Everything about Chapter 124 is summed up in the monthly
August 2011 Newsletter
(below the list of advertisers)
| Representative | Web site |
Business
card |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Abbott | Belden Electronics Division |  |
| Michael Bach WB6FFC |
|
|
| Al Jason | Harris Broadcast (Radio) |  |
| Tom Franklin | Norcom |  |
| Matt Granard | Westlake Electronic Supply |  |
| Joe Harrington | Harrington Tower Services |  |
| Gray Haertig | Gray Frierson Haertig & Associates |  |
| Bryan Jones | Broadcast Electronics |  |
| Matt Leland | Dielectric |  |
| John Pierce | Tektronix |  |
| Robert Rogers | Broadcast Tower Services |  |
| Larry Sayer | Rohde & Schwarz |  |
| Debbie Storz | Econco |  |
| Ellis Terry | Nautel |  |
| Bob Trimble N7IYI |
RF Specialties |  |
| Michael Troje | Continental Electronics |  |
| Brian Walker | Professional Video & Tape, Inc. |  |
Snail mail:
SBE Chapter 124
PO Box 1727
Portland, OR 97207-1727
You may use excerpts if attributed to the original
source and
"Water Cooled Newsletter" SBE Chapter 124, Portland, OR
In order to prevent e-mail addresses from being "mined" and then spammed, there are no longer clickable links to e-mail addresses, or intact e-mail addresses. For the addresses shown, substitute "@" for "at" and "." for "dot." Thanks!
| WHEN: |
Tuesday August 9th, Noon |
|
| WHERE: | Buffalo Gap Saloon &
Eatery 6835 SW Macadam (at California) Portland 503-244-7111 |
|
| WHAT: |
Advanced Broadcast
Solutions is proud to bring an informative session (and lunch!) from Grass
Valley.
Program description: “While service oriented architecture (SOA) has been a common structural approach in the computer industry for quite a while, it has only recently entered the broadcast conversation. So recently in fact that there is still a lack of clarity about exactly what an SOA is. SOA can provide three distinct advantages. First a properly implemented SOA is organized around outcomes not technology: the tools are defined by the tasks not the other way around. Second, it bridges a number of systems, bringing the functionality to the user as required. Third, it is based on the concept of “services,” which can be delivered by small packages of dedicated code, connecting and communicating through simple, open interfaces.” Representatives from Grass Valley as well as Mark Siegel and Dave Spraker from ABS are scheduled to be at the meeting. In addition, they invite all of you to their Harris Road Tour featuring the all new Selenio media convergence platform coming next week to Portland (8/3) and Eugene (8/4). See their website for more information: http://www.advancedbroadcastsolutions.com/
|
Almost all the presentations are made at the meetings of all three Oregon SBE Chapters.
The Eugene meeting is usually the day after the Portland meeting.
The Medford meeting is usually two days after the Portland meeting.
The Portland meetings are held at lunchtime on the second Tuesday of every month. Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings. When you get to the Buffalo Gap, go in the SW California Street-side door, turn left, and go upstairs. We have the whole upper floor, which has its own bathrooms. Be sure to get there early, because after the Gap's parking lot fills up you'll be searching the narrow streets for blocks around to find a place to park. 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. For a map and directions see http://www.sbe124.org/SBE124_maps.html .
Gary Beebe, Special Products Engineer for BSW did a presentation on the Sage Digital Endec.
CAP is coming...are you ready?
TBD
by Kent Randles K7YXZ CBRE
Senior Engineer, Entercom-Portland
Co-Chair, Portland/Vancouver LAECC
Chapter Secretary/Newsletter Editor
the_secretary at sbe124 dot org
http://www.opb.org/insideopb/careers/jobs/
http://sharing.govdelivery.com/bulletins/GD/USDHSFEMA-15DACE
From the National EAS remailer, http://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/eas
Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 13:04:06 -0400
From: Ira Wilner
Subject: [EAS] SAGE Alerting Systems new EAS box audio level issues & fixes
To: The EAS Forum - accurate & up-to-date EAS information
I received this missive from our local NWS folks. Apparently the new Sage Endec internal levels are problematic and can under certain circumstances cause serious audio clipping and as I discovered bleed through of unwanted audio when the audio mux chips are overdriven. I had issues during a recent Amber alert. It would be nice to clean this up before the nationwide EAN test since some of us may end up with multiple sources feeding the same alert simultaneously.
--Ira
**************************************************************************
From: Herbert White
Organization: National Weather Service
First, thanks to John Koch, Glenn Field, Dave Nicosia and others in the Eastern Region for researching and passing the initial information to the rest of us.
This is an update with additional information from this afternoon's Eastern Region WCM call. Harold Price, Sage Alerting Solutions chief software engineer, discussed the problem and gave some additional information that may be helpful. First to summarize the issue:
After the Springfield Massachusetts tornado in June the NWS received
complaints that the audio of the Tornado Warning was unintelligible on multiple
EAS stations in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Eastern Region HQ and Taunton WFO investigated.
The same problem occurred with an AMBER Alert in Massachusetts, helping to rule
out NWR as the root cause of the problem.
The problem appears to with volume settings on a new Sage Digital Endec-3644
EAS box that has been installed to meet the new EAS CAP deadline (September 30).
The audio problem appears to occur in messages that are set for Automatic Relay
and immediately passed through, like Tornado Warnings, and possibly any messages
that are longer than 20 seconds.
The problem apparently does not happen during a Required Weekly Test or during a
short Required Monthly Test that are typically 10 seconds or so in length and
set for Time Relay for 60 minutes.
Harold Price reported this afternoon that Sage Alerting Systems will be taking the following actions:
Clarify existing instructions for the one and only new Sage Digital ENDEC
(-3644, the one with the bright blue front panel).
Sage will issue a Service Bulletin in August.
Sage will put a notice on their website, http://www.sagealertingsystems.com/
by Friday of this week.
Sage will send an email notice of the problem to their customer email list this
week.
Confirmed Sage will issue a software update by the end of August.
Harold Price also wrote the following:
We are doing four things to help stations get their audio adjusted properly.
1) Fine tune the VU meter applet on the ENDEC's web page to better highlight that the input is clipped.
2) Allow the user to set an individual channel input gain value, and to set the default for this more closely to the 1822 ENDEC gain.
3) Automatically check the alert output to make sure it isn't clipped, and turn it down if necessary.
4) Correct a bug in the menu.show input levels display where full scale ends a the "p" in "up".
We plan to put out a software update in August that will address these issues.
From Dane E. Ericksen, P.E., CSRTE, 8-VSB, CBNT
The 2,025-2,110 MHz TV BAS band is unfortunately shared with Part 25 Earth Exploration Satellite Service (EESS) stations, so those stations are entitled to use that band for uplinking. However, since EESS and TV BAS are co-primary, the proposed newcomer EESS uplink has to demonstrate protection of earlier-in-time 2 GHz ENG operations. That's generally impossible to do if the proposed uplink will be in the same market as the ENG operations, and would have line-of-sight to even a single ENG-RO. Of course, this assumes that the local TV Pickup licensee has availed itself to the 2008 change by the Commission, allowing TV Pickup licensees to document in the ULS the location and height of their ENG-RO site(s); this was the result of about six years of effort by SBE (RM-11308). If a TV station hasn't yet modified its TV Pickup license to show the ENG-RO sites, shame on it. The good news is it's not too late to do so.
This year the venue rotated to Gray Haertig's house, right next door to the Stonehenge Tower. The weather was perfect and we had about 40 folks show up. Pictures are by me unless noted otherwise.
|
Cake courtesy of RF Specialties of WA. It was VERY good. |
|
Chef Gray Haertig. |
|
SBE 124 Chapter Chair Ev and Chef Tom Cauthers load up their plates. |
|
A majority of the diners ate on the deck. |
|
The obligatory Stonehenge Tower tour by site manager Mike Brown. |
 |
Members of the Seattle and Eugene contingents, in this
case, from left to right, SBE 16 Chair Clay Freinwald, Oregon State
Emergency Communications Committee Chair Chris Murray, and SBE 16 Vice
Chair Gary Engard.
(Picture by Debbie Broeffle) |
 |
Networking.
(Picture by Debbie Broeffle) |
|
When it comes to feedline bullets, size does matter.
The bullet on the left is from the line between the output |
Click here to go to the SBE124 Facebook page. You'll want to "like" it.
There are 14 FM HD signals (twelve with HD2, and one of those has an HD3) and usually three AM HD signals on the air in the Portland market. Go here for a complete list.
There are now over 1000 multicast stations and 100 HD Radios to choose from. See the buyer's guide here.
1520 KKXA Everett, WA is on the air with HD at 10 kW non-D. They are "stunting" by playing snippets of songs with "radio" in the title.
The Society of Broadcast Engineers has
announced the opening of the SBE University; a series of on-line, on-demand
courses designed to bring expert instruction on a variety of technical
radio and television topics to broadcast engineers at an affordable price.
Beat the recession with these all-new, affordable "nuts and bolts" courses available to take anytime at your convenience. No travel, hotel or other costs to eat up your limited training budget, these courses are developed by experts for the SBE.
The Society of Broadcast Engineers offers numerous levels and types of certifications for broadcast technicians and engineers.
Operator Level Certifications
Broadcast Networking Certification
Engineering Level Certifications
Specialist Certifications
Exams are given several times a year locally, and annually at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas.
Exam schedule:
| Exam Date/Window | Location | Application Deadline |
| October 23 - 2 PM | AES Convention -NYC | pre-registration and on site registration |
| November 4-14 | Local Chapters | September 16 |
| February 3-13, 2012 | Local Chapers | December 31 |
| April 17, 2012 | NAB convention | March 23, 2012 |
| June 1-11, 2012 | Local Chapters | April 13, 2012 |
| August 3-13, 2012 | Local Chapters | June 1, 2012 |
| November 2-12, 2012 | Local Chapters | September 14, 2012 |
For information, e-mail our Chapter Certification Chair, Eric Margeson certification at sbe124 dot org.
The new SBE CertPreview will be a download from the SBE website or you may choose to have the CD mailed to you. The program will be installed onto your computer and will be machine specific. The program will be available for Windows and Mac. Each sample test contains 100-150 questions typical of those found on an actual exam. You will take the exam in its entirety and be able to mark and review questions before scoring your sample exam. By scoring the exam, you will be given a percentage and a breakdown of categories contained within the exam. This will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. You will also be able to revisit questions that you answered wrong.
Cost is: $29 for the download (per test)
or $33 for the CD (per test)
add $3 per CD for shipping/handling
* Multiple tests can be purchased on one CD
Click here for the fillable order form
From Jack Roland KEØVH
The net meets on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month (except in August) at 10 AM Pacific Time. The SBE IRLP HAMnet is based in Denver using the NØPQV Rocky Mountain Radio League repeater, IRLP node #3350, And national and worldwide via the IRLP reflector 9615. All of this information can also be referenced at http://www.sbe.org/sections/IRLP.php.
See http://www.eham.net/articles/25478 .
To find a node in your area you can go to the www.irlp.net website, click on the "Node Info" on the left, then click on the "List of nodes and frequencies" in the middle of the page. In a moment a full list of node numbers, cities, countries and the like will appear and do a page search for you city. When the node is highlighted click on the node number and that repeater information will appear, usually with contact information of the trustee/repeater owner. When you have done this and are able to access your node (usually at 4 digit code on the local repeater unless it is a closed club system), you will want to connect to the Denver Reflector Node #9615.
If you need further help contact me at KEØVH at qsl dot net .
[A good Portland node is 3420, N7PIR at 440.450 with a PL of 103.5 Hz, now located on the Skyline Tower. SBE 124 <1 GHz frequency coordinator Mike Steiner KD6LVP is the trustee. See http://www.qsl.net/n7pir .]
For southwestern Washington and ALL of Oregon: >1 GHz call Ev 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.
Event notices are sent to members of the sbe-pdx e-mail list. To sign up, go to http://lists.radiolists.net/mailman/listinfo/sbe-pdx .
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. Enter on the California side, take the first left, and go up the stairs. We have the entire 2nd floor and our own bathrooms. Get there early, because after the Gap's lot fills up, you'll be searching the narrow streets for blocks around to find a place to park. For more information on the restaurant see http://www.thebuffalogap.com . For directions, go to http://www.sbe124.org/SBE124_maps.html. For chapter information call Chapter 124 Chair Ev Helm at 503-977-7752, or e-mail chairman at sbe124 dot org. As usual, anyone, member or not, is welcome to attend.
