Three engineers at Cox Media Channel 4 passed their SBE certification exams in November. According to Chief Engineer Kevin Schrader, Matt Hall is now a Certified Broadcast Technician (CBT), Andrei Taratusky a Certified Broadcast Network Technician (CBNT), and Shane Fortin a CBT and CBNT.

Consider becoming certified or upgrading your certifications in 2011. Certification study materials were updated in 2010, so preparation should now be considerably more straightforward and less time-consuming. Apply online for your next exam. If you apply after December 31, your next opportunity to take the exam will be at the NAB Convention April 11.

After a three year wait, the FCC granted KPBS-FM a Construction Permit to move to Mt. Soledad in La Jolla. The proposed CP would have the station broadcasting omnidirectionally with 26 kW ERP from the KFMB-DT/FM transmission site.

The advantage in coverage of communities where wealthy KPBS patrons live is obvious. Residents of Rancho Santa Fe should receive a much stronger signal from Mt. Soledad than what was provided by the 2.7 kW signal from Mt. San Miguel far to the south.

Station Director of Engineering Leon Messenie says he has work to do. First, he would have to file a grant with the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) for the improvement project estimated to cost nearly a million dollars. If he gets that grant money, the station would have to replace the KFMB “Quadzilla” multiuser FM antenna that won’t currently handle KPBS’s input signal at 89.5 MHz.

Messenie considered the UCSD tower on the north edge of Mt. Soledad, but that tower is not built for multiple heavy FM antenna arrays and would likely run into problems with community acceptance should the tower need additional metal or replacement.

KPBS had sought to improve their signal in the past and was always hampered by their non-comm band proximity to XETV channel 6 in Tijuana. In 2007, the FCC changed its policy that previously had protected XETV, saying that the US had no treaty that required a US FM station to protect against interference to a Mexican TV signal penetrating into the US. This gave KSDS 88.3 MHz the green light to increase their power from 800 watts to 22 kW at their Mesa College campus in Linda Vista, though the FCC specified that the signal should be vertically polarized only. (XETV returned to horizontal polarization in 2009 after years as a CP station.) KPBS then felt empowered to increase their signal as well.

The KSIQ booster FM signed on in mid-March from Mt. San Miguel, putting a decent 700 W signal on 96.1 MHz into San Diego and its community of license, Santee. The station has a Top-40 format similar to that of Channel 933 FM. You might remember that the originating transmitter moved from its Imperial desert location in Brawley in late January to Campo.

KSIQ’s owners, Cherry Creek Radio, also closed the sister AM station in Brawley. According to the Imperial Valley Press, the station went silent and is now for sale.

The FCC granted an application to give KZSD-LP a permanent home. McGraw-Hill, licensee for KZSD-LP and KGTV, seeks to move the station from channel 41 to 39, make it digital, and leave it at 15kW on Mt. San Miguel. According to station Chief Engineer Andrew Lombard, the station would continue as Azteca-America Spanish language affiliate. KNSD abandoned channel 39 in June last year when their analog service shutdown.

After 30 years, KGTV engineer Frank Cruz is hanging it up this Friday. Frank, 65, has been with McGraw-Hill’s channel 10 for the past 10 years. Before that, he spent 20 years at channel 39.

Frank came to broadcast engineering somewhat accidently. He says he had been working as electronic technician at Southcomm International (purchased later by Loral), where he tested and set-up backpack transmitters for the government. He took some classes at Palomar College where he learned there was an opening at KCST (now KNSD). He jumped at the chance to do something new, and found out that he loved the variety of duties there. Under Tom Wimberly, who himself retired last year from McGraw-Hill, Frank specialized in ENG repair and operations, working with Umatic decks, Plumbicon cameras, and their fleet of remote vehicles.

While he liked bench work, he has fond memories of challenging field operations, such as when they would set-up an ad hoc microwave network across the desert from San Diego Padre Baseball spring training camp in Arizona to Chocolate Mountain near the California border, to Laguna Mountain, aiming to Mt. San Miguel for relay to their studio in Kearny Mesa. They used only BMS portable ENG equipment and 6-foot dishes.

When NBC had a reduction-in-force in 2000, Frank took a job under Ron Eden’s supervision at KGTV the very next workday. He continued specializing in ENG maintenance and operations, but took over much of the transmitter care at Mt. Soledad when Eden left. Frank ceremonially signed off the analog transmitter in March of 2009 for the last time.

Frank plans to “take it easy for at least the next six months” with Rebecca, his wife of 42 years.

KGTV is honoring his retirement with a luncheon this week.