Monday Morning Coffee and Technical Notes

May 5, 2025 View as Webpage

SBE Offers New Certification Practice Exams

The Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) has released its popular CertPreview practice exams in a new, online format. SBE CertPreview allows people preparing to take an SBE certification exam to evaluate their readiness through the sample tests. The sample tests have been offered in software formats for decades. The new SBE CertPreview is a web-based system, which allows the sample tests to be used on nearly any device format.



Once purchased, multiple certification levels can be accessed at any time. The online app has been tested on the popular browsers on the major device platforms. When sample questions are updated or added, they will automatically be available to users without needing to reinstall anything.

To purchase the new SBE CertPreview, go to www.sbe.org/certpreview.  

 May Webinar

The 2025 NAB, held in Las Vegas is now over and all the equipment and personnel have returned to their respective companies. If you miss this year’s convention or would like a review, plan to join us May 20^th at 10:00 AM central for our regular monthly Engineering Webinar.

Paul McLane Editor-in-Chief Radio World will be our special guest to share the latest in equipment and information presented at this year’s convention.

Paul probably wore out 3 pairs of shoes walking the floor gathering information for this presentation. 

online registration is available here.

ABIP Seminar

The ABA Engineering Academy is excited to announce it will offer a special two-day seminar covering the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program (ABIP).

This live training seminar is designed for current ABIP inspectors and those that are interested in becoming an inspector. We also have opened the seminar up to any engineer that is interested in learning more about the inspection program. The seminar is offered at no cost by the Alabama Broadcasters Association.

We have scheduled the seminar for August 18^th & 19^th, 2025. On the first day we will be in the classroom, going over the inspection details (Online public files, EAS, Transmitter site and basic operational items). The second day will feature on-site mock inspections at area broadcast transmitters (AM, FM and Television).

The class will be held at the ABA Training Center, 2180 Parkway Lake Drive in Hoover, AL (Birmingham). It will start at 8:30 AM central both days. Instructors are John George, ABIP inspector for South Carolina and Larry Wilkins ABIP inspector for Alabama.

You can register online here. On the registration page is a list of area hotels that have special reduced prices for attendees.

From Washington

The FCC has announced that the effective date for increasing its application fees is May 23. The increase, due to changes in the Consumer Price Index, will average around 17%. The FCC is required by congress to adjust its fees to reflect inflation.

On another subject, the Commission is keeping a close eye on LPFM stations operating with a Transmitter Power Output (TPO) that exceeds licensed parameters. They recently issued Notices of Violation against two LPFM stations in Florida for operating more than eight and nine times their authorized power. This should serve as a reminder for broadcast engineers that have contracted to install and maintain LPFM’s should ensure these stations are operating legally. This includes TPO, number of bays and location.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has ended its hold on grants worth $38 million for public broadcasters, allowing stations to upgrade infrastructure for a more resilient public alerting system. Bipartisan support from US senators played a crucial role in urging FEMA to release grant money for public broadcasting upgrades, highlighting the importance placed on enhancing public alert systems across the country.

Now President Trump has signed (last Thursday) an executive order to de-fund Public Broadcasting. We will have to wait and see if and how this effects the grant money for PBS operations upgrades.

Continuing Education – Component Video



Component Video is a common way to connect consumer home-theater equipment such as flat panels, televisions and VCRs or DVDs together. It carries a 4:2:2 YCrCb analog signal in separate form over a three-coax patch cable. Often the connectors are labeled as Y, PB, PR. Or may be label red, blue, and green.

color information is broken out into pieces to keep red, green and blue separate. However, instead of delivering red, green and blue as such, component video is what is known as a "color-difference" signal.

To reduce the number of connections from five to three, the horizontal and vertical sync signals are combined with one of these signals, so that we have three connections.

read a detailed description of Component Video in our latest “Continuing Education Series”

Pro Audio – Distractions

When serving as FOH at a church or any live event, one of the more important items is to “pay attention to what is happening on the stage”. 

Avoiding any distractions makes this task easier (leave cell phone in your pocket).

Following the order of events is important but staying alert to possible changes that are happening on the stage is critical. Most times you almost have to get into the “look ahead” mode so not to don’t miss a mike cue.

In a musical event, knowing which artist is going to have the lead (either vocal or instrument) on each song.

With speakers be prepare for last minute additional guests and changes in the order of events. It’s always a good idea to a spare microphone somewhere on the stage for unexpected participants (making sure the worship leader or pastor knows where it is).

If the program will have extra audio sources such as videos, or audio from off site will be used, precheck those sources well in advance of the event. I once had a service where the pastor spoke live with a missionary overseas via a telephone call.  

As the Boy Scout motto says "Be Prepared".

Guess that would be called "Bowl Slapback"