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

Reports:
Minutes as reported on the Chapter Website were approved by voice vote.

Treasurers Report:
Chapter checking account balance last month, on November 27, 2001, was $4,375.69

There were no expenses, or income leaving a balance of 44,375.69 as of today, January 22, 2002.

Frequency Coordination Report:
Above 1 GHz:

Larry Miller reported no new activity. 

Below 1 GHz:

Richard Hardy reported that KXOJ had made an inquiry about wide-band frequencies, Richard reported that none were available for MARTI use, and instead 2 narrow-band frequencies are available.
Clear Channel Radio is seeking to move all their STL’s to a new location.

Certification Report:

No report is available this month 

Internet Report:

No new news was reported. 

EAS Report:

Roger Herring reported that the Required Monthly Test was transmitted from Oklahoma City, however no stations in the Tulsa area received it, Stations should check their EAS logs and note the discrepancy.

Old Business:   

Don Dobbs reported that Carl Smith had requested that he and Roger Herring assist the OKC SBE Chapter in putting together the Technical Program for the February 2002 OAB Conference in OKC next month.  Roger and Don have arranged an excellent line-up of speakers and topics for next month’s meeting February 22 & 23^rd at the OKC Westin Hotel.  Go to http://www.broadcast.net/~sbe56/ to learn more about the conference and to register.

New Business:

No new business.

 

Today’s Program:

General Manager’s from KOTV (Regina Moon), KTUL (Pat Baldwin), and KOKI (Hal Capron) discussed DTV plans for their stations with Chapter 56. KOKI announced they are on schedule for the May 2 deadline, KOTV announced they are on schedule. KTUL announced they are waiting on FCC approval of a change to their DTV Channel Assignment to Channel 10.  Dale Vennes (KJRH Chief Engineer) announced that the Olympics will be broadcast in High Definition. 

Other topics discussed were Must Carry on Cable, Public Interest obligations for DTV, Business Models for DTV, what kind of programming and in what format it will be carried.

 February Program:

Chapter Chairman Don Dobbs announced that Andy Laird of Journal Media will speak on various topics related to Radio, such as IBOC.

    

Cables are: A) Necessary.  B) Cumbersome.  C) A liability concern.  D) A maintenance challenge.  E) All of the above.  F) None of the above.

If your answer was any of the above answers you’re right! Cables are everything, or in the case of wireless equipment use, nothing! For those who seldom have the opportunity to handle cables, this month’s feature may not seem interesting, but, everybody involved in television field operations has to handle them at one time or another; That’s for sure.

There are hazards and benefits certain cables bring. Some of these characteristics are as follows:

Electrical shock hazard: Cables are made to carry electrical power, and will do so up to the point of mechanical failure. With excessive voltage/current exposure, multi-conductor cable insulation melts and the soon contacting conductors create a larger overall conductor. Wow!

Different vehicles, buildings, or areas in buildings, might have different voltages and grounds. Hooking up a cable from one to another may demonstrate this difference, and it should be considered dangerous at all times to hold a conductive part of a cable while contacting any
object which might have a different potential.  When approaching an unknown, holding cables by their insulation at arms length, then lightly striking the connector on the ground of the destination connector is a means of seeing if there is any problem.

Trip or Overhead hazards: It almost goes without saying that cables are a real trip hazard. It’s necessary that any cable runs over sidewalks, hallways, or other places where there will be pedestrian traffic have a covering such as a heavy mat, which is light, or a special flat cable trough,
available from office suppliers.  When going up stairs, sometimes cables can be run up the railing supports, not the rails, which keeps them off stairs and railings as well.  Visibility, is a big issue. Using day-glo orange paint to paint stripes on cables while coiled will enhance visibility as the paint will mark the cable every few feet.

Going through doorways? Doorways are also cable cutters. Try using a 12-inch section of 2-inch PVC pipe which has a split/channel cut into one side to facilitate cable entry, and use that as the item the door will whack
when it closes. You can even place station stickers or logos on the pipe for added visibility.

Contact hazard: Cables are routinely dragged on floors, sidewalks and street gutters, places where all the bad stuff on the planet seems to end up. This includes animal body waste as well as vehicle fluids, exhaust parti-
cles, i.e., hazardous chemicals/compounds.  Hand contact is one of the most frequent means of spreading disease, and contaminated hands can spread their content literally anywhere. At the very least, protective gloves should be used, with hand washing, even with bottled hand cleaners, a part of the live shot wrap.

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
Jim Bowles

 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!