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CHAPTER 24 MAY 1995 NEWSLETTER
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Edited by: Mark Croom Electronic Version: Leonard Charles Electronically Distributed by Chris Cain Contributors this month: Kevin Ruppert Fred Sperry Tom Weeden Tom Smith Terry Baun Articles Welcome!! Send correspondence to: Chapter 24 Newsletter 34 Rustic Parkway Madison, WI 53713-4700 or call (608) 271-1025 (home) or (608) 221-1979 (work) MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT 5:30pm Dutch Treat Dinner at Alt n' Bach's on Whalen Lane, next to American TV 7:00pm Business and Program at the ECB-TOC, 3319 W. Beltline Highway Program: The Tektronix Profile Professional Disk Recorder Larry Sayer is the District Sales Manager for Tektronix's Video and Networking division. Come and find out what Tektronix has to offer in the rapidly developing field of professional hard disk recorders. Visitors and Guests are welcome at all SBE meetings. UPCOMING MEETINGS Tentative Program Subjects June 22, 1995 Thu Tour: WTDY/WMGN/WJJO new studios July ??? Family Picnic Tue, Aug 22, 1995 TBA Wed, Sep 20, 1995 TBA Thu, Oct 19, 1995 TBA Wed, Nov 15, 1995 (Broadcasters Clinic) Tue, Dec 19, 1995 TBA Wed, Jan 17, 1996 TBA Thu, Feb 22, 1996 TBA Tue, Mar 19, 1996 TBA Wed, Apr 24, 1996 TBA Thu, May 23, 1996 TBA CHAPTER 24 OFFICERS: CHAIRMAN: Paul Stoffel (WI Public TV) W - 608-263-2175 H - 608-241-4621 F - 608-263-9763 STOFFEL@MAIL.ADMIN.WISC.EDU VICE CHAIRMAN: Fred Sperry (ECB-TOC) W - 608-264-9698 H - 608-833-6074 FRED.SPERRY@MAIL.ADMIN.WISC.EDU SECRETARY: Neal McLain (CTI) W - 608-831-4636 NMCLAIN@MACC.WISC.EDU TREASURER: Stan Scharch (WISC TV) W - 271-4321 H - 831-1168 CHAPTER 24 COMMITTEE APPOINTEES: Membership - Leonard Charles Sustaining Membership - Fred Sperry Strategic Plan - Denny Behr Newsletter - Mark Croom Program Committee: Mark Croom 271-1025 mcroom@aol.com Denise Maney 277-8001 Kerry Maki 833-0047 Steve Zimmerman 274-1234 Special Events - Kevin Ruppert Certification and Education: Jim Hermanson 836-8340 Tim Trendt (UW-Platteville) Frequency Coordination: Tom Smith 608-263-2174 (work) SMITHT@VILAS.UWEX.EDU SBE National Board Member & Chapter Liaison: Leonard Charles W - 271-4321 FAX - 271-1709 LCHARLES@WISCTV.COM NATIONAL SBE PHONE DIRECTORY SBE National Office 8445 Keystone Crossing Suite 140 Indianapolis, IN 46240 Main Number 317-253-1640 Engineering Conference Line 317-253-0122 Job Line 317-253-0474 Fax 317-253-0418 BBS 317-253-7555 President: Chuck Kelly CBT Broadcast Electronics P.O. Box 3606 Quincy, IL 62305 W 217-224-9600 F 217-224-9607 H 217-228-7373 CIS ID# 70307,2642 InterNet: kelly1@ixc.net Vice President: Terrence Baun CPBE Criterion Broadcast Services 5300 W. Garfield Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53208 W 414-449-5300 F 414-449-5380 CIS ID# 71525,1060 Secretary: Keith Kintner CSTE KLCS TV 58 1061 W. Temple Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 213-625-6958 F 818-362-5294 CIS ID# 72530,620 InterNet: keith.kintner@gur.com Treasurer: Bob Goza CPBE KMOV TV 3315 Highway 50 Beaufort, MO 63013 314-484-3718 F 314-484-3840 InterNet: rgoza695696aol.com Executive Director: John Poray CAE SBE National Office 8445 Keystone Crossing Suite 140 Indianapolis, IN 46240 W 317-253-1640 F 317-253-0418 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jim Bernier CBT WTVH, Inc. 980 James Street Syracuse, NY 13203 315-425-5503 F 315-425-5513 InterNet: 72037.1723@compuserve.com David Carr CPBE KHOU-TV P.O. Box 11 Houston, TX 77001 713-284-8741 F 713-284-8700 Leonard Charles CSTE WISC TV 7025 Raymond Road Madison, WI 53719 608-271-4321 F 608-271-1709 InterNet: lcharles@wisctv.com Dane Ericksen PE CSRE CSTE Hammett & Edison, Inc. Box 280068 San Francisco, CA 94128-0068 707-996-5200 F 707-996-5280 Michael Fast CPBE WCBM Radio 1303 Burleigh Road Lutherville, MD 21093 410-356-3003 F 410-581-0150 Michael McCarthy CBRE WLIT FM/Viacom International 150 N. Michigan Ave., #1135 Chicago, IL 60601 312-329-9002 F 708-439-1464 P 800-592-3058 Edward Miller CPBE WEWS Scripps Howard 3001 Euclid Ave Cleveland, OH 44115 216-431-3687 F 216-431-3641 Troy Pennington CSRE WZZK AM/FM, WODL FM Radio 530 Beacon Parkway W. #300 Birmingham, AL 35209 205-916-1119 F 205-916-1151 Robert Reymont CPBE Nationwide Communications, Inc. P.O. Box 5159 Mesa, AZ 85211-0500 602-964-4000 F 602-644-7660 CIS ID# 71645,254 Internet: NCIRADIO@CRL.COM Martin "Sandy" Sandberg CPBE Consultant 9807 Edgecove Drive Dallas, TX 75238 214-343-5786 F 2114-343-9807 John Schneider CBRE RF Specialties of Washington, Inc. 19237 Aurora Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98133 206-546-6546 F 206-546-2633 CIS ID# 74603,3342 Tom Weber CSTE WISH TV 8 1950 N Meridian St. Indianapolis, IN 46202 317-921-8535 F 317-926-1144 CIS ID#: 73250,215 Chris Imlay, Esq. SBE General Counsel Booth, Freret & Imlay 1233 20th St. NW Suite 204 Washington, DC 20036 202-296-9100 F 202-293-1319 James Wulliman, CPBE Ennes Director 721 W. Calle Del Regalo Green Valley, AZ 85614 Phone and Fax 602-648-1250 NATIONAL OFFICE STAFF Linda Godby, Certification Peggy Hall, Membership Sarah Hayden, Signal/Conferences Julie Dinger, Secretary 317-253-1640 F 317-253-0418 Job Line 317-253-0474 BBS (N,8,1) 317-253-7555 NATIONAL COMMITTEE AND TASK FORCE CHAIRS By Laws Committee..................................Sandy Sandberg Certification Committee..............................Jim Wulliman Chapter Awards Committee..........................Leonard Charles Chapter Liaison Committee..........................John Schneider Electronic Communication Committee....................Jim Bernier Engineering Conference Committee......Jerry Whitaker 503-690-8798 Engineering Conference Promotion Committee..........Mike McCarthy FCC Liaison Committee...............................Dane Ericksen Fellowship Committee...................................David Carr Finance Committee.................................Troy Pennington Frequency Coordination Committee.......................David Carr High Freq Broadcasting Task Force.....DoUg Garlinger 317-773-5050 Industry Relations Committee...........................Terry Baun International Committee............................Sandy Sandberg Membership Committee.................................Michael Fast Nomination Committee...............................Robert Reymont Sustaining Membership Committee.....................Edward Miller ELECTION RESULTS The votes are in and counted! Our newly elected officers for 1995-1996 are as follows: Chairperson: Paul Stoffel Vice Chair: Fred Sperry Secretary: Neal McLain Treasurer: Stan Scharch CONGRATULATIONS! The 1995 Nominations Committee Dennis Behr Herb Jordan Kerry Maki Jim Hermanson AMATEUR RADIO NEWS by Tom Weeden, WJ9H Within minutes of the deadly explosion at the Oklahoma City Federal Building, amateur radio operators set up an emergency coordination network which (as of April 27th) has been in non- stop operation. According to updates from Thomas Webb, WA9AFM/5, during the first few hours after the blast, telephone circuits were jammed and often inoperative. Amateur Radio provided vital emergency communications to rescue and relief organizations until regular telephone service was restored. Using hand-held and mobile radio equipment, hams provided relief workers with reliable, mobile emergency communication for more than 190 continuous hours. A mobile repeater station was established at a Salvation Army canteen, allowing for communications to be sent and received easily. More than 100 hams have participated in relief efforts, with between 60 and 80 working at any one time. The FCC has announced it will amend its rules to permit limited automatic control of digital stations on the amateur HF bands. The automatically controlled station must either be connected to another station under manual control, or must transmit within a subband designated for this purpose. Those subbands have not yet been announced. The Commission said it believes these rule changes will allow amateurs to "contribute to communication technology" and to advance amateurs' communication and technical skills. On April 26, the FCC granted amateurs secondary status access to 219 to 220 MHz. Amateur operation is limited only to forwarding stations in point-to-point fixed digital message forwarding systems, including intercity packet backbone networks. This allocation comes four years after amateurs' 220-222 MHz segment was reallocted to the Land Mobile service. The Commission has appointed the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) as "frequency coordinator" of this limited segment. Hams must coordinate their operation through the ARRL to avoid interference to Automated Maritime Telecommunications Systems stations who already are primary users of this band. Amateurs will also be required to prevent interference to nearby TV channels 11 and 13. (From May 1995 "QST" magazine and packet-radio bulletins) BROADCAST COMMUNICATIONS TOWER COURSE NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED Recently, the SBE National Office formally recognized Broadcast Communications of New Glarus, WI for their Tower Technology I Course. At the April 20 Chapter 24 SBE meeting, a "Special Recognition" certificate from SBE National was presented to Glenn Kramer, Division Manager, and Kim Lawler of Broadcast Communications Educational Services. In a letter to Ms. Jean Muehlfelt, Marketing Director, and Jim Crooks, President of Broadcast Communications, SBE National Certification Chairman James Wulliman said the following: "The Society of Broadcast Engineers Certification Committee has evaluated the Tower Technology I Course and we feel this course meets the requirements for recertification credit to be awarded to SBE Certified Members. We are very pleased to be able to recognize your program and to add Broadcast Communications to our growing list of Technical Training Facilities, Colleges and Technical Institutions." Congratulations Broadcast Communications! We're proud of you! Jim Hermanson Chapter 24 Certification & Education Chairman LIAISON NOTES by Leonard Charles As your liaison to the SBE National, I invite you to contact me with any concerns you believe deserve the attention of Nationally elected Officers and Board members. The next opportunity I will have to present concerns will be at the Executive Committee meeting in July. I have compiled un-official minutes of the National Board of Directors meeting held at the NAB in April. You can download them from the Chapter 24 BBS in files area #2 under the file name BOARDMTG.TXT. I have been appointed the Chairman of the National SBE EAS Committee. We will be aiding members and the industry in the understanding and implementation of the new EAS rules. It would be beneficial for you to read the new rules soon. You can download them from the Chapter 24 BBS in files area #2 under the file name EAS.TXT. I continue to urge you to send a letter to your Washington Representatives in support of the SBE effort to get an engineer on the staff of each FCC Commissioner. To make this as easy as I possibly can, I have uploaded two documents to the Chapter 24 BBS. The first is titled ENGONFCC.TXT which you can download and "fill in the blanks" before you print and send it off. The second is titled AREAREPS.TXT which is a listing of all area representatives and their Washington addresses. Pick those appropriate to your area. Please take a moment to help the SBE in this effort. MEMBERSHIP REPORT by Leonard Charles Chapter 24 Membership Chair Chapter 24 is 75 members strong as of May. If any of our members have neglected to send in those renewals, please take a moment to do so. We sent out a total of 133 copies of our newsletter this month. Our newest members added within the past month are: Chad Thielen (student) of Council Bluffs Iowa Jamie M. McCloskey (student) of Oregon, WI Andrew Gay of WMTV in Madison Gregory Beyers of WMTV in Madison Marcia Reeve of WMTV in Madison Welcome to these newest members of our Chapter. We look forward to meeting you at future monthly meetings. In addition, Leonard Charles has achieved a change in grade to Senior Member of the SBE. If you have any questions about your SBE membership, or have colleges whom you consider potential members, please contact me and I will take it from there. April Business Meeting Minutes Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers met on Thursday, April 20, 1995, at the Grand Pagoda restaurant in Madison. There were 22 persons in attendance, 16 of whom were certified. The meeting was chaired by Chapter 24 Chairman Leonard (Chuck) Charles. Call to order: 7:07 pm. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as published in the March Newsletter. Newsletter Editor's Report (reported by Neal McLain in Mark Croom's absence): The deadline for the April Newsletter is midnight 5/12/95; the folding party is 5:30 pm 5/17/95 at WKOW- TV; check the BBS for changes. Treasurer's Report (reported by Stan Scharch, Treasurer): the chapter balance stands at approximately $2,100.00. Chairman's Report (reported by Leonard Charles, Chairman): The chapter membership now stands at 72 members, including new member Glen Felt of Dubuque. The Newsletter mailing list now includes 124 addresses. This being Chuck's last meeting as Chairman, he thanked the membership for their support during his two-year tenure. Sustaining Membership Report (reported by Leonard Charles in Fred Sperry's absence): one sustaining member has renewed: Electronic Industries of Oshkosh. One former sustaining member has declined to renew. The total sustaining membership now stands at 24. Strategic Planning (reported by Dennis Behr): no report. Program Committee (reported by Steve Zimmerman): the May meeting program has not been finalized; possibilities include Tektronix and EAS. Special Events (reported by Kevin Ruppert): there were no SBE- sponsored activities to report. However, upcoming non-SBE events include the 3rd Annual Broadcast Symposium sponsored by UW- Platteville, and the 1995 WBA Convention. Certification and Education (reported by Jim Hermanson): SBE has presented a "Special Recognition" certificate to Broadcast Communications, Inc. in recognition of their Tower Technology I course. Scholarship (reported by Paul Stoffel): The Chapter is offering a scholarship which covers attendance at the WBA Convention. Applications are due 6/1/95. Frequency coordination (reported by Tom Smith): No major activity; just more wireless microphones. All wireless microphone users are urged to coordinate. Old business: none. New business: none. Elections: The Nominations Committee conducted elections for Chapter officers for the coming year. National SBE News (reported by Leonard Charles, Chairman): The national membership drive resulted in recruitment of 41 new members. The SBE is supporting legislation which would mandate an engineer on the staff of each FCC Commissioner; SBE members are urged to contact their federal legislative representatives in support of this legislation. At the recent NBA Board Meeting (held during the NAB Convention in Las Vegas), Chuck was appointed chairman of the SBE's National EAS Committee. The business meeting was adjourned at 7:35 pm. The program consisted of reports by members who had attended the recent NAB Convention in Las Vegas. THE MAGIC OF MARCH by James W. Stellpflug & Vicki Way The WIAA Network, as assembled primarily by Tak Communications, has been covering the State High School Tournaments for over 10 years. Since the beginning, many changes in equipment and techniques have been incorporated into this large scale production. TRANSMISSION The transmission of the signal from Madison to the network affiliates is achieved through Midwest Relay Communications (MRC). For the Hockey tournament, which is held at the Dane County Coliseum, a microwave hop is made before the signal is handed off to MRC. A live truck is used to send the signal via a 2 GHz microwave system back to WKOW. From the station, the signal is send to MRC. MRC then transports the signal to Skokie, Illinois where it is uplinked to satellite. The same basic components are used for the Basketball tournaments except they are used in different ways. The signal to go to the satellite is handed off to MRC immediately at the Fieldhouse where is goes through the same route to satellite. WKOW's 2GHz "pea-shooter" microwave is used for a feed with stereo audio back to Channel 27. The signal that is sent to the satellite has a monaural program audio feed because the need for a network advisory line is present. The advisory line is used by the producer, enabling communication from the truck to all of the network stations. The two separate audio signals are placed on separate subcarriers for reception (6.2 MHz and 6.8 MHz). In the past, audio has been one of the major concerns of the WIAA Network engineers. Often times, tone is needed before the productions begin so that levels can be adjusted through MRC's signal path. In the past, this testing would tie up the audio console until testing was finished. Thanks to John Corstvet at WKOW, the console was free for production during the testing. This year he built an independent box which enabled the outgoing audio signal, which was stereo, to be monitored and switched downstream of the audio console. This box served many different functions: 1. Converted the stereo signal from the board to Monaural 2. Enabled independent downstream insertion of 1000 Hz Tone to any of the four outgoing signals. 3. Allowed for continual visual monitoring of any of the audio levels through two switchable Dorrough meters. 4. Used distribution amplifiers to offer multiple redundant outputs. FACILITIES Over the past years, multiple productions facilities have been used from all over. Trucks have come from Missouri, Miami, Florida, Chicago and even Quebec, Canada. This year there were two trucks that were used for the tournaments. "Darkstar" from ITSI in Chicago, Illinois served as production for WIAA Hockey and "Mother" from SOLJAY based out of Dallas, Texas was used for basketball. The "Darkstar" truck was a smaller truck which was equipped with a Grass Valley Model 300 switcher, 3 Sony 1" machines, 1 BVW-75 Betacam deck, BTS Cameras, and a Chyron 3200 for graphics. The "Mother" truck is currently SOLJAY's largest truck in operation. Supported mainly by BTS, this truck will soon house a BTS Media Pool. The truck is supported by the capability for nine BTS LDK-9/LDK-9P cameras and a BTS 48x96 Venus Router. To handle the switching, a Grass Valley Model 3000-3 is used along with a Abekas A-53D DVE and a A-42 Stillstore. Graphics are handled by a Chyron INFINIT! with an internal Hard Drive of 426 MB. Internal Communications use an RTS 12 Channel System comprised mainly of 802 series panels and 325 series (4 channel) panels. The tape room was made up of 5 VTR formats including: 1 Digital Betacam, 3 BVW-75s, 2 Sony 1", 3/4", S-VHS, and a Pioneer re-writable videodisc. Audio is handled through a Soundcraft Vienna audio console. A Digicart was used for audio clips that were used as "bumps". Audio cuts were dumped from CD to the Digicart which then allowed for instant access to any of the bumps or intro cuts. "Mother" was laid out into three main compartments. The front of the truck contained the audio compartment. The middle segment was the largest section. It housed production control in one half and tape in the other. The back of the truck was engineering. The truck was a 48' truck that expanded in the middle. This expansion allowed for plenty of room inside production and tape. Often there is a conflict that is encountered when working for the tournaments. Many times the Badger Basketball team has a game which either precedes or follows one of the days of the high school tournaments. This usually means that the WIAA crew needs to set-up late or tear down quickly. This year, the Badgers played the night before the first Girls session. To make things easier, ESPN was asked to use the SOLJAY truck for their production. ESPN agreed since 80% of the productions done by SOLJAY are for ESPN. While the truck was in Madison, a maintenance session was scheduled for the Engineering area. After the boys basketball tournament was over the EIC of the truck received a chance to fly home to see his family while the head of operations flew in to redesign the engineering monitor wall. They installed nearly 20 new Ikegami b/w monitors, and two new Color measurement monitors. They also put in a new Tektronix 1780-R Measurement Set (Waveform and Vectorscope). These changes and repositioning of the equipment made the second week an easier and more comfortable environment shading the cameras in Engineering. Overall, this truck worked great. Things seemed to go very smoothly and the entire staff and crew had a very good production. As students who have had a chance to learn tremendously from these tournaments, we hope that the involvement opportunities for students will always be available. SBE "SHORT CIRCUITS VIA BBS" April 26, 1995 MEMBERSHIP CAMPAIGN ENTERS LAST WEEKS The annual SBE Membership Drive, "One New Member," is into its final month. There is still time to recruit one or more new members and be eligible to win the Grand Prize, a trip for two to New Orleans for the SBE Engineering Conference and World Media Expo, September 6-9, 1995, or other fine prizes. To participate, just recruit a new Member, Associate or Sustaining Member. A flyer was mailed to all SBE members in early March with program details. Complete the tear-off slip on the bottom of the flyer and attach to your new member's application before it's submitted to the National Office. For full details, see the flyer or call the SBE National Office. PLEASE GET THOSE RENEWALS IN Many members have sent in their membership renewal already but there are a few of you we haven't heard from. Please ensure that your membership is not interrupted - renew today! SBE'S LEGISLATIVE EFFORT PUSHES ON With Congress' first 100 days of the current session over, SBE plans to have legislation introduced soon which requires each FCC Commissioner to have at least one senior staff member with an engineering background. In the February/March issue of the SBE SIGNAL, background on the issue and a sample letter to congressmen were included. All members are still asked to write their Congressmen, urging them to support this legislation when it comes before them. Letters to Congress have already made a difference! Two congressional offices have expressed interest in sponsoring the bill as a direct result of getting a letter from an SBE member constituent. A copy of the proposed bill will be available through this BBS when it is in its final form. SBE ENGINEERING CONFERENCE AND WORLD MEDIA EXPO - NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA SEPTEMBER 6-9, 1995. Mark your calendars and plan your budgets to take in this annual conference and unique exhibition featuring the combined conferences of SBE, SMPTE, the NAB Radio Show and RTNDA. The Conference will be held at the Morial Convention Center while SBE will use the historic New Orleans Fairmont Hotel as its headquarters. The Conference and Expo will feature three days of technical sessions, a day of Ennes Workshops, 130,000 square feet of exhibits, several receptions and the annual SBE Awards Dinner. A variety of hotel accommodations are available and special rates on airfare have been arranged with United and Delta Airlines. Watch for more details in the May/June SIGNAL. SBE CERTIFICATION - A KEY TO CAREER ADVANCEMENT Several opportunities to take an SBE Certification Exam are available during 1995. The Spring exam period in local chapters will be June 9-19, however, the application deadline was April 28. The SBE Engineering Conference and World Media Expo in New Orleans will be the next opportunity with the test date set for September 7; application deadline is July 27. The final period for 1995 will be in local chapters November 10-20; application deadline is September 29. For information on how to become SBE Certified, see your local chapter Certification Chairman or call the SBE National Office. WORKSHOP SCHEDULED FOR MIDWEST An Ennes Regional Workshop will be held at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, June 15. The Kansas City and St. Louis chapters of SBE will jointly host this function which is being held in conjunction with the Missouri Broadcaster's Association Summer Convention. Members within a day's drive of the Workshop will receive information in the mail, but everyone is invited. To register, call the SBE National Office at (317) 253-1640. "SHORT CIRCUITS VIA BBS" is published by the Society of Broadcast Engineers, Inc., 8445 Keystone Crossing, Suite 140, Indianapolis, Indiana. For more information about SBE, contact John L. Poray, CAE, Executive Director through this BBS or call the SBE National Office at (317) 253-1640. EAS MADE EASY by Gary E. Timm, Chairman Wisconsin State Emergency Communications Committee Broadcast Engineer WTMJ Stations (From THE BROADCAST NEWSLETTER, MARCH & APRIL 1995 Chapter 28, Milwaukee) The following excerpts are gleaned from a 114-page FCC document released 12/9/94. It outlines the creation of the new Emergency Alert System (EAS), which replaces the current Emergency Broadcast System (EBS). That release contains 3 elements: First, a Report & Order, which describes the background and intentions of the new system. Second, Part 73, Subpart G of the Commissions rules (dealing with EBS) has been eliminated, and is replaced with a new Part 11, which covers the new EAS. The new rules require not only broadcast stations but also all cable systems to participate in the new EAS. The third element of the release is a Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM), where they ask for comments on two proposals. First, should "small" cable systems be exempt from the new EAS rules? Second, should other video service providers be required to participate in the new EAS? They propose that MDS (known as "wireless cable") should participate, and ask about adding SMATV and "Video Dial Tone" (telco in-home video service). FNPRM Comments were due by 2/22/95, Reply Comments by 3/24/95. The rules In Part 11 became law on January 28, 1995, 30 days after they were published in the Federal Register. Here are the important things to know: The only change for 1995 is in shortening our current EBS Tone. BY JULY 1, 1995, PRESENT EBS DECODERS MUST BE MODIFIED TO DEMUTE ON 3-4 SECONDS OF EBS TONE. In addition, it is an option to modify current EBS encoders to send an 8-second Tone. By July 1, 1996, broadcast stations will be required to install the new EAS encoder and decoder. This is a digital audio signal that goes right on the main audio channel of all radio and TV stations. In addition on this date, TV stations must have a means to visually broadcast the data from incoming EAS alerts. The FCC will authorize a State or Local Area to go to the new system early, if ALL stations in the State or Area have EAS equipment installed, cable is "represented" in the local EAS Plan, and the Area complies with all other applicable part 11 rules. Benefits of going to the new system are: Doing only a monthly test that requires audio message, and weekly tests that only involve 10 seconds of the digital signal. A one year span from July 1, 1996 to July 1, 1997 is dubbed by the FCC as a "debugging" period. During this time, the old EBS equipment must be "retained and kept operational to ensure that the new architecture is effective." On July 1, 1997, old EBS equipment can be removed. The two-tone signal will no longer be used to demute decoders. However, 8 seconds of two-tone must still be sent before any emergency audio or video message, as an Attention Signal for the public. This rule never goes away. July 1, 1997 is also the day that all cable systems must have their EAS encoders and decoders installed. Cost projections by manufacturers for the new combined Encoder/Decoders range from $600-$1000 at the low-end, to $1500- $2500 for a more sophisticated unit. Here are some additional things you need to know about the new EAS: ALL radio, TV and cable operations must participate in the National level EAS, except those that request and obtain an FCC "Non-participating National (NN) Authorization." Participation at the State and Local levels continues to be voluntary for all stations, as it was with the EBS. As before, even "Non- participating" stations may participate in the State or Local Area EAS without any prior approval. All stations, including Non- participating, must have an FCC "EAS Operating Handbook" (which replaces the old EBS Checklist), and the Red Envelope Authenticator List (same as now). The FCC is studying digitally authenticating National EAS Alerts. The EAS Encoder can "pass on" decoded alerts, or create its own. The digital audio signal is applied to the station's main audio channel at 80% modulation. It identifies the sender, type, length, and county-location of every EAS alert sent. Stations will be required to monitor two sources on the new EAS Decoder, rather than the present single source. That decoder will also be capable of either Manual or Automatic reaction to a received alert. It can store up to 10 preselected codes that you may wish it to respond to. It also will store 2 minutes of incoming audio or text. Remote Control stations can use the Manual mode if they can directly monitor the signals of both assigned sources with the decoder at the remote control location. If not, Automatic operation must be used. However, in that case the remote control location can be used to override the transmission of an EAS message if appropriate. Remote Control stations may switch between Manual and Automatic as desired. With Automatic decoders coming, the FCC is proposing rules to permit the unattended operation of broadcast stations. See NPRM in MM Docket 94-130, FCC 94-289. Co-owned/co-located stations can share one encoder and decoder. Test requirements under the new EAS after July 1 1997: - Required Weekly Test (RWT)- Send digital codes only, once per week, anytime. - Required Monthly Test (RMT)-This will be received from the monitored stations on your decoder. You must retransmit the test within 15 minutes, sending digital code, 8-second Attention Signal, audio test script, and digital end-of-message code. Test will be run daytime one month, nighttime the next month. Foreign-language stations, under the new rules, can use "the primary language of the station" for all announcements, including all National, State, and Local Area Tests and Activations. NO English announcement is required....this is in place of the English. In addition, now that Part 11 has become law these stations may begin doing our current Weekly EBS Test Script in their "primary language." Chapter 28 Editor's Terry Baun's Note: This has been a brief summary of the new EAS Rules. If you would like more detail on the new EAS System, including information on EAS Protocol, Encoder/Decoder Requirements, Tests, SECC Duties, EAS Priorities and Terms, Training and Awareness, EAS requirements for CLASS D FM, LPTV, Foreign-language stations, and Cable TV, as well as how RBDS and NWS-WRSAME fit in with EAS, request a copy of Gary's complete EAS report, which should be available by the time you read this. Call Gary Timm at WTMJ, 414/223-5232, to request a copy. Our thanks to Gary for sharing all this information with us! FOR SALE: Ampex ATR-700 reel-to-reel deck in good condition. Unit has stereo electronics but currently has full-track mono heads installed. Asking $375. Call Fred Sperry at (608)833-6074. CHAPTER 24 SUSTAINING MEMBERS Our latest renewal: Roscor Wisconsin Thanks to all our Sustaining Members: BTS Broadcast Communications CTI Clark Wire and Cable Comark Communications Electronic Industries Emmons Associates Fuji Film I&I Harris Allied Broadcast MRC Telecommunications Maney Logic Panasonic Broadcast Scharch Electronics Skyline Communications Sony Broadcast Tectan, Inc. Teleport Minnesota 3M Audio & Video Video Images WISC-TV 3 WKOW-TV 27 WMSN-TV 47 WMTV-TV 15 |