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CHAPTER 24, Inc., MADISON, WI
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Our Next Meeting:
Wednesday, April 27th
Bringing to Light:
Changes in the Tower Lighting World
by Mike Thompson of LumenServe
The FAA compliance rules for your tower's obstruction lighting continue to be updated as evidenced by the newly released November 2020 circular. LumenServe will review some key aspects of the regulations that you need to know. LEDs have been around for many years. In the tower lighting world their deployment is creating big changes. In addition, the traditional practice of procurement, maintenance and monitoring has a new model: Tower Lighting as a Service. LumenServe is at the forefront of this new approach to tower lighting. We will explore its advantages and implications.
7:00 PM - Meeting/Program
This meeting is Virtual
Connection information will be distributed on the
SBE24 email group in the days prior to the meeting.
Last Meeting's Minutes
Submitted by Mike Travis, Secretary
The SBE Chapter 24 meeting was called to order by Matt Mommaerts at 07:00pm on March 24th, 2022 via Zoom.
Approval of Minutes
Thomas Smith made a motion to approve the secretary meeting minutes from 02/23/2022, seconded by Matt Mommaerts and approved as submitted.
Treasurer's Report
There was one sustaining membership check received in March, from WMTV-TV. After depositing it the Chapter 24 checking balance is [in the black].
Chapter Newsletter Report
Leonard Charles reports the deadline for articles for the April eNews letter is Friday April 1st at 5pm. Please forward any article of interest to Chapter members to Lcharles@sbe.org. If you send an article expect a reply of acknowledgement within a day or so. If you don't get one you should follow up to make sure your article was received.
Membership Report
Leonard Charles reported our membership total is at 49.
Sustaining Member Chair Report
Mike Travis reports we have no renewals. We remain at 11 sustaining members.
SBE National News
It's time to renew your SBE membership. Member rate is $85. MemberPlus level is $175 which includes unlimited access to all Webinars by SBE. Student membership stays at $25. Both Student and Life members can upgrade to Member Plus by adding $90. Please renew by April 1st.
The 2022 membership drive is underway. By recruiting new members you'll earn money off your 2023 membership dues and are entered into the prize drawing at the end of the drive.
The highest level of SBE membership is Fellow. Nominations are now being accepted and must be submitted in writing by a voting member.
The 2022 SBE Leadership Development Course will be August 3-5 in Atlanta, GA. Check SBE.ORG for more info.
Program Committee Report
Matt Mommaerts reports we have programs through July.
Nominations Committee Report
Leonard Charles, with the nominations committee, reports this meeting brings to end this year's nominations process. All four Officers have agreed to run for re-election to their same office. Thank you to Matt Mommaerts, Russ Awe, Mike Travis and Mike Norton for keeping our Chapter alive and well.
Thanks also to Kevin Ruppert who serves with me on the Nominations Committee.
Voting will begin April 1st and conclude with our April 27th meeting. Voting electronically on our web site is preferred but there will be a paper ballot available for download and mail in.
The changeover to new officers happens at our May 26th Chapter meeting.
Certification and Education
Jim Hermanson was unavailable but Leonard Charles reports there are three upcoming webinars. March 31st, Containerized Software. April 5th, CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Module 1. April 19th, CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Module 2.
Frequency Coordination
Thomas Smith does not have anything to report.
Adjournment
Thomas Smith made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Leonard Charles. Meeting adjourned at 7:12pm.
Presentation
The meeting was followed by a presentation on "Real World ATSC 3.0 Implementation" by Mike Schmidt from Heartland Video. Thank you Mike! Check out Heartland Video at www.hvs-inc.com.
Job Opening: WMTV TV, Broadcast Engineer
For information Click Here
Job Opening: WKOW TV
Part Time Master Control Operator
For information Click Here
Program Ideas Appreciated
The Chapter 24 meeting schedule is available here. If you have any suggestions for program topics you'd like to see, or if there is a topic that you'd like to present at an upcoming meeting, please contact Matt Mommaerts or one of the Chapter 24 officers .
SBE Compensation Survey
Through May 16 the Society of Broadcast Engineers is conducting a survey to determine salary levels and benefits among broadcast and media technology engineers. The SBE conducted its first survey in 2016. This seventh survey continues to establish a baseline for subsequent surveys and build compensation trends.
The complete results of the survey will be available at no charge to SBE members as a benefit of membership. Take the Survey.
SBE Mentor Milestone
The Society of Broadcast Engineers has reach a milestone in its Mentor Program with more than 100 mentor and mentee member participants. The SBE Mentor Program, launched in October 2016, is designed to help broadcast engineers who are new to the field. The program partners a new engineer with a more-seasoned professional. This allows the more-experienced person to share his or her gained knowledge, both empirical and practical, with someone new to the field. Be a Mentor.
Amateur Radio News
Compiled by Tom Weeden, WJ9H
Ukraine Radio Silence
Radio amateurs in Ukraine appear to be diligently maintaining radio silence as the state of emergency declared there just prior to the Russian military invasion remains in effect. A February 24 decree from President Volodymyr Zelensky included "a ban on the operation (of) amateur radio transmitters for personal and collective use." The Ukraine Amateur Radio League (UARL/LRU) reported in early March that it has received many messages of encouragement from the worldwide amateur radio community.
"The LRU informed international amateur radio organizations about Russia's military invasion of Ukraine," said the message from UARL Vice President Anatoly Kirilenko, UT3UY. "To date, there have been many reports from radio amateurs around the world in support of Ukraine."
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has adopted a neutral stance. "IARU is an apolitical organization focused on promoting and defending amateur radio and the amateur radio services," the IARU said. "The amateur radio service is about self-instruction in communications and friendship between people." IARU Region 1 has said it continues to monitor the development and expect all radio amateurs "to follow their national laws and regulations."
New App Fees
New application fees for Wireless Telecommunications Bureau applications will become effective on April 19, 2022. The new fees, mandated by Congress, apply to applications for Amateur Radio licenses including those associated with filing Form 605, the Amateur Operator/Primary Station Licensee Application.
Effective April 19, 2022, a $35 fee will apply to applications for a new Amateur Radio license, modification (upgrade and sequential call sign change), renewal, and vanity call signs.
Anticipating the implementation of the fee in 2022, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Board of Directors, at its July 2021 meeting, approved the "ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program." Under the program, ARRL will cover a one-time $35 application fee for license candidates younger than 18 years old for tests administered under the auspices of the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC). Qualified candidates also would pay a reduced exam session fee of $5 to the ARRL VEC. ARRL is finalizing details for administering the program.
ARRL had filed comments in opposition to imposing a fee on Amateur Radio license applications. The FCC initially proposed a higher, $50 fee. In a Report and Order (R&O), released on December 29, 2020, the amount was reduced -- the FCC agreeing with ARRL and other commenters that its proposed $50 fee for certain amateur radio applications was "too high to account for the minimal staff involvement in these applications."
Emergency Communicators
An exercise to bring emergency communicators from multiple countries together took place on February 26th using amateur radio's only geostationary satellite, QO-100. In a short-notice exercise, 22 stations representing 14 countries within International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 (mainly Africa and Europe) took part in a drill to pass formal simulated emergency messages through a satellite with a coverage area extending from South Africa to the United Kingdom and eastern Brazil to India.
The intention was to demonstrate how the Amateur Radio Service can work together as a global community and learn lessons on challenges of equipment failure, language barriers and coordination. Once all the exercise feedback is received, another test on the QO-100 satellite is planned for October 2022.
(Excerpts from the American Radio Relay League's arrl.org web site)
FCC NEWS
compiled by Tom Smith
Radio Rules Updated
On February 16th the FCC adopted rules (FCC-22-13A1) removing or modifying many radio rules. The first rule change was the removal of the rules limiting the maximum installed power of an AM transmitter. AM stations were limited to a transmitter no larger than the highest power transmitter for the class of station that it was assigned. The FCC will now allow a station to install any size transmitter they would like. They are still limited to their licensed power. The FCC believes that it will allow for stations to take advantage of the used transmitter market and keep used transmitters out of landfills. Also with AM stations reducing power to free up real estate for sale by taking down their direction antenna systems it will allow the use of an existing high power transmitter at lower non-directional power limits to maintain protection to other stations.
The second change in the rules require non-commercial (NCE) stations to cover 50% of the city of license with a 1 mv (60 DBU) signal. This puts NCE stations in sync with other FM stations.
The third rule change is the elimination of the requirement that a FM station placing its antenna within 60 meters of another antenna no longer needs to show an interference study.
The fourth change is the change of second adjacent overlap of a class D NCE FM station to the same standard as other NCE classes of FM stations.
The fifth rule change removes protections for common carrier stations operating on 76 to 100 MHZ by Alaska FM stations. There are no common carrier stations operating in Alaska, so the protections are no longer needed.
The sixth rule change affects the AM fill-in rule for AM translator placement. Currently AM translators most be located within the 2 MV daytime contour or with-in 25 miles of the AM transmitter whichever is the lesser. The new rule uses the same spacing, but allows the use of the greater distance. This rule change allows for avoiding siting issues.
The last rule change affects FM stations within 199 miles of the US border. This rule change makes the table for spacing of FM transmitters with Canadian and Mexican stations agree with current treaties. The rulemaking also deals with power levels of translators toward the US, Mexican border.
On March 18th, the rules were published in the Federal Register (DA-22-322A1) so the rules will be effective on April 18th.
White Space Rule Changes Proposed
On January 26th, the FCC adopted A Second Notice of Reconsideration, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (FCC-22-6A1) on white Space devices checking databases for open spectrum. White space devices are required to check a database at regular intervals to avoid interfering with TV stations and licensed wireless microphones. Wireless microphone users notify the database operators operating times and frequencies used and the white space device users must cease operation on the channel the TV station or wireless microphone is operating on. The notice discusses the intervals that the white space devices receive database information and the method how the data is sent. Discussed in the notice is the choice between the white space device getting the data base information pushed to the device or having the device poll the database once a hour. Currently the device downloads the information once a day. The pushing of data is under reconsideration by request from database operator Google as they consider it too burdensome for database operators and unreliable due to the likelihood that whitespace devices may not receive the data due to being in a period of non-operation. In the new rules the device must poll the database once an hour and shut down within 2 hours if the device cannot make a connection. Currently a device can continue to operate until 11:59 PM of the next day. The second point of reconsideration is one of the other database operator's qualifications. The objection was raised by the NAB with the complaint that their database was full of errors. There will be a 30 day comment period with a 30 day reply period following the comment period.
For the Record
(Wisconsin FCC Actions Granted)
compiled by Leonard Charles
from the FCC Daily Digest
03/3/2022
FCC Public Notice DA 22-218
WMTV TV, Madison WI, Channel 15 was removed from the list of stations requiring co channel interference protection from T-Band operators in the Chicago market. T-Band designated markets authorize Land Mobile use on assigned TV channels between 14 and 20. Chicago's T-Band operation is authorized on channels 14 and 15. Since WMTV TV moved to channel 19 during the DTV transition it no longer requires protection from Chicago T-Band operators.
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Certification and Education
compiled by Jim Hermanson
This month we enjoy the 2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Module 1 Introduction kick-off of a series of eight modules to study for the SBE CBNT and CBNE certifications. The instructor is our former SBE National President, Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, ATSC3, AMB, AMD, ATSC3, DRB, CBNE. I consider him one of the best and most dedicated educators in the world. This is one reason we are fortunate to be SBE members! Please have a look at the April Webinars section below and consider registering. Surely, you will learn from these, the information will help you in your work, and will help you pass these exams to become certified.
SBE Chapter 24 Certification Exam Reimbursement
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. Approximately 3 weeks before the exam time, your local certification chairman will receive a list of applicants and exams in his/her area 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.
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
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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.
The Open 2022 Exam Schedule
| Exam Dates |
Location |
Application Deadline
(to SBE National Office) |
June 3-13, 2022
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Local Chapters (Madison Area)
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April 15, 2022
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August 5-15, 2022
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Local Chapters (Madison Area)
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June 10, 2022
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November 4-14, 2022
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Local Chapters (Madison Area)
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September 9, 2022
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Next Generation of CertPreview
In 2021, the Ennes Educational Foundation Trust allocated funds to the Certification Committee to develop a new CertPreview program. The committee contracted the firm of Stevens and Stevens to create this program. Development work is underway, with an expected release date of late 2022. A primary difference is that CertPreview will be Web-based. A major advantage to this is that updates to the sample test questions can be made in real-time, as technology advances. Watch for more information this year on the rollout of the new CertPreview format.
April Webinars
2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Module 1
Tuesday, April 5, 2022 | 1 p.m. CT
Module 1: Introduction
The 2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Series kicks-off with Module 1: Introduction on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 at 2 p.m. ET. Module 1 of the series will provide an introduction and will cover network topologies, standards, OSI/TCP models, UTP/STP, fiber infrastructure physical wiring and Wi-Fi.
Your Instructor
Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, ATSC3, AMB, 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 served two terms 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.
2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Module 2
Tuesday, April 19, 2022 | 1 p.m. CT
Module 2: Internetworking
The 2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Series continues with Module 2: Internetworking on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 2 p.m. ET. Module 2 of the series will focus on networking protocols, Ethernet switching and IP routing with Layer 1, 2 and 3 in detail.
Your Instructors
Wayne Pecena, CPBE, 8-VSB, ATSC3, AMB, 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 served two terms 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.
More information about registering using the SBE MemberPlus benefit
All SBE webinars are included at no additional cost for members who renew or join using the $175 SBE MemberPlus membership option. You get all the live and archived Webinars by SBE in the SBE catalog plus any new webinars the SBE adds during the membership year. Members can renew and newcomers may join online at the SBE website using the SBE MemberPlus option.
Access to the SBE webinars through the SBE MemberPlus program is limited to the MemberPlus-purchaser only. You are not permitted to distribute, sell, copy, share, project or otherwise make the webinars available to any other individual or group without express written permission by the SBE.
Several state-of-the-art radio, TV, multimedia, and IT engineering training is 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.
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