Jim Culligan, a City of San Diego employee, passed his CTO (Certified Television Operator) certification exam last month to complement his CRO certification. Jim plans to retire from the city this winter and offer his technical services to broadcasters.
All posts by Gary Stigall
February 19 Meeting: Orban Update
Radio broadcast engineers have been battling a certain inelegance in system design since the advent of hybrid analog/digital FM broadcasting. When you combine the complexities of stereo pilot, stereo L-R, and SCA subcarriers with the complexities of the Ibiquity digital sidebands, you’ve got some serious filter design issues and a lot of hardware.
On February 19th, 2014, Orban Founder and VP of Engineering Bob Orban gave a presentation via Skype reviewing his “A Full Bandwidth Standard” Radio World article discussing a new compositing standard designed to simplify the hybrid FM broadcast and decrease filter aliasing. Additionally, he commented on efficient codecs for audio streaming.
Many thanks to Orban’s rep David Rusch and RF Specialties rep Steve Moreen for lunch, a terrific presentation, and to John Rigg of Clear Channel for hosting the meeting and giving us a full tour of his plant. The place is really buttoned down. Continue reading February 19 Meeting: Orban Update
Holiday Banquet Dinner at Cozymel’s
This year’s SBE banquet at Cozymel’s was a big success. We had over 20 members and guests and the Mexican food went down easily.
Many thanks to Martin Banks at Video Gear and Piper Digital for giving some great door prizes.
ProSound Going Out of Business
While they were known mostly for their interaction with musicians, ProSound has been a source of professional audio equipment, advice, and repair for broadcasters as well. Shane Alexander told me today they expect to close the doors at the end of December, a victim of poor economic conditions and internet sales.
You can call or stop by to give your wishes or buy a few closeout items. They’re at 4593 Mission Gorge Place near Mission Gorge Road east of Qualcomm Stadium. Call (619) 583-7851.
FCC Posts Long List of San Diego Area LPFM Hopefuls
The FCC wasted no time in posting to its database all of the 2,819 LPFM applications filed during the October-November 2013 window.
A search of all L1 FM applications entered during November finds 18 San Diego County listings within 80km of Mt. Woodson.
A number of interesting patterns emerge. Most applicants are area churches. Many are mutually exclusive, with four applicants each on 93.7 and 101.1 MHz and two each on 95.3 and 103.3 MHz. Interestingly, some of the applicants, including one in Chula Vista, were registered as being given 100W when they are within the Mexican border zone that limits maximum power to 50W ERP. Since only one station will occupy each channel, the FCC will have to work with the mutually exclusive applicants using a published scoring system to determine the winner of the channel. In the event of a tie, licensees will be asked to share or give up their claim for a construction permit.
When the FCC will issue the construction permits associated with this filing window is unknown. There was speculation that it might take five to six months to sort through the applications, but with the FCC out of business for nearly a month during the October government shutdown, the backlog of filings may delay release of those construction permits.