Society of Broadcast Engineers

Chapter 16, Seattle, WA

(Titles are links, clicking on the title will take you to the article)

For your chapter chairman, February was one of those lifetime memorable months.  After eleven years of widowhood, I found the woman of my dreams.  On February 6, I married the widow of one of my best friends from high school at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Issaquah.  Betty and I thank the many SBE Chapter 16 members that joined us to witness this wonderful event.

The month of February was a memorable media month… from tsunami’s to blizzards.  The snowstorms of the east crippled the eastern half of the nation.  There was the devastating earthquake in Haiti and then the Chilean earthquake just six weeks later as February came to a close.  Close to home, we are preparing for a potential major flood from the Green River.  And we are often reminded of the earthquake threat to the Puget Sound area with the “big one” yet to come.

Regional attention turned to the internet and broadcast radio for news about the potential tsunami along the West Coast and Hawaii.  Fortunately, damaging waves did not arrive, but broadcast radio became the best real-time source of news.  The quest for information, particularly about the Hawaiian coast, came primarily from the radio and television broadcast media. 

A timely series of articles was published online in mid-February titled:  “In Case of Emergency” that has a lot of information for broadcasters.  The series was excerpted from the new book from Focal Press – “Beyond Powerful Radio – A Communicator’s Handbook for the Internet Age.”  You can read the excerpts online at  http://www.rbr.com/features/ideas-working-now/21446.html

The broadcast television spectrum continues to be a target for expanded broadband wireless services.  FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, is proposing auctions, with participating television broadcasters sharing in the proceeds.  The NAB noted that broadcasting makes very efficient use of spectrum, and vowed to work with the FCC on its spectrum search. 

The FCC will deliver its National Broadband Plan to Congress March 17. The plan details a strategy for connecting the entire country to the Web, with the goal of bringing the United States into a position of global leadership in high-speed broadband access.

We should see a lot of changes in the EAS system this year.  Talks are underway to implement national EAS testing, similar to the recent test in Alaska.  We should also see the integration of the internet for EAS message distribution.   Clay will have a lot more EAS information in “Clay’s Corner.”

As engineers, we sometimes fail to see the impact of changes in business practices that affect our livelihood in the broadcast industry.  The record companies push for the Performance Rights Act (PRA) may be an example.  There is a significant possibility that enactment of PRA could bring down many broadcasters, and particularly devastating to minority and religious broadcasters.  Meanwhile the record industry has started their publicity campaign portraying our broadcast employers as pigs.

73 Jim W7PB

Meeting was Big Fish Grill Restaurant in Kirkland

Jim Dalke called the meeting to order.  He reported that the chapter web site would be redone in March.  The treasurer reported that the chapter was still solvent.

Frank Grundstein, Director of Sales for Logitek, gave a presentation on their line of audio consoles.  They distribute their audio over IP, which greatly simplifies studio wiring.  Interoperability between manufacturers has been a problem in the past, but the situation is starting to improve.  As an integrated system, audio delay is minimized.  Delay is partly determined by how many boxes a signal has to go through.  For more information, see http://www.logitekaudio.com/
  

CERTIFICATION NEWS

by: Michael Scott, Certification Chairman

Spring is just around the corner… and new life is showing in the flora… what a great time to consider the “Professional Level” of SBE certification. I was talking to several ‘long time’ broadcast engineering (types) last month and the subject of certification was discussed. I was surprised that the “Professional Broadcast Engineer” level was misunderstood – below you will find the information needed to consider your next step….

Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer® (CPBE®)

The candidate for Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer must have at least 20 years of professional broadcast engineering or related technologies experience in radio and/or television, exclusive of any educational credit. Because the CPBE requires twenty years of professional experience in broadcast engineering, educational credits will not be counted toward that total. CPBE candidates must verify 20 years of compensated professional experience excluding educational credits. The candidate must presently be certified on the Senior Broadcast Engineer level unless registered as a professional electrical engineer in the U.S.,  Canada, or any other jurisdiction with a reciprocity agreement with the U.S. Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology, Inc. (ABET).

The candidate must submit evidence satisfactory to the Committee that he or she has the appropriate engineering background, experience and training. The candidate must demonstrate a degree of knowledge and participation in one or more of (but not limited to) the following:

1. Maintenance
2. Systems Design
3. Management or Supervision
4. Continuing Education

A registered Professional Electrical Engineer’s license (as stated above) will count as four (4) years. However, if you are a registered Professional Electrical Engineer and meet the 20 years of service in broadcast or related technology, you may obtain Professional Broadcast Engineer Certification without taking a test.

The candidate must have three (3) letters of reference. Two (2) must be from Certified Professional Broadcast Engineers, Certified Senior Broadcast Engineers or Registered Professional Electrical Engineers (as stated above). At least one letter of reference must be from a person who has supervised his/her work. This person does not necessarily have to be certified; however, if he or she is certified at one of the above-mentioned levels, that reference will be counted as two (2) letters. The required letters of reference, written specifically for the 20-year certification level, must accompany the application. In addition to the completed application form, a resume attached to the application is most helpful to the National Certification Committee in reviewing the application. You must also submit a statement showing why you believe your professional experience, educational background and training qualifies you for certification under this provision of the Certification Program.

The review procedure for Professional Broadcast Engineer certification will be the same as that used for recertification. The application for CPBE will be reviewed by the SBE Local Chapter Certification Committee before final evaluation by the National Certification Committee.

Dates to Remember in 2009
Certification Application Deadlines:

March 26, 2010           @NAB                        Test Date: April 13, 2010
April 16, 2010             @Local Chapters        Test Date: June 4-14, 2010
June 4, 2010                @Local Chapters        Test Date: August 6-16,2010
September 17,2010     @Local Chapters        Test Date: November 5-15,2010

     CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVES
   To raise the professional status of broadcast engineers by providing standards of professional competence in the practice of broadcasting engineering. To recognize those individuals who, by fulfilling the requirements of knowledge, experience, responsibility, and conduct, meet those standards of professional competence. To encourage broadcast engineers to continue their professional development.

For more information and/or application forms please feel free to contact Michael Scott, CPBE.
E-Mail okscott@halcyon.com ; Voice (253) 680-7756 ; FAX (253) 845-5882

As I write this I am about to head for Washington DC to participate in the annual EAS Summit sponsored by NAB and NASBA.   This event is a great opportunity for many of the stakeholders in the EAS process to come together to discuss the process of improving our public warning system.   My first meeting will be between members of the SBE EAS Committee (I am no longer chair, but still participate) and the group that leads the PEP (Primary Entry Point) effort.  After that will be a meeting with Antwane Johnson,  Division Director of IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System) at FEMA….and so it will go through Sunday and into Monday. 

  I can only assume that you may be wondering what’s really going on with what some are calling Next-Gen EAS…Ask me when I get back and I will be able to much better answer that one.  Certainly reporters from media-mags will be there so you will be able to read about the

Event as well.    If you are interested in EAS and what to keep up with all this – I encourage you to subscribe to the SBE EAS Exchange.  Instructions on how to subscribe to this remailer are on the SBE Web Site under Government Relations.   To keep track of what’s happening to EAS in our state, the Seattle Chapter of SBE in cooperation with Hatfield and Dawson have a remailer for that purpose – contact me for information on how to subscribe

Well is this a winter for the books.  El Nino’ has been doing a number in California with torrents of rain…the rest of the country has had record setting amounts of winter weather….Meanwhile, just as predicted, we have had a very mild one.   Understand that January was the warmest in history.  For those of us that travel to West Tiger to work on things up there…we have not had to put on chains thus far (knock-knock).   With that being said, I have seen snow up there into April- but that was a ‘normal’ winter.   It’s hard believe that I have been mowing my lawn in February!   Thanks to the coverage of the Olympics from nearby Vancouver, everyone is not only able to see our unusual weather this winter, but they are also able to see just how beautiful this part of the world is.  I understand that ratings for the TV coverage have been very good, in one case, they beat American Idol.

The HD Radio power increase remains one of the topics of conversation in the Radio Biz…Many stations are doing the math to determine exactly how much more power they can run and are trying to figure out how to do it without expending huge sums of money. Early on, a lot of stations installed systems using a 10 db combiner.  This meant that 90% of their digital power went into a dump load.  These folks may not need an expensive new transmitter if they can figure out how to get more of that power into the air.   Several outfits are thinking the same thing and trotting out new offerings.  The up-coming NAB show in Las Vegas will likely have renewed interest in this topic.  Perhaps it needs to be underscored that not – all – stations will be able to operate with HD power at 10% of analog, it all depends on others stations whose contours are close to or touch the proponents.   What this will mean is that some stations will be able to operate with higher digital power than others.  Perhaps one day this will be a factor in the ‘value’ of the property?

Here’s a headline that is, perhaps, a little hard to believe –

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed revising some of its rules as part of its effort to make processes more efficient.

Apparently so.  The Commish is looking at ways to improve.   Among one its more radical ideas is to start using more email and less snail-mail – (Shocker)  Look for an NPRM out shortly.

The FCC also is looking at getting more people connected to the Web via broadband.  A recent announcement showed that about one-third of the country does not have a broadband internet connection at home.   To a Broadcaster – This is a problem?  Seems to me that the more people have broadband the more likely they are to not listen and/or view over the air products.   Guess we should not expect the FCC to only look out for our interests?

 As they say …..But wait, there is more !

 The Commish is proposing an auction be set up that will allow TV broadcasters to voluntarily sell their spectrum for a share of the proceeds.   Kind of like a commission on the sale?   This one is not going to go away soon as the FCC is trying to come up with spectrum – from- anyone they can.

 Got a note the other day from old friend Jack Barnes (ex KOMO). He reported that he was going to get a replacement knee.   He added-

 Other than the knee problem I am still doing ok and enjoying retirement.  I still dabble in Amateur Radio and also astronomy. I just picked up a Kenwood TS-940S in good condition and have been checking out all the digital modes. This is my largest technology leap in many years. I am slowly moving away from tube gear but at a measured pace.

 I still don’t do “Texting”, “Facebook” or “Twitter”….guess my standards are just too high.

Are you going to NAB this year?   Time to get those reservations made.  I do understand that the economic situation is still keeping room prices down.  It’s April 12-15 this year.

Looking at how the economy is impacting our biz…here are some items that caught my eye this past month-

>  RAB says the 2009 was one of the worst for Radio.

>  Entercom’s CEO is quoted as saying that his company is having a revenue recovery..

Their published results for 2009 were 15% below 2008.

>  ABC News has announced that they are going to lay off perhaps as much as 25% of their personnel.

> Legendary rock & roll KSTN in Stockton California has gone dark.

> CBS reports that both their Radio and TV efforts are improving despite another bad Q4.

>  A federal bankruptcy judge has given Tribune more time to put together a plan to get out of Chapter 11.

>  Penton Media who publishes Radio and Broadcast Engineering magazine has filed for Chapter 11 with reportedly 270 million in debt.

Down in Portland, there have been some major changes at their major TV outlets, KPTV, KOIN and KATU with layoffs, consolidation and automation of their news casts.  KPTV’s parent company, Meredith,  is outsourcing their master control operations to Phoenix.   In all, a number of jobs will be lost in PDX.   The consolidation of master control operations is, of course, nothing new in this industry where this cost saving effort has been ongoing for several years, even before the recession.

Congratulations to Dwight Small who recently passed the 25 year mark working for most of the same stations.   If I am successful in staying with Entercom through May, it will be 28 for me.

Some time ago, after the crash of a TV chopper, I openly asked why more markets don’t share a single chopper.   I thought it was wasteful to see multiple birds circling the same event.   In Denver they are doing just that where two stations have been sharing, come April 1- a 3rd will join the plan where one helicopter races out for that breaking news video.

Remember Allen Hartles early electronic billboards where you could see the title of the song displayed?  It all stated here in Seattle.   Now Clear Channel is taking this another step in 29 markets.  Their billboards will give you traffic updates.   Have not heard if they will be doing this in Seattle…but I would not be surprised.

Coverage of the disaster in Haiti have been interesting.  Heartwarming is all work that our industry put forth to help raise funds and needed items.   A little station in market # 159, Ashville, NC, reportedly raised some $ 272,000.   Understand that there were about 50 stations in the country prior to the quake, only a handful survived.

Here’s the latest in radio formats- Spanish News/Talk, Bustos did it recently in Portland. On 1010 AM.

I am hearing reports that 104.5 – KMCQ may indeed have new owners coming.  Rumors of the sale have been running around town of late.   It’s been well known that First Broadcasting has been actively trying to find a buyer.    Perhaps by next month, we will know who.

It seems that just about every issue I report on the passing of someone in this business I had worked with in the past.   In this case, it’s Paul Herlinger who passed on February 2nd.   A very nice and gracious man.   Thanks to David Christian for letting us know.

Everyone involved in Broadcast Engineering has had something to do with NIER, certainly those that work near or with transmitters and perhaps ENG microwave etc. The latest issue of Popular Science has a very interesting piece about a fellow living in Sweden who reported gets very sick when exposed to minute quantities of the stuff.  An interesting read.

Here’s a sobering stat – Over 60 Million are listening to Internet Radio every week.

From the – You’d think they would have known it by now department comes news that the FCC has recently fined two radio stations for not telling callers that they were on the air, prior to being placed there.   Wow!

From the what’s a name department…. comes word that P Harris Morris is the new president of Harris.  Probably did not hurt that Harris is his middle name.

As usual, I like to leave you with something not so serious …This month, with sincere thanks to Lowell Smith,  we have the - ENGINEER IDENTIFICATION TEST

You walk into a room and notice that a picture is hanging crooked. You...

A.    Straighten it.
B.    Ignore it.
C.    Buy a CAD system and spend the next six months designing a
solar-powered, self-adjusting picture frame while often stating aloud your belief that the inventor of the nail was a total moron.

The correct answer is "C" but partial credit can be given to anybody who writes "It depends" in the margin of the test or simply blames the whole stupid thing on "Marketing."

FASCINATION WITH GADGETS

To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two
categories:

(1) things that need to be fixed, and
(2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to
play with them.

Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems. Normal people don't understand this concept; they believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.

No engineer looks at a television remote control without wondering what it would take to turn it into a stun gun. No engineer can take a shower without wondering if some sort of Teflon coating would make showering unnecessary. To the engineer, the world is a toy box full of sub-optimized and feature-poor toys.

FASHION AND APPEARANCE

Clothes are the lowest priority for an engineer, assuming the basic thresholds for temperature and decency have been satisfied. Anything else is a waste.

DATING AND SOCIAL LIFE

Dating is never easy for engineers. A normal person will employ various indirect and duplicitous methods to create a false impression of attractiveness. Engineers are incapable of placing appearance above function.

Fortunately, engineers have an ace in the hole. They are widely recognized as superior marriage material: intelligent, dependable, employed, honest, and handy around the house. While it's true that many normal people would prefer not to date an engineer, most normal people harbor an intense desire to mate with them, thus producing engineer like children who will have high-paying jobs.

HONESTY

Engineers are always honest in matters of technology and human relationships. That's why it's a good idea to keep engineers away from customers, romantic interests, and other people who can't handle the truth.

Engineers sometimes bend the truth to avoid work. They say things that sound like lies but technically are not because nobody could be expected to believe them.

POWERS OF CONCENTRATION

If there is one trait that best defines an engineer it is the ability to concentrate on one subject to the complete exclusion of everything else in the environment. This sometimes causes engineers to be pronounced dead prematurely. Some funeral homes in high-tech areas have started checking resumes before processing the bodies. Anybody with a degree in electrical engineering or experience in computer programming is propped up in the lounge for a few days just to see if he or she snaps out of it.

RISK

Engineers hate risk. They try to eliminate it whenever they can. This is understandable, given that when an engineer makes one little mistake the media will treat it like it's a big deal or something.

EXAMPLES OF BAD PRESS FOR ENGINEERS

* Hindenberg.
* Space Shuttle Challenger.
*  Apollo 13.
* Titanic.
* Ford Pinto.
* Corvair.

And a bunch of stuff invented for no other purpose than just because we could.

Being practical people, engineers evaluate this balance of risks and rewards and decide that risk is not a good thing. The best way to avoid risk is by advising that any activity is technically impossible for reasons that are far too complicated to explain.

If that approach is not sufficient to halt the project, then the engineer will fall back to a second line of defense: "It's technically possible but it will cost too much."

EGO

The fastest way to get an engineer to solve a problem is to declare that the problem is unsolvable. No engineer can walk away from an unsolvable problem until it's solved. No illness or distraction is sufficient to get the engineer off the case. These types of challenges quickly become personal -- a battle between the engineer and the laws of nature.

Nothing is more threatening to the engineer than the suggestion that somebody has more technical skill. Normal people sometimes use that knowledge as a lever to extract more work from the engineer. When an engineer says that something can't be done (a code phrase that means it's not fun to do), some clever normal people have learned to glance at the engineer with a look of compassion and pity and say something along these lines: "I'll ask Bob to figure it out. He knows how to solve difficult technical problems."

At that point it is a good idea for the normal person to not stand between the engineer and the problem. The engineer will set upon the problem like a starved Chihuahua on a pork chop.

Enjoy Spring – Catch you next month.

Clay Freinwald, K7CR, CPBE