• Contents for this Newsletter

About This Newsletter
Meeting Announcement
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
Meeting Minutes
Tower Site Monitoring Down To A Science
Cast Your Ballot!
Amateur Radio News
FCC OK's Seperate Antennas For IBOC-FM
SBE Short Circuits
Technician Class Hams, Ready For An Upgrade?
Local Legals
Employment Opportunity
Chapter Sustaining Members
Return to 2004 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:

© 2004 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 a tour of the Dane County 911 center given by operations manager, Rich McVicar. An item of special interest is the new Amber Alert system and the new E-911 system with GPS tracking. We will also be collecting ballots for the election of officers. Bring your prepared ballot. We will have extra ballots available. Due to the limited space in the 911 center, the meeting will be shorter than usual.

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Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met on Wednesday, March 17, 2004 at Grassland Media, Madison, Wisconsin for the Chapter's monthly meeting. There were 13 members in attendance, 12 of whom were certified and 2 guests.

The meeting was called to order at 7:12 PM by Chapter Chair Vicki Kipp. The minutes of the February meeting as published in the March newsletter were approved. Newsletter editor Mike Norton announced the deadline for articles for the April issue will be Friday, April 2nd at midnight. The folding party will be held Wednesday, April 7th at 5:30 PM at WKOW-TV.

Treasure Stan Scharch submitted his report that the chapter's account had a balance in the black. Sustaining Membership Chair Fred Sperry reported on the recent renewals of Scharch Electronics and Maney Logic. Currently the Chapter has 24 sustaining members.

Program Committee Chair Steve Paugh reported on upcoming chapter meetings. Tentatively, the April meeting will be a tour of the Dane County 911 Center. The May meeting will feature In Game Systems, the chapter annual picnic will be in June, and Taste of NAB will be in July.

Certification Chair Jim Hermanson submitted his report that Dennis Baldridge of Hillsboro has received his CBNT certification. The next certification date is April 20th at NAB. The next local exam is June 4-14 with the application due by April 23rd.

Frequency Coordinator Tom Smith reported an FCC making rule making that IBOC FM stations can use a separate antenna for their digital signal than their analog signal.

Tom Weeden reported that he had attended the Milwaukee SBE frequency coordination meeting where there was discussion about the transition from the existing 2GHz band to the smaller band. They had decided to go with 7 narrow channels as opposed to 5 wide channels. The stations will move one channel at a time. The move would be triggered when the first MSS satellite is launched or licensee approaches broadcasters.

National Liaison Leonard Charles reported that the SBE has hired a software developer to work on new frequency coordination software that will be shown at NAB. Currently the software is in beta test and should be available for distribution in May. A web form is also being developed for the National SBE website for frequency coordination locating.

There is a new National SBE Education Committee that will look into educational opportunities being offered by the SBE and develop new programs, including a traveling broadcast school. The committee is looking for members and will be meeting at NAB. There is new sample certification test software for Windows and it will be released at NAB.

SBE is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and will be handing out prizes to the first 100 members at the NAB membership meeting as well as other drawings and door prizes. A reminder that membership renewals are due April 1st.

Nominations are open for Chapter and Individual National Awards. Nomination forms are available from the SBE National website. SBE Fellow nominations are also being accepted. The National Leadership Skills Seminar is being held in Indianapolis in June and August.

Under new business, Chapter elections would be held at the April meeting. Ballots will be mailed in the April newsletter. The following are on the ballot: Chapter Chair - Vicki Kipp; Chapter Vice-Chair - Tom Smith; Treasurer - Leslie Franzen; Secretary - Jim Magee. Chapter Chair Vicki Kipp also made a call for nominations for Individual and Chapter Awards. Also under new business, Steve Paugh announced that it is not always possible for an officer to attend the pre-meeting dinner. If Chapter members have waited at the restaurant for more than a few minutes without seeing other Chapter members or officers, they should go ahead and start eating on their own.

Under old business, the members present voted on 3 previously submitted by-law changes. The first amendment, which would entitle Sustaining Members to make 4 mailings to the chapter membership at the Sustaining Member's expense, was approved 9 for and 4 against. The second amendment would limit the Secretary and Treasurer to 3 year terms and was unanimously approved. The third amendment would add to the Treasurer's duties an annual audit report to be submitted to the Chapter Executive Committee and was also unanimously approved.

Under Professional Announcements, Gary Wallace of WWRS-TV announced a job opening for a studio engineer.

Tom Weeden announced that WMTV and WBUW-57 would be jointly replacing the existing tower. The new tower would be 20' south of the existing tower and would be 200' higher. The target date for completion is August of this year.

Andrew Rothschadl announced that a new STS satellite uplink truck would be on display at NAB in the outside Frontline exhibit.

The meeting adjourned at 7:29 PM. The program was a presentation by Clay Moore of Focus Enhancements and their FireStore product.

Thanks to Steve Paugh for arranging the March meeting and program. Thanks also to Stu Stroup of Grassland Media for the tour of their production facility and edit suites.

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How do you monitor more than 17,000 different transmitter sites across the country from one monitoring facility with a staff of 21 people? When I heard this claim made of Dielectric Corporation's Flash Technology division in April 2003, I was a little doubtful. After all, 17,000 tower sites is an awful lot of potential light failures, security violations, and power outages to keep an eye on. I traveled to the Nashville suburb of Franklin, Tennessee to see for myself how monitoring on this grand of scale could be accomplished.

Dielectric Corporation acquired Flash Technology in 2003. Dielectric's Flash Technology division includes a tower site monitoring service, tower light manufacturing plant, a post-manufacture tower light testing lab (Figure 1), a tower light research and development laboratory (Figure 2), and a tower light classroom known as "Flash University".

Figure 1. All lamps made by Flash Technology get tested for 24-hours before shipping out.

Figure 2. The candelas of light output from this prototype lamp are being analyzed in a light tunnel (black square recess behind light).

My first concern was trying to understand how any monitoring service could handle the sheer call volume of 17,000 wireless telephony, broadcast, and public safety tower sites. A great thing happens when you provide a service for more than 14 years: you get very, very efficient at it.

The tower monitoring service head end is called the Alarm Response Center (ARC). Staffed 24x7x365, the ARC always has at least three Monitoring Technicians on duty and an experienced supervisor on call.

The ARC contains three sections: the Call Center staffed by Monitoring Technicians who investigate alarms; Customer Support staffed by Technicians who diagnose problems, manage trouble tickets, and interact with clients; and Technical Support staffed by Service Coordinators who do troubleshooting, equipment support, and field support.

Flash Technology has analyzed the records of the millions of phone calls they have received over the years to create algorithms which help them predict which times of the day and night when they will be busiest. Each of the 17,000 sites monitored by Flash Technology will be called by the ARC once every 24 hours to log its parameters. Additionally, each site will call in anytime it experiences an alarm condition.

Each site monitored by the ARC has a sign posted at the site entrance listing a toll-free phone number for the ARC and a tower reference number. This contact information is useful to members of the general public, tower neighbors, tower technicians, and public safety personnel who need to access the site. The ARC can provide the access touch pad security code to admit people authorized to enter the site. The ARC monitors and records the names of all individuals who access a site. Having a toll-free contact number posted at the site has paid off. The ARC sometimes receives calls from tower neighbors complaining that a strobe light is running in day mode after dark, making their home resemble a bright, flashing disco dance hall. The ARC can manually place the tower lights in night mode, and then notify the tower's owner of the problem in the morning. Addressing the neighbor's lighting concerns promptly helps preserve good relations with tower neighbors. Timely acknowledgement of a problem may prevent a frustrated neighbor from taking matters into their own hands- perhaps even shooting an offending tower light.

Whenever a site calls in an alarm, Flash Technology's Eagle software automatically creates a trouble ticket. An ARC technician analyzes the trouble ticket to see what action needs to be taken.

Monitoring Technicians in the Call Center answer 500 - 700 calls per day, responding to alarms, notifying authorities, and dispatching technicians. VoicePrint software records and logs incoming and outgoing calls. Site data is archived by the ARC for a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years after it is recorded. When the ARC receives an alarm about a tower light outage or notes an outage when the ARC calls a site for its daily logging cycle, the ARC Lighting Specialist will call a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) in to the appropriate FAA Flight Service Station. The ARC calls in about forty NOTAMs a day to the FAA. The ARC will notify the site's owner of the outage. For clients who contract with the ARC for tower maintenance, the ARC will dispatch a tower technician to the site to repair the light. In compliance with the FAA regulations, the ARC strives to get all light outages resolved within the FAA's 15 day outage window.

When the ARC receives an alarm from a site, they handle the event according to the site owner's preferences. If there is a light outage, the ARC will call the FAA Flight Service Stations (FSS) to report the failure within 30 minutes, as specified by FAA Circular AC No: 70/7460-1H and enforced by FCC Title 47 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). But for less critical site events such as a door open or site temperature alarm, the ARC will respond according to the client's customized escalation procedure. The ARC will call and/or email the people specified by the site owner. If the alarm occurs at a site that the ARC is contracted to maintain, the ARC will notify the owner and then dispatch service technicians. If an urgent situation arises which requires that the site owner be called in the middle of the night, the ARC manager will make that phone call.

Clients can pick a custom solution from the Dielectric-Flash Technology suite of services: FTM monitoring hardware for their site, leasing Dielectric's Eagle software, or hiring Dielectric's ARC to monitor their tower site. Before the ARC begins monitoring a site, Dielectric's tower division must inspect the site. The tower division performs site erection, structural maintenance, and lighting maintenance and repairs. The inspection identifies any equipment issues. Since the ARC is responsible for filing NOTAMS, existing obstruction light deficiencies must be remedied before the ARC assumes responsibility for monitoring the site.

A large plasma television at the front of the ARC (Figure 3) displays the Weather Channel. ARC technicians constantly monitor the national weather map for storms, tornados, and hurricanes. They anticipate severe weather that could cause a power failure, lightning strike, or other damage to the sites that they monitor. When severe weather covers a wide geographic expanse, the ARC manager brings the on-call ARC technicians in to support the increased call volume.

Figure 3. Job tools help ARC technicians keep up with weather situations and lighting configurations.

To the left of the weather monitor are two FTM 5000 units and multiple strobe lights. These units allow the lighting specialists to practice wiring and configuring the monitoring telemetry when there are lulls in incoming calls.

Dielectric-Flash Technology manufactures the FTM 5000 remote telemetry module (Figure 4) for monitoring and control of various equipment and operating conditions. Each FTM 5000 can hold up to nine control/monitoring cards. Each card is capable of monitoring six to ten parameters. A single card can be shared among multiple devices such as monitoring lighting and the site door. The number of site parameters that a FTM 5000 can monitor in unlimited since any number of FTM-5000 modules can be bussed together. The FTM 5000 has an Ethernet port and a modem.

Figure 4. Highly-customizable Flash FTM-5000 remote telemetry module.

The FTM 5000 works in conjunction with Eagle monitoring software. Clients with more than 125 sites need to use Eagle Eye software, in addition to Eagle software, to manage the polling of all of their sites such that each site stays in compliance by calling the ARC once every 12 or 24 hours.

Dielectric- Flash Technology's FTM monitoring hardware is highly customizable. You can use the FTM 5000 to monitor transmitter power levels and to control transmitter on/off. With the purchase of Dielectric's VSWR Vision software and some additional hardware, the FTM can measure antenna VSWR and transmission line pressure, in conjunction with Eagle software

Site owners can custom populate their FTM 5000 with the appropriate cards based on their monitoring and control desires. Monitoring and control card choices include:

. A dry contact input to monitor equipment functions, door closures, and alarm relays. A dry contact card indicates whether a device is off or on.

. An analog input to monitor generator fuel levels, building temperature, hydrogen fuel cells, power metering, battery levels, voltage, oil pressure, and other measurable levels. In conjunction with a relay output card, you can set customized thresholds so the card will turn a particular device on or off if a threshold is crossed.

. A relay output card to monitor and control the generator, hydrogen fuel cell, climate control, and remote operation of equipment. A relay card is necessary for device control. When used in conjunction with a site generator, an analog card enables remote monitoring of the generator's fuel level and status. You can remotely cycle the generator to run for a while as part of its maintenance. The relay card allows you to remotely cut AC power to ensure that the site properly switches to the generator's DC power.

. A light monitoring card allows for tower monitoring of all types and brands of tower lights.

Each site monitored by the ARC must have a connection to the ARC so that it can communicate alarms. The vast majority of sites monitored by the ARC use a combination of a modem and a landline (70%) or wireless telephone (30%) to call in alarms and status updates. Most new tower sites connect to the ARC through a fiber optic line or a low-bandwidth Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite system provided by Flash Technology. Although a fiber optic connection can be pricey, new towers typically have fiber run to them during the construction process.

Dielectric's Flash Technology site monitoring panels can monitor all FAA approved lighting systems. Eagle software, which communicates with the monitoring panel, can provide alarm information for any lighting type.

Sites who use Flash Technology's FTM monitoring hardware and have Flash Technology's lights installed on their tower receive especially elaborate light monitoring from the ARC. See how many triggers the flash tube has attempted and how many it has missed. If there is an alarm on Flash Technology brand tower lights, the ARC can diagnose what the cause of the problem is by analyzing the voltage, current, and emitted light for the failed lamp. If Dielectric- Flash Technology services that site, they guarantee that they will fix the lighting problem in one trip to the site. For sites not serviced by Dielectric- Flash Technology, the elaborate diagnosis of why the light failed helps the service know which lighting component needs to be serviced before they go to the site, cutting down on repeat trips.

Since reliability is a top priority at the ARC, they have redundant computer operations in a separate location. The ARC runs diagnostics to check the health of their communications network every fifteen minutes.

The trouble ticketing program used by the ARC is a custom application developed from Remedy Action Request System. Dielectric-Flash Technology employs two Remedy developers who continuously make improvements to the software and personalize the software based on client needs. Remedy Trouble Ticketing tracks how much time elapses from when an alarm is received to when an ARC technician completes diagnostics on the problem. Incoming alarms are listed in a queue. An ARC technician selects an alarm to respond to as soon as they are available. The ARC has a system to ensure that each call is dealt with promptly. Once a staff member opens an alarm, their name is listed on the file. Each Monitoring Technician on duty is assigned a Monitoring Technician "buddy" during their shift. If a call isn't acted on within a certain time period, the trouble ticketing software sends a reminder to the Monitoring Technician's "buddy" and a supervisor.

VoicePrint digital call logging software is used to record and archive every phone call made to or from the ARC. Calls are saved with the records for the applicable tower site. Calls are recorded not only as a method of quality assurance, but to provide records of NOTAMs filed. VoicePrint ensures follow-through and accountability by recording the time each call was answered and the staff member who took the call.

The ARC uses NEC's CallCenterWorX product with automatic call distribution and management information system modules to design their call-handling process and route calls to designated staff. While routing incoming calls, CallCenterWorX collects data which is converted into useful statistics and reports.

Flash Technology's Eagle Monitoring System interfaces with all lighting systems, including their competitors' products. Eagle allows the user to dial up an individual lamp on a tower to query it. Each site monitored has a graphic which shows the location and status with each light on the tower, along with the FAA circular which is applicable to each of the lamps. If a light fails, an X is placed over it on the tower lighting graphic. The software also lists each FAA circular so the ARC staff can reference the rules if there are any questions. All site alarms are automatically recorded by the Eagle Monitoring System. Eagle keeps records of each instance of the site building's door opening and closing, and other monitored conditions.

Dielectric- Flash Technology creates real time web-enabled portals for clients to securely access and monitor their site status from any Internet connection. After logging in, clients can view tower operation status, alarms, and trouble-tickets. Clients can order equipment, track shipments, schedule maintenance, and track field technicians scheduled to perform repairs through the portal.

The Eagle Monitoring System allows in-depth monitoring and diagnosis of conditions for Flash Technology products installed on a tower. Eagle automatically monitors, diagnoses, anticipates, stores, and communicates high intensity strobe light events. I was impressed that Eagle Monitoring could remotely drill down to measure voltages and currents at various points in the lighting system. From the ARC, a technician could identify not only the specific tower light that is out or impaired, but also which lighting component was the likely cause of failure.

On the day that I visited the ARC, their largest client, American Tower Corporation (ATC), was also visiting. Michael Mitchell, VP of National Operations, expressed abounding satisfaction with the quality of monitoring that ATC has received from the ARC.

My trip to Tennessee yielded an answer to the question, "How do you monitor more than 17,000 different transmitter sites across the country from one monitoring facility with a staff of 21 people?" If you happen to be the Alarm Response Center (ARC) of Dielectric's Flash Technology division, the answer is that you monitor more than 17,000 tower sites with exceptional reliability and accountability.

Acknowledgements: Sally Rich, Dielectric Corporation and Bryan Adams, Dielectric Corporation- Flash Technology.

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Enclosed with this newsletter is the official ballot for the SBE Chapter 24, 2004 election of officers. The deadline for returning your ballot to the nominations chair is Monday, April 26th, 2004. The nominations committee will count the ballots on the evening of Wednesday, April 28th, 2004 at WISC-TV.

You may turn in your ballot in person during the April 15th, 2004 chapter meeting at 7:00PM at the Dane County 911 Center. If you are unable to attend the April meeting, you may mail your ballot directly to me at:

Steve Paugh- c/o WISC-TV
Ballot
7025 Raymond Road
Madison, WI 53719

Please indicate "Ballot" on the envelope and we will hold your ballot unopened until the official counting process. Your ballot must be in our possession before we begin the counting on April 28th.

Remember that your membership must be current to be eligible to vote. Your membership number must be entered on the ballot for it to be valid.

The following are on the ballot: Chapter Chair - Vicki Kipp; Chapter Vice-Chair - Tom Smith; Treasurer - Leslie Franzen; Secretary - Jim Magee.

Included on the back of the ballot is a short biography from each of the candidates and their industry background.

Thanks to the nomination committee members Jim Hermanson and Leonard Charles.

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. The FCC is seeking comment on three plans that would reshape the Amateur Radio Service licensing structure. Each Petition for Rule Making responds to World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 actions last summer that made changes to the International Radio Regulations. While differing substantially in some other aspects, the three petitions call for modifications at amateur radio's entry level and for a three-tiered license system. One petition goes beyond licensing structure to recommend additional changes to amateur testing and HF digital privileges. A fourth petition focuses solely on the Morse requirement.

In one petition, an "unincorporated grassroots organization" calling itself the Radio Amateur Foundation (RAF) has asked the FCC to scrap existing amateur radio question pools and start over from scratch, keeping the question pools out of the public domain and requiring a 10-day waiting period before retesting. The RAF has also asked the FCC to permit digital experimentation from 29.0 to 29.3 MHz at bandwidths of up to 15 kHz. Comments are due by April 24 on all four petitions.

. A Broadband over Power Line (BPL) home demonstration in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area March 5 provided an opportunity for area amateurs to take their concerns about the technology to FCC Chairman Michael Powell face to face. While Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, says he only spent about 30 seconds with Powell at the demonstration, he did tell the chairman that amateurs believe BPL's interference potential has been understated and will prove more difficult to resolve than the FCC has suggested in its February BPL Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). "What I didn't know when I talked to him," he added, "was that a question that we had sent to the local newspaper had been posed earlier in the day at a press conference about interference."

Powell had responded to the question by saying the FCC would not let BPL interfere with critical services, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. "The question is whether it does, and to what extent, and what limits can be placed to make sure it doesn't," Powell said. "We've been fully committed to only allowing things within the range of what we're convinced won't create impermissible interference." But Powell went on to say that if BPL can provide broadband access anywhere there's a power outlet, "We're not going to be easily dissuaded from doing something that has that much potential."

(Excerpts from the American Radio Relay League's www.arrl.org web site)

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On March 17th, the FCC issued a notice allowing FM stations to use a separate antenna for their IBOC digital transmitters. The FCC placed a number of limitations on the use of a separate antenna. A station must used a licensed auxiliary antenna, the antenna must be at 70 to 100% of the height of the main antenna and it must be located within 3 seconds of longitude or latitude of the main antenna.

The FCC also ruled that interleaved antennas were allowable as long as the digital section of the antenna was licensed as an auxiliary antenna. An FM station could get Special Temporary Authority as long it met FCC criteria and has filed 10 days in advance of the beginning of digital operation.

The STA application would have to list the date the operation is to begin, ensure that the system meets Ibiquity's specifications, and list transmitter output for both analog and digital transmitters. They would also have to meet RF radiation exposure guidelines, state that the analog radiated power is not changed, that the antenna systems do not create any increase in spurious emissions, and give coordinates, elevations, and station file number for auxiliary antennas.

In a final ruling, the FCC said that dual feed antennas were legal and the dual input was considered another combining method.

From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov)

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New SBE designed certification sample test software is now available and will also be available at the NAB Convention. The new software is Microsoft Windows-based and will replace the current DOS-based software. There will be a new sample test available for Broadcast Technologist, Audio Engineer, Video Engineer and Broadcast Networking Technologist. It will also be available for Broadcast Engineer and Senior Broadcast Engineer in both radio and television.

Sample tests will include 50 to 100 questions and will indicate when an incorrect answer has been given and indicate resources to learn more about a subject. The cost for each SBE CERTpreview practice test is $27 plus $3 shipping.

SBE is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. For those attending the NAB Spring Convention in Las Vegas, you can take part. The SBE Membership Meeting, held on Tuesday, April 20, at 5:00 pm, will celebrate 40 years of the Society's growth and service to the broadcast engineer. A commemorative souvenir will be given to the first 100 members in attendance and a digital camera will be awarded to one lucky winner. Other door prizes will also be given.

The meeting will take place in Room N110 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Our thanks to Microwave Radio Communications for sponsoring our spring membership meeting. NAB Convention registration is NOT required to attend.

The SBE Leader Skills Seminars, Courses I and II, are planned for June 2-4 and August 11-13 respectively. These are outstanding opportunities for broadcast engineers to receive training in people and management skills at an affordable price. Both will be held at the Marten House Hotel and Lilly Conference Center in Indianapolis. Course II participants must have already attended Course I this year or in the past.

We are pleased to have Dick Cupka as our seminar leader, who has led Leader Skills Seminars for broadcast engineers form more than 35 years. More than 1,000 broadcast engineers have taken part in this program since its inception. A registration form is available in the April issue of the SBE Signal. Please register by April 30 to assure a spot.

The annual SBE Membership Drive, "Invite Your Friends to the Party," continues through the month of May. Though new members may join at any time of the year, during the Membership Drive special prizes are available for recruiters. There is even a prize for one of the lucky new members, as well as recognition for chapters that have a high level of involvement in membership recruitment.

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Are you a Technician Class ham who would like to step up your operating privileges a notch? Are you starting to get "cabin fever" by being limited to transmitting on amateur VHF and UHF frequencies? Would you like to turn your rig frequency down to communicate around the world on any part of the 160, 30, 17, 12, and 10-meter bands, and much of the 80, 40, 20, and 15-meter High Frequency (HF) bands? If so, help is coming.

Members of the UW-Space Place Amateur Radio Center (Station N9UW) are planning a free General Class Workshop for the weekend of May 15 and 16, 2004. UW-Space Place, at 1605 South Park Street in Madison, will host the General Class Workshop. The workshop is intended for amateur radio operators who have already passed their Technician Class ARRL license exam and will help hams prepare for the written portion of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL's) General Class License Exam. The Morse code exam required for the General Class License will not be covered during this workshop. The ARRL General Class License Manual (ISBN: 0-87259-800-4, 4th edition, fifth printing, 2003 © 2000-2003) is required for this workshop. The manual is available from your local book seller, the American Radio Relay League, Inc. (#8004) at www.arrl.org, or through AES at www.aesham.com.

A 35-question general license exam (cost $12) will be given at the workshop conclusion on Sunday, May 16. The general license requires the operator to pass a 5 wpm Morse code test. The Morse code test may be taken on a separate occasion, before or after taking the general license written exam.

This workshop is contingent on having at least eight people sign up. To register for the General Class workshop on May 15 and 16, send the following information to Don Michalski (W9IXG) by e-mailing dem@sal.wisc.edu, or by phoning (608) 274-1886:

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Gray Television Licensee, Inc. has filed an application for a minor change for both WMTV-TV and -DT. Gray is asking permission to move to a new tower located 20 feet from the present tower. The new tower will be 395.9 meters in height with the Channel 15 antenna at 415 meters above average terrain, and the digital antenna for channel 19 at 386.8 meters above average terrain. Channel 15 will operate with a Harris TWSC-23 antenna at 891 kW and channel 19 will operate at with 56 kW. Gray will share this tower with Acme Broadcasting, which owns Channel 57 and DT station channel 32. Notice of the FCC accepting these applications was made on March 9, 2004.

There were a number of FM translator applications filed recently in the Southern Wisconsin Area. They are as follows with applicant, frequency, city and date announced as accepted for filing:

. Gateway Technical College, 101.7 MHz, Elkhorn, WI and 103.3 MHz, Lake Geneva, WI. Announced on February 10, 2004.

. EdgeWater Broadcasting Inc., 100.3 MHz, Beloit, WI. Announced February 19, 2004; 99.3 MHz, Richland Center, WI Announced March 4, 2004.

. Sister Grace Inc., 96.9 MHz, Watertown, WI; 100.9 MHz, Mayville, WI; 104.3 MHz, Waupun, WI; 107.9 MHz Plymouth, WI. Announced on March 26, 2004.

. Evangel Ministries, Inc., 101.7 MHz, Ripon WI. Announced on March 26, 2004.

Application for transfer of the license for translator station K221DH, operating on 92.1 MHz in Ripon, from the Ripon Baptist Church to VCY America, Inc. was announced on March 9, 2004.

Walt-West Wisconsin, Inc. wishes to transfer the license of WAUK to Good Karma Broadcasting, LLC. Good Karma Broadcasting owns WBEV (AM) and WXRO (FM), Beaver Dam, WTLX (FM), Columbus, and WJKT (FM), Evansville. Announced on March 2, 2004.

The FCC granted the application of Acme Television Licenses of Madison, LLC to modify the construction permit for WBUW-DT to move to the joint WBUW and WMTV Tower. Announced on March 5, 2004.

The FCC granted a construction permit to Gray Television Licensee, Inc. to modified WMTV-DT. WMTV-DT will be allowed to move to the new joint WBUW and WMTV Tower. Announced on March 30, 2004.

From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov)

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Description: Must initiate and complete projects in a timely fashion. Attention to detail is imperative. Strong computer skills and electronics background required. Applicant should be a quick thinker, have strong problem solving skills, and react well in live program situations. A "can do" attitude and good interpersonal skills are required. High school graduate or GED certificate. Two or more years of college preferred. Completion of technical or vocational programs related to electronics or computers is a plus.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for on-air quality and automation system; live and recorded programming. Provide setup for playback programming and/or network feeds on Beta, DVCAM and DVR. Must be able to edit on Beta, DVC. Maintain and verify official FCC station air log and official FCC transmitter log. Maintain discrepancy reports. Dub clients spots, coordinate satellite receivers, and provide feed bay playback of B-roll tapes during public affairs programs.

Responsibilities & Requirements: The candidate must have knowledge of practical theories dealing with switching, program flow, show timing and basic editing. Must be familiar with FCC rules and regulations. Basic understanding of RF theory and EFP/ENG production procedures. Experience in a medium to major size market television station. Prefer someone qualified to operate a videotape room using DVC, Digi-Beta, Sony SX and Beta SP formats, NEWTEK, Leightronix TCD/IP Automation. Camera shading experience is required. Successful candidate will receive training in maintenance of all equipment at WWRS's transmitter site to include; Thales water cooled high power UHF transmitter, as well as Burke transmitter remote control. Successful candidate will also have the opportunity to assist with the build-out and maintenance of a "new" broadcast production facility.

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