The April 2024 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting will be on Thursday, April the 25^th.

       at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Program Topic TBA

Dinner provided at 6pm. The meeting starts at 7

NOTE: July 1, 2024, is the deadline for Ennes Scholarship Applications. Each year, the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust offers scholarships to deserving candidates who aspire to a career in the technical aspects of broadcasting.

For information and Ennes application requirements click HERE 

Latest Meeting, Certification and other info is always at:  www.sbe67.info

Our meetings are usually held on the last Thursday of each month (except November and December). SBE Members, Guests and Interested Industry Professionals are always welcome to attend, network and learn.

—————————–Certification Info——————————–

The current Certification Exam Application signup deadline is April 26, 2024 for exams to be given in the DFW area between June 7 and 17, 2024.

For more information, Contact Dave Davis – Certification Chairman,
Why Certify? – Checkout SBE.org

___________________________________________________

The March 2024 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was on Thursday, the 28^th.

       at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Program Topic:

“The How and Why to Retire”

From the BDR Lunch Gathering with Barry Mishkind

Chuck Kelly says Ok so now what! Or what am I going to do when I grow up!

Dinner provided at 6pm. The meeting started at 7

NOTE: July 1, 2024, is the deadline for Ennes Scholarship Applications. Each year, the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust offers scholarships to deserving candidates who aspire to a career in the technical aspects of broadcasting.

For information and Ennes application requirements click HERE 

Latest Meeting, Certification and other info is always at:  www.sbe67.info

Our meetings are usually held on the last Thursday of each month (except November and December). SBE Members, Guests and Interested Industry Professionals are always welcome to attend, network and learn.

___________________________________________________

The February 2024 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting

was held on Thursday, February 29^th.

       at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Program Topic:

“The FCC Complaint Portal”

Lark Hadley, Enforcement Bureau Regional Director for FCC Region 3, discussed the FCC Complaint Portal —what it is, how it works, and the benefits to everyone.

Dinner was provided at 6pm. The meeting started at 7

Our meetings are usually held on the last Thursday of each month (except November and December). SBE Members, Guests and Interested Industry Professionals are always welcome to attend, network and learn.

Latest Meeting, Certification and other info is always at:  www.sbe67.info

___________________________________________________

The First 2024 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, January 25th, 2024

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Program Topic: “Getting Audio to the Transmitter” A Video Presentation with Chris Crump from Comrex. Chris discussed many methods to get reliable and redundant audio from the Studio to the Transmitter.

12 joined us for Dinner (provided at 6pm) and the meeting starting at 7pm

This was the first 2024 meeting. Our meetings are usually held on the last Thursday of each month (except November and December).

SBE Members, Guests and Interested Industry Professionals are always welcome to attend, network and learn. Latest Meeting, Certification and other info is always here at:  www.sbe67.info

___________________________________________________

The Final 2023 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting

was on Thursday, October 26th

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

“RDS/HD metadata and the capabilities of the updated TREplus”

Rich Redmond of BE/Elenos discussed updated TREplus, which allows stations to coordinate all aspects of RDS metadata.

Dinner was provided at 6pm and the meeting started at 7pm

This will be the final meeting for 2023. Our meetings are usually held on the last Thursday of each month (except November and December). SBE Members, Guests and Interested Industry Professionals are always welcome to attend, network and learn.

New Job Listing and Latest Meeting, Certification and other info is always at:  www.sbe67.info

___________________________________________________

The September SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was on

Thursday, September 28th

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

“Kurt Gorman, President of Phasetek, was our guest. With talk about diplexing and triplexing AMs, or just ensuring the antenna tuning unit you have is working correctly. Courtesy of Barry Mishkind – The BDR Lunch Gathering.”

The antennas that broadcasters use are the main step from the transmitter to the listeners’ radios. They range from the very simple poles and towers to multibay and panel antennas. But, even simple may not be so these days. Not only is the matching network important to maintain – especially over time – but what happens when ownership priorities make it useful to combine stations on one antenna, especially an AM tower?

Dinner (provided at 6pm) and the meeting started at 7pm

New Job Listing and Latest Meeting, Certification and other info is always at:  www.sbe67.info

Our meetings are usually held on the last Thursday of each month (except November and December). SBE Members, Guests and Interested Industry Professionals are always welcome to attend, network and learn.

___________________________________________________

The August SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on August 31, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington.

“LPFM Filing Window Preparation – a discussion on the SBE WEBxtra for August 2023”

The FCC has announced a new filing window for FM LPFM licenses. Featuring a talk with Michelle Bradley, CBT, of REC Networks, and Paul Bame of the Prometheus Radio Project about what has worked and not worked for current licensees, and what the future looks like for new applicants.

10 Joined us for Dinner – provided at 6pm – the meeting started at 7pm

SBE members, guests and interested industry professionals are always invited to attend and learn.

—————————–New Job Posting———————————

A new Engineering job is posted on the JOBS tab

___________________________________________________

The July SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, July 27^th, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington.

“GroundLinx – Revolutionary Lightning Protection”

GroundLinx Technologies was founded to revolutionize lightning protection and eradicate wasteful expenditures incurred when lightning strikes.

11 Joined us for Dinner – provided at 6pm and the meeting started at 7pm

SBE members, guests and interested industry professionals are always invited to attend and learn.

___________________________________________________

The June SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, June 29^th, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington.

Topic “Exploring a 1 MILLION Watt FM Tower in St Louis”

Dinner was provided at 6pm and the meeting started at 7pm

SBE members, guests and interested industry professionals are always invited to attend and learn.

___________________________________________________

The May SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, May 26^th, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington.

The meeting was not in our usual private room but in the main restaurant space.

SBE members, guests and interested industry professionals are always invited to attend and learn.

________________________________________________________________

The April SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, April 27^th, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

___________________________________________________

The March SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, March 30^th, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

___________________________________________________

The February SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, February 23rd

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

___________________________________________________

The January SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, January 26, 2023

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Chris Cleary – VP of Sales, North and Latin America, Staco Energy Products, Presented

“Are Lithium-Ion Batteries Ready for Data Center/Broadcast Applications?”

Given some of the recent negative publicity about battery “events”, there is a lot of discussion about whether lithium-ion batteries are a safe solution for the data center and broadcast applications.

This presentation discussed the evolution of the various lead-acid batteries currently available, but the main focus was on the future of energy storage, especially lithium-ion. And what is the next generation of battery. Weighing the tradeoffs between the various lithium-ion chemistries, discussing how lithium batteries are constructed, explaining what a battery management system is, which regulatory requirements should be considered, and fire-mitigation/safety concerns.  Further attention concerns the future.  Given the amount of money flowing into alternative energy storage, what is beyond lithium-ion?

——————————————————————–

TM Television’s Annual Tech Expo 2022 took place on Tuesday November 1st from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Four Points by Sheraton Dallas Fort Worth Airport North, 1580 Point West Boulevard, Coppell

Click HERE For more info!

————————————2022 Meetings———————————-

The Final 2022 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, October the 27th

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

”Engineering Before, During, and After Hurricane Ian”

Pictures and interviews from Florida – Presented as an SBE WEBextra event hosted by Kirk Harnack

Dinner was provided at 6pm with the meeting at 7pm

All SBE members, guests and interested industry professionals are always invited to attend and learn.

—————————————————————————-

The September 2022 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held Thursday, September the 29th

at J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Dinner was provided at 6pm and the meeting started at 7pm

—————————————————————————-

—————————————————————————-

The July 2022 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was July 28th

At this meeting Jeff Welton, CPBE, from Nautel presented a program via video on Grounding/Lightning Protection

Jeff has worked with Nautel for over 30 years. He is currently the Nautel Sales Manager for U.S. Central Region. Previously he spent 16.5 years as a Nautel Customer Service Technician, was involved in the 2015 MA3 field tests with NAB Labs and has performed hundreds of transmitter site visits and field calls.

SBE members, guests and interested industry professionals are always invited to attend.

—————————————————————————-

The June 2022 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, June 30th

At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington, Starting at 7pm

—————————————————————————————————-

The May Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday, May 26th.

At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington Starting with dinner provided from around 6pm

Eddy Vanderkerken from Sourcerer.biz returned this month with an interesting look at RF Test and Measurement tools – and a test tool Door Prize

Meetings start at 7pm

SBE members, guests and other interested industry professionals are always invited to attend.  Join us and learn. We hope to see you there!

Also, Click on the Jobs tab for a new job opening at Radio One posted 5/5/2022

—————————————————————————————————-

The March 2022 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Thursday the 31st

At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

Tom Amador, Regional Sales Manager from Dialight, presented an informative talk on Dialight’s High Intensity LED Technology and the long-term cost savings of LED Tower lighting.

And Alex Fuellgraf, certified LED lighting installation systems installer with Fuellgraf Chimney & Tower, discussed some actual installations of several Dialight systems including WFAA’s recent Hill Tower site at Cedar Hill.

“LED Obstruction Lighting”

SBE members, guests and other interested industry professionals are always invited to attend and learn. We hope to see you at our next meeting!

———————————-2022-Meetings———————————

The first 2022 SBE Chapter 67 Meeting

was held on January 27th, at 7pm.

At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington

No formal presentation was planned – Just a get together for Dinner, Catch up on past events and talk over ideas for future meetings!

———————————-2021-Meetings———————————

The Final SBE67 Meeting for 2021 was held on October 28th

LumenServe Presented a Program on the Latest FAA Tower Lighting and Painting Regulations
At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington!
Dinner provided at 6 pm from the Gilligan’s menu

——————————————September 2021——————————————–

In September – SBE Chapter 67 Welcomed

“The Next Best Thing: a Media Tour”

at Blaze Media, 6301 Riverside Drive in Irving on September 23rd

More Info at NBT Media Tour

—————————————————-August 2021———————————————-

The August SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was at J.Gilligan’s on August 26th

Our thanks to Eddy Vanderkerken from The Sourcerer for a presentation showing
“Newest developments in Test & Measurement tools for the broadcaster – including NextGenTV”

At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington!
Dinner was provided starting at 6 pm from the Gilligan’s menu

SBE members, guests and other interested industry professionals are always invited to attend.  Join us and learn. We hope to see you there!

—————————– July 2021 Meeting——————————-

The July 2021 Meeting on the 29th was held at the CBS Main site in Cedar Hill

The meeting – hosted by Ron Lane from GatesAir – started with a Barbeque at 6pm followed by an excellent presentation at 7 – all at the 2133 Tar Road ATC South CBS site in Cedar Hill.

Steve Rossiter from GatesAir Presented an update on the latest Single Frequency Networking (SFN) information and hosted an insider tour of the Channel 11 and 21 CBS main site installation.

Steven continued his Broadcast career at Harris Broadcast Division back in 1998, in the Antenna and RF Division and has worked at Dielectric Communications as an Applications Engineer and antenna designer. He has a degree in Electronics and has authored several publications and technical papers for major conferences Worldwide.  Steven also works with the ATSC committee and is a member of the SBE.

—————————– June 2021 Meeting——————————-

The June 2021 Meeting was Live on June 24th
No formal presentation – Just talk about past events.  And plans for future events!
At J. Gilligan’s, 400 E. Abram St. in Arlington
Dinner was provided from the Gilligan’s menu  

Future Meetings Announced:

July 29, 2021: We’ll be meeting at the ATC South CBS site in Cedar Hill. Ron Lane and Steve Rossiter from GatesAir will be hosting an inside tour of the Channel 11 and 21 CBS main site installation.

August 30, 2021: Eddy Vanderkerken returns with a Presentation from Sorcerer.biz at Gilligans – “Newest developments in Test & Measurement tools for the broadcaster – including NextGenTV” and a door prize!!

September 23, 2021 – “The Next Best Thing: A Media Tour” returns to DFW. The Site is still to be determined.

——————————— May 2021 Meeting————————————–

The May 2021 SBE Chapter 67 virtual meeting was held at Noon on May 26th

“RF Measurements using Drones”

Thanks to Phil Larsen with QForce Communications for an interesting view of this use of technology. 

QForce uses cutting edge unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV/UAS’s) and technologies to produce efficient, accurate and cost effective measurement solutions within the broadcast, telecommunications and defense RF environments.

Phil Larsen, one of leading experts in vertical inspection by way of UAV in a RF environment, serves as Vice President of the Airborne Division and responsible for leading the QForce team, a group of specialists tapped to operate, service and support the new division.

Larsen’s career dates back over a decade and includes extensive experience designing solutions and advising the telecommunication industry on the benefits of using UAVs. He previously worked for the DoD, NSA, CIA, Navy and other governmental agencies globally, and brings with him an exceptional background and understanding of the safe, accurate and overall benefits this technology will deliver to QComm customers.

The event was presented live in Oklahoma City and joined  Virtually by the Zoom App

— This meeting was held online with Chapters 56 in Tulsa and 85 in Tulsa—

SBE members, guests and other interested industry professionals are invited to attend.  We hope to see you there!

——————————— April 2021 Meeting————————————–

The April 2021 Virtual SBE Chapter 67 meeting held at Noon on April 21st
It was an in-person event presented “Virtually” from Tulsa

“The Next Big Thing Media Tour”

The live meeting was held at The Cityplex Plaza parking lot in Tulsa, Ok
And it was covered by the Zoom Conference Application.
Hosted by Gregory Dahl with Second Opinion Communications

Manufactures and vendors on site live will include: Comrex, Enco, Kathrein, Inovonics and Second Opinion Communication will have booths set up outdoors in the CityPlex parking lot displaying the latest in broadcast technology.
For those who attend virtually, a tent by tent walk through was presented with expert interviews on the products available.

More information on the tour is available at https://isupportradio.com/events/roadshow/

——————————— March 2021 Meeting————————————-

The March SBE Chapter 67 meeting Via Zoom

The March SBE Chapter 67 meeting Via Zoom Conference App was held on Wednesday, March 24^th at 12:00 Noon

Hosted by Kimberly Napier from GatesAir
and Presented by Tony Gervasi.

“Transporting Media over IP STL’s”

As always: All interested industry Broadcast and Media professionals are always invited to attend!

——————————— February 2021 Meeting————————————–

The February SBE Chapter 67 meeting Via Zoom Conference App was held on Wednesday, February 24^th at 12:00 Noon.

Hosted by Edgar Shane from from JVC Professional
“Remote Production Over the Internet”

Edgar Shane demonstrated how broadcast-quality video can be sent over the Internet from multiple locations to the studio with minimum equipment and setup time.

Using professional cameras with built-in IP encoders, decoders, and robust SRT QoS provides a simple workflow where multiple video sources can be brought into the central studio over the Internet without compromising the image quality, and with no added cost of subscription or outboard devices.

— This meeting was held online with Chapters 56 in Tulsa and 85 in Oklahoma City—

As always: All interested industry Broadcast and Media professionals are invited to attend!

——————————— January 2021 Meeting————————————–

The January SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was on Wednesday January 27, 2021

The meeting was virtually using the Zoom Conference Application. The discussion was an analysis of the recent ATSC 3.0 launch in Oklahoma City

“ATSC 3.0 in Oklahoma City”

Representatives from Oklahoma City Television Stations joined in a panel discussion on best practices and lessons learned on the launch of ATSC 3.0 in the Oklahoma City market.  Including discussions about transmitters, encoders, fiber connections and monitors.

ATSC 3.0 continues to gain steam as five TV stations from the Oklahoma City area have completed their deployments. The stations include Hearst’s KOCO-TV (ABC), Nexstar Media Group’s KFOR-TV (NBC) and KAUT-TV (IND); and KOKH-TV (Fox) and KOCB-TV (CW), owned by Sinclair.   Four of the stations —KFOR-TV, KOKH-TV, KOCB and KAUT—are charter members of BitPath’s broadcast data network, a joint venture between Sinclair and Nexstar, that uses ATSC 3.0 to provide datacasting services. Based on the same fundamental technology as the Internet, digital applications, and other web services, ATSC 3.0 can support a wide range of features currently in development, such as immersive audio and video (up to 4K), broadcasting to mobile devices, personalized viewing tools, and advanced emergency alerts providing rich media instead of simple text messages.

——————————— November 2020 Meeting————————————–

The November SBE Chapter 67 Meeting was held on Wednesday, November 18^th at Noon CST

“RF Layer Signal Monitoring Solutions”
was Presented by William Smith
US Sales Director at Avateq

Thanks to Will and Alex for an excellent program.  36 Attendees participated in the virtual program with demos of the newest ATSC Layer monitoring equipment including ATSC 3.0

Summary 

Hundreds of AVQ1020s are currently monitoring TV transmitters.  Avateq Corp, established in 2009 and headquartered in Canada, is the leading manufacturer of precision RF Layer Monitoring Receiver solutions for the broadcast industry. Now in its second generation, a fully redesigned AVQ1020 – RF Layer Monitoring Receiver is being deployed with O&Os and station groups to monitor hundreds of transmitters in the United States.
The flagship solution AVQ1022m – RF Signal Analyzer is a mobile unit used by transmitter field engineers and consultants for proof of transmitter performance. In addition to analyzing transmitter signals, the unit can also perform measurements on off-air signals.
At NAB 2019 Avateq launched the AVQ200 Signal Inspector, a portable unit for off-air signal monitoring and with the availability of multiple standards. It is being sought by engineers to set up SFNs (Single Frequency Networks).
All mentioned products support ATSC 3.0 NextGenTV standard allowing in-depth RF parameters and signal structure analysis.
To review the Avateq product portfolio, click the Avateq link
At NAB2019, Avateq introduced a 2nd generation of the AVQ1020.  The new generation of the device brings real-time updates, a re-designed web interface and new tools and options for more efficient transmitter monitoring. The AVQ200 – RF Signal Inspector for monitoring off-air signals. With its SFN monitoring capabilities and easy-to-carry packaging, AVQ200 is an excellent tool for in-field signal analysis.

William Smith started his career in a TV broadcast industry in 1985 as a Sales Manager for New York, NY with Videotek Inc. In 1990, Will joined Tektronix with sales responsibility for the key USA house accounts and coordinating Tektronix product managers on the development and enhancements of TV test equipment. In 1995, William was promoted to the position of the USA Sales Director for Tektronix.
In 2011, Will joined Avateq Corp., a young Canadian company entering the US market with innovative RF signal monitoring solutions. As the Director of USA Sales, William applied his expertise and consulted the engineering team on the required functionality and features. This approach led to the development of products highly praised by the industry experts and installed at hundreds of TV stations across the United States.

The meeting was held online joined by Chapters 56 in Tulsa and 85 in Oklahoma City.
As always: SBE members, guests and other interested industry professionals attended!

——————————— October 2020 Meetings——————————

On Tuesday, October 27, a Lunch meeting was held at Gilligan’s
Sponsored by Broadcasters General Store.

Opening at 11:30 am, Dave Kerstin from BGS hosted Lunch and a Discussion from some of the vendors about products in “The Next Best Thing” show which was cancelled due to weather.
The meeting started around 11:30 am and included Lunch around Noon.
Our sincere thanks to Dave with Paul Stewart from Summit Tech Group, Chris Crump from Comrex, Jeff Williams at Yellowtec and the group.

 

The October 2020 Chapter 67 Meeting, was hosted virtually at Noon CDT on October 21st via Zoom.

We featured Ben Nemser from Nemal with
“Fiber Optics for HD Broadcast”

 

The presentation included video, slides, and live demonstration, and provides an overview of the applications for Fiber Optics in TV and Radio Broadcast. We will discuss the different types of fiber optic cables, connectors, and Media Converters used in broadcast applications, including SMPTE, opticalCON, and Tactical Fiber products. We will also cover installation considerations and maintenance, both for inside plant as well as for mobile broadcast. Next, we will demonstrate cleaning and testing procedures including interferometry and insertion loss, with the opportunity to ask any questions.
Nemal Electronics is an active member of SBE as well as NAB, Avixa, and NAMM, and designs and manufactures a wide range of standard and custom AV, RF, and broadcast cables for most of the principal camera manufacturers and broadcast networks throughout the Americas. headquarters and manufacturing facilities are located in Miami, Florida.

Benjamin Nemser founded Nemal Electronics in 1979 and is currently its CEO. Ben graduated from University of Miami (BBA and JD) in 1981, and holds a FCC General Radio Telephone Certificate as well as an Amateur Extra Class License (WA4DZS). He is also a bizjet captain, flight instructor, and distance runner, and holds the rank of Major in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol. Ben has more than 45 years of experience in the design, manufacture, installation, and troubleshooting of cabling systems for AV, Broadcast, and RF.
Daniel Ritts is the VP of Engineering at Nemal and is a leading expert on broadcast fiber optic cables. Danny has more than 35 years of experience in planning, building, and testing SMPTE and opticalCON cabling systems for HDTV camera infrastructure and mobile broadcast. Danny has designed and built large scale SMPTE camera interconnect systems for many of the leading US TV networks including NBC, Telemundo, Univision, and others.
——————————— September 2020 Meeting——————————

 

The September 2020 Chapter 67 Meeting, was held at Noon CDT on September 23rd via Zoom.

 

34 of us joined in an Excellent Presentation from Wes Pitzer with
Highway Marketing and Shure
focused on Wireless solutions for broadcast and location audio
in the post FCC transition.

 

To contact Wes in Dallas, his email is: wes@HighwayMarketing.com
and his office number is: (972) 490-0691 x107.

 

 

Wes has over 20 years’ experience as a concert sound engineer. He has worked with acts of all sizes and genres, and his experience also includes studio design and engineering. lives his passion for audio and especially the technical aspects of production, which makes him an incredible resource for knowledge. His love of the industry and the great state of Texas led him to his current role as the Territory Manager for Technical/Pro/Retail at Highway Marketing, where he is one of the staff consultants introducing the newest technology in the AV industry.

Joining in the presentation will be Jenn Liang-Chaboud with Shure. Ms. Liang-Chaboud has a wide range of experience in live production sound, not only as having been a product manager for Shure, but working on the development of products from initial conception, working with high-end users to develop new ideas, to writing code, to user case studies after product release — and as a user, since she’s a live performer and choreographer herself. She covered topics ranging from recent FCC Policy and future developments, understanding what spectrum is available for live sound and how to get the most efficient use out of it, and how to engineer the most robust wireless transmission for the most demanding environments. FCC Spectrum Policy

This meeting will be held online joined by Chapters 56 in Tulsa and 85 in Oklahoma City. Zoom access info will be emailed on Monday 9/21/20.

If you don’t receive the access email, send your email address request to: RSVP@SBE67.INFO
As always: SBE members, guests and other interested industry professionals are invited to attend!

 

——————————— August 2020 Meeting——————————

 

The August 2020 Chapter 67 Meeting, at Noon CDT on August 26th via Zoom featured Spencer Slack from Copper Mountain Technologies
presenting “Broadcast Measurement and Analysis”

 About 40 SBE Members, guests and interested industry professionals attended this virtual meeting to learn about major new developments in RF test equipment – like USB VNAs.

 Copper Mountain Technologies develops innovative RF test and measurement solutions for engineers worldwide. Their development and production teams create solutions that enable RF and Microwave engineers to extend their reach through access to Test and Measurement gear at affordable prices. Copper Mountain Technologies is based in Indianapolis, IN, with sales offices in Singapore, London, and Miami.
Spencer Slack joined the Copper Mountain Technologies team in October of 2019 as the South Central US territory Sales Manager. Spencer has over 27 years of experience in metrology based service and hardware industries. He started his career spending 6 years in the United States Air Force as a PMEL (precision measurement equipment laboratory) technician. Spencer gained a wealth of calibration experience in many disciplines to include DC low frequency, RF microwave, physical dimensional linear measurements, radiation detection devices, temperature, pressure, torque, and jet engine test cell calibrations for F15, F16 and C130 aircraft. After being honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1997 Spencer went on to work for a number of 3rd party calibration labs and metrology self-maintainers in the south central US and those include Davis/Inotek, GE Instrument services division, BBA aviation/Dallas Airmotive and EVANS Analytical Group which was responsible for all the calibration at all US Freescale/Motorola sites in the US .
It was at EAG that Spencer discovered his passion for sales and began to sell calibration service contracts and move out of the calibration laboratory. Spencer then went on to very successful sales careers for companies like Alltite as a national sales manager, Mensor an industry leading manufacturer in metrology grade pressure instrumentation. Spencer was the west coast regional sales manager at Mensor and managed a group of 4 rep companies and 2 distribution partners. He moved on from Mensor to go to work at Keysight Technologies as the south central US services sales manager before finally getting to Copper Mountain Technologies family in October of 2019.

Spencer grew up in Dallas TX and now has a home based office in Wimberley TX right between Austin and San Antonio. He enjoys spending as much time as possible with his beautiful family, and he and his family are active in the local church and community. Spencer is an avid fan of just about every sport known to man and he enjoys playing golf and fishing if and when he has any free time at all.

 

——————————— July 2020 Meeting——————————

 

The July Chapter 67 Meeting, was at Noon on Wednesday, July 22nd via Zoom

 

Our thanks to:
Doug Ferber and Jacob Daniluck for Presenting
“Remote Broadcasting Connections:
A Codec Solution for Everyone”

 

With the COVID‐19 emergency forcing social distancing upon us all,
radio and television broadcasters require contingency plans allowing station talent to stay safe and go live on‐air remotely from home. Tieline has been creating IP remote broadcast solutions featuring multiple layers of redundancy and remote control capability for decades. As a result, there is already a large range of flexible and rock solid streaming solutions to suit every budget.

Doug Ferber has been involved in the Media and Communications industries for over 30 years. He began his career as an entry level sales trainee for Bonneville International Corporation in 1984 at KIRO-AM/TV in Seattle Washington. He completed his MBA from Southern Methodist University in 1989 and went on to work as an Account Executive for Capital Cities/ABC Radio in Dallas, Texas. From 2003 until 2010 Doug was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas-Dallas where he taught graduate level classes in Sales Management.
Doug serves as Tieline’s Vice President of Sales for the Americas

 

SBE Members, guests and interested professionals joined us at Noon on Wednesday for another Virtual meeting in concert with Chapter 56 in Tulsa and Chapter 85 in Oklahoma City on Line.

 

——————————— June 2020 Meeting——————————

The June Chapter 67 Meeting was on the 24th at Noon.
It was a well attended virtual presentation via Zoom on
“All-Digital AM Radio”
with Jeff Welton from Nautel

In November 2019, the FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) under the docket for revitalization of the AM broadcast band. The purpose of the NPRM was to solicit comments on the use of MA3, all digital AM broadcasting, using HD Radio™ technology.
This presentation discussed the structure of the MA3 signal, benefits it can offer and the gotchas as related to the average station: What needs to be addressed, what might need improvement, what will work as is.
The goal wasn’t to argue whether IBOC is the best solution or not, but how to make it work to the best of our ability and raise awareness of possible issues, before they become problems.

Jeff Welton, CBRE, has worked with Nautel for 30+ years. He is currently the Nautel sales manager for U.S. Central Region. Previously he spent 16.5 years as a Nautel customer service technician, and was involved in the 2015 MA3 field tests with NAB Labs. A regular speaker and contributor on broadcast engineering, Jeff has been recognized with the following awards: 2020 NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award; 2019 APRE Engineering Achievement Award; and 2018 SBE Educator of the Year Award. He’s also contributed to the most recent edition of the NAB Engineering Handbook and performs several presentations a year in the area of broadcast engineering.

——————————— May 2020 Meeting——————————

 

For May 2020, our meeting was Virtual via Zoom
The meeting was held online Tuesday, May 26th at Noon and our thanks to Chapter 56 in Tulsa, OK for arranging and sharing the program hosted by Steve Moreen, Western Region Sales Manager for

“Radio and TV Antennas and RF Components”
Filters, Line monitoring, Feedline, etc.
Plus a picture tour of Dielectric Manufacturing Plants in Raymond and Lewiston, Maine.

Steve discussed Dielectric’s work to wrap-up Repack and featured a picture tour of Dielectric manufacturing plants in Raymond and Lewiston, ME. As the U.S. spectrum repack advances toward conclusion, Dielectric is hard at work preparing for the next generation of over-the-air broadcast opportunities for Radio and Television Stations. With Dielectric completing its remaining shipments for Phase 10 — the final repack phase for higher power stations — the company is ready to tackle the NextGen TV transition. Dielectric established a manufacturing strategy across two facilities that focused on advance production, assembly and stocking of antennas and supporting RF systems. This ensured that Dielectric could not only reliably deliver orders across strict repack timelines, but also accommodate emergency requests and fill new orders unrelated to repack.
Steve Moreen, KA6UGS is the Western Region Sales Manager for Dielectric and has been a Ham since 1967. Steve’s first job in commercial broadcasting was as a high school student in 1969, Since that time, he has worked as both technician and chief engineer at various radio and television stations as well as president and general manager of a commercial satellite teleport

>——————————— March/April 2020 Meetings——————————

The March and April of 2020 Meetings were suspended and will be rescheduled to a later month due to the Covid-19 Virus. 

——————————— February 2020 Meeting—————————

 

The February Program was on Thursday, February 27, 2020

In February 2020 we featured, Jay Gedanken, Vice-President of Business Development at Actus Digital

Presented “AI to Enable Intelligent FCC Media Monitoring”. We were at
At J. Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington, TX with Dinner provided at 6 pm and the Presentation at 7 pm

With a sophisticated, expandable Record and View platform for FCC Compliance monitoring.

Jay explained how the Actus Digital platform expands to Loudness compliance monitoring and alerting, Ad Watch for tracking advertising revenue and much more.

Programming and Production staff will also benefit from a discussion of Actus media management, clip creation and redistribution with ClipFactory

Actus is a 15+ year old company with hundreds of installed systems with global 24/7 support in the USA and other countries. The Actus customer base includes some of the biggest broadcasters worldwide such as COMCAST, SKY, and FOX to name a few.

Jay Gedanken, former vice president at Scopus Video Networks and founder of the company’s North American operation, has a vast array of experience in sales, sales engineering, and management positions at Visionetics, Optibase, Adtec, and Sencore. Over the years, Gedanken has developed a deep understanding of broadcast workflows and expertise in providing simple and complex solutions for all levels of broadcasters, from single local affiliates to national networks.

——————————— January 2020 Meeting——————————

The January Chapter 67 Meeting was Thursday the 30th, 2020

Thanks to Rob Belle-Isle from Toshiba for presenting his

“What’s Under the Hood Tour”

An excellent discussion of new technologies along with Dale Dalesio  from Continental explaining how those new technologies are used  in their new TV Transmitter. Flash Memory - Flash Memory vs Hard Disk Drives in Video Servers, Gallium Nitride vs LDMOS in TV transmitter Power Pallet designs, IGBT Rectifiers for UPS -  new IGBT rectifiers designs for UPS systems  All At J. Gilligan's 400 E Abram in Arlington, TX Dinner provided at 6 pm and the Presentation at 7 pm

———————— October 2019 Meeting  ————————-

The last  Chapter Meeting was on October 31, 2019

John Lackness from BE led an active discussion around

“What’s new from Broadcast Electronics” 

Studio Products, RF Transmission Products, Audio VAULT, Data Links

All At J. Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington, TX

Dinner provided at 6 pm and the Presentation at 7 pm

About our Presenter: John Lackness started his career in high school in Floresville, Texas, doing ascertainments for a new station in his hometown. After a year as a jock at KWCB, he went on to work as a DJ in San Antonio. It is there that he met and was mentored by Richard Schuh, the chief engineer as to what the heck goes on at the transmitter site and studios. And that is where his adult life radio illness started.
He has been chief engineer for KRNN, San Antonio, KRIA, San Antonio, KBTS, Austin, and did contract work for 10 stations in Southeast Texas and western Louisiana. He has since worked for companies such as Proaudio.com, RF Specialties of Texas, SCMS, Broadcast Depot, Tieline the codec company, and is now on his second revolution with Broadcast Electronics.

                       ———————- August 2019 Meeting  ————————

On September 26, 2019 there was no Formal Presentation

but we met for Dinner and discussed future program ideas 

At J. Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington, TX

——————— August 2019 Meeting  ————————

The August Chapter 67 meeting on the 29th featured

Presented by Tricia McRae

From Link Electronics

   At the July Chapter 67 meeting the 25th,

Jacob Daniluck from Tieline; The Codec Company,Presented a Web Based Discussion  

Broadcasting Reliably over an IP Network

Jacob discussed what IP Audio consists of and what can be done to broadcast reliably. We also talked about some of the common problems and troubleshooting tips developed over time from the folks at Tieline.

At Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington Dinner was provided at 6 and the Meeting at 7 pm

——————————————– June 2019  Meeting  ————————————

At the June SBE Chapter 67 meeting on Thursday June 27th 2019

Don Backus – US/Canada Account Manager for

  Rohde & Schwarz Radio Transmitters Presented 

Liquid Cooled Transmitter Technology

We were back at Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington

Dinner provided by R&S at 6 and the Meeting at 7pm

Summary of Presentation

With Total Cost of Ownership increasing for TV and FM broadcasters, there is an increasing need to reduce these costs over the life-cycle of the transmission system while improving performance and reducing ongoing maintenance costs.

From alternative cooling systems to more efficient designs and reductions in required floor space to reducing service costs by minimizing required maintenance, there are a number of factors that reduce the cost of ownership while improving up-time and performance.

Don took us through some of the advanced transmitter technologies that enable reduction in operating costs for both for Radio and TV transmitters. And we discussed the Cost vs Price equations for a better understanding of the real TCO.

We’ll also discussed requirements and effects of some forward looking technology initiatives including HD Radio Generation 4.

———————————————May 2019 Meeting————————————

Out thanks to Avery Schultz, Regional Sales Manager for GatesAir for hosting the May 2019 Meeting at Milton Tower.

The meeting in the CBS11 site featured an interesting presentation with an informative ATSC Update by Steve Rossiter GatesAir TV Specialist

The great food from Campuzano’s was supplied by GatesAir  and we took a tour of the CBS11 Transmitter Milton site with GatesAir.

 ———————————————April 2019 Meeting————————————

 

 

Thursday April 25th 2019, Chapter 67 hosted Eddy Vanderkerken from RFS
At the American Tower Milton Site in Cedar Hill for
A Live Demonstration of the RFS Tuneable Mask Filter Plus A look at the new ATC Milton Tower Site RFS Multi-Station Combiner
Everyone met at 1360 W Belt Line Rd in Cedar Hill for BBQ from Soulman’s at 6pm and Eddy’s Presentation to follow

—————————-February 2019 Meeting————————–

The February 2019 Chapter 67 Monthly ,/p>

held on the 28th, 2019 at Gilligan’s,

                             featured 

Chuck Barry VP of Sales for
Staco Energy Products
presenting an interesting discussion
“Are Lithium Batteries ready for Data Center/Broadcast Applications?”

Given some of the recent hoverboard and Samsung battery “events”, there is a lot of discussion about whether lithium-ion batteries are a safe solution for the data center and broadcast applications.
This presentation discussed the evolution of the various lead-acid batteries currently available, but the main focus was about the future of energy storage, especially lithium-ion.
Barry weighed the tradeoffs between the various lithium-ion chemistries, discussed how lithium batteries are constructed, explained what a battery management system is, which regulatory requirements should be considered, and fire-mitigation/safety concerns. Further attention concerned the future. Given the amount of money flowing into alternative energy storage, what is beyond lithium-ion?

Dinner provided by Staco Energy at 6pm was followed by the meeting at 7pm

————————————–The 2019 Kickoff  Meeting——————————–

 

 

 

The January 2019 Chapter 67                                          Monthly meeting was held
at Gilligans on Thursday, January 31st 2019

Our Thanks to John Schilberg
US Central Regional Sales Manager for Utah Scientific
for an interesting discussion
“From Pocket Protectors To Packet Sniffers – IP In Broadcast”
Over the past 40 years, the world of radio and TV Broadcasting has changed from analog, to serial digital, to IP. Years ago, we carried three main tools – the Xcelite R181, the R3322, and the P12S. The only “password” required was knowing how to operate the rack tray cover.
Times have changed, and now we’re working with signals that are carried on copper or fiber optic cables and function at blazing speeds!
The group enjoyed a bit of a trip back, and a look forward on what we might be able to expect in the future.

Dinner provided by Utah Scientific, was followed by the meeting
Join us next month – Everyone is welcome at J. Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington, TX

—————————-October 2018 Meeting————————–

The October Chapter 67 Monthly meeting was
on Thursday, October 25th, 2018
at Gilligan’s.
Eddy Vanderkerken
Director of Sales-Broadcast at
RFS
presented
Antenna and RF System design for the FCC Repack:
This was a clear expalnation into how antenna design influences radiation patterns, how the design and manufacturing of antennas and RF filters has evolved, and the software tools that can be used to select the optimum solutions for the TV broadcaster during the FCC repack and beyond

Eddy Vanderkerken has over 30 years experience in the sales of TV and Video Test and Measurement equipment, TV broadcasting products, as well as managing and directing sales teams.
Born in Belgium, he received his MSEE degree in Electronics from the Erasmus University College in Belgium, and is fluent in five languages.
For 15 years, Eddy was responsible for the sales of Rohde & Schwarz T&M products in Belgium, focusing on Video and TV applications. In 2001, he moved to the USA with his family, to help expand the Rohde & Schwarz USA sales organization, and was their Director of Sales for the broadcast T&M and transmission products for 10 years.
Eddy founded his own business in 2014, SOURCERER LLC, reselling T&M equipment for the TV, video and broadcast markets in the USA, based out of Dallas,Texas.
Currently he is the Director of Sales for the broadcast division of Radio Frequency Systems (RFS) in the USA, and is actively engaged in the ongoing FCC Repack.

Eddy and RFS bought dinner at 6pm and the meeting started at 7pm
And, it happened again at J. Gilligan’s 400 E Abram in Arlington, TX