SBE 36 Welcomes “Blue”

Chapter 36 welcomes new member LaDarien LaBlue. He’s a broadcast engineer at KGTV 10 and word has it he’s fast learner and a strong contributor to the team.

“I come from a pure HR and IT background working at illumina for past seven years as Senior Executive IT Technician. I played baseball at LSU and Northwestern State University. I’m from Louisiana and have 4 older brothers and a beautiful daughter named Jordyn. I love what I do here at KGTV.

“It’s really no different, other than things move very fast in broadcast. What I’m learning is that most broadcast equipment is going IP-based and I’m really excited about that.”

Transfer of San Diego’s Lincoln Financial Stations to Entercom Complete

The FCC today announced the approval of transferring ownership of Lincoln Financial radio stations to Entercom. In San Diego, this includes rocker KBZT 94.9 MHz, country KSON 97.3 MHz, and soft rock KIFM 98.1 MHz, In Escondido, this includes the KSON repeater Class A KSOQ 92.1 MHz.The Department of Justice still has to approve the buy-out from an antitrust perspective.If approved, Entercom will own over 110 stations in 26 markets. Entercom took over management of Lincoln Financial stations early this year with a limited marketing agreement (LMA).

Bill Eisenhamer continues to lead the local engineering effort and reports no major changes yet.

July Meeting: What’s New at Nautel

For several decades, the technological, bandwidth, and cost differences between television and radio made them two different electronic media. Information technology erases many of those differences. For example, IBOC has provisions for video while ATSC has provisions for radio, and IP has provisions for both. If broadcast engineering was separated into TV and radio in the past, this generation of engineers is divided between the over-the-air and content technologists. Broadcasting’s future is always bright and the nature of its creators, transmission, content and business plans constantly changing. There are practical things broadcast engineers can do for their stations and themselves, and some things broadcast engineers at some level already mostly know we can expect of the future.

Nautel has been working on both TV and radio transmitters of late, and are especially known for their products’ condition reporting that leads to predictive servicing and a tight design loop.

Join us Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 12 noon at KFMB, 7677 Engineer Road in Kearny Mesa, San Diego. Nautel buys lunch.

About Our Guest Speaker

Fred Baumgartner, CPBE, is a fellow in the Society of Broadcast Engineers, a trustee of the Ennes Foundation, Fellow of the Radio Club of America and Nautel’s TV product manager. Fred was Director of Broadcast Engineering for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO project. Previously, he directed Leitch/Harris’ Systems Engineering group. Up to that time, he served as Director of Engineering for the Comcast Media Center in Denver. Before joining the satellite and cable origination world, he held the positions of Chief Engineer in Denver, Indianapolis, and Madison. Fred was also heavily involved with the development of EAS, and has authored several hundred articles on radio and TV engineering.

Matthew Anderson Gets CBRE Certification

Matthew Anderson, the latest addition to iHeartMedia’s engineering crew, passed his SBE Certified Broadcast Radio Engineering exam earlier in June.

Congratulations Matt!

If you would like to get an SBE certification, they’re easier than ever to study for with the study guide CD. Tests are given periodically in San Diego. For more information check out our information page.

KHHS to Stay Silent

After years of non-operation, Horizon Christian Fellowship’s low power station, KHHS-LP at 107.5 in La Jolla (near the intersection of Genesee and La Jolla Village Dr.), finally met its end. The FCC announced this week that it was pulling its license and deleting the callsign. An attorney for Horizon wrote the FCC stating that the station could not return to the air by the June 25, 2015, the date of an the expiration of their last Special Temporary Authority to remain silent.

The station has filed since 2007 for STAs to allow it to remain off-the-air, complaining in FCC STA filings about nagging co-channel interference from KLVE 107.5 MHz in Los Angeles.

The station had filed for a move to 103.3 MHz, but that application became moot when they chose not to return to the air by the June deadline.

Society of Broadcast Engineers