All posts by Gary Stigall

The EAS Song

Some people can’t help but play with the artificial intelligence engine ChatGPT in ways that will make you cringe. Richard Rudman, EAS volunteer California State Emergency Coordination Committee Vice-Chair from Santa Paula sent us this little ditty he had ChatGPT compose. The best I can think of as a tune to sing it to is, “This Land is Your Land,” but the meter changes impossibly. Give it a go:

In the dead of night, when all is still,
A sound breaks through, a warning shrill,
It’s the Emergency Alert System, here to say,
Stay alert, stay safe, come what may.

(Chorus)
Oh, the Emergency Alert System,
A voice of caution, a call to listen,
When danger looms, it’s there to warn,
From storms to emergencies, day or morn.

(Verse 2)
Through the airwaves, the message spreads,
A lifeline in times of dread,
With its distinct tone and urgent plea,
It echoes across the land, for you and me.

(Chorus)
Oh, the Emergency Alert System,
A voice of caution, a call to listen,
When danger looms, it’s there to warn,
From storms to emergencies, day or morn.

(Bridge)
From tornadoes to floods, and everything between,
The EAS keeps us informed, a trusted machine,
With its alerts and updates, we stay aware,
In times of crisis, it shows it cares.

(Verse 3)
So let’s heed the call, when it rings out,
Follow the instructions, without a doubt,
For the Emergency Alert System is here,
To guide us through, to calm our fear.

(Chorus)
Oh, the Emergency Alert System,
A voice of caution, a call to listen,
When danger looms, it’s there to warn,
From storms to emergencies, day or morn.

(Outro)
So remember, my friend, when the sirens blare,
The Emergency Alert System is there,
To keep us safe, to keep us strong,
In unity, we’ll face whatever comes along.

June Online Meeting: KNBC Transmitter Engineer Dennis Doty Talks About His Years Atop Mount Wilson

Dennis Doty spends his days working on the mountain above the Los Angeles Basin making sure KNBC doesn’t miss a precious minute of airtime. It’s an interesting job, and he has a few things to say about the job he’s had for over 15 years. Dennis will cover some advice:

  • Sometimes we need to listen to the weather guy
  • Be prepared for rare events
  • Expect the unexpected
  • Do the best with what you have to work with
  • Don’t become a liability
  • Recover and work as a community

Join SBE 47 and 36 for Dennis’s Zoom presentation on Tuesday, June 13, at 11:30 AM PDT.

About Our Speaker, Dennis Doty

Dennis is a broadcast engineer with over 38 years in TV broadcasting.  Fresh out of high school in the Imperial Valley, he started in master control at KECY El Centro back in the days before automation.  They aired from satellite, film,  ¾” UMatic, 1” and even quad 2″ tape formats.  Dennis worked his way up through directing and technical directing, offline and online editing, then to station engineering at KESQ Palm Springs, FNN, Disney Channel and a few others. 

In 2000, Dennis became Chief Engineer for XETV Fox 6 San Diego on the first Avid/Grass Valley disk-drive-based news operation, a proving ground to the automated newsroom systems we have today.  After leaving Fox 6 he came back into LA working with a group of stations that lead him up to Mt Wilson.  After a few years Dennis was contacted by NBC about joining their transmitter team on Mt. Wilson.

Dennis has been with NBC / Telemundo on Mt. Wilson and  Mt. Harvard for over 15 years.  Currently he is responsible for all NBC site operations.  They man the site daily and 24/7 during extreme weather and fires.

Jeff Crane Joins KPBS

KPBS-FM/TV Senior Engineering Manager Kevin Schrader told us that Jeff Crane joined their staff in April as a Broadcast Engineer. Jeff comes from KSWB-TV Fox 5 where he was a Broadcast IT Engineer for three years. He had previously worked with KSTS (TV) in San Jose, and as a freelance entertainment event technician in various roles.

May Meeting: Perry Priestley of Broadcast Electronics

Elenos, Italian manufacturer of FM broadcast transmitters, acquired Broadcast Electronics in Quincy, Illinois, a highly regarded US manufacturer of AM, FM, and TV transmitters. BE has been known for years for its high quality transmitters, and Elenos has gained market share for their compact FM devices. Perry Priestley will update us on their lines and philosophies, sharing stories along the way.

Join us in an online presentation Tuesday, May 9th, at 11:30 AM organized by Chapter 47 of Los Angeles. Here’s the Zoom Link for registration.

About Perry

Perry Priestley has worked in the professional broadcast industry for over 49 years. He joined Broadcast Electronics in June 2019 in the position of Chief Operating Officer and he’s now the Chief Sales Officer. Previously he held the position of CEO at Anywave Communication Technologies Inc. He has also held positions in Sales and Business Development with Linear Industries Brazil, Ibiquity Digital Corporation (now Xperi), Thales-France (now Thomson Broadcast), EEV-Marconi, and Philips (Pye TVT) in the UK. Perry has presented at over 200 technical broadcast conferences worldwide, has been the lead commercial coordinator in notable projects around the world, and has been a significant contributor to many new product releases in the radio and television broadcast market. 

Perry earned a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from Cambridge University, England, and a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Telecommunications from Cambridge College of Technology.