SBE Chapter 28 Newsletter

The Chapter 28 2012 Annual Holiday Banquet will be held Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at Alioto’s Restaurant on North Mayfair Road Milwaukee, WI 53222 (414) 476-6900

Special keynote speaker will be Mike Westendorf, Director of Operations for Innovative Weather.

Innovative Weather is a fully operational 24/7 meteorology department run by the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. They are staffed by advanced meteorology students, most of whom are degreed meteorologists, already fully qualified to work for professional entities such as the National Weather Service, and are working on advanced degrees. Innovative Weather provides custom forecasts and weather related operational risk assessments for several businesses and organizations around the state of Wisconsin.

Mike Westendorf is himself an accomplished meteorologist having previously worked alongside Paul Joseph at WTMJ-TV, and as Director of Operations for Weather Eye, Inc. of St. Paul MN. He has also done extensive research on high-resolution modeling and radar analysis.

SBE Chapter 28 is pleased to underwrite a portion of the meal cost to make it more affordable for all members and guests. We look forward to having you join us for a festive and interesting evening.

The cost will be $15.00 dollars per person, and members are invited to bring guests. This years dinner choices are:

    * QUEEN FILET MIGNON 9 OZ
      SERVED WITH FRESH MUSHROOMS, AU JUS
    * CHICKEN ROMANO
      GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST SERVED WITH GREEN PEPPERS, ONIONS AND MUSHROOMS; TOPPED WITH MOZZARELLA CHEESE AND SERVED WITH A SIDE OF MOSTACCIOLI
    * BAKED COD
      SERVED WITH TARTER SAUCE AND LEMON WEDGE

COMPLETE DINNERS INCLUDE:
SALAD – CHOICE OF DRESSING
BAKED POTATO
ITALIAN BREAD, COFFEE, TEA OR MILK
DESSERT: FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM, SHERBET, SUNDAES
(PASTA IS SERVED IN LIEU OF POTATO FOR CERTAIN ENTREES) The Social Hour begins at 5:30 PM with dinner at 7:00 PM.

Register by Sunday, January 15th by using this form. Alternatively you may call Tom May at WUWM Radio, 414-270-1141, Please indicate your choice of entree, any guests and their meal selection.

Late entries may not receive the meal of their choice, so register ASAP. We need an accurate final count. DONT DELAY!
Any cancellations or changes should be addressed by calling 414-270-1141.

Location: Entercom Communications
Host: Chris Tarr - Chief Engineer-Entercom- Wisconsin
Program: A Brief History of Microphones
Attendance: 16-Total - 11 members (6 certified) 5 guests

The minutes were approved as read and the Treasurer reported that renewal notices to sustaining members had been sent out and were being received.

Certification Chair Rick Ryan reported no notable changes since the last meeting.

Frequency Coordinator Ron Pellegrini reported that PCN-T-Mobile was moving forward with a site build-out on A-2 and had plans for a build-out on A-1 in the future. He also reported that T-Mobile was concerned about interference on the 2 Ghz. band. So far there had been no response from local broadcasters regarding the build-out. In addition, Dave Janzer reported little activity below 1 Ghz.

Under New Business the application for Chapter reimbursement for Certification was brought up for discussion and a suggestion to look into MeetUp, a web-based networking site, as an additional means to alert members and other additional parties about upcoming meetings and programs. Tom May was looking into another location to hold the Chapter's Holiday Party in January due to the Bavarian Inn being no longer available.

In this month's Show and Tell, Todd showed the group and discussed three classic broadcast microphones from his collection: An EV- Model 630 Dynamic Microphone, A Shure- Model 300 Bi-Directional Gradient Ribbon Microphone and an EV- Model 664 Dynamic Cardioid Microphone.

It was the perfect intro into the evening’s program: A Brief History of Microphones by Kevin Peckham of Full Compass Audio in Madison and Lonya Nenashev of Red Square Audio, a distributor of Latvian / Russian-made microphones. Their expertise included discussion and display of classic professional microphone by Shure, Neuman, Nevaton , as well as unique specialty microphones such as the Wedge by Violet Design, one of a series of studio microphones hand-made in Latvia, along with microphone / recording applications, their technology and manufacturing. Caution about counterfeit products on the market that appeared identical physically but used inferior internal components and assembly was also also discussed.

Kevin Peckham - Full Compass Audio
www.fullcompass.com/category/Studio-Stage-Instrumental-Microphones.html

The meeting ended at 9:35 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Tony Cutraro
Secretary- SBE / Chapter 28

Joe Snelson, chair of the SBE Frequency Coordination Committee said, "The best quality about this petition is that it solves a significant regulatory and equipment problem but does no harm to existing station RPU operations. The proposed rules would not mandate any change but would simply make digital-modulation, narrow-band operation permissible."

The second filing is a request for an immediate FCC rule waiver to allow use of current-technology digital radios and communications equipment, resolving a serious disconnect between the broadcaster's need to maintain and update their RPU fleets and the availability of suitable replacement equipment. Chris Imlay, SBE general counsel said, "A temporary waiver of these rules while the rulemaking process is progressing is vital to making our members' jobs easier right now by allowing engineers to use widely-available, Part-90-type digital equipment on RPU frequencies while remaining compliant with FCC rules."

The SBE's Legislative Goals include support and defense of broadcaster access to BAS frequencies as an extension of its frequency coordination programs and its support of broadcast engineering. Copies of these filings and further information will be at www.sbe.org.

Gary Olson is a media technology and business advisor specializing in the transition of traditional media workflows and business processes. He is a recognized industry leader with practical experience in the analysis, selection and uses of technology and is an innovator in media technologies and broadcast design.

"The SBE continues to raise the bar by providing relevant, timely education to its members. This course will prove valuable in helping broadcast engineers keep up with today's ever-changing environment," said SBE President Ralph Hogan, CPBE, DRB, CBNT.

The course covers all the technical considerations that need to be taken into account in a file based architecture, the changing roles and responsibilities engineers will have in designing and maintaining these new systems, new jobs or roles that are necessary in handling media in this architecture, and the changes in workflow and business processes.

Webinars by SBE consists of online seminars on subjects of interest to broadcast engineers. You can view the webinar live, or choose to view it from the archives on our website.

The FCC said, “In this Fourth Report and Order, we have revised the rules to extend the date by which EAS Participants must be able to receive CAP-formatted EAS alert to June 30, 2012.”

The FCC explained that more time is needed to revise Part 11 of the FCC Rules so that it cannot impose a deadline by which EAS participants must receive CAP-formatted alerts.

Industry experts, in areas SBE members requested training, have been hand picked by the SBE Education Committee and Education Director Kimberly Kissel to ensure that the SBE provides the finest training available to its members.

“We are excited to announce that this is the first of several courses set to be released on SBE University in the upcoming weeks. The Education Committee and course developers have devoted countless hours over the past several months creating these new and unrivaled courses,” said Kimberly Kissel, SBE education director.

The FCC decision to permit fixed service (FS) operators to occupy the 6875-7125 MHz and 12700-13100 MHz bands currently used for Fixed and Mobile Broadcast Auxiliary Service (BAS) and Cable TV Relay Service (CARS) in rural areas where those bands are not currently licensed to TV mobile pickup stations was no surprise to the SBE. It was a decision that the FCC had already made more than a year ago. The SBE board was well-aware that the FCC prejudged this matter. Even so, in SBE's three written submissions to the FCC in this docket and in an extensive in-person meeting with numerous technical staff members of the FCC last fall, the SBE explained the technical reasons why this was an unworkable proposal for broadcasters. While the decision, as expected, provides difficult challenges for mobile ENG at news or sporting events that occur in areas outside the normal market areas for TV pickup stations, the decision was not as bad as it could have been.

In March 2010, the FCC delivered the National Broadband Plan (NBP) to Congress. Section 5.5 of the NBP included the following recommendation as one of the means of expanding broadband access in the United States: "Increase the flexibility, capacity and cost-effectiveness of spectrum for point-to-point wireless backhaul services. ... The FCC should revise Parts 74, 78 and 101 of its rules to allow for increased spectrum sharing among compatible point-to-point microwave services." At this point, it was clear that the FCC intended to permit FS stations to occupy Part 74 spectrum.

The FCC initially proposed to simply allow FS operators to share the 7 and 13 GHz bands with broadcasters. The SBE comments explained why this was not workable, and strongly opposed the proposal. Other broadcast industry filers, surprisingly, took the position that such shared operation could work under certain circumstances.

In response to the comments filed, the FCC in a later Public Notice soliciting comment, proposed only to permit FS stations to operate in the 7 and 13 GHz bands in rural areas outside the service areas of all TV pickup licenses. In response, the SBE noted that broadcasters often operate TV pickups pursuant to Section 74.24 of the rules outside the licensed service areas and that news and sporting events happen where they happen and there must not be limitations on the ability of broadcasters to do mobile ENG. FCC has now decided to prohibit FS paths from crossing the service areas of TV pickup authorizations. It also requires FS to coordinate with TV pickup licensees pursuant to the formal Part 101 coordination procedures. This is unworkable because of the real-time need for TV pickups to be used ubiquitously and at unpredictable times. FCC claims that it has addressed this by excluding FS on a nationwide basis from two 25-megahertz channels each in the 7 GHz band (6975-7025 MHz) and the 13 GHz band (13150-13200 MHz). This will supposedly accommodate TV pickup stations covering events that occur outside the license areas of local BAS and CARS operations. That is an insufficient amount of spectrum to accommodate all BAS, CARS and LTTS licensees at a given event, and merely serves to concentrate FS stations in segments of both bands outside those 50 megahertz segments.

The SBE comments reflected the technical reality of the use of these allocations. The FCC claims that it has protected incumbent BAS users. It has not done that. Yet, the SBE advocacy effort did have some positive effect on the outcome of this proceeding. The FCC states, "The record indicates that it is not feasible to allow FS to share spectrum with mobile and temporary fixed TV pickup operations in areas where mobile and temporary fixed TV pickup operations are licensed." It held that, while BAS fixed and mobile operations share spectrum in the same geographic areas, the sharing that exists today would not be practicable if it were not guided by informal agreements among local market participants. The SBE frequency coordination program thus was acknowledged to be critical to sharing in the BAS allocations at 7 and 13 GHz.

The FCC also concluded that it was not feasible to adopt band segmentation as a means of segregating fixed and mobile operations into designated sub-bands of the 7 and 13 GHz bands, which would have had a much more profound effect on these BAS allocations than the proposal that was adopted.

The SBE strongly encourages members to ensure that all receive sites, both fixed and TV pickup, appear on station FCC authorizations. Otherwise, stations run the risk of receiving interference with little grounds for a defense to stop it.
There remain some substantial concerns with this docket. The FCC Further NPRM asks about the use of smaller antennas for use in these bands, and other topics that could seriously degrade the reliability of mobile ENG in the 7 and 13 GHz bands. It is anticipated that the SBE will file further comments in response to the NPRM.

A new version of SBE CertPreview sample certification test software is now availablel. It's an upgraded, downloadable version with more features to help review your areas of knowledge. Sample tests are available for Broadcast Technologist, Audio Engineer, Video Engineer, Broadcast Networking Technologist, Broadcast Engineer and Senior Broadcast Engineer in both radio and television. Sample tests contain approxomately 100 questions each. You can review and change answers prior to scoring the sample exam, and can revisit the questions within the sample exam after the scoring process. You can also see the results by topical category, which helps you identify strengths and weaknesses.. It provides a list of resources from which to learn more about a subject.

The SBE CertPreview is a preparation for the following exams:

    * Certified Broadcast Technologist® (CBT) - Radio
    * Certified Broadcast Technologist® (CBT) - TV
    * Certified Broadcast Networking Technologist® (CBNT®)
    * Certified Audio Engineer® (CEA®)
    * Certified Video Engineer® (CEV®)
    * Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer (CBRE®)
    * Certified Broadcast Television Engineer (CBTE®)
    * Certified Senior Radio Engineer (CSRE®)
    * Certified Senior Television Engineer (CSTE®)
    * AM Directional Specialist™ (AMD™)
    * 8-VSB Specialist (8-VSB) ™
    * Digital Radio Broadcast Specialist™ (DRB™)    (COMING SOON)

Cost for each SBE CERTpreview practice test is $29 for the download version or $33 plus $3 shipping for the CD. To order a copy, visit
https://www.sbe.org/certpreview/index.php.

Certification exam session dates for 2012 are listed below. Check the list for the exam period that is best for you. For more information about SBE Certification, contact Chapter Certification Chair Rick Ryan at 414-944-1280 or RickRyan@wi.rr.com, or contact Megan Clappe, Certification Director at the SBE National Office at (317) 846-9000 or MClappe@sbe.org.