or if you have a room of people dancing. (Can’t you just see a group of people drinking bathtub gin and doing the foxtrot?)

If you don’t listen too closely, and tap your toes to the music, the content of the acoustic 78’s is okay. You would not want to listen with headphones! (I once tried to figure out how one might design headphones for the Victrola for private listening. Maybe you could attach a stethoscope to the tone arm before it flares out to the horn. On the other hand, with this setup you would probably hear too much of the noise and experience ear fatigue before the end of the first record!)

The results of my recording were mixed. As it turned out, the mic placed close to the horn gave me so much signal that the input to one of the mic preamps was overloaded. That track of the tape was not usable. The living room set up did not allow for proper monitoring. I had some headphones connected to the tape deck, but could not hear the distortion while the Victrola was playing. As it turns out, the other mic, placed in the room and away from the horn, produced the results that I was looking for. You can hear the sound field coming from the Victrola and into the room.

Okay, I finally had a CD and an MD of Victrola Marching Favorites to keep for eternity. Now it was time to take this hobby to the next level and move to a slightly newer technology. That meant moving ahead 20 years from the Victrola days to the era of electronic 78’s. I’ll cover the electronic 78 journey in the next newsletter edition.

Sources for the above article include the following: The Victor Victrola Page (see http://www.victor-victrola.com/XVI.htm); Canadian Astatic (see http://www.canadianastatic.com/); Garage-A-Records (see http://www.garage-a-records.com/).

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On October 3rd, the FCC announced the dates and locations for six hearings on localism in broadcasting. One of the main focuses of the hearings is on station license renewal. The first hearing was held in Charlotte, NC on October 22nd. The other five hearings will be held in San Antonio, TX in December 2003; Santa Cruz/Salinas, CA in March 2004; Rapid City, SD in April; Portland, ME in May; and Washington, DC in June.

In the Charlotte hearing, all the Commissioners except Kevin Martin attended. There were panels consisting of broadcasters, leaders of civic groups, and local government. In prepared statements, most of the broadcasters commented on how they have served their communities, while civic groups ask for more regulation. One interest group asked for stations to maintain recordings or transcripts of their broadcasts for several months. Another group asked for a number of mandated requirements, including a required amount of public service announcements, greater outreach and accountability in ascertaining the community needs, free political ads, public affair programming requirements, digital must-carry and equal employment requirements. James Goodmon, head of the Capitol Broadcasting stations in Charlotte asked for the FCC to act on two rulemakings and set minimum standards for ascertainment and public interest obligations.

Finally, the public got to speak and as BROADCASTING and CABLE stated in the headline to their story on the hearing, the Commissioners got an earful. Many complained about broadcasters putting ratings and profit ahead of the local needs. Some local charities showed their support of local stations by noting how they helped their cause.

There was little coverage of this hearing other then brief mentions in the broadcasting trade press. The only long article was in BROADCASTING and CABLE and there was no coverage by the Washington Post or New York Times websites.

A list of speakers on the panel and their prepared statements are on the localism site on the FCC’s website. Streaming audio of the hearing is also available.

From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov) and BROADCASTING and CABLE

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A special event for Chapter 24 members is happening on November 11, 2003. Chapter 24 has been invited to attend the Milwaukee SBE Chapter 28 November meeting. They are having their monthly meeting and a mini regional meeting at Clark Wire and Cable in Mundelein, IL.

Two topics will be covered at the meeting – fiber optic technology, and digital video terminiations. Timothy Lowery from Optical Cable Corporation will speak about Fiber Optic Technology. The presentation will discus the basics of fiber and how to specify and use it in your facility. The second topic will be presented by Thomas Lorenzen and Dean Rosenthal, from ADC Telecommunications. They will speak about Video Terminations in a Digital World. The presentation will cover the validity of 75-ohm ratings on typical BNC connectors. Many current connectors that are supposed to be 75 ohms are not. If there is an impedance mismatch, it can cause transmission problems with digital signals. ADC will hold a brief terminations seminar following the formal presentations, for those interested.

Clark Wire & Cable staff will be available to answer any questions about their products as well, but are not part of the formal presentations. Clark Wire & Cable will provide food and beverages. Please call Todd Boettcher at Clark Wire & Cable ASAP to RSVP for this event.

A motorcoach will be leaving the Milwaukee Clear Channel parking lot at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday November 11 for Clark Wire and Cable. They will be leaving Mundelein at 9:30 p.m. The motor coach will have a bathroom, and food will be served at Clark Wire and Cable. The bus will be loading at 12100 West Howard Avenue in Greenfield, WI. The bus holds 34, and 15 to 20 members from Chapter 28 are going, so there’s plenty of room. If you are interested in going, please call or e-mail Patrick Berger. Call his cell phone (414)788-3466, or his office, (414)944-5451, or e-mail him (patrickberger@clearchannel.com).

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A vote of all Chapter 24 members present is scheduled to be taken at the SBE meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2003 at 7 pm at WKOW-TV. If at least two-thirds of the Chapter 24 members present at the meeting approve of the suggested change, the bylaws will be amended to include the new statement. A quorum must be present to vote.

Proposed Change: "No Chapter membership database information may be released to any party." Full details were published in the October Newsletter.

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On October 16th, the FCC denied a request by the SBE to extend the temporary stay of the new formal frequency coordination requirements called Prior Coordination Notice, or PCN. The SBE has asked for an additional six-month stay to the new rules so problems with the Universal Licensing System database can be corrected. The SBE has claimed that the database is incomplete due to lack of information that was not asked for in older application forms, mainly receive site information.

The SBE feels that commercial PCN coordinators will fail to recognize potential interference problems due to missing information, and coordinate systems which will cause new interference. The SBE also states that interference criteria is unclear, particularly for 950 MHz service, and that present standards may not allow for new systems in many metropolitan areas where similar systems are now successfully operating.

A copy of the petition is on the SBE website (www.sbe.org).

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• Ham radio volunteers continue to play a role in the ongoing fire emergency in Southern California. As of October 31st, a dozen fires, some of them massive, have burned some 750,000 acres and claimed 20 lives, most of them in the hard-hit San Diego area. The American Radio Relay League’s San Diego Section Manager Kent Tiburski, K6FQ, called the situation "by far the worst disaster we’ve ever experienced." He estimated that approximately 200 Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) volunteers have participated so far in the fire emergency, with about 100 in the field at any given time.

Tiburski says hams have been assisting American Red Cross relief efforts, primarily in terms of logistics and working with damage assessment teams. Others have provided liaison between the California Department of Forestry and the Red Cross, which is providing meals and shelter for firefighters. Amateur radio slow-scan TV equipment was being used to assist firefighters in San Bernardino. ARRL Orange Section Manager Carl Gardenias, WU6D, says the radio equipment and operators go out on the fire trucks and report what they see back to the command center using SSTV over voice channels.

Sunspots on October 31, 2003. Image credit: SOHO MDI, www.spaceweather.com

• The last week in October saw plenty of activity from the sun. On Friday, October 24, a coronal mass ejection (CME), a cloud of highly charged particles from the sun, swept by earth around 10 AM CDT, and later aurora borealis was seen as far as the southern United States. On Sunday, October 26 an X-class solar flare at 1:50 AM CDT was followed by another one twelve hours later at 12:50 PM CST. On October 28 one of the most powerful solar flares seen in many years hurled a cloud of particles traveling 5 million miles per hour toward earth. This triggered an S-3 class solar radiation storm, and the next day an intense geomagnetic storm raged in response to a CME that hit earth around 12:30 AM CST. Another powerful CME hit earth on October 30. Hams and other users of the radio spectrum experienced various radio blackouts, at least two communications satellites were affected, and there were some minor power outages attributed to the solar activity. The huge sunspots responsible have rotated away from the earth, but could reappear in a few weeks.

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

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The FCC has reallocated the frequency bands of 1710-1755 and 2110-2155 MHz for use by third-generation or "3G" wireless systems. There will be five paired frequency groupings in these bands. They are Block A, 1710-1720 and 2110-2120 MHz; Block B, 1720-1730 and 2120-2130 MHz; Block C, 1730-1735 and 2130-2135 MHz; Block D 1735-1740 and 2135-2140 MHz; and Block E, 1740-1755 and 2140-2155 MHz. Blocks A and B each have 20 MHz each, Blocks C and D have 10 Mhz each and Block E has 30 MHz.

All of the spectrum will be awarded by auction, with bidding credits given for small business. The term of the licenses will be 15 years with 10 year renewals, and awarded by geographic area. Block A systems will be auctioned off according to Economic Areas, Blocks B, C, and E will be auctioned off by Regional Economic Area groups and block D will be auctioned off by Cellular Market Area. Maps of the different geographic areas can be found on the FCC website in the auction area.

These bands will be used for advanced wireless services such as voice, data, and broadband and will used fixed and mobile networks.

This action was taken and a news release was issued on October 16, 2003.

The FCC has allocated 12.9 gigahertz of spectrum for non-exclusive broadband use. The spectrum involved is in the millimeter wavelength area. The bands that the FCC has adopted rules for are the 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz and 92-95 GHz bands. The 71-76 and 81-86 GHz bands will be divided into four unpaired 1.25 GHz bands, with pairing allowed between the two bands. The 92-95 GHz band will be divided into two segments with one segment from 92-94 GHz and the other segment from 94.1 to 95 GHz. The band of 94-94.1 GHz is reserved for the Federal Government. Users will be allowed to aggregate the two 92-95 GHz bands.

Because of the narrow line of sight nature of these bands, users will not need to formally coordinate, but will required to get a license, except for indoor use in the 92-95 GHz band. Indoor use will be covered under part 15 of the FCC Rules. For all others using these bands, licensing will be very simple. All one will have to do is register at the Universal Licensing System at first, and later on third-party systems. This will allow for the coordination of government services with the new service and give each user interference protection rights based on registration date.

This action was taken and a news release was issued on October 16, 2003.

From FCC releases (www.fcc.gov)

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The FCC has dismissed the applications by Magnum Communications, Inc. owners of WIBU, WNNO-FM, and WBKY, and commonly held Magnum Radio, Inc., owners of WTMB, WBOG, and WXYM to transfer ownership of their radio stations.

WIBU, WNNO-FM and WBKY were to be sold to Mid-West Management, Inc. and WTMB, WBOG and WXYM were to be sold to Family Radio, Inc. This action was taken on October 23, 2003.

From FCC Daily Notice (www.fcc.gov)

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Location(s): Grant County
Classification Title(s)/JAC: ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN - MEDIA - INT - 0301759
Type of Employment: Full Time (40 hrs/week)

Salary: Starting salary is $14.410 (06-13) per hour plus excellent fringe benefits. A six month probationary period is required.

Contact: For information, contact Elaine Sturgis, UW Human Resources Manager, 1 University Plaza, Platteville, WI 53818; (608) 342-1176; sturgis@uwplatt.edu

Bargaining Unit: Technical
Area of Competition: Open

Deadline to Apply: 12/2/2003 All application materials must be received in the Human Resources Office by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2, 2003.

Job Duties: This position is responsible for assisting in the design, purchase, and installation of technology-enhanced classrooms; coordination of campus A/V equipment purchasing and inventory; operation and servicing of campus videoconferencing and video distribution network; support multimedia software; program and maintain video control systems (AMX), troubleshoot education technology systems; video and audio production equipment and software; operate the campus fiber based video distribution network; compress or convert video signals for distribution; convert and duplicate analog and digital audio and video signals for distribution by CD, DVD, and streaming; must be capable of directing and training student help; work with budgets; maintain records. Work is performed under the general supervision of the Director of Television Services and the Chief Engineer.

Special Notes: In compliance with the Clery Act of 1998, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Crime Statistics Report is available at http://www.uwplatt.edu/~police/crimestats.html. Call the UW-Platteville Campus Police Office at 608-342-1584 for a paper copy of the annual report.

Job Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Knowledge of electronic maintenance of audio, video, educational technology system and related support equipment; knowledge of programming AMX room control systems; knowledge of troubleshooting and repair of audio and video editing software and related hardware; knowledge of compression and conversion of digital audio and video signals for distribution by CD, DVD, and various videoconferencing mediums.

How to Apply: For special application materials, contact Elaine Sturgis, UW Human Resources Manager, 1 University Plaza, Platteville, WI 53818; (608) 342-1176; sturgis@uwplatt.edu

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