CHAPTER 24, Inc., MADISON, WI Monthly eNews April 2021 Please support our Sustaining Members. To become a Sustaining Member contact Fred Sperry. Click here for display Ads. Alpha Video Bryan Nelson Full Compass Mike Ramirez Heartland Video Systems Mark Bartolotta Resonant Results, Ltd. Richard Wood Ross Video Brian Stumpf Sound Devices LLC Jon Tatooles Token Creek John Salzwedel WISC-TV CBS 3 channel3000.com WKOW-TV ABC 27 wkow.com WMSN-TV Fox 47 fox47.com WMTV-TV NBC 15 nbc15.com Our Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 21st Digital Wireless Microphone Theory by Sennheiser As TV spectrum condensed for a second time broadcasters struggle with available channel space for wireless microphones. The spectrum efficiency of digital microphone technology may be the answer going forward. Brian Walker, Business Development Manager, Professional Audio, for Sennheiser Electronic Corporation will speak to us about the latest Digital Wireless Microphone Theory. 7:00 PM - Meeting/Program This meeting is Virtual Connection information will be distributed in the days just prior to the meeting. Look Back 6 Years Voting is now Open Voting for the next slate of Chapter 24 Officers is now open. Please go to www.sbe24.org and cast your ballot in support of those who have volunteered their time to keep our Chapter functioning for the next year. It's easy, just click on "Cast your Ballot on line" in the Elections box on the front page, then follow the prompts. You'll need your last name and your membership number (on your membership card) to get to the ballot. Thanks to all candidates and to Leonard Charles and Kevin Ruppert who are serving on this year's Nominations Committee. Voting will remain open until our April 21st Chapter meeting. Last Meeting's Minutes Submitted by Russ Awe, Secretary The SBE Chapter 24 meeting was called to order by Chapter Chair Britny Williams at 7:04pm, March 25, 2021 via Zoom. The meeting had 11 members present with 10 being certified. The Secretary meeting minutes from 2/24/2021 were approved as submitted. Mike Norton as Chapter Treasurer reported that one sustaining membership ACH electronic deposit was received in March 2021: from Ross Video. Following this transaction, the Chapter 24 checking account has a positive balance. A deposit notification email was forwarded from Ross Video; the balance was then confirmed with Associated Bank. Thank you to Ross Video for your support! A special thank you to Mike Norton for setting up ACH. With the eNews letter, Leonard Charles reported that the deadline for articles for the April eNews letter is Thursday April 1st at 5pm. Please forward any article of interest to Chapter members to Lcharles@sbe.org . Britney reported that the latest membership inquiry from National earlier this month shows us with 48 members. Fred Sperry reported that we have two recent renewals with Sustaining Memberships, WMTV Channel 15 and Ross Video for a total of 11 Sustaining Members. Thank you to WMTV and Ross Video! For a full list of upcoming SBE Chapter 24 meetings, please visit our web site http://www.sbe24.org/ . Thanks to Jim Hermanson for mentioning the food robot delivery program on the UW Madison campus as a possible future program. The WBA held the first meeting for the fall clinic. Leonard Charles reported this March meeting officially closes Nominations for this year's Chapter Officers Election. Our candidates this year are: Matt Mommaerts for Chair Russ Awe for Vice Chair Mike Travis for Secretary Mike Norton for Treasurer Thanks to these candidates for keeping our Chapter healthy for the coming year. The election takes place on line during the month of April. A group email will be sent when electronic voting is available on the Chapter website. The voting process ends with the April 21st Chapter meeting. The new officers begin their term at our May 27th meeting. Thanks to Kevin Ruppert who serves with Chuck on this year's Nominations Committee. With certifications, Jim Hermanson reported that the chapter is continuing to certify members. Congratulations to Dennis Baldridge for passing the ATSC 3.0 exam, one of the first in the country! He not only passed, he was part of the Beta testing program. Thank you so much Dennis for your sharing your knowledge and expertise! The next exam session is June 4 -14. To apply for an exam during that time, April 16th is the deadline for registering with the national office. ATSC 3.0 exam is now available. A special thanks the Jim Hermanson for continuing the certification process during this time of Covid. Tom Smith with Frequency Coordination reported that nothing is happening due to COVID. With the National SBE news, Leonard Charles reported that the due date for SBE membership renewal is April 1. If you have not received your renewal notice please contact the National office. You can renew online if you wish at SBE.ORG . The third of the eight-part SBE IP Networking webinar series took place earlier this afternoon. Part 4: Network Architecture & Design for Real-Time Media will be April 29th. A reminder that if you are not able catch a live webinar, they are all available in recorded versions on the SBE education page. The new SBE Technical Training Program has already attracted 21 participants in just two months. This success has made the need for Mentors even more necessary. If you'd like to become a Mentor contact Education Director Cathy Orosz at corosz@sbe.org . There was no old business. Meeting was adjourned at 7:18pm. The meeting was followed with general updates and information sharing from everyone as our guest speaker had to cancel due to severe weather in his area. Some items discussed were Artificial Intelligence Weather, scary and neat at the same time. FCC chair. Docker on VMware and AWS - no operating system, just apps running on user hardware. Live Code test CALLED OFF from Gary Timm Wisconsin EAS Committee Broadcast Chair Wisconsin Emergency Management and the National Weather Service have decided to call off the live code test scheduled for April 15. There will not be an EAS code going out. The Statewide Tornado Drill will continue in other formats. WEM will provide a packet for Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week which will be distributed the week of April 5. Stations are still encouraged to draw attention to Severe Weather Awareness Week and there still will be a tornado drill on Thursday, April 15. Stations are asked to use social media to bring attention to severe weather awareness at 1:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 15. Stations are welcome to conduct cut-ins at the drill times. Please encourage families to communicate about their severe weather preparedness plan. There are several factors behind the decision to forgo the live code test, but a primary motivation is an agreement between our partners that technological hurdles have made the EAS live code portion of the test no longer viable. Rather than risk an error that reduces public confidence in alerting systems, a decision has been made to remove that aspect of the drill. It is important to note that the alerting systems used during the statewide tornado drill are regularly tested in other ways. Program Ideas Appreciated The Chapter 24 meeting schedule is available here. Is there a topic you would like to see covered at one of our local Chapter 24 meetings? Or, better yet, is there a topic that you'd like to speak about at an upcoming meeting? Please forward any ideas to Britny Williams or to one of the Chapter 24 officers for consideration. There are many open dates available. Amateur Radio News Compiled by Tom Weeden, WJ9H FT8 Digital Protocol Since zooming to prominence after its debut in mid-2017, the popular FT8 digital protocol has become the mode of choice for some 60% of amateur high-frequency operators (3-30 MHz), according to Club Log's latest activity report (https://g7vjr.org/2021/03/club-log-activity-report-2021-update/) compiled by Michael Wells, G7VJR. FT8 is one of the protocols in the WSJT-X suite of free programs. The dramatic FT8 upswing has come at the expense of phone, Morse, radioteletype, phase-shift keying digital mode PSK-31, and other modes. Named after its developers, Steven Franke, K9AN, and Joe Taylor, K1JT, FT8 indicates the mode's eight-frequency shift-keying format. Tones are spaced at 6.25 Hz, and an FT8 signal occupies just 50 Hz of bandwidth. World Amateur Radio Day Sunday, April 18, is World Amateur Radio Day (WARD), with this year marking the 96th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), which was founded at the 1925 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Paris. IARU has chosen "Amateur Radio: Home but Never Alone" as the theme for World Amateur Radio Day 2021. The theme acknowledges that during our physical distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19, amateur radio stands out as a welcome respite for its variety of activities and opportunities. Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the HF spectrum was not the wasteland experts of the time considered it to be, but a resource that could support worldwide communication. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was "in grave danger of being pushed aside," IARU history has noted, prompting the founding of the IARU. At the 1927 International Radiotelegraph Conference, amateur radio gained allocations still recognized today -- 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Over the years, the IARU has worked to defend those allocations and to give all radio amateurs new bands at 136 kHz, 472 kHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 18 MHz, 24 MHz, and 50 MHz. FCC Not Yet Collecting $35 Application Fee The majority of the FCC's revised Part 97 rules, adopted in December 2020, establishing new application fees become effective on April 19, but the new amateur radio application fees will not become effective on April 19. The FCC announced on March 19 that the amateur radio application fees, including those associated with Form 605 filings, would not become effective until the "requisite notice has been provided to Congress, the FCC's information technology systems and internal procedures have been updated, and the Commission publishes notice(s) in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of such rules." The $35 fee, when it becomes effective, would apply to new, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call sign applications, as well as applications for a special temporary authority (STA) or a rule waiver. All fees will be per application. Administrative updates, such as a change of mailing, email address, or name, are exempt. It is expected that such fees will not become effective before summer 2021. The FCC has stated that amateurs will have advance warning of the actual effective date, because it will publish such date in the Federal Register. (Excerpts from the American Radio Relay League's arrl.org web site) FCC NEWS compiled by Tom Smith Updating EAS Rules On March 17th, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC-21-36A1) on modifying the rules of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) pertaining to Presidential alerts, State EAS plans and State Emergency Communications Committees (SECC), false alerts reporting and the repeating of EAS alerts. The FCC also issued a Notice of Inquiry in the same notice asking for information on the possibility of sending EAS alerts over the internet to video streaming devices and if the current Common Alerting Protocol used in the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) that delivers warning information to EAS decoders over the internet could be passed on to the public. In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC is proposing that Presidential alerts be converted to National Alerts. The change would allow for national messages to be given by the President or someone that the President designates or may originate from FEMA. Broadcasters and wireless networks would still be required to transmit these messages as they are currently required to do now. EAS Decoders could require a software update to handle the new name and message headers. The second issue proposed in the Notice of Rulemaking is a requirement to have a SECC in every state and territory and to have a state EAS plan and have it filed with the FCC. There would be deadlines for processing the filing and a possible electronic check list. The third issue is the reporting of false alerts. After the false missile attack alert in Hawaii, the FCC requires a report of the incident be sent to them. Currently the report is sent to the FCC Operations Center. The FCC is seeking comment on plans to create a new portal called the Alert Reporting System to send both false alerts reports and the State EAS plans. The final issue in the Notice of Rulemaking is the repeating of EAS alerts. Currently alerts can be repeated, but there are issues with stations further down the monitoring link determining if it is a new or repeat message. Presidential alerts cannot be repeated, but the FCC does discuss possible methods of the government repeating a national message. In the Notice of Inquiry, the FCC is proposing that EAS messages be sent to streaming video devices. In the notice, the FCC asks if streaming devices and other internet capable devices could receive EAS messages and how it could be accomplished. They also asked how the video streaming providers can receive EAS messages, particularly local messages such as weather and amber alerts. The second part of the inquiry asks if more of the Common Alerting Protocol data could be delivered to the public through the EAS equipment at a broadcast station or wireless company along with the other IP equipment used to receive IPAWS. The IPAWS can support more than just the text and audio warning message including maps, pictures and other data which the FCC would like to get to the public. There will be a 21 day comment period with a 14 day reply period for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and a 45 day comment period with a 30 day reply period for the Notice of Inquiry. The notices were published in the Federal Register on March 30th with comment period for both the rulemaking and the inquiry starting on March 31st. For the Record (Wisconsin FCC Actions Granted) compiled by Leonard Charles from the FCC Daily Digest There were no Wisconsin actions in March Certification and Education compiled by Jim Hermanson Well Done! Congratulations to... Vicki W. Kipp for passing the new ATSC 3.0 SBE Certification! Dennis Baldridge for passing the new ATSC 3.0 SBE Certification! SBE Chapter 24 Member ATSC 3.0 Exam Experience Vicki and Dennis are likely among the very first in the world to take and pass this certification. We are very proud of them. I asked Vicki and Dennis to say a few words about this new exam experience. Dennis Baldridge shared this... "Late last year, I was asked by the SBE certification committee to participate in the ATSC3 beta testing program. Not only did I have to take the test and answer the questions, but also provide input to any confusing questions, errors or omissions. I must say it was the most difficult test I had ever taken from the SBE and found it very challenging or maybe I'm just getting old:) I half expected to fail but did however pass..." Vicki W. Kipp shared this... "For me, this exam was more challenging than other SBE exams. It was difficult. Prepping for the SBE ATSC 3.0 Certification Exam Dennis Baldridge and I both took the SBE's ATSC 3.0 specialist exam. It turns out that we used some of the same approaches to studying. When you take the exam, there are 50 open-book multiple-choice questions. During the open book portion of the exam, you can use your written materials and use your computer to look things up online. After you complete the multiple-choice questions, there is a closed-book essay question. The ATSC 3.0 specialist exam has one essay question about ATSC 3.0. This essay question is not customized for your job like the Engineering level certification essay questions are. The is the first time I've taken an exam without studying the SBE's CertPreview first. The CertPreview for the ATSC 3.0 certification is still being developed. I made some flashcards on Quizlet.com, but it was no substitute for a SBE CertPreview. I decided to study everything that SBE Certification Director Megan Clappe listed on the SBE's list of ATSC 3.0 suggested materials, and then some. This approach worked for me, but it might be overkill for some people. http://sbe.org/certification/suggested-references-materials-for-sbe-specialist-certifications-8-vsb-amd-drb/ The SBE's six ATSC 3.0 Modules and their three ATSC 3.0 Networking Modules are highly relevant. I have emails from Cathy Orosz with the registration links to all of the ATSC 3.0 sessions. Experts like Madeleine Noland, Luke Fay, Merrill Weiss, Dr. Youngkwon Lim, Dr. Kyungmo Park, and Charles Lo teach ATSC 3.0 modules 1-6. SBE President Wayne Pecena teaches the ATSC 3.0 Networking Modules 1-3. Most of the SBE ATSC 3.0 webinars had PowerPoints available for download. I printed those PowerPoints and took notes on them while watching the webinars. The SBE lists the NextGenTV Host Station Manual as a resource. I got a lot of use out of this manual. It's worth noting that Dave Folsom at Pearl releases updated versions of this book from time to time. I also watched Pearl's eight ATSC 3.0 webinars. The webinars progress in a different order than the manual, so I took standalone notes. https://pearltv.com/station-resources/ I also ran through the seven SBE@PBS TechCon 2019 webinars, which include real-life ATSC 3.0 applications from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. http://sbe.org/education/webinars-by-sbe/atsc3-tutorial-pbs-techcon-2019/ I skimmed through the ATSC 3.0 standards mentioned in the SBE's suggested resources list. https://www.atsc.org/atsc-documents/type/3-0-standards/ To hear ATSC 3.0 described from additional perspectives, I read the ATSC 3.0 Transition and Implementation Guide. It can be downloaded from Meintel, Sgrignoli, and Wallace's website. This guide has many expert contributors. https://mswdtv.com/atsc-3-0/ Ready to sign up for the exam? Head on over to http://sbe.org/certification/certification-levels/specialist-certifications/ " Thank you, Vicki and Dennis. Congratulations on this achievement in your state-of-the-art education1! The Open Exam Schedule Exam Dates Location Application Deadline (to SBE National Office)   June 4-14, 2021   Local Chapters (Madison Area)   April 16, 2021   August 6-16, 2021   Local Chapters (Madison Area)   June 11, 2021   November 5-15, 2021   Local Chapters (Madison Area)   September 10, 2021 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. Contact the SBE Chapter 24 chairperson or certification chairperson for more information. When you are ready to take an SBE exam, note the open exam schedule, complete the appropriate application (found here... http://www.sbe.org/applications) and send it directly to the SBE National office (see address below) with the respective fee. You will be notified once your application is approved. Your local certification chairman will receive a list of applicants and exams in his/her chapter and arrange for a proctor. He/she will then contact applicants to schedule a mutually agreeable date, time, and place for the exam(s) within the respective exam date window. This must be coordinated before the exam will be sent by SBE National. Completed exam(s) will be mailed back to SBE National for grading. Pass/fail results will be mailed directly to the applicants within approximately six weeks. The majority of SBE certifications are open book and access to the Internet is allowed to give a more "real world" situation. 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 To apply for a specialist certification, an individual must currently hold certification on the Broadcast Engineer, Senior Broadcast Engineer, Professional Broadcast Engineer or Broadcast Networking Engineer Certification level. Exams must be completed within three hours and consist of 50 multiple-choice questions (two points each) and one essay question (20 points maximum). Examinees are provided one essay question to answer. Exams are pass/fail, and a score of 84 is a passing grade. SBE Rolls Out Training Program for New Broadcast/Media Engineers Utilizing a number of current SBE programs, the SBE is uniquely positioned to provide a valuable service to the broadcast industry: training new entrants to the field. The SBE is offering the SBE Technical Professional Training Program, an affordable and time sensitive way to train newer and entry level technical professionals at television and radio stations. The program includes: • SBE's extensive technical webinar offerings developed and cataloged for on-demand use that reflect the latest developments in the industry. The program includes SBE MemberPlus membership - access to all SBE webinars - more than 100. • The SBE Engineering Handbook, published by McGraw Hill and SBE, is a hard copy reference volume for hands-on use in designing and maintaining technical facilities. • The SBE Mentor Program - providing new entrants (mentees) to our profession with regular access and guidance from a seasoned professional. • The SBE Certification Program entry-level certification, Certified Broadcast Technologist (CBT) exam, demonstrating a comprehension of technical and regulatory requirements of station operation. • The SBE CertPreview (exam preparation) for the CBT certification, along with the mentor's knowledge and experience, in support of the TPT participant to help prepare for the CBT exam. This program is designed to be deployable by group broadcasters, independent broadcasters and even state associations. Ideally, the mentor would come from within the ranks of the organization in which the mentee is employed. However, it can be performed by any qualified engineer willing to invest the time. SBE facilitates the establishment of the mentor-mentee relationship. For more information contact Education Director Cathy Orosz at the SBE National Office. April Live Webinars Cloud Streaming: Techniques for Executing Content for Maximum Distribution April 22, 2021, 1 PM CT Streaming your radio station or other audio content live to the Internet can bring hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands of listeners to your programming. This short tutorial will give you the confidence to move ahead, understanding the basic process. We'll begin with audio processing, which is more important than you might imagine. Next we'll dive into audio encoding technologies including multi-rate streaming. We'll look into metadata insertion, too. Then we'll discuss the most common methods to gain appropriate streaming distribution to your audience. Finally, we'll see which of these functions can effectively be done in an Internet cloud environment. Attendees will gain a good working understanding of the streaming audio process from playout to end listener. About Your Instructor Kirk A. Harnack, CBRE, CBNE Senior Systems Consultant The Telos Alliance Kirk Harnack, CBRE, CBNE, brings 40 years of hands-on experience in broadcast engineering and education to his position as senior solutions consultant at the Telos Alliance. His expertise in putting technology to work in broadcast facilities has driven notable expansion in audio over IP, VoIP for broadcast, audio processing and other new technology adoption by content creators. Kirk maintains an active, hands-on-role in broadcast engineering through his positions as a partner and VP engineering of South Seas Broadcasting, Inc., Delta Radio, LLC, and Kaua'i Broadcast Partners, totaling 14 AM and FM radio stations. He is a broadcast meteorologist (WSMV, Nashville), fixed-wing private pilot, FAA Part 107 SUAS pilot and licensed General Class Amateur Radio operator (KD5FYD). He is a member of the Board of Directors of the SBE and is program chair of SBE Chapter 103 in Nashville. Kirk founded and hosts the Internet video netcast, This Week in Radio Tech (TWiRT). The one-hour weekly video netcast features regular contributors and guests from the world of radio engineering. SBE Recertification Credit The completion of a Webinar from Webinars by SBE qualifies for 1 credit, identified under Category I of the Recertification Schedule for SBE Certifications. Registration and Pricing SBE Members: $62 MemberPlus Members FREE Non-Members: $92 SBE MemberPlus members: When registering, be sure to click on the MemberPlus link to activate your MemberPlus benefit to register for free. Not a SBE MemberPlus member? For more information, see below. Register Here Questions? If you have questions regarding this course, contact Cathy Orosz via email or by phone at 317-846-9000. 2021 IP Networking, Part 4 April 29, 2021, 1 PM CT The 2021 IP Networking series continues with Module 4: Network Architecture & Design for Real-Time Media on Thursday, April 29, 2021. Part 4 of the series will focus on understanding network architecture and network design for real-time media transport. Topics to be covered include: the LAN versus the WAN; layered network design; selecting network hardware; redundancy and high availability; network design considerations for performance; private & public IP addressing; the subnet and the supernet; network address translation; broadcast and media networks NTP & PTP; and an introduction to IPv6. About Your Instructor Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, ATSC3, DRB, CBNE Wayne M. Pecena is the Associate Director of Educational Broadcast Services at Texas A&M University. Wayne has over 48 years of broadcast and IP network engineering experience and holds BS and MS degrees from Texas A&M University. Wayne is a Fellow of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) and holds the Certified Professional Broadcast Engineer (CPBE) and Certified Broadcast Network Engineer (CBNE) certifications from the SBE. He currently serves in his second term as the national President of the SBE. He was named the 2012 SBE Educator of the Year, the 2014 Radio World Engineer of the year, and named an IEEE-BTS Distinguished Lecturer in 2018. He is a frequent industry speaker on IP Networking and cybersecurity topics for the broadcast and media technology professional. SBE Recertification Credit The completion of a Webinar from Webinars by SBE qualifies for 1 credit, identified under Category I of the Recertification Schedule for SBE Certifications. Registration and Pricing This Webinar will be approximately 90 minutes long. SBE Members: $62 MemberPlus Members FREE Non-Members: $92 Registration Link Questions? If you have questions regarding this course, contact Cathy Orosz via email or by phone at 317-846-9000. Several state-of-the-art radio, TV, multimedia, and IT engineering training webinars are available through this page... http://sbe.org/education/webinars-by-sbe/on-demand-webinars/ More information on SBE Education Programs is available here... http://www.sbe.org/education/ 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. Articles of interest to Chapter 24 members are accepted up to the close of business the 1st day of each month. Send your article to lcharles@sbe.org.