There is no scheduled Chapter 24 monthly meeting in June. Instead members are urged to attend the WBA Summer Engineering Day or the WBA Media Technology Institute as part of the WBA Summer Conference. This year the conference is at the La Crosse Radisson from June 21st thru 23rd. For details including the session agenda of the Media Technology Institute and the WBA Engineering Day click here. To find complete conference details including registration links click here. Pre conference registration closes June 10th. After that only on site registration will remain. The conference concludes with the WBA Foundation Hall of Fame induction ceremony on the evening of June 23rd. For details on this year's inductees click here. Our Chapter 18 Years AgoLast Meeting's Minutes
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| WIFS TV, PT Broadcast Engineer |
| WMTV TV, Broadcast Engineer |
| WKOW PT MC Operator |
Program Ideas Appreciated
Amateur Radio News
Compiled by Tom Weeden, WJ9H
During the first week of May, 12 tornadoes touched down in the central and eastern parts of Oklahoma. The tornado that struck Seminole, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, May 4, left EF2 damage, according to the National Weather Service. That tornado was a mile wide, and its path totaled 31 miles. To help with emergency communications support following the outbreak, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security requested support from the Oklahoma Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®).
Seven amateur radio operators were active, providing voice communications between chainsaw and debris removal teams from their base at Seminole State College's volunteer center. ARRL Oklahoma Section Emergency Coordinator Mark Conklin, N7XYO, said the clean-up crews worked quickly, and ARES was needed for 8 hours until cellular and wired communications were restored.
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) reports that the FCC Universal Licensing System electronic batch filing system (ULS EBF) is back online and functioning normally. The FCC ULS EBF Team notified VECs that the technical issues with ULS EBF filing are resolved, and that VECs may resume submitting files containing amateur radio license applications. ARRL VEC has submitted most of the backlog of its files for applications processed on, or after, April 27, and expected to have all of the backlog submitted by May 9th.
After taking a few detours over the past couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ARRL Field Day rules are being updated on a permanent basis starting this summer. After conducting a Field Day community survey, ARRL's Programs and Services Committee recommended a number of rule changes for ARRL Field Day, which will take place this year over the June 25-26 weekend.
Starting this year, the maximum peak envelope power output for a transmitter used by anyone submitting a Field Day log will be 100 W. The power multiplier of 2 will remain in place, and the high-power category will be removed from the rules. Until this year, the maximum low-power limit had been 150 W for most ARRL-sponsored operating events. The power multiplier will remain at 5 for low-power (QRP) participants running a maximum of 5 W or less.
A couple of changes instituted initially as accommodations for the COVID-19 pandemic will remain. Class D (Home) stations will continue to be able to earn points for contacts with other Class D stations. The club aggregate scoring change initiated in 2020 as a temporary measure will become part of the permanent rules. In the aggregate scoring plan, the scores of individual stations are combined under the score of a single club.
FCC NEWS
compiled by Tom Smith
On May 19th the FCC adopted a Report and Order (FCC-22-38A1) allowing directional FM antennas to be certified using computer modeling in place of using a test range measurement of a full size antenna with support structure or a model in a test chamber operating at a higher frequency matched to the models dimensions. Now the antenna pattern can be certified by the computerized design. The main requirement the FCC placed on the certification was the qualifications of the designer. The FCC will require that the person creating the certified plans either have an electro-magnetic engineering or a physics background. The antenna manufacturer will supply the certified plans and a surveyor will have to certify the antenna is installed in the right direction. Currently AM and TV stations have been able to use computer modeling to certify directional antennas. This rule applies to both full power FM and LPFM stations and will reduce the cost of purchasing a directional antenna as the cost of measuring a full size antenna on a test range or building a model is eliminated.
Renewal Brings Fines
The recent round of renewals has brought fines for both public file issues and late filings for renewal. The requirement that stations post their public file on the FCC website has lead to easy examination of a stations public file. The FCC is finding missing or late filings. Stations are getting fines or required to accept consent decrees to educate staff on the proper management of the files. The most popular violations are political files and children's program files. The other violation is for late renewal applications. This affects LPFM and LPTV stations, FM and TV translators and small radio stations. These are stations with many inexperienced owners who may not have realized that renewal was coming or how the process worked. These late filings could be placed on the FCC as a number of years ago the FCC quit sending renewal notices out, something that should be easy with computer databases to generate e-mail notices. The lesson for stations is to keep up with the public file as the FCC is using it as an enforcement tool.
C-Band Inactive Antenna Purge
There are 4 antennas located in Wisconsin on the list:
| Applicant Name | Antenna Location |
| IBM Corporation | 401 Charmany Dr, #200, Madison |
| Magnum Radio, Inc. | 1201 North Superior Ave, Tomah |
| Nexstar Media Inc. | 1305 Interchange Pl, LaCrosse |
| Scott Thompson d/b/a Big Radio | 622 Public Ave, Beloit |
The complete list is available here.
Certification and Education
compiled by Jim Hermanson
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:
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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.
| Exam Dates | Location | Application Deadline (to SBE National Office) |
August 5-15, 2022 |
Local Chapters (Madison Area) |
June 10, 2022 |
November 4-14, 2022 |
Local Chapters (Madison Area) |
September 9, 2022 |
June Webinars
2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Module 5
Thursday, June 9, 2022 | 1 p.m. CT - NEW DATE (This Webinar was previously scheduled for June 7th)
Module 5: IT Systems for Broadcast Media
This module will focus on high availability IT systems for broadcast media.
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
Register Here
Questions?
If you have questions regarding this course, contact Cathy Orosz via email or by phone at 317-846-9000.
Introduction to Successful Troubleshooting - Taking the Next Step - Module 1
Thursday, June 23, 2022 | 1 p.m. CT
More and more, we are expected to solve problems that include areas outside our expertise, that include the unfamiliar and unknown. How do we problem-solve when we are not an expert and don't have the time or resources to become an expert?
Our training has been focused on the hard skills required for the job- understanding standards, information technology, electronics, RF, and others. There is little focus on the soft skills-critical thinking, communication, observation, working effectively with others, and more. The "Introduction to Successful Troubleshooting" webinar offered an approach to troubleshooting that utilizes your soft skills in addition to your hard skills and experience.
In this "Next Step - Module 1" webinar you will utilize those soft skills and techniques to take the next step and solve real-world problems encountered on the job. Participate in solving the presented problem scenarios by choosing the next troubleshooting step to take to fix the problem.
Your Instructor
Dan Fogel, Founder and Former CEO of DNF Controls
Dan Fogel, the founder and former CEO of DNF Controls. DNF Controls (dnfcontrols.com) has provided products and systems to the television broadcast and production industries for the past 30+ years. Dan's background also includes work with live concerts, music recording, audio post-production, and commercial 2-way radio systems.
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
Register Here
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 6
Tuesday, June 28, 2022 | 1 p.m. CT
Module 6: IT Cybersecurity
The 2022 CBNT & CBNE Study Topics Series Module 6: Cybersecurity will discuss cybersecurity threats, mitigations and hygiene.
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
Register Here
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.