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CHAPTER 24, Inc., MADISON, WI
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Monthly eNews
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January 2019
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Our Next Chapter Meeting:
Thursday, January 24th
Streaming Video Content on the Internet
Packet loss is a problem when streaming live content, particularly over long distances like from one country to another country, or continent. Packet loss when using UDP immediately results in visual artefacts, drop outs or even interruptions of several seconds. Packet loss when using TCP immediately results in reduced bandwidths and thereby reduced saturation of your link - simply due to the inherent design of TCP.
Rhode & Schwarz RelayCaster™ servers employ a proprietary protocol - called RelayCaster Streaming Protocol (RCSP™) - to overcome these problems. This protocol is fully Internet compliant and works with all existing IP network infrastructure, and it can be scaled.
Greg Martin of Rhode & Schwarz will discuss this technology to allow for the optimized transmission of live IP streams to remote company sites, data centers, or networks. Streams received on one side are transparently provided again on the other side while using an arbitrary Internet link.
Dinner at 5:30 PM
BABE'S BAR & GRILL
5614 Schroeder Road
Madison, WI
Meeting and Program at 7:00 PM
WKOW-TV
5727 TOKAY BLVD
Madison, WI
Map
Visitors and guests are welcome!
Last Meeting's Minutes
Submitted by Mike Norton, Secretary
December, 2018
On Wednesday, December 12, 2018, Chapter 24 of the Society of Broadcast Engineers held their monthly meeting. The group met at the Maple Tree Supper Club in McFarland and together celebrated the annual SBE Holiday party. There were 9 members present, 7 who were certified, along with 2 guests.
There was not a formal business meeting or program, although interesting topics were discussed over cocktails at the bar. The group continued interesting conversation over dinner, and fun was had by all.
Amateur Radio News
compiled by Tom Weeden WJ9H
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has filed a Petition for Rulemaking (PRM) asking the FCC to amend its Part 97 Amateur Service rules to incorporate the provisions of the Amateur Radio Parity Act. The Petition has not yet been assigned a rule making (RM) number and is not yet open for public comment. In the past, the FCC has said that it would not take such action without guidance from the US Congress, but, as ARRL's Petition notes, Congress "has overwhelmingly and consistently" offered bipartisan support for the Amateur Radio Parity Act.
"Private land use regulations which either prohibit or which do not accommodate the installation and maintenance of an effective outdoor antenna in residences of Amateur Service licensees are unquestionably the most significant and damaging impediments to Amateur Radio Service communications that exist now," ARRL said in its Petition. "They are already precluding opportunities for young people to become active in the avocation and to conduct technical self-training and participate in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] learning activities inherent in an active, experiential learning environment. Without the relief in this Petition, the future of Amateur Radio is bleak indeed." The proposed amendments would have no effect on the FCC's limited preemption policy in section 97.15(b), which pertains to state and municipal governing bodies, ARRL said.
"Private land use regulations are not 'contracts' in the sense that there is any meeting of the minds between the buyer and seller of land," ARRL said. "Rather, they are simply restrictions on the use of owned land, imposed by the developer of a subdivision... They bind all lots in the subdivision." ARRL noted in its Petition that an increasing number of homes available for purchase today are already subject to restrictive covenants prohibiting outdoor antennas.
In addition, ARRL pointed out that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 gives the FCC jurisdiction "to preempt private land use regulations that conflict with federal policy...."
(Excerpts from the American Radio Relay League's arrl.org web site and FCC public notices)
FCC NEWS
compiled by Tom Smith
FCC CLOSED
As of this writing, the FCC will be closed as of Noon on January 3rd as part of the impasse in Washington over the Budget. The FCC will run out of funds on January 3rd according to a notice issued on December 31st (DOC-355793A1.pdf) with detailed information on the shutdown having been released on Wednesday, January 2nd. According to the release (DA-19-10A1.pdf) FCC Spectrum Auctions will continue as well as any functions required for the TV repack. The Spectrum Auctions are funded from the proceeds of the auctions as well as the TV repack, so the loss of funding from Congress does not affect these operations. According to a release earlier in December (DOC-355628A1.pdf) the FCC will be furloughing about 80% of its staff, but will keep some staff and contractors on duty to maintain auction and IT operations for the auctions and the databases that remain in operation. Also, there will be staff and contractor support for disaster recovery operations and interference detection, security, international operations and treaty support and Universal service fund disbursement.
The following databases will remain on line:
The Network Outage Reporting System (NORS)
The Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS)
The Public Safety Support Center (PSSC)
The Licensing Management System (LMS)
The Consolidated Database System (CDBS)
The Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS)
The Universal Licensing System (ULS)
The Electronic Document Management System (EDOCS)
The Auctions Public Reporting System (PRS)
The Auction Application System
The Auction Bidding System
The Daily Digest
The Commission's Online Registration System (CORES)
All other databases will be unavailable to the public.
Because of the closure of the FCC, certain filing deadlines will be extended the include extensions to Responsive Pleadings, expiring Special Temporary Authority (STA) authorizations, Fees and other payments and Transaction Shot Clocks. The deadlines for the filing when the FCC reopens will be on the end of the second day of normal operations. Employment Discrimination filings will be accepted to meet legal requirements, but will not be investigated until the FCC reopens. Filings that can been done on the FCC website databases that remain open will have to be done on their regular deadline dates.
TV broadcasters that in the repack should not be affected by the shutdown as the repack is funded by the proceeds of the Incentive Auction. There is a page and a half appendix to the notice released on January 2nd concerning the repack. The FCC will accept and process for stations affected by the repack all broadcast construction and licensing applications, STA's, Transition Phase modifications, Transition Schedule Oversight, Low power TV stations and TV translators displacement applications, Reimbursement of Repacked Broadcasters and MVPDs (cable and satellite headends), and the reviewing of New and Revised Banking Information from Broadcasters and MVPDs.
Depending on how long the shutdown, many services that rely on the FCC to receive authorization to update operations may be held in limbo for a time with the potential of financial and competitive losses.
NO MORE WALLPAPER REQUIRED
On December 11th, the FCC adopted a rulemaking (FCC-18-174A1.pdf) eliminating the requirement that TV and radio stations have to post the stations licenses on the transmitter control point which is normally the main studio or master control room. LPTV, Translators and booster stations will no longer be required to post a sign at their transmitter site with their call letters and contact information. The reasoning for the elimination of these requirements is that with the FCC public files for all stations now being posted on the FCC website, the information is readily available for the public. For radio and TV stations, the posted licenses in the studio or master control rooms were in an area where the public did not normally have access to unless invited which made the copies of the licenses in the public file more accessible to the public. For LPTV, translators and boosters, the FCC noted that most transmitter sites were not accessible to the public and emergency responders had the ASR signage for the tower for contact information. All stations are still required to maintain all FCC licenses and other information in the station files. Since a station's licenses and other FCC required paperwork are legal documents, it would seem to be standard procedure to have them in stations files with all other legal paperwork.
FCC TO REVIEW OWNERSHIP RULES
On December 12th, the FCC adopted its quadrennial review (FCC-18-179A1.pdf) of its ownership rules as required by Congress. The FCC is seeking comment on three rules. They are the local radio ownership limits, the local TV ownership limits and the dual TV network ownership rules.
Regarding the local radio ownership rules, the Commission is asking for comment on changes to the number of stations one entity can own in a market and on the definition of a market. The NAB has proposed that in the largest markets the limit should be increased to allowing the ownership of eight FM stations and an unlimited number of AM stations. Currently, the limit is eight stations with a limit of five FM stations and 3 AM stations. They propose no limits of the number of stations in smaller markets. That would decrease the number of market groups from four to two. Currently, station limits in a market are divided into four groups depending on the number of stations in the market. Each group has a different limit of the number stations one entity can own in relation to the total number of stations in the market. Comment is also sought on the definition of a market which is currently related to a DMA or market area and limits on signal contour overlaps.
The Commission is seeking comment on retaining the prohibition of dual network ownership. This rule prohibits the big four networks, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC from merging. They can have a second network broadcast as long as it is not one of the other big four. Two of the big four networks own all or part of another over the air broadcast network as NBC owns Telemundo and CBS has part ownership of the CW. They all own cable networks. The FCC asks if the other cable network groups are suitable competition if any of the big four are merged.
The discussion concerning local TV ownership rules are the most complex. The FCC is asking if they should allow any entity to own two stations in a market that are each affiliated with one of the big four networks. Presently, one can own two stations in a market as long as they are not both affiliated with the top four networks. Since some low power TV stations are now affiliated with one of the big four networks and there is currently no limit on owning a full power and a low power station in the same market including a low power station with a big four network along with a full power big four network affiliate and in some small markets there are full power stations with a digital sub-channel carrying a second big four network, the FCC is asking if that opens the door to allowing ownership of two full power stations each carrying a big four network. The FCC is also asking if owning both a full power and low power station each with a big four affiliation should continue to be allowed. Other issues include how owning two big four network stations would affect retransmission negotiations, the effect of the incentive auction on network affiliations and multicasting and ATSC 3.0 on station affiliations.
There will be 60 days for comment and another 30 days for reply comments which start after publication in the Federal Register.
ANOTHER INCENTIVE AUCTION
No, the FCC is not proposing to have another Incentive Auction for TV Spectrum. They have ordered one for the 39 GHz band. In 2000, the FCC auctioned off a block of spectrum in the 39 GHz band and now they want to reassign the spectrum for 5G wireless broadband. They want to reconfigure the band with fourteen continuous 100 MHz blocks of spectrum, the band was originally auctioned off with two 50 MHz paired blocks for a total of 100 MHz. The original licenses were for point to point or point to multipoint use. There are currently 11 licensees with 5,880 licenses in the band. Also the FCC wishes to award the new licenses using a different geographic allocation plan. The auction will provide a reverse incentive auction for the existing licenses to either give up their spectrum or receive a new license for a continuous 100 MHz block. Those who do not participate in the reverse auction will receive a modified license and be reassigned a new 100 MHz block of spectrum in the repacking of the band. This auction is a part of an auction of the upper 37 GHz band, the 39 GHz Band and the 47 GHz band. The new band plan has the upper 37 GHz band starting at 37.6 to 38.6 GHZ and the 39 GHz band starting at 38.6 to 40 GHz which formed a continuous block of spectrum of 2.4 GHz to be auctioned together so wireless broadband carriers can put together a single large continuous block of spectrum. There is also an 1 GHz block at 47 GHZ which extends from 47.2 to 48.2 GHz .
The 2000 auction took in $410.6 million for the spectrum for a 10 year license with expectation of renewal if build out and service requirements were meet which means most licenses have been renewed. This proposed auction indicates that licenses won in past auctions are not protected from reallocation and changed use of their spectrum even if they meet all FCC requirements from service. The Report and Order can be found here.
Certification and Education
compiled by Jim Hermanson
Well Done!
Congratulations to Nigel O'Shea of Wisconsin Public Radio for new certification as a Certified Radio Operator (CRO)! His exam was given during the November 2018 exam window.
The Open 2019 Exam Schedule
| Exam Dates |
Location |
Application Deadline
(to SBE National Office) |
| April 9, 2019 |
NAB Show (Las Vegas) |
March 1, 2019 |
| Jun 7-17, 2019 |
Local Chapters (Madison Area) |
April 19, 2019 |
| August 2-12, 2019 |
Local Chapters (Madison Area) |
June 3, 2019 |
| November 1-11, 2019 |
Local Chapters (Madison Area) |
September 24, 2019 |
A reminder that each year, account balance permitting, Chapter 24 will reimburse half the application fee to any member of Chapter 24 in good standing who successfully obtains any SBE certification level not previously held by that member.
When you are ready to take an SBE exam, please fill out the appropriate application and send it into the SBE National office (see address below). You will be notified once your application has been approved. Approximately 3 weeks before the exam time, your local certification chairman will receive a list of applicants in his/her area. He/she will then contact those applicants to schedule a date, time and place for the exams. The exams will be mailed back to the National office for grading. The pass/fail grades will then be mailed directly to the applicants.
You may mail, email or fax your applications to:
Megan E. Clappe
Certification Director
9102 N. Meridian St.
Suite 150
Indianapolis, IN 46260
317-846-9120 Fax
mclappe@sbe.org
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Start Planning for Re-certification Now
The SBE National Certification Committee has produced a brochure that you can use to help keep track of the activities you have completed during the 5 years of your SBE certification.
There is also an excel spreadsheet that you may use if you prefer to keep track on your computer.
If your certification expires January 1, 2019, please fill out the re-certification application and send it in to maintain your SBE certification.
Upgrade your SBE Certification
If you currently hold a Certified Senior Radio Engineer (CSRE) or a Certified Senior Television Engineer (CSTE) certification and you have worked in the industry for at least 20 years, you may want to consider upgrading to the Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer (CPBE). There is no exam involved. You can find more information about the CPBE and applications here.
If you are interested in any of the other SBE certifications not mentioned here, please go to the SBE website, or contact Certification Director, Megan Clappe.
January 2019 Webinars
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 1 PM CST
ATSC 3.0, Module 4: MPEG Media Transport Standard and its Use in ATSC 3.0
Presented by Dr. Youngkwon Lim, Principal Engineer, Samsung Research America and Dr. Kyungmo Park from SK Telecom.
After successful development and deployment of media delivery standards such as MPEG-2 Transport Streams and ISO Base Media File Format, MPEG has developed new standards for IP-based services, namely MPEG Media Transport (MMT) and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH). Developed for the industry, MMT has enjoyed the benefits of MPEG-2 TS while considering migration to IP-based delivery.
Japanese Super Hi-Vision was the first broadcasting service to adopt MMT and then ATSC 3.0 also adopted it. In this seminar important features of MMT utilizing benefits of IP while preserving useful features of MPEG-2 TS and how they have been harmonized with ATSC 3.0 standards will be presented.
Members $59 and Non Members $89
Register Here
Several On-Demand Webinars ranging from ATSC 3.0 to cybersecurity to networking to RF courses are available at https://www.sbe.org/sections/edu_seminars.php
Views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), its officers, or its members. SBE Chapter 24, Inc. regrets, but is not liable for, any omissions or errors.
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