December 5, 2022 View as Webpage

ABA Engineering Webinar – ATSC 3.0

Our December Engineering Webinar will be held Tuesday December 20^th at 10:00 AM Central Time. We are excited to have ATSC’s TG3 Vice Chair and Brazil Implementation Team Chair Skip Pizzi as our special guest.

Skip will present a comprehensive overview of the ATSC 3.0 standard and the NextGen TV features it enables for consumers. Options for broadcasters’ transition from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0 in the US are also covered.

We urge Television engineers to encourage all their technical staff to join in on this most important webinar. Radio engineers can learn a lot from this webinar as well.

Register for this special webinar by clicking here.

If you would like to see past webinars, visit the ABA Engineering Academy YouTube channel.

Year End Review

The end of a year brings about several duties for the engineer. One is to check the status of the "Station Log". These logs are required to be maintained for a period of two (2) years. Now is a good time to review these and put them together either manually or electronically for the entire year.

For AM stations, review the status of the NRSC reports which like the Station Log, are required to be maintained for a period of two (2) years.

Pick up new notebook for your all-important "maintenance log" for the new year.

Organize your 2023 calendar for major events (conventions, SBE meetings, etc), installations, and preventive maintenance items. 

Above all during 2023 get control of your use of time. There is an old Japanese proverb that says “A man who chases two rabbits doesn’t deserve one”.

The closest equivalent proverb in English is “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” In other words, it is best to focus on just one thing at a time, rather than have your attention scattered in multiple directions. As a broadcast engineer, we should always try to tackle one project to finish before moving on to another.

VSWR 101

When setting up an antenna and transmitter system, it is important to avoid impedance mismatching anywhere in the system. Any mismatch means some proportion of the output wave is reflected back toward the transmitter and the system becomes inefficient.  When reflection occurs, standing waves are produced in the cable.

At some points along the line the reflective wave and the forward wave will meet in phase where the resultant voltage is at a maximum (anti-node). At other points the two waves will be out of phase and therefore the resultant voltage will be at a minimum (node).

Not only is this a waste of energy, but because of the voltage nodes and anti-nodes, damage to the transmission line can occur if the anti-node develops a positive voltage that exceeds the transmission line voltage rating.

Engineers should monitor the VSWR regularly to insure nothing has happen to cause a reflection.

Important EAS Information

As Broadcasters are aware, the FCC has become concerned about the “operational readiness” of the nation’s Emergency Alert System (EAS). It appears that there are a lot of stations operating with non-compliant EAS units. The main issue is units using out-of-date software, followed closely by incorrect monitor sources, defective equipment, and failure to maintain a “station log”. It may sound strange, but there are even stations that have no EAS equipment at all.

Stations are encouraged to make sure their EAS unit is operating with the most current software; login username and password is changed from the default; set up a schedule to update login at least quarterly; and review the monitor assignments that have been assigned by the State Emergency Communications Committee or EAS committee in your state.

Here is a list of the most recent firmware for the three models of EAS devices in use today.

DasDec: Firmware 4.4

This can be found on the front panel display and on any of the web pages in the upper right-hand corner under the Digital Alert Systems logo.

Sage Alerting Systems 

Most recent version of software for the Sage Endec is 95.00 with security patch CR rev6. Sage will have a software update to provide the CAP prioritization and text changes. Availability and cost will be announced early next year.

Gorman-Redlich

The most up to date software for their radio units is V9.80.0.2 and for TV, it is V20.9.12.

 Job Openings

Alabama Public Television Network

APT has an opening for South Alabama as entry level technician. Contact Windell Wood at [email protected]