The Water Cooled Newsletter - August 2007 Society of Broadcast Engineers Chapter 124 Portland and Salem, OR, and Vancouver, WA http://www.sbe124.org Editor/Webmaster: Kent Randles K7YXZ - secretary at sbe124 dot org You may change your subscription any time at http://www.broadcast.net/mailman/listinfo/sbe-pdx Snail mail: SBE Chapter 124 PO Box 1727 Portland, OR 97207-1727 You may use excerpts if attributed to the original source and "The Water Cooled Newsletter" SBE Chapter 124, Portland, OR Eugene, OR has SBE Chapter 76, see http://www.sbe76.org Medford, OR has SBE Chapter 141, see http://www.sbe141.org A NOTE ABOUT E-MAIL ADDRESSES In order to prevent e-mail addresses from being "mined" and then spammed, there are no longer any clickable links to e-mail addresses or intact e-mail addresses in this newsletter. For the addresses shown, substitute "@" for "at" and "." for "dot." Thanks! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ NEWSLETTER ADVERTISERS (links to their sites are at http://www.sbe124.org) Tom Abbott - Belden/CDT Electronics Division Michael Bach WB6FFC - Kathrein Scala Division Sandy Berenics - Wheatstone Corp. Larry Bloomfield KA6UTC - Larcan Mike Brown N7AXC - Brown Broadcast Services, Inc. Dennis Burton - Harris Broadcast-Radio Edward Forke - Shively Labs Tom Franklin - Norcom Matt Granard - Westlake Electronic Supply Gray Haertig - Gray Frierson Haertig & Associates Joe Harrington - Harrington Tower Services Jerry Hill K2JH - Shively Labs Al Jason - Dielectric John Pierce - Tektronix (Video Product Line) Larry Sayer - Rohde & Schwarz Debbie Storz - Econco Lyle Garrison - Broadcast Electronics Bob Trimble N7IYI - RF Specialties of WA Michael Troje - Continental Electronics Brian Walker - Professional Video & Tape, Inc. These fine folks make all the versions of our newsletter possible. ************************************************************************* PORTLAND CHAPTER 124 MEETING WHEN: Tuesday August 14th, Noon. WHERE: Buffalo Gap Saloon & Eatery 6835 SW Macadam (at California) Portland 503-244-7111 WHAT: Tom Abbott & Steve Lampen of Belden Wire will present: "How big is your Pixel?" (Belden will cover lunch). RGB and VGA signals (and their cousins SVGA, XGA, QXGA etc.) are analog component delivery systems that split the signal into component parts that are carried by multi-coax or multipair cables. The delivery time of each pixel component is critical for resolution and picture detail, called “timing” for coaxes, and “delay skew” for twisted pairs. This presentation will show how far you can go in different variations of coax and twisted pair cables, how it is related to screen resolution and pixel size, and how you can calculate these distances yourself. See http://www.belden.com . EUGENE CHAPTER 76 MEETING WHEN: Wednesday August 15th, 11:30 AM WHERE: Sizzler Restaurant 1010 Postal Way Springfield 541-726-9933 WHAT: Tom Abbott & Steve Lampen of Belden Wire will present: "How big is your Pixel?" (Belden will cover lunch). MEDFORD CHAPTER 141 MEETING WHEN: Thursday August 16th, 12 noon. WHERE: Hungry Woodsman Saloon 2260 Biddle Road (I-5 Exit 30) Medford 541-245-1962 WHAT: Tom Abbott & Steve Lampen of Belden Wire will present: "How big is your Pixel?" (Belden will cover lunch). PORTLAND MEETING INFO The Portland Chapter 124 meetings are on the second Tuesday of every month. Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings. For more information on Chapter 124 in Portland/Vancouver/Salem, contact Chapter Chair Ev Helm, e-mail chairman at sbe124 dot org, or call him at 503-977-7752. See www.sbe124.org . EUGENE MEETING INFO The Eugene Chapter 76 meetings are on the Wednesday after the second Tuesday of the month. You do not have to be a member of the SBE or of the local broadcast engineering community to attend these meetings. Anyone with an interest in the subject matter is welcome. For more information e-mail Chapter Chair Dennis Hunt dhunt at cmc dot net. See www.sbe76.org . MEDFORD MEETING INFO The Medford Chapter 141 meetings are on the Thursday after the second Tuesday of every month. For information, call Chapter Chair Rick Carrara at 541-773-1212, or e-mail rcarrara at kdrv dot com. See www.sbe141.org . LAST MONTH'S PRESENTATIONS IN PORTLAND, EUGENE, & MEDFORD There is a lot of concern about new sources of RF coming into the "white spaces" of the TV spectrum, and rightfully so. Sennheiser, one of the world's leading companies in wireless mic technology, has developed some rather interesting methods for finding available frequencies in very crowded environments. They have taken wireless microphone systems into the 21st century with networked receivers, etc. See http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/icm_eng.nsf . NEXT MONTH'S PRESENTATIONS The Taste of NAB Road Show in Portland and Eugene, and the Medford presenter is still to be annouced. THE YXZ REPORT by Kent Randles K7YXZ CBRE Senior Engineer, Entercom-Portland Co-Chair, Portland/Vancouver ECC Chapter 124 Secretary secretary at sbe124 dot org SBE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE WITH LOCAL PRIZE DRAWING Since the "sponsor" side of our local membership drive ended up with only chapter officers, we decided it would be better to give an HD Radio to only the winner of the new member drawing. That winner is Jim Boland of KATU. I’m shopping for a Sangean HDT-1X for him. See http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=HDT-1X . LIFE WITH HD RADIO There are currently 12 FM HD signals (nine with HD2, and one with HD3) and two AM HD signals on the air in the Portland market. For a complete list, see http://www.ibiquity.com/stationlist_hdradio.php?theState=OR&sortBy=StnMarket&theCity=PortlandOR#stationlist . We're still waiting for the FCC's HD Radio rules to be published in the Federal Register and start the 30-day countdown to AM HD at night amongst other features. The Car Toys car audio and cell phone chain sells more 12 volt car radios than any other chain in the country. At their recent Tent Sale, put on by the in the parking lot of the Portland Meadows horse racing track, Ibiquity had a booth. It was staffed by three people from their Maryland office who specialize in retail. One of them was Don Kelly, who once did all-nights on KFRC in San Francisco. Don went on to program, market, manage, own, and consult stations. He's now Ibiquity's Director of Broadcast Marketing, really making headway with retailers about HD Radio. The HD2 of Entercom's 94.7 KNRK, Camas flipped its format from Entercom's national HD2 format "Deep Cuts" to a format produced in Portland and also played in Seattle: "All Northwest Bands." In perhaps the first local write up of HD Radio, "94/7Too" is mentioned in the August 9th issue of the Portland Mercury on page 27 under "Our Town Could Be Your Life." For the record, Entercom only owns five FM stations in the Portland market. You can read it online at http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=387973&category=237893 . SBE RF SAFETY COURSE I hosted the Portland location of the SBE RF Safety Course. Due to bigger things going on in the Entercom building, we had to watch the Webinar in an unused office, projected on the wall, and listen on a speaker phone. But it was all good. Richard Strickland of RF Safety Solutions is a great presenter with vast knowledge, a twisted sense of humor, and great graphics and pictures. FREQUENCY COORDINATION & OTHER STUFF by Everett E. Helm W7EEH CPBE Chapter Chair Director of RF Engineering, OPB Frequency Coordinator, Oregon & SW WA chairman at sbe124 dot org SPRINT/NEXTEL 2 GHZ RELOCATION UPDATE Recently the FCC published a ruling that allowed, but did not require, Sprint to reimburse Broadcast Auxiliary microwave licensees that are associated with LPTV’s and Translators. Sprint has decided to reimburse the relocation expenses for those licensed systems. With the help of NAB, MSTV, and APTS, a very aggressive schedule was recently published that went into effect on August 1st. I think they could see that without resolving quickly the BAS Translator Relay issue, the whole 2 GHz Relocation process could be held up. In return those parties that participated will document and support Sprint in their request to the FCC for an extension of time past the current deadline of September of 2007. We all could see that it was not possible on the previous schedule, although there has been great progress. So OPB, and a few others in the state, will be reimbursed for additional microwave paths not previously covered. For OPB, it means about 15 licenses covering about 20 sites and a system wide solution. FCC FINDS FLAWS IN WHITE SPACE DEVICES (From TVNEWSDAY, Jul. 31, as forwarded by Howard Fine) Prototypes of devices that want to share the broadcast band failed to properly detect other signals and caused interference to TV signals and to wireless microphones, the agency says in test results. FCC engineers are giving a thumbs down to so-called white spaces devices that want to share the broadcasters’ digital TV spectrum. Reporting results of bench and field testing of white space prototypes this afternoon, the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology says that prototypes “do not consistently sense or detect TV broadcast or wireless microphone signals. “Our tests also found the transmitter in the prototype device is capable of causing interference to TV broadcasting and wireless microphones,” the OET report says. The report confirms what broadcasters have been saying all along—the devices will cause “massive interference, said MSTV’s David Donovan. “If they are allowed in this band, it will stop the DTV transition in its tracks,” he said. In releasing the report—Initial Evaluation of the Performance of Prototype TV-Band White Space Devices (OET Report FCC/OET 07-TR-1006)—the FCC asked for comments by Aug. 15 and replies by Aug. 27. Ev’s Comment: Well duh? Our esteemed colleague Charlie Rhodes has been telling us this for months! I’m sure we have not heard the last of this. And when has Good Engineering prevailed at the Commission over BIG money and special interests like the powerful lobby that wants free spectrum for their wireless network boxes? The DTV transition depends on clear spectrum! INTERESTING TV STATS I saw the other day that cable penetration on the Portland DMA was now down to 52%. Satellite was, of course, up some, but the surprising number came from the over-the-air (OTA) viewers which is now up to 22%. At one time, not so long ago, cable was about 75% and OTA was 15%. I wonder if this is a trend as we roll along towards the DTV transition date with the OTA stations providing more choices in programming at better quality, and FREE? Meanwhile cable & satellite prices go up. TASTE OF NAB COMING TO PORTLAND Mark you calendars for September 11th. That’s the regular SBE Chapter 124 meeting date. Larry Bloomfield will be bringing his “Taste of NAB Road Show” to Portland. This year it will be held in the studios of OPB on SW Macadam, just blocks from the usual meeting place. There will NOT be a meeting at the Buffalo Gap in September. We’ll be sending along additional information as a meeting reminder next month, but try to save the date, allow extra time, and plan on attending. W7DTV ARRL FIELD DAY 2007 As Kent reported last month, Field Day for all the ham operators has come and gone for another year. This year it was hosted again out at the W7EEH ranch. In total, about 25 people participated over the course of the three days. We made over 600 contacts, which should yield about 1200 points. Pretty good, considering the poor propagation over the weekend. 40 meters was the most active band, with 75 and 20 following with good QSO counts. Even 6 meters opened up to the Southwest. We also had a great pot luck BBQ.. A good time was had by all! We still plan on posting some pictures at www.W7DTV.us Thanks, CUL, & 73, Ev… PDX RADIO WAVES by Michael D. Brown N7AXC CSRE Brown Broadcast Services, Inc., Portland mike at brownbroadcast.com Mike's column switches to odd months, and so it will appear next month. Mike's company is feverishly preparing for the FCC's non-commercial FM application window. JOBS IN PORTLAND Job Title: Maintenance Engineer Location: Portland, OR Post Date: 7/20/2007 Job #: 1732 Job Description: Repair, maintain, update and install broadcast electronic equipment. Conceptualize and implement new system designs, maintain and update documentation, construction and on going maintenance and calibration programs. Assist in the design, installation, emergency repair, preventive maintenance and technical operation of all equipment within the Company system. Working Conditions: Generally work will be done in a shop or studio environment. May work varying shifts, including, evening, weekdays and holidays. The broadcast facilities are a 24-hour/day operation, this position is required to report to work during inclement weather conditions and respond to emergencies. This position may also be required to be included in the on-call rotation. Some equipment may expose employee to potentially dangerous high voltages and non-ionizing radiation levels. Must be able to lift equipment weighing up to 75 lbs. Qualifications: Required: • Five years experience in Broadcast engineering. • Good oral and written communications and interpersonal skills. • Must be tactful, maintain harmonious relationships with co-workers and interact with co-workers and the general public in a professional and competent manner. • Familiar with Broadcast digital formats including Serial Digital, SD, HD, DVB/ASI, and digital file formats such as Mpeg 2. • Knowledge of video and broadcast fundamentals including broadcast digital video and digital audio. • Understand digital video theory, digital video files formats, and digital video distribution. • Knowledge of video editing fundamentals including at least 2 years of non-linear editing s systems. • Experience working in IP including local area networking, file handling and protocol management as it relates to the broadcast environment. • Experience working with Master Control Automation systems and content management s systems. • Familiarity with both Mac and Microsoft operating systems, knowledge of technical design, construction, maintenance, and operations and the test equipment and tools used. • Knowledge of either CAD and/or Visio. • Valid driver’s license. Preferred: • Working knowledge of broadcast radio is a plus. • Degree in Computer or Electrical Engineering. • Familiarity with Harris automation system. Job Title: Field Engineer I Location: Portland, OR Post Date: 7/18/2007 Job #: 1704 Required Experience: * 5+ years of engineering in a medium/large market radio environment preferred. * Associates degree or equivalent in electronics, communication or related field. * SBE Certification highly desirable. * Experience troubleshooting and repairing failures in broadcast equipment to the module level. * Thorough understanding of the components necessary to broadcast air-chain. * Ability to read & interpret electronic schematics, electrical drawings & construction drawings. * Possess understanding of radio frequency emission theory & application. * Must be able to solder & desolder electronic components without causing damage to the components or PC board. * Good written & verbal communication skills IN BEND Job Title: Broadcast Chief Engineer Company: The Bend Radio Group Location: Bend, OR Post Date: 8/2/2007 Job #: 1758 Minimum Requirements: At least 5-years experience with a good working knowledge of high power AM and FM transmission systems, digital automation, audio delivery systems, networked digital audio consoles, audio processing and STL systems. Responsibilities included but not limited to, being on call 24/7, repair and maintenance of all broadcast and computer network equipment. Requires maintenance of transmitter building(s), backup generator maintenance and station vehicles. Stations must be kept current with respect to all FCC rules and regulations. Candidate must be organized, able to prioritize, manage projects on deadlines and have excellent communication/customer service skills. Must have experience with Microsoft 2000 Pro, XP Pro, Server 2003, Adobe Audition, Scott Studio SS32, Scott Studio TLC and Scott Studio Dispatch. Deadline: September 30, 2007 Salary: Open Notes: If applying by e-mail, the subject line must include job code 072707-SBE. Send cover letter and resume to: HR Dept The Bend Radio Group 705 SW Bonnett Way, Suite 1100 Bend, OR 97702 Email: humanresources at bendradiogroup dot com IN WASHINGTON Job Title: Studio & Remote Engineer Location: Seattle, WA Post Date: 7/30/2007 Job #: 1750 Job Description: Successful candidate will have at least a 2 year A.S. Degree in Electronics Technology or equivalent and five years of radio station technical support experience, including: 1. Remote and live music broadcast operations using Marti, ISDN, Pots and IP based codecs. 2. Familiarity with electronic test equipment and tools in the troubleshooting and repair of studio and remote equipment. 3. Familiarity with personal computer repair and maintenance, including windows-based digital audio editors, storage, automation and LAN operations. 4. Infrastructure wiring and equipment installation and setup techniques, including fabrication of project boxes. 5. Must be able to lift 50 pounds, have good driving record and valid driver’s license and be available for after hours emergency response calls. 6. SBE Certification desirable. Job Title: Master Control Technician (Part Time) Location: Seattle, WA Post Date: 7/26/2007 Job #: 1741 Job Description: Responsibilities include operation of switcher, loading and running programs and spots, tape dubbing, recording satellite feeds, and operation of computer automation system. Requires high school diploma or equivalent, and minimum 2 years commercial TV station master control experience, including satellite feed record operations. Prefer experience with Louth Automation, CompuSat Satellite Automation, digital video and audio signal flow; and experience with 1” type C, Beta Sx, DVC Pro, and D5 video tape formats. SBE operators certificate or FCC general class license preferred. Job Title: Master Control Operator (Full Time) Location: Seattle, WA Post Date: 6/13/2007 Job #: 1633 Job Description: Responsibilities include operation of switcher, loading and running programs and spots, tape dubbing, recording satellite feeds, and operation of computer automation system. Requires high school diploma or equivalent, and minimum 2 years commercial TV station master control experience, including satellite feed record operations. Prefer experience with Louth Automation, CompuSat Satellite Automation, digital video and audio signalflow; and experience with 1? type C, Beta Sx, DVC Pro, and D5 video tape formats. SBE operator?s certificate or FCC general class license preferred. SEARCH TIPS Anyone can see the generic list of job openings on the national SBE site at http://www.sbe.org/cgi-bin/sbe_job_listing.pl?%20type=mem&goto=jl&access= . SBE Members can go to http://www.sbe.org/user_login/?RETURN_URL=http://www.sbe.org/cgi-bin/sbe_job_listing.pl?goto=jl and get all the details. Or, contact the SBE office at 317 846-9000. Please refer to the position you are interested in by Job Number. Don't forget to check the Oregon Association of Broadcasters (OAB) Employment pages at http://www.theoab.org/jobs_radio.htm and http://www.theoab.org/jobs_tv.htm , as well as http://newradiostar.com/jobs.htm which lists the top 100 best places to look for jobs on the net. ON THE CALENDAR August 11 (Saturday) Radio Club of Tacoma, Hamfest and Electronics Fleamarket, Bethel Junior High School, Spanaway, WA. See http://wwwlw7dk.org. August 12 (Sunday) SBE Chapter of the Air, 0000 GMT, second Sunday of the month. Hal Hostetler WA7BGX in Tucson, AZ is Net Control. The published frequency is 14.205 MHz. Occasionally, that frequency is busy and you may need to move up (no more than 10 kHz) to find the SBE meeting. August 14 (Tuesday) Monthly Portland SBE Chapter 124 meeting, noon. See http://www.sbe124.org . August 15 (Wednesday) Monthly Eugene SBE Chapter 76 meeting, 11:30 AM. See http://www.sbe76.org . August 16 (Thursday) Monthly Medford SBE Chapter 141 meeting, noon. See http://www.sbe141.org . August 18 (Saturday) IRLP version of SBE's HamNet. Net meets the first and third Saturdays of the month at 10 AM. See http://www.qsl.net/ke0vh/SBEhamnet.html August 18 (Saturday) Pendleton Amateur Radio Club Swapmeet, Hawthorne School. See http://w7pl.com . September 1 (Saturday) IRLP version of SBE's HamNet. Net meets the first and third Saturdays of the month at 10 AM. See http://www.qsl.net/ke0vh/SBEhamnet.html September 9 (Sunday) SBE Chapter of the Air, 0000 GMT, second Sunday of the month. Hal Hostetler WA7BGX in Tucson, AZ is Net Control. The published frequency is 14.205 MHz. Occasionally, that frequency is busy and you may need to move up (no more than 10 kHz) to find the SBE meeting. September 11 (Tuesday) Monthly Portland SBE Chapter 124 meeting, noon. See http://www.sbe124.org . September 12 (Wednesday) Monthly Eugene SBE Chapter 76 meeting, 11:30 AM. See http://www.sbe76.org . September 13 (Thursday) Monthly Medford SBE Chapter 141 meeting, noon. See http://www.sbe141.org . September 15 (Saturday) IRLP version of SBE's HamNet. Net meets the first and third Saturdays of the month at 10 AM. See http://www.qsl.net/ke0vh/SBEhamnet.html September 21 (Friday) Last day to apply to take an SBE Certification Exam in the November 9-19 local window. See http://www.sbe.org/cert_exam_sched.php . SBE NATIONAL 9102 North Meridian Street, Suite 150 Indianapolis, IN 46260 Phone: 317-846-9000 Fax: 317-846-9120 http://www.sbe.org FREQUENCY COORDINATION For southwestern Washington and ALL of Oregon: >1 GHz call Everett "Ed" Helm W7EEH at 503-977-7752, fax 503 293-4877, or e-mail microwave at sbe124.org; <1 GHz call Mike Steiner KD6LVP at 503-235-8517, fax 503-231-4624, or e-mail under1gig at sbe124.org. You can browse the database at http://www.sbe124.org/part_74/. If you are not IN the database, you are NOT coordinated. MONTHLY SBE LUNCH IN PORTLAND At noon on the second Tuesday of every month, broadcast engineers in Portland meet at The Buffalo Gap Saloon & Eatery, 6835 SW Macadam (at SW California), 503-244-7111. After their lot fills up, you'll be searching the narrow streets for blocks around for a space, so get there early. For more information see http://www.thebuffalogap.com . For directions, go to http://www.sbe124.org/SBE124_maps.html. For chapter information call Everett "Ed" Helm at 503-977-7752, or e-mail chairman at sbe124 dot org. As usual, everyone, member or not, is welcome to attend. SBE 124 OFFICERS. ETC. Chapter Chair/Frequency Coordination for Oregon and SW WA >1 GHz Everett Helm W7EEH CPBE chairman at sbe124 dot org Oregon Public Broadcasting 503-977-7752 Portland Chapter Vice-Chair Phil Kane K2ASP P.E. vice chair at sbe124 dot org CSI Telecommunications 503-292-2350 Beaverton Treasurer Eric Dausman KD7DNM CBNT treasurer at sbe124 dot org KGW 8 503-226-5000 Portland Secretary/Portland-Vancouver EAS/Newsletter Editor & Circulation/Webmaster: Kent Randles K7YXZ CBRE secretary at sbe124 dot org Entercom-Portland 503-535-0482 Certification: Eric Margeson W7OSN CPBE certification at sbe124 dot org KOIN 6 Portland 503-464-0860 Oregon EAS: Chris "Ichabod" Murray ichabod at kknu dot fm McKenzie Broadcasting Eugene 541-484-9400 Frequency Coordination <1 GHz Mike Steiner KD6LVP under1gig at sbe124 dot org KATU 2 Portland 503-235-8517 National SBE Liaison/National EAS: Clay Freinwald K7CR CPBE k7cr at blarg dot net Entercom-Seattle 206-343-9700 Newsletter Contributor: Michael Brown N7AXC CSRE mike at brownbroadcast dot com Brown Broadcast Services Portland 503-245-6065