SBE 56 Chapter Chairman George Chambers called the Meeting to order.  George asked everyone present to introduce himself or herself. 

Reports:
Minutes for the February 26, 2002 meeting as reported on the Chapter Website were moved for approval, seconded, and approved by voice vote.

Treasurers Report:
Chapter Treasurer  Larry Miller reported that the Chapter Checking Account Balance as of the last meeting on February 26, 2002 was $4,375.69.

Frequency Coordination Report:
Above 1 GHz:

Larry Miller reported no new activity.

Below 1 GHz:

Richard Hardy reported no activity presently. Clear Channel is still anticipating a move for it's radios.

Certification Report:

No report is available this month 

Internet Report:

Roger Herring reported that he has updated the Officer's page, and made other changes as needed to the Main page, News Page and Newsletter page.

EAS Report:

No report is available this month   

Old Business:   

None reported.

New Business:

Carl Smith with OAB, has shared that the Dallas FCC Field Office has announced that they are going into the field to inspect Broadcasters in the very near future.  Those who are participating in the Alternative Inspection Program (AIP) are immune from these inspections if they point out the fact to the Inspecting Officer, and if the inspection is not due to a complaint or a national program.

Roger Herring has suggested  that the SBE 56 sponsor an ENG Safety Course on Saturday April 20th.  AES/PSO has agreed to participate in the course, and Mark Bell is available as well. Roger Herring proposes the Chapter pay for the majority of the costs by charging the stations that participate a percentage of the costs. Roger Herring would be interested to know what cable systems, radio stations (groups) and television stations are interested in participating. KTUL and KOTV have already agreed to become involved.

 

 

March 26, 2002 Program:

A dual program today with Andy Laird, VP Radio Engineering of Journal Radion Group speaking about Digital Radio Broadcasting (IBOC) and Cox Cable in cooperation with Sony Electronics is showing their digital production truck and new Sony cameras, servers, and VTR's. 

Andy Laird lead the dual program off with a report of the status on IBOC (In Band On Channel) digital radio broadcast.  AM radio tests are completed. FM radio tests are also completed and approved see the link for more: http://www.nab.org/scitech/nrsc.asp, and final approval of testing for AM should happen at NAB.

 There are 117 channels, 10 KHz apart in AM band. This allows a data rate of 36,000 bps. FM has 100 Channels 200 KHz apart allowing a data rate of 100,000 bps.  The quality of the FM IBOC signal is near CD quality. 

Andy spoke about availability of radios for consumers that are IBOC compatible and the utilization of LSI chip technology in the receivers.

 Using a Power Point presentation designed by David Layer of NAB, Andy showed the development of IBOC and the migration to the Ibiquity standard for broadcast. 

Andy was available afterwards to answer questions.

Fred Wright of Sony along with Cox Cable presented the new Cox TV truck, along with the BVP E10 camera, IMX MSW-2000 studio VTR, and the MAV 555A Digital Disk Recorder.

 

The meeting was adjourned by Chairman George Chambers.

    

What? Worry about Trains?
From the Editor, Mark Bell.


WAAY— TV truck hit by train; no injuries.

A WAAY-TV Channel 31 reporter and videographer narrowly
avoided disaster after their TV truck blew a tire, got stuck on the CSX
railroad tracks near Stevenson in Jackson County, Alabama, and was
rammed by a train.  Police were called, and the crew started unloading equipment as a precaution shortly after they realized they could not free the truck from the tracks. A tow truck was called. More calls were made in the hope of alerting any oncoming train, but there wasn't enough time to get the truck clear, or stop the train.

''The truck got T-boned by the train, blown off the tracks, and it flew
40 feet and landed in a ditch,'' stated WAAY News Director Al Carl in a
published interview. ''Thankfully, everybody walked away without a
scratch and the conductor of the train was also OK. It was a near-
catastrophe, one of the most frightening things I've seen in 18 years of
TV news.''
 
Wow....so a stations’s live capability, a function many consultants
and industry experts feel is the backbone of a newscast, is reduced, at
best, or eliminated, at worst. WAAY has other trucks, but the truck
involved in the accident was one with a taller mast than the others, and
will be missed until replaced.

One of the first questions asked is how a vehicle could be stuck on
the tracks.  The road involved was a down grade with a left curve at the bottom, and it is at the point of the turn where a driver would encounter the
tracks. The van’s passenger side front tire had some sort of defect
which rendered it flat as the van rounded the curve. Speed, reportedly,
was not a factor. When the tire hit the tracks, the van skidded along
them until it stopped away from the road crossing area, into an area not
built up for road crossing, where the racks are at their full height. Once
caught there, the tires simply spun, not able to produce traction. The
train which hit the van arrived only a few minutes later.

What do you do if you have a situation where you are trapped on
railroad tracks? WHO do you call?

In this case, even though the police were called, the call was inef-
fective in securing communication with the rail line so the train could be
stopped. Let’s take for granted here that the train needs a mile to stop.
Along with the curve on the road there was a curve in the tracks as well,
and the scene was further obscured by a hill.

“One thing you can be sure of,” said Jim Noble, a retired Conrail
Dispatcher, “is that any train accident is more than likely to cause
spectacular damage.”

Noble stated that it’s generally unknown what cargo a particular
train contains, and while most engines are equipped to push obstruc-
tions off the rails, the combination of events during a collision can cause
secondary incidents which may be far more deadly than the original
collision. A train carrying chemical tanks is one example. And of course,
there are the possibilities that a collision may injure people (who are
mostly unseatbelted) from the original impact, or certainly secondary
issues if the train leaves the rails. As far as the force of impact? Few in
the train business speak about train impacts without a solemn tone.

“A train hitting a car is like a car hitting a pop can,” he said. “And the
results are similar. When people are involved it’s horrifically tragic.”

Not on this day, though, and at time of publication, WAAY was still
in the process of assessing damages and adjusting their news gather-
ing process to compensate for the lost van.

TV News drivers are very specialized professional drivers. Given
the conditions which they may encounter while working, such as those
which are shared only with emergency services professionals, they
need to operate at a higher level. This means more education, more
training, and more situation preparedness. WAAY was fortunate that
the reporter and photographer involved saved themselves and quite a
bit of their equipment. Very bold moves, considering that if they were
permanently injured in the process of saving company property, there
would have been no lifetime pension or support mechanism such as is
the case with other emergency services professionals. WAAY manage-
ment was supportive in view of the tragedy, but may not have been, or
certainly would have no obligation to be, if speeding, as an example,
was a factor in the incident. 

An organization called “Operation Lifesaver” is devoted to
rail safety, engineering and research. Got tracks in your cover-
age area? You need to cover this, too, in your education and
training, as yet another proven hazard to ENG operations, your
budget, and the lives of your co-workers.

Contact information,
ENG Safety Memo:
Toll-free: 1-87-SAFE-6090
Phone: 781-383-6090
Fax: 781-394-0762
e-mail: safety@engsafety.com
www.engsafety.com

click here

Education Committee
Ray Klotz

 CERTIFICATION EXAM DATES FOR 2002
The SBE Certification Committee has established exam dates for 2002. Check the list below for the exam period that is best for you. For more information about SBE Certification, see SBE 56 Certification Chair Jim Bowles or contact Linda Godby, Certification Director at the SBE National Office at (317) 846-9000 or lgodby@sbe.org.

Humor
Below is our best attempt at humor. 
  If you enjoy it, our boss says not to encourage us by telling us so!