Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

July 20, 2026 View as Webpage

July Engineering Webinar Tomorrow

Over the years the C-Band satellite spectrum (3.7 to 4.2 GHz) has been the major system used by radio and television networks to deliver programming to their affiliates.

In 2020, the FCC moved to make 280 megahertz of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz band available for flexible terrestrial use by repacking existing satellite operations into the upper 200 megahertz of the band and reserving a 20 megahertz guard band, while conducting a public auction of the cleared spectrum.

Now the FCC has proposed rules for a further auction of the upper C band — 3.98 to 4.2 GHz — targeting completion by 2027, with Congress mandating a minimum of 100 megahertz be cleared for competitive bidding under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in 2025.

This upper segment still carries active satellite services serving cable and broadcast customers in the United States, meaning a second, smaller version of the 2020 reallocation process is now underway.



Mark Johnson with Linkup Communications will join us on the July 21st ABA Engineering Webinar to sort out the changes and what it will it will mean to C-band users. The webinar will start at 10:00 AM central time. Click here to join in.

ABA Engineering Academy

Registration is open for the fall schedule of Broadcast Engineering classes offered by the ABA Engineering Services. Seating is limited so get your registration in to ensure a seat.

These courses are intended for individuals at all levels of experience, including newcomers and experienced engineers, as well as those seeking to deepen their understanding of the technical aspects of broadcasting.

The next Radio Engineering class will be offered the week of September 28th – October 2nd. The television class is scheduled October 26th – 30th.



This 5-day class is held at the ABA Training Center in Hoover, AL (Birmingham). Discount rates for students are available at area hotels. More information about daily subjects covered and online registration is available here.

ATSC Revisions

ATSC has completed a major revision of its A/85 Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television, marking the first comprehensive update to the industry reference since 2013.

A/85 is a standard developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) that provides guidelines for managing audio loudness in digital television. It aims to ensure consistent loudness levels across various content types, helping to prevent abrupt loudness changes during transitions between programs or advertisements.

The newly revised ATSC Recommended Practice modernizes the document with numerous technical clarifications.  

Guidance for establishing and maintaining consistent loudness for streaming media services using both metadata-based and non-metadata-based audio codecs along with a new Loudness and True Peak Quick Reference designed to simplify implementation for engineers and content providers.

More specifically, the revised A/85 Recommended Practice provides recommendations for audio measurement, monitoring, production, metadata management, dynamic-range control and loudness management throughout the content creation and delivery chain.

Check your Equipment Firmware

As we have been reporting, the FCC has issued a notice concerning cybersecurity rule changes, which will require all stations to verify proper firmware and passwords on any equipment that could provide unauthorized access to the station air chain.

Sage Alerting Systems has issued some guidelines for implementing new passwords and firmware updates for Sage Endecs.

One important note if you are changing your ENDEC’s password to meet the new FCC requirements, do not use the ampersand (&) or plus (+) character in your new password. 



Sage will release a free update later this year that fixes some bugs, including permitting the use of & and + in the password. You do not need to wait for that update to implement the new password requirements if you avoid those characters.

Click here for information on implementing the update in Sage Endec.

Password Generator

As previously above, the FCC has voted to revise the rules for any internet-accessible device in your program stream.

These changes are intended to strengthen protection against unauthorized access.

One of the items involves updating passwords to one that has a minimum of 15 characters. Barry Mishkind posted in his Desktop Resource an article about a free software created by Ken Fine which utilized an AI structure to provide a simple password generator over which you have total control.

Complete information is available here.

Pro Audio – What is Most Important?

Church FOH engineers shouldn’t walk out after the service is over saying: “wish I had blended the background vocals better on the special.”

People remember something much deeper. They remember whether they encountered Jesus.

Music matters, and excellence is important. But worship is the priority. Our greatest responsibility is not to make every mix flawless, but to help people respond to God by keeping the vocal clear, where the message is carried.

Rather than focusing on background vocals, we should ask one question: How can I help someone move closer to Jesus during this Sunday’s service? That is what it means to shepherd people musically.

53rd floor please and hop to it, I have a steak calling my name.