About This NewsletterMeeting AnnouncementUpcoming Meeting ScheduleMeeting MinutesCover Up On 12th StreetWikimapiaWireless Auction ConcludesAmateur Radio NewsFCC Issues Timetable For Unlicensed Devices In TV BandFCC RulemakingsFCC Holds Media Ownership HearingLocal LegalsChapter Sustaining MembersReturn to 2006 Newsletter Archives PageThe Chapter 24 Newsletter is published monthly by Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers; Madison, Wisconsin. Original hard copy edited by Mike Norton on Pagemaker 5.0. Submissions of interest to the broadcast technical community are welcome. You can make your submissions by e-mail to:
Information and/or articles are also accepted by US Mail. Please address them to:
SBE Chapter 24 Newsletter Editor
2029 Greenway Cross #11
Madison, WI 53713-3000
Please submit text file on DOS or Windows 3.5" floppy diskette if possible.
Steve Paugh is the editor for the Electronic Version of this Newsletter uploaded monthly onto SBE Chapter 24's web page.
Thanks to Leonard Charles for his work on the Chapter 24 WWW page and electronic newsletter.
Contributors this month:
Neal McLain
Tom Smith
Tom Weeden
© 2006 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!
Dr. Barry Orton is Professor of Telecommunications in the Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies, Division of Continuing Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. For over twenty-five years his primary duty at the UW-Madison has been to assist Wisconsin municipalities with broadband issues. His thought-provoking presentation will be entitled "Broadcasts Broadband Future- Will it be wired or wireless, and whose vision of the future will prevail, Comcast/Time Warner's or AT&T's or Verizon's?"
Visitors and guests are welcome at all of our SBE meetings!
| DAY | DATE | TOPIC | CONTACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tues | Nov 14 | Steve Paugh | |
| Thur | Dec 14 | Steve Paugh | |
| Tentative 2007 Program Subjects | |||
| DAY | DATE | TOPIC | CONTACT |
Submitted by Tom Smith, Secretary
Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met at the Dane County Airport on September 14, 2006. There were 14 members present of which 11 were certified. Also present were 7 guests.
Chairman Cliff Groth called the meeting to order shortly after 7 PM. On a motion by Stan Scharch and a second by Leonard Charles, the minutes from the August meeting as published in the September newsletter were approved. Treasurer Leslie Franzen was unable to attend, but sent a report on the current chapter balance, which Chair Cliff Groth read.
Newsletter editor Mike Norton announced that the deadline for the October newsletter would be Friday, October 6th at midnight with the folding party at WKOW-TV on Wednesday, October 11th at 5:30 PM.
Frequency Coordinator Tom Smith reported that he had a coordination request from the UW scoreboard video unit and that WTLX had received the OK from the FCC to change city of license from Columbus to Monona. He also reported that the FCC had issued a timetable for creating an unlicensed wireless service on the TV broadcast band with the final rules to be in place so that equipment could begin being sold shortly after the February 2009 analog TV shutdown date. Cliff Groth also mentioned that the Clear Channel station had begun use of an unlicensed 5.8 GHz link from the Department of Transportation offices to their studios so their traffic reporters could use DOT traffic monitoring cameras for giving their reports.
Program Chair Steve Paugh reported that Dr. Barry Orton from the UW Communications Department would be the speaker at the SBE meeting on Wednesday night at the Broadcast Clinic. The presentation will be Broadcasting on Broadband. Cliff Groth asked for help in setting up and manning the SBE booth and a number of people volunteered. The booth will have demos of HD radio provided by Cliff and DTV to analog converters from the MSTV secured by Leonard Charles.
In news from the national SBE office, Leonard Charles reported that the SBE has signed a contract with Focal Press for do three publications a year on broadcast engineering subjects.
In other business, Cliff reported that Steve Zimmerman had issues with a tower company showing up unannounced at the Channel 27 Doppler tower. He cautioned that this company might be less than reputable. Vicki Kipp had a card for the family of SBE member Lonnie Cooks to be signed. Lonnie had recently passed away.
The meeting was adjourned and a tour of the operation of the Dane County Airport terminal was given showing how the various electronic and computer systems provide communications and passenger information. Our hosts were Lowell Wright and Jay Jacobs.
Thank you to Jay Jacobs of the Dane County Regional Airport for conducting the tour for the September program. Thank you also to Vicki Kipp for arranging the program.
On September 12th at a renomination hearing for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) produced a copy of a 2004 draft report on localism in broadcasting and a few days later Senator Boxer produced a copy of a 2003 draft report on a Review of the Radio Industry. Shortly after Senator Boxer made Chairman Martin aware of the two draft reports, the Chairman posted letters to the Senator on the front page of the FCC website as well as copies of the two draft reports. Both reports were scanned copies, indicating that the original word processing files were not available. Broadcasting and Cable reported that a former FCC lawyer said that the reports were ordered destroyed. Chairman Martin said he had not seen them and that they were not written when he was Chairman. The period when they were written would have been when Michael Powell was Chairman. TV Technology reported in one of their newsletters that former Chairman Powell said he had never seen the report.
In the Radio Report, the writers noted that there were some changes in value of stations, both positive and negative, but the main conclusions that there were fewer owners of stations in most markets, less diversity, decreased listenership, and the cost of buying ad time had increased 78% when the rate of inflation was 17%. The listenership changes may be because of things such as iPods and CDs and not as an effect of ownership changes and their results in station operation. Most of the report was charts showing ownership, listenership, and financial changes.
The localism report, which may be the only result of the localism inquiry under Chairman Powell, indicated that stations that were local owned provided up to 5½ minutes more of local news and three minutes of on-location reporting per hour in their newscasts. Senator Boxer had noted that after three years, the localism report had not been completed.
In his letters to Senator Boxer, Chairman Martin stated that an inquiry had been started into why the reports were not issued and that they had been entered into the record of the localism and ownership proceedings.
This may or may not have an effect on the outcome of the present ownership inquiry, but this is a breach of integrity with those who participate in the rulemaking process and seek a fair hearing. The emergence of these documents may have also figured into the one-month extension of the comment period of the current ownership inquiry.
From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov), www.broadcastingcable.com and www.tvtechnology.com
Hey you folks up there in Wisconsin – have you discovered Wikimapia yet?
Wikimapia combines satellite images from Google with a database of Wikipedia-like "places" created by volunteers. It looks like a cross between Google Maps and Wikipedia, but it’s actually run by a couple of guys based in Russia. Although Wikimapia has only existed for a few weeks, it already contains an enormous number of places scattered all over the planet. As I write this (October 2, 2006) there are over 1.6 million places.
To see how Wikimapia works, go to http://www.wikimapia.org/ and look for a little white box in southeast Wisconsin. Click on it, and it’ll take you a satellite image of Milwaukee, where you’ll see more white boxes. Each of these boxes highlights a "place" that some volunteer has created and described. You can zoom in for a closer view using the slider on the left side of the screen. Click on any white box to read the description.
From Milwaukee, you can navigate west to Dane County by dragging the image with your mouse. Once you get to Dane County, you’ll find more places, all created by volunteers. Click on the School of Veterinary Medicine (http://tinyurl.com/s2jrf) and you can read the comments my daughter Laura (Class of 1997) posted. You can add your own comments to any description by selecting "Menu," then "Edit this page."
You can also create a new place: find the place you want, center it on your computer screen, click "Wikimapia," then "Add new place." A white box will appear in the center of your screen; grab the corners to place it properly, then save it. The new place will appear as an "upcoming" place, which means Wikimapia won’t accept it as final until at least two other volunteers ("Wikimapians") have voted to approve it. (See Figure 1)
When I first discovered Wikimapia, I went looking for SBE-related places on the west side of Madison. But I only found one: Midwest Family Broadcasting Studios (http://tinyurl.com/ewd5r). I was surprised to note that nobody had created a place for the community tower or for the Wisconsin Public Broadcasting Center. Curiously, however, as soon as I submitted an advance copy of this article for publication, someone created a place for the Broadcasting Center.
For my part, I created a place for the Wisconsin Point of Beginning (http://tinyurl.com/o64ts). And, of course, I’ve been creating lots of places down here in southern Brazoria County, Texas (http://tinyurl.com/o7d96).
I even created places for two things you can’t see in the satellite photo:
• The San Bernard Oak, the largest Live Oak in Texas (http://tinyurl.com/jdokf). It stands in a dense bottomland forest, so in a satellite view, it looks just like its surroundings. I located it by GPS coordinates.
• The Spiral Jetty (http://tinyurl.com/gtpe7), an earthwork sculpture in the Great Salt Lake. It appears and disappears periodically depending on the lake level; it was under water when the sat photo was taken.
So let’s get a place created for that Community Tower!
(Neal McLain was an longtime engineer for various CATV companies and CTI, frequent Newsletter contributor, and is now retired and resides in Texas)
The FCC concluded its most successful auction to date. Auction number 66 began on August 9th and closed on September 18th after 161 rounds of bidding. The FCC raised $13.9 billion in successful bids for 1,087 licenses out of the 1,122 licensed offered for bid. The spectrum offered was in the 1710-1755 MHz and was for use in the Advanced Wireless Service. This spectrum can be used for voice, data, video, and broadband services. The top five bidders were T-Mobile License LLC; Cellco Partnership, which is part of Verizon; SpectrumCo LLC; Metro PCS AWS, LLC, and Cingular AWS, LLC.
The highest bid was for a regional license serving the West region of the U.S., which went to T-Mobile for $884,590,000. The highest bid for a local market was for a license sold to SpectrumCo, LLC in Long Island, which went for $468,178,000 and the smallest bid by Chequamegan Communications Cooperative for an area in Minnesota called Lake, which went for $9,350.
Both DirecTV and Echostar bid on licenses along with some cable companies, but they dropped out early in the bidding. For DirecTV and Echostar, wireless licenses would give then a phone service as well as a return path for satellite based Internet service.
Because of the success of this auction, expect more pressure for the sale of the returned analog TV spectrum. This auction rules out any possibility of Congress changing their minds and authorizing any delay in the analog shutdown if the transition stalls for any reason.
From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov)
• The American Radio Relay League’s Executive Committee was expected last weekend to ratify plans to appeal in federal court certain aspects of the FCC’s Part 15 rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) systems. Assuming the committee signs off on the strategy, the League will file a Notice of Appeal by October 22 with the US District Court of Appeals, DC Circuit. ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, said the League went forward with its appeal plans only after considering the effect on licensed spectrum users of letting the BPL rules stand.
Several reconsideration petitions of the initial R&O –including one from ARRL – called on the FCC to strengthen rules aimed at protecting licensed radio systems from BPL interference. Instead, in a new rule only revealed after the FCC made the MO&O public, the FCC limited the extent to which an unlicensed, unintentional radiator has to protect a licensed mobile station.
The new rule, §15.611(c)(1)(iii), provides that BPL operators only have to reduce emission levels below established FCC permissible limits by 20 dB below 30 MHz and by 10 dB above 30 MHz – even if that’s not enough to resolve harmful interference complaints.
"The FCC has, in effect, tried to redefine harmful interference," Sumner said. "It can’t do that. The Commission doesn’t have the authority to do that, and we’re going to demonstrate that to the Court of Appeals."
He said the principles that the FCC appears to be following for the first time – if applied generally – represent an abuse of licensees’ rights. "It’s unacceptable that the FCC would reduce the rights of its licensees in favor of unlicensed, unintentional emitters," he said. "Remember that ‘unintentional emission’ is just another term for ‘spectrum pollution.’"
• A section of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2007 Appropriations Act, HR 5441, formally includes Amateur Radio operators as a part of the emergency communications community. Congress approved the measure before adjourning for its pre-election break. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law October 4.
In addition to Amateur Radio operators, RECC Working Groups also will coordinate with communications equipment manufacturers and vendors – including broadband data service providers, local exchange carriers, local broadcast media, wireless carriers, satellite communications services, cable operators, hospitals, public utility services, emergency evacuation transit services, ambulance services, and representatives from other private sector entities and nongovernmental organizations.
The RECC Working Groups will assess the survivability, sustainability and interoperability of local emergency communication systems to meet the goals of the National Emergency Communications Report. That report would recommend how the US could "accelerate the deployment of interoperable emergency communications nationwide." They also will coordinate the establishment of "effective multi-jurisdictional, multi-agency emergency communications networks" that could be brought into play in an emergency or disaster.
(Excerpts from the American Radio Relay League’s <arrl.org> web site)
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.
On September 11th, the FCC issued a Notice setting a schedule for the proceeding on Unlicensed Operation On the TV Band. On May 14, 2004, the FCC adopted a Notice of Rulemaking on Unlicensed Operation in the TV broadcast Band. The FCC states that the record from the comments was insufficient to adopt final rules. Because of this, the FCC is starting a number of steps to implement rules allowing unlicensed operation in the TV band. They have laid out the following timetable.
• In October of 2006, the FCC would issue a First Report and Order and Further notice of Rulemaking. The FCC has this on the October 12th meeting agenda.
• In March of 2007, the FCC Laboratory reports on the results of interference rejection capabilities of DTV receivers.
• In July of 2007, the FCC Laboratory reports the results of potential interference from unlicensed devices to TV and other radio services.
• In October 2007, the FCC will adopt the Second Report and Order setting the final technical requirements for unlicensed devices that operate in the TV bands.
• In December 2007, the FCC Laboratory will begin the certification process for unlicensed devices that operate on the TV band.
• And finally, in February 2009, the products will be available for sale. This will coincide with the analog shutdown on February 17, 2009.
The Association for Maximum Service Telecasters (MSTV), The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Sports Video Group (SVG) are voicing their concerns about the proposal. SVG held a seminar recently on the subject. Many of their members are concerned as they use numerous wireless devices to cover various sporting events. At the fall conference of the IEEE, there were a number of speakers and panels on the subject. The discussion lined up as one would expect, with broadcaster against and member of the computer industry for, as the unlicensed devices are aimed at providing broadband connections.
From FCC Release (www.fcc.gov), www.tvtechnology.com, www.sportsvideo.org
PROPOSED RULEMAKING
MB Docket No. 06-121
2006 Quadrennial Regulatory Review-Review of the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
MB Docket No. 02-277
2002 Biennial Regulatory Review-Review of the Commission’s Broadcast Ownership Rules and Other Rules Adopted Pursuant to Section 202 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
MM Docket No. 01-235
Cross-Ownership of Broadcast Stations and Newspapers
MM Docket No. 01-317
Rules and Policies Concerning Multiple Ownership of Radio Broadcast Stations in Local Markets
MM Docket No, 00-244
Definition of Radio Markets
On September 18th, the FCC adopted and released an order that extended the comment period on broadcast ownership from September 22, 2006 to October 23, 2006. The associated reply period was moved from November 21st to December 21, 2006. On September 14, 2006 ION Media Networks, Inc. and Free Press, et al filed separate motions asking the Commission to extend the comment and reply periods. Both said that additional time was needed to do complete research and analysis and compile data to address the issues in the Further Notice of Rulemaking. Free Press also stated that the additional time would allow for response to comments in the October 3rd hearing on ownership rules in Los Angeles.
ET Docket No. 00-258
Amendment of Part 2 of the Commission’s Rules to Allocate Spectrum Below 3 GHz for Mobile and Fixed Services to Support the Introduction of New Advanced Wireless Services, Including Third Generation Wireless Services
WT Docket No. 02-8
Amendments to Parts 1, 2, 27 and 90 of the Commission’s Rules to License Services in the 216-220 MHz, 1390-1395 MHz, 1427-1429 MHz, 1429-1432 MHz, 1432-1435 MHz, 1670-1675 MHz and 2385-2390 MHz Government Transfer Bands
On September 22, 2006, the Commission adopted and released an Order dismissing a petition for reconsideration to the Fourth Memorandum Opinion and Order by the Society Of Broadcast Engineers, Inc. as repetitious.
The SBE is concerned about the potential of interference to broadcast auxiliary service (BAS) in the 2 GHz band. The Department of Defense has eleven uplink earth stations that share the band with broadcasters. The SBE petition concerns standards used in figuring signal levels and receiver sensitivity that would create interference in BAS equipment. In its petition, the SBE claimed that language in the order could allow for degradation of the receiver threshold of 0.5 db which they based their comments on. The SBE asked that the language be stricken or modified from the Report and Order. The Commission believes that the Report and Order did not adopt or modify any rules affecting receiver threshold degradation criteria.
The Commission ruled that the current receiver standards and coordination requirements between the DOD and the broadcasters would protect BAS operations.
AU Docket No. 06-170, DA 06-1810
Comment Sought on Competitive Bidding Procedures for Auction No. 70
On September 21, 2006, the FCC released a notice asking for comments on the rules for an auction of 124 FM construction permits. The auction is scheduled to start on March 7, 2007. Comments were due on October 5, 2006 with replies due on October 13th.
Of the 124 construction permits to be auctioned, there are four for Wisconsin. They are in Boscobel, Crandon, Ephraim and Rosholt. The Boscobel permit is for a Class C-3 (25kw at 100m) on channel 244 (96.7 MHz) with a minimum bid of $50,000. The Crandon permit is for another C-3 on channel 276 (103.1 MHz) with a minimum bid of $30,000. The Ephraim permit is for a Class A (6kw at 100m) on channel 295 (106.9 MHz) with a minimum bid of $7,500. The Rosholt (Stevens Point) permit is another Class A station on channel 263 (100.5 MHz) with a minimum bid of $70,000.
The notice covers the potential rules and procedures for the auction and gives a good insight into how a FCC auction works. Normally, the final rules change little from what is proposed. The comment notice is more of a way to announce permits to be auctioned. The FCC may pull some of the permits from the auction before it starts, and some of the comments may affect those permits.
From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov)
On October 3rd the FCC held the first of six public hearing on media ownership in Los Angeles. The hearing was held in two parts at two locations. The first part was held from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM at the University of Southern California and consisted of a panel discussion on the Creative Community and Independent Programming, followed by public comments. The panelist were Stephen Cannell, Member of the Caucus of Television Producers, Writers and Directors: Taylor Hackford, 3rd Vice President, Directors Guild of America; Anne-Marie Johnson, National 1st Vice President, Screen Actors Guild: Patric Verrone, President, Writers Guild of America, West; Mona Mangan, Executive Director, Writers Guild of America, East; Marshall Heskovitz, President, Producers Guild of America; Mike Mills, bassist For R.E.M., Member Recording Artists’ Coalition; John Connolly, President, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists; Brandon Burgess, CEO Ion Media Networks, and Tim Winter, President-Elect of the Parents Television Council.
The second session was from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM at the El Segundo High School with a panel discussion on a Market Overview and LA Case Study followed by public comment. The Panelist there were Bruce Owen, Stanford University on behalf of CBS, FOX and NBC Networks; Dr. Frank Wright, President and CEO, National Religious Broadcasters; Ted Lempert, President, Children Now; Julian Do, Co-Director, New America Media; Paula Madison, General Manager of KNBC and Executive Vice-President of Diversity, NBC Universal; Vincent Malcolm, General Manager, KTLA; Jim Joyce, Sector Vice President, NABET/CWA; Jorge Delgado, General Manager, KMEX-TV/KFTR-TV; Dr. S. Huw Anwyl, Senior Minister of Shepard of the Hills Church; Dr. Mark Cooper, Director of Research, Consumer Federation Of America: Sydney Levy, Program Director, Media Alliance and Moctesuma Esparza, CEO, Maya Cinemas.
The two panels were larger and more diverse than the panels present in the ownership hearings during Chairman Michael Powell tenure.
All five FCC Commissioners were present and made opening statements. Chairman Kevin Martin, in his statement said that the FCC needed to understand competitive realities including making a rule allowing for broadcast/newspaper cross-ownership. The two Democrat Commissioners, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein both expressed their displeasure with the past ownership rulemaking processes and their results. Newcomers to the Commission, Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert McDowell both made short statements basically saying they were glad to be there.
According to an article in the Washington Post on October 4th, Bruce Owens representing CBS, Fox and NBC said competition was at an all-time high and Vincent Malcolm of KTLA and the Tribune Company said that cross-ownership would increase news coverage. Stephen Cannell and Mike Mills and Anne-Marie Johnson said that because of media mergers, decision were made by the networks and not by independent producers. They asked for the networks to have 25% of their programs produced by independent producers. The Post said that at times the hearing sounded like a political rally.
From FCC Releases (www.fcc.gov) and Washington Post Online (wwww.washingtonpost.com)
GRANTED
WTLX (FM), 100.5 MHz
Columbus, WI
On August 31, 2006, the FCC approved a petition for reconsideration by Good Karma Broadcasting, LLC to reallocate FM channel 263A (100.5 MHz) from Columbus, WI to Monona, WI. as a first local service. The FCC had previously rejected this petition because it was contingent on an application to move WTTN (AM) from Watertown to Columbus. Because the application was an ungranted backfill application, the FCC rejected the petition to move WTLX.
If the FCC had granted the move for WTLX and the move of WTTN was not granted, that would have left Columbus without local radio service. The FCC issued a new policy on September 26, 2005 that would return any application that was filed for a change of city of licensed that was conditioned on a ungranted construction permit application as backfill to replace the prospective loss of a sole local service.
The move of WTTN from Watertown to Columbus was granted on April 7, 2006 and a petition for consideration was filed on April 11, 2006. Good Karma argued that because the application for WTTN was granted and that because they filed the original application before September 26, 2005, their petition should be reconsidered. The FCC reconsidered and granted the petition based on the fact that the original petition was filed before the September 26, 2005 ruling and that there would be a gain of 321,238 persons served by WTLX after the move with a loss of service to 35,479 persons giving a net gain of service to 285,759 persons. WTLX cannot move until WTTN starts operation at its new Columbus transmitter site. This requirement is so that Columbus will not have an interruption in local service.
The reference coordinates for the Monona transmitter site are 43-08-19 N and 89-22-27 W., which is the Lakeview County building site off of Northport Drive in Northeast Madison.
The notice was released on September 5, 2006.
From FCC Release (www.fcc.gov)
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