SBE 56 Chapter Secretary Bill Lee called the meeting to order; after a welcome to all present, Bill asked everyone to introduce him or herself.

Reports:
Minutes:
Meeting Minutes from the July meeting were brought up for approval as posted on the Chapter 56 Website.  The Minutes were moved, seconded and approved by voice vote of the members present.

Treasurers Report:
Larry Miller reported that the Chapter Checking Account Balance on August 26, 2002 was $3,266.21. There has been a deposit of the 2001 National SBE Chapter rebate check in the amount of $285.50 and $15.00 for Chapter dues and a withdrawal of $40.00 to pay the Fountains Restaurant for four unpaid lunches at our July 23, 2002 Chapter meeting. As of today, September 24, 2002, the Chapter account balance is $3,526.71

Education Report:  
See Internship Committee report.

Frequency Coordination, below 1 GHz:
None.

Frequency Coordination, above 1 GHz: 
Larry Miller reported that Aerial Video Systems used three 2 GHz channels and one 2.5 GHz channel at the recent LPGA Championship at Tulsa Country Club.

KOCO-TV Oklahoma City, will be using 13 GHz channel A12 (12.975-13.000 GHz) this Friday evening at the TU football game at Skelly Stadium.

 

Membership Report: 
None. 

Secretary’s Report: 
None. 

Web and Internet Report: 
None. 

EAS Report: 
Ron Stearns reported that the next dates for the RMT are on the newsletter page at the Chapter website.

Internship Committee: 
Gerald Weaver reported that Don Dobbs has interviewed internship candidates for Channels 2, 6 and Cox Cable from Spartan School of Aeronautics.

Old Business:  
The situation with Chapter President George Chambers remains unchanged.

New Business: 
Clear Channel Expo Center 2617 South Memorial Road will be the site of the October meeting on Wednesday October 23rd, instead of Tuesday October 22nd. Digital Resources is sponsoring the event with over 40 vendors such as Apple, Panasonic, Scala, Media 100, Grass Valley, JVC, and Ikegami just to name some of the vendors. Their will be a tour of the show and product demos. Digital Resources is providing lunch to all that attend the SBE October meeting. The meeting date change was moved, seconded and approved by the attending members.
 

September 24th Program
(please follow link)

 

 

Humor
Below is our best attempt at humor. 
  Try to remember, you get what you pay for here!

 Frequency Coordination Above 1 gHz
Larry Miller

     Nothing new to report.

Frequency Coordination Below 1 gHz
Rich Hardy

A big "Thank You" to KTUL and KBEZ for loaning 450/455 frequencies for the LPGA in September. I think everything went well, I have not heard of any interference complaints. We were three frequencies short of those needed and had to slide them in between the regular frequencies which always is a crap shoot for interference.

Education Committee
Ray Klotz

Applications must be received at National by December 31st for the exam period February 7th - 17th.

The SBE Certification Committee has established the exam dates listed below for 2003.  Check for the time that is best for you.

If there is interest, we will have study sessions.  Let me know.  For more information about SBE Certification, contact me, SBE 56 Certification Chair Ray Klotz or contact Linda Godby, Certification Director at SBE National Office at (317) 846-9000.

CERTIFICATION EXAM DATES FOR 2003

September 24th Program

Gerald Weaver introduced the dual program by MCL and Pinnacle Systems.

Bryan Morgan of MCL gave a short history of his company (MCL originally stood for Microwave Cavity Laboratory). He told the members that 75% of MCL business is Satellite oriented (of that 50% is SNG). Bryan spoke primarily about maintenance of Satellite Transmitters. First and foremost is working safely; Don't work tired, don't work alone, have solid footing, and make sure that the waveguide is secure.

Dust and Dirt are primary enemies of transmitters. Shut off power to clean the interior of the amplifier. Check for dust, use compressed air from about a 12" distance; blow away the dust from the amplifier interior. Moisture and foreign objects are also sources of failure for a amplifier. The exterior of the amplifier should be cleaned as needed. Air filter maintenance is a key element in the health of an amplifier. The cleaner the interior of the amplifier the better the ability of the amplifier to cool itself. Check for proper operation of switches and interlocks. Change lamps (or LED's) as needed. It is important not to operate the amplifier with the lid off for any length of time as the cover on most amplifiers affects the ability of the amplifier to cool itself. Check for proper operation of fans and blowers. The best way to run an amplifier is in transmit mode with RF applied. Next best is HPA in transmit with no RF applied. The next best is HPA off, no High Voltage, no Filament Voltage. The worst way to run a HPA is in Standby, no High Voltage, Filament Voltage on.

Air temperature should be maintained in the -10 to 50 degree centigrade range.

In the event of a HPA that has sat with power off for a period of time and gassing of the TWTA or Klystron tube is suspected it is advisable to run the tube with low power for 3-4 days to minimize gassing effects. The average 700 watt TWTA should have a life expectancy of 6-8 years. Copies of Bryan's presentation are available. Just contact him at MCL.

Next Rome Chelse of Pinnacle Systems led a discussion on the transition of some facilities to utilize Centralcasting for a group of stations. Lunch was provided to the attending members by Pinnacle Systems.

Rome asked if any stations present had any plans for centralcasting in their station groups.

Gerald Weaver from KOTV said that Belo the former owner of KOTV has already gotten into centralcasting; however Griffin the current owner of KOTV has no plans for centralcasting.

Economics drives centralcasting, the desire to control hardware and manpower costs drives the station groups towards centralcasting. The expense of implementing centralcasting also inhibits it's growth.

It was pointed out that integrating news and program play out with breaking news (as far as it applies to centralcasting) usually involves replacing some of the lowest paying positions in a TV station. At the same time the cost of implementing the centralcast concept with connectivity is a usually prohibitive cost (at least from a reasonable rate of return on investment). The stations involved have to have common traffic and automation systems (or be converted to those systems) to make the centralcasting concept work effectively and economically.

Commonality of Job Descriptions (duties) between stations is also necessary.

News programming at KOTV (CBS) involves multiple hours in the morning, a noon newscast and 5,6 and 10pm newscast. KTUL (ABC) has 1 ½ hours of news in the morning and at noon, then a 5,6 and 10pm newscast. KJRH (NBC) has morning 2 hours in the morning, ½ hour at noon and 5,6 and 10pm newscasts. KOKI (Fox) has a 5 pm and 9 pm (1 hour) newscast. The question was raised about the value of local news in serving the public interest of the stations

AT&T Broadband in the 50 + markets takes a secondary channel to distribute content (offers more programming on secondary channels)

KTUL (ABC) has not seen a business model that works for DTV broadcasting.

KJRH (NBC) has a business plan for DTV, in that they have some VHF propagation problems that they think can be solved by placing set top boxes in cable head-ends that cannot receive their analog channel. In simulcasting the programming from the analog channel it allows distribution to cable head-ends that otherwise might be unable to receive their Analog signal.